How God Expresses His Love for UsIsampula

The Highest of the Holy

God’s Story

Isaiah sings of his beloved Lord’s vineyard. God has tended and cared for it, but it only produces junk fruit. It’s hopeless. So God is going to tear down his vineyard — his people.

The year Judah’s King Uzziah dies, God gives Isaiah a vision. Isaiah sees God high and exalted with two six-winged fiery beings serving him. They proclaim his holiness to each other, shaking the room.

In the midst of such purity, sinful Isaiah is ruined. But one of the seraphim brings a hot coal from the bronze altar and touches his lips. With Isaiah’s sins atoned for, God gives the prophet his call.

Politically, Judah is in trouble. The two nations to the north — Aram and Israel — have formed an alliance against Assyria. Judah’s King Ahaz must make a decision. Will he align himself with Assyria or with his two northern neighbors? Isaiah tells him what God wants him to do: Trust the Lord rather than making any political alliances.

Rebelliously, Ahaz makes an alliance with Assyria (2 Kings 16:7 – 8). His choice will be his doom.

The King’s Heart

In the Hebrew language, when expressing the purity of something, the word is repeated. For example, in 2 Kings 25:15 “pure gold” is literally “gold gold.” But the fiery seraphim around God’s throne declare his pure holiness three times: “Holy, holy, holy” (Isaiah 6:3) — the only time in the Old Testament that happens. God is so utterly holy that a super superlative has to be invented to describe him.

Isaiah, sinful Isaiah, was ruined. But the good and holy God didn’t want that, so he provided a way for Isaiah’s sin to be atoned for. A seraph brought a coal to Isaiah’s lips, using tongs because the coal was hot — the altar was in use, a sacrifice was on it. Isaiah was forgiven.

Once Isaiah’s sins were atoned for, God allowed him to step closer to him, to hear his very words. “Who will go for us?” (Isaiah 6:8), the triune God asks. Isaiah volunteered, and he and God had a conversation.

God is so holy that superlatives must be invented to describe him. Yet he wants us — the people he made out of dirt — to come close and into his very counsel. Astounding.

Insight

A seraph is a “burning one.” The six-winged seraphim around God’s throne cover their faces, evidently to shield them from seeing God’s glory. They also cover their feet, suggesting that they won’t walk their own way. But their ears aren’t covered — they can hear what the holy God directs them to do.