ISAIAH
Isaiah 6:4-5

quote:

"And the foundations of the thresholds trembled at the voice of him who called out, while the temple was filling with smoke. 5 Then I said, "Woe is me, for I am ruined! Because I am a man of unclean lips, And I live among a people of unclean lips; For my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts.""

With the seraphim crying one to another the foundations of the threshold shook. As they chant praise, the Temple was also being filled with smoke. Many times in the Presence of God there was a presence of smoke, which would have produced a quiet reverence.

In the instant that Isaiah sees the Lord on His throne, he can think only of his own uncleanness and he bursts out in an agonizing cry of "Woe!". He had just seen the seraphim cover their faces before the Holy God and he recognized his own unworthiness. Seeing himself as a man who was unclean, he regretted that his unclean lips disqualified him from joining in the praise. The passage clearly teaches that purity of lips can come only from God. Though Isaiah truly believed in and served the Lord, it was the Lord's desire to enable him to serve in an even greater measure and, therefore, the Lord was extending his favor towards Isaiah and raising him to a higher level of respect that he might have greater influence over Judah.

Isaiah also thought of himself as being "undone" because, having seen the King on His throne, he realized the great gulf between God and himself. The nearer to God one draws, the more sensitive to sin one becomes. When we see God in His proper place, we can only fall on our faces before Him. It was humble servants like Isaiah that God used for His purpose of reaching a people who were blind and could not see. He lived among a people of unclean lips, who for the most part ultimately refused to listen to the prophet and to acknowledge their need of God.