Dear Friends,

I hope you can attend our Bible tonight. We are beginning a new, multi-week study of Isaiah 6. Tonight's focus is on Isaiah 6:1.

LIVING THE CHRISTLIFE

WAYNE BARRETT

MAY 14, 2025

Isaiah 6

v. 1

In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of

his robe filled the temple.

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“In the year…”

Uzziah’s death, 739 – 735 BC

Isaiah’s relationship to Uzziah

It appears to have been a long and meaningful one

“Now the rest of the acts of Uzziah, from first to last, Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz

wrote.”—2 Chronicles 26:22

This reference seems less about establishing a chronological date and more about the

event itself and its significance—to Judah nationally and to Isaiah personally. As

when we note “end of an era.” (He had reigned 52 years.)

Uzziah’s reign – 2 Chronicles 26

And all the people of Judah took Uzziah, who was sixteen years old, and made him king instead

of his father Amaziah. 2 He built Eloth and restored it to Judah, after the king slept with his

fathers. 3 Uzziah was sixteen years old when he began to reign, and he reigned fifty-two years in

Jerusalem. His mother's name was Jecoliah of Jerusalem. 4 And he did what was right in the eyes

of the LORD, according to all that his father Amaziah had done. 5 He set himself to seek God in

the days of Zechariah, who instructed him in the fear of God, and as long as he sought the LORD,

God made him prosper.

6 He went out and made war against the Philistines and broke through the wall of Gath and the

wall of Jabneh and the wall of Ashdod, and he built cities in the territory of Ashdod and

elsewhere among the Philistines. 7 God helped him against the Philistines and against the

Arabians who lived in Gurbaal and against the Meunites. 8 The Ammonites paid tribute to

Uzziah, and his fame spread even to the border of Egypt, for he became very strong. 9 Moreover,

Uzziah built towers in Jerusalem at the Corner Gate and at the Valley Gate and at the Angle, and

fortified them. 10 And he built towers in the wilderness and cut out many cisterns, for he had

large herds, both in the Shephelah and in the plain, and he had farmers and vinedressers in the

hills and in the fertile lands, for he loved the soil. 11 Moreover, Uzziah had an army of soldiers,

fit for war, in divisions according to the numbers in the muster made by Jeiel the secretary and

Maaseiah the officer, under the direction of Hananiah, one of the king's commanders. 12 The

whole number of the heads of fathers' houses of mighty men of valor was 2,600. 13 Under their

command was an army of 307,500, who could make war with mighty power, to help the king

against the enemy. 14 And Uzziah prepared for all the army shields, spears, helmets, coats of

mail, bows, and stones for slinging. 15 In Jerusalem he made machines, invented by skillful men,

to be on the towers and the corners, to shoot arrows and great stones. And his fame spread far,

for he was marvelously helped, till he was strong.

16 But when he was strong, he grew proud, to his destruction. For he was unfaithful to the LORD

his God and entered the temple of the LORD to burn incense on the altar of incense. 17 But

2

Azariah the priest went in after him, with eighty priests of the LORD who were men of valor,

18 and they withstood King Uzziah and said to him, “It is not for you, Uzziah, to burn incense to

the LORD, but for the priests, the sons of Aaron, who are consecrated to burn incense. Go out of

the sanctuary, for you have done wrong, and it will bring you no honor from the LORD God.”

19 Then Uzziah was angry. Now he had a censer in his hand to burn incense, and when he became

angry with the priests, leprosy broke out on his forehead in the presence of the priests in the

house of the LORD, by the altar of incense. 20 And Azariah the chief priest and all the priests

looked at him, and behold, he was leprous in his forehead! And they rushed him out quickly, and

he himself hurried to go out, because the LORD had struck him. 21 And King Uzziah was a leper

to the day of his death, and being a leper lived in a separate house, for he was excluded from the

house of the LORD. And Jotham his son was over the king's household, governing the people of

the land.

22 Now the rest of the acts of Uzziah, from first to last, Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz wrote.

23 And Uzziah slept with his fathers, and they buried him with his fathers in the burial field that

belonged to the kings, for they said, “He is a leper.” And Jotham his son reigned in his place.

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He is in the lineage of Christ – Matthew 1:8-9

Like some others greatly used and blessed of God, Uzziah was one great in the Lord whose life

was also marked by a great failing (cf. Moses, David). And for this he was punished, but his

legacy was not erased.

“that King Uzziah died…”

Isaiah does not say if this vision came before or after the King died. “In the year” is not

synonymous with “after.”

But the death of Uzziah is the marker. It was change and uncertainty on a national scale.

This was certainly a time of great uncertainty for Isaiah. It is probably the case, that Uzziah was

the only king that Isaiah had ever known—and not just Isaiah.

It was a new season—and in this new season, God had a new word for Isaiah—perhaps when

Isaiah least expected it.

This can be mirrored in our own experiences. In the midst or aftermath of life-changing,

environment-altering events, God may have a new word, a renewed vision, and a new call for

us.

Note: some see Isaiah 6 as a depiction of Isaiah’s initial call. I am with those who see this as a

new vision and experience which the prophet experienced—and that the presence of chaps.

1-5 indicates, even if indirectly, that Isaiah was already a prophet.

“I saw the Lord…”

“I saw” – this is all the detail that the prophet gives. On its face, it seems to indicate that he

physically saw these things—even if what he was seeing was a vision. He may not have

known, himself. (cf. 2 Corinthians 12: 2-4 — “I know a man in Christ who fourteen years

ago was caught up to the third heaven—whether in the body or out of the body I do not

know, God knows. And I know that this man was caught up into paradise—whether in the

body or out of the body I do not know, God knows— and he heard things that cannot be told,

which man may not utter.”)

Lord – Adonai

“sitting upon a throne…”

3

We know that God is a Spirit. At the same time, the throne of God is taught throughout

Scripture.

It certainly represents his sovereignty (as all thrones do).

And God’s “throne” is all that is created (“But I say to you, ‘Do not take an oath at all, either by

heaven, for it is the throne of God, or by the earth, for it is his footstool…’”—Matthew 5:34-

35)

But it also is the case that God chooses to manifest himself upon a visible throne, where Christ

now reigns at his right hand (Heb. 12:2). There are many references in Revelation to the

Throne of God and of the Lamb.

“high and lifted up…”

This phrase may appear to be referencing the throne, but it certainly is referencing the Lord on

the throne, who is high and lifted up.

Cf. Is. 52:13 – “Behold, my servant shall act wisely; he shall be high and lifted up, and shall be

exalted.” Also, Is. 57:15 – “For thus says the One who is high and lifted up, who inhabits

eternity, whose name is Holy…”

We get the meaning of “high and lifted up,” but to consider them as complementary, not

repetitive: “high” seems to refer to God’s existence in fact, that he is above all things, that he

is high and all else is below him. “Lifted up” seems to refer to our, and creation’s, response

to God, that he is lifted up in our hearts, in our minds, in our worship, in our adoration, in our

praise.

Isaiah’s vision of God’s majesty, throughout his book, is incomparable.

“And the train of his robe …”

“train” – shuwl – hem, skirt. It means the bottom edge, the fullness of his robe. (From Oswalt,

Isaiah, “There is no evidence that robes had trains in the ancient Near East. šûlāyw refers to

the hem of the garment…”)

Some royal robes today (and bridal gowns) have very long and impressive trains. This does not

appear to be what Isaiah saw, but rather, a robe that in its fulness at the bottom, completely

filled the temple.

“filled the temple.”

“temple” here would be the Jewish temple on the earth, not a reference to some type of heavenly

throne room.

That the Lord’s hem (more lit.) “was filling the temple” signifies that everything about the

temple, from the worship and sacrifices to the Holy of Holies—everything about the temple

is unto him.

That the Lord is over all the earth is also affirmed often in this book—but this particular

description highlights the subservience of the temple to him whose presence is manifested in

the temple.

We are now reminded that we are the temple of God. This is both corporate, as the Church, and

individual.

Do you not know that you are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you? If anyone

destroys God's temple, God will destroy him. For God's temple is holy, and you are that

temple.—1 Corinthians 3:16-17

In these verses, “you” is plural. Paul is addressing the people of God, the Church.

Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have

from God?”—1 Corinthians 6:19

Here, Paul is exhorting individual believers not to live immorally.

In all of these cases, we are reminded that God’s temple is his holy possession and that all in and

from his temple is unto him.

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Isaiah 6 (ESV)

In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of

his robe filled the temple. 2 Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his

face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. 3 And one called to another and said:

“Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts;

the whole earth is full of his glory!”

4 And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled

with smoke. 5 And I said: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the

midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts!”

6 Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a burning coal that he had taken with tongs

from the altar. 7 And he touched my mouth and said: “Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is

taken away, and your sin atoned for.”

8 And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Then I said,

“Here I am! Send me.” 9 And he said, “Go, and say to this people:

“‘Keep on hearing, but do not understand;

keep on seeing, but do not perceive.’

10 Make the heart of this people dull,

and their ears heavy,

and blind their eyes;

lest they see with their eyes,

and hear with their ears,

and understand with their hearts,

and turn and be healed.”

11 Then I said, “How long, O Lord?”

And he said:

“Until cities lie waste

without inhabitant,

and houses without people,

and the land is a desolate waste,

12 and the LORD removes people far away,

and the forsaken places are many in the midst of the land.

13 And though a tenth remain 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.