Isaiah
Chapter 6
Isaiah’s Calling
In the year King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a throne high and exalted, with the train of his robe filling the temple.
Above him, seraphs hovered with six wings each: two covering their faces, two shielding their feet, and two for flying.
They were calling to one another:“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Sabaoth.All the earth is filled with his glory!”
At the sound of their voices, the foundations of the threshold shook, and the temple was filled with smoke.
I said: “Poor me! I am doomed! For I am a man of unclean lips living among a people of unclean lips, yet I have seen the King, the Lord Sabaoth.”
Then one of the seraphs flew to me; in his hands was a live coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar.
He touched my mouth with it and said: “See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin is forgiven.”
Then I heard the voice of the Lord: “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?” I answered: “Here I am. Send me!”
He said: “Go and say to this people: ‘Much as you hear, you will not understand; much as you see, you do not perceive.’
Let their hearts be hardened, make their ears deaf and their eyes blind; what a misfortune for them, should they hear and see! Yet, if they understood and came back to me, I would heal them.”
Then I said: “For how long, O Lord?”And he answered:“Until towns are laid waste and left without inhabitants; until the houses are deserted and the fields ruined and ravaged,
until the Lord has dispersed the people and the fields are left empty.
Even though a tenth remains, it will be burned. Yet there, a stump will stay like a fallen oak; this stump is a holy seed.”
Commentaries
Isaiah’s Calling.
After King Uzziah’s death, a period of war and destruction ensued, marked by notable events, including Judah’s conflict with the northern kingdom, which was allied with Syria in 734 B.C., the fall of Samaria in 722 B.C., the devastation of Judah, and Sennacherib’s siege of Jerusalem in 701 B.C. Amidst this bleak period, “the Lord of hosts” appears to Isaiah in all his splendor and glory; only the hem of his robe fills the sanctuary! Standing before the thrice Holy One, Isaiah recognizes his impurity and that of his people, fearing for his life (cf. Ex 33:20; Jn 1:18). Like Jeremiah (Jer 1:9), he needs his lips purified because he proclaims God’s Word. Willingness to respond to God’s call (8) shows he has been purified—called to proclaim his word to a people who refuse to listen. As the proverb says, “there is none so deaf as those who will not hear, and none so blind as those who will not see,” because “everyone who does evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed” (Jn 3:20). Verses 8-9 illustrate the prophet’s apparent failure, similar to Jesus’ experience with a hard-hearted crowd (cf. Mk 4:11-12; Jn 9:40-41). This leads to his anguished question, “How long, O Lord?” (11). Isaiah must trust and wait for the Lord, knowing the people will go through a trial by fire and desolation, from which a remnant will emerge—a new, holy shoot (11-13). The theme of God’s holiness, linked to people (“The Holy One of Israel”), echoes throughout the work (Is 1:4; 5:19, 24; 10:20; 12:6; 29:19; 30:11-12, 15; 41:14, 16, 16.20; 43:14; 45:11; 47:4; 48:17; 49:7; 54:5; 55:5; 60:9, 14).