Isaiah 6:1-13
1 In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple.
2 Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly.
3 And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory.
4 And the posts of the doora moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke.
5 Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone;b because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts.
6 Then flew one of the seraphims unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar:
7 And he laid it upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged.
8 Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; sendc me.
9 And he said, Go, and tell this people, Hear ye indeed, but understandd not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not.
10 Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and convert, and be healed.
11 Then said I, Lord, how long? And he answered, Until the cities be wasted without inhabitant, and the houses without man, and the land be utterlye desolate,
12 And the LORD have removed men far away, and there be a great forsaking in the midst of the land.
13 But yet in it shall be a tenth, and it shall return, and shall be eaten: as a teil tree, and as an oak, whose substance is in them, when they cast their leaves: so the holy seed shall be the substance thereof.
a Call to Heroic Service
Kings die; Jesus lives. See John 12:41. We are here reminded of Acts 22:17-18. How great the contrast between the worship of these seraphim in the Unseen-Holy and man's perfunctory rites! Six wings -two for meditation, two for humility, and two for service.
Service should take only a third of our energy. One cried unto another -one inspired spirit will awaken others. The threefold repetition of the word holy, implies the Trinity. If door-posts tremble, much more should the hearts of sinful men! Isaiah, in the previous chapter, had uttered six woes against others, but his seventh and sorest woe is against himself. The sinner, like the leper, cries, Unclean! Leviticus 13:45.
The seraph did not wait to be told; he knew that there was only one cure for such need as the prophet's, Isaiah 6:9-13. When men refuse God's offered grace, every refusal hardens. It is either “the savour of death unto death” or of “life unto life,” 2 Corinthians 2:16. The life of the oak and the terebinth only seems to become extinct in winter; there is revival in the spring. Is it winter with you? Pray for the springtime!