Have you not
known? Have you not heard?
The LORD is the
everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth. Isaiah 40:28
I have
stood at the rim of the Grand Canyon.
Susan and I have hiked down into one small portion of it and seen some its
detail. But I am not qualified to be
anyone’s professional guide into that amazing portion of God’s creation. In some ways I feel the same way about the
book of Isaiah. I have read and studied
Isaiah, and have taught and preached various passages from the book. But guiding us through an expositional sermon
series from Isaiah is to me a very daunting task. I will be learning with you as we go through
the book. I will be praying for you and
a beg you to pray for me as I study and prepare. Yet I am convinced it will be a rewarding
journey. God willing, we will come to
the end with a greater knowledge of God and a more fervent love for Him. We will have a stronger understanding of
God’s sovereignty over all of history and deeper trust in Him as the faithful
covenant-keeping God who makes promises and fulfills them. My prayer is that in the end we will, like
Isaiah, see the Lord “sitting upon a
throne, high and lifted up” (Is 6:1).
Isaiah is
a grand portion of God’s Word, considered by many the apex of the Old
Testament. It has been written that
Isaiah “is as much a crown of the Old Testament as the Epistle of Hebrews is of
the New Testament”. (Alec Moyter) In terms of theological significance Isaiah
has also been called the ‘Romans’ of the Old Testament (Barry Webb). Isaiah is quoted
or alluded to in the New Testament more often than any other Old Testament
book. The New Testament comes to
climactic end the same way Isaiah does, with the promise of death conquered,
tears wiped away, and the new heavens and new earth. All of this centers around the major thread
running throughout the book of Isaiah, which is the vision of Jesus as the
Messiah, the Servant King and the Anointed Conqueror. By the time we come to the end of Isaiah, and
the glorious vision of the new heaven and new earth, we should all be better
able to believe in and defend the uniqueness of the Lord Jesus Christ as the
only Son of God and only Savior of the world.
The missionary heart of God is
another major theme in the Book of Isaiah. “For as the earth brings forth its sprouts,
and as a garden causes what
is sown in it to sprout up,
so the Lord God will cause righteousness and
praise
to sprout up before all the nations.”
(Is. 61:11) I am praying that God will cause our hearts to burn with this
same zeal and passion for the nations to come to Christ.
Isaiah spoke into a culture and
country in turmoil. The traditional
spiritual and moral values were being questioned and reconstructed. Though it was a time of prosperity, the
wealth was owned and controlled by an elite few and the needs of the many were
ignored. Though the culture was rich in
religious tradition and practice, it was spiritually bankrupt. The ultimate question from Isaiah to his
people was “whom or what will you trust?
Will you put your faith in yourself, the government, or in God?” The message of Isaiah is as relevant for us
today as it was almost 3,ooo years ago.
From the beginning of Isaiah we are
reminded of the weight and importance of what the next sixty-six chapters
contain. Isaiah is God’s Word to
us. When we read the words of the prophet
we are hearing the Word of God.
“Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth;
for the LORD has spoken” (Is. 1:2)
We will not finish this journey
through Isaiah as we should unless we begin in the right way, by asking God to
give us a humble and open heart to hear and receive what He has to say to us
through the prophet Isaiah. We must
listen when God speaks. We must hear
what He has to say. Our lives depend in
it.
Incline your ear, and come to me;
hear, that your soul may live; (Is. 55:3)
This is my prayer for us all. I look forward to seeing you Sunday as we
worship and hear from the Lord through Isaiah.
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