King Uzziah died, (2 Chron. 26:16) “…Uzziah’s heart was lifted up…he transgressed against the LORD by entering the temple to burn incense.” That could only done by the priests so, God struck Uzziah with leprosy. Honoring and obeying God is of GREATEST IMPORTANCE…
Isaiah says,“…I SAW THE LORD sitting on a throne, HIGH AND LIFTED UP…Above it stood seraphim; each one had six wings…And one cried to another and said: “HOLY, HOLY, HOLY (Holy is repeated three times to represent the Trinity) IS THE LORD of hosts; The whole earth is full of His glory!” So I said: “Woe is me, for I am undone! Because I am a man of unclean lips, For my eyes have seen the King, The LORD of hosts. Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a LIVE COAL…he touched my mouth with it, and said: “Behold, this has touched your lips; Your iniquity is TAKEN AWAY, And your sin PURGED (eliminated).” (Isa. 6:1-7)
Isaiah was not alone in seeing God’s throne. Almost everyone in the Bible who had a vision of heaven, was taken to heaven, or wrote about heaven spoke of God’s throne.
- The prophet Michaiah saw God’s throne (1 Kings 22:19).
- Job saw God’s throne (Job 26:9).
- David saw God’s throne (Psa. 9:4,7, 11:4)
- The Sons of Korah saw God’s throne (Psa. 45:6, 47:8)
- Ethan the Ezrahite saw God’s throne (Psa. 89:14).
- Jeremiah saw God’s throne (Lam. 5:19)
- Ezekiel saw God’s throne (Ezek. 1:26, 10:1)
- Daniel saw God’s throne (Dan. 7:9)
- The Apostle John saw God’s throne (Rev. 4:1-11). In fact, the book of Revelation may as well be called “the book of God’s throne,” because God’s throne is specifically mentioned more than 35 times in that book!
This “live coal” must have been painful; a burning hot coal applied to Isaiah’s lips, one of the more sensitive areas of the body. Yet, nothing is written that he reacted in pain. Either there was no pain, because of a SPECIAL BLESSING BY GOD, or the pain did not matter because of the majesty of the surroundings and the goodness of the cleansing. “Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin.” (Psa. 51:2)
-Bill Stockham