The man to whom God revealed the future – 18 June 2021

Isaiah, the man to whom God revealed so much about the future, and who was destined to bring God’s Word to the people of his time. We know that the book Isaiah took a long time to come into being and was written by different authors, who each added important parts to this book of prophecy. The first part is about 200 years older that the last part that dates from the time after the exile.

The Isaiah that we can identify with is a historical figure that lived during the reign of the kings mentioned in the above verse. He started his calling in 740 BC. He was married with two sons and lived in Jerusalem most of his life. There is not much more that the Bible tells us about him, but God chose him to bring a very important message to the whole world. In the beautiful vision that is portrayed in chapter 6, he saw God sitting on the throne and in verse 8 he heard the voice of God: ‘’’Whom shall I send? Who will be our messenger? I answered “I will go! Send me!’” This decision was to bring him into conflict with his people, for they had left the worship of God, and Isaiah was the one to prophesy the coming exile. God was to punish them before they would be allowed back into their own country.

The main message of the book of Isaiah can best be described by the meaning of his name. Isaiah means “God brings salvation”. Through the prophet, God wants to underline the fact that He alone is God and that he wants to bring salvation not only to Israel, but to the whole world. In the great passages in chapters 9, 52, 53 and others, it becomes clear that God wants to bring not only his people from exile but to save all people from exile brought about by sin. Although these passages have relevance for the time of Isaiah, they also point across the ages to the time of God’s greatest prophet, his own Son, Jesus Christ.

Prayer: Lord, like Isaiah, please help me to be available when you need somebody to tell others about your love for the whole world. Amen