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TRHCK THROUGH THE THULE
By G, CAMPBELL MORGAN, Westminster Chapel, London, England,
Appearing Ebery Week During 1907. (Copyright American Serial "Rights applied For by The Golden Sift Publishing Co, All Rights Resorbed.)
ISAIAH—THE PROPHET OF THE THEOCRACY.
A. Prophecies of Judgment. i.-xxxv. B ' Historical I^ xy j d ®^ xix C. Prophecies of Peace. ' xl.-xlvi.
I. First Circle. Judah and Jerusalem. I. Hezekiah’s Trouble. I. The Purpose of Peace xl.-xlviii.
i.-xii. . xxxvi. Prologue. xl. 1-11
i. During the Reign of Uzziah i.-v. i. The Majesty of Jehovah, xl. 12-31
ii. During the Reigns of Jotham and ii. The Manifesto of Jehovah.
Ahaz. vi.-xii. xli., xlii.
iii. The Messages of Jehovah.
11. Second Circle. The Nation and the 11. Hezekiah’s Prayer. xliii.-xlv.
Wor,d ' xxxvii. iv The Fa u of B a ]jyi on xlvi., xlvii.
i. Babylon. xin.» xiv. 23 y The Final Appeal xlviii.
ii. Assyria. xiv. 24-27
iii. Philistia. xiv. 28-32 11. The Prince of Peace. xlix.-lvii.
iv. Moal. xv., xvi. i. Sustained through Suffering.
v. Damascus and Israel. xvii. 1-11 111. Hezekiah’s Sickness. xlix.-liii.
(Interlude. Prophet’s Soliloquy.) xxxviii. a. Jehovah’s Call. xlix.-l, 3
xvii. 12-xviii. b. His Servant’s Answer. 1, 4-liii.
vi. Egypt. xix., xx. ii. Singing in Triumph. liv.-lvii.
vii. Babylon. xxi. 1-10 a. The Song of Assurance. liv.
viii. Edom. xxi. 11, 12 b. The Great Appeal. Iv,
ix. Arabia. xxi. 13-17 I*. Hezekiah s Folly. c. The Administration. Ivi., Ivii.
x. Jerusalem. xxii. xxxix.
xi Tyre xxiii HI. The Programme of Peace,
xii. The World. xxiv.-xxvii, . .. „ _ jY? n,4xvl,
1. The Declaration of Conditions.
111. Third Circle. The Chosen and the Iviii., lix.
World. xxviii.-xxxv. ii. The Ultimate Realization.
i. The Chosen. xxviii.-xxxiii. Ix.-lxii.
ii. The World. xxxiv., xxxv. iii. The Principal of Discrimination.
Ixiii.-lxvi.
ISAIAH THE PROPHET OF THE THEOCRACY.
SAIAH was a prophet of Judah. He ex
ercised his ministry wholly within her
borders, and with a view to her correc
tion and comfort. ’ His burdens of
the nations were uttered concerning
those which surrounded Judah and had
harassed her. His outlook was world
wide and inclusive of the whole purpose
of God. Profoundly conscious of the
I
intention of God that through His people all peo
ples should be blessed, he saw through all the pro
cesses of judgment, the ultimate blessing of the
w r hole earth.
The book as a whole sets forth the two facts
of Judgment and Peace, and shows their inter-re
lation in the economy of God. Dealing first with
Judgment, his messages show how it ever proceeds
to Peace. Dealing finally with Peace, they show
how it is always conditioned in righteousness. Be
tween these principal parts of the book is a histor
ical section, the first part of which is related to the
Judgment prophecies, and the second to those con
cerning Peace.
Isaiah’s messages were delivered during a dark
period in the history of the people. He lived and
taught during the reigns of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz,
and Hezekiah. Contemporary with him, Hosea
was prophesying to Israel, and Micah to Judah.
The unity of the teaching is conspicuous, and is
the chief argument in favor of the unity of author
ship.
The book naturally falls into three parts:
Prophecies of Judgment (i-xxxv.); Historical
Interlude (xxxvi.-xxxix.); Prophecies of Peace
(xl.-lxvii.).
PROPHECIES OF JUDGMENT.
The prophecies of judgment move in three circles,
the first of which deals with Judah and Jerusalem;
the second with the nations and the world; the
third with the chosen and the world.
The prophecies dealing with the judgment of
Judah and Jerusalem were delivered during the
reigns of Uzziah, Jotham and Ahaz. The first five
chapters contain the messages delivered during the
reign of Uzziah. The prophet first impeached the
whole nation. Having summoned the heavens and
the earth to attention, he uttered Jehovah’s com-
The Golden Age for August 15, 1907.
plaint that “Israel doth not know, my people doth
not consider, ’ ’ and made his appeal to them to
learn wisdom from their stricken condition. F
then proceeded in the name of Jehovah to cor
rect their false notions of religion, declaring that
while they had been satisfied with things external,
he had sought righteousness and judgment. After
having uttered the call of Jehovah, which was full
of grace and tenderness, Isaiah described the cor
ruption of the city and the consequent judgment
which was necessary for restoration, declaring at
the same time that there is a judgment which is
reprobation in the case of persistent sin.
After the impeachment, the prophet uttered a
great appeal, in which he first described the latter
days in which the Lord’s house is to be established,
the law is to proceed from Zion, and the issue is to
be peace. Then, calling them to walk in the light
of the Lord, he declared what that light revealed
of existing corruption and consequent judgment,
appealing to them to cease from man. Following
this he described in detail the judgment of a cor
rupt society, which must fall upon the unjust rul
ers and the people who had submitted to their rule.
With a keen understanding of the corruption of
society and its reason, he declared the judgment of
Jehovah must fall upon the women who were
haughty, who had lived in luxury, and whose influ
ence had been evil in the life of the nation. The
great appeal ends with another vision of the latter
day, which he described as to its material prosperi
ty, its moral purity, and its mighty protection.
Finally, he denounced the nation first by singing
to them the song of the vineyard, in which he
showed how utterly they had failed to fulfil the
Divine purpose. Therefore he pronounced woes
against monopoly, dissipation, unbelief, moral con
fusion, conceit, and the perversion of justice. It
was because of these things that the anger of the
Lord was kindled against the people, and the proph
et foretold the coming of the scourge.
The second part of the first circle of prophecy
contains the messages of Isaiah during the reigns
of Jotham and Ahaz. When Uztiah died, Isaiah
was called to the exercise of a larger ministry, and
was prepared for the same by the special vision
granted to him. It was a vision of the glory and
the grace of Jehovah. He was revealed as One
who was at once the centre of adoring worship, and
who heard the sigh of the sinner in his need, am}
stayed the song of the seraph in order that that
cry of need might be answered.
Following the vision and the prophet’s cleansing,
he was commissioned to the ministry of judgment.
Immediately following this new call, the prophet
encountered Ahaz, and in consequence of his ob
stinacy, foretold the judgment which would fall up
on Judah by the coming of the Assyrian hosts.
After this encounter the prophet turned from
his more public ministry to devote himself to a
small circle of believing souls. He was instructed
to bind the testimony and seal the law, and his
children were to be for signs and wonders to the
people. Turning to the work of instructing this
small group, the prophet described to them the
false way of seeking familiar spirits and wizards,
with the disastrous results of doing so, and then
delivered to them the message of hope, which culmi
nated in a glorious description of the coming De
liverer.
This is followed by a prophecy of judgment on
Israel, which falls into four distinct parts, each
ending with the words: “For all this His anger is
not turned away, but His hand is stretched out
still.” Through all the methods of judgment the
afflicted people manifested stubbornness of heart
and persistence in wickedness, so that the anger of
the Lord could not be turned away, but His afflict
ing hand continued to be outstretched.
The prophecy of judgment upon Assyria comes
next in order. Assyria was the power which Jeho
vah was about to use for the punishment of His
people, but because it failed to understand its true
relation to God, it must in turn be judged. The
prophet first indicated this contrast of intention.
Jehovah’s intention was that the Assyrian should be
the rod in His hand. The Assyrian intention was
to destroy the people of God. Therefore Assyria
must also be judged. Nevertheless, the purpose of
God would be fulfilled, and the prophecy ends with
a graphic description of the Assyrians’ approach,*
and of the judgment which would fall upon the
chosen people by their coming.
With judgment imminent, the prophet yet saw
the ultimate issue of it all. He described the com
ing Deliverer, which description is followed by songs
celebrating His victories.
The second circle of the first division contains
Isaiah’s prophecies concerning the nations of the
world. He first described the doom of Babylon.
Media was to be the instrument of the destruction,
and the issue thereof was intended to be the restor
ation of Israel through the compassion of Jehovah.
Anticipating the day of restoration, the prophet put
into the mouth of Israel the parable or song which
celebrates the downfall. This moves in five distinct
strophes, the first of which describes the overthrow
and the consequent rest of the whole earth. The
second speaks of the consternation of the under
world at the fall of Babylon. The third declares
the sin which culminates in such destruction. The
completeness of destruction is the subject of the
fourth. The final strophe announces the utter ex
termination of Babylon.
There follows a fragment concerning Assyria, in
which the prophet reaffirmed Jehovah’s intention to
break its power.
That concerning Philistia is of the nature of a
warning spoken to her. Although she oppressed
the people of God, she was herself in peril. She
was not to rejoice because the rod which smote, her
was broken, for there were other forces at the dis
posal of Jehovah, and they threatened her.
The prophecy concerning Moab commences by de
scribing her desolation. A catastrophe would over
take her in a night, the result of which would be
the mourning of her people, and their scattering far
and wide. The prophet declared, moreover, that
this visitation of Moab would be in fulfilment of
an ancient prophecy, and that at last the time lim
it was actually set.
The burden of Damascus announces its doom. It