Isaiah--the Prophet

I recently finished reading the book of Isaiah in the Bible--The Clear Word paraphrase to be exact. I am still marveling over how much I learned and how much is still relevant today. The lessons are endless.

Isaiah was a major OT prophet quoted 90 times in the NT. He was the first of 16 from Isaiah to Malachi. They lived and wrote during the 4 centuries (800-400 B.C.)before the hiatus between the Old and New Testaments. Their role was to bring the Jewish nation back to God and prepare the way for Jesus' first advent.

Isaiah met his death under King Manassah of Judah because he reproved the sins of the Jewish nation as the Lord had instructed him to do (Isa. 58:1). From all known info he was sawed in half. His ministry lasted over half an a century.

The prophet Amos says (3:7), "Surely the Sovereign Lord does nothing without revealing his plan to his servants the prophets. Jesus was also a prophet on earth. John 4:44 says, "Now Jesus himself had pointed out that a prophet has no honor in his own country." The Jews tried kill Him many times and eventually succeeded.

Deut. 18:19 gives this warning,"If anyone does not listen to my words that the prophet speaks in my name, I myself will call him to account." That's pretty serious business.

What does all this mean to us today? The New Testament is full of the prophets' words to us too. Will we ignore what they say regarding our preparation for the Lord's second advent by not forsaking our sins and turning to the Lord? Prophets are sent to help us by revealing our spiritual conditon. The power to change comes from Jesus Himself. Will we repeat the reaction of the Jews to their condition by pushing the Lord out of our lives? The antideluvians laughed at their probabtionary time too.

I believe we are very near the end of time and we've been playing games with religion too long. It's past time to get serious because Jesus said, "Behold, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to everyone according to what he has done." Rev. 22:12 I want to be ready and help others be ready too.