GOD IS … HOLY
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Opening Prayer
Father in Heaven, as I come into your presence, I ask you to forgive my sins and create a clean heart in me. Thank you for your mercy that not only pardons but also cleanses.
Read ISAIAH 6
For additional translations of the passage, use this link to Bible Gateway.
Isaiah’s Commission
6 In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord, high and exalted, seated on a throne; and the train of his robe filled the temple. 2 Above him were seraphim, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. 3 And they were calling to one another:
“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty;
the whole earth is full of his glory.”
4 At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke.
5 “Woe to me!” I cried. “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty.”
6 Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. 7 With it he touched my mouth and said, “See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for.”
8 Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?”
And I said, “Here am I. Send me!”
9 He said, “Go and tell this people:
“‘Be ever hearing, but never understanding;
be ever seeing, but never perceiving.’
10 Make the heart of this people calloused;
make their ears dull
and close their eyes.
Otherwise they might see with their eyes,
hear with their ears,
understand with their hearts,
and turn and be healed.”
11 Then I said, “For how long, Lord?”
And he answered:
“Until the cities lie ruined
and without inhabitant,
until the houses are left deserted
and the fields ruined and ravaged,
12 until the Lord has sent everyone far away
and the land is utterly forsaken.
13 And though a tenth remains in the land,
it will again be laid waste.
But as the terebinth and oak
leave stumps when they are cut down,
so the holy seed will be the stump in the land.”
Reflect
If you could choose three adjectives to describe God, what would they be? Why are these three adjectives particularly important or special to you?Before his election victory in 1997, former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair said that his government’s three highest priorities would be ‘education, education, education.’ Now you’ve read the passage and the seraphim’s song (v. 3), I wonder what three words you chose to describe God.
I get the feeling Isaiah struggled to find the words to describe what he saw: seraphim (literally ‘burning ones’), smoke, the hem of God’s robe, and singing so filling the temple that it shook (vv. 1–4). However, what matters most isn’t what Isaiah saw but what he heard. ‘Holy, holy, holy’ (v. 3) is more than simple repetition. It means something like ‘most holiest.’ ‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty’—and therefore so should his people be, reflecting God’s character.
Isaiah knew how far they (and he) had fallen short (v. 5). He was sent to warn them of that, to call them back to God, to repent and be healed—though God knew they wouldn’t listen (vv. 9, 10). Will you?
Apply
Read verse 8. Isaiah was willing to go, to be sent by God—even before he knew what God wanted! Reflect on the places God sends you each day—home, work, shops, etc. Wherever you go, how can you reflect God’s holy character? Might God be calling you to something new, like Isaiah?
Closing prayer
Father in Heaven, having saved me, help me strive for holiness in everything I do. I want to hate sin as you do, and in the power of Jesus, turn from it.
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