Lesson for October 14, 2020
Knowing the Bible
Lesson 21
The Books of Isaiah, Jeremiah and Lamentations
The Book of Isaiah
The Book of Isaiah covers a period between 760 B.C – 698 B.C. and is a prophetic book foretelling future events and messages for the current time period in which he lived. Often the message of the prophet had a twofold meaning. Such is the case in the book of Isaiah. Isaiah was a prophet in the period of the captivity in Assyria (721 B.C.) and directed his message to Judah (the southern kingdom of Israel)
Written under the Law, Isaiah gave the reader a clear view of grace and could be called the prophet of redemption. More than any other writer in the Old Testament, Isaiah described the Messiah, Jesus Christ. The details of Christ’s sufferings, His life, His trials and His crucifixion are given in a number of passages in Isaiah. Isaiah was also used by God to warn the nation of coming judgment against them for their rebellion against Him. In this warning we see the grace policy of God toward His chosen people Israel. The nation was always given ample warning before it was destroyed or conquered by opposing nations. Even when this occurred in the nation’s history, a remnant of faithful believers always remains.
Isaiah 7 introduces the Righteous Ruler Who will come in the future to deliver the nation of Israel from her enemies. Of course, most of the nation did not understand that this promise was for the future when Messiah comes to rule and reign upon the earth at the Second Coming. Isaiah 7:14, predicts the virgin birth of Christ more than 700 years before He was born. Isaiah 53 describes the life and death of Christ.
Isaiah ministered during the reign of four kings of Judah: Uzziah, 785-758 BC; Jotham, 758-748 Ahaz, 742-725 BC; Hezekiah, 725-697 BC. Each of these kings was very different and each faced an unusual series of problems. Isaiah ministered to these kings in a very critical and difficult time for Judah.
Uzziah is also known in history as Azariah. The passages which cover his reign are II Kings 14 and 15, and II Chronicles 26. By reading these historical passages you will have a better understanding of the various difficulties of the nation when Isaiah ministered. It was during the reign of Uzziah that Assyria again became prominent. Assyria had been a great empire which had faded away. Now it would come back into power.
During the reign of Uzziah, in an attempt to stop the conquest by the Assyrians, Uzziah became the leader of a coalition of nations, made up of various groups in Palestine, plus Syria. As the leader of this coalition, he was constantly attempting to frustrate Assyrian conquest. The coalition was very unsuccessful because it was made up of people with whom the Jews had no business being in alliance with and consequently the Assyrians continued their progress and developed a great empire at that point.
The next king Jotham had a rather interesting career. The first ten years of his reign was actually as a regent. Uzziah became leprous because he attempted to assume the priestly office when he was not in the right tribe (Levi). He was in the tribe of Judah, in the family of David, and therefore he had no business trying to fulfil priestly functions. During the period of his leprosy, Uzziah’s son Jotham was appointed to administer the country. The story of Jotham is found in II Kings 16 and II Chronicles 27.
Jotham was followed by Ahaz whose story is given in II Kings 16 and II Chronicles 28-29. During this time a new power arose in Syria with Rezin as its king. Pekah was the king of Samaria, the northern kingdom of the Jews and sometimes called Ephraim. These two formed the Syro-Ephraimite coalition against Ahaz, a pagan worshipper and during his reign they were defeated by Assyria because of the evil of Ahaz.
Then Hezekiah came to the throne and we have his story in II Kings 18 and II Chronicles 19-31. During the reign of Hezekiah, as Isaiah had prophesied, the northern kingdom was destroyed by the Assyrians. In 721 BC Samaria, the capital, fell under the invasion of Sargon II and we have the end of the northern kingdom. It was during this period that Hezekiah came into contact with the king of Babylon, known as Merodach. As the ruler of Babylon, he was looking for an alliance to stop the Assyrians. In the midst of all of the countries moving around for world power and the continued advancement of the Assyrians, Isaiah ministered. He ministered in a time when his own nation, the kingdom of Judah, faced some very serious crises which threatened to destroy them. And each one of these kings was tempted to seek help from a human source, to ally himself with Egypt. In one case, Hezekiah was tempted and finally succumbed to ally himself with Assyria, and at other times some other nations in order to protect himself and to survive.
You can tell from the length of the reign of each one of these kings that for over 50 years Isaiah ministered as God’s prophet in the southern kingdom of Judah. He served in a day when some of the kings were the best of the kings since David and some of them were the worst. Manasseh and Ahaz were very wicked; Hezekiah was one of the best kings. Jotham was mediocre. He served in all sorts of political climates, in all sorts of crises and all sorts of unusual situations. But through it all he learned one great principle – a believer’s happiness and stability does not depend on outer circumstances but on an inner relationship with the Lord. Isaiah is one of the great illustrations of the Old Testament of the secret of inner happiness and the secret of orienting in spite of the difficulties.
The name Isaiah means “God brings salvation” or “God brings deliverance.” Certainly, this is one of the great truths in connection with Isaiah. We do not know if this was his real name or whether it was a name which he took when he entered the ministry as many of the prophets did. Perhaps this is the name he assumed as he saw the war coming to his nation. Maybe he wanted the kings to realize from his very name that the only hope of deliverance in any national entity is God Himself. Many of the kings under whom Isaiah served as a prophet were tempted time after time to seek help from man’s wisdom. So, perhaps Isaiah’s name reminded these kings that deliverance comes from the Lord.
In addition, we have little background with regard to Isaiah. Historical tradition says that he was of a family of great nobility. He is said to be the son of Amoz. Amoz was the uncle of Uzziah, the king of Judah. So, Isaiah was the first cousin of the king. He was therefore the uncle of Jotham. His nobility is reflected in his writing because he wrote perfect poetry and he was a literary genius. He was not only a great preacher and a great prophet but a great literary man.
The Book of Jeremiah
Jeremiah’s ministry was for the most part prior to the captivity (629 B.C.–587 B.C.) and was directed toward Judah. His ministry began about 60 years after Isaiah’s death. Jeremiah’s prophesies included the Babylonian captivity, the return to their land after 70 years of captivity, the dispersion of Judah into other lands, the day of judgment on the Gentile powers and the remnant of grace.
For the first part of Jeremiah’s ministry, Judah enjoyed a relative peaceful time when Josiah was king. Josiah was only eight when he became king and as he grew older, he acknowledged the true God. The result was that he had all idols and objects of pagan idol worship removed from the Temple. Unfortunately, Josiah died at a young age and the new ruler returned to pagan worship.
Jeremiah continued his warnings to the nation of coming judgment and captivity. However, Judah did not heed his warnings regardless of who was king at the time. Crisis after crisis brought Judah to the edge of destruction as Jeremiah’s warnings were ignored. Finally, in about 605 B.C. the Babylonian captivity began for Judah. Jeremiah more than any other prophet encountered opposition to his message and suffered greatly at the hands of the religious establishment. He was ordered beaten by the priests of the Temple for proclaiming its destruction. Many false prophets existed at the time Jeremiah lived and constantly attempted to stir up the Jews against him.
Jeremiah was known as the “weeping prophet” because of his grief over the callous response to the warnings of the coming judgments from God. Though at times Jeremiah became despondent, he remained faithful to his calling as God’s prophet to Judah. Jeremiah’s ministry to Judah lasted for forty-one years.
Jeremiah responded to God’s call to be His messenger to Judah and God equipped him to fulfill that call. Jeremiah was fully aware that he would face opposition from kings, princes, priests and others, but he also knew God would enable him to endure the suffering.
Like Jeremiah, believers in the Church Age has been called to represent Jesus Christ to their individual generation. God has designed a plan for each believer in eternity-past and fully expects them to fulfill that plan. Only by faithful intake of Bible doctrine and consistent application of that doctrine can Church Age believers expect to discover and execute God’s unique plan.
The Book of Lamentations
The book of Lamentations (sorrows) was also written by Jeremiah and is a personal testimony of the grief that Jeremiah felt over the destruction of Jerusalem and the exile of Judah. In five chapters, Jeremiah described the wrath of God as it was poured out upon the nation of Judah because of their rebellion. Jeremiah did not “sugar-coat” the message as he described God’s anger toward Judah for rejecting Him. Yet amid the anger, the loving kindness of God is seen in not destroying them.
Jeremiah described what he saw as the city of Jerusalem was overrun by Judah’s enemies. Not only was the city destroyed, the Temple was violated as the enemy entered the Holy Place to plunder its contents. Children were displaced and families torn apart as the enemy led them into captivity. Jeremiah had warned them of the coming destruction, but hey refused to believe him and instead persecuted him. In the end, the prophesy of God’s prophet came true as it always does.
A valuable lesson can be learned from this story for any nation, but especially a client nation to God. God is patient and kind, but He is also a jealous God. If you have been blessed by God as a client nation (like the United States), God expects to be honored by her citizens. The only thing that will delay discipline from God when a nation fails to honor Him is a strong faithful remnant (pivot) of believers. As the remnant shrinks, the possibility of severe discipline increases.
Nationalism
One of the four divine institutions is nationalism. Nationalism is a system established by God in order to preserve the freedom of a nation. The United States is one of the most blessed nations in history and has operated as “a client nation to God” from the day it was founded. A client nation is one in which freedom exists for all people. This freedom includes freedom of religion, freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, freedom of thought, etc. One of the keys to the success of “client nation U.S.A.” is a strong military organization, which is a very Biblical concept. Throughout history, the nations that did not develop a strong military were overtaken and enslaved by stronger nations.
The protection of our citizens from all enemies (within the nation and outside the nation) is a principle of nationalism. This does not mean that we are isolationists. On the other hand, God does not want us allying ourselves with evil, corrupt, tyrannical nations. The client nation to God is responsible for the protection and perpetuation of freedom. If there is an enemy that threatens that freedom, the client nation must be prepared militarily to deal with it (this includes believers). Christians within the client nation are also responsible for the preservation of God’s Word and the dissemination of the Gospel of Christ throughout the world.
When a nation fails to acknowledge or forgets to acknowledge the divine establishment principles from God, it will ultimately fail. A nation that acknowledges these principles will survive and freedom will be perpetuated. Such was the nation of Israel until they turned their backs on God and His principles of freedom. (II Chronicles 7:14)