Atlanta tri-weekly journal. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1920-19??, 1923-05-22
Golden Text: Here I am, send
me."-ISaiah 6:8.

me. Isaiah 6:8.
One Of the most interesting char
acters in history is Isaiah. He came
Of royal line, had access to kings,
lived a royal life, pointed to a
royal prince, and was royal in
death.
He grew up during the reign. of
the good king Uzziah. Uzziah reign
ed for 81 years. the longest reign
of any of the kings but one. He
leaned hard upon God, and God
prospered him. He brought Judah
to its highest state of efficiency
since the disruption. Unfortunately
he grew proud. thought that he had
done it all, forgot God, and was
smitten by leprosy as curse. He
had to live the remaining years OF
his life in a separate house, and
have the kingdom administered by
his son lothian.
1t was in the year that King
Uzziah died of leprosy as a result
Of his pride that Isaiah had the
vision that transformed him into
the great man that he was. That
vision was a vision of God Himsel1
as the Holy God, and of himself as
the very opposite. He saw the Cos
whose train filled the temple anC
who was so holy that the heaven
~ beings covered their faces as
they sang, Holy, Holy, Holy, Lore
God Almighty" Isaiah never got
away from the vision. All through
his book occurs the expression "Tht
Holy One of Israel" an expression
SO peculiar to him that it occurs
twenty-five , times in Isaiah. anG
only six times in the rest of the
Bible and one of these is in Kings
which is a. duplicate of an Isaiah
passage. AS we shall see, this was
the secret Of his life.
Politics and Religion
Isaiah prophesied for half cen
fury. He was a contemporary OF
Uzziah, lothian, Ahaz, HeZekiaH
and Misunderstanding of Judah; AM
Pekahiah, Pekah. Hoshea-king O
Israel. He saw the downfall of the
northern kingdom. There were three
great political events in his life
the expedition of Tiglath. pilesel
against Ah2z; the successful inva
sion of Shalmaneser against Israc
and the captivity of the ten tribe.
and the expedition of Sennacherit
against Hezekiah. This last was tht
peak.
Ahaz was the most wicked king
| that Judah had had. He had un
done all that his grandfather had
accomplished, and had overloaded
| the people with the heaviest burden
| of taxation to pay the war debts
| He was an idolator. and took no &C
| count of God. There thus grew ur
an Egyptian party and an Assyrian
party and these two political parties
continued until the overthrow OF
judah more than a century later.
Many of Isaiah's prophecies were
| directed against this unholy alb
anCe, putting their trust in Egypt
rather than in God. One of tEe
most remarkable is in chapter OF
| the book when he assured Ahaz that
| God is with u.s." and therefore had
no business trusting in Egypt. Out
of this grew his prophecy that a
child was to be born of a virgin
whose name, Emanuel, should be q
promise and an assurance that Goo
is with us"
After Ahaz's death his young son
| Hezekiah, came to the throne II
was largely because of Isaiah's min
istry that Hezel<iah in the first year
| of his reign brought about a great
revival, the like of which had not
been known for ESQ years. HezekiaH
reigned for 20 years and stood for
| God all that time. Isaiah's backing
was the cause of this more than any
| thing else. In every crisis in his
| life, Isaiah was there to stiffen his
| backbone. In the great crisis of his
| life, when Sennacherib invaded his
land, and then later sent to Rabshe
| kah with his blasphemous letters
Isaiah was the enc who strengthen
| ed his faith in God and prophesied
the complete victory over the in
vaders.
Patriotism
Isaiah was real patriot in the
| real sense of the word. He stood
for God; he never lost sight, of the
fact that God was the rightful own
er of Israel-land and people; and
| that to God therefore must Loyalty
be given and from God only could
protection be expected.
This is shown in his frequen tref.
erences to the holy One of Israeli
Two examples will suffice, although
it will be most helpful for you to
take your concordance and read al
of these. In lisa. 5:1S-19 he refers
to it. He has been preaching to
them SO constantly about the "Holy
One of Israel" that they turn in
derision and say: Let Him make
speed and hasten His work that we
may see it; and let the counsel uf the
Holy One of Isr&el draw nigh and
come that we may know it," Isaiah
utters a "woe" against these who
speak thus in derision. Again in
the 31st chapter, verse /, he utter
woe to them that go down to
Egypt for help and stay On horses,
and trust in chariots, because they
are maliy; and in horsemen for they
are very strong; but they look not
unto the Holy One of Israel "
Read that brief chapter and see for
yourself what a true patriot Isaiah
was, loving God first and his country
most because he loved God first,
Prophetic Ministry and Message
Isaiah is the greatest of all the
writing prophets. His book is gee
ognized by all as one of the great
est pieces of literature in the world.
Scarcely a mood that can be ex-
pressed in words but finds its place
in this marvellous book. History,
poetry of various forms to express
varied moods, description, oratorical
flights-all, and more, are found in
this book and expressed in such a
superior way that the author is rec
ognized as having no superiors and
few equals.
In fact, there are so many excel
lent passages that critics would have
us believe, first, that there were
two Isaiahs, and now that there
were many authors whose works
were colle@ed in the book by two
1saiahs. There was only one Isaiah,
and he was man so filled with