In his grace and sovereignty, God chose to reveal himself to Isaiah. The account with Isaiah mirrors God’s revelation to Moses in some ways, and in others is unique. While God’s meeting with Moses was a physical manifestation (Christophony/Theophony), this particular experience is a vision God gives to the prophet Isaiah.
Isaiah 6:1-4
1In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple. 2Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. 3And one called to another and said: “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!” 4And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke. 5And I said: “Woe is me! For I am lost. (ESV)
Don’t skip through this text. There is weight and wonder drenching every verse. The vision communicated in the text should automatically bring renewed awe and wonder
to our thirsty hearts. We find here a rare and precise record of a heavenly vision. This a description of the Lord exalted and enthroned in praise. We are given a description of created beings called seraphs that are continually in the presence of God. One interesting observation is to note that even beings that were created for the sole purpose of continual praise are neither able to look in the face of God, not stand in his presence. They are given wings to cover their eyes, and another set of wings to cover their feet. All the while they cry out, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God almighty, the whole earth is full of his glory”.
As a quick aside – It is important to understand these two words, “holy” and “glory”, especially in dealing with God revealing himself. Holy is a word used to describe God’s intrinsic “otherness” or his being “set apart/separate” from us. This means that his nature and character are nothing like ours. He is perfect and complete. We are stained with sin and humanity. So, when we say God is “holy”, it means he is set apart from us. So, God is holy. His glory is the revealing of his holiness to us. Glory is literally the manifesting of God’s holiness. His glory is how he communicates his Holiness to us. These words are often used in worship services, and sung with little or no context, so it is important for us to understand the words we are singing in worship.
The text goes on to describe how the very voices of the seraphs cause the foundations of the house to tremble to the point of releasing smoke throughout the house. As a result to having received this extremely unique vision, Isaiah is filled with fear and trembling and replies, “Woe is me, for I am lost.” He is overwhelmed with the obvious reality that he is in the presence of an awesome God.
As worshippers we understand that it is God who has initiated meeting with us. God who continually reveals himself, and we are commanded to respond. In the following posts, we will take a more exhaustive approach to what our response looks like from these biblical encounters.
(to be continued…)
