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[gmw803]

Is it possible that the seraph touching Isaiah's lips with a hot coal in Isaiah 6 is literal?

Isaiah 6 takes place the year that Jotham becomes King. By the time of Isaiah 7, Jotham's son is already King. While co-regencies make the gap impossible to know for a certainty, several years (8 ?) seem to have elapsed for a sabbatical by Isaiah - easily enough time to have been retrained by God now that Isaiah realizes that the spiritual gap between him and the masses is trivial on a scale that is God, if it exists at all.

[gmw803]

It won't let me post a clarification.

I should have noted that the (8)-year gap was spiritually, for God's training. But physically, to heal. God trained him while he was low on outside distractions.

[jimwalton]

First of all, I must say that the chronologies of Jotham and Uzziah are complex and disagreed upon. Uzziah reigned...

According to Hayes & Hooker: 785-760
According to Thiele: 792-740
According to Bright: 783-742
According to Cogan & Tadmor: 785-733

"The year that Uzziah died" is uncertain. I think most scholars put it in the area of 742-735ish. So saying, it's also uncertain when Jotham ascended to the throne. The invasion referred to in Isa. 7.1 is dated fairly confidently in 735, but how many years there were between Uzziah's death and that invasion are much debated.

Your real question, however, asks if it's possible that the coal on the lips of Isaiah 6. Of course it's possible, but I am of the opinion that this is all symbolism. Lips = ritual impurity; the fire from the altar = sacrifice for sin. The Lord is symbolically purging his lips from sin because he is to be a mouthpiece for God. But, as you wonder, it could also be literal. Mesopotamian rituals often feature the purification of lips as symbolic of the purification of the person; it's a prerequisite to appear before the divine council. For the Mesopotamians, the mouth was washed as a purification ritual. In Egypt, the lips were purified by a fiery serpent rod (probably not hot, but symbolic). In Isaiah 6, I believe he is being ritually cleansed, not literally burned, but that's just my interpretation. Impurity in ancient Israel was ritually removed, not literally so. Others would advocate that ritual purification comes through cauterization by a coal from the temple's incense altar. So it's tough to know.

Remember, also, "seraph" (v. 2, 6) means "fiery one." The fiery one brings fire from the Lord, who also is symbolized by fire (pillar of fire; burning bush; the fire of the Lord). The point, of course, is that Isaiah is being cleansed for the Lord's work. God took the initiative, and though not deserving on his part, but by God's pure grace, Isaiah is called to ministry and prepared for the work.