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#7.
Confession, cleansing, commission.
pp. 166 - 170
Our meditations upon I John 1: 7, and the relation between sin and the light of God's
presence, will be enlarged and confirmed if we turn to the sixth chapter of Isaiah. Much
is said in the prophecy of Isaiah concerning uncleanness, but the crisis in the prophet's
experience seems to have come when the light of the Lord's presence revealed to him
sources of defilement in himself which before had been unknown. Isaiah had rightly
testified that the nation of Israel had become like a leprous man. The disease was so
grave as to appear beyond remedy:--
"Why should ye be stricken any more? ye will revolt more and more: the whole head is sick, and the
whole heart faint. From the sole of the foot even unto the head there is no soundness in it: but wounds and
bruises and putrifying sores" (Isa. 1: 5, 6).
In the succeeding verses Isaiah continues his burning denunciation, and likens the
nation to Sodom and Gomorrah (1: 10). His exhortation begins with the words: "Wash
you and make you clean", and points to the only remedy, a cleansing sacrifice that
washes as white as snow (1: 16-18). Further denunciations follow. The city is likened to
a harlot, and to silver that has become dross--and so through many a chapter.
The special point we wish to make will be more readily seen if we notice one feature
of chapter 5: Six consecutive woes are there pronounced by the prophet upon the
people--"Woe unto them", "Woe unto them", in verses 8, 11, 18, 20, 21 and 22. But
the seventh woe is personal--"Woe is me" (Isa. 6: 5). Drawing near to the Lord and
catching a glimpse of the seraphims veiling their faces and crying, "Holy, holy, holy", the
prophet who had seen the uncleanness of the people now sees himself. He who had once
said "Woe unto them" is now to say, "Woe is me":--
"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" (Isa. 6: 5).
There was but one means of cleansing. Water could not wash away the uncleanness;
the seraphim applied to Isaiah's lips a live coal from off the altar of sacrifice, and the sin
was purged.
Let us give a little closer attention to this chapter in Isaiah's spiritual experience. The
structure of the section is necessary for a full exposition, but such detailed examination
must be deferred. Three focal points in the structure are formed by the words of the
prophet, "Then said I", in verses 5, 8 & 11, and they will conveniently divide up the
subject-matter for us. His first explanation is:--
"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" (Isa. 6: 5).