17- ISAIAH, PROPHET EVANGELIST

In the Name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, One God, Amen.  

Lesson No. 17

ISAIAH, PROPHET EVANGELIST

References:     

Acts 2

Notes For Servants:

Objectives:

General:       

Specific:       

Instructions:

Bible Verse:

“All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.” (Isa 53:6)

Lesson:

Isaiah, Prophet Evangelist

Isaiah is one of the greatest of the Old Testament prophets living about 800 B.C.  He prophesied about Christ the "awaited Messiah", His suffering and His Kingdom.  Isaiah was able through prophecy to give a clear picture of the Messiah to coming generations as, though he were a contemporary of His.  This is true to the degree that some of his admirers came to call his book "The Gospel of Asaiah".

A ROYAL UPBRINGING

Isaiah came from a royal family.  He spent about half a century living in royal courts and participating in running the affairs of the State due to the confidence of kings in him.  He called for total reform particularly when he came in close touch with the problems of the poorer classes of the people suffering from social injustice.

Isaiah witnessed the fall of the Northern Kingdom of Israel before the king of Babylon and the carrying away of its people into captivity.

HOW DID HE SEE CHRIST?

Most Wonderful of all of Isaiah's words were those of his sayings about the coming of the promised Saviour.  The following are a number of pictures given by Isaiah in Prophecy:

First: The Messiah, God Incarnate

Isaiah tells us about the conception of the Messiah, the Virgin and the Birth and considered it to be the highest of all prophecies as in Is. 7, 10-16.

The prophecy was repeated clearly in Chapter 9, showing that He is the true light which shine on the world. (Is. 9:1‑7).

Second: The Messiah, The Suffering Servant

The true Son of God who comes to redeem the world is pictured by Isaiah as sent by God taking the form of “The Suffering Servant" (Is. 53).  This was a very new and unusual way of describing God.

+ Picturing Him as bearing the suffering of mankind.  "Surely, He has borne our griefs." (Is. 53, 4).

+ Picturing Him wounded on the cross.  “He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our inequities" (Is. 53, 5).

+ Picturing Him as the Lamb who bears our sins.  "Like a lamb that is led to the slaughter and like a sheep that before its shearers is dumb" (Is. 53, 7).

+ Although He did not sin, yet He was numbered among sinners.  "Although He had done no violence and there was no deceit in His mouth, yet He was numbered with the transgressors" (Is. 53,9 and 12).

+ Lastly, picturing Him condemned to death in place of sinners.  "He poured out His soul to death ... He bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors" (Is. 53, 12).

Isaiah gives a clear cut picture of the greatness of the act of sacrifice.  His (the Messiah) suffering became the means; for the salvation of mankind, a sacrifice made out o£ love, which converts sorrow into a fellowship of love.  Thus suffering is a means to succeed in achieving the blessed goals aspired to.

Our Orthodox Church reads passages from the prophecies of Isaiah about the suffering of our Saviour during the Pascha prayers in the Holy Week, showing how those prophecies were fulfilled. Third: The Messiah, The Everlasting

+ Picturing the son of Jesse as a wise and mighty king ruling over all nations of the world:  "There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him — spirit of wisdom and understanding" ( Is. 11:1).

+ His kingdom will be ruled by justice. "With righteousness, He shall judge the poor and decide with equity for the weak of the earth." (Is. 11:4).

+ Peace will reign over His Kingdom.  "The wolf shall dwell with the lamb + the calf and the lion and the fatling together and a little child shall lead them." (Is. 11:6).

+ He saw men's hearts full of peace and security.  “The suckling child shall play over the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the adder's den." (Is. 11: 8).

+ The knowledge of the Lord will spread holiness while the evils o£ society will disappear. "They shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy maintain; for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord." (Is. 11:9).

All these descriptions apply to Christ's spiritual kingdom which  He founded on earth in the hearts of believers.

Conclusion: