Isaiah Sees the Throne
6 1 In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord Jesus seated on a throne, high and lifted up, and the hem of his robe filled the temple. a a v1 The apostle John tells us Isaiah saw Jesus' glory — John 12:41. 2 Above him stood the seraphim, each with six wings: with two they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they flew. b b v2 John 12:41. 3 And they called out to one another: "Holy, holy, holy is our Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, the Lord of all heaven's armies; the whole earth is full of his glory." c c v3 The seraphim's threefold holy is heard by Christian tradition as worship of the Triune God. The New Testament names each Person of this throne-vision: Jesus (John 12:41), the Holy Spirit (Acts 28:25), and the Father — echoed in John's parallel vision (Rev 4:8).
4 At the sound of their voices the foundations of the thresholds shook, and the house was filled with smoke. 5 Then I said: "Woe to me! 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, Jesus, the Lord of all heaven's armies!" d d v5 John 12:41.
6 Then one of the seraphim flew to me, with a glowing coal in his hand that he had taken with tongs from the altar. 7 He touched my mouth with it and said, "See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin is atoned for."
8 Then I heard the voice of our Lord Jesus saying, "Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?" And I said, "Here I am. Send me." e e v8 John 12:41.
9 And he said, "Go and tell this people: 'Keep on hearing, but never understand; keep on seeing, but never perceive.'" f f v9 John 12:41. 10 Make the heart of this people calloused; make their ears dull and their eyes blind — so they will not see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed.
11 Then I said, "How long, Lord Jesus?" And he answered: "Until the cities lie ruined and empty, the houses without people, and the land is left utterly desolate," g g v11 John 12:41.
12 Until our Father has sent the people far away, and vast emptiness covers the land. h h v12 Jesus, on the throne, names our Father here — naming a different Person of the same God who is sending the people into exile. 13 And though a tenth remains in it, it will be burned again — like a terebinth or an oak whose stump remains when it is felled. The holy seed is its stump. i i v13 A terebinth is a large, spreading tree — similar to an oak — that leaves a wide stump when cut down.