The Yale expositor., 1911-05-11
ISAIAH'S CALL
TO SERVICE
uncay School Lesson tor May IL, lSil
Specially Arranged for This Paper


died which was (Beeche) b. C. 755. or
(Hastings) B. G. 749.
PLACE-The Temple in Jerusalem.
KINGS-In Israel Menahem: in As
syria. Asshur-daan III.
This is a home-missionary lesson.
We are asked to read Isaiah "a. What
home-missiOnary thoughts are TO be
found there? Those glowing sentences
are in many particulars faithful pic
lures of our wealthy modern nations.
There are the unexampled movement
of immigration, the aping Of evil Gus
toms from other lands. the vast wealth,
the mammon-worship the pride, the
social wrongs and expressions, the
misgovernment, the devotion to fash
ion and luxury, and in it all nucleus
of nobility that will bring about the
utmost triumph of godliness. There
is as great need that We should work
for our country as that Isaiah should
work for his; and, though we are so
much inferior 70 Isaiah, yet God calls
us in essentially the same way to the
same great service.
The literary qualities most conspic-
uous in Isaiah is the wealth and bril-
liancy Of his imagination. No other
Old Testament writer has the same
power Of picturesque and graphic de-
scription. There 10 no other Hebrew
author who furnishes the reader with
so many Quotable sentences. One can
imagine the people of Jerusalem stop
ping one another on the street, to tell
and hear the latest from the prophet
This. of course, was precisely what he
desired and intended Isaiah was a
humorist and satirist in the truest
sense of the word This is evident
from his vivid quaint description Of
the strange manufactured idols and
images of worship, from his curious
and vivid picture of female luxury and
fashion in his day.
The events of his time may be
summed up in two momentous occlr-
rences. The first was the advance OF
the Assyrans upon the small states of
Syria and Palestine, paralyzing their
national consciousness. and with this
also their national religions. judah
was not destroyed like Samaria, but
its Independence was lost, and ii was
the prophets chief political task to
enable his country to adjust itself TO
the new conditions. AS a politician
Isaiah's maxim was mo politics." He
strongly dissuaded Ahaz from entan-
Cling himself with Assyria but when
his advice was disregarded and Judah
become subject to Assyria he resist
ed with equal strenuousness all at
tempts 10 throw off the Assyrian
yoke
The second occurrence was the fall
of Samaria, by which the mission of
united Israel became the heritage of
Judah alone. During all these troub-
lous times Isaiah was the leading
statesmen Of his country.
Isaiah was filled with fear of
vision because 1t was a vision of God,
and the Hebrews believed that no one
could see God and live. Isaiah loved
God, and instinctively he prepared to
join his voice to the seraphs' chant,
but ere the harmony could pass his
lips he caught his breath and was
dumb. A horrible sense of unulean.
ness seized him.
One of the bright seraphs, glowing
as with fire, and with wings like the
lightning fash" took hot stone with
tongs from the altar and touched Isa-
ah's lips with 1t in token Of purifica-
ton. The hot stone is a stone kept
in all ancient Oriental households as
\ means of applying heat to household
| purposes.
Why does Jehovah seek a man to
go on his errands. when he has the
winged seraphs? Because men can
reach men better than angels can.
| Only once did God choose a completely
sinless preacher Always. but that
once, God has chosen sinful men; and,
not seldom, the most sinful Of men he
| could get to speak 10 their fellow-men
about sin and salvation. Isaiah was
| quick to offer himself as the mesen-
ger. because he felt himself, with his
sin removed both fit and able for
service, and wanted to show his graf.
itude for what had been done for
him.
How does this marvellous chapter ap
ply to our nation and to home mis-.
sions? 1t contains message Of doom
and message Of hope and promise.
Which shall it be for our nation? The
former, If Christians are needless of
the great work before them, to evan.
| geize the masses of our fellow-coun
trymen that do not know Christ. The
latter, if home missions are earnestly
promoted. in the spirit and power Of
| our Lord.
One Of the chief problems Of homo
missions is the large number of for.
eign immigrants. When the United
States is prosperous more than mil.
| lion of these come to our shores every
year, and about three-fourths of them
| remain
Home missionaries meet the immi-
grant at Ellis island and give him a
Bible and a word of kindly advice.
The American Bible society sends its
! colporteurs into the most neglected re.