Day 16 - Encountering Holiness

 Isaiah 6:5 (ESV) - 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!”

There are some amazing places of beauty on this earth: Niagara Falls, the Grand Canyon, Mount Everest, the Great Barrier Reef. These are places of stunning majesty and glory. Time spent in any of these places is a great privilege and can alter a person’s perspective on their personal life and place in the world.

Isaiah was a prophet of the Old Testament who never visited any of these glorious places. He was to be sent on a tough job: preach and prophesy to the wayward nation of Judah. Judah had turned its back on God and fallen into a lifestyle of injustice and meaningless religious ritual. But before Isaiah was to be sent by God, there was some work needed in his own life, which required an encounter with the holiness of God.

Isaiah’s perspective and entire life is turned upside down when he is given a vision of the Lord sitting high upon a throne surrounded by angelic beings.  The place is filled with smoke, the ground is shaking, and Isaiah hears one angel giving a “play by play” to another angel of what they see: “HOLY HOLY HOLY is the Lord of hosts; may his glory fill the whole earth!” “Holy” literally means “consecrated and set apart.” Imagine the terror Isaiah felt when immersed in the majesty and “otherness” of God. The whole scene turns personal very quickly, as Isaiah’s perspective on himself and his place in life are altered by his encounter with the Holy. He cries out, first at a deep personal level: “Woe is me! For I am lost. I am a man of unclean lips.” Isaiah’s encounter with the real and palpable holiness of God forced him to take a hard look at his own life—not his neighbor nor his church—but himself.

In the piercing reality of God’s holiness, Isaiah recognized his own sin and unworthiness. Thankfully, the encounter does not end there. As Isaiah comes to a reoriented understanding of the state of his soul in light of God’s holiness, he experiences God’s forgiveness. Now he is ready to be sent.

PONDER: If you had a deeper sense of the holiness of God, how would that change your perspective on life?

REFLECTION or DISCUSSION:
Isaiah was given an incredible vision from God. He was given the privilege of glimpsing the throne room of God. In response to the vision, Isaiah felt unworthy. He felt unclean and ruined because he, a sinner, was in the presence of the perfect and holy God.

Read Isaiah 6:1-3, Revelation 4:3-6, & Revelation 5:11-13. What kind of picture of heaven do you get from these passages? Using these verses to guide you, draw a picture of what heaven might be like.