Holy,Holy,Holy

 
                                                        Sunday School Lesson

                                            

Lesson: Isaiah 6:1-8                                                                                                 
Golden Text:   “And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory” (Isaiah 6:3).

I.  INTRODUCTION.  This week’s lesson emphasizes the greatness, power and holiness of God through a vision the Lord gave to the prophet Isaiah.  What he experienced is referred to as a theophany, an appearance of God in a form that is visible to the human eye.  This vision was an overwhelming presentation of God’s holiness that left Isaiah feeling devastated by his own sinfulness.  This is a good reminder to us to spend much time in the Word of God learning about God so that we can gain a realistic view of Him for ourselves.

II.  HOLINESS IN A VISION OF GOD (Isaiah 6:1-4)

A. The temple and the seraphim (Isaiah 6:1-2 ). 
1. (vs. 1).  Isaiah begins by writing that “In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple.”  Isaiah was the biographer of the great king Uzziah (see II Chronicles 26:22).  He dated his vision “In the year that king Uzziah died” which was approximately between 740 and 739 B.C.  Note: King Uzziah, also called Azariah (see II Kings 14:21-22) was a godly king who enjoyed a long reign in Judah (see II Chronicles 26:1-3).  However, toward the end of his life he acted out of pride and took over the high priest’s duties by burning incense in the temple (II Chronicles 26:16-18).  In His anger, God struck Uzziah with leprosy and he was a leper until his death (see II Chronicles 25:20-21).  Isaiah goes on to say that in that same year “I saw also the Lord.”  According to Exodus 19:21 and 33:20, no man can see God and live.  The New Testament states that no man has seen God at any time (see John 1:18: I Timothy 6:13-16).  Is Isaiah contradicting these clear statements that no one has seen God?  No not at all.  It seems clear that what Isaiah actually saw was a visible manifestation of the Second Person of the Trinity---Yeshua, or Jesus, the Pre-incarnate (before He became flesh) Son of God.  Isaiah saw what others before him and after him had seen.  They saw a visible manifestation of God and according to John 12:36-41 he saw the Pre-incarnate Christ.  This is the only way Isaiah could’ve survived seeing the Lord.  Isaiah saw only what God wanted him to see and in a way that he could understand. In Isaiah’s vision the Lord was “sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up.”  This refers to God’s position of authority over His people.  Isaiah also saw the Lord’s “train” or the sweeping length of His robe, which speaks of royalty and majesty as it “filled the temple.”  We are not told if the vision was of the temple in Jerusalem or the heavenly temple.  It most likely was the heavenly temple. David spoke of it when he said “The Lord is in his holy temple, the Lord’s throne is in heaven (see Psalms 11:4).” 
2. (vs. 2).  Isaiah continued to say “Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly.”  Hovering above the throne Isaiah saw “seraphims” or angelic beings.  We are not told how many there were but we are told that “each one had six wings; with twain (or two) he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly.”  Each seraphim had six wings, two covered their faces, two covered their feet and two were used for flying.  Covering these parts reveal their respect and humility as they worshipped the Lord on His throne.  Having wings indicated that the seraphims were ready to go without delay wherever the One sitting on the throne commanded.       B. The worship and the atmosphere (Isaiah 6:3-4).
1. (vs. 3).  This verse says “And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory.”  Isaiah caught a glimpse of the seraphim in uninterrupted worship and praise as they chanted to each other “Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts.”  One of the outstanding facets of heaven will certainly be our ability to praise God without any of the distractions that hinder our worship here on earth.  The Hebrew word translated “holy” means “set apart for God’s use” and can be applied to things, places, and persons.  There is a moral aspect to holiness.  God is totally pure and righteous, not only in a way that is apart from evil, but also in a way that is totally and actively at war with evil (see Ephesians 6:11-18).  God’s holiness left an indelible impression upon Isaiah.  On twenty-nine occasions he referred to the Lord as “the Holy One of Israel.”  This title occurs only five other times in the Old Testament.  Note:   It is said that uttering the word “holy” twice in Hebrew indicated the idea of being “most holy.”  Therefore, a threefold utterance of “holy, holy, holy” increases the intensity to mean the highest of the highest.  Since human language is not capable of adequately describing the holiness of God, this is the best that can be offered.  It has been noted by some theologians that since each seraphim had three sets of wings and they say “holy” three times these may be Old Testament hints of the Trinity, a doctrine more fully developed in the New Testament.  But two extremes must be avoided here.  It is not proper to say, for example, that repeating “holy” three times proves the Trinity.  In other words, we should not assume that the Trinity is referred to whenever we see three of anything in Scripture.  It would also be improper to say that those things have no impact whatsoever on a discussion of the doctrine of the Trinity.  What we can do is see the threefold use of “holy” as one of the various pointers scattered throughout the Old Testament relating to the Trinity but not as conclusive proof of it.  The praise of the seraphim continued with the statement that “the whole earth is full of his glory.”  In other words, the fullness of all creation is God’s glory.  His glory includes creation and the way everything He has made fits together.  However, it goes even further than that.  God’s holiness is something that for the most part remains hidden, while His glory is something that is designed to be made known.
2. (vs. 4).  In response to the praise of the seraphims this verse says “And the posts of the door moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke.  No doubt the force of the praise spoken by the seraphim caused the temple to shake.  We must realize that God let this happen in such a way so that the structure was not harmed.  In addition to the temple shaking, “the house was filled with smoke.”  Some believe that the smoke was a manifestation of God’s presence as on other occasions in Israel’s history (see Exodus 19:18).  This may be true, but the smoke could have come from the burning incense on the altar (see vs. 6; Leviticus 16:13-11).  Another possibility is that the smoke was indicative of God’s wrath against Judah (see Psalms 18:8).  The verses immediately after our lesson text give an indication of God’s anger with Judah.
III.  HOLINESS AND AN AWARENESS OF SIN (Isaiah 6:5).  When Isaiah saw the Lord, he immediately looked at himself and said “Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts..”   The word “woe” means deep sorrow, grief or affliction.  Realizing that he was not fit to be in God’s presence after witnessing His holiness, Isaiah was in deep sorrow and said “for I am undone.”  The Hebrew word for “undone” means “to perish.”  Isaiah thought he was going to die after seeing God’s glory.  He gave two reasons why he thought his death was imminent:
A. First, Isaiah said “because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips.”  The overwhelming power and purity of God compelled Isaiah to see himself as he really was---a sinful, imperfect man.  Just as we see the dirt on a garment as we put it closer to the light, we can see the dirt of our lives the closer we are to God and His holiness.  Isaiah also acknowledged the sinfulness of his people. He expressed this by saying his lips were unclean and so were the lips of all the people among whom he lived.  Note: Remember the statement in James 3:6, “the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity.”  We all can think of sinful things we have said.  Isaiah was not an ungodly man, but the more he understood of God’s holiness, the more he understood of his own sinfulness.  The prophet most likely mentioned his lips in particular because he had just heard praise from the lips of morally perfect beings, the seraphim.
B. The second reason Isaiah thought he would die was “for mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts.”   Isaiah had no doubt about what he saw and he equated this with imminent death because he knew that no person can look upon God and live (see Exodus 33:20).  However, as noted earlier, he didn’t actually see God the Father but God the Son.  Otherwise he would have died as he feared.  Here, he identified God as “the King, the Lord of hosts.”  The word “hosts” means armies.  Note: Isaiah’s realization of his own sinfulness came through comparison of his own holiness with the absolute holiness of God shown visibly by the pre-incarnate Christ.  Sometimes we get a distorted picture of ourselves because we compare ourselves with vile sinners and get the idea that when compared to them we are quite good.  However, comparing ourselves to sinners is not a very good standard of measurement.  God must remain our standard of comparison.
IV. HOLINESS AND CLEANSING (Isaiah 6:6-7)
A. Divine fire (Isaiah 6:6).  After Isaiah’s confession he said “Then flew one of the seraphims unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar.”  Isaiah saw one of the seraphim (indicating that there was more than one) “having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar.”  Using a pair of tongs, the seraph removed a hot coal from the altar and held it in his hand as he flew towards Isaiah.  At this point we can see that Isaiah saw the seraphim as having bodies similar to those of humans, but with wings.  One may wonder if the seraph was burned when he took the hot coal in his hand.  Most likely he was not.  In our present state we cannot understand what happened anymore than we can understand how Christ’s resurrection body could pass through solid objects.  The important point was what the seraph did with the hot coal and what it symbolized in the next verse.
B. Divine cleansing (Isaiah 6:7).  Isaiah continued to say “And he laid it upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged.”  As the seraph touched Isaiah’s lips with the hot coal, he said “thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged.”  This was not an account of Isaiah’s conversion because he believed in God before this incident.  What we see here is Isaiah’s cleansing and purification for greater service to God.  Isaiah was an unclean vessel.  At that moment the prophet knew his lips had been purified, his “iniquity taken away” and his “sin purged.”  The verb translated “purged” means “to atone for,” “to cover,” “to forgive.”  As mentioned earlier, the word “seraphim” means “burning ones.”  The act of one of them taking a burning coal off the altar and touching Isaiah with it was a meaningful, symbolic gesture meant to show the complete removal of Isaiah’s unworthiness by burning it all away.  Note: The hot coal taken from the altar of incense is emblematic of God’s purifying work and involves repentance which is painful.  Experience tells us that there is truth in this statement.  When any person, especially a believer comes face to face with the ugliness of his or her own sinfulness, there is emotional pain in facing the truth.  Genuine repentance is often accomplished by the flowing of tears as we face the stark realization of our failure before God.  We need to spend much time studying God in order to help us develop a realistic view of self.
V. HOLINESS AND SERVICE (Isaiah 6:8).  In our final verse, Isaiah writes “ Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me.”  Once Isaiah had been cleansed, he heard the voice of the Lord Himself asking “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?”  The wording indicates that God was speaking to others in His heavenly council.  The use of the word “us” is a reference to the Triune God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  The Father was speaking to the other two Persons of the Godhead asking who could be sent on Their behalf to carry out Their work.  Upon hearing this, Isaiah realized that he was now ready and willing to do whatever the Lord wanted him to do.  The prophet’s immediate response was “Here am I; send me.”  We need to see ourselves in the light of God’s holiness and then seek His cleansing.  Only then can we be ready to say, “Here am I; send me.”  Note: Isaiah responded before he knew what the commission or job was.  His blind response indicated complete readiness and trust in the One he would serve.  This is the type of response God desires from every one of His children.  The commission for Isaiah is recorded in Isaiah 6:9-10.  He would be a prophet sent to a rebellious hard-hearted people.  The work would not be easy.  Most would not listen to him or follow him even though he spoke for God and with His authority. 
                 
VI. Conclusion.  When Isaiah saw the Lord, he became more aware of God’s holiness.  Today we need to view God through the Bible to see Him in all His holiness.  This view of God could be overshadowed by our shortcomings, problems, and sin.  We must recognize our sinfulness, like Isaiah, and confess our sin.  When we do, God forgives us, and our iniquity is taken away.  It is only then that God can use us.  Are you ready to say, “Here am I; send me?”