Work of the Prophets Isaiah and Jeremiah
It was in 1st Kings 18:20-40 where
we see the Prophet Elijah had challenged the four hundred and fifty prophets of
Baal to a duel of power between Baal and the one true God. The challenge? To
make fire rain down to consume an altar with a sacrifice. To no avail, the
prophets of Baal spent all morning, noon, up to midday prophesying and calling
the name of Baal, and still nothing happened. Now I am just paraphrasing, but I
can imagine Elijah saying to them “Are you done yet? Okay Lord, show them
what’s up.” When fire consumed the altar, the people fell to the ground
proclaiming “The Lord, he is God. The Lord, he is God!” I used this
illustration because it is one of my favorites when it comes to prophets and
the many wonders of God’s amazing power. Navi (nah-vee) is translated from Hebrew
to be the word “Prophet”, according to hebrewversity.com, which means to
“declare or to announce”. Of all the prophets that God chose to use, I feel
that Isaiah and Jeremiah were the most prolific prophets that God ever used. They,
just as their predecessors declared Judah and Israel’s sin and announced the
fall of Israel for their sinful ways. In this small dissertation, I will
discuss with you these two great prophets.
The
Prophet Isaiah sets the foundation of Israel’s sin in Isaiah chapter one which
includes the neglecting of the downtrodden, giving into corruption, murder, and
living life other than what God commanded. However, in chapter two that sin is
more descriptive. Israel’s sin is described as embracing the superstitions of Eastern
beliefs. They practice divination like the Philistines. Divination as described
by Merriam-Webster.com “the art or practice that seeks to foresee or foretell
future events or discover hidden knowledge usually by the interpretation of
omens or by the aid of supernatural powers.” Israel embraced pagan customs.
Their silver, gold, wealth beyond measure, endless horses, and chariots catered
to their idolatry. Isaiah 2:8 NIV “'Their land is full of idols; they bow down
to the work of their hands, to what their fingers have made. ' However further
in chapter two, we see where God will knock them down from “the lofty places”
and humble them.
According
to Beach, K. (2019) The message of Isaiah 2 provides a contrast to ch. 1, in
which the prophet calls out God’s people for their failure to live as God
commands. Isaiah 1 reprimands them for rebellion, murder, ignoring widows and
orphans, giving in to bribes, and living unfaithfully. Isaiah 1 includes harsh
and condemning words of the prophet, a call for the people of God to face the
error of their ways. And this is immediately followed by the hope-filled
message of Isaiah 2, and a vision of “the days to come” when, “He’ll show us
the way he works so we can live the way we’re made.”
The
punishment of the Northern Kingdom of Israel took place around 20 years after
Isaiah's chapters one and two. They were conquered by the Assyrians in 722 BC.
I am a big fan of what Jeremiah had to say to Judah about not learning from
Israel’s sinful ways and the result thereof.
Arnold,
B. T., & Beyer, B. E. (2015) Jeremiah (3:6-4:4) likened Israel and Judah to
two sisters. Israel acted wickedly, so the Lord judged it and sent it into
exile. But Judah, Israel’s sister, learned nothing at all from this, proving to
be even more faithless than its unfortunate sister. Despite these severe words,
God promised that a blessing could still come if his people repented. He
commanded them to abandon their idols and to commit themselves totally to him.
Repentance must come from deep within their hearts.
Jeremiah
starts around 90 years after the fall of the northern kingdom. Even with that
amount of time after the fall of Israel to the Assyrians in 722 BC, Judah met
the same fate with King Nebuchadnezzar II and the Babylonians in 586 BC. On a
personal note, as a young man, I found myself saying to people who rebelled
against the law in current-day society, “Do not get stuck like Chuck’s cousin.”
People would ask me what I meant by that saying. It pretty much means that
Chuck’s cousin should have learned from Chuck’s mistake in the first place.
God's future plans for these nations as explained from the perspective of Isaiah and Jeremiah's day.
In the 54th Chapter of Isaiah, the
prophet speaks of the Future Glory of Zion. The scripture that jumps out to me
about God’s redemptive factor is captured in this passage. I notice that with
both Isaiah and Jeremiah, there is a linking of the first covenant (the Noahic)
to the final covenant (the New Covenant). The Prophet Isaiah declares,
'“To me this is like the days of
Noah, when I swore that the waters of Noah would never again cover the earth.
So now I have sworn not to be angry with you, never to rebuke you again. Though
the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet my unfailing love for you
will not be shaken nor my covenant of peace be removed,” says the Lord, who has
compassion on you. ' - Isaiah 54:9-10.
Along
the lines of covenant and God’s plans for Judah and Israel, we see even more
confirmation of God’s future plans for Israel and Judah, in the 31st chapter of
Jeremiah where the prophet proclaimed,
'“The days are coming,” declares the Lord ,
“when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and with the people
of Judah. “This is the covenant I will make with the people of Israel after
that time,” declares the Lord . “I will put my law in their minds and write it
on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. No longer
will they teach their neighbor, or say to one another, ‘Know the Lord ,’
because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest,”
declares the Lord . “For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember
their sins no more.” ' - Jeremiah 31:31,33-34.
This
in my opinion is the foretelling of the coming of Jesus in which we see in the
New Testament. This is not just Israel as far as land Israel. Yes, a new Israel
will be established as we see today. The Israel I believe that the Prophet
Jeremiah speaks of is Israel by way of accepting Jesus as our personal Lord and
Savior. But by doing so, we become those who God “will put my law in their
minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my
people.” Jesus is the fulfillment of the promise including a restored physical
Israel.
According to Saucy, R. L. (2017),
“That Christ is the fulfillment of Israel’s promises, including the national
promises, cannot be denied, and to my knowledge it has never been denied by any
who believe in a future for national Israel. Scripture expressly declares that
God’s historical purposes are all fulfilled in Christ.
Utilizing the biblical works of Isaiah and Jeremiah, explain the applicability of the message for today's Christians.
Regarding the literary works of
Isaiah and how it is applicable to Christians and society today, I found that
the Prophet Isaiah prophesied in chapter 65:1-16 that God would reveal himself
to people who did not ask or seek him, yet even then, they turn away and even
commit actions that are intended to make God angry.
Isaiah 65:1-3 '“I revealed myself
to those who did not ask for me; I was found by those who did not seek me. To a
nation that did not call on my name, I said, ‘Here am I, here am I.’ All day
long I have held out my hands to an obstinate people, who walk in ways not
good, pursuing their own imaginations— a people who continually provoke me to
my very face, offering sacrifices in gardens and burning incense on altars of
brick; '.
In
this passage, we see where God made his presence known. However, the people who
did not seek him, once He revealed himself, did not turn from their ways of
ungodly living. I have always believed that God makes opportunity available.
Let not one soul cry out, “Had I known”. In today’s society, I believe based
upon this passage that those who rebel against God and his call are fully aware
of the opportunity given. Those who heeded the call will be covered by grace
when God moves as is written in Revelations. In Isaiah 65:9-10, we see that God
will bring forth the descendants of Jacob, and from Judah those who will
possess his mountains. But for those who forsake the Lord and forget his holy
mountain, in verse 12, Isaiah prophesies “'I will destine you for the sword,
and all of you will fall in the slaughter; for I called but you did not answer,
I spoke but you did not listen. You did evil in my sight and chose what
displeases me.” Then verses 13-16, Isaiah states that God will feed, give
drink, give happiness, and they will sing. But those who had forsaken the call
to righteousness, you shall be “hungry, thirsty, put to shame, you will cry out
and wail in brokenness of spirit.” Then Isaiah 65:17-25 discusses Isaiah’s
prophecy of a New Heaven and New Earth. Now regarding the Prophet Jeremiah, the
23rd chapter jumped out at me regarding the shepherds.
'“Woe to the shepherds who are
destroying and scattering the sheep of my pasture!” declares the Lord .
Therefore this is what the Lord , the God of Israel, says to the shepherds who
tend my people: “Because you have scattered my flock and driven them away and
have not bestowed care on them, I will bestow punishment on you for the evil
you have done,” declares the Lord . “I myself will gather the remnant of my
flock out of all the countries where I have driven them and will bring them
back to their pasture, where they will be fruitful and increase in number. I
will place shepherds over them who will tend them, and they will no longer be
afraid or terrified, nor will any be missing,” declares the Lord . ' Jeremiah
23:1-4
This
is applicable today with all the preachers, pastors, ministers, evangelists,
and anyone claiming to do the work of God, but because of their selfishness,
desire for money, and declaring “God has a healing for the next person who
donates $1,000.”, They are making it hard for pastors who are wholeheartedly
trying to reach those that have been abused by the evil intentions of bad
shepherds. There are too many souls lost because of wolves in shepherds'
clothing. On that faithful day, they will have to answer to God for the abuse
of their position. That is why those who aspire to church leadership in the
21st century must be held beyond reproach and live a life of holiness and
righteousness. Be the example of what we are preaching. This keeps the flock
from being scattered. Be good stewards of what God has entrusted us with. With
Jeremiah, I could have found a way to proof text what I had written regarding
Isaiah. However, I felt the need to address Pastors who are leading their
flocks astray for money, fleshly desires, or to cater to the woke mob who wants
the preacher to justify or give permission for them to continue to live in sin.
To live alternatively. There is no alternative to what God has written in the
Torah. There is no alternative to what has been prophesied by Isaiah and
Jeremiah. It’s either we live Godly, speaking God’s Word as it was intended,
and reaching the people that we are charged with reaching. Or we are just live
how we see fit and wait for God’s wrath. I choose life. I choose God. I choose
to reach those who thirst for truth. May God bless those who follow him
faithfully and do his work as the shepherds that he has called to tend to his
flock. Amen.
Beach, K. (2019). Isaiah 2:1–4.
In Interpretation: A Journal of Bible & Theology (Vol.73, Issue 2, pp.
185–187). Sage Publications Inc. https://doi-
org.lopes.idm.oclc.org/10.1177/0020964318820596
Arnold, B. T., & Beyer, B. E. (2015). Encountering
the Old Testament: A Christian survey (3rd
ed.). Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic.
Saucy, R. L. (2017). Is Christ the Fulfillment of National
Israel’s Prophecies?: Yes and No! The Master’s Seminary Journal, 28(1), 17–39.
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