Creator, Father, King #141

They were calling out to each other, “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of Heaven’s Armies! The whole earth is filled with his glory!”

I . . . AM . . . DOOMED.

Isaiah, the Old Testament prophet, did not like his chances for survival. In fact, he didn’t think he’d be alive the next day.

Was he caught in a burning building with no escape? Lost at sea surrounded by a circle of shark fins? Falling from the sky with no parachute (because, well, they hadn’t been invented yet)?

No, Isaiah had seen a glimpse of God’s holiness.

In 740 BC, with the wicked northern kingdom of Israel heading toward its fall to Assyria and the southern kingdom of Judah dangerously following the same path of idolatry, God commissioned Isaiah to preach the truth to his wayward people through an astounding vision. Isaiah was allowed to peer into God’s throne room, where powerful seraphim, a special class of six-winged angels, constantly hovered nearby, calling out in worship, “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of Heaven’s Armies! The whole earth is filled with his glory!”

Sounds amazing to behold, right? But when Isaiah saw the Lord, he feared for his life.

What’s It Mean?

Isaiah’s once-in-a-lifetime privilege to stand in God’s presence was a terrifying experience. It was like standing in front of the most revealing mirror in the universe, seeing himself truthfully, instead of who he’d like to think he was.

Compared to God’s overwhelming holiness, Isaiah was rightfully undone. He saw his own sinfulness and knew he had transgressed God’s laws countless times.

“I am doomed,” he exclaimed, “for I am a sinful man! I have filthy lips, and I live among a people with filthy lips. Yet I have seen the King, the LORD of Heaven’s Armies” (verse 5).

Have you had an Isaiah 6 moment? Have you considered your sins in light of God’s holiness? Far too often, we live our lives with a much higher opinion of ourselves than Scripture allows. But if we are completely honest, we are wretched sinners who are doomed apart from God’s saving grace. Praise the Lord for that very grace he gives us in his Son, Jesus Christ!

Now What?

Read Isaiah 6 to learn more about Isaiah’s life-changing vision of God. Also read Ephesians 2:8-9.

Did You Know?

Isaiah survived his heavenly revelation! God mercifully forgave his sins by sending one of the seraphim to touch his lips with a burning coal from the altar—representing the Old Testament sacrifices required for atonement and, ultimately, a foreshadowing of Jesus’ atoning work on the cross for us.