Isaiah 6:8
And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? And I said, Here am I; send me.
View all translations →After the vision of the Lord's holiness, the seraph's confession ("Woe is me… I am undone"), and the cleansing live coal from the altar, the prophet now hears a different voice — the call to service. The verse marks the turning point from being undone to being sent, and shows the fixed order of God's dealings: glory revealed, sin felt, sin purged, then service offered.
Isaiah does not volunteer until the Lord has both broken him and cleansed him. Until then, he stands silent in the presence of God's holiness.
J. N. DarbyThe general mission of Isaiah shows a blessed state, and great preparedness of heart in the prophet… No haste to go but a sense of what he was, and of what the people were, in presence of a holy yet evidently a known God… But the moment his lips are cleansed by the coal from the altar, and Jehovah says "Whom shall I send, and who shall go for us," he offers himself — "Here am I, send me." This is very beautiful. We are apt to run (I admit the difference of the Gospel) in haste, as soon as interested, and then to shrink before the carelessness or opposition of the world. Here he does not stir till the Lord has fitted him, and calls; then he is His ready servant.
Mackintosh draws out the divine sequence: no one is fit for the work of God until the throne has shown what he is and the altar has shown what Christ is.
C. H. MackintoshIsaiah had nothing to do for salvation, but he had plenty to do for his Saviour. He had nothing to do to get his sins purged, but plenty to do for the One who had purged them. Now he gave the willing, ready expression of obedience to God when, on hearing that a messenger was needed, he exclaimed, "Here am I; send me." This puts works in their proper place. The order is absolutely perfect. No one can do good works until he has experienced, in some degree, the action of the "throne" and the "altar."
The contrast with Moses at the burning bush is striking. Moses, uncleansed, drew back; Isaiah, cleansed, leaps forward. The same coal that purged him is what now qualifies him to speak.
MagazinesLooking at the historical fact, the prophet is lifted out of his "undone," "unclean," condition, and sent with Jehovah's message to the guilty men of Judah — "Go tell this people." Even Moses at the burning bush shrank from being sent to Pharaoh. Here Isaiah, who had just bewailed his uncleanness, no sooner hears Jehovah saying "Whom shall I send? and who will go for us?" than he answers in the power of the Spirit, "Here am I: send me." Cleansed from his iniquity, purged from his sin, he is empowered to bear Jehovah's words. What efficacy in that live coal!
Kelly highlights how being set free in God's presence is exactly what makes the servant willing — not driven by haste but by communion.
William KellyNor this only: for thus set free in His presence, he becomes the ready servant of His will. Before this there was no haste to act, but deep self-judgement, and true sense of the defiled state of His people, in the light of His glory. "Also I heard the voice of Jehovah, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me."
The plural "who will go for us?" echoes the same plural in Genesis ("let us make man"), and as Westcott notes elsewhere, John 12 quotes this very chapter and applies it to Christ — so the One enthroned whom Isaiah saw is the Lord Jesus Himself, with the Spirit and the Father consulting over the mission to a hardened people.
W. H. WestcottThe mass became judicially hardened, as had been prophesied by Isaiah; and although many among the leading men were persuaded of the Divinity of His mission, all their influence on the mass was nullified because (for fear of the Pharisees) they would not confess Him.
- Order matters. Throne first, altar next, then service — Isaiah does not move until God has revealed His glory, exposed his sin, and purged it.
- Cleansing produces willingness. The same live coal that takes away iniquity is what frees the prophet's tongue to say "Here am I; send me."
- No haste, no shrinking. Unlike Moses at the bush who drew back, the cleansed Isaiah responds at once; unlike eager workers who run before they are sent and then collapse under opposition, he waits to be fitted.
- Salvation precedes service. "Isaiah had nothing to do for salvation, but he had plenty to do for his Saviour" — works flow out of grace received, never the reverse.
- A divine consultation. The plural "who will go for us?" reveals the Godhead deliberating, and the New Testament identifies the enthroned Lord Isaiah saw with Christ Himself.