Isaiah: Part 1
Major Prophets
To kick off the month of November, we are going to be studying the major prophets! Based on this title, we can obviously understand that Isaiah is one of the major prophets, but do you know who else is considered to be a major prophet in the Bible? Even more so than that, do you know why some prophets are called ‘major’ and other prophets called ‘minor’? The major prophet books in the Bible are Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel, and Daniel. This is a perfect set of prophets in order to break down each one into a two-part series each week to discuss each book in detail throughout this month. Now I know you might be thinking that there are five books here and only four weeks in November, but if you turn to the book of Lamentations, you may see an alternative name, ‘The Lamentations of Jeremiah’, so we’re going to include Lamentations and Jeremiah in the same study. So now that we know who the major prophets are, let’s answer the second prompt. Why are some considered major and others minor? Do the major ones have more important things to say than the minor ones? Are the minor prophets only half correct while the major ones are fully correct? The correct answer to this actually comes down to scroll length when these prophecies were written. In other words, the longer prophetic scrolls were considered major while the shorter prophetic scrolls were considered minor. This has absolutely nothing to do with the importance of the prophecy and it’s vital that we understand this. Don’t just assume that because a book was written by a ‘minor prophet’, this means what they had to say was any less important. As Christianity.com puts it, “As with every part of the Bible, the Major and Minor Prophets shouldn’t be skipped over. In fact, these books give us some of the richest glimpses and foreshadowing of Christ that we see in the entire Old Testament.” With that being said, let’s see what one of the most popular prophets, Isaiah, has to teach us.
Coming Judgement
To start, Isaiah is a book of 66 chapters, hence the category of major prophet. And throughout this entire book, we see the Lord tell Isaiah to warn Judah and Jerusalem of the coming judgment for their sinfulness. In fact, this is what a vast majority of the prophets communicate. The coming judgment of God because of the falleness of mankind away from the Lord. However, this coming judgment isn’t just to point out the fallenness of these people, but also to point them to the coming savior who will atone for all of their sin that they have committed against God. This is why these prophetic books aren’t unjust, but completely justified. It is not God’s goal to punish His people, but rather that they would all repent and follow Him. This is why it says in the very beginning of this book in Isaiah 1:16-17 “Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean; Remove the evil of your deeds from My sight. Stop doing evil, Learn to do good; Seek justice, Rebuke the oppressor, Obtain justice for the orphan, Plead for the widow’s case.” God’s initial response to His people is turn from your sin and follow me! Stop following the ways of the evil leaders in front of you and turn your hearts to me! What a great month to study this message. How many brothers and sisters in Christ do we know of that put way too much faith in our political system instead of God? I’m by no means shaming voting or being involved in politics, I believe we absolutely should be. However, I think we must remember that the goal of having leaders is to lead us closer to the heart of God. We could certainly learn a thing or two from the messages of these prophets and view our own lives in light of what they have to say to other nations who have abandoned God.
Future Hope
Furthermore, when we look deeper into this prophecy from Isaiah, we see exactly what about a nation God hates. Isaiah 5:20 says “Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; Who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness; Who substitute bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!” Sound familiar? Nations that turn from God and define good and evil on their own term will be subject to the judgment of God. This is what verse 25 goes on to say too “For this reason the anger of the LORD has burned against His people, And He has stretched out His hand against them and struck them…” God will not let the wicked go unpunished. He will, in fact, let the nations that do not love Him, be led to their own destruction. There is, however, hope in this entire mess. We see a fascinating approach by God in how He will deal with the judgment itself that destroys His chosen people. In Isaiah 33:1, it says “Woe to you, destroyer, While you were not destroyed; And he who is treacherous, while others did not deal treacherously with him. As soon as you finish destroying, you will be destroyed;...” This means that even the evil nations that destroy God’s people will one day be destroyed for their wickedness as well. In other words, God will cause evil to destroy evil. What an amazing tactic.
But where is the hope in all this? Turn your eyes to the closing verses in chapter 33 from verses 13-24 and you will indeed see this hope. I encourage you to read the whole chapter, but for this post, we’ll just look at Isaiah 33:14-15 “Who among us can live with the consuming fire? Who among us can live with everlasting burning?” One who walks righteously and speaks with integrity, One who rejects unjust gain.” Who can save God’s people even when their own nation won’t turn from their wicked ways? Christ alone. This is the beauty of this book that is so applicable to us today. Where does our hope come from in such a fallen nation? Christ alone. Who can our hope be in when our very land is being judged? Christ alone. Where can we find atonement for our terrible sins? Christ alone. I hope and pray that as we go through this book of Isaiah and the rest of these prophets, you will see as Judah and Jerusalem saw, that our biggest need is not a king or politician but Christ alone.
Sources
[1] Blue Letter Bible. (n.d.). Blue Letter Bible. https://www.blueletterbible.org/
[2] Riggleman, H. (2024, January 5). Who were the major and minor prophets in the Bible? Christianity.com. https://www.christianity.com/wiki/bible/who-were-the-major-and-minor-prophets-in-the-bible.html
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