The Hopeful Prophet

The Hopeful Prophet

(Isaiah)

Yearly Theme:  “Goodness is… Governing”

Series Title:  “Goodness in G major”

July 7^th, 2024

Something to think about:

Though Isaiah prophesied warnings and judgment to the nations of Israel and Judah, he also focused on hope in GOD’s plan of salvation not just for the Jews but for the nations of the world.  Isaiah’s messianic prophecies are so prolific that one would have to be completely blind to the metanarrative of his message.  And what was that message specifically?  It was a message centered on judgment (yes), but more importantly on the future of life beyond GOD’s judgment.  Because GOD loves humanity so much, Isaiah tells us that He was willing to become Immanuel (GOD with us).[1]  And in His coming to be with us, He would fulfill the promise He made to Abraham so very long ago to become a blessing to the nations so that all the world would know that there is one GOD who loves them and in Whom there is everlasting hope.[2]  This leads us to our key point today:

Key Point:  “GOD’s plan of redemption is for all nations.”

For further detail on the writing of Isaiah, Biblical scholar and author Robert Chrisholm writes,

“Isaiah’s approach [through his writings] may be compared to an aging grandfather who writes a letter to his baby granddaughter and seals it with the words, ‘To be opened on your wedding day.’  The grandfather knows he may not live to see his granddaughter’s wedding, but he understands the challenges she will face as a wife and mother.  He projects himself into the future and speaks to his granddaughter as if he were actually present on her wedding day.  One can imagine the profound rhetorical impact such a letter would have on the granddaughter as she recognizes the foresight and wisdom contained within it and realizes just how much her grandfather cared for her.  When God’s exiled people, living more than 150 years after Isaiah’s time, heard his message to them, they should have realized that God had foreseen their circumstances and that he cared enough about them to encourage them with a message of renewed hope.”[3]

So what are the high points in the 66 chapters of Isaiah’s prophecies that help us to understand the main theme of GOD’s message to the people of Isaiah’s time?  There are three specific instances that point to the metanarrative of Isaiah’s message:

• Isaiah’s  .

Isaiah 6:1-8

• The nations of the world will have a  at the  table with GOD.

Isaiah 25:6-8

• The  from all nations will be  .

Isaiah 66:18-21

Something to take home:

Some 750 years before Jesus was born, Isaiah looked forward to the day when GOD would send a Savior into the world to fulfill His promise to Abraham to reach all of the nations with the message of faith and hope in the GOD of all creation.  This would become the reality at the birth of Jesus (Immanuel, GOD with us), to a virgin girl named Mary.[4]  The advent of Jesus’ birth would not only fulfill the promises of GOD to Abraham and his descendants, but would usher in a new age and a new covenant through Jesus’ death and resurrection.  This new covenant would not only be for the Jewish nation but for all nations.  Anyone who comes to faith in Christ now has access to the Father in Heaven, and has forgiveness of sin through the sacrifice of Christ on the cross.  This is good news that Isaiah looked forward to and this is now the Good News that we have access to whether Jew or Gentile, Slave or Free, Male or Female![5]  Listen to the Apostle Paul’s words to the Galatians as a follow up to Isaiah’s prophecies:

Galatians 3:26-29 (NLT),  ²⁶  For you are all children of God through faith in Christ Jesus.  ²⁷  And all who have been united with Christ in baptism have put on the character of Christ, like putting on new clothes.  ²⁸  There is no longer Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male and female.  For you are all one in Christ Jesus.  ²⁹  And now that you belong to Christ, you are the true children of Abraham.  You are his heirs, and God’s promise to Abraham belongs to you.

Key Point:  “GOD’s plan of redemption is for all nations.”

[1] Isaiah 7:14.

[2] Genesis 12:1-3.

[3] Robert B. Chrisholm, Jr., Handbook on the Prophets, (Baker Academic:  Grand Rapids, Michigan; 2002), 14.

[4] Isaiah 7:14; Luke 1:26-38.

[5] Galatians 3:28