Isaiah - A Clear Message

Read Isaiah 1
 
Isaiah 1:1-3, 18 The vision concerning Judah and Jerusalem that Isaiah son of Amos saw during the reigns of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz  and Hezekiah, kings of Judah. 2 Hear, O heavens! Listen, O earth! For the LORD has spoken. 3 The ox knows his master, the donkey his owner’s manger, but Israel does not know, my people do not understand.”…18 “Come now, let us reason together,” says the Lord. “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool.”
 
Today begins a series on Isaiah.
 
WHAT do you need to know when you decide if you should go to a conference? You learn who is speaking. What are their qualifications? Will they speak on topics you need and desire to learn? You wonder about their personal experiences. Do they have actual life-based informaiton for your circumstances? After all, you are trusting someone with your time and the cost of traveling to and attending the conference.
    Many books of the Bible begin as Isaiah. Isaiah is the author. He tells who he is and what qualifies him to write: he speaks God’s message. He wanted all in Judah to know that God has given him a vision – a picture – of what will happen in Judah, the Southern Kingdom of Israel (The Northern Kingdom is Samaria.) and in the city of Jerusalem during the reigns of four kings. Their rule covered about 70 years, and Isaiah likely lived through 50 years.
    God has called Isaiah to prophesy. It’s as if Isaiah received a DVD or link to YouTube, so he could see God’s will for the present and the future vividly revealed to him.
    Of course, Isaiah trusts the message completely. His faith is secure in God’s vision. He is convicted that if people listen to – actually hear and do – God’s revelation, Judah will repent from sin to receive God’s cleansing salvation (verse 18). We can see this first chapter as a preface to the entire prophecy as Isaiah, the teacher, writes and speaks God’s will of judgment, repentance and salvation. This pattern consistently revealed throughout this long book is one reason Isaiah is considered a view of the entire Bible. It reveals the pattern of God’s Word from Genesis to Revelation.   
    Will Isaiah’s words be useful to our life circumstances today? Do the ancient prophet’s words to a tiny country 2700 years ago matter now? Yes, they will and they do. God’s Word is unchanging and true for each day of our lives. It is an ancient book by date; yet, it is a modern, living book in its truth for our lives now and forever. When Isaiah wrote, Hear, O heavens! Listen, O earth! For the LORD has spoken, he proclaimed God’s Word to humanity until the end of time. Each day our life-enriching task is to go to God’s Word. From heaven’s throne, the LORD holds a free conference for us each hour of each day in the Bible, through prayer and within Christian fellowship. Listen and know what the LORD has spoken. That’s why the apostle Paul could write eight centuries later:
  
2 Timothy 3:16-17 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, 17 so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. 
 
And We Know that is why we make every effort today to go to the Word of God.