Greater Men and Women of the Bible by James Hastings: 400. The Work of Isaiah

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Greater Men and Women of the Bible by James Hastings: 400. The Work of Isaiah

Subjects in this Topic:

Isaiah

II

The Work of Isaiah

Literature

Addis, W. E., Hebrew Religion (1906), 169.

Batten, L. W., The Hebrew Prophet (1905), 90, 212.

Davidson, A. B., The Called of God (1902), 187.

Delitzsch, F., The Prophecies of Isaiah (1890).

Driver, S. R., Isaiah: His Life and Times.

Driver, S. R., Introduction to the Literature of the Old Testament (1913), 204.

Glazebrook, M. G., Studies in the Book of Isaiah (1910).

Kirkpatrick, A. F., The Doctrine of the Prophets (1892), 141.

McFadyen, J. E., Introduction to the Old Testament (1905), 107.

Maurice, F. D., The Prophets and Kings of the Old Testament (1892), 219.

Moulton, W. J., The Witness of Israel, 101.

Ottley, K. L., A Short History of the Hebrews (1901), 193.

Plumptre, E. H., Biblical Studies (1870), 189.

Sanders, F. K., and Kent, C. F., The Messages of the Earlier Prophets (1899), 79.

Sayce, A. H., The Life and Times of Isaiah (1889).

Skinner, J., Isaiah (Cambridge Bible), i. (1896).

Smith, G. A., The Book of Isaiah, i.-xxxix. (Expositor's Bible) (1888).

Smith, H. P., The Religion of Israel (1914), 147.

Smith, W. R., The Prophets of Israel (1882), 279, 317.

Wade, G. W., The Book of the Prophet Isaiah (1911).

Welch, A. C., The Religion of Israel under the Kingdom (1912), 144.

Westcott, B. F., Peterborough Sermons (1904), 267.

Whitehouse, O. C., The Book of the Prophet Isaiah (Century Bible) (1905).

Woods, F. H., and Powell, F. E., The Hebrew Prophets, i. (1909) 57.

Dictionary of the Bible, ii. (1899) 485 (G. A. Smith).

Dictionary of the Bible, ii. (Single-volume, 1909), 386 (G. B. Gray).

Expository Times, v. (1894) 296, 369, 391, 438, 488; vi. (1895) 9 (A. B Davidson); xvii. (1906) 200 (G. G. Findlay).

The Work of Isaiah

These things said Isaiah, because he saw his glory; and he spake of him.- Joh_12:41.

There is a characteristic of the prophets which must be steadily kept in view if their position and significance are to be rightly apprehended. The prophets, one and all, stand in an intimate relation to the history of their times. Whatever be the truth which they announce, it is never presented by them in an abstract form; it is always brought into some relation with the age in which they live, and adapted to the special circumstances of the persons whom they address. Of course the principles which the prophets assert are frequently capable of a much wider range of application; their significance is not exhausted when they have done their work in the prophet's own generation; but still his primary interest is in the needs of his own age. The vices which Amos or Hosea denounces are those of the kingdom of Israel in the middle of the eighth century b.c.; and though they would have raised their voice not less loudly had they lived at some other period of Israelite history in which the same faults were prevalent, the form which their denunciations assume, the characteristic features of society which they attack, are those of the age in which they themselves lived.

Similarly in their theology, while there is naturally a series of fundamental principles common to the prophets generally, each prophet in particular possesses a special individual element, partly conditioned by his own genius and temperament, partly determined by the course of general events in the world in which he moves. As men expressing habitually their judgment on the conduct of public affairs, and holding decided political views, it will be still more evident that the principles advocated by them must stand in a definite relation to the circumstances of particular junctures, and to the attitude assumed on such occasions by the nation generally. The position taken by Amos, for instance, in view of the Assyrians, is very different from that taken by Jeremiah at a subsequent period with reference to the Babylonians. Many of Isaiah's most important prophecies are dependent upon the relation which Judah, through the action of its responsible rulers, occupied alternately towards one or other of the two great empires of Assyria and Egypt. It is thus essential, if the work of any prophet is to be properly understood, to study it in the light of contemporary history.

In the case of Isaiah we are peculiarly fortunate in being able to do this; for the decipherment of the Cuneiform Inscriptions of Assyria has enabled us to watch the movements of the Assyrian kings, almost year by year, through the whole period of his ministry, and the result has been to exhibit this great prophet's character and position with a distinctness and completeness which, antecedently, would assuredly not have been anticipated.

The possibilities of the prophetic office are nowhere more splendidly illustrated than in the career of Isaiah. Called in early manhood to the service of Jehovah, he gave himself to his mission with a whole-hearted devotion and a singleness of aim which suffered no abatement in the course of a long and strenuous life. The work of a prophet was the vocation of his life, and every faculty of his being, every source of influence open to him, his social position, and even the incidents of his private history, were all made subservient to the one end of impressing the mind of God on his generation. And to this task he brought a nature richly endowed with gifts belonging to the highest order of genius. He is great alike in thought and in action, and unites the profoundest religious insight with a wide knowledge of men and affairs. If any single quality can be selected as specially prominent in Isaiah, it is an imperious and masterful decision of character which makes him perfectly unhesitating in his judgments and inexorable in his demands. But more remarkable than any one feature is the balance and harmonious working of powers rarely combined in a single individual. In the union of statesmanlike sagacity with impassioned and dignified oratory he may be compared with some of the greatest names in the history of republican Rome; but Isaiah had, besides, the rapt vision of the seer and the fervour of religious enthusiasm.

We shall consider Isaiah in his character as Theological Thinker, as Social Reformer, and as Political Counsellor.