Introduction to Isaiah PT-1

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 7/2/2013 7:38 AM

My Worship Time                                                                  Focus:  Introduction to Isaiah PT-1

Bible Reading & Meditation                                     Reference:  Isaiah

            Message of the verses:  I want to mention several different things before we get started with today’s SD.  First of all we are now beginning a new book to study, and that is the book of Isaiah.  Next we will be looking sometime during the month of July into the fifth chapter of the book of Daniel as we continue to study Daniel a book each month. 

            The last thing I want to mention is that today, July 2, 2013 is the end of the second year of putting the Spiritual Diaries that I write most everyday onto a blog.  It was two years ago tomorrow that I began with the book of Ezra while living on the island of Kauai.  It was, and still is my desire to study the Word of God each day, and to share the things that I learn on the two blogs that I write.  My prayer is and always be that the Lord Jesus Christ will be glorified through these blogs, and that He will be glorified by those who become believers through the help of what is written on these blogs, and that believers will grow in grace (2 Peter 3:18), and that revival will be sparked in the hearts of the believers.  As of today there have been 19,200 page views on the two blogs, and I pray for the Lord to be glorified through the people who read them in ways mentioned above. 

            Introduction to Isaiah PT-1:  Dr. Wiersbe points out that the key theme of the book of Isaiah is “The salvation (deliverance) of the Lord.”  The key verse in Isaiah is 1:18 “"Come now, and let us reason together," Says the LORD, "Though your sins are as scarlet, They will be as white as snow; Though they are red like crimson, They will be like wool.”  The book is divided into two parts which actually go along with the way that the Bible is broken up as there are 39 books in the Old Testament, and 27 books in the New Testament so Isaiah is broken up into two sections the first being the first 39 chapters (Condemnation), and the last part being 27 chapters (Consolation).  The critics of the book say that there had to be two different authors because of the way that the book is written.  Well we know that the author of the book of Isaiah is the Holy Spirit of God using the man Isaiah to convey the things that He wants conveyed to His readers, and so there is no problem with the seemingly different styles of the book.

            From the looks of the table of contents of Dr. Warren Wiersbe’s commentary on Isaiah which he entitles “Be Comforted,” we will be taking a pretty fast look at Isaiah’s book which is okay because of the length of it.

            I wish to quote from the introduction to the volume that consists of all the OT prophets that actually consist of all Dr. Wiersbe’s “Be” series of the OT prophets:  “To you who study God’s Word with me, ‘I commend you to God, and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up, and to give you an inheritance among all them who are sanctified.’ (Acts 20:32 KJV).”

            Moses wrote the following in Deuteronomy 18:22 “"When a prophet speaks in the name of the LORD, if the thing does not come about or come true, that is the thing which the LORD has not spoken. The prophet has spoken it presumptuously; you shall not be afraid of him.”  There are other passages in the OT Law that say that if a man who is suppose to be a prophet does not tell the truth, in other words his prophecy does not come true then the nation is to stone him.  Winston Churchill says of the politician duty “It is the ability to foretell what is going to happen tomorrow, next week, next month, and next year.  And to have the ability afterwards to explain why it didn’t happen.”

            The Man:  What does Isaiah mean?  “Salvation of the Lord,” and salvation (deliverance) is the key theme of his book.  I suppose we can say that God was the One who gave Isaiah his name.  Dr. Wiersbe states the following:  “He (Isaiah) wrote concerning five different acts of deliverance that God would perform:  1) the deliverance of Judah from Assyrian invasion (chapters 36-37); 2) the deliverance of the nation from Babylonian captivity (chapter 40); 3) the future deliverance of the Jews from worldwide dispersion among the Gentiles (chapters 11-12); 4) the deliverance of the lost sinners from judgment (chapter 53); and 5) the final deliverance of creation from the bondage of sin when the kingdom is established (chapters 60; 66:17ff).”

            Isaiah identifies himself as the son of Amoz so we cannot get that name mixed up with another Isaiah.  We should not mix up his father’s name with Amos either.  He was married and his wife was a prophetess, but not sure if it is because she was married to Isaiah or was actually a prophetess herself.  They had two children whose names are significant in prophetic meaning.  “Shearjashub” means a remnant shall return.”  “Maher-shalal-hash-baz” means quick to plunder, swift to the spoil.  Dr. Wiersbe writes “The two names speak of the important themes in Isaiah’s prophecy.”

            We don’t find out until chapter six when Isaiah was called into ministry “In the year of King Uzziah’s death I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, lofty and exalted, with the train of His robe filling the temple (Isaiah 6:1).”  That year was 739 B.C.  Here is a list of kings that Isaiah served under Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, and he died in 686.  Tradition says that Isaiah was sawed into by Manasseh.  Let’s look at Hebrews 11:37 to see where this tradition began:  “They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were tempted, they were put to death with the sword; they went about in sheepskins, in goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, ill-treated.” 

            I suppose that as you look at the times that Isaiah lived one could compare them with the times we are living in, in the United States.  The people of Judah were people who did not worship the God of Israel faithfully, but falsely.  The political system was at times corrupt, and Judah was involved in different wars during this time.  Isaiah was a man who was not afraid to stand up and tell the people the truth about God.  In the group of men that I pray with on Wednesday nights there is a man who prays that God will raise up a man in this country to do similar things that Isaiah did in his time, and although he does not mention Isaiah personally, the kind of qualities he mentions were seen in Isaiah.  We need a man like Isaiah in our country at this time to draw our country back to the Lord.

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I pray that the Lord will give me the boldness like the kind of boldness that Isaiah had.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Proverbs 3:5-6.

Memory verses for the week:  Psalm 46:1-4.

            1 God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.  2 Therefore we will not fear, though the mountains slip into the heart of the sea, 3 though it’s waters roar and foam, though the mountains quake at it swelling pride. Selah.

            4 There is a river whose streams make glad the city o God, the holy dwelling of the most high.

Answer to yesterday’s Bible Question: “Bethel” (Genesis 8:9).

Today’s Bible Question:  “What child heard the voice of God speak to him during the night?”

Answer in tomorrow’s SD.

7/2/2013 8:36 AM