Isaiah 6:5-7 – The Throne: Woe is Me!

Daily Devotional Bible Verses

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!”

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.” (Isaiah 6:5-7 ESV)

Isaiah witnessed the amazing reality of what goes on around Jesus every minute of every day; blazing angels covering their faces and feet in reverence and calling out in worship.

This encounter had a profound affect on him and urged his response,

“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!”

Isaiah responded in humility, realizing his utter lostness, his sin separating him from the pure holiness he stood before. Isaiah didn’t only admit his guilt, but that of his entire nation.

He admitted that, compared to Jesus, we are nothing. Jesus, though sitting on the throne of power, didn’t lord this reality over him or over us.

He didn’t banish Isaiah from his presence, commanding him to clean up and come back when he was a better man. He moved in compassion from the throne to cleanse and purify Isaiah, which prefigured what he would do for us.

Like that “burning coal” Jesus descended from his place of authority and power and let himself become powerless, even to the point of death (Phi 2:8).

Jesus lived as a man just like Isaiah, just like any of us. He was surrounded by the same temptation and sin yet, unlike Isaiah and us, he remained perfect.

Through his sacrifice on the cross he paid the penalty for sin, and through that spilled blood we are cleansed. As with Isaiah’s lips, “[our] guilt is taken away, and [our] sin atoned for.”

Like Isaiah, respond to Jesus’ divinity humbly and thankfully accept his sacrifice today.