I've been reading through Isaiah this week as I prepare for the next teaching in our teaching series at New Life Fellowship. The book of Isaiah comes alongside the era of Israel's Kings...in fact, Isaiah prophesied under four of them:
Isaiah 1:1
1 The vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.
For most people these names are unknown biblical personalities. Some recognize a name, and maybe can even connect them to something they once learned. A lot of Christians have never read the books of Kings, nor any of the prophets. That's unfortunate. Prophets were rich sources of information about what was going on in Biblical History, and specifically what was happening in Redemptive history - or, what is God doing?
Prophets get their impetus from God. Moses was told by God in the book of Exodus of how God would work through Moses and Aaron, before they went into Pharaoh to demand that Pharaoh "Let my people go that they may serve me...".
Exodus 7:1-2
1 And the LORD said to Moses, “See, I have made you like God to Pharaoh, and your brother Aaron shall be your prophet. 2 You shall speak all that I command you, and your brother Aaron shall tell Pharaoh to let the people of Israel go out of his land.
2 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.
3 And one called to another and said: “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!”
4 And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke.
5 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!”
Isaiah 1:1
1 The vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.
For most people these names are unknown biblical personalities. Some recognize a name, and maybe can even connect them to something they once learned. A lot of Christians have never read the books of Kings, nor any of the prophets. That's unfortunate. Prophets were rich sources of information about what was going on in Biblical History, and specifically what was happening in Redemptive history - or, what is God doing?
Prophets get their impetus from God. Moses was told by God in the book of Exodus of how God would work through Moses and Aaron, before they went into Pharaoh to demand that Pharaoh "Let my people go that they may serve me...".
Exodus 7:1-2
1 And the LORD said to Moses, “See, I have made you like God to Pharaoh, and your brother Aaron shall be your prophet. 2 You shall speak all that I command you, and your brother Aaron shall tell Pharaoh to let the people of Israel go out of his land.
This is the ground rule of the Prophet. God did not find them thinking, or saying something that was great and decided to "inspire" it; but rather, the word originated in God and the duty of the Prophet was to pass it on to those whom God intended to get it.
Isaiah was a Prophet...He heard the words of God that addressed PROBLEMS... and there were lots of them. Kings were power hungry, often ignoring God's word, and thinking that their rule stood apart from accountability to God. The Prophet Isaiah was one of many that reminded them that it was not so. Reading Isaiah, and many of the Prophets is not easy...in fact, it's painful. I'll just note two passages early on:
Isaiah 1:2-3
2 Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth; for the LORD has spoken: “Children have I reared and brought up, but they have rebelled against me.
3 The ox knows its owner, and the donkey its master’s crib, but Israel does not know, my people do not understand.”
2 Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth; for the LORD has spoken: “Children have I reared and brought up, but they have rebelled against me.
3 The ox knows its owner, and the donkey its master’s crib, but Israel does not know, my people do not understand.”
Isaiah 5:3-7
3 And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah, judge between me and my vineyard.
4 What more was there to do for my vineyard, that I have not done in it? When I looked for it to yield grapes, why did it yield wild grapes?
5 And now I will tell you what I will do to my vineyard. I will remove its hedge, and it shall be devoured; I will break down its wall, and it shall be trampled down.
6 I will make it a waste; it shall not be pruned or hoed, and briers and thorns shall grow up; I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it.
7 For the vineyard of the LORD of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah are his pleasant planting; and he looked for justice, but behold, bloodshed; for righteousness, but behold, an outcry!
3 And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah, judge between me and my vineyard.
4 What more was there to do for my vineyard, that I have not done in it? When I looked for it to yield grapes, why did it yield wild grapes?
5 And now I will tell you what I will do to my vineyard. I will remove its hedge, and it shall be devoured; I will break down its wall, and it shall be trampled down.
6 I will make it a waste; it shall not be pruned or hoed, and briers and thorns shall grow up; I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it.
7 For the vineyard of the LORD of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah are his pleasant planting; and he looked for justice, but behold, bloodshed; for righteousness, but behold, an outcry!
The Problem was their Sinful rebellion to God...the assumption of a people that God does not care what we do as long as we think we're doing what we should.
The Problem? The Problem? Isaiah 6:1-5
1 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.
2 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.
3 And one called to another and said: “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!”
4 And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke.
5 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!”
God is a Holy God...and His holiness is steadfast, always true, no matter what we do.
SO, what is left? PROMISE...and thankfully Isaiah has lots of Promise words of the Messiah of God who will come:
Isaiah 7:14
14 Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.
14 Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.
Isaiah 9:6-7
6 For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
7 Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will do this.
6 For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
7 Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will do this.
Isaiah 11:1-3
1 There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit.
2 And the Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD.
3 And his delight shall be in the fear of the LORD. He shall not judge by what his eyes see, or decide disputes by what his ears hear,
2 And the Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD.
3 And his delight shall be in the fear of the LORD. He shall not judge by what his eyes see, or decide disputes by what his ears hear,
Isaiah hears, listens, as God reminds him that the solution to their Problem is that the Messiah will come - but not as a King looking for power, but as a King who will suffer and die for His people. From Isaiah 41 - 55, he reminds us that God has a suffering servant who will take up the Sin of all.
Isaiah 53:4-6
4 Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted.
5 But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed.
6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
4 Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted.
5 But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed.
6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
Watch this video from our friends at www.thebibleproject.com
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