1 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. 2 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. 3 And one called to another and said:“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!” 4 And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke. 5 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!” 6 Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar. 7 And he touched my mouth and said: “Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for. 8 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 6:1-8

One of the most misunderstood texts in all of the Bible is Isaiah 6:8, “Here I am! Send me.” This text is used from the standpoint of obedience and a lot of times for mission work. It is used without fully understanding the previous 7 verses, which gives much clarity to the purpose and the position of the Prophet Isaiah to obey the Lord in this call to his personal ministry.

The state of the nation at the time was that King Uzziah had died. More specifically, God struck him with leprosy and killed him. King Uzziah disobeyed God and put himself in the place of God and forced his way into the Temple. At this point the entire nation was is disarray. The people of the nation had their own “truth” and it was whatever they wanted it to be. Foreign nations saw that this nation was without a king and was set to attack. There was much confusion and stress. This state of the nation caused Isaiah, a believer in God, to seek for a way that the people could be made right before God. He knew that this nation needed to turn from its wicked ways and repent before God. So, in God’s Sovereignty, he prepared Isiah for ministry… and that begins in verse 1 of this chapter.

If Isaiah was going to speak on God’s behalf, he needed to have a proper understanding of the Holiness of God. He needed to see God as He is. He needed to see the Lord “High and lifted up.” Once Isaiah saw this, the immediate reaction was repentance. He realized the weight of his sin in comparison to the Holiness of God. There was a realization in Isaiah’s life that he was guilty and that his sin caused an infinite chasm between himself and the Holy God. He said, “Woe is me!” In other words, Isaiah was completely devastated at his sin in comparison to the Greatness of the Almighty God.

When the Seraphim reached down and touched Isaiah’s lips, his sins were forgiven. He was made right with God. And then the voice of the Lord cries out, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?”

Now, at this point, stop and consider this entire scene. This is an incredible movie-type scene, where Isaiah must be in awe of the presence of the Lord. His soul has been shook along with the Temple at the Glory and the Majesty of Holy God. Consider what must have been going through his mind and his heart, knowing that his sins were atoned for. He experienced the Greatness of God and the Mercy of God all in the same instant, like no one else can describe. Imagine this scene.

Now, go to verse 8 and see that the voice of the Lord cries out and says, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?”

The reason that God revealed Himself to Isaiah in this way is because Isaiah needed to have the proper understanding of the Holiness of God. If Isaiah did not correctly position himself in accordance with the Glory of God, then he would not have been able to carry out the incredibly massive mission that was given to him by God. The only possible reason that Isaiah was able to say, “Here I am! Send me,” was because his soul was shook by the presence of God.

This phrase, “Here I am! Send me,” is not some flippant response to a menial task from a casual believer in Christ. This response that we see in Isaiah 6:8 is one of reverent awe. It is a response of fear. It is a response of a soul-shaking experience with the Power of God unto salvation.

This response from Isaiah is what leads us to Isaiah 40:9, when Isaiah tells the people, “Go on up to a high mountain, O Zion, herald of good news, lift up your voice with strength, O Jerusalem, herald of good news; lift it up, fear not; say to to cities of Judah, ‘Behold Your God!’”