Isaiah 6
Isaiah was shown a wondeul sight, or vision, which we cannot describe, but we may all read what be told of this he said.
“I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and His train filled the temple. Above it stood the seraphims each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face; with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did.fly. And one cried unto another, and said, ‘Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts, the whole earth is full of His glory’, And the posts of the door moved at the voice of him that cried.”
Isaiah seems to have seen this vision of the Lord as King on His throne; in the temple; “His train” may mean those aending Him.
“The seraphims” seem heavenly messengers to do the Lord’s wishes; they spoke of the Lord, but they hid themselves behind their wings, as though Isaiah was not to notice them, When Isaiah saw the beauty of the Lord, he felt how unholy he was, that his lips were not fit to praise Him, and he said,
“Woe is me, ... I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips. 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 and he laid it upon my mouth, and said, ‘Lo, this bath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged.”
“A live coal from the altar”, was a red burning coal, which the seraphim touched to Isaiah’s lips, or seemed to touch in this vision. It was not really his lips that were impure, but lips speak words which show the mind and heart are sinful. Fire destroys what is impure, and the burning coal showed Isaiah that God must destroy, or cleanse away sin.
It seems that the Lord wanted someone to tell the people that He would be their holy King, and He asked,
“Whom shall I send, who will go for Us?”
“Here am I, send me,” Isaiah answered, He had believed the words that his sins were put away, so he could tell of the Lord to others. The Lord told him to go to the people.
We now know that Christ, the Son of God, was as the “live coal” going through the “fire” of God’s judgment upon sin, and those who believe in Him, and confess their sins, are made fit to tell of Him to others; He spoke much that they should do this; they are not given visions as Isaiah, but have God’s Word to learn of Him, Christ said,
“Blessed are those that have not seen, yet have believed,” John 20:29.
ML 10/26/1941