Prophetic authority

Isaiah is not an easy study. There are three distinct authors, and one must search through many paragraphs to sift out the gold. So, why search the Scriptures? One reason may be to mine the true nature of God and man. 

For Jesus and Paul, the Scriptures were the Old Testament, and Isaiah was a popular choice. There are 35 references to the prophet Isaiah in the Old Testament (2 Kings, 2 Chronicles and the book of Isaiah itself), while there are 25 references in the New Testament (13 in the Gospels, 5 in Acts, and 7 in the writings of Paul). We can see then the importance given to this prophet.

Here are three of Paul's references (from Eugene Peterson's The Message and the NKJV): 

1. Paul reminds his readers of their great heritage as "children of promise" -

Galatians 4: "Remember what Isaiah wrote: Rejoice, barren woman who bears no children, shout and cry out woman who has no birth pangs, because the children of the barren woman now surpass the children of the chosen woman. Isn't it clear, friends, that you, like Isaac, are children of promise?"  (The Message)

2. In his letter to the Corinthians, Paul settles a long-ago question [Isaiah 40:13"Who hath directed the Spirit of the Lord, or being his counseller hath taught him?" NKJV] -  

I Cor 2: 14-16: "Isaiah's question, "is there anyone around who knows God's Spirit, anyone who knows what he is doing?" has been answered: Christ knows, and we have Christ's Spirit." (The Message)

"For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ." (NKJV) 

3. Paul assures us of the continuity of God's goodness as he references Isaiah again [Isaiah 13:19 "And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldees' excellency, shall be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah." NKJV] -

Romans 9:27-33: "Isaiah maintained ... 'If each grain of sand on the seashore were numbered and the sum labeled "chosen of God," they'd be numbers still, not names; salvation comes by personal selection. God doesn't count us; he calls us by name. Arithmetic is not his focus.' Isaiah had looked ahead and spoken the truth: 'If our powerful God had not provided us a legacy of living children, we would have ended up like ghost towns, like Sodom and Gomorrah.' 

"How can we sum this up? All those people who didn't seem interested in what God was doing actually embraced what God was doing as he straightened out their lives. And Israel, who seemed so interested in reading and talking about what God was doing missed it. How could they miss it? Because instead of trusting God, they took over. They were absorbed in what they themselves were doing. ...Isaiah (again!) gives us the metaphor for pulling this together: 'Careful! I've put a huge stone on the road to Mount Zion, a stone you can't get around. But the stone is me! If you're looking for me, you'll find me on the way, not in the way.' " (The Message)

"Esaias also crieth concerning Israel, Though the number of the children of Israel be as the sand of the sea, a remnant shall be saved: For he will finish the work, and cut it short in righteousness: because a short work will the Lord make upon the earth. And as Esaias said before, Except the Lord of Sabaoth had left us a seed, we had been as Sodoma, and been made like unto Gomorrha.... As it is written, Behold I lay in Sion a stumblingstone and rock of offence: and whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed." (NKJV)

But let's finish with the Gospels. Matthew 3:3 from The Living Bible -

"John and his message were authorized by Isaiah's prophecy: Thunder in the desert! Prepare for God's arrival! Make the road smooth and straight!"

That sense of authority is perhaps what epitomises the prophets of old most of all.

Julie Swannell

"Remain perfectly still"

I was interested that the December edition of Reading Room News (http://redcliffe.christianscienceaustralia.net.au) made mention of the value of stillness*.

I have been reading some of the works of Ian Idriess, an Australian writer of things Australian. He was a Light Horse man in the First World War, serving in Gallipolli and the Middle East. He kept a diary all through the his wartime experiences; an invaluable record I believe.

They were in the Sinai – think desert sand, palm oases, heat in the day, cold in the night. Remember they are horsemen. I will quote from his book The Desert Column (Angus & Robertson Publishers,

1986):

(1916) May 5^th – German taubes (early German monoplanes) are a damned nuisance. Almost daily they drone over the oasis, seeking a target to lay eggs. Our outpost on 383 generally see them miles away with their glasses. They ring up the regiment and instantly the oasis springs to life. Every man rushes his horse, leaps on and gallops straight out into the desert in a thundering scatter of six hundred horses. The taubes have never surprised us yet. They haven't scored a single casualty. And, a curious fact, they can't see us when we remain perfectly still. We have proved this from experience and captured orders. It is curiously triumphant feeling, a feeling with a delicious little scornful thrill, holding your horse motionless and gazing up at the ominous metalled bird flying so low that you can distinctly see the hooded heads of pilot and observer gazing down, and yet though hundreds of men are watching them they can't see a single thing on which to loose their bombs – so long as we remain scattered and still. (Page 416. There are similar references on pages 427 and 449.)

Of course, my reference is Ps. 46:10 – “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth.”

It is instructive to know that the preceding verse reads, “He maketh wars to cease unto the end of the earth; he breaketh the bow, and cutteth the spear in sunder; he burneth the chariot in the fire.”

Joyce Voysey

* see Your 12 Steps to a Stress-free Christmas (https://www.health4thinkers.com/)

 Here is Step 10:

"Peace interludes. Pausing for moments of mental stillness can make all the difference, even transform your day. Be honestly aware of your thoughts and when they start going round in circles or racing in a wrong direction steer them back to that place of spiritual poise. “Hold thought steadfastly to the enduring, the good, and the true, and you will bring these into your experience proportionably to their occupancy of your thoughts.” (Mary Baker Eddy)"

Isaiah - a book to be lived

Friends of our book club: 

For December, let us take up the book of Isaiah and note its promises of comfort and present goodness.

SIXTEEN "WRITING PROPHETS"

In his introduction to the 16 prophetic books of the Bible (Isaiah to Malachi), Eugene H. Peterson startles us with his comments about "the writing prophets" (see The Message):

• "Over a period of several hundred years, the Hebrew people gave birth to an extraordinary number of  prophets - men and women distinguished by the power and skill with which they presented the reality of God. They delivered God's commands and promises and living presence to communities and nations who had been living on god-fantasies and god-lies."

• "...prophets insist that we deal with God as God reveals himself, not as we imagine him to be"

• "Prophets train us in discerning the difference between the ways of the world and the ways of the gospel, keeping us present to the Presence of God."

• "Their words and visions penetrate the illusions with which we cocoon ourselves from reality."

• "...the prophets worked to get people who were beaten down to open themselves up to hope in God's future."

• "If we insist on understanding them before we live into them, we will never get it."

ISAIAH

In introducing Isaiah, Peterson writes "For Isaiah, words are watercolors and melodies and chisels to make truth and beauty and goodness."

Whether you enjoy working in colour, notes, or in timber, you will surely enjoy working with Isaiah as its pages unfold its beauty. 

According to Peterson, the book is divided into three sections:

1. Messages of Judgement (chapters 1 - 39)
2. Messages of Comfort (chapters 40-55)
3. Messages of Hope (chapters 56-66)

We look forward to exploring this important tome together.

Julie Swannell