Burning Lips of Isaiah’s Prophecies

Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

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” (Isaiah 6:8, ESV).

I’ve listened to believers repeat the prayer of Isaiah in a moment of passion and emotional conviction, “Here I am, Lord! Send me.” A great prayer, but what had Isaiah just experienced that caused this prayer?

In Isaiah 6, the prophet describes a vision of seeing God on His throne, and in this vision, he hears the Seraphim surrounding God call out, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!”

How did Isaiah respond?

And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke. 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!” (Isaiah 6:4-5).

After experiencing God, Isaiah had one thought, “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips.” Yes, Isaiah prayed, “Here I am! Send me,” but it was a statement born of his abject opinion of his own righteousness and self-importance. 

Listening to the prophets of social media in our culture, I wonder about their experiences before they claimed (or at least considered themselves) worthy of speaking to millions. I know of a media elite with millions of listeners who gave testimony of spending a night experiencing what I would describe as a demonic attack and has now become a leading anti-Israel critic. Others claim listeners through shock-jock-style insults and sensual innuendos, and most claim authority only because they have large followings.

Do we have any Isaiahs available today?

Probably not; the requirements would be too costly. Let’s understand what else happened to Isaiah that most influencers today would avoid… 

And I said: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips … 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 6:6-7).

We need more talking heads, politicians, leaders, and even pastors whose lips have been touched by burning coal!

But through this experience, when God said, “Whom shall I send…?” Isaiah said, “Here I am! Send me.” And what a “sending” Isaiah had as God’s spokesman! In the Book of Isaiah, we have numerous prophecies about the first coming of Christ, including the virgin birth, predictions of John the Baptist, and the “suffering servant” descriptions of Jesus on the cross.

Isaiah also gave prophecies about the second coming of Jesus, including the Lord’s coming in judgment and glory, a new heaven and earth, and as many revelations of the end times as the Book of Revelation. But what I find interesting is that after Isaiah had his glory-of-the-Lord and burning-coal experiences with God, his prophecies predict the future glory of Israel in the end times. 

He became a major prophet for Israel’s future!

He will raise a signal for the nations and will assemble the banished of Israel, and gather the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth (Isaiah 11:12).

And the ransomed of the Lord shall return and come to Zion with singing; everlasting joy shall be upon their heads (Isaiah 35:10).

I will rejoice in Jerusalem and be glad in my people; no more shall be heard in it the sound of weeping and the cry of distress (Isaiah 65:19).

Having lived about 2,800 years ago, Isaiah can’t physically prophecy today, but his “being sent by God” ministry of proclamation has as much relevance today as when he spoke.

For us, we should listen to the coal-fire predictions of Isaiah, rather than the self-glorifying and too often deluding lips of today.