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Holy, Holy, Holy
Holy, Holy, Holy
“Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; the whole earth is full of His glory!” (Isa 6:3).
My favorite hymn is Holy, Holy, Holy. The title comes from Isaiah 6:3 and Revelation 4:8, where angelic beings saying, “holy, holy, holy” are seen and heard in visions of the heavenly realm. What is the significance of the threefold repetition of the word holy? Many see it as a superlative, emphasizing that God is the most holy.
Perhaps there is a deeper meaning, though. In Isaiah 6, the threefold use of the word holy could refer to three aspects of God’s holiness that will be seen in Isaiah’s vision. For further reading on this idea, check out Discovering Isaiah by Andrew T. Abernethy. The points in this article come from chapter 5 of that book.
God’s holiness is manifest in His unbounded glory. “I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and the train of His robe filled the temple” (Isaiah 6:1).
God’s unbounded glory is seen in the first verse of Isaiah’s vision. Right away, the vision is showing the vastness of God’s glory in just the train of His robe. The seraphim cry out “holy, holy, holy” in response to God’s unbounded glory. What this means for us on earth is expounded on in verse 3, “The whole earth is full of His glory!” (Isaiah 6:3b). God’s glory is unbounded. His glory is not just in a temple or in Judah, God’s glory fills the entire earth. The King of Judah, King Uzziah, had just died to conclude a prosperous reign. Perhaps the people thought the glory of God was about to be limited because Judah’s prosperity might be coming to an end, but this vision shows that God’s glory is not dependent on anyone or anything.
God’s holiness is manifest in His wrath toward sinners. “So I said: ‘Woe is me, for I am undone! Because I am a man of unclean lips; For my eyes have seen the King, The LORD of hosts” (Isaiah 6:5).
Seeing this unbounded glory makes Isaiah suddenly aware of the sinfulness of himself and his people. In chapters 1-5, the many sins of the people are referenced as pride, idolatry, and injustice. The people profess God with their lips, but they are misaligned in their sinful actions. Because of this misalignment, verses 8-13 will show that God is going to lay waste to the land until the holy seed emerges. The sinful people are in danger of their holy God’s wrath if they are not aligned with Him.
God’s holiness is manifest in his forgiveness and transformation of His servant. “Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a live coal which he had taken with the tongs from the altar. And he touched my mouth with it, and said: “Behold, this has touched your lips; Your iniquity is taken away, And your sin is purged” (Isaiah 6:7).
As terrifying as being in God’s presence is for Isaiah and his unclean lips, God has revealed Himself to transform Isaiah into a suitable mouthpiece to speak to the people. This transformation of the prophet is what must happen to the people. At the end of the chapter the hope of transformation will be offered to the people too. They will be cut down but a stump will remain, and “the holy seed shall be its stump” (Isaiah 6:13). This people will be much different than the people of Isaiah’s time. Through the holy seed, these people will be transformed into who God is Holy.
–William Speer
