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The divided kingdom · Isaiah 6

“Here Am I; Send Me”: The Call of Isaiah

In the year that King Uzziah died, Isaiah sees the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, the train of his robe filling the temple. Seraphim with six wings each call to one another: “Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory!” The doorposts shake, and the house fills with smoke. Isaiah cries out, “Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips.” One of the seraphim flies to him with a burning coal taken from the altar and touches his mouth: “thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged.” Then the voice of the Lord asks, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Isaiah answers, “Here am I; send me.” The mission will be hard, but as a terebinth or an oak keeps its stump when it is felled, a holy seed will rise again from the people.

What happens

  1. In the year of Uzziah’s death, Isaiah sees the Lord on a throne Isaiah 6:1
  2. The seraphim: “Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts!” Isaiah 6:2–3
  3. “Woe is me! for I am undone” Isaiah 6:5
  4. A burning coal touches his lips: his sin is purged Isaiah 6:6–7
  5. “Whom shall I send?” — “Here am I; send me” Isaiah 6:8
  6. A holy seed will rise again, like the stump of the oak Isaiah 6:13

Who is in this story

The lesson

Before God’s holiness, we take the measure of our sin; but God forgives, cleanses, and then sends. Someone who has been forgiven can answer the call: “Here am I; send me.”

Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me.
Isaiah 6:8

Quick quiz on this story

Which king has just died when Isaiah sees the Lord in the temple?

How many wings do the seraphim Isaiah sees have?

What does a seraph touch Isaiah’s mouth with?

There are many more questions like these in Bible Academy, each with its explanation and verse. Start your free trial.