Isaiah

Isaiah 6: The holy King cleanses and sends

Begin in prayer

Before Isaiah sees the King on His throne, let us bow in reverence. Ask God to uncover our sin, show us the glory of Christ and make our family willing to hear His Word.

Let them praise your great and awesome name. He is Holy!

Psalm 99:3

Father in heaven, please open our eyes as we read Your Word. Show us the holiness of Your Son and our need of cleansing. Make us ready to receive what You say. Make us more like Jesus. And please bless our family as we worship You together. In Jesus' name, Amen.

See where we're going

In the year King Uzziah dies, Isaiah sees the Lord enthroned with His robe filling the temple. Winged seraphim call out His holiness, and the thresholds shake as smoke fills the house. Isaiah confesses that his lips and his people’s lips are unclean before this King. A seraph touches his mouth with a coal from the altar and announces forgiveness. Cleansed Isaiah offers to go, and God sends him to speak a word that will harden the people. Cities will become waste, yet a holy seed remains like a stump after a tree is felled.

As you read Isaiah 6, look for the answers:

Reflect together

Key truth

The holy King cleanses guilty lips and sends His word of judgment.

An earthly king has died, and Isaiah sees the King whose throne has not fallen. Even the seraphim cover their faces before His holiness. To be holy is to be set apart, pure and without any sin, and the seraphim cry it three times over. Isaiah’s confession answers the holiness he hears, because sinful speech cannot stand before this King. Cleansing comes from the altar to Isaiah before any offer of service. Forgiven lips can now carry the Lord’s message. Yet the commission includes judgment, making hearts unresponsive until the land is emptied. Isaiah must speak God’s word even when it brings hardening and no welcome. The surviving stump holds hope through the judgment, which will reach even the tenth that remains.

How does Isaiah 6 show us that the holy King cleanses guilty lips and sends His word of judgment?

The Lord is holy and full of glory.

The seraphim call His holiness to one another while covering their faces and feet. The whole earth is full of His glory. John says Isaiah saw the glory of Jesus and spoke about Him (John 12 verse 41).

God provides cleansing before sending Isaiah.

Isaiah names his own unclean lips before speaking of the people around him. The coal touches the place he has confessed. His forgiveness rests on what God provides, before he volunteers to serve.

God’s message will judge a hardened people.

God tells Isaiah to make their ears heavy and shut their eyes. This is a sentence of judgment that leaves cities empty. Even the remaining tenth faces consuming judgment, while God preserves the holy seed as a stump.

Memorise

Holy, holy, holy, is Yahweh of Armies! The whole earth is full of his glory!

Isaiah 6:3

Looking to Jesus in my life

Ask yourself in your heart, what do my words reveal about the cleansing I need from Jesus?

Isaiah cries, “Woe is me! For I am undone,” because he has seen the holy King. The Lord provides cleansing where Isaiah confesses uncleanness. Guilty lips become lips He sends.

John identifies the glory Isaiah saw with Jesus (John 12 verse 41). This glorious King was crushed for His people and suffered the death their guilt demanded. The Father raised Him in victory, and nothing more is left for sinners to offer before the holy God. His blood answers the guilt of all who confess their sin and trust Him.

Turn from your sin and trust this King. Confess what your lips have said, and stop blaming the people around you. Jesus grants forgiveness to all who rest in Him. The King whose holiness makes sinners tremble gives them cleansing through His completed sacrifice.

Parent's note

Tell your children that Isaiah received cleansing before he offered service. Explain the hardening commission as God’s judgment, without softening it. Please do not tell them they are saved just because they grew up in a Christian home. Call each child to turn from sin and trust Jesus, and pray that God would give them a new heart.

Pray together

Now please close your time together in prayer. Thank God that the holy King provides cleansing and speaks His word, and bring the heart question to Him. Every child can pray, so let each one say a short prayer if they want to.

A cloud came, overshadowing them, and a voice came out of the cloud, “This is my beloved Son. Listen to him.

Mark 9:7

Holy Lord, thank You for showing Your glory and providing cleansing for guilty people. Please bring us to repent and trust Jesus. Forgive sinful speech through His sacrifice. As we speak and listen this week, teach us reverence for every word You have given. Amen.