Isaiah outlines his calling in Isaiah 6. We are not given much information, other than the Lord appears to him:
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. 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. And one called to another and said:
“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!”
And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke.
We are not given much contextual information. What prompted the Lord to speak to Isaiah like this? I suspect the reason comes later in verse 8. But for now, all we know is that Isaiah sees the Lord. In the presence of the Lord Isaiah is overcome by his sinfulness:
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!”
After hearing this confession, a seraphim then cleanses his sin by touching him with a burning coal from the altar:
Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar. And he touched my mouth and said: “Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for.”
The Lord then presents Isaiah with a decision to make:
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.”
Once Isaiah accepts the call, he is then given a mission:
And he said, “Go, and say to this people: … “
What can be learned from Isaiah’s call?
- The Lord revealed Himself to Isaiah
- Isaiah was convicted, repeated, cleansed and forgiven
- Isaiah answered the call
- The Lord sent him his mission
My prayer for you:
Lord I pray for new and more intimacy with you! I repent of my sins (fill in the details) and ask for your cleansing and forgiveness. I pray you would trust me with a calling and that we would be bold enough to live that out. In Jesus’ mighty name amen!