Since we begin in this number of the paper some studies in Isaiah, it is fitting that before we begin them we should consider the place which the prophecy of Isaiah occupies in Scripture, its relation to us, and its right to be called the Gospel of Isaiah. This last item, however, will appear from the prophecy itself as we proceed in our study.
In this matter, as with everything else, we must go back to the beginning if we would get the proper understanding of it. We know the fact that in the beginning God gave man dominion over all the earth: "And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth. So God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moves upon the earth." (Genesis 1:26-28)
It was the presence of God in man that gave him the authority.
It was God working in him "both to will and to do of His good pleasure." (Philippians 2:13)
And it pleased God to rule the earth through man. Yes, it is true of the first Adam, as well as of the second, that "It pleased the Father that in him should all fullness dwell," (Colossians 1:19) for he was the son of God. "Which was the son of Adam, which was the son of God." (Luke 3:38)
This is evident from the fact that it is in Christ as Man, the Man Christ Jesus, that all fullness dwells, and that we are made full in Him. "For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily, And in Him you are made full, who is the head of all principality and power." (Colossians 2:9-10,RV) "Of His fullness have we all received," (John 1:16) "that we may be filled with all the fullness of God." (Ephesians 3:19)
Man rejected the word of the Lord, and thus lost his dominion. In sinning, be lost the crown of glory and honor. But even in announcing to man the consequences of his fall, God made promise of the Seed through whom all things should be restored and in making known to Abraham the fact that the Seed in whom all the families of the earth should be blessed should be his, God made promise to him "that he should be the heir of the world." (Romans 4:13)
Not in Abraham's lifetime, however, was this promise to be fulfilled. "He gave him none inheritance in it, no, not so much as to set his foot on; yet He promised that He would give it to him for a possession." (Acts 7:5)
Nevertheless Abraham died in faith, for he well understood that it was only through the resurrection from the dead that he was to receive the inheritance. In making the covenant with him, God had said, "Know of a surety that your seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years; And also that nation, whom they shall serve, will I judge; and afterward shall they come out with great substance. And you shall go to your fathers in peace; you shall be buried in a good old age. But in the fourth generation they shall come here again; for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full." (Genesis 15:13-16)
But when God made promise to Abraham, "[He,] willing more abundantly to show unto the heirs of promise the immutability of His counsel, confirmed it by an oath: That by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold of the hope set before us." (Hebrews 6:17-18)
That oath was this: "By myself have I sworn, says the Lord, for because you have done this thing, and have not withheld your son, your only son; That in blessing I will bless you, and in multiplying I will multiply your seed as the stars of heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and your seed shall possess the gate of his enemies; And in your seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed." (Genesis 22:16-18)
Taking these texts all together, we see that the promise and the oath are for our sakes. We have the same interest in them that Abraham had. In fact the oath was altogether for our sakes. We see also, as already noted, that the promise was to be fulfilled only through the resurrection; and the resurrection is promised in the words, "your seed shall possess the gate of his enemies." (Genesis 22:17)
The seed is Christ and all who are His: "Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He said not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to your seed, which is Christ. ... And if you be Christ's, then are you Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise." (Galatians 3:16,29)
And, "The last enemy that shall he destroyed is death." (1 Corinthians 15:26)
The promise that God confirmed to Abraham with an oath was that in the fourth generation, after four hundred years, his posterity should come into the land, and possess it. And this meant that Abraham himself should also inherit it, for the posterity cannot come into inheritance before the father does.
Now we are told that when Moses was born, as the people grew and multiplied in Egypt, "The time of the promise drew nigh, which God had sworn to Abraham." (Acts 7:17)
Therefore we know of a surety that when God sent Moses to bring His people out of the house of bondage, the time had come when "The kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven [should] be given to the people of the saints of the Most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom." (Daniel 7:27)
And this is further corroborated by the inspired words of Moses after crossing the Red Sea: "You shall bring them in, and plant them in the mountain of your inheritance, in the place, O Lord, which You have made for You to dwell in, in the sanctuary, O Lord, which your hands have established. The Lord shall reign for ever and ever." (Exodus 15:17-18)
But although "There failed not anything of any good thing which the Lord had spoken to the house of Israel; all came to pass;" (Joshua 21:45) "[The people] in their hearts turned back again into Egypt." (Acts 7:39) "Yea, they despised the pleasant land, they believed not His word; But murmured in their tents, and hearkened not unto the voice of the Lord." (Psalm 106:24-25) "So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief." (Hebrews 3:19)
Nevertheless, "The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some men count slackness; but is long-suffering to usward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance." (2 Peter 3:9)
Therefore, "Again He limits a certain day, saying in David, Today, after so long a time; as it is said, Today if you will hear His voice, harden not your hearts." (Hebrews 4:7)
No man has any more time than today; but the Lord promised Abraham that days of repentance should be lengthened out to four hundred years. Even that, however, was slighted, and since it must be that some accept the promise and enter into the promised land, God kept on saying, "Today," even after the expiration of the first time.
It was not until the refusal of the children of Israel to accept the freedom to which the Lord had called them had been marked by their being carried away to Babylon, that God set another time for the deliverance of His people. When they went to Babylon, God told them that in seventy years He would deliver them; and so He did.
Yet they did not get free from Babylon any more than they had from Egypt, and in view of this God again extended the time, marking off a very long period, which is also now in the past.
But before the Babylonian captivity the only time that had ever been set was the four hundred years concerning which God had sworn to Abraham. At any time up to the Babylonian captivity the people might, by repentance and faith, have entered into the promised inheritance.
They were living under exactly the same conditions that we are: they were living in the time of the end, the longest prophetic period having been completed. The only thing that hindered the coming of the Lord and the restoration of all things, was their lack of preparation because of unbelief.
It was in this time of waiting that Isaiah prophesied. His was the message of the everlasting Gospel, saying, "Fear God, and give glory to Him; for the hour of His Judgment is come; and worship Him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters." (Revelation 14:7)
Therefore since the conditions were the same then as now, and the thing that was impending was the same, it follows that the prophecy of Isaiah is spoken as directly to us as if the prophet were living today, and his words were now uttered for the first time.
There is no portion of the Bible that is more full of the living Gospel, and that is more important to be understood, than the prophecy of Isaiah. A clear grasp of the facts outlined in this article will enable us to appreciate the study of the book at every step.
The times are prophets now;
They preach impending doom;
Let each, repentant, bow,
And saints prepare for home.
We wait for Jesus from the skies;
Soon shall His glories greet our eyes.
--Joseph A. Seiss, A Song of the Blessed Hope, 1878.
--Present Truth, December 29, 1898--Original title: The Call of Abraham. The Time of the Promise.