When he was a young man, he saw ancient Assyria invade and carry away much of northern Israel. Only 13 years later, he saw Samaria fall along with the rest of Israel. Then a few years later, the greedy and ruthless Assyrian king sent back his army that raided and destroyed 46 walled cities in Israel, taking away 200,000 captives. When he was an old man, in 701 B.C., he rejoiced when God sent an angel who destroyed the Assyrian army of King Sennacherib as it camped outside the walls of Jerusalem.
And who was this man who saw so much history unfolding before his eyes? His name is Isaiah. How he responded to his times is preserved for us in the Old Testament book that bears his name. This was the work that gave George Frederick Handel his inspiration for the score of The Messiah as he put to music the theme announcing, "For He shall reign, forever and ever, and of His kingdom there shall be no end."
If you, like so many, consider some of the Old Testament books dry and boring, you better get acquainted with the book of Isaiah, which contains some of the most magnificent passages ever penned by human hand. No wonder Henry Halley wrote of him: "In some of his rhapsodies he reaches heights unequalled even by Shakespeare, Milton or Homer."
Who was this man? He was an upper class man to be sure, but he was a friend to the common man, a champion of widows and orphans, and a nemesis of bureaucracy, corrupt politics and injustice. He had royal blood in his veins, but that didn’t stop him from scathing denouncements of wrongdoing in the palace of the kings. He had an encounter with the Almighty which men and women who presume to speak for God badly need today.
Isaiah’s message centered around the theme that unless genuine repentance on a national level turned the hearts of the people back to God, He would send judgment and the nation would fall. But the message was not all gloom. Isaiah announced that God would preserve a remnant, and eventually the Messiah would come who would redeem mankind. John, writing the Gospel, said, "Isaiah...saw Jesus’ glory and spoke about Him" (John 12:41). The passage we know today as Isaiah 53 pictures the passion and death of Jesus Christ as vividly as though he had actually stood on the brow of Golgotha as an eyewitness. In this passage Isaiah wrote, "We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all " (Isaiah 53:6).
Get into the book of Isaiah, for in these pages you will discover yourself. You will see your wandering heart and find that there is an answer in returning to the loving Father who sent His Son as a shepherd searching for lost sheep. Thank God for the prophets who hold us accountable and point us back to the Father. - Resource reading: Isaiah 53