A Vision of God’s Glory

In the year of King Uzziah’s death, Isaiah received a third vision. The year was 740 BC. Uzziah had been living in isolation for ten years because he had been struck with leprosy. God had blessed this good king with success in everything he did because he had obeyed the LORD. He was victorious over his enemies, he had become rich, he had grown strong and then his pride got the worst of him. He thought he was mighty enough to walk into the Temple, grab some tongs from the altar of incense, fill a censer in the Holy Place, and burn incense like he was a priest before the LORD near the veil to the Most Holy Place where the Ark of the Covenant was. 

Uzziah was wrong. He was immediately rebuked by the priests, who reminded him that it was not the king’s job to burn incense, in fact he had no business being where he was standing. That task and place was for the priests to minister. Uzziah had been struck in the moment with leprosy and he ran out of the Temple so fast because he realized the judgment of God was on him. Embarrassed and frightened, he went into seclusion until the day he died and his son Jotham managed the kingdom until his death. 

In the year of King Uzziah’s death, Isaiah saw the Lord sitting on His glorious throne, high and lifted up, with the train of his robe filling the Temple. The Temple was God’s throne room and the Ark of the Covenant is His throne. While the king of Judah lay dead, the true King of Judah (and Israel - yes even the whole world!) was sitting firmly on His throne. His kingship was so glorious that the train of his robe filled the entire Temple. The length of a king’s robe showed how powerful and vast his kingdom was - and God’s train filled everything. 

Where Uzziah had entered the Temple out of his pride and got struck down, Isaiah witnesses this vision and is humbled. He see seraphim surrounding the throne of God, each with side wings. These angelic beings are flying around the Throne and crying out continually, ‘Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of Hosts, the whole earth is filled with His glory!’ The foundations of the threshold trembled at the voice of the angel and the Temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God. 

In that instance Isaiah saw what most people never see, he saw the Glory of God who is sovereign over all creation. The might and glory of even the most illustrious king on earth is nothing compared to the Glory of the One True God. In response, Isaiah cried out because he knew he was ruined. He feared for his own life, calling out ‘Woe is me, for I am ruined! Because I am a man of unclean lips, dwelling among a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts.” He was struck by the magnificent glory of God and in that moment realized just how sinful and unclean he was. 

God in His mercy sent one of the seraphim to Isaiah. The angel took the tongs that Uzziah had taken out of pride, pulled out a burning coal from the Altar of Incense before the Throne of God, and touched the unclean lips of Isaiah with the coal. He proclaimed as he did that, ‘Behold, this has touched your lips; and your iniquity is taken away, and your sin is forgiven.’ Where Uzziah had deemed himself worthy and was immediately rebuked, judged with leprosy, and humbled, Isaiah humbled himself and cried out over his own sins, realizing he was unworthy to see what he had been shown, and he found grace and forgiveness. 

Isaiah was reminded that it does not matter who the earthly kings are because God is seated on His throne and He is sovereign over all. He is King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Men rise and fall. Kingdoms come and go. God never changes. The whole earth is full of His glory. No king of man will ever be as glorious and mighty as God is. It is to Him we should look, listen to His words, and obey what He tells us to do. And when we see Him for Who He really Is, the proper response is total surrender to His will.