Isaiah 6:2- Seraphim stood over him; each one had six wings. With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and they used the remaining two to fly.

Isaiah 6 is a passage of scripture that I’ve read many times. It has Isaiah’s description of God in His heavenly temple, with seraphim angels standing over Him, calling out to one another about the holiness of the Lord of angel armies. Their worship made the doorframes shake! The temple was filled with smoke. 

Though I’ve read it many times, my attempts at visualizing what Isaiah described typically fell flat. But as I read it this time, I couldn’t get past the second verse without stopping to ponder, “Why were the angels covering their faces and feet with their wings?” So I did some research. One commentator wrote that they covered their feet in order to spare their glorious God from seeing the more humble, even potentially dusty or soiled part of themselves. Additionally, most commentators wrote either that the piercing brightness of God Almighty was too much for the angels’ naked eyes to look upon, or that the seraphim saw themselves as completely unworthy to do so.

That surprised me. After all, unless they are sent to carry out an assignment, these angels minister to God day and night They have been before God’s throne for millenniums, but apparently haven’t become used to His glory yet. Their amazement of El Shaddai hasn’t diminished one bit. The purity of His brilliance still astounds them and they just can’t get over the magnificence of His holiness. Unable to contain their wonder, they stand above God’s throne calling back and forth to one another, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord who commands armies! His majestic splendor fills the entire earth!” No sooner have they shouted those words than another wave of awe comes over them and they call out their praise once again. 

As I read this morning, I realized how my own awe of God falls so very short of where it should be. Until today I would not have thought this to be true. I’ve always thought that I lived my life before God with a reverent fear. But today I understood for the first time, what Isaiah realized:

Isaiah stood there, actually seeing God on His throne! He also saw angels who, though they ministered to Adonai constantly, weren’t comfortable with the idea of being “uncovered” in His presence. When Isaiah saw all of this, his reaction wasn’t, “Wow!”, or “Cool!”, or even “Awesome!” Instead, he was filled with fear! As the doorframes shook, you can bet that if he was wearing boots, Isaiah was quaking in them! His verbal response was an agonizing lament. “Woe is me, for I am undone!” Other versions read, “I am doomed!” Or “I am ruined!” You see, upon being given a vision such as few men ever have witnessed, that revelation opened his eyes to his own sinfulness. He said, (my paraphrase) “I’m ruined because I’m a man of unclean lips and live surrounded by people whose lips are just as sin-contaminated as mine. Not only that, I’ve just seen the God of the Universe who commands angel armies! Surely I’m a dead man!” 

I would expect that reaction from a scoundrel, but not Isaiah! I’m pretty sure that if in his time people cast votes for the annual “10 Most Righteous Men” list, he would have at the top year after year. In fact, if he looked around and compared himself to everybody else, he likely would have decided that he in fact was righteous, and cast his vote for himself! After all, he was the man God had used to prophesy His heart regarding Israel’s rebellion towards their loving God. Yet all it took was a vision of God in His throne room, for God’s prophet to cry, “I am undone!” 

What happened next tells me that God didn’t disagree with Isaiah’s assessment of himself, because He immediately dispatched one of the seraphim (highest order of angels) to cleanse Isaiah’s unclean lips by applying a hot coal from the altar. The angel then told Isaiah, “Your evil is removed; your sin is forgiven.” 

Lord, Jesus came to show us Your mercy, Your grace, Your love, Your forgiveness, and so much more. In Him, I am accepted by You, and I am so grateful for that. But I don’t ever want Your grace to be my excuse for any thoughts, words, or responses that don’t express holy awe of You. Please deepen my understanding of Your holy splendor, Your power, and Your dominion until just like Isaiah, I am undone! I don’t ever want my fear and reverence of You to be shoved aside by my love of You. Holy Spirit, awaken my heart to God’s might and majesty and may my highest praise always be expressed with Your unsurpassed glory in mind. 

P.S. I highly recommend that you get a cup of coffee, cozy up in a comfortable spot, and click on this link. It will take you to a commentary on Isaiah 6:2, written more than 100 years ago by a man named Alexander MacLaren. (You’ll have to scroll down to get to verse 2.)