POST OVERVIEW. The first post in “The Isaiah Series,” a series of devotional studies based on selected passages from Isaiah 41-66. Each devotional study will seek to reveal the beauty and the power of Isaiah’s prophecy and will interpret the meaning of the passage so that the disciple of Jesus is encouraged.

This study will serve both as a preamble for the series and as a description the role of the prophet in biblical prophecy.

This post inaugurates what I hope to be a series of devotional studies covering the writings of Isaiah from chapter 41 through the end of the book in chapter 66.

THE ROLE OF THE PROPHET IN BIBLICAL PROPHECY

The prophecy of Isaiah is some of the finest prose ever penned in terms of its rhetorical quality. The imagery Isaiah evokes and the mystery and power of the LORD that he conveys are breathtaking. But Isaiah is not the focus of his book. In fact, for all the accolades that could be heaped on this man, Isaiah’s personal characteristics and his own thoughts and opinions disappear and are rendered inoperative as the LORD’s voice thunders forth His divine truth. For all his literary talent, Isaiah the prophet was merely the human conduit through whom the LORD spoke His message. The son of Amoz became a chosen instrument, an amanuensis appointed to precisely record the words dictated to him by the Spirit of the living God. For we know that “all Scripture is God-breathed” (2 Tim. 3:16), and if God breathes out the Word, then His scribe must merely record what he hears. We also know that the Old Testament prophets often did not understand what they themselves wrote but obediently wrote God’s Word as they received it, knowing that God would use His Word for His glory (1 Peter 1:10-12). Finally we know that God’s Word is sure because it is not made up by an act of human will but was written by “men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God” (2 Peter 1:19-21).

And so it is that when we read the powerful words of Isaiah’s prophecy, we read not the mere musings of a Hebrew man who lived in the 8^th century before Christ, but we read the words of the eternal God. Through His chosen instrument the infinite God infinitely condescends to communicate His truth to His people. The goal of these studies is to understand the message of the LORD in these passages so that we may be edified and we may glorify the LORD with our lives.

Soli Deo gloria            rmb                 12/4/2023                   #680