Isaiah 6:4

4 The foundations trembled at the sound of the angel voices, and then the whole house filled with smoke.

Isaiah 6:4 Meaning and Commentary

Isaiah 6:4

And the posts of the door moved at the voice of him that
cried
That is, the posts of the door of the temple, as the Targum adds, where this vision was seen, as represented to the prophet. Some think this respects the earthquake in Uzziah's time, mentioned in ( Zechariah 14:5 ) ( Amos 1:1 ) and which they suppose was at the time he attempted to offer incense, and was smitten with leprosy; but, as Kimchi observes, this moving of the door posts was only in the vision of prophecy, and not in reality; this shaking therefore may denote either the shaking and removing of the temple service and worship, at the death of Christ, and through the preaching of the Gospel; or rather the shaking of the consciences of men by the word, which made them cry out, what shall we do to be saved? And the house was filled with smoke;
this was a token either of the burning of the temple, or of the anger of God against the Jews, ( Psalms 18:8 ) or of their superstition and will worship, the cause of it, ( Revelation 9:1 ) or of the judicial blindness and darkness they were given up unto, ( Isaiah 6:9 Isaiah 6:10 ) or rather of the presence of God in his church, and with his ministers, ( Exodus 40:3 Exodus 40:4 ) ( 1 Kings 8:10 ) the allusion may be to the cloud of incense that covered the mercy seat, on the day of atonement, ( Leviticus 16:13 ) the passage is cited on this account in the Talmud F14.


FOOTNOTES:

F14 T. Bab. Yoma, fol. 53. 1.

Isaiah 6:4 In-Context

2 Angel-seraphs hovered above him, each with six wings. With two wings they covered their faces, with two their feet, and with two they flew."
3 And they called back and forth one to the other, Holy, Holy, Holy is God-of-the-Angel-Armies. His bright glory fills the whole earth.
4 The foundations trembled at the sound of the angel voices, and then the whole house filled with smoke.
5 I said, "Doom! It's Doomsday! I'm as good as dead! Every word I've ever spoken is tainted - blasphemous even! And the people I live with talk the same way, using words that corrupt and desecrate. And here I've looked God in the face! The King! God-of-the-Angel-Armies!"
6 Then one of the angel-seraphs flew to me. He held a live coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar.
Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.