Holy Trinity Sunday June 15, 2014 HOLY, HOLY, HOLY (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!" Introduction: What could be more marvelous, more lofty, more awesome, than Holy Trinity Sunday? Let s take a brief look at Isaiah 6:1-8, the passage that has inspired the song Holy, Holy, Holy. May we ourselves be more drenched in, even consumed with, the majesty and magnificence of the Almighty.
I. The Vision (6:1-3) 6:1 In the year that King Uzziah died is about 740 B.C., but the date is not what is so significant here. Uzziah (also known as Azariah) had ruled in prosperity and security for fifty-two years as king of Judah (see 2 Kings 15:1-7; 2 Chronicles 26). He was an able military leader as well as being an efficient administrator. In fact, the southern kingdom of Judah had not seen this successful a king since Solomon. However, King Uzziah, a layman, sought to do the work of the priest by burning incense at the altar of incense this ungodly action was motivated by pride and resulted in him being stricken by leprosy (2 Chronicles 26:16-21). By the time he died the super-power Assyria was threatening Judah. The point of all this is that no earthly king could truly meet the people s need. Even the best had their flaws and were not good enough. The only king who is ultimately competent and faithful is the Lord. He, and He alone, is worthy of all praise. He, and He alone (the true King in 6:5), can be completely relied upon. I saw the Lord indicates a vision or theophany in which God is manifesting Himself to the human eye. The Scriptures repeatedly affirm that no one can see the Almighty God in His true essence (Exodus 19:21; 20:19; 33:20; Deuteronomy 18:16; Judges 13:22; John 1:18; Colossians 1:15; 1 Timothy 1:17). Lord ( adônay) literally refers to a master who has authority over a slave. A person who is addressed as lord indicates that he occupies a position of authority, or it may simply be a polite or honorary form of address that expresses respect or submission on the part of the speaker. When adônay is applied to God it points to His authority over His people and implies that He is the sovereign Ruler and almighty Master. Seated on a throne denotes settled, royal authority. God is sovereign and majestically in charge! High and exalted describes the Lord rather than the throne. He is high in His own nature and exalted ( lifted up ) by the recognition of His preeminence. The train is the part of the royal robe that trailed after a king when he walked. 6:2 Above Him is the position of a servant who is ready to wait upon the master. The term seraphs (the Hebrew plural word is seraphim ) literally means burning ones or fiery ones, and is only used here and in verse 6. Since fire is a key symbol of God s holiness (see Exodus 3:1-6; 13:21; 19:18; Leviticus 10:1-2; Numbers 11:1-2; 1 Kings 18:24; 2 Thessalonians 1:7; also Hebrews 12:29 our God is a consuming fire ), the fiery appearance of these mysterious and awesome angels points to God s majestic holiness. Two wings each covered their faces and their feet, which is a sign of their humility and awe they dare not presume to gaze directly at the Almighty God, and they tread lightly in His presence. The other two wings that are used for flying shows that they are equipped to go on missions specially assigned to them by the Almighty.
6:3 They were calling to one another indicates that they are harmoniously delighting in the LORD Almighty. The threefold repetition of holy by the angels is unusual, picturing holiness to the superlative degree. Since the seraphs are the speakers/singers, it is likely that they are worshipping the three Persons of the Holy Trinity Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Holy (qādôsh) basically refers to that which is unique or specially set apart unto God. Holiness very aptly describes God s essential nature in that He is uniquely in a class all His Own. (The opposite of holiness is that which is common or profane, which describes any thing, person, or action which goes against God s planned order and will). Theologically speaking, holiness is defined as the sum total of all God s attributes. Almighty (tsābā ) is literally hosts or armies and pictures the LORD (Yahweh) as omnipotent (all-powerful), commanding all power and resources in heaven and on earth. Yahweh is the only name for God in the Old Testament (the other designations are titles), and it relates to Him as the great I AM (Exodus 3:14) All that I AM as God I AM for you. Glory (kābôd) has a literal meaning of heavy or weighty in only two places (1 Sam. 4:18, Eli was heavy; see also 2 Sam. 14:26). A figurative usage of kābôd describes someone who has great status someone who is impressive, honorable, and worthy of respect. A specialized usage refers to God s glory as the luminous radiance that proceeds from God and leaves an impression behind it (see Exodus 34:29-30). The glory of God, then, refers to His revelation to man (revealing His presence and His activity), and as a result makes Him impressive or worthy of praise to His creation (whether heavenly beings or mankind). In other words, glory is the outward manifestation of God s holiness. God is transcendent (infinitely above and beyond His creation) HOLY, yet at the same time He is immanent (near and dear to His people) GLORY. He is transcendent but not aloof, immanent but not ordinary. As a result of this, the seraphim are [1] Reverent in AWE (two wings each covering faces and feet), [2] Ready and willing to SERVE at his beck and call (two wings to fly), and [3] Rejoicing in PRAISE (voices). May we, God s people, learn from these angelic beings. II. The Reaction (6:4-5) 6:4 At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook pictures the entire temple being powerfully shaken, jarred, rocked to the core, to its very foundations. Divine impact! No earthquake or tsunami can measure up to this! Smoke in the Old Testament often pictures God s presence (Exodus 33:9; 1 Kings 8:10; Isaiah 4:5), while here it may be coming from the altar of incense. This adds to the nearness and the mystery of this event the Almighty is not to be viewed carelessly with uncovered eyes!
6:5 Woe ( ōy) is not so much a pronouncement of a curse as it is a heartfelt cry of despair. A better translation may be something like alas. It is interesting to note that up to this point the Prophet Isaiah has pronounced woes upon those rejecting God eight times; now he gets it himself. Ruined (dāmāh) more literally is cease, cut off, destroy. Here Isaiah may be saying, I am lost or even more forcefully I am utterly undone. One translation has: I am dissolved. I am a man of unclean lips compared to the seraphim who so freely delight in praising the Almighty, rather than boasting, complaining, criticizing, and uttering unwholesome things with our mouths. Isaiah is not alone. He lives among a people of unclean lips, people who would rather grumble about their circumstances than praise the King, the LORD Almighty. In his commentary on Isaiah John Oswalt makes some fine comments on p. 182: Isaiah has been made aware of the awesome holiness of God with all that that means of His transcendence and yet His immanence, and now he is suddenly and brutally aware of himself. Such confrontation cannot help but produce despair. Fore the finite, the moral, the incomplete, and the fallible to encounter the Infinite, the Eternal, the Self-consistent, and the Infallible is to know the futility and the hopelessness of one s existence. Isaiah is crushed in contrition. III. The Restoration and Commission (6:6-8) 6:6 One of the seraphs flew to me highlights the divine initiative. A live [burning] coal in no way could harm a seraph ( burning/fiery one ). Oswalt, p. 184, makes these observations on this verse: The appropriateness of fire as an image of God s holiness is apparent. Fire can be a source of great blessing but it is never easily controllable. Fire can destroy but also cleanse. Fire is fascinating but also slightly terrifying. Fire translates mass into energy. So it is with the holiness of God. The altar here may be the altar of sacrifice, since the concept of forgiveness is so prominent with the coal being a charred portion of the burnt offering. On the other hand, it could be the altar of incense due to the earlier mention of smoke in verse 4. Yahweh provides for atonement through the altar of incense (see Leviticus 16:12; Numbers 16:46-47), as well as through the altar of sacrifice. In either case, God s provision is in focus. 6:7 The burning coal actually touched Isaiah s mouth, not to harm but to heal. His unclean lips needed to be burned away and get replaced with God s holiness! The only way to have a fresh start, a brand new heart, is by having guilt taken away and sin atoned for. Guilt ( āwōn) is a general term for sin as a perversion, twisting, or distortion of God s will and ways. Depending upon the context, āwōn may emphasize [1] the sinful nature of a deed, [2] the consequences (punishment) of its performance, and/or [3] the resulting situation of
the sinner (guilt). In the Old Testament these three concepts go hind-in-hand in one entire process rather that consisting of separate, distinct categories. Sin (chatta th) draws attention to missing God s mark or way and falling short of His standard. These two terms describe the reality and seriousness of sin. Here is another excellent comment by Oswalt on p. 185: When God takes away the iniquity and sin in which we have lived for years, the experience is a wrenching, searing one. But more deeply, what causes sin and iniquity? It is that arrogant self-sufficiency which refuses to bow the knee. This is the ultimate uncleanness of which Isaiah had been accusing his people and now finds resident in himself. This spirit never gives up without a fight. Apart from the fires of self-surrender and divine surgery the clean heart is an impossibility. Atoned (kāphar) means to cover over, pacify, make propitiation. There is a twofold direction here: [1] Divine wrath is appeased and [2] forgiveness is granted. This experience in Isaiah is a preview of Jesus substitutionary death on the cross, the only means by which sins are eternally forgiven. 6:8 The singular I is used in the first question of the Lord, but then the plural us is used in the second question. The plurals us may have these possible meanings: [1] a reference to God and His angels (though this is unlikely because the seraphs are so far below Him), [2] a plural of majesty which points to God s authority (as a king would do in issuing a royal edict), [3] a plural of deliberation where God simply speaks to Himself (similar to someone saying, Let s see, shall I/we do this? ), and [4] a reference to the Trinity (though this is not fully revealed until the New Testament). I personally think #2 makes the most sense, though #4 is an implied meaning which is not understood until Jesus day (the concept of progressive revelation). In light of God s awesome power, astounding initiative, and amazing grace Isaiah cannot help but answer: Here am I. Send me! God s work of grace produces a joyful desire to serve the Almighty. It is interesting to note that in the Hebrew the Prophet utters a mere two words (hin e nî sh e lāchēnî). In utter humility he says as little as possible, still seeking to soak in all that he has seen, heard, felt, and experienced before His awesome and gracious Lord. May we all be all the more leveled by the Holy Trinity s awesome presence and stunning holiness, be ever grateful for the Almighty s provision of forgiveness to undeserving sinners, and be wholeheartedly fervent to hurl ourselves into the service of the divine Surgeon, and like the seraphim be enraptured together to praise with Holy, Holy, Holy. In awe of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, Pastor Steve Waterman