Isaiah 6:8

August 17, 2023

“Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying:

“Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?” Then I said, “Here am I! Send me.”

This powerful verse of Scripture out of the book of Isaiah is very prolific as it describes the prophet Isaiah accepting the prophetic ministry that the Lord has called him to. Isaiah’s words are “here am I” in other words he isn’t hesitating one bit to come into agreement with his divine destiny. How many believers today would be that quick to say: “here I am, use me?”

All God needs from us is a willing heart. There is so much that we can learn from the prophet Isaiah in regards to being submitted to the Lord. There are many times that the warnings that God gave him to deliver were extreme but he did not hesitate. He obeyed the Lord’s voice when it came to God’s people during the reign of kings: Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, Hezekiah, and Manasseh of the nation of Judah.

A lot of Christians want to stay in their comfort zone and don’t want to be stretched. That is why the Lord is restricted on how mightily He can use us. Isaiah’s response to the voice of the Lord is exactly how we need to respond when He calls us to be a willing vessel. It is not the easiest thing to be fully submitted to God but it is the most rewarding thing that you can ever do.

I know for me, the hardest thing to do was to listen to the Holy Spirit when it came to speaking to people about the good news because it was outside of my comfort zone. I had to learn that if you aren’t willing to grow, the Lord will never be able to use you to your fullest potential. Isaiah’s life and the prophecies that he delivered is a powerful example of how tremendously God wants to use every one of us!

Before I begin to break down some of the words used in this powerful verse of Scripture out of the Word of God let’s take a look at how Isaiah got called to ministry. He was called by the Lord to be a prophet in 740 B.C; Isaiah has a vision of the Lord Isaiah 6:1 details, “In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and the train of His robe filled the temple.” Here we can see that in the year of King Uzziah is the same timeframe that Isaiah receives a vision regarding God’s purpose for his life to begin his ministry.

Isaiah is getting an illustration of how mighty the glory of God actually is as His robe alone filled the entire temple. His very existence was so powerful and pure that Isaiah could immediately feel his iniquity in the presence of the Lord. You can see this shown in the way that Isaiah responds to his encounter with Him.

Isaiah 6:5 describes, “So I said: “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 my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts.” The words “I am undone” in the Hebrew language is the word “dāmâ” which means: I am cut off. In other words Isaiah is passionately crying out with grief and despair at the fact that he is feeling so dirty and unworthy in God’s presence.

Then he describes why. The words “of unclean” is the Hebrew word “ṭāmē’” which means: unclean and impure. One thing that we need to realize is the fact that the living God almighty is glorious, righteous, pure, and untainted. We are far from that and Isaiah 64:6 gives us the perfect description of what our righteousness looks like when compared to the Lord’s. It depicts, “But we are all like an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags…” This fact was magnified for Isaiah as he is having this encounter with the Lord God.

In order for Isaiah to be used mightily for the purpose of God as a prophet Isaiah’s lips are made clean, his iniquity is taken away, and his sin is purged with a live coal straight from Heaven delivered by one of the Lord’s seraphim, Isaiah 6:6-7. Living for the Lord and doing His will is going to require us to make significant changes in our lives if we are truly going to walk in our purpose powerfully.

Isaiah was a man of unclean lips in the midst of a people of unclean lips and he realized it the very moment that he was in the presence of the holiness of God. He knew immediately that he had to make changes and could not remain the same. This is the same scenario for us today and God’s Word with the help of the Holy Spirit has the ability to renew our entire frame of mind if we allow it to.

Now let’s take a closer look at the primary verse of Scripture from the Old Testament that I want to highlight: Isaiah 6:8. The words “will go” is the Hebrew word “yālaḵ” which means: to go, walk, come. So what the Lord is asking Isaiah is will he be the person that can be used in that particular time in that particular moment. Isaiah actually had to come into agreement with what the Lord had planned for His life.

The thing that people fail to realize is that in order for the Lord to use us as his vessels here on Earth, we have to come into agreement with Him. God created every single one of us with a free will which gives us the option to choose between doing right and doing wrong. Unfortunately, a lot of people including Christians don’t live a life fully submitted to the Lord Jesus Christ.

Isaiah’s response was very telling; he states “Here am I! Send me” without knowing what he was going to be called to do and without knowing the tribulation that was going to be attached to his ministry. He simply but bravely proclaimed, “Send me!” Isaiah exhibits boldness and faith when he hears the voice of the Lord. That is the same kind of confidence that God wants us to display when He asks us to do His will.

The final thing that I want to point out from the passage of Scripture in Isaiah is the words used “for Us” which is speaking of the Trinity: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. All three are God in three individual parts. We need to know that all three are as equally important as the other.

The Holy Spirit is the One that is here on Earth with us guiding us, leading us, and correcting us when we veer off course. God the Father is the Judge on the throne while the Lord Jesus Christ is our Advocate, 1 John 2:1-2. There are so many more roles that each part of the Godhead plays and it is essential that we understand and gain the knowledge of each one.

The book of Isaiah has so many powerful verses of Scripture that we can digest, study, and apply to our daily lives. He was a prophet that told the people of Judah exactly what the Lord’s voice told him to say. A lot of times it was warnings of coming judgment which would be hard to deliver for anyone. Isaiah did it with love and fearlessness because he trusted God with his entire heart. He wants every one of us to do the same!

Also, don’t forget to check out my other blogs:

Isaiah 5:20

Isaiah 1:18

Who is the Prophet Isaiah

Breaking Spiritual Strongholds-Fight Back

Breaking Spiritual Strongholds-Feed Your Spirit

Breaking Spiritual Strongholds-Renouncing

Breaking Spiritual Strongholds-Confess and Repent

Recognizing Spiritual Strongholds

What are Spiritual Strongholds?

The Spiritual Laws of God-Poverty Part 1

The Spiritual Laws of God-Poverty Part 2