The Dolores star., 1917-06-29
LESSON FOR JULY
l9AlAh'e CALL TO hGNolc

e~~~uS ~eh SSeu
isAIAh's CALL TO HERolc
9gRvIce.
LESSON TExr-Isaiah 8
GOLDEN TExT-Also I heard the voice
OF the Lord saying. Whom shall I sand.
and who will 90 for usr Then said I.
Here am !: send ms.-Isa- Ga
The lesson committee now turn for
a third quarters lesson to q series Of
studies In the Old Testament a. found
in II Kings, Ezra and Nehemiah. A
an Introduction. they have chosen this
chapter In the book Of Isaiah.
Isaiah prophesied in the latter half
Of Uzziah's reign, B. G. 70O and down
to the early years Of the reign Of
Manasseh about b. G. 694 (ch. 1:l).
This event took place probably B. G.
7S5. The place was Jerusalem; the
kingdom Of Israel was still in exist
ence (f0r 50 years longer) being ut
teriy destroyed In b. G. 721. The
name Isaiah means ''the salvation Of
jehovah" his wife Is called '.the
prophecies two Of his sons arc
named and his social position was high.
a. shown by his intimacy with kings.
Isaiah lived In troublous times. He
was q reformer seeking to rescue his
nation from the sins growing out Of
their disobedlence to God. He was
the leading statesman Of his time. the
greatest Of the prophets, an author,
q heroic, singie-minded. patriotic. fear
1oaa vVnAaunSoh vrou ~ srroat v>~~~<r~p
power and influence. He was q proph-
ct Of hope; he wrote out Of his long
life Of faithfulness and fellowship with
God. The book Of Isaiah falls into
two great divisions; chapters $50 be-
ing chiefly historical. interspersed with
songs and poems; chapters 1905 are
a collection Of prophecies that have
to do chiefly with the return from
the Babylonian exile and the days Of
future glory FOE the kingdom of God.
I. Visions wv. 1-4). Az we have
said, Isaiah prophesied In a time Of
great need. The prophet was very
much discouraged. In this passage he
locates his vision at Q special time
and place (ch. 1:1). Every mans
great need today IL q real vision Of
God. We are not % much In need Of
theories about God. a. q vision Of
God himself. Usxiah's long reign Of
So years, In which the kingdom pros.
pered and the kings name was spread
abroad, stopped ~ suddenly ~ an
earthquake. and his glory was eclipsed
tsee II Chron. % 1919. The place In
which Isaiah saw his vision was the
house Of God. Perhaps mot In the tam
pie. but seeing the vision from the
temple the prophet looks to q house
not built with hands, Jehovah's own
heavenly palace. Therein he saw sthe
Lord sitting on . throne epd
his train filled the temple" Above Il.
or around II. were arranged hovering
couriers and the seraphic choir. The
majesty Of this vision 10 indicated In
verse two, its glory In verse three,
and IT. power II indicated In verse
four. The whole earth was nlled with
Gods wondrous wisdom. love and pow
er. Literally sthe whole earth II full
Of his glory" The Hebrew word for
holiness comes from word meaning
ITO set apart-set q distance FROM
The holy Lord II not only sinlsas but
he II sublime and absolute also. II
may seem difncult to harInonize
Isaiah's vision with John lis. get
these manifestations were one and the
same, for all that saw Jesus saw God
(John 14:0). King Uzziah was dead
but the real king was living still, high
and lifted mp. The attempt to reason
about him. what he must be and what
he must not be. as II he were one
Of ourselves (Eph. 1 20. ~ II absurd.
n. Divisions wv. 6-13). tI) The
vision Of the prophet wv. SD. This
vision brought conviction because 1t
showed how far separated from God
the prophet was. It also brought
conversion in that he acknowledged
himself to be unclean. himself and his
surroundings to be vile. II also led to
cleansing. for the king heard the voice
Of the prophet, removed his guilt and
purged his sin. t2) The voice and
proclamation from the king wv. S-13).
The king called for messenger ". 81
and at once the prophet Is found.
Someone has said that "a task without
vision is drudgery; vision with
out task Is dream; while task
linked to q vision will move the
world" Not only did the king ask for
messenger, but he gave the message
which the messenger was to utter
wv. 0-12). The message was to be
to his own people; 1t was not to be
pleasant one. Verse Is shows MS
this message in prophecy. Isaiah ought
to fully proclaim the truth. but the
people would not understand 1t, and
the whole effect Of his proclamation
would be to harden them.
The Application.
What Is your. application Of this
sision for Isaiah7 We are a Chris
tian nation, but there are many de-