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Isaiah 6:1-8 1 In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted, and the train of his robe filled the temple. 2 Above him were seraphs, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. 3 And they were calling to one another: "Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory." 4 At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke. 5 "Woe to me!" I cried. "I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty." 6 Then one of the seraphs flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. 7 With it he touched my mouth and said, "See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for." 8 Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?" And I said, "Here am I. Send me!"

Isaiah 6 recounts the "commissioning" of Isaiah as a prophet. It is a defining moment in Isaiah’s life, as he comes face-to-face with God’s awesome holiness. Before diving into this passage, however, let’s take a look at the experiences of 3 other spokesmen of God, and their own defining moments. Take note of any similarities or differences that you observe: Jeremiah 1:1-10 Daniel 10:1-19 John in Revelation 1:9-20 Now let’s look at the Isaiah 6 passage: First of all, how would you outline these 8 verses? Divide the passage into sections and give each a title. What is a "seraph"? (look this up in a Bible dictionary) Compare Revelation 4:6-8 to this one in Iasiah 6. What is the same? What is different?

"I was in a posture of prayer, but I had nothing to say. I knelt there quietly, allowing the sense of the presence of a holy God to fill me. Beat of my heart was telltale, a thump-thump against my chest. Fear swept over me. I felt the impulse to run from the foreboding presence that gripped me. The terror passed, but soon it was followed by another wave. This wave was different. It was a flooding of my soul with unspeakable peace, a peace that brought instant rest and repose to my troubled spirit. At once I was comfortable. I wanted to linger there. To say nothing. To do nothing. Simply to bask in the presence of God. That moment was life transforming. Something deep in my spirit was being settled once for all. From this moment there could be no turning back; there could be no erasure of the indelible imprint of its power. I was alone with God. A holy God. An awesome God. A God who could fill me with terror one second and peace in the next. A new thirst was born within me that could never be fully satisfied in this world." R.C. Sproul, The Holiness of God

How does Isaiah respond to what he sees?
Why do you think he refers to his own "unclean lips"?

How is Isaiah’s guilt taken away?
(Hint: it doesn’t say in this passage – you’ll have to think through what the rest of the Bible says about forgiveness.)

What is so surprising and unexpected about verse 8?

Sometimes God is referred to as a "fire". What do each of the following verses say about that?

Exodus 24:17

Hebrews 12:28-29

Deut 4:24

Deut 9:3

Psalm 97:1-6

Holiness in the life of a believer:
Often in the New Testament Christians are referred to as "saints", which actually means "holy ones". That title is based upon the fact that righteousness comes from God as a gift (see 2 Cor 5:21.) However, we are also in the process of “sanctification” which means that the Holy Spirit is progressively working in our lives to make us more like Christ. What do the following verses have to say about that process?

2 Timothy 1:9

1 Peter 1:15, 16

2 Peter 3:11, 12

Good books: The Pursuit of Holiness, by Jerry Bridges The Holiness of God, by R.C. Sproul The Knowledge of the Holy, by A.W. Tozer