The Holiness of God (Isaiah 6:1-7)

The Holiness of God: Isaiah’s Vision

Isaiah 6:1 – 8

Connection/Tension

I think all of us struggle to have more of a focus on God and more of a devotion to God. Why does he occupy our thoughts so little? Why do we tolerate moral lapses in our lives when, for a few minutes or hours, we act as if God is not real? There are moments that especially my family can see where frustration rather than devotion to God characterizes me and it’s like a flipped off my “Christian switch for a few minutes.

What is going on at those times and how can we address it?

And if you are not yet a Christian, thank you for being here. This message help explain why Christians believe that God is not worthy of our partial devotion, or even most of our devotion, but all of our devotion and we have to surrender everything to him.

Context

As you know, we are in a “knowing God” series, where we are talking about some crucial aspect of what God is like. We are spending a few weeks drilling in on this because our beliefs about what God is like, more than anything, shapes how we respond to him and live.

So, if I struggle to maintain a complete devotion to God, or I go hours or even whole days without thinking about him, first a foremost, something must be off about the way I understand God to be.

What do we do when such a problem presents itself? We go to the Word!

We will be learning about the attribute of God’s holiness from Isaiah 6. Like other prophets in ancient Israel, he received his call into ministry by God giving him a vision of what he is like and commissioning him to go and proclaim what he heard and saw (cf. Ezek 1 – 2). In Isaiah’s scroll, he gets shares that story in the verses we are going to look at:

Revelation

In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple.

Before we get to what Isaiah saw, let’s notice when he saw it. His vision came “in the year that King Uzziah died.” Isaiah’s vision came at a time of chaos and confusion. When the king died in the ancient world, the regime change could often bring violence (as we see other places in the Bible, 1 Kings 1 – 2) as well as a new, untested leader on whom everyone’s hopes would now depend (1 Kings 12). You could think of the confusion and worry a President dying in office would bring (or has brought in the past).

Now, it’s at this very moment of fear that Isaiah sees what his heart needs to see most. When the human king’s life expired and his rule ended, God opened Isaiah’s eyes to see the true king, who never dies and whose rule never ends. God transports Isaiah to the unseen realm of heaven from which he rules over all.

In this place where God dwells, Isaiah gets to see God as he is! He’s “sitting on a throne;” he’s “high and lifted up;” and his robe is filling the temple (his heavenly palace). Isaiah is seeing the great God we long to see. And you might think, “that sounds like such a pleasant experience! I want that.” And you should. Yet, there is going to be a great and unexpected turn to this encounter that we need to experience with Isaiah.  

Let’s continue with what Isaiah saw,

2 Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew.

As we know from before in the vision, God is seated. And standing near him, as servants,[1] are two “seraphim.” Does anyone have any idea what “seraphim” are? The best guess we have is that they are a type of angel (who get to be near God). They are fearsome and mysterious beings who communicate to Isaiah that he has entered the presence of a fearsome and mysterious God.  

The word “seraphim” means the “burning, or the glowing one[s].”[2] These are creatures who resemble fire or fire is emanating from them.

“With two he covered his face”- a sign that for even these unfallen, holy creatures, God’s status as creator puts him in a class of their own and leaves even them unworthy of gazing directly at God as if they were his equal.

“With two he covered his feet”- another symbol of God’s worthiness as creator. Though spiritual beings, there angels are still creatures and they hide their feet as a sign of reverence and distinction from the uncreated one they stand before and serve.

Yet, Isaiah doesn’t simply see things in this vision, he also hears. And what he hears is going to tell us what the imagery we’ve already looked at has already been showing us.

3 And one called to another and said:

        “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts;

        the whole earth is full of his glory!”

Another translation: 6:3 They called out to one another, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord who commands armies! His majestic splendor fills the entire earth!” [3]

As we move through this vision, we can feel the intensity of this situation building. One of these burning angels calls out in a loud voice, announcing the nature of the king he serves, “holy… holy… holy.” He calls out “holy” not just once or even twice, but three times. In the Hebrew language, one way to make a description emphatic is to repeat the word twice. In other words, to say, “that is a beautiful, beautiful woman” is how you could say, “that is a very beautiful woman.”[4]

So, what then does this mean when the angel don’t merely say God is, “holy, holy,” but, “holy, holy, holy”? To repeat the word “holy” three times is to emphasize it to the maximum degree! There’s no stronger way to say it.

So, what does it mean that God is “holy”? How would you describe it to someone else? Go ahead and take a moment to ponder that.

It seems to be a description of the unique worthiness God has because he is the creator of all and the standard of all moral purity. Those things put God in a class of his own and make him completely set apart from us and utterly transcendent. You cannot get bigger and higher than God. He’s in a league of his own and all of us are but a speck compared to his greatness.

 In other words, there’s an intensity about who God is that demands an intense response from us.

And I find that definition so refreshing because I am not inclined toward intensity and reverence in my day-to-day life. The culture I grew up in groomed me for flippancy, joking, and fun. Those are important elements of life, but not the most important. First and foremost, God calls me to be a reverent worshipper, and it’s who he is that challenges me to become who I am supposed to become.

Then the angel says, “the whole earth is full of his glory!” The connection here is that if God’s worthiness is truly as great this verse says it is, then it is fitting that the display of his worthiness go global.[5] No one is more deserving of fame, worship, and recognition than God, the holy, holy, holy one.

And yet, as we will now see, there is a barrier for both Isaiah and the whole world seeing God as he is. God is worthy to be seen by everyone, and yet not everyone is welcome into his presence- that’s the tension in this story. Just see what happens next,

4 And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke.

As happens other times in the Scriptures when humans encounter the holy God, it begins to seem as if the world is ending. It gets terrifying.

As Alec Moyter points out, if perhaps Isaiah thought he could step forward into this space where God dwelt, his access is immediately denied.[6] At the declaration of the Lord’s holiness, the entryway itself begins to suddenly and violently shake, and smoke streams into the room, concealing the beautiful king upon the throne. Isaiah suddenly finds himself excluded- unable to enter or see into the place where God dwells.

Would this not be terrifying? As you listen to this, are you still wanting to go into God’s presence or does this suddenly not seem like such a good idea after all?

And by way of reminder, what Isaiah experiences here is not unique to Isaiah. When the room trembles and fills with smoke, we the readers, should feel as if we were transported back to mount Sinai, where the Hebrew people approached and met their God in similar fashion. As in Isaiah’s vision, the mountain trembled and smoke shrouded it (Ex 19:18). They would have felt not as much that they were approaching Sinai as Mount Doom. This is always the experience when people attempt to approach a holy God.

Does that confuse anyone? Is it not strange that it should be so terrifying and threatening to come near a God who is good and loving like our God? Doesn’t something seem off? That’s because something is.

It was not always like this. In the beginning, God dwelt among his people and approached his people, and there were no terrifying signs of doom. There was only peace, harmony, and life. Humans could approach God and enjoy him without the fear of judgement (Gen 3:8). It is only after humans rebelled and turned away from God that meeting God becomes a fearful thing (Gen 3:10).

These ominous signs point not to God’s badness, but to ours. Since God is holy, he must judge those who are unholy, including Isaiah and including us. The earthquake and the smoke are signs of judgement and of God as the righteous judge. God cannot permit Isaiah to enter his presence since Isaiah is unholy and unworthy and it would defile the pure environment in which the holy God dwells.

And Isaiah immediately interprets what’s going on this way; see what he says next,

5 And I said: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!”

Isaiah responds, “Woe is me”- meaning “too bad for me!”[7]

And “For I am lost.” That word lost means, “ceasing to exist.”[8] In other words, he believes that since God is the source of life, and his sin has cut him off from life, he is on the way toward his own destruction. He’s being unmade.

And he’s not wrong to conclude this! He rightly sees that he’s unclean and he lives among unclean people. Uncleanness must not come into the holy presence of God! It would be offensive and insulting towards one who is completely worthy of total devotion. He points to his lips as unclean- the words that come out of his mouth are just one evidence of many that he does not deserve to stand before this king. Are you wondering if you’re truly unholy? Just consider the words that come forth from you at your worst moments and wonder no longer (my wife can hear my words at these times and can confirm this is the case for me!)

It’s only when we grasp the holiness of God that we grasp that the punishment of sinners is right and just. It often seems unfair or out of alignment with God’s character to bring everlasting judgement on sinners. And we believe that because we often miss God’s holiness.

Again, we live in a world and culture that’s conditioned us for triviality. Our movies, our music, and our culture does not revere God and holy things. They make them seem strange and unreal to us. So, it’s no surprise we fail to see God as holy and ourselves us unholy. It’s no surprise that everlasting judgement surprises us.

And yet, when our eyes are open to see God as he is, a true, real, and good trembling grips us. Isaiah is right to conclude that he’s unclean, that he’s being unmade, and that he has no right to stand before this holy king as judge- as do none of us.

So, if that’s true where does Isaiah and where do we go from this point? If we’ve seen God’s holiness and our unholiness, that’s a good thing. Yet, that leaves us cut off from God forever. If this is all we see and all we know about God, we should be very fearful and sorrowful people indeed.

Yet, up until this point, I want us to notice something, we have been on a journey, experiencing what Isaiah has seen, heard, and felt. Yet, God hasn’t spoken, acted, or responded yet. Everything has been Isaiah’s own perceptions and words.

And now God is going to act through one of his servants. He’s going to respond to Isaiah’s unholiness for the first time,

6 Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar. 7 And he touched my mouth and said: “Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for.”

Isaiah is unable to approach God, but God approaches him through this angel. And the way he approaches him is going to rescue Isaiah from certain doom, and yet do it in a way that doesn’t compromise his own holiness. God is going to heal and cleanse Isaiah’s unholiness, but not in a way that overlooks or accepts his unholiness. God is going to do the great and impossible work of destroying Isaiah’s unholiness without destroying Isaiah! I love this part of the story, because this is the only hope for unholy people like you and me.

How does God do this? Let’s take a closer look at these verses. Does anyone notice the imagery of fire in these two verses? How many ways do you see it? I see three.

The “seraphim” = the burning ones

The “burning coal” = an object that emits the power of fire

“the alter” is the place where fire would consume the sacrifices of the people of God.

What we see here is the burning one extends a burning coal from the place of fire to touch the lips of Isaiah. God touches Isaiah’s impurity with his pure, holy fire.

Why fire? What is this communicating to us?

Fire is a standard symbol in the Bible for God’s holiness. When he reveals himself to his people at Sinai, the mountain burns with fire! (Ex 19:18).

Fire symbolizes God’s holiness because it’s powerful and either destroys OR purifies what it touches. It can either burn something up, or it can remove it’s impurities and make it pure. One of those things must happen to us when we encounter God’s holiness. Either his holiness will destroy us or refine us and make us holy like him.

And this is actually really good news! Who here feels like you don’t deserve to live in God’s presence? Like you’re not worthy to stand before the holy one? Praise God if you do! That’s the first step towards God’s cleansing. God loves to purify not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are not![9] One huge step towards dwelling with God is knowing you don’t deserve to. At the very moment Isaiah is confessing that he is lost, God is reaching out to rescue him.

I love the picture of God’s goodness we see here. He doesn’t destroy Isaiah with an inferno. Rather, he reaches out to him in a controlled and measured way to cleanse his impure lips. God uses his power not to destroy Isaiah, but to make Isaiah holy like himself and bring him into his presence. Before God acts, there is a rejection of Isaiah from the presence of God. For the first time, when God acts, Isaiah receives a welcome to come forward and relate to his God.

God doesn’t set aside his holiness to welcome Isaiah into his presence, he uses his holiness to cleanse Isaiah so he can come forth and dwell with his God. God is not inviting us to pretend like we are holy. He’s inviting us to receive his purification and cleansing. He’s inviting us to repent and believe in Jesus, the holy one who died in the place of unholy ones like us to forgive, cleanse, and welcome us into God’s presence- the place we deserve to be least, yet need to be most.  

I love what happens in the next verse. God starts speaking with Isaiah and Isaiah dedicates himself to God (which is what it means for us to be “holy”- that is, dedicated to the one who is worthy).

By encountering God’s cleansing fire, Isaiah goes from lost to accepted, from unholy to holy. Everything else dropped out of the picture for him; nothing else mattered at this moment.

Do you struggle with feeling distracted from God? Does he occupy too little of your attention? God means for us to have a fresh experience of his holiness this morning to rivet our attention to the one who judges sins, and even more wonderfully, cleanses sin and welcomes sinners.

Application

This attribute of God’s holiness has completely changed my life. It’s made a deep impact on my own soul and continues to impact me today. About fifteen years ago, I was a freshman in college at a small Lutheran Bible school.

We had a gentle, soft-spoken professor who spoke very clearly about the Scriptures. One day, he wheeled in an old TV and VCR on one of those wheel stands.

He popped in an old VHS probably from the seventies with production value that was so ancient, I can still remember it. The screen was all grainy and the words were blocky and cheesy. I wasn’t expecting much.

Onto the television screen stepped this young minister. His name was R.C. Sproul- I had never heard of him before. He began to preach on this very passage on the holiness of God.

I was gripped. I had never seen a man visibly trembling as he spoke before. I can still remember his hair shaking on his head as he spoke.  He was speaking intensely about an intense God. And the Lord used it to strike my heart. I felt like Isaiah- I was undone and then remade!

I left class that day thinking, wow, God just did something to me. And I’m confident he did because I started changing after that. Suddenly, time with God in his word became a priority to me. Loving other Christians and loving the lost mattered more than ever.

I needed to encounter God in his holiness before I became holy and devoted to him.

There’s a great irony in the holiness of God I want to press home for us this morning. Even though there is nothing more terrifying, when you rightly grasp it, nothing makes you want to be near God more. When you grasp his worthiness, you grasp that you were made by him, and you were made to serve him. He goes from seeming small and like a side dish in you life to the main course all the time.

You would think that the holiness of God would drive a sinner like us away from God. Yet, it’s actually his holiness that makes us fear not being near him, but being away from him or opposed to him more than anything else.[10] God is the safest person in the universe when we treat him as holy, so we don’t flee away to him, we flee to him.

Usually when God reveals his holiness in the Bible, he also invites his unholy people to come near through his provision for them (Ex 19:13). The holiness of God is not ultimately supposed to make us fixate on our unworthiness but rather on God’s goodness to provide a way to himself.  

This is an essential part of who God is (and who we are) that we need to continually remind ourselves of, not to drive us away from our God, but to drive us towards him that we might know how crucial it is at all times to be near him.

Let’s pray.

[1] Ibid.

[2] Ludwig Koehler et al., The Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament (Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1994–2000), 1360.

[3] Biblical Studies Press, The NET Bible First Edition; Bible. English. NET Bible.; The NET Bible (Biblical Studies Press, 2005), Is 6:3.

[4] J. Alec Motyer, Isaiah: An Introduction and Commentary, vol. 20, Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1999), 81.

[6] . Alec Motyer, Isaiah: An Introduction and Commentary, vol. 20, Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1999), 81.

[7] Biblical Studies Press, The NET Bible First Edition; Bible. English. NET Bible.; The NET Bible (Biblical Studies Press, 2005), Is 6:5.

[8] Ludwig Koehler et al., The Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament (Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1994–2000), 225.

[9] Tim Keller used a phrase like this.

[10] John Piper once made this application.