is fire that touches Isaiah’s lips. It is not merely that sin must be consumed in his life and that the instrument he would use to declare God’s Word must have the dross burned out of it. Rather, it is an encounter with the very person of God himself. Thus too, it is not at all surprising that Isaiah later asks, “Who of us can dwell with everlasting burning?” (Isa. 33:14; see also 10:16; 30:27). Apparently it was not a major issue to Isaiah which altar the coal came from. It may have been the incense
Page 130