Prophetic Words of Comfort That Involve You, Chapter Two

Isaiah wrote the book that bears his name almost 3,000 years ago, but it has real value for us today. We can learn vital principles from the historical  events  that he recorded.. And we can build our faith through study of the prophecies that he wrote down in Jehovah's name. Yes, Isaiah was a prophet of the living God.  Jehovah inspired  him to record history in advance-to describe events before they happened.  Jehovah thus demonstrated that he can both foretell and shape the future.  After studying the book of Isaiah, true Christians are convince that Jehovah will fulfill all that he has promised.

By the time Isaiah completed the writing of his prophecy, Jerusalem had survived the Assyrian threat.  The temple was still standing, and the people were going about their day-to-day affairs much as they had for hundreds of years.  However, that situation would change.  The time would come when the wealth of the Jewish kings would be carried away to Babylon and young Jews would be court officials in that city.  (Isaiah 39:6-7)  This would occur more than 100 years later.-2 Kings 24:12-17; Daniel 1:19.

God's message through Isaiah, however, is not merely a message of doom.  Chapter 40 of his book begins with the word "Comfort."  The Jews  would be comforted by the assurance that either they or their children would be able to  return to their homeland.  Chapter 41 continues that comforting message and foretells that that Jehovah would raise up a powerful king to fulfill the divine will. It contains reassurances and gives encouragement to trust in God.  It also exposes as powerless the false gods in whom people  of the nations put their trust.  In all of this, there is much to strengthen faith, both in Isaiah's day and in ours.

Next time: Jehovah Challenges the Nations

From the Book Isaiah's Prophecy Light for all Mankind, Volume II, 2001