Isaiah Week 2, Day 5: Isaiah 6:2-7

Question 1 Continued:

1. What was the location of the scene described by Isaiah and who did he see? 

Other references:

Exodus 33:20--people cannot see His face and live

John 1:18, John 6:46--no one has ever seen God except his Son.

John 12: 37-41  "He who sees me sees the One who sent me." v 45.

Colossians 1:15  "The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation."

1 Timothy 6:15-16  "who dwells in unapproachable light, who no man has seen or can see."

I like this interpretation of Isaiah seeing God which takes it out of the OT and prophets and places it into a conversion experience--any man's discovery and encounter with God.

"It is really just the transition from the religion of tradition to the religion of experience. Religion comes to us all first as a tradition. It is the tradition of our home, the tradition of our Church, the tradition of our country, and so on; but as long as it is merely that, it is vague, unreal, and remote. But some day this God of whom we have heard is realised by us to be here; and this Christ, of whom we have heard that He has saved others, comes seeking for entrance into our own soul; and if we let Him in, our religion passes into an entirely new stage." -BI, James Stalker

Marc Chagall's "Prophet Isaiah," 1968

2a.  The three-fold adjective "holy, holy, holy."

2b. Holy means "sacred, ceremonially or morally."

"“One cried unto another.” Each was intensely alive to his own responsibility and duty." -BI

3. Isaiah's reaction was to confess his sin, "Woe is me, I am undone!  For I am a man of unclean lips"(v.5).

4a.  Then a seraphim flew to him and touched his lips with a burning coal from the altar of the temple (v. 6-7).

4b. The word then is significant because he confessed he was a man of sin who saw God (or at least his glory) and thought he would thus be destroyed.  The angel's response is a reaction to Isaiah's confession and concern.

5. What is the symbolism of the burning coal?
The symbolism is the cleansing of sin. Isaiah was purified from his sin after confession, just as the nation of Judah should be repenting of their sin but were not.

Leviticus 6:1-13
These passages describe the purpose of the burnt offering.  If a man had committed sin against his neighbor or lied, he was to make an offering of a ram.  He should go to the priests to make atonement to him through the offering.  The burnt offering was to be on the altar fire all night until the morning (Lev 6:9).  Then the priest was to take the remnants ashes of this offering and put them beside the altar (v. 10).  Then the priest takes off his priestly garments and takes the ashes outside the camp.  The fire should never go out and continually burn.

Apse of Santa Maria d'Aneau, Master Pedret, End of 11th Century, Catalonia

Leviticus 16:12-13

Lev 16:11  “Aaron shall present the bull as a sin offering for himself, and shall make atonement for himself and for his house. He shall kill the bull as a sin offering for himself.
Lev 16:12  And he shall take a censer full of coals of fire from the altar before the LORD, and two handfuls of sweet incense beaten small, and he shall bring it inside the veil
Lev 16:13  and put the incense on the fire before the LORD, that the cloud of the incense may cover the mercy seat that is over the testimony, so that he does not die.

The priestly atonement requires a bull and a censer full of coals and incense.  The incense on the fire  will cover the mercy seat so that the priest may not die.

Commentary from BKC:

"The prophet’s unclean lips probably symbolized his attitudes and actions as well as his words, for a person’s words reflect his thinking and relate to his actions. Interestingly Isaiah identified with his people who also were sinful (a people of unclean lips)."