Prophecy includes both an element of revealing deep insight and an element of foretelling the future. Our own times are difficult for us to understand because we are too close to them, as funny as that sounds. Most of us are unable to assess our times accurately without the perspective offered by distance. The prophets revealed deep insight about the reality of their times that most of their contemporaries didn’t understand. For instance, the history we have been reading reveals what times were like when the book of Isaiah was written. Kings of Judah would seek God for a time, likely attempting to lead their people to do the same, but no one we have read about was wholeheartedly devoted to God. We saw in Uzziah’s life a form of devotion that offended God. In today’s reading, God called their faithfulness to Temple worship as prescribed by the Law “trampling My courts,” and He expressed a desire for them to stop going to the Temple, stop observing their holy days, and stop bringing their sacrifices. I believe those people were as surprised by that assessment as we would be today to hear God describe our church worship in the same way and express His desire that we stop attending. That is the kind of deep insight the prophets revealed about their day. And since God’s Old Testament people are object lessons for His New Testament people to understand the truth about man, about sin, about God’s interaction with men, these deep insights about their day often reveal deep insights about our day as well.
The times about which the prophets foretold could be any of the following:
- A time that was in the future relative to them, but has come to pass long ago relative to us;
- Jesus’ first coming
- Jesus’ second coming
- Time following Jesus’ second coming.
Often prophecy can refer to more than one time. The key to understanding what is being said is always to understand first what was being said to the original hearers, then to apply the truth revealed in that passage to ourselves.
Prophecy is challenging for a number of reasons:
- The time about which the prophet speaks can change abruptly, without warning. Prophecy often seems written in a stream-of-consciousness manner that is difficult for the reader to follow. Sometimes the time to which the prophecy refers is not clear. To help me with this, I have color-coded in my Bible every time transition.
- Prophecy is often written as poetry, which is generally not the format that offers the clearest understanding of what is being said. Its time and place of origin are so distant to us that we may not understand the imagery. And yet its imagery, once understood, can reveal a lot to us.
- Prophecy can be obscure. God is unclear for a reason, given in Isaiah 6:9-10. A calloused heart is not a seeking heart, and won’t try to see past the obvious. God wants to speak to seeking hearts. Are you willing to invest effort into seeking to understand prophecy?
Isaiah is, in my opinion, the best book of prophecy to search to understand, because it teaches more about Messiah than any other prophet. Jesus fulfilled God’s every purpose and plan for Messiah. Thus, God’s plan for Messiah revealed in Isaiah teaches us as much about Jesus’ accomplishments on our behalf as the historical accounts in the Gospel teach us. Isaiah gives us God’s perspective of what Messiah means to us, which is not fully evident from New Testament teachings about Jesus Christ.
With the background covered, are you ready for insights from Isaiah? There is no way this post can cover everything in this book, but I hope to address the obvious questions at least briefly, and focus our attention broadly on what was said to the original hearers and how that applies to us.
As I’ve mentioned, what God said about His Old Testament people may be true of His New Testament people as well. Today’s reading challenges us to examine our worship of God. Is it possible that God despises our worship observances as He despised theirs? Have you ever asked God what He thinks of your worship? Perhaps the greatest worship we can offer Him is to offer up in sacrifice our ideas, our traditions, our preferences, and seek what He wants. He reveals it to us in part in these chapters. Are you willing to listen? If we insist on worshiping according to our own preferences, whom are we worshiping? If in fact it’s not God, then we are in danger of forsaking, or have forsaken, God.
Notice that chapter two speaks of a time to come: the Day of the Lord. Any time the phrase, “in that day” or a reference to “that day” is used, it may be a signal that the prophet is speaking about the Day of the Lord. From the descriptions of that day, we can understand that it takes place upon Jesus’ second coming. Sometimes it also refers to His first coming, and the prophet treats them as a single appearance without distinguishing between the two.
Based on what is prophesied for that coming day, do you fear it or welcome it? If you are indifferent about it, you might need to ask God to soften your calloused heart. If you fear it, humble yourself now and ask for ongoing help to keep humble so that you don’t have to be humbled in that day. If you welcome it, you might want to ask God to search your heart, and you might want to thank Him for His mighty work in you.
The reference to the “Branch of the Lord” in chapter four is an example of the ambiguity of prophecy. Isaiah refers to the Branch of the Lord without introducing Him to tell us who He is! Study reveals that the Branch of the Lord is Jesus.