According to Christian theologians, about fifteen Jewish prophets since the 15th century BC. e. predicted the appearance from among the Jewish people of a certain person who is the Son of God and His living incarnation. This sounded most clearly from the lips of the prophet Isaiah, who was born around 765 BC. e. in Jerusalem. What is known about him and what is hidden by the veil of past centuries?
The start of a great ministry
It is generally accepted that Isaiah began his prophecies at the age of twenty, that is, in 744 BC. when King Azariah ruled in Judea. The impetus for the beginning of the great ministry was the vision shown to Isaiah in the walls of the Jerusalem temple. According to him, he was vouchsafed to see the Lord God Himself, sitting on the Throne, surrounded by the Heavenly Forces, who constantly brought glory to Him. To complete the miracle, one of the seraphim touched the lips of the prophet with a burning coal taken from the altar, and thus cleansed from sin and iniquity.
According to the evidence contained in the Old Testament and its Jewish version - the Torah, the Jews often deviated from the Commandments of God, and then theyinnumerable troubles fell - invasions of foreigners, epidemics, drought, etc. One of such difficult periods was observed in the VIII century BC. e., when the people reached an extreme degree of impoverishment and was on the verge of despair. It was then that the Lord sent them His prophet Isaiah, who for sixty years tirelessly testified of the future coming of the Savior into the world, who would deliver people from the bonds of original sin and open the gates of eternal life to them.
The "II Book of the Prophets" contains information that the service of God's messenger continued until 684 and ended in martyrdom: by order of the wicked king Ahaziah, he was placed between cedar boards and then cut in two with a wooden saw.
Old Testament Evangelist
Isaiah set forth his prophecies in such a clear and precise form that later he was called the Old Testament evangelist. Events that have yet to happen in a few centuries, the author describes as if they had already happened, and he was their living witness. To be convinced of this, it is enough to refer to the predictions given by him about the birth of the Savior from the Blessed Virgin and about His subsequent sufferings to atone for human sins.
The prophecies of Isaiah about the Messiah, whose coming into the world is described with amazing accuracy and abundance of details, are of undoubted interest. Mentioned, in particular, his belonging to the family of King David. This documentary presentation of upcoming events in all ages led theologians to the idea thatthe true inspirer of the creation of texts is the Lord God Himself, who thus wished to announce to the Jews and all the people who inhabited the earth their future.
Structure and dating of the book of prophecy
The Old Testament includes the "Book of the Prophet Isaiah", which contains the texts of individual speeches of this outstanding religious figure to a wide Jewish audience. Many of them have a specific dating, which allows researchers to establish the chronological boundaries of the period of his public service, carried out between 733 and 701 BC. e. The same historical document is set forth in the Tanakh - the Jewish version of the Holy Scriptures - and placed there in the 12th book from the section "Nevi'im" (Prophets).
Both in the Old Testament and in the Tanakh, all the texts cited are united not in the chronological order of their creation, but in a semantic order that makes it easier to trace the development of the author's thought. Thus, the first part of Isaiah's prophecies is in the nature of accusatory speeches, in which the author reproaches his contemporaries for violating the Commandments given by the Lord to Moses on Mount Sinai, and predicts their inevitable retribution. Chapters 1 to 39 are devoted to this topic. This is followed by a section (40-66 chapters), in which the author gives consolation about the forthcoming Babylonian captivity (597-539) to the Jews. It also contains the prophecies of Isaiah about the end times and the appearance of the Messiah in the world. All narration is conducted in a lively and accessible form.
A look into the future
In the 40th chapter of the book,containing the prophecies of Isaiah, it is said that the appearance of the Savior in the world will be preceded by the birth of His Forerunner, who, calling people to repentance for sins, will prepare for Him the path of messianic service. The prophet also noted such a detail as the extreme asceticism of the life of God's herald of justice, who spent his days in the wilderness and from there raised his voice.
Does not find a rational explanation and the prophecy of Isaiah about the birth of Christ, which occurred almost seven and a half centuries after his death. In the 7th chapter of the book mentioned above, it is told how the earthly Virgin will “receive in her womb” the Holy Spirit, and in such a supernatural way the immaculate conception of Her Son will take place, who will be given the name Emmanuel, which in Hebrew means “God is with us”. The Prophet announced that the Messiah sent into the world would have in Himself the fullness of the gifts of the Holy Spirit: mind, wisdom, strength, knowledge, fear of God and piety.
Prince of Peace
Besides, in Isaiah's prophecies about the Messiah, names are given that people will call him. Among them are: the Prince of Peace, the Father of Eternity, the Mighty God, the Wonderful and a number of others. He did not fail to mention that the Son of God will unite in Himself humility and meekness with the greatest spiritual power, which will enable Him to build His Kingdom on earth. However, for this He will have to voluntarily endure humiliation, torment and death itself, in order to rise again and give eternal life to all who, having cleansed their souls with repentance, step under the shadow of theChurch.
Bible Prophecy Interpreter
Everything said by the prophet and set forth on the pages of his book with amazing accuracy corresponds to the descriptions of the events given by the evangelists, who were contemporaries of Jesus Christ and became their living witnesses. In subsequent historical periods, many eminent theologians compiled their own interpretations of the prophecies of Isaiah. Among them, the most famous are the works of the Egyptian religious figure of the late 4th and early 5th centuries, Cyril of Alexandria. This outstanding interpreter of biblical texts (exegete) called Isaiah not only a prophet, but also the first apostle of Jesus Christ, who was several centuries ahead of all other preachers of his holy teaching.
He also focuses on the final part of the book of Isaiah's prophecies about the Messiah, which speaks of the Second Coming of the Lord. In particular, Cyril of Alexandria gives a literal meaning to the words of Jesus that, having appeared in the world, He will gather around Him all languages (peoples), who, having appeared at the call, will see His greatness and glory.
Protestant approach to the texts of prophecy
It should be noted that among representatives of liberal - mainly Protestant - theosophy there is an opinion that the authorship of the "Book of the Prophet Isaiah" belongs to three different religious figures who remained anonymous and lived in different historical eras. Accordingly, the entire text of the document is conditionally divided by them into three separate parts. The compiler of the first of them, covering chapters 1 to 39, they call the FirstIsaiah, sometimes, however, allowing the use of his common name. The author of the next part, which includes the volume of material from chapters 40 to 55, is referred to by them as Deutero-Isaiah. He is also often called Deuteroisaiah or Deutero-Yeshaiah, which is quite identical. And finally, the final part of the book is attributed to a certain Third Isaiah or Tritoisaiah.
We especially note that such an approach to the book, which contains the prophecies of Isaiah about the Messiah, is typical only for representatives of some Protestant denominations of Christianity, while theological science as a whole recognizes the authorship of only one person whose religious activity dates back to the VIII century BC e.
Apocrypha titled with the name of the prophet
Besides, it is impossible to pass by several texts, united under the general name "The Ascension of Isaiah" and widely used in the Middle Ages. All of them are apocrypha, that is, writings that have not received recognition from the official Church, and therefore, heretical in their content. They also contain the messianic prophecies of Isaiah, but in an edition significantly different from the gospel interpretation of events.
According to researchers, this literary monument was created in the Balkans by members of the Bogomil anticlerical movement that originated there in the 10th century. Over the next five centuries, its text was repeatedly copied and dispersed throughout the Christian world, until it was officially banned by the pope, and its distributors did notwere persecuted. Of the 11 chapters that once belonged to it, only 6 have survived to this day.
Other messianic predictions
At the end of the article, we note that the prophecies of Isaiah about the Savior are far from the only one contained on the pages of Holy Scripture, a prediction of the appearance of the Son of God into the world. The same good news can be found in a number of Old Testament texts, it is enough just to carefully study the "Pentateuch of Moses", the parables of King Solomon, as well as the "Book of Psalms". Leading Christian theologians claim that, directly or indirectly, they contain information about events that were fulfilled in the time of Jesus Christ and reflected in the texts of the four canonical Gospels.
However, in none of them is the picture of the future reproduced so vividly and convincingly as in a book compiled from the speeches of the Jewish prophet Isaiah. It is for this reason that he is given a special place among all the chosen ones of God, overshadowed by the grace of the Holy Spirit and vouchsafed to see what is hidden from other people in the thickness of the coming centuries.
Afterword
By the time of the birth of Jesus Christ, the Jewish tradition to see specific prophecies in the texts of the Tanakh had been going on for several centuries. A certain idea was also developed both about the personality of the coming Messiah and about the goals of His coming. However, despite the fact that, according to the testimony of the evangelists, many Jews believed in the Son of God, the bulk of the Jews to this day do not recognize Jesus Christ as the Messiah and continue to expect the fulfillmentprophecies related to His coming into the world.
