B A 1. The Vision. (General).
B n 2-4. The Seraphs.
o 5. The Prophet. (Defiled).
n 6. A Seraph.
o 7. The Prophet. (Cleansed).
A 8-. The Voice. (Particular).
B p -8. The Messenger. "Then said I".
q 9,10. Answer and Message.
p 11-. Thee Messenger. :Then said I".
q -11-13. Answer and Promise.649-588 B.C.
Isaiah 6)
1 In the year that king Uzziah (contrast this leprous king with the glorious king of v.5) died (in a separate house. This completes the contrast. See 2 Chron. 26:21) I saw (Heb. râ’âh = to see clearly. As in v.6; 21:6,7. Not the same word as in 1:1; 13:1) also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and His train filled the temple.
2 Above it (i.e. the throne) stood the seraphims (= burning ones. No Article. Celestial beings, named but unexplained. Name used of the serpents [Num. 21:6] because of the burning effect produced by them, just as năchăsh was used of a snake because of its shining skin [Num. 21:9], as well as the shining one of Gen. 3:1. See Gen. 3:1. Num. 21:6,9. Sept reads "and seraphs stood round about Him"): each one had six wings; with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he did fly.
3 And one cried to another, and said, “Holy, holy, holy (holy = set apart or separate. See Ex. 3:5. Fig., put for intense and solemn emphasis. Cp. the threefold blessing of Num. 6:34-26 and Rev.4:8, a threefold unity), is the Lord of hosts: the whole earth is full of His glory.”
4 And the posts of the door moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke (what causes smoke?).
5 Then said I, “Woe is me! for I am dumb (or lost. The essence of true conviction is a concern for what I am, not for what I have done or not done); because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a People of unclean lips: for my eyes have seen (cp. Job 42:5) the King (contrast "king Uzziah, v.1), the Lord of hosts.”
6 Then flew (cp. "ran" [Luke 15:20]) one of the burning ones to me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar (see Ex. 25:38; 37:23. Num. 4:9):
7 And he laid it upon my mouth, and said, “Lo, this has touched your lips; and your iniquity is taken away, and your sin covered” (Heb. kâphar = to cover, and thus, here, atone. See Ex. 29:33. Not the same word as in 1:25; 4:4 ).
8 Also I heard the voice of the Lord (see the Structure of the Book of Isaiah. This is the voice from the Temple concerning the "scattering", corresponding with 40:3,6, which is the voice from the wilderness concerning the "gathering"), saying, “Whom shall I send (this was not Isaiah's original commission to prophecy, but his special commission for this great dispensational prophecy. Chapters 1-5 form a general introduction to the whole Book), and who will go for Us?” (see Gen. 1:26; 3:22; 11:7)
Then said I, “Here am I; send me.” (a minister of fire. There is a job that must be done)
9 And He said, “Go, and tell this People, ‘You all hear indeed, but understand not; and you all see indeed, but perceive not.’
10 Declare (or foretell) that the heart of this People will be fat (Isaiah could do no more. A common Hebrew idiom. This prophecy is of the deepest import in Israel's history. Written down 7 times [7 = spiritual completeness, or perfection. Matt. 13:14. Mark 4:12. Luke 8:10. John 12:40. Acts 28:26,27. Rom. 11:8]. Solemnly quoted in 3 great dispensational crises:- (1) By Christ [Matt.13:14], as coming from Yahaveh on the day a council was held to "destroy Him"; (2) By Christ, as coming from Messiah in His glory [John 12:40,41] after council was taken to "put Him to death" [John 11:53, and cp. 12:37]; (3) By Paul, as coming from the Holy Spirit when, after a whole day's conference, they "believed not" [Acts 28:25-27]), and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and turn (or return), and be healed." (Just in time to be blinded by the antichrist!)
11 Then said I, “the Lord, how long?” (for answer see Rom.11:25)
And He answered, “Until the cities be desolate for want of inhabitant, and the houses without mankind, and the ground (or soil) be utterly desolate (see 1:7),
12 And the Lord have removed mankind far away, and there be a great forsaking in the midst of the land (= apostasy, not one follower left. See 1:4).
13 Still, there is in it [the land] a tenth part; and it [the tenth part] shall again be swept away; yet, as with the terebinth and oak, whose life remains in them when felled, the set apart seed will be the life thereof. (This is no "interpolation"; it is necessary to complete the Structure. His Truth shall go marching on! See Luke 12:47-49)