Isaiah 6:5

“Woe to me!” I cried. “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty.”

I have seen this verse dozens of times but never in the way I did last night. During bible study last night this is one of the scriptures that was used to describe worship. While the study continued I found myself distracted from thoughts concerning this specific verse. Let me give you a quick look at what I am talking about.

1.) Why was he worried about his death?
2.) What was the setting of this fear?

Isaiah 6:1
"In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord, high and exalted, seated on a throne; and the train of his robe filled the temple."

1 Chronicles 26:21
"King Uzziah had leprosy until the day he died. He lived in a separate house —leprous, and banned from the temple of the LORD. Jotham his son had charge of the palace and governed the people of the land."

King Uzziah was one of the good kings in Israel. The issue was pride became his downfall. Uzziah decided to take worship into his own hands. This king took entered the temple and burned incense at the altar. This was not something he was suppose to do. These rights were given to the priests in the temple. Uzziah eventually died due to his pride and improper worship.

The entry into the temple was limited to the priest and there must be a specific way. In Leviticus 16 we see the protocol for this presentation.

"The LORD spoke to Moses after the death of the two sons of Aaron who died when they approached the LORD. ² The LORD said to Moses: “Tell your brother Aaron that he is not to come whenever he chooses into the Most Holy Place behind the curtain in front of the atonement cover on the ark, or else he will die. For I will appear in the cloud over the atonement cover."

It had to be done a certain way and if the wrong person did it death was certain. Isaiah was a prophet and not a priest. When this prophet found himself before God he was afraid of death. Wouldn't you be? In this case though God brought Isaiah to the throne and purified him for work.

I am so glad to see God made a way through Christ where we can approach the throne. Through Christ and his blood we can approach God in a way without fear of death.

Hebrews 4
¹⁶ Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.

How great is that?