Your iniquity is removed and your sin is atoned
After acknowledging his sinfulness before the Lord, Isaiah undergoes an incredible experience of forgiveness that is bestowed, not earned.
In Isaiah, the prophet Isaiah envisioned the glory of the Lord seated on His throne. The splendor of such a vision must have been spectacular. Yet, Isaiah was burdened with his inferiority. He didn’t belong in such a place. His sin and imperfections disqualified him from seeing the Lord—known as a theophany. And yet, it was the Lord who allowed Isaiah to remain in His presence.
Even though Isaiah had recognized the authority of the King of Kings, witnessed the majesty of such a brilliant place, and heard the praise of the angelic beings declaring the Lord’s glory, Isaiah was moments away from experiencing the ultimate, beautiful power of God.
And it would be the most amazingly personal encounter.
Woe is me for I am ruined
After witnessing the majesty and glory of God, Isaiah was convinced that his demise was both inevitable and imminent. There was no way he would survive this divine vision. He felt too sinful. Too imperfect. Too inferior.
In Isaiah 6:5, Isaiah said,
“Then I said: Woe is me for I am ruined because I am a man of unclean lips and live among a people of unclean lips, and because my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of Armies.”
However, this profound sense of humility in the presence of God is precisely what one should experience—the realization that no person, absolutely no one, is good enough or perfect enough or ideal enough to compare themselves to the infallibility of God.
It's this sense of humility that leads to a moment so beautiful, so gracious, so loving, that nothing else can compare.
Isaiah and the seraphim
The next phase of the vision is recorded in Isaiah 6:6-7:
“Then one of the seraphim flew to me, and in his hand was a glowing coal that he had taken from the altar with tongs. He touched my mouth with it and said: Now that this has touched your lips, your iniquity is removed and your sin is atoned for.”
One of the seraphim—a type of angelic being—flies over to Isaiah holding a glowing coal taken from the heavenly altar with a pair of tongs. The seraphim touches his mouth with the burning coal and declares, "See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for."
This was an act of purification. Isaiah acknowledged himself as a man of unclean lips, and thus, the seraphim purified his lips, symbolizing the removal of his unworthiness and sinfulness by God’s grace. This act symbolizes forgiveness, restoration, and commissioning for a divine purpose.
It’s more than just forgiveness
In this vision, there are two significant elements—the throne and the altar.
The throne belongs to God. This is His seat, and no one else is deemed worthy to occupy such a position.
The altar is for humanity signifying a place of humility before the Lord and where one can receive directly from the Lord.
This particular altar contained coals glowing from intense heat. These coals were so hot that even the seraphim required tongs to handle them. Yet Isaiah felt no pain when they touched Isaiah’s lips with a glowing coal. Because spiritually speaking, forgiveness isn’t painful to the person; it’s painful to the sinful nature of a person.
But this encounter goes further.
Isaiah had seen the Lord. He had been convicted of his sin and subsequently cleansed. However, crucially, the guilt of his sin was also removed. That’s significant! It's one thing to receive forgiveness; it's another challenge entirely to allow God to eradicate the accompanying guilt of sin.
Now, due to God’s grace and mercy and forgiveness, Isaiah can enter into God’s presence and declare praise to the Lord because the Lord has made him worthy of such an honor.
What an amazingly personal and glorious encounter!
What does this mean for us?
Isaiah’s vision was for him alone; no one else was with him. He received atonement and was purified by the Lord. It was an extremely personal and eternally life-changing encounter.
However, that atonement is not exclusive to Isaiah. It is a blessing and a gift that comes from the Lord and is available to anyone who believes in Jesus Christ. An extremely personal and eternally life-changing encounter.
As Romans 10:9-13 states:
“If you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. One believes with the heart, resulting in righteousness, and one confesses with the mouth, resulting in salvation. For the Scripture says, Everyone who believes on him will not be put to shame, since there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, because the same Lord of all richly blesses all who call on him. For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
Posts from Isaiah 6
Three previous posts in this series on Isaiah’s vision in Isaiah 6.
