Isaiah

Isaiah saw in his lifetime the power of God at work amongst His people. He witnessed the collapse of the northern kingdom of Israel under the Assyrian onslaught and saw the southern kingdom brought to the edge of disaster. The fault lay in their sustained rebellion against God. The Lord intervened and saved Judah. But Judah did not learn this lesson well. The Babylonians would capture Jerusalem and take the people of God into captivity. Isaiah’s message is one of judgment suffused with the promise of restoration. The exile would prove to be a terrible ordeal, but God would not abandon His promise, His covenant. He would restore the people to their land once more. Judah’s return from captivity was to be a foreshadowing of a far greater splendor: the recovery of the heavens and earth to the glory that was originally intended, but which had been ruined by the Fall – a transformation so spectacular and magnificent that it makes Isaiah’s prophecy thrilling and captivating reading. Knowing truths like this will make us strong. It is Isaiah’s conviction that the church needs to remember the consequences of God’s holy character and live accordingly if she is to experience blessing and revival.