The Montgomery advertiser., 1904-11-19

sf fll~
 rourth ouarter. Lesson. VIII. Isaiah,
 1-e. le-20, November 20. ie04. ; as 4f
 rsarArs MEssAGE TO JUDAH.
 Isaiah almost succeeds in effacing his ovr nersonality from his message.
 The book is of set purpose. non-auto-
 biographical. His history can only De
 idealized. He is believed to have been
 of royal blood. nephew of King Uz-
 From the fact that he describes him.
 self as in the temple court exclusive
 Iy for priests. he is believed to have
 been, of the priestiy order. Some say
 his father was prophet who trained
 his son to succeed him. His education was evidently grounded upon the sa- cred books of his country. and they affected his style. His description of hfs call. the celebrated temple scene of the sixth chapter. has never been surpassed in reverence and spfrituali- 1 ty. His ministry was long, running through reign of five kings--some say forty. some sixty. some even eighty years. His garment was a silent ser mon. It was of sackcloth. His moth CTS character Is inferred by his refer ences to women (xlix, 16: lxvi. 12, lS, and by contrast iii, 16-25). His own name is signihcant-"Jehovah saves.
 He was contemporary with Jonah, Amos, and Hosea. but younger. The story that he suffered martyrdom un-
 der Manesseh by being sawn asunder is, of course. without support
 Over against this faint and uncer-
 tain personal notation. theN definite ness and power of the message Is all
 the stronger by contrast. Prophetic
 authorship cuiminates in Isaiah. For the number and greatness of his ideas he is unapproached. Yet symmetry is maintained in manifoldness. Energy and ,liveiiness are not. wanting, yet a calm spirit of seIf-restraint breathes through 1t all.. The vocabulary Is rich and the .diction pure. His images are striking, his representatives dramatic, his antithesis pointed Other prophets have an excellence. Isaiah has all the excellencies. He is a "fire-tipped tongue sublime;" his nature glowing, intellect lucid. will imperious. imagi- nation, brilliant. rt ~ Amos is the only prophet who ap- breaches Isaiah in the high polish of his style. Yet the prophets style is | just as certainly subordinate to the substance of his message as his per- sonal history Is. It is fearful and fear less, and at the same time highly pat riotic, arraiEnment of his native land. | kR exorably called to judgment. Charge, specifications. evidence, argument, ver-
 dict, sentence-alI are here. The call Ito confession. contrition. and reform ation: the profferI of forgiveness and cleansing; the assurance of peace and | Joy; the promise of personal and na- tional security and prosperity-theser too. are here. We seem to have stum-
 bled upon the heart of the New Testa- ment in the center of the 'Cdd. No won-
 der Isaiah is called the Fifth Evangel- | ist. H %
 Calvin thinks Isaiah may have af- fixed a synopsis of his message to the l temple door, much as Martin Luther nailed his ninety-five theses to the
 church door in Wittenberg. If so, the
 greatest possible publicity would have been given 1t and authentic copies readily made of 1t. But whether so or not, this was light which could not
 be hid under any busheL It was a mo-
 ble. outrageous patriotic contribution i to the making of better State. Noth- | ing is kept back for the sake of court | favor Set thine house in order, for thou shalt die and not live" is his fear less message to the king.
 Each bold utterance is provoked by | some impending national peril-threat-
 ened invasions of Syria, Israel. Edom.
 Philistia, and Assyria. He deals not
 so much with the past or future as with the present tense. His message has to do with current events. He | does not deal with his ancestors or | postarity, but with his contempora-