KNLS

Today’s story begins with a prophet named Isaiah describing God on his throne.

Isaiah said,

“In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord. He was sitting on his throne, high and exalted, and his robe filled the whole Temple.

Round him flaming creatures were standing, each of which had six wings. Each creature covered its face with two wings, and its body with two, and used the other two for flying. They were calling out to each other:

“Holy, holy, holy!

The Lord Almighty is holy!

His glory fills the world.”

The sound of their voices made the foundation of the Temple shake, and the Temple itself was filled with smoke.

I said, “There is no hope for me! I am doomed because every word that passes my lips is sinful, and I live among a people whose every word is sinful. And yet, with my own eyes, I have seen the King, the Lord Almighty!”

Then one of the creatures flew down to me, carrying a burning coal that he had taken from the altar with a pair of tongs. He touched my lips with the burning coal and said, “This has touched your lips, and now your guilt is gone, and your sins are forgiven.”

Then I heard the Lord say, “Whom shall I send? Who will be our messenger?”

I answered, “I will go! Send me!”

So he told me to go and give the people his message. The message that God told Isaiah to give the people was both good news and bad news. God said the people would not repent and that they would be exiled into a distant land, but one day they would return in a new and glorious homecoming.

This story is found in the Bible book of Isaiah, chapter 6 through 9.