Week 30: Isaiah 28 - 48

This week we'll continue with the prophet Isaiah:

* Weekend: Isaiah 28 - 30
* Monday: Isaiah 31 - 35
* Tuesday: Isaiah 36 - 39
* Wednesday: Isaiah 40 - 42
* Thursday: Isaiah 43 - 45
* Friday: Isaiah 46 - 48

As Mike mentioned last week, some big things are about to happen in the book Isaiah. Chapters 28 to 35 continue to describe prophesies regarding the nations surrounding Israel, and regarding the liberation of Jerusalem. The key message over and over: not the powerful nations will bring liberation, but God alone! (Chapters 30,31,33,35).

When you read these prophesies, don't skip over them as not being relevant anymore. Be on the alert for prophesies that foreshadow the coming of Jesus, both his first and second coming. Sometimes, all of a sudden you find these 'pearls' that are hidden in the text, such as Isaiah 28:16, which is a clear prediction of the coming of Jesus.

In Chapters 36 to 39, the writer shifts from recording prophesies to recording some actual history. Jerusalem is under siege by king Sennacherib from Assyria with his mighty army (at least 185,000 troops!). The Jewish king Hezekiah and his men are desperate and put on sackcloth because of the distress. They know for sure that they cannot win this battle, unless... the Lord helps them (37:4). I especially like verse 20 of Chapter 37: "Now, O LORD our God, deliver us from his hand, so that all kingdoms on earth may know that you alone, O LORD, are God." You have to read all of chapter 37 to see if God hears Hezekiah's prayer or not.

Then, Chapter 38 is one of those other remarkable chapters in the book of Isaiah, and in the entire Bible for that matter. Hezekiah becomes terminally ill. Through the prophet Isaiah, God even tells him he will die. But... Hezekiah prays earnestly to the Lord for an extension of his life, and... God answers his prayer! He gets another 15 years to live!! That must have felt like more than a 2nd chance to life for him. That's how some of us feel when we come to know Jesus, after being 'spiritually dead' for so many years. What a gratefulness we have when we do get that second chance to life. Hezekiah shows his gratefulness in a wonderful prayer at the end of Chapter 38.

And you would think he would live the rest of his life in gratitude and trying hard to serve the LORD, just like we would do, right?! Well, the very next chapter records a costly mistake of Hezekiah that has far-reaching consequences for the kingdom of Judah.

Chapters 40 to 48 are kind of like a whole new section in the book of Isaiah. Because of its literary style and its different contents, it is generally assumed that this is written by someone other than Isaiah. This prophet is generally called 'Deutero Isaiah', or 'the second Isaiah'. This part of the book is famous for its many prophesies regarding the coming of Jesus, especially his suffering on the cross. It's stunningly amazing how accurately these prophesies describe what happened to Jesus many centuries later. More about that next week!

Dick