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Isaiah
received his call to the prophetic office in
the Temple of Jerusalem in the year that
Uzziah, king of Judah, died. The vision of the
Lord enthroned in glory stamps an indelible
character on Isaiah's ministry and provides
the key to the understanding of his message.
The enormous gap between God's sovereign
holiness and man's sin overwhelmed the
prophet. Only the purifying coal of the
seraphim could cleanse his lips and prepare
him for acceptance of the call: "Here I am,
send me!"
The ministry of Isaiah covered the reigns of
Jotham (742-735), Ahaz (735-715), and Hezekiah
(715-687). He was witness to one of the most
turbulent periods in Jerusalem's history, from
both the political and the religious
standpoint. Isaiah witnessed the moral
breakdown of Judah and its capital, Jerusalem.
Later he became the adviser to the king Ahaz
when Isaiah made the majority of messianic
oracles found in the section of Immanuel
prophecies (Isa 6-12). In the reign of
Hezekiah the king made "covenant with death"
with the pro-Egyptian party. Isaiah denounced
this and again summoned Judah to faith in
Yahweh as her only hope. Assyria quickly
attacked and, after ravaging Judah, laid siege
to Jerusalem (701). But Yahweh delivered the
city, as Isaiah had promised.
Little is
known of his last years. However, Christian
tradition states that by order of the Jewish
king Manasseh the Prophet Isaiah was sawn
through by a wood-saw.
The Messianic Prophecies of
Isaiah
A complete book of Isaiah, or the Isaiah
Scroll was part of the major discovery called
the Dead Sea Scrolls. The book, along with
other priceless documents, were buried by the
Essenes in A.D. 70 and remained unseen, and
unedited for almost 2000 years until it was
unearthed in 1947 at Qumron. The Isaiah Scroll
was dated at 100 B.C., so it was already 170
years old when it was buried. Comparisons
between this ancient document and our modern
book of Isaiah show that after all the
variations in spelling, dialectical
differences, Aramaic environment, etc. are
taken into account, the Isaiah Scroll is
essentially the same text we read today in our
English Bible.
Isaiah
predicted that He would be born of a virgin
and named Immanuel, meaning, "God with us."
(Isaiah 7:14) Isaiah predicted the "son" born
of a virgin would be God in the flesh, both
truly God and truly man.
"For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is
given: and the government shall be upon his
shoulder: and His Name shall be called
Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The
everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace."
(Isaiah 9:6)
"Of the increase of His government and peace
there shall be no end, upon the throne of
David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and
to establish it with judgment and with justice
from henceforth even forever. The zeal of the
LORD of hosts will perform this." (Isaiah 9:7)
Isaiah said that He will be born of the seed
of David, but His kingdom will be perfect and
will be eternal, attributes possessed only by
God. He also said the Messiah will come as "a
rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch
shall grow out of His roots." Even more
amazing, considering Isaiah was a Jewish
prophet, was the prediction that the Messiah
would become "an ensign to the Gentiles"
first, and that after that, God would
"assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather
together the dispersed of Judah from the four
corners of the earth." (Isaiah 11:10-12)
An Eyewitness Precision
What makes these prophesies so important is
that these were the words of the major
messianic prophet of the Old Testament, who
lived some 500 years before the birth of
Jesus. These words are those of one who seemed
to have been an eyewitness to the life of
Jesus.
Isaiah
described the purpose, method and manner of
the death of Jesus with eyewitness precision
(Isaiah 53).
He described that, "But He was wounded for our
transgressions, He was bruised for our
iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was
upon Him; and with His stripes we are healed."
(Isaiah 53:5) Isaiah predicted He would be
spat upon, beaten and His face "marred more
than any man, and His form more than the sons
of men." (Isaiah 52:14) Isaiah said He was
hated without cause. Jesus was guiltless of
any sin.
The gospels record that Jesus was beaten,
slapped, punched, His beard was plucked from
His face by the roots, and he was given 39
strokes with a cat o' nine-tails. Pilate
himself could find no cause to pronounce
judgment. Pilate ordered the crime for which
He was condemned posted above His head in the
four working languages of the day – "Jesus,
King of the Jews."
He was executed for the sins of His people,
exactly as Isaiah prophesied. "He made His
grave with the wicked" (He was executed
between two thieves) "and with the rich in
death." (Isaiah 53:9) His body was claimed by
the wealthy Joseph of Arimathea and buried in
a rich man's tomb.
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