The following excerpt from the book of Isaiah is important for us to understand the gravity of the situation in which the prophet was commissioned to prophethood: “In the year that king Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted, and the train of his rob filled the temple. Above him were seraphs, each with six wings: with two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. And they were calling to one another: ‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory.’ At the sound of their voices, the doorposts and the thresholds shook and the temple was full with smoke. “Woe to me!” I cried. “I am ruined” for I am a man of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty.”

Then one of the seraphs flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. With it he touched my mouth and said, “See this has toughed your lips, your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for.”  

Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us? And I said, “Here am I. Send me!”  He said, “Go and tell this people: “‘Be ever hearing, but never understanding; be ever seeing, but never perceiving.’ Make the heart of these people calloused; make their ears dull and close their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, understand with their hearts and turn and be healed.”

The vision and commission of Prophet IsaiahThen I said, “For how long, O Lord?”  And he answered, “Until the cities lie ruined and without inhabitants, until the houses are left deserted and the fields ruined and ravaged, until the Lord has sent everyone far away and the land is utterly forsaken. And though a tenth remains in the land it will be against waste. But as the terebinth and oak leave stumps when they are cut down, so the holy seed will be the stump in the land” (Isaiah 6).

Isaiah, the Prince of the prophets, also known as the most Christian prophet in the Old Testament saw the vision of Almighty and Holy God when his relative, king Uzziah died of leprosy after ruling over the people for about 50 years. The people of Judah that time went away from God. There was corruption and injustice all over. People became unholy in the sight of holy God in all their dealings individually and collectively. Their religious practices were sham, devoid of any spirituality. God denounced all their festivals and false religiosity thus; “Stop bringing meaningless offerings! Your incense is detestable to me . . . I cannot bear your evil assemblies.... they have become a burden to me; I am wearing of bearing them. When you spread your hands in prayer, I will hide my eyes from you. Even if you offer many prayers I will not listen.  Your hands are full of blood; wash and make yourselves clean. Take your evil deeds out of my sight! Stop doing wrong, learn to do right! Seek justice, encourage the oppressed, defend the cause of the fatherless, plead the case of the widow” (Isaiah 1:13-17).

In his vision, the prophet saw three distinct things: he saw the supreme holiness of God. God is a thrice-holy God. No other attribute of God is mentioned in such a way than his holiness and purity. This speaks of God’s otherness and separateness from all his creation. Also God is all supreme and almighty sovereign (Verses 1-4).

Isaiah realised the ungodliness of his people as well as his own imperfection to become a messenger of God. So, God sent a special angel to cleanse his impurity and remove his unworthiness so that he can speak on behalf of God as his prophet. The scenario was in the setting of the temple. There was the sacrificial system: burnt offering needed fire, etc. (verse 5-7).

 In the remaining portion of Isaiah 6, we read that the prophet also saw in his vision the nature and gravity of his call and the greatly challenging work as a God’s prophet to such an unrepentant people as Israel, people who were wayward and disobedient to God. Only after he was consecrated for his work as God’s prophet did he hear his voice and was commissioned for the work. God’s plurality of majesty is to be understood in the use of the personal pronouns, ‘I’ and ‘Us’.  God commissioned his prophet to speak to his disobedient people: He prophesied about the chastisement of his disobedient and stiff-necked people, who violated all his commandments which were given by the great Prophet Moses in the past. One cardinal and repeated commandment of God to Israel was: “Be holy, because I, the Lord, your God, am holy” (Leviticus 1:2). Let us try also to internalise the message of the scriptures in our own lives.
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The writer is a Christian Theology teacher and  Church leader