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tru th s of the great prophet. L uther sa y s:“He is full of loving, com forting, cheering words for all poor consciences and wretched, afflicted souls.” No w riter of the Old Testam ent is so frequently quoted in th e New as th e son of Amoz. P au l’s epistle to the Romans is almost bu ilt on the g reat prophet. Sebastian Munster, in his commentary of 1660, declares th a t the testimonies of Isaiah ornam ent as would sta rs and jewels th e most preg n an t le tte r of P au l to th e Romans. W hat distinguishes him from' the other prophets and brings him so n ear to the evangelists of th e New T esta m ent iS th e fact th a t he, more th a n others, points to the coming Messiah as th e chosen servant of Jehovah to ac complish th e end of which th e others had spoken. W ith th e viyidness of an eye-witness he describes th e manner in which th e Messiah will fulfill His mission and th e personal characteristics and attrib u tes th a t enable Him, and Him alone, to accomplish this. He takes one vast strid e beyond his pro phetic breth ren , and looks more deeply th an they into th e mysterious plans of the Godhead. W here in all pre-Chris tia n revelation could we find a clearer elucidation of the work of redemption, especially in his most glorious 53rd chapter, th e climax and cornerstone of th e whole Old Testament? Isaiah, about seven centuries before Christ, proclaimed th e fundam ental doctrines of the Gospel. The prophet became an apostle; th e lines of tim e were erased; th e centuries still to come were overleaped- and th e work yet to be accomplished described as though it were- already done. Prophecy reached in him its highest development, and he stands unrivalled as th e first among his peers among God’s preachers in the old covenant.— Schodde. F o r sixty years th is noble and heroic man, who afte r David fills th e fore most place in th e story of th e chosen A SPLENDID OPPORTUNITY
my God also?” 7; 13. To ano th er king he says, “ Set th ine house in order for thou shalt die and not live.” 38:1. A prophet is not a courtier. He is not all sternness however. He pictures the m ighty God as a gentle mother, clasp ing his weeping people in his everlast ing arm s to hush th e ir sobbing cries and rock them to sleep upon, his-bosom. 66:13. Though Jud ah and Jerusalem are always upon his h eart, he does not forget the Gentiles. He u tte rs many sublime predictions of th e ir glorious fu tu re in sharing the salvation of God. . Isaiah ’s name means “ Salvation is of Jehovah.” Salvation is th e key-note of his prophecy and th e dom inant thought from th e blessed invitation of 1:18 to th e glorious assurance of 44:22. His message throbs w ith th e rad ia n t hope of the golden age to come when “ the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as th e w aters cover, the sea,” 11:9. The prophet Isaiah is by common consent th e g reatest of all Hebrew w riters and th e foremost of th e long list of seers who form so rem arkable an element in COMMENTS the histo ry of SELECTED th e Jew ish race. By K eith L. Brooks And yet we know bu t little of his personal history. His w ritings are his g reat memorial, and these so fully describe th e person and offices of the Messiah, th a t from th e tim e of Jerome downward, he has been konwn as th e evangelical prophet.— R. P. Smith. Jerome, in his introduction to the prophecies of Isaiah, says: “He is to he regarded not so much as a prophet as an evangelist, for he revealed all th e mysteries of Christ and of th e church so plainly th a t you would no t th ink th a t he was prophesying concerning coming events hu t ra th e r relating th e h isto ry of th e p ast.” Especially does Augustine love to emphasize th e Gospel
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