Holy, Holy, Holy: The Gospel According to Isaiah Six

After the Bible, no other book has so thoroughly shaped my soul than R.C. Sproul’s classic work, The Holiness of God. When I first read The Holiness of God as a young believer, I felt like a mountain fell on my head—the very Mountain of mountains. Almost at once, it seemed as though a great weight was lifted from my shoulders just as readily as another crushing reality—that of God’s holy character, as though seen clearly for the first time—came barrelling down upon my heart.

Once I saw the Lord high and lifted up, everything about Christianity began to slip into place and finally make proper sense. The Fall, the Gospel, election, predestination, Christ’s finished work on the cross, eternal judgement, the joys of Heaven, all of it came into clear focus only after I saw the Lord God for who He truly is—holy, holy, holy. Suddenly, any arguments in my mind preoccupied with fairness and man’s choice fell to the wayside and worship swiftly flooded into place.

This year, I began slowly reading The Holiness of God for the second time in addition to leading our weekly Bible study through R.C.’s six-part video series of the same name. Week after week, I remain awestruck by this book, by the passage of Isaiah 6 upon which it focuses, and above all, by the holy God to whom it points.

After pitching my tent beneath Isaiah 6 for several weeks, walking to and fro among those words, I’ve come to realize how wonderfully instructive this passage is when it comes to our understanding of the Gospel. With the Lord’s help, it is my heart’s desire to shed light on this very truth: the glory of the Gospel in light of God’s majestic and unflinching holiness. Together, let us explore the Gospel according to Isaiah 6.

“In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple” (Isaiah 6:1).

In the year that King Uzziah died, the prophet Isaiah saw the one true King who reigns from everlasting to everlasting. An earthly king may have died, but the Author of life lives forever. The Lord was sitting on His throne then; and He’s sitting on it now, at this very moment. Isaiah beheld the LORD: He who rules not only Israel, but the cosmos itself—all within it and everything beyond it, whether visible or invisible.

In Isaiah’s vision, the veil dividing the seen from the unseen was drawn back for a moment, and the Lord’s all-consuming glory came thundering into the world of mere mortals. Whatever Isaiah may have thought about God before this moment, of one thing he was now certain: the Lord is King over all earthly kings, Lord over every lord, forever high and lifted up on His throne.

Before sinners can understand the good news of Jesus Christ and respond to Him in repentance and faith, they must first come to terms with the dreadful weight of the bad news. The bad news is that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). The bad news is that God is holy and we are not. Without knowledge of the one true King, sinful men and women operate as kings and queens in their own minds: walking about proudly with blind eyes and darkened hearts.

Before the Gospel can be rightly understood and believed, we must first come to terms with the reality that the Lord is “high and lifted up” (Isaiah 6:1) and that we fall short each and every moment—there exists a great chasm between God and man that you and I cannot traverse.

“Above Him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew” (6:2).

The distinction between God and man, between Creator and creature, extends far beyond us as His image-bearers. There lies an everlasting gulf between God and all that He has made—in large part, this is what it means for God to be holy. Indeed, the highest angel in Heaven and the lowest worm on Earth are far closer in kind that the former—that is, the angel—is in proximity to the glory of Almighty God. An infinite expanse separates both these creatures from the Lord; there is little sense in debating between greater and lesser degrees of infinity.

This is not to say that there exists no difference in glory between created beings, such as a worm from an angel, from man to man, or even angels from angels. For,

“There are heavenly bodies and earthly bodies, but the glory of the heavenly is of one kind, and the glory of the earthly is of another. There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for star differs from star in glory” (1 Corinthians 15:40-41).

Even in the New Heavens and the New Earth, we as sons and daughters of God will differ from one another in glory—“for star differs from star in glory.” However, the chief point here is that all creaturely glory fades beyond a dim flicker when compared to the incomparable, infinite, thrice-holy glory of the Creator, just as a flashlight’s beam makes no difference under the blaze of a noon sun.

Though even a single seraphim (Hebrew for “burning ones”) would likely reduce our world to ash should he be unveiled in all his creaturely glory before us, the simple fact remains that these creatures, elevated as they may be, cannot even look at the Lord God. With two wings the seraphim shield their face and with the other two they cover their feet—these beings symbols of their creatureliness—and with the remaining two they flee from the presence of Him with whom we all have to do. The flight of the burning ones from before the inferno of the Lord’s holiness is not unlike this scene we see at the end of the age:

“Then I saw a great white throne and Him who was seated on it. From His presence earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them” (Revelation 20:11).

If heaven and earth cannot flee from His holy presence, nor even the holy angels themselves, then who is man to suppose he is exempt? A proper understanding of God as holy is utterly foundational to our grasp of the Gospel: it locks our unrighteous hearts in the holy vice-grip of the Lord’s perfection, leaving us with nothing else to do but look unto Him for mercy and grace. “And no creature is hidden from His sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account” (Hebrews 4:13).

“And one called to another and said: ‘Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; the whole earth is full of His glory!’” (6:3).

Now we have finally come to it.

What does it mean for God to be holy? What does it mean for us, or anything, to be holy? When the majority of folks think about the word holy, the most likely words that come to mind are purity, perfection, goodness, integrity, righteousness, or any other word that denotes moral uprightness of some kind. Indeed, as believers, we too are called to be holy: “You shall be holy, for I the LORD your God am holy” (Leviticus 19:2). While holiness, the very act of being holy, certainly contains within it the virtues of purity, perfection, righteousness and the like, we will come to see that there is actually far, far more to holiness that just moral integrity.

When we talk about something or someone as being holy, we are attributing to that thing or person a degree of otherness. We are saying that it is “set apart” or “a cut above” something or someone else. To be holy is to be other. To be holy is to be in a category apart from other, more everyday things. Consider that we call the Bible not just “The Bible,” but “The Holy Bible.” The Bible is holy because it proceeds from the lips of Him who it utterly holy. However, when we as believers are called to be holy, or when the Bible describes the angels as “the holy angels,” let us always remain humbly aware of the fact that this holiness is an imitation of Him who is alone holy in and of Himself.

Ours is a distinctly creaturely holiness. We are to be set apart as Christians—“in the world, but not of it”—but the degree to which we are other from the world only ever remains within the realm reserved for created beings: be it angels, men, or otherwise.

As the burning seraphim in Isaiah 6:3 are in the throes of their song, crying as with every fibre of their being the words “Holy, holy, holy,” they are not simply saying God is “Good, good, good” or “Perfect, perfect, perfect.” God is all of these things, and much more, but He is first and foremost holy. When we speak of God as holy, we are talking about a Being who is in a category entirely unto Himself. God has no comparable equal, sizeable metaphor, or close second. As the sole Creator, God is the ultimate Other. In The Holiness of God, R.C. likens holiness closely with transcendence. He writes,

“God is above and beyond us. Transcendence describes His supreme and absolute greatness. The word is used to describe God’s relationship to the world. He is higher than the world. He has absolute power over the world. The world has no power over Him. Transcendence describes God in His consuming majesty, His exalted loftiness. It points to the infinite distance that separates Him from every creature. He is an infinite cut above everything else.”

Perhaps it would be helpful to consider some other quotes regarding God’s holiness. A.A. Hodge said that, “The holiness of God is not to be conceived of as one attribute among others. It is rather a general term representing the conception of God’s consummate perfection and total glory. It is His infinite moral perfection crowning His infinite intelligence and power.” Speaking in a similar vein, Thomas Watson spoke about how, “Holiness is the most sparkling jewel of God’s crown. It is the name by which He is known.” John MacArthur, ever the straightshooter, simply said in a sermon of his that “Holiness is God’s total glory crowned. Holy is His name.”

In The Holiness of God, R.C. Sproul allots several pages to unfolding the significance of the phrase “Holy, holy, holy” in the song of the seraphim. Have you ever wondered why the word holy is repeated three times? In English, if we want to draw attention to something we can employ a number of tactics: I can write words in bold, I can italicize them, I can underline words, and I can even END A SENTENCE LIKE THIS TO REALLY GET YOUR ATTENTION!

In the Hebrew language of the Old Testament, however, the chief device for suggesting emphasis was repetition. Hence, why God is praised as being not just “Holy” or even “Holy, holy,” but “Holy, holy, holy!”

No other attribute of God is elevated to the third and superlative degree anywhere else in all of Scripture. At no point is God said to be “Love, love love,” or “Wisdom, wisdom, wisdom.” He is, however, “Holy, holy, holy.” Holiness is the crowning jewel of God’s beauty; the diadem sitting upon the brow of His other perfect attributes. Because God is “Holy, holy, holy,” this means that His love is a holy love, His wrath is a holy wrath, His wisdom is a holy wisdom. Everything about God is set apart and a cut above even the whisper of comparison. Indeed, “Holiness is God’s total glory crowned. Holy is His name.”

“And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke. 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!’” (6:4-5).

When the glory of the Lord is unfurled, so much so that the very “train of His robe filled the temple” (Isaiah 6:1), creation itself musters a word of praise: “And the foundations of the thresholds shook... and the house was filled with smoke.”

The response of Isaiah follows after the example he’s provided by the foundations of the temple. It is said that his immediate posture towards God’s holiness is one of woe, confession, and lament over the sin so readily uncovered in the midst of the Holy. Like the sanitizing presence of bright light in a dark, dirty place, Isaiah is exposed. Similar to Job after the Lord rebuked him from out of the whirlwind, Isaiah now proclaims, “I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees you; therefore I despise myself, and repent in dust and ashes” (Job 42:5-6).

In his book, R.C. defers to the King James translation of this passage, wherein Isaiah cries out “I am undone” as opposed to merely “I am lost”—at the level of the soul, Isaiah is unravelling. Isaiah is undone because he now realizes, in no unclear terms, that the Lord is holy and that he is not. In light of the King, the prophet recognizes his sin and his hand immediately runs to his mouth where he exclaims, “I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips.” 

No excuses are made and no negotiations with the Lord are to be had. The mouth of Isaiah has been stopped, just as every mouth shall be when stood before Christ on His throne. Isaiah sees his sin for what it is, recognizing that “it is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but what comes out of the mouth; this defiles a person” (Matthew 15:11). The responsibility for the sins of Isaiah falls squarely upon his own lap.

When the Lord Jesus reveals but a sliver of Himself to Peter after filling the disciple’s boat with innumerable fish, he responds in much the same way: “But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, ‘Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord’” (Luke 5:8). Absolutely no one, whether he is a prophet or a disciple or any creature in-between, is safe from the presence of God’s all-consuming glory.

The vice-grip of God’s holiness upon Isaiah has tightened, so much so that the prophet is coming to the end of himself—“I am undone.”

“Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar. And he touched my mouth and said: ‘Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for’” (6:6-7).

But God.

Notice that Isaiah does not provide purification for himself—the prophet knows he is bereft of any righteousness. Even the mighty seraphim himself is but a messenger, for he cannot so much as handle the burning coal with his own two hands but must instead use a tong. Though the seraphim is numbered among the “burning ones,” a minister of flame and fire (Hebrews 1:7), it makes no difference: “Salvation belongs to the LORD” (Psalm 3:8) and to Him only.

Only God can provide atonement. Notice further that, though He reserves every right to do so, the Lord in His kindness does not forsake Isaiah to wreathe on the ground like some wounded beast. It is God Himself who initiates the atoning exchange with Isaiah, just as He is the chief agent in all salvation’s affairs. God initiates, man responds—and even that by grace.

For though the Lord is “high and lifted up” and “Holy, holy, holy,” He is also supreme in steadfast love, kindness, and humility. Only a few chapters earlier in Isaiah 1:18, the Lord welcomes sinners to repent and come to Him for cleansing: “Come now, let us reason together, says the LORD: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be white as snow.” In His divine kindness, God “is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance” (2 Peter 3:9).

As the thrice-holy God, the Lord cannot even look at sin; and yet it is He who welcomes sinners to come to Him, free of payment, for forgiveness and atonement from the countless sins they have committed against Him. There is an infinite gap between God and us; and all praise to Him, there is an infinite God who has bridged that gap in His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. For, despite every just and righteous reason the Lord has to wipe humanity from existence, He has instead chosen to wipe away the sins of those who put their faith in Jesus: “He Himself bore our sins in His body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By His wounds you have been healed” (1 Peter 2:24).

By His wounds we have been healed.

Jesus has provided the infinite atonement necessary to bridge the infinite chasm between God and man. Speaking on the atonement, Wesley Huff explains how the very meaning of the word is embedded within the letters themselves: at-one-ment. Through Christ’s finished work on the cross we are reconciled back to God. The relationship is no longer strained or fractured, but made to be one again. Where there was once division and enmity because of sin, there is now peace and wholeness between creature and Creator. Because of the great love with which He loved us and chose us in Christ, our guilt has been taken away and our sin atoned for.

The Lord’s mercy towards Isaiah in chapter 6 serves as an echo of the ultimate and final atoning work of Christ on the cross for all His elect. Through faith in Christ, all our sins have been atoned for—we are at one with our Creator.

“And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, ‘Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?’ Then I said, ‘Here I am! Send me’” (6:8).

Finally, notice Isaiah’s response to the mercy of the Lord: “Here I am! Send me!” Once again, R.C. prefers how this verse is rendered in the King James Version—“Here am I; send me.” Did you catch the difference? By saying “Here am I,” Isaiah is drawing attention not to his geographical location, but rather to the renewed posture of his heart. The light of the Gospel leaves no man unchanged. Isaiah is not so much saying “This is where you can find me should you need me, Lord” as he is rather shouting with all his heart, “Me! Me! Pick me! I want to do whatever service you have for me to do, Lord!”

The terror and woe which at first gripped Isaiah has now passed. The sweet fruit of obedience has taken its place, made possible only because of the Lord’s atoning work. The truth of the Gospel sets us free from the bondage of sin and dead works, making us alive in Christ for that obedience which can truly be said to have been wrought in God. We are not saved by our good works, but, we are saved unto good works:

“For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them” (Ephesians 2:8-10).

Now that justification has occurred, sanctification can begin—that glorious process by which we, even we, are through our union with Christ made to be holy even as the Lord God is holy.

“Holy, holy, holy! Lord God Almighty!

Early in the morning our song shall rise to Thee.

Holy, holy, holy! merciful and mighty!

God in three Persons, blessed Trinity!

Holy, holy, holy! all the saints adore Thee,

Casting down their golden crowns around the glassy sea.

Cherubim and seraphim, falling down before Thee,

Who was and is and evermore shall be.”

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Photo by Denys Argyriou, Unsplash

Author’s Note: Once again, it’s worth noting that many of my thoughts on this passage are owing to R.C.—a friend and brother before whom my little mind is rebuked. Indeed, I look forward to meeting him when my journey here is finished.

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