Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1892-02-07

pOANI|A l. pGDIOOAIs1
side the throne, on either hand, foated il
the air choiis of angelic beings with tn
wings which ever since have had place il
the pictures, except that each of these hat
SIX wings, covering their faces and tLei
feet and spread for flight, emblems of rev
erence, OF humility and of prompt obedl
ence Isaiah heard the angels singing, nov
one choir and now the other, answering
each other in melodious strophe and anti
strophe, saying the words that are uttered
still In one of the supreme moments of the
greatest of our Christian services of adora
tlon, the holy communion, 'Holy, holy
molly, Lord God of hosts, heaven and eartf
are full of thy glory"
How His Work Began.
And then the whole great temple seemed
to reel and shake, and a great mysterious
cloud OF smoke, as of the incense of the
prayers of heaven, descended upon it. And
Isaiah, standing by the door, cried, "Woe
is me, for have seen the King, the Lord Of
Hosts; and I am q man of unclean lips. .
And one of the angelic beings taking a coal
| from the flaming altar touched his lips, In
token Of forgiveness and of cleansing. And
there came voice, crying, "Whom shall
send, and who will GO for us?" And Isaiah
answered, "Rere am I, send mel" Thus his
work began.
Isaiah may be thought Of as statesman,
as reformer as theologian.
1t is notable that the first thing which
this wonderfully commissioned preacher
did was to go into politics. Isaiah was first
of all politician. He was a religious pol
itician. Isaiah made no separation in his
thought between the Church and the State.
1t is not likely that he cared much for any
institution as an institution, whether civil
or ecclesiastical. Isaiah's interest wa, alto
gether in the people. His highest desire
was to have the land full of good men and
women.
Political Questions of his Time.
Thus he concerned himself in whatever
of his time were of political complexion.
Great measures were pending, and great
perils impending. From the East the AS
syrian was every day getting a little closer
to the West. In the North Syria and
Ephraim were allied against Judah. The
people were terribly afraid of Syria and
Ephraim and were determined to ask the
alliance of Assyria. Isaiah was opposed to
that alliance The people, however, had
their way. But no sooner had they allied
themselves to Assyria than they repented
and wished instead to join hands with
Egypt.
Isaiah was all the time on the side of ma
tional independence. These were great
questions. The supreme need of the time,
as indeed of every time, was q wise man and
good man who could look, at these critical
questions from the religious point OF view
deep and eternal principles. Isaiah was
that man. Isaiah, like ali the best politi-
clans, was reformer. He saw no end of
abuses, political and social. And he was
conscious of his own personal responsible
ity. He felt that he had no right to stand
by and see these things go on.
He Was Bold Preacher.
st. Paul, who was a good Judge of relig-
ious audacity, says that Isaiah was very
bold. He was indeed. The boldest thing
that man can do is to denounce the sins of
his own class. 1t is easy for the poor to re-
vile the rich. The poor man who abuses
the rich wins popularity among his peers.
But when rich man speaks his mind, and
opposes himself to the opinion of his asso-
ciates, he becomes a candidate for all sorts
of martyrdom. Social ties, companionship,
business association, shut mems mouths.
How easy it is in Pittsburg to denounce the
Louisiana Lottery! 1t is good deal harder
down in New Orleans.
This man stood in the midst of the court,
q rich man. a man of social standing, a lay
man, too, with no allowance for professional
mind about the iniquities of priest and
prince. This is man worth knowing 1
want to introduce some of my newspaper
to the prophet, Isaiah, of
whom they have perhaps heard, but whom
[ am sure they do not know. A brave, good
man, a patriot, a hero, not only the writer
of one of the small number of supremely
great books of the world, but man of
action, whose splendid example ought still
TO be an inspiration to us.
The Book of Isaiah.
Of Isaiah as theologian, will have
more to say another time, for I mean to
speak of this preacher and his sermons more
than once now, and perhaps more than
twice. We will let the theology go to-day
So we come to the book. There are 66
chapters in this book. They fall into two
quite distinct divisions. The first chapter
Of the second part is number 40. These two
divisions are so different that a good many
scholars think they were written by quite
different men. This matter, also, we will
defer until we naturally come to it.
Of the SO chapters of the first part there
nav be made three-fold division. In the
first division, 12 chapters; in the second, 10;
in the third, II again. The first and third
divisions are consecutive prophecies; that
IS, connected sermons. The middle division
IS made up of isolated prophecies, single
sermons. The single sermons begin with the
thirteenth chapter and end with the twenty
seventh. They are chiefly taken up with the
affairs of other nations.
Not a Narrow Teacher.
The whole world was of interest to Isaiah.
There was nothing narrow or parochial
lbout him. Babylon and Egypt, Moab and
Edom, Arabia and Tyre, had their places in
lis sermons The God whom Isaiah be- |
ieved in was the ruler of the round earth,
I'll the movements of the nations were in |
he ordering of his wide providence.
The consecutive sermons of the first |
welve chapters begin with an arraignment |
If the Jewish nation for their political and |
.eligious transgressions. Then follow the
questions which rose out of the war with |
Syria and Ephriam. The consecutive |
prophecies of the third part deal with the |
INVASION of Sennacherib. How far away |
hese old names sound! And yet human |
nature has not changed much. The ques-
ions that Isaiah met are even to-day coming |
Up again for answer It ough. not to be |
Iltogether wasted time, if we go back with |
,ur disinterested and unprejudiced minds |
md study them. GEORGE HODGES.
TIN SUPPLY OF THE WORLD.