In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one called to another and said:
“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts;
the whole earth is full of his glory!”
And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke. And I said: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!”
Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar. And he touched my mouth and said: “Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for.”
Isaiah 6:1-7
Each December 31st, many people around the world eagerly countdown the seconds to midnight and celebrate the beginning of a new year. This celebration is typically accompanied by a joyful recollection of the past year and a hopeful anticipation of the upcoming year. However, the Japanese tradition of joya no kane (除夜の鐘) puts the emphasis at New Year’s in a wholly different place: on the need for purification from evil desires.
The Bible is also clear that all of us have evil desires that require purification. In Isaiah 6, the prophet receives a stunning vision of God on his heavenly throne. As the seraphim praises God for his holiness, Isaiah becomes acutely aware of his own unholiness: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips” (v. 5). In the face of God’s splendor, Isaiah realizes that he is spiritually unclean and therefore in desperate need of purification.
However, while Joya no Kane locates purification in the ringing of bells, according to Isaiah 6, purification comes solely by God’s grace. After Isaiah confesses his need, a seraphim symbolically touches his lips and declares, “your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for” (v. 7). Isaiah didn’t have to ring bells or do penance; he simply had to recognize his need and turn to God, who graciously purified and forgave him. This is the gracious purification that the Japanese people need.
Prayer Prompts
- Pray for Christians in Japan to trust in Christ’s atonement for all of their sins, and in this confidence, be able to look forward to the coming year.
- Pray for freedom from ringing of the bells, from penance, for those who have not yet trusted in Christ. Pray that they would come to know God’s love as it is written in Romans 5:8 – “but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us”.