Isaiah's Call

Illustration of Isaiah's Call
Era
Divided Kingdom
Date
c. 740 BC โ‰ˆ Approximate
Reference
Isaiah 6:1-8

In the year King Uzziah died, Isaiah saw the LORD 'high and lifted up,' seated on a throne with the train of his robe filling the temple, surrounded by seraphim crying 'Holy, holy, holy.' Overwhelmed by his own sinfulness in the presence of such holiness, Isaiah cried out 'Woe is me! for I am undone,' until a seraph touched his mouth with a live coal from the altar and declared his sin purged. When the LORD then asked, 'Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?' Isaiah answered without hesitation, 'Here am I; send me' - one of Scripture's clearest pictures of how encountering God's holiness leads to confession, cleansing, and then willing service.

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Key Passage

Isaiah's Call

Isaiah 6:1-8

I1n the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the LORD sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple.

2 Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly. 3 And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory. 4 And the posts of the door moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke. 5 Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts. 6 Then flew one of the seraphims unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar: 7 And he laid it upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged. 8 Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me.

Read full chapter: Isaiah 6 โ†’

Meanwhile in the World

Assyria becomes the world's first great empire, conquering from Egypt to Persia. Greece emerges from its Dark Age - the Olympic Games begin (776 BC). Rome is founded (753 BC). Carthage is established. This is the height of Assyrian military power and the rise of Greek city-states.

When: c. 930 - 586 BC

Key Civilizations: Neo-Assyrian Empire, Archaic Greece

Biblical Parallels: 1 Kings 12-22 , 2 Kings 1-25 , Isaiah 1-66

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Characters

Isaiah Isaiah was an 8th-century BCE prophet who ministered in the kingdom of Judah during a time of politicalโ€ฆ

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