Orthodox faith - the prophet isaiah. Prophet isaiah - life, miracles and predictions
On the night of the Nativity of Christ, a triumphant song is heard in all Orthodox churches, constantly crowned with a jubilant "as if God is with us!" It is based on the prophecies of the Old Testament prophet Isaiah, who lived almost 760 years before the birth of Christ. According to legend, he was a noble, perhaps even a royal family. And the book of his prophecies is one of the greatest prophetic books in the Bible.
It contains so many prophecies about Christ and about New Testament events that many people call Isaiah the Old Testament Evangelist. Isaiah prophesied within Jerusalem during the reigns of the Jewish kings Uzziah, Ahaz, Hezekiah, and Manasseh. Under Isaiah, the kingdom of Israel was defeated in 722 BC, when the Assyrian king Sargon took captive the Jewish people who inhabited Israel. The kingdom of Judah existed after this tragedy for another 135 years. NS. Isaiah ended his life as a martyr under Manasseh by being sawed with a wooden saw.
The prophet Isaiah also wrote about the human nature of Christ, and from him we learn that Christ was to be miraculously born from the Virgin: “The Lord Himself will give you a sign: behold, the Virgin (alma) will receive in her womb and give birth to a Son, and they will call His name: Emmanuel, which means: God with us ”(Isa. 7:14).
In his next prophecies, Isaiah reveals new details about the wonderful Baby who will be born of the Virgin. So, in the 8th chapter, Isaiah writes that the people of God should not be afraid of the wiles of their enemies, because their plans will not come true: "Understand the nations and submit: For God is with us (Emmanuel)." In the next chapter, Isaiah speaks about the properties of the Infant Emmanuel “The child was born to us - the Son was given to us; dominion on His shoulders, and they will call His Name: Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace ”(Isaiah 9: 6-7). Both the name Emmanuel and other names given here to the Child are not, of course, proper, but indicate the properties of His Divine nature.
Isaiah predicted the preaching of the Messiah in the northern part of St. The land, within the tribes of Zebulun and Naphtali, which was called Galilee: “The former time diminished the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali; but what follows will magnify the seaside way, the Trans-Jordanian country, pagan Galilee. The people walking in darkness will see a great light, the light will shine on those who live in the land of the shadow of death ”(Isa. 9: 1-2). The Evangelist Matthew cites this prophecy when he describes the sermon of Jesus Christ in this part of St. A land that was especially religiously ignorant (Matt. 4:16). In the Holy Scriptures, light is a symbol of religious knowledge, truth.
In later prophecies, Isaiah often calls the Messiah by another name - the Branch. This symbolic name confirms earlier prophecies about the miraculous and extraordinary birth of the Messiah, namely, that it will take place without the participation of a husband, just as a branch, without a seed, is born directly from the root of a plant. “And a Branch will come from the root of Jesse (that was the name of the father of King David), and a Branch will come from his root. And the Spirit of the Lord rests upon Him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and strength, the spirit of knowledge and piety ”(Isa. 11: 1). Here Isaiah predicts the anointing of Christ with the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit, that is, with the fullness of the grace of the Spirit, which was realized on the day of His baptism in the Jordan River.
In other prophecies, Isaiah speaks of the works of Christ and His qualities, especially His mercy and meekness. The following prophecy cites the words of God the Father: “Behold, My Child, Whom I hold by the hand, My Chosen One, in Whom My soul delights. I will put My Spirit on Him, and He will declare judgment to the nations. He will not cry out and lift up His voice ... He will not break a broken reed, nor quench a smoking flax ”(Isa. 42: 1-4). These last words speak of that great patience and condescension to human weakness, with which Christ will treat repentant and disadvantaged people. Isaiah pronounced a similar prophecy a little later, speaking on behalf of the Messiah: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, for the Lord has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor, sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach liberation to captives and to prisoners - the opening of the dungeon” (Isa. 61: 1-2). These words precisely define the purpose of the coming of the Messiah: to heal the mental ailments of people.
In addition to mental ailments, the Messiah had to heal physical infirmities, as Isaiah predicted: “Then the eyes of the blind will be opened and the ears of the deaf will be opened. Then the lame will jump up like a deer, and the tongue of the mute will sing: for waters will pour in the wilderness and streams in the steppe ”(Isa. 35: 5-6). This prophecy was fulfilled when the Lord Jesus Christ, preaching the Gospel, healed thousands of all kinds of sick, born blind and demon-possessed. By His miracles He testified to the truth of His teaching and His unity with God the Father.
According to God's plan, the salvation of people was to be carried out in the Kingdom of the Messiah. This blessed Kingdom of believers was sometimes likened by the prophets to a slender building. The Messiah, being, on the one hand, the founder of the Kingdom of God, and, on the other hand, the foundation of true faith, is called the Stone by the prophets, that is, the foundation on which the Kingdom of God is based. We find such a figurative name for the Messiah in the following prophecy: “Thus says the Lord: Behold, I put a stone in the foundation in Zion — a tried, cornerstone, precious stone, firmly established: the one who believes in it will not be ashamed” (Isa. 28:16). Zion was the name of the mountain (hill) on which the temple and the city of Jerusalem stood.
The following prophecy complements previous prophecies, which speak of the Messiah as the Reconciliator and source of blessing not only for the Jews, but for all nations: “Not only will you be My Servant to restore the tribes of Jacob and to restore the remnants of Israel, but I I will make you the light of the nations, that my salvation may be extended to the ends of the earth ”(Isaiah 49: 6).
But no matter how great the spiritual light emanating from the Messiah would be, Isaiah foresaw that not all Jews would see this light because of their spiritual coarseness. Here is what the prophet writes about this: “Hear by hearing - and you will not understand, and you will look with your eyes - and will not see. For the heart of this people is hardened, and they can hardly hear with their ears, and have closed their eyes, so that they do not see with their eyes, and do not hear with their ears, and do not understand in their hearts, and do not return, so that I will heal them ”(Isa. 6: 9-10) ... Due to their striving only for earthly well-being, not all Jews recognized in the Lord Jesus Christ their Savior, promised by the prophets. As if foreseeing the unbelief of the Jews, who lived before Isaiah, King David in one of his psalms called them with these words: wilderness ”(Ps. 94: 7-8). That is: when you hear the Messiah preach, believe His word. Do not persist, as in the time of Moses your ancestors in the wilderness, who tempted God and murmured against Him (see Exodus 17: 1-7), "Meribah" means "reproach."
The Suffering Messiah
Isaiah's prophecy about the suffering of the Messiah occupies one and a half chapters of his book (the end of the 52nd and the entire 53rd). This prophecy contains such details of Christ's suffering that the reader gets the impression that the prophet Isaiah wrote it at the very foot of Calvary. Although, as we know, the prophet Isaiah lived seven centuries BC. Here is this prophecy.
"God! Who believed what we heard, and to whom was the arm of the Lord revealed? For He (the Messiah) rose up before Him as a offspring and as a sprout out of dry ground. There is neither kind nor greatness in Him. And we saw Him, and there was no sight in Him that would draw us to Him. He was despised and belittled before people, a man of sorrows and experienced disease. And we turned our face away from Him. He was despised and valued at nothing. But He took our infirmities upon Himself and bore our illnesses. And we thought that He was smitten, punished, and humiliated by God. But He was wounded for our sins, and He is tormented for our iniquities. The punishment of our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we were healed. We all wandered like sheep, each turned to his own way, and the Lord laid on Him the sins of all of us. He was tortured, but he suffered willingly and did not open His mouth. He was taken from bondage and judgment. But his generation, who will explain? For He was cut off from the land of the living. For the crimes of my people he was put to death. He was assigned a tomb with evildoers, but He was buried by a rich man, because He did not sin, and there was no lie in His mouth. But the Lord was pleased to smite Him, and He gave Him up to torment. When His soul offers the sacrifice of propitiation, He will see long-lasting offspring. And the will of the Lord will be successfully carried out by His hand. He will look at the podvig of His soul with contentment. Through the knowledge of Him, He, the Righteous One, My Servant, will justify many and bear their sins on Himself. Therefore, I will give Him a share among the great, and with the strong will share the spoil, because He gave His soul to death, and was numbered among the evildoers, while He bore the sin of many on Himself and became an intercessor for criminals. "
The opening phrase of this prophecy: “Who believed what they heard from us” - testifies to the extraordinary nature of the event described, requiring a significant volitional effort on the part of the reader to believe in it. Indeed, previous prophecies of Isaiah spoke of the greatness and glory of the Messiah. The real prophecy speaks of His voluntary humiliation, suffering and death! The Messiah, being completely clean from personal sins and a saint, endures all these sufferings for the sake of cleansing human iniquities.
The prophet Isaiah recorded the following details about the suffering of the Messiah, which also literally came true. It is in the first person: “The Lord God gave Me the tongue of the wise, so that I could strengthen the weary with a word ... I gave My back to those who beat and My cheeks to those who smite, I did not cover My face from abuse and spitting. And the Lord God helps Me, therefore I am not ashamed ”(Isa. 50: 4-11), compare with Eb. (Matt. 26:67).
Resurrection of the Messiah
But, speaking of the necessity and salvation of the suffering of the Messiah, the prophet foretold His resurrection from the dead and subsequent glory. Isaiah, describing the suffering of Christ, ends his story with the following words:
“When His soul offers the sacrifice of propitiation, He will see long-lasting offspring. And the will of the Lord will be successfully carried out by His hand. He will look at the podvig of His soul with contentment. Through the knowledge of Him, He, the Righteous One, My Servant, will justify many and bear their sins on Himself. Therefore, I will give Him a share among the great, and with the mighty he will share the spoil. "
In other words, the Messiah will come to life after death in order to lead the Kingdom of the righteous and will be morally satisfied with the result of His suffering.
Bishop Alexander (Mileant)
mission sheet 16
The time of the prophetic ministry of Saint Isaiah 1 was a difficult time in the life of the Jewish people: in the days of this great prophet, the kingdom of Israel ended its existence, and the Jewish one lived its last years before the Babylonian captivity. This sad fate - the submission of the "chosen people" under the heavy hand of the pagan kings was a punishment from the Lord for the fact that he left obedience to God, more and more mired in lawlessness and idolatry. Especially great was the deviation from the covenant of God in the kingdom of Israel, which suffered accelerated punishment for this, "in the kingdom of the Jews, at times, the hope for a better future shone through," correcting her punishment, then the Kingdom of Judah owes it mainly to the prophetic activity of Saint Isaiah.
The holy prophet Isaiah, descended from the tribe of Benjamin, was born about 760 BC; he was the son of Amos, about whom nothing is reported in the books of Holy Scripture, and whom Jewish tradition identifies with Amos, the brother of King Amaziah. The place of permanent residence of Saint Isaiah was Jerusalem - the capital of the Kingdom of Judah. The glorious reign of the wise and good king Uzziah falls on the years of the prophet's conscious childhood and adolescence; this reign undoubtedly had a beneficial religious and political influence on the soul of the future prophet. Actually nothing is known about the days of the early youth of Saint Isaiah, but the manifestation of the glory of the Lord to him and his election by the Lord for a great service give indisputable testimony of the piety of the prophet at this time of life; his prophetic speeches speak of the same, from which one can see his excellent knowledge of sacred books their people; evidently from an early age Saint Isaiah taught in the law of God. As a pious man, he took a god-fearing wife, from whom he had two sons; about his wife it is known that she was also a prophetess (Isa. 7: 3; 8: 3,18).
Saint Isaiah was called to the prophetic ministry in the year of the death of King Uzziah (in 737) by a special vision. Once he was present in the church for divine services; before his eyes were the courtyard of the priests and the sanctuary. Looking prayerfully to the sanctuary, Saint Isaiah suddenly saw that the temple began to move apart; before his spiritual eyes, the interior of the sanctuary opens, then the veil disappears, hiding the mysterious holy of holies, where the astonished and shocked prophet sees a solemn vision of the Lord of heaven and earth, “sitting on a high and exalted throne,” standing as if between heaven and earth; the edges of the royal vestments of God filled the temple. Around the Lord "stood seraphim; each of them had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his legs, and with two he flew. And they called to each other, and said:" Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord of hosts. The whole earth is full of His glory! "From the thunderous praise of the seraphim," the tops of the gates shook and the temple was filled with incense. "Saint Isaiah was horrified and exclaimed in fright:
Woe is me! I am lost! For I am a man with unclean lips and I live among a people with unclean lips 2, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts 3.
Then one of the seraphim flew to the confused prophet, holding in his hand a burning coal taken with tongs from the altar, that is, as St. Basil the Great explains, from the "heavenly altar." He touched the lips of the prophet with the words:
Behold, this has touched your mouth, and your iniquity is removed from you, and your sin is cleansed.
Immediately behind this, the prophet heard the mysterious voice of Jehovah, asking:
Whom should I send? And who will go for Us? 4
Filled with sacred confidence, Saint Isaiah expressed his desire to take upon himself the responsible and difficult duty of being a preacher of the will of God for the "cruel" Jewish people:
Here I am, send me, ”he said.
The Lord did not reject the proposal of St. Isaiah and expressed His consent in the following words:
Go and tell this people: if you hear with your ear, you will not understand, and if you look with your eyes, you will not see. For the heart of this people is hardened, and they can hardly hear with their ears, and have closed their eyes, so that they do not see with their eyes, and do not understand in their hearts, and do not turn, so that I heal them.
Isaiah asked the Lord: how long will the people remain in such moral coarseness, and received from Him in response a terrible revelation about the coming calamities that would strike Israel:
Until the cities are empty and remain without inhabitants and houses without people, and until this land is completely empty (Is 6: 1-11)
The vision ended, and the Spirit of God rested on Saint Isaiah, opening before him a mysterious and distant future as the present and strengthening him in a difficult struggle with moral sentiments among his native people.
The prophet's heart loving the people did not know his political division, and obedient to the will of God, he did not limit his prophetic ministry to the boundaries of one kingdom. However, when Saint Isaiah delivered a prophetic sermon, the days of the kingdom of Israel were already numbered, and the prophet had no choice but to predict the great "grief" that was already hanging over Samaria, the capital of the Northern Kingdom:
Woe (Samaria), the wreath of pride of the drunken Ephraimians, the withered flower of its beautiful decoration, which is on the top of the fat valley slain by wine. Behold, the Lord is strong and strong ... with power he casts him down to the ground. The wreath of pride of drunken Ephraimians is trampled underfoot. And with a withered flower of his beautiful decoration ... it is done the same as happens with a fig that has ripened before its time, which, as soon as anyone sees it, immediately takes it in his hand and swallows it (Is. 28: 1-4).
This sad prophecy was soon fulfilled. In 722 Samaria was taken by Sargon, king of Assyria, and the kingdom of Israel ceased to exist forever 5. Thus, the Israelites, who had forsaken "all the commandments of the Lord God," were rejected by Him from His presence. "There was no one left but one tribe of Judah" (2 Kings 17: 16-18).
With the fall of Samaria, Saint Isaiah focused his prophetic gaze primarily on the fate of the kingdom of Judah, in which, with the accession of Ahaz, moral corruption was especially intensified. After the kings Amaziah, Uzziah and Jotham, the kingdom of Judah passed to Ahaz, which was raised to a significant degree of state power, so that the Ammonites and many neighboring Philistine cities were tributaries of the Jews. At the same time, significant wealth accumulated in Judea, which in the hands of the wicked Ahaz received a use unworthy of God's chosen people. Israeli by birth and pagan by heart, Ahaz set out to make Jerusalem a complete likeness of the capitals of the pagan states of Phenicia and especially Assyria. He introduced in Jerusalem the worship of the sun, the moon and the rest of the heavenly bodies (2 Kings 23: 5), and he was not afraid to defile even the very temple of Jehovah. In the house of the Lord, an idol of Astarte, the goddess of debauchery, was set up, and here at the temple there were "houses of prostitution", where women weaved clothes for Astarte (4 Kings 23: 6-7); at the very entrance to the temple, white horses dedicated to the sun god were kept; some of the premises were turned into the stables, intended for the storage of sacred vessels and for the stay of the priests who sent out a series of services (2 Kings 23:11). The very altar of burnt offering, set up by Solomon, Ahaz moved from its place in front of the sanctuary to the northern side of the temple and replaced it with a new one, built according to the Assyrian model (2 Kings 16: 14-15). Altars were built in all corners of Jerusalem so that those who passed could burn incense on them (2 Chronicles 28:24); at the gates of Jerusalem and in other Jewish cities there were "heights" remaining from the previous time for making sacrifices to Jehovah (2 Kings 15: 4,35); their existence with the construction of the temple of the Lord was already illegal (3 Kings 3: 2; Deut 12: 13-14). In honor of the Phoenician deity Moloch, under the very walls of Jerusalem, in the valley of Ginnomova, a new temple was erected; here stood the great brazen idol of Moloch; inside it was an oven, and under the outstretched hands was an altar, on which the children were offered. Ahaz himself set an example of zealous devotion to this inhuman idolatry: he sacrificed one of his sons to Moloch (2 Kings 16: 3; 2 Chronicles 28: 3).
For this wickedness, which corrupted the kingdom of Judah and aroused the righteous anger of the Lord, Judah was soon punished, which served as a harbinger of the more formidable reprimands of God in the future. King Pekah of Israel and Rezin of Syria invaded the Kingdom of Judah with united forces; plundering and devastating everything on the road, they reached Jerusalem itself; in addition, the Edomites and the Philistines rebelled, regaining their independence. So " the Lord humiliated Judah for Ahaz king of the Jews, because he corrupted Judah and sinned heavily before the Lord"(2 Chronicles 18:19).
When the allied kings Pekah and Gezin stood at the gates of Jerusalem, terror and confusion reigned in the latter, as in an oak grove shaken by a strong wind (Isa. 7: 2). But the merciful Lord did not leave His sinful people: along with the punishment, He sent them consolation and warning through the prophet Isaiah. Having met, by the command of God, Ahaz on the road to the Belilnichy field near the water pipes of the upper pond, Saint Isaiah said to him:
Observe and be calm; fear not, and let your heart not faint ... (Rezin and Fakeah are the ends of smoking smut) plot evil against you, saying: "Let's go to Judea and disturb her, and take her over" ... But the Lord God says so: it will not happen and will not come true.
Seeing Ahaz's distrust of his words, Saint Isaiah said to him:
Ask for a sign from the Lord your God: ask either in the depths or not in the high.
To this, Ahaz, hiding his disbelief by unwillingness to tempt the Lord, replied:
I will not ask and I will not tempt the Lord.
Then the prophet, reproaching the king for his unbelief, points to the coming miraculous birth of the Messiah-Christ from the Virgin as a sign confirming the fulfillment of his words; predicting the imminent removal of Rezin and Pekah, he at the same time predicts a future more terrible invasion of the Assyrians:
Hear the house of David! ... The Lord Himself gives you a sign: behold, the Virgin in her womb will receive and give birth to a Son, and they will call His name Immanuel 6. He will eat milk and honey; Until he understands to reject the bad and choose the good, the land that you fear will be forsaken by both her kings. But the Lord will bring on you and on your peoples, and on your father's house the days that have not come since the time of the fall of Ephraim from Judah, will bring the king of Assyria (Isa. 7: 1-17).
But the unbelieving Ahaz over the hope in God preferred the hope in the king of Assyria, against whom the prophet had warned him. Seeking protection against the kings who entered Judea, Ahaz made an alliance with Tiglaffelassar II, king of Assyria, and at the same time gave him all the treasures not only from his royal house, but also from the temple; he himself went to Pheglaffelassar in Damascus to bow and here he received a drawing of the already mentioned Assyrian altar. As a reward for this submission, the king of Assyria ravages Syria and part of Palestine, which made up the kingdom of Israel. Ahaz, having robbed the temple, shut its great doors; the lamps of the temple were extinguished; smoking was no longer ascended and the holy place was left in complete neglect. True worship of Jehovah, replaced by growing abominable idolatry, was almost forgotten (2 Kings 16: 5-10; 2 Chronicles 28: 5-25).
With the death of Ahaz, his twenty-year-old son Hezekiah, who was one of the best kings of the chosen people, came to the throne (in 728). Hezekiah's father inherited a sad legacy. The kingdom of Judah, which paid the humiliating and ruinous tax of Assyria, was also shaken by the vices that undermined its internal structure. Among the upper classes of the population, who concentrated the court in their hands, untruth reigned, and violence against the poor was a common occurrence on the part of the judges who love money (Micah 3: 9-11; Is 1: 17,23; 3: 14-15); the priests - teachers of the people suffered from the same vices (Micah 3:11), and the voice of the true prophets was drowned out by false prophets who were selfish (Isa. 30: 20-21; Hos. 9: 8). The whole people in general, mired in debauchery (Is.1: 21), and far from the Lord in their hearts, at best, fulfilled only the ritual part of Law 7, not following its instructions in life. Therefore, the Lord, through the prophet Isaiah, addressed such a touching and formidable admonition to His people, calling them to correction:
I, says the Lord, raised and exalted sons, and they rebelled against Me. The ox knows its owner, and the donkey knows its master; but Israel does not know Me, My people do not understand. Alas, a sinful people, a people burdened with iniquity, a tribe of evildoers, sons of perdition!., Forsook the Lord (Jehovah), despised the Holy One of Israel, turned back. What else to beat you, continuing perseverance? The whole head is full of ulcers, and the whole heart is exhausted. From the sole of the foot to the crown of his head he has no healthy place: ulcers, spots, festering wounds, uncleaned and unbound and not softened with oil ... Hear the word of the Lord, princes of Sodom; listen to the law of our God, people of Gomorrah. Why do I need the multitude of your sacrifices? .. I am satiated with the burnt offering of rams and the fat of the fattened cattle; I do not want the blood of bulls and lambs and goats. When you come to appear before Me, who demands of you that you trample my courts! Bear no more gifts in vain: smoking is disgusting to Me; new moons and Saturdays, festive gatherings I can not stand: lawlessness and celebration. Your new moons and your feasts my soul hates; they are a burden to me; It's hard for me to carry them. And when you spread out your hands, I will hide My eyes from you; and when you multiply your prayers, I do not hear; your hands are full of blood (Isa. 1: 2-15). Your silver has become ash; your wine is spoiled by water. Your princes are criminals and accomplices of thieves; they all love gifts and chase bribery; do not protect orphans and the widow's cause does not reach them (Is. 1: 22-23). Wash yourself, be cleansed, remove your evil deeds from my eyes; stop doing evil; learn to do good, seek the truth, save the oppressed, protect the orphan, stand up for the widow. Then come and let us judge ... If your sins are as crimson, I will whiten you as snow. If they are red as purple, I will whiten like a wave (Isa. 1: 16-18).
King Hezekiah, a descendant of the prophet Zechariah by his mother, was the complete opposite of his father, a wicked man and inclined to everything Assyrian: Hezekiah was devoted to national morals and customs and, burning with love for the true faith, set the goal of his life to restore the veneration of Jehovah and purify the defiled land paganism. This activity was not easy among the people, most of whom were distinguished by pagan inclinations. Here, the prophets respected by him came to the aid of the pious king, and Saint Isaiah was at their head. He gathered around him many students, who, being enlightened by their teacher, in turn themselves acted as enlighteners of the people. Thus, the prophetic school created by Saint Isaiah provided powerful support to King Hezekiah in the religious and moral revival of the people. - Hezekiah's first task was to cleanse the temple from pagan abominations and restore worship in it (2 Chronicles 29: 3-36); along with the destruction of the "heights" Hezekiah put an end to the performance of private worship. Striving to eradicate idolatry, he did not spare even the national sacred treasure: at his command, the brass serpent deified by many Jews, made almost 800 years ago by Moses (Num. 21: 9) and standing in the midst of Jerusalem (4 Kings 18: 4), was destroyed. Then, after the fall of the Kingdom of Israel, which Hezekiah, fearing for his own, could not help, Passover was solemnly celebrated in Jerusalem in the presence of a multitude of Jews 8, previously, probably, privately, by families (2 Chronicles 30).
Meanwhile, Sargon, the conqueror of Samaria, died and his youngest son Sennacherib came to the throne. The death of Sargon marked the beginning of an uprising, which spread in a wide wave among the Assyrians, languishing under a heavy yoke, peoples who inhabited a vast area that covered the whole of Western Asia and from here onward to the banks of the Nile. At the head of the rebels were the Egyptian pharaoh Seti and Tirgak, the king of Ethiopia. King Hezekiah also joined the indignant nations. With huge hordes, Sennacherib moved to pacify the rebels. Having set Egypt as the ultimate goal of his campaign, he first entered Palestine from the north. Having again subjugated some of the indignant peoples here to the power of the Assyrians, Sennacherib moved part of his troops to Jerusalem. After the seizure and plundering of 46 fortified cities of Judea, Sennacherib's detachment soon laid siege to its capital, Jerusalem; Sennacherib himself surrounded Lachish, also a city of the Kingdom of Judah on the border with Egypt. Horror gripped the inhabitants of besieged Jerusalem, to whom Saint Isaiah did not hesitate to address with a word of encouragement, predicting that the Assyrians await God's punishment and precisely in the lands of the chosen people (Isa. 24: 24-25). But the prophet's word did not infuse courage into souls troubled by fear. The siege of the city dragged on, since Hezekiah did not want to surrender Jerusalem and was strenuously fortifying it; to complete the disaster, hunger arose, and some in despair began to indulge in profligacy, which caused a terrible reproof from Saint Isaiah (Is. 22: 1-2, 12-14). Finally, seeing the futility of resistance to the Assyrians, Hezekiah decided to surrender: he sent ambassadors to Lachish to Sennacherib with an expression of obedience. Sennacherib lifted the siege from Jerusalem, imposing a tribute on the kingdom of Judah in a larger, against the previous one, so that to pay it, it was necessary to remove the gold that was still left from the previous plunders of the temple on the gates and doorposts of the doors leading to the sanctuary. But Sennacherib heard that the Egyptian pharaoh Seti with Tirgak, king of Ethiopia, who had moved his troops from the banks of the Upper Nile, was defeated by him, was defeated by him. Under these circumstances, Hezekiah's submission seemed to Sennacherib no more than a treacherous desire to buy time for the allied kings to come to the rescue. Therefore, Sennacherib, not paying attention to the treaty just concluded with Hezekiah, again sent a detachment to Jerusalem with three commanders, among whom was Rapsak, the chief of staff. The detachment found the gates of Jerusalem locked and its walls ready for defense. The leaders of the Assyrian army entered into negotiations with the representatives of King Hezekiah, convincing Jerusalem to surrender voluntarily; out of necessity, negotiations were conducted through the walls of the city in the presence of many people. They ended with the following blasphemous speech of Rapsak, addressed to all the besieged:
Hear the words ... of the great king of Assyria. Thus says the king: let not Hezekiah deceive you ... or give you hope ... by the Lord, saying: The Lord will save us, and this city will not be given into the hands of the king of Assyria. Do not listen to Hezekiah, for this is what the king of Assyria says: make peace with me and come out to me, and let each one eat the fruits of his vine and his fig tree, and let each one drink water from his well, until I come and take you into the ground. the same as your land, into the land of bread and wine, into the land of fruits and vineyards, into the land of olive trees and honey, and you will live and not die. Do not listen to Hezekiah, who deceives you, saying: The Lord will save you. Did the gods of the peoples, each of them, save his land from the hand of the king of Assyria? Where are the gods Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Separvaim, Yena and Ivva? Did they save Samaria out of my hand? Who of all the gods of these lands has saved his land from my hand? So will the Lord save Jerusalem out of my hand? (4 Kings 18: 28-35).
When this speech was conveyed to Hezekiah, he tore his clothes as a sign of great grief and, putting on sackcloth, went to the temple; to the prophet Isaiah, he sent Eliakim and Shebna, court officials, together with the oldest priests; Hezekiah's messengers dressed in sackcloth, after the king's example, said to Saint Isaiah:
Day of sorrow and punishment and shame this day ... Maybe the Lord your God will hear all the words of Rapsak, who was sent by the king of Assyria ..... blaspheme the living God and reproach with words that the Lord your God heard. Bring a prayer for the survivors who are still alive (2 Kings 19: 3-4).
To these words, breathing with some uncertainty, the prophet of God gave an answer, full of firm faith in the help of the Lord:
So tell your lord - so says the Lord: do not be afraid of the words that you heard, with which the servants of the king of Assyria reviled Me. Behold, I will send a spirit into him and he will hear the message and return to his land, and I will smite him with the sword in his land 9 (2 Kings 19: 6-7).
Encouraged by the prophet, Hezekiah responded to the ambassadors of the Assyrian king by refusing to surrender the city, although after this he sent an embassy to Sennacherib from his side, wishing to save his country from the invasion of the Assyrians with an assurance of the absence of treasonous plans. Hezekiah's messengers found Sennacherib in Lachish itself and did not succeed; Sennacherib did not even listen to them. To secure the rear of his troops, he decided to take Jerusalem. Not wanting to waste time besieging the city, he first tried to persuade Hezekiah to surrender the city without a fight; therefore Sennacherib sent a secondary embassy to Hezekiah with a letter in which, trusting in his power, he urged him to abandon the hope of the salvation of the city by Jehovah. Having received the scroll, Hezekiah went to the temple of God, unfolded it before the face of the Lord and turned to Him with this heartfelt prayer:
Lord God of Israel, sitting on cherubim! You are the one God of all the kingdoms of the earth. You created heaven and earth. Incline, O Lord, Thy ear and hear (me); open Thy eyes, O Lord, and see, and hear the words of Sennacherib, who sent to reproach Thee, the living God. True, oh Lord! The Assyrian kings plundered the peoples and their lands, and threw their gods into the fire. But these are not gods, but the products of human hands, wood and stone - that is why they destroyed them. And now, O Lord, our God, save us from his hand, and all the kingdoms of the earth will know that You, O Lord, are one God (4 Kings 19: 15-19).
The holy prophet Isaiah also added his prayer to the prayer of Hezekiah (2 Chronicles 32:20). And their prayer was heard. The Lord, through the prophet Isaiah, addressed Hezekiah with this soul-strengthening word:
Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: what you prayed to Me against Sennacherib, the king of Assyria, I have heard. This is the word that the Lord spoke about him: Despise you, the virgin daughter of Zion will laugh at you, the daughter of Jerusalem will shake her head after you. Whom did you blame and blame? And against whom have you lifted up your voice and lifted your eyes so high? On the Holy One of Israel ... For your insolence against Me, and for the fact that your arrogance has reached My ears, I will put a ring in your nostrils ... and I will bring you back the same way you came. And here's a sign for you, Hezekiah: eat this year that which has grown from the fallen grain, and the next year - that which is native; but in the third year sow and reap and plant vineyards and eat their fruit. And what is left over in the house of Judah will again take root below, and bear fruit above 10. For from Jerusalem there will come a remnant, and those saved from Mount Zion 11. Therefore, this is what the Lord says about the king of Assyria: he will not enter this city and throw arrows there, and approach it with a shield, and heap a rampart against it ... I will guard this city in order to save it for my own sake and for my own sake. David, my servant (4 Kings 19: 21-22, 28-34).
And the Lord did not hesitate to miraculously manifest His power over the Assyrian king and His favor to Judah. With the dawn of the sun, which dispelled the darkness of the night, the fear and anxiety that hung over Jerusalem dissipated: on the same night "the angel of the Lord went and smote one hundred eighty-five thousand in the Assyrian camp; and they got up in the morning, and behold all the dead bodies" (4 Kings 19 : 35), and the king of Assyria " returned in shame to his land"(2 Chron. 32:21). The inhabitants of Jerusalem got a huge booty, which filled the Assyrian camp, which had lost its defenders 12.
Enjoying the peace, Hezekiah took up the peaceful improvement of his state, which gradually gained the respect of the surrounding peoples (2 Chronicles 19: 22-23). But these peaceful and happy days were replaced by a new alarm: King Hezekiah fell mortally ill; the prophet Isaiah appeared to his bed and conveyed the sad word of the Lord so that Hezekiah would make a will regarding his house, since he was awaiting a speedy death. Who lived in the Old Testament times, when in the darkness beyond the grave there was barely a glimpse of the Coming Redeemer, the Conqueror of Hell and Death, deprived, moreover, of an heir to whom he could transfer the kingdom, and not yet full of life, Hezekiah in despair turned to the wall from the sunlight and wept bitterly “Oh, Lord,” he exclaimed, “remember that I walked in your presence faithfully and with a heart devoted to you, and did what was right in your sight” (2 Kings 20: 3).
The prophet Isaiah, who left the sick king, "had not yet left the city, as was the word to him" of the Lord, who heard the prayer of His faithful servant:
Return and say to Hezekiah, the ruler of my people: thus says the Lord God of your father David: I have heard your prayer, I have seen your tears. Here I am going to heal you; on the third day you will go to the house of the Lord: and I will add fifteen years to your days, and from the hand of the king of Assyria I will save you and this city, and I will protect this city for my own sake and for the sake of David, my servant (2 Kings 20: 5-6).
To heal Hezekiah's illness, the prophet Isaiah ordered the use of the medicine, which was still the most common in the East, namely a layer of figs: it, by the order of the prophet, was applied to an abscess 13 that appeared on the body of the king. For the encouragement of the king and at his request, the Lord gave him a miraculous sign that eliminates any doubt that Hezekiah, who has recovered, will "go to the house of the Lord." The prophet Isaiah said to the king:
Here is a sign from the Lord that the Lord will fulfill the word that He has spoken: should the shadows go forward ten steps or return ten steps?
Hezekiah replied:
It is easy for the shadow to move ten steps forward; no, let the shadow go back ten steps.
And Isaiah the prophet called to the Lord, and brought the shadow back on the steps, where it descended the steps of Ahaz by ten steps 14 (2 Kings 20: 8-11).
The book of the prophet Isaiah records a prayer that Hezekiah said when he received the joyful news of his recovery. This prayer in such touching words depicts the mood of the king's soul on the eve of death and after deliverance from it: “I said to myself: in the days ahead of my days I must go to the gates of hell; I am deprived of the rest of my years, I said: I will not see the Lord, The Lord on the land of the living; I will no longer see a man among those living in the world. My dwelling is removed from its place and carried away from me like a shepherd's hut; I must cut off like a weaver my life: He (that is, God) will cut me off from the base; day and night I waited for you to send me death. I waited until morning; like a lion, He crushed all my bones; day and night I waited for you to send me death. Like a crane, like a swallow, I made sounds, yearned like a dove ; my eyes gazed sadly towards heaven: Lord, it is cramped for me: save me. What will I say? He told me, "He did. I will quietly spend all the years of my life, remembering the sorrow of my soul ... It was for my good that it was strong sorrow, and You delivered my soul from the ditch of destruction (i.e. from the grave), cast all my sins behind Your back j 15 (Is. 38: 11-15, 17).
The rumor of the miraculous recovery of King Hezekiah, spreading rapidly, even reached such a distant country as Babylonia. Her king Merodach Baladan, who still retained the independence of the state under the mighty pressure of the Assyrians, took this opportunity to send an embassy to Hezekiah under the guise of congratulating him on his recovery and inquiring in more detail about the miraculous sign that accompanied him; the real purpose of the embassy was to conclude an offensive and defensive alliance with Hezekiah; the embassy was carrying a letter and gifts from the Babylonian king to Hezekiah. Hezekiah rejoiced at the embassy coming from the king of a vast state, and showed him all his treasures. The embassy was a test of Hezekiah from God, "in order to reveal everything that is in his heart." And the pious king could not stand the test: until so recently he saw the manifestation of God's mercy combined with a miraculous sign over himself, Hezekiah, carried away by vanity, in which there was no place for the thought of the glory of the Lord, transfers his hope from God to people and to himself. But the very opening by Hezekiah to the ambassadors of the Babylonian sovereign of all the secrets of his state was the discovery of the weakness of the human mind in the knowledge of the inscrutable fate of God, according to which Judah had to fall precisely from the invasion of the Babylonian sovereign. With such a sad revelation, the former punishment of Hezekiah for arrogance, the prophet Isaiah appeared to the king of the Jews, after the ambassadors had been removed. Learning from Hezekiah himself that the ambassadors came "from a far-off land from Babylon" and that "there was not a single thing left that the king did not show them in all his dominion," Isaiah said to the king of the Jews:
Hear the word of the Lord: Behold, the days will come, and all that is in your house will be taken, and that your fathers have gathered up to this day, to Babylon; nothing will remain. Of your sons who will come from you, whom you will bear, they will take them and they will be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.
The blessing of the word of the Lord, which you have spoken, - the repentant Hezekiah answered with humility, praying at the same time that peace and prosperity would accompany at least his days (2 Kings 20: 13-19; 2 Chronicles 32:31; Is 39) ...
The Lord did not reject the prayer of the sinning king: in peace "Hezekiah rested with his fathers" (4 Kings 20:21) and was buried with all kinds of honors, with the gathering of a multitude of Jews, over the tombs of the sons of David in Jerusalem 16 (2 Chron. 32:33). Soon the great prophet Saint Isaiah also ended his days: according to the Jewish tradition accepted by Tertullian, Lactantius and blessed Jerome, Saint Isaiah died as a martyr, sawn with saw 17 under the successor of Hezekiah Manasseh.
If, as Saint Cyril of Jerusalem says, “not one of the prophets knew Christ,” then this should be said especially about the prophet Isaiah. His book contains predictions about Christ the Savior so complete and clear that, in justice, through the lips of the church fathers, Saint Isaiah was appropriated the name "Old Testament Evangelist".
In this great Old Testament prophet we find a detailed depicted image of the Coming Messiah.
Preceded by the coming of the Forerunner (40: 3), the Messiah, descending through humanity from the lineage of Jesse (11: 1), will be born of a unmarried Virgin (7:14) and will be filled with the Gifts of the Holy Spirit (11: 2) and bear names that undoubtedly indicate His divine dignity (9: 6). The humble and meek Servant of God, beloved by the Lord and called by Him to proclaim the truth to the peoples, the Messiah "will not break a broken reed, and will not quench a smoking flax", showing at the same time great power in establishing his kingdom on earth (9: 1-4), which will be the kingdom of righteousness and peace and the knowledge of God - "then the wolf will live with the lamb, and the leopard will lie with the goat; and the calf, and the young lion, and the ox will live together, and the little child will lead them, and the cow will graze with the bear, and their cubs will lie together, and the little child will lead them, and the lion, like an ox, will eat straw, and the baby will play over the hole of the viper, and the child will stretch out his hand into the nest of the snake. harm on all my holy mountain, for the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters fill the sea "(11: 6-9). But the onset of this kingdom should be preceded by humiliation, suffering and, finally, the death of the Messiah for the sins of people: "Lord," the prophet exclaims, as if standing at the cross of the Crucified Savior, "who believed what he heard from us (that is, the sermon about the incarnate Son of God) and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? for He sprang up before Him like a seed, and like a sprout out of a dry ground; in Him there is neither form nor greatness; and we have seen Him, and there was no form in Him that would draw us to Him. He was despised and belittled before people, a man of sorrows and who knew sickness, and we turned our faces away from Him; He was despised and we put Him at nothing. " Whereas "He took upon Himself our infirmities, and bore our diseases, and we thought that He was defeated, punished and humiliated by God. But He was wounded for our sins and tormented for our iniquities; the punishment of our peace was upon Him and with wounds By Him we were healed; we all wandered like sheep, turned every one to his own way, and the Lord laid on Him the sins of us all. He was tortured, but he suffered voluntarily and did not open his mouth; He was led like a sheep to the slaughter He is mute for those who cut him, so He did not open His mouth. He was taken from bondage and judgment, but who can explain His generation? For He was cut off from the land of the living; He suffered execution for the transgression of his people. because he did not sin, and there was no lie in his mouth. " Along with this majestic image of the suffering Messiah in his immeasurable humility, the prophet depicts the Messiah, the Founder of the Church, glorified for His suffering: “The Lord was pleased to smite Him and He gave Him up to torment; will be fulfilled by His hand; He will look at the podvig, His soul with contentment; through the knowledge of Him, He, the Righteous, My Servant, will justify many and bear their sins on Himself. Therefore, I will give Him a portion among the great, and with the mighty will have a booty because He gave His soul to death and was numbered among the evildoers, while He bore the sin of many on Himself and became an Advocate for criminals "(53: 1-12) ...
Kontakion, voice 2:
The prophecies are the talent of the reception, the Prophet-martyr, Isaiah the preacher of God, you have explained to everyone the incarnation of the Lord, proclaiming with a great voice the end: behold, the Virgin will receive in her womb.
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1 This praise of the seraphim, three times indicating the holiness of the Divine, is recognized as a revelation of the three persons of the Divine not only by Christians, but also by some rabbis. Sabaoth is the Lord of armies (heavenly).
2 The Lord said to Moses: "A man cannot see Me and remain alive" (Ex. 33:20).
3 Here St. Isaiah, probably, likens himself and his people to lepers, who, according to the law of Moses (Lev. 13:45), should have closed themselves to their lips, warning those who meet them with a cry: "Unclean, unclean."
4 This plural pronoun - Us, referring to the One God, is also the revelation of the mystery of the Holy Trinity. Wed Genesis 4:26 11: 7.
5 About this event in the annals of Sargon himself says the following: "I besieged the city of Samaria and took it. I took away 27,280 citizens; I chose 50 chariots for myself from among the chariots taken; I left all the other wealth of the people of this city for my servants to take. . I appointed permanent rulers over them and imposed on them the same tribute that was paid before. In place of those taken captive, I sent there the inhabitants of the lands I conquered and imposed on them the tribute that I demand from the Assyrians. " Wed 4 Kings 17: 6. From the union of the remnants of the Israeli population with the pagans forcibly resettled here by the Assyrian king, that mixed nationality was formed, which later bore the name of the Samaritans.
6 St. Ev. Matthew in the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ from the Blessed Virgin Mary sees the fulfillment of this prophecy of St. Isaiah: "All this happened, that what the Lord said through the prophet might be fulfilled, who says: behold, the Virgin in her womb will receive and give birth to a Son, and they will call His name Immanuel, that means: God is with us (1: 22-23) ".
7 At the end of the reign of Ahaz, as already seen, the temple was closed.
8 Although Hezekiah invited the Israelites who remained from Sargon's resettlement to the celebration, the latter rejected this invitation with contempt (Chron. 30: 5-10).
9 Sennacherib actually died a few years later in Assyria, killed by his own sons (2 Kings 19:37).
10 All the harvests of Judah were taken away or trampled down by the Assyrian armies; therefore, the Jews were threatened, apparently, inevitable famine. But the Lord - says the prophet - will not allow this to happen: the grains that have fallen to the ground will bear fruit sufficient for food, not only in the year of the Assyrian removal, but also the next. Thus, "the surviving remnant (of cereals) will again take root below and bear fruit above."
11 Here, by the "remnant" is meant the "remnant" of the faithful to the true God constantly among the unfaithful Jewish people (Isa. 1: 9; 10:22; Ez. 6: 8; Rom. 8:29), from which the Old Testament righteous came, to to which Christ's apostles belonged and from which the Church grew - salvation to the world.
12 The ecstatic joy and gratitude of the chosen people to God the deliverer found expression, as some commentators suggest, in Psalms 45, 46 and 75.
13 In the Hebrew text, Hezekiah's illness is called shekhin; it is believed that it was a plague abscess.
14 Here we mean the sundial made by Ahaz after the Babylonian model; they could represent or high building with ascending steps or a horizontal circle located on it in a certain order; the sun's shadow, falling on these hours, gradually moved along the steps or lines, which, in fact, served as an indicator of time. It is noteworthy that according to astronomical calculations, September 26, 703, the year falling on the time of Hezekiah's illness, was a partial solar eclipse visible in Jerusalem; it could be the reason for that miraculous phenomenon (the return of the sun's shadow ten steps back), which the Bible reports.
Prophet Isaiah and his book.
Kontakion, ch. 2: Prophecies, granting of reception, to the Prophet-martyr, Isaiah the preacher of God, Thou didst explain to everyone the incarnation of the Lord, proclaiming with a loud end: behold, the Virgin will receive in her womb.
Isaiah in translation means the salvation of the Lord. That. the name of this great prophet is a symbol of salvation awaiting God's chosen ones.
According to legend, the prophet Isaiah came from a royal family: his father, Amos (Is.1: 1), may have been the brother of the Jewish king Amaziah. Isaiah was born about 760 in Jerusalem, where he lived and preached. The Prophet, according to his own testimony, had a wife and children. His wife was a prophetess (8: 3). The names of the children symbolically foreshadowed the judgment of God, coming to the Jewish and Israeli kingdoms: Shearyasuv - “the remnant will return” (7: 3) and Mager-shalal-hash-baz - “quick robbery” or “quick plunder” (8: 3).
Isaiah began his prophetic activity when he was about 20 years old, in the year of the death of King Uzziah, i.e. sometime in 759 B.C. (according to another date - 740). The last time acts as a character around 701.
The Prophet gathered young people around him and created a school that existed for over 200 years. This school gradually developed into a new religious movement in Jerusalem called the Poor Men of God. The participants in the movement were indeed not rich people, but in this case the word “poor” was used in its biblical meaning - morally pure and loving God.
Tradition says that the prophet Isaiah died as a martyr under King Manasseh, escaping from whose persecution, the prophet hid in the trunk of a cedar and was sawed with a wooden saw along with the tree, which is indirectly indicated, for example, by the prophet Jeremiah (2:30) and the Apostle Paul (Heb. .11: 37).
Calling to the ministry.
Once, a very young Isaiah was present in the temple for divine services, before his eyes was the courtyard of the priests and the sanctuary. Suddenly he saw that the temple was being pulled apart and the veil separating the Holy of Holies disappeared before his spiritual eyes. Further, the Prophet saw the Lord “sitting on a high and exalted throne,” standing, as it were, between heaven and earth; the edges of the royal vestments of God filled the temple. Around the Lord “stood seraphim, each of whom had six wings: with two they covered their faces, with two — their legs, with two — they flew. And they cried out "Holy is holy is the Lord of hosts ...".
Saint Isaiah was horrified and exclaimed in fright:
-Woe is me! I am lost! For I am a man with unclean lips, and I live among a people with unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts.
Then one of the seraphim flew to him with a burning coal taken with tongs from the altar, touched the prophet's mouth with the words:
Behold, this has touched your mouth, and your iniquity is removed from you, and your sin is cleansed.
Isaiah immediately heard the mysterious voice of Jehovah:
Whom should I send? And who will go for Us?
Filled with sacred confidence, Saint Isaiah expressed his desire to accept responsibility and the heavy duty of being a preacher of the will of God for the Jewish people:
Here I am, send me.
The Lord did not reject Saint Isaiah's suggestions:
Go and tell this people: if you hear with your ear, you will not understand, and if you look with your eyes, you will not see. For the heart of this people has hardened ...
Isaiah asked how long the people would be in such coarseness:
Until the cities become empty and remain without inhabitants ... until this land is completely empty (Is.6: 1-11).
The vision ended and the Spirit of God rested on the holy prophet.
The fact that Isaiah was called by the Lord of hosts Himself in such a clear and terrible vision, and even in a very early youth, testifies to his pious life. In addition, he discovers a deep knowledge of the sacred books of his people, which means he absorbed this knowledge from childhood. Therefore, it was this person that the Lord chose for a special mission and generously endowed him with the gift of words and miracles, because he was worthy of it.
Isaiah himself, by virtue of his bold faith and the vision of the Lord of hosts, always remembered that it was God who called him to serve. Therefore, he always showed devoted obedience and unconditional trust in God, was always free from human fear, placing all his trust in the Creator. He was not afraid to loudly denounce the wicked policies of Ahaz (chap. 7), priests, prophets and the people (chap. 2, 3, 5, 28), condemn Hezekiah's policies (chap. 30-32), and even predict the death of the king (chap. 38 ). Because the truth of God was for him above all fear.
The book of the holy prophet Isaiah.
His prophecy begins with words against Judah (Isa. 1: 1). For, according to Peter's word, “the time is coming for judgment to begin from the house of God (1 Pet. 4:17), because those closest to us grieve the most when they sin against us.
And in Ezekiel, the Lord, commanding to punish those who have sinned, says: “begin from mine sanctified” (Ezek. 9: 6). Therefore, Isaiah also began from the country chosen by God, and from the city in which the sanctuary was, announcing to them the calamities that awaited them.
Secondly, he talks about Babylon, then about the land of Moab, then about Damascus, fifthly about Egypt, then about the desert, then about Edom, then about the wilds of Zion, then about Tire and then about four-legged. This is followed by incidents that happened in the 40th year of the reign of Hezekiah. After this, there are prophecies that do not have any inscription and announce disasters to Jerusalem and Judea, the fate of those in the scattering, their return after the execution of the judgment, the predictions about Christ, scattered in every prophecy, because with every true legend there is something mysterious "(St. . Basil the Great. Interpretation on the book of the prophet Isaiah).
First part (Ch. 1-39) is predominantly accusatory. Whom and for what does the prophet convict?
The powerful of this world and all the people for vices (especially during the time of the wicked king Ahaz):
Ingratitude to God, idolatry (2:20, 17: 8,30: 22,31: 7)
Disbelief in Divine Revelation (29: 9)
Outward fulfillment of the Law and at the same time immoral behavior (1: 10-17)
Dishonesty to neighbors, lack of love, beneficence, mercy, especially on the part of the rulers (1: 16,5: 22-23,10: 1)
Condemnation of the policy of intercourse with pagan powers (8: 6,30: 1,31: 1).
The reproof is followed by the prediction of the judgment of God through the Gentiles: the desolation of the earth, the expulsion of the Jews (6:11, 5: 13,17: 9), the capture of Jerusalem (2:12, 3: 8,16; 22: 5,30: 13,32 : 13,19), the imminent fall of Samaria (ch. 28), the captivity of Babylon (39: 5-8).
But even in this part, full of accusations and formidable omens, the prophet found a place for comforting notes: he reminds the people that “God is with us” (8:10) and promises that “the burden will be removed from your shoulders” (10:27), and “the Lord shall establish Zion” (14:32), and “Asshur shall fall” (31: 8), etc. But for all this to be the people must turn to their God: “The Lord of hosts will come down to fight for Mount Zion and for its hill ... will cover Jerusalem, protect and deliver, spare and save. Turn to the One from Whom you fell away, children of Israel! " (31: 4-5).
Departments of the first part:
1) chapters 1-6 - introduction; 7-12 - Israel's attitude to Assur under Ahaz and the outcome of friendship with Assyria;
2) prophecies for foreign nations: Babylon (Ch. 13-14: 23), Asshur, Philistines, Moab, Syria, Ethiopia, Egypt (14: 28-30), again about Babylon, as well as about Edom, Arabia, Jerusalem ( Ch. 21-22), Dash (Ch. 23). The prophet also speaks of the last judgment on the world (24-27), the resurrection of the dead and salvation;
3) Israel's relations with Asshur under Hezekiah (28-33): in this section, speeches are arranged chronologically and united by the main theme - the salvation of Israel depends only on the Lord;
4) chapters 34-35: - about the judgment of God over earth and heaven,
- about the salvation of Israel, the return from captivity;
5) chapters 36-39 - events described in 2 Kings 18: 13-20; 19.
Second part (chapters 40-66) contains the comforting speeches of the prophet to the people in view of the impending Babylonian captivity. Consists of three sections of 9 chapters, united by a single theme: they tell about the era of redemption of Israel and mankind, beginning with the liberation of Israel from Babylonian captivity and extending to the Last Judgment.
Divisions of the second part:
1) chapters 40-48: liberation from Babylonian captivity, the culprit of which is Cyrus; and moral deliverance from sin through the Messiah.
2) chapters 49-57: Messiah, His suffering.
3) chapters 58-66: glorification of the Messiah.
Features of the prophetic contemplation of Isaiah.
- the present and the future for him represent a single, continuously developing whole, without any time delimitations, the prophet quickly shifts his gaze from the present to the future
Clarity of messianic prophecy (Nativity of Christ from the Virgin in ch. 7, the suffering and death of the Savior - ch. 53
Accurate timing (16:14, 37: 30, 38: 5)
Rich language, images, persuasiveness.
All these and other virtues of Isaiah's prophetic speeches gave rise to commentators of all times to praise him as a “great prophet” (Sir 48:25, Eusebius of Caesarea), “most divine” (Blessed Theodoret), “the most discerning and wisest of the prophets” (Isidore Pelusiot ), “The Old Testament evangelist and apostle” (St. Augustine, St. Cyril of Alexandria).
In defense authenticity books of the prophet Isaiah the main argument: his book is recognized as a work of the Holy Scriptures (Sire. 48: 25-28, Luke 4: 17-22, Matthew 15: 7-9, Luke 22:37, Acts 8:28, 28) : 25, Rom. 9:27).
In addition, the following facts can be opposed to the point of view about the inauthenticity of the book, about the non-belonging of some of its parts to the prophet Isaiah:
Same tone of speech throughout the book: Isaiah speaks boldly - Rom. 10:20
The presence of repetitive images (vineyard, desert)
One idea throughout the book - Zion will be saved by the power of God, not human
The Gradual Revealing of the Troubles Ahead of the Jews and Future Redemption
Even Sirach knew the book of Isaiah as a whole work, which is part of the Old Testament canon (i.e. 200 years before the birth of Christ - Syr. 48: 22-25).
Translations.
Jewish Masoretic
Translation of the Seventy
Peshito - similar to the translation of the Seventy
The Vulgate is like the Masoretic text.
Interpretations.
The book of the holy prophet Isaiah was interpreted by St. Ephraim the Sirin (according to the text of Peshito), St. Basil the Great (chapters 1-16), St. John Chrysostom (Greek text - only chapters 1-8, Latin and Armenian translations - all chapters), blzh. Jerome (according to the Hebrew and Greek texts), St. Cyril of Alexandria (translated by the Seventy, Blessed Theodorite.
Russian works devoted to this book:
Bp. Peter. Explanation of the book of the holy prophet Isaiah in Russian translation, extracted from various interpreters
-Yakimov. Interpretation on the book of the prophet Isaiah
Vlastov. Prophet Isaiah.
Yungerov's articles in the Pravosla
an obvious interlocutor ".
The era of the prophet Isaiah.
The life of the greatest of the prophets was closely connected with historical events. In those days Assyria she devastated the kingdom of Israel, reached the highest level of prosperity under Hezekiah and finally destroyed the kingdom of Israel, then subjugated Judah, took Manasseh into captivity. But in 630, Media and Babylon captured Assyria and turned it into a Median province.
Egypt was an ally of the Jews, but under Isaiah he was already exhausted from age and internal strife, and was also weakened by the wars with Assyria.
Syrian kingdom constantly fought with Assyria. In 732 Syria became an Assyrian province.
Babylon under the prophet Isaiah became a vassal of Assyria.
Israel and Judea were in constant enmity.
Violence and cruelty reigned in Israel, political anarchy (2 Kings 15: 8-28), which led it to internal decay (as prophesied by Hosea, a contemporary of Isaiah). Before the fall of Samaria in 722, the kingdom of Israel was also the subject of Isaiah's prophetic speeches (28: 1-4)
Isaiah began his prophetic work in the year of the death of the Jewish King Uzziah about 759 or, according to another chronology, 740 BC. The last time he acts as a character in about 701. Uzziah was a pious king, with him life was good in Judea, she won victories over the Philistines, Arabs and other peoples.
He inherits king Jotham (2 Kings 15: 32-38, “Chronicles 26:23), his son, who ruled for 16 years (4 years independently - 740-736 [Lopukhin]).
Like his father, Jotham was very pious, the country prospered economically and was independent. But already in his reign, the people began to turn away from the Law of God, therefore Isaiah already here speaks of punishment (Chapter 6). At that time, the people became proud of the successes of the foreign policy of their country, attributing them to their own account, forgetting to thank the Lord, the morals fell.
The following chapters of the book of the prophet Isaiah belong to this period: 2-5. Isaiah speaks here about the problems of social injustice (3:16), about forgetting God. The motive of punishment sounds. But not because Isaiah wants Jerusalem to be destroyed, but in order to call for repentance.
After the death of Jotham, he became king of Judah Ahaz , Israeli by birth, heathen by heart. During his reign, Judea achieved state power, the Ammonites, the Philistines paid tribute to her. The country accumulated enormous wealth, which the wicked Ahaz found unworthy use.
The king decided to turn Jerusalem into a kind of capitals of the pagan states of Phenicia and Assyria:
Introduced the worship of the sun, moon, heavenly bodies (2 Kings 23: 5),
The idol of Astarte (goddess of debauchery) was placed in the house of God,
“Houses of harlots” appeared in the city (2 Kings 23: 6-7),
At the entrance to the temple, in the premises where the sacred vessels were previously kept, now they kept white horses dedicated to the sun god,
In place of the altar of burnt offerings, they erected a new one, made after the model of the Assyrian (2 Kings 16: 14-15),
Throughout Jerusalem and other cities, "heights" spread - places for making sacrifices,
In the valley of Ginnomova (under the walls of Jerusalem) they set up Moloch, an idol in whose hands they burned children. Ahaz himself sacrificed one of his sons to Moloch (2 Kings 16: 3, 2 Chronicles 28: 3).
For all these atrocities, the Lord allowed Judah to undergo devastation from the Israelite king Pekah and the Syrian king Rezin (2 Chronicles 18:19).
And then, in such a difficult moment of trials, the prophet Isaiah tries to encourage Ahaz, assuring that God will not leave, calls for a "policy of faith": "watch and be calm ... let your heart not faint ... Ask for a sign from the Lord ... and Ahaz said: I will not ask and I will not tempt the Lord ”(7: 4.11-12). Ahaz did not believe God, chose to rely on the mighty of the world this: made an alliance with Tiglathpalassar 2, to whom he gave all the Jewish treasures, even temple ones. At the same time, to please the newly made allies, Ahaz took the drawing of the Assyrian altar, which was installed in the place of the altar of burnt offerings. As a reward for such obedience to Ahaz, Assyria ravaged Syria and part of Palestine, and so far only imposed a tribute on Judea. Ahaz, having robbed the temple, closed its doors, the divine service stopped.
V Hezekiah , her next king, Judea found a caring, God-fearing ruler. He restored the veneration of Jehovah, in which he was helped by the disciples of the school of the Prophet Isaiah: idols were removed from the temple and worship was restored (2 Chron. 29: 3-36), “heights” were destroyed, Hezekiah even destroyed the brazen serpent, which was made by Moses (Num .21: 9) and who then stood in the midst of Jerusalem (2 Kings 18: 4).
On the same days, a change of rulers took place in Assyria: Sargon died, Sennacherib succeeded him. Taking advantage of the time of changes, the peoples subordinate to Assyria, including King Hezekiah, raised a series of uprisings. The Assyrian king brutally suppressed the rebels: 46 Jewish cities were taken and plundered, and the enemy laid siege to the capital Jerusalem. Famine began in the city. In the end, Hezekiah decided to surrender, and the siege was lifted. But soon the gates of the city closed again. Hezekiah, together with the prophet Isaiah, offered up a prayer to God (2 Kings 19: 15-19 and 2 Chron. 32:20).
And the Lord answered (2 Kings 19: 21-22, 28-31). And "the angel of the Lord went and smote 185,000 in the Assyrian camp (2 Kings 19:35), and the king of Assyria returned in shame to his land" (2 Chron. 32:21). For a time there was peace in Judea (2 Chron. 19: 22-23).
Hezekiah was in another trouble, he fell ill, and Isaiah told him to prepare for death. But in the Old Testament time afterlife seemed like darkness, and besides, Hezekiah did not yet have an heir. The king prayed (2 Kings 20: 3) and the Lord was merciful. Through his prophet he told Hezekiah that “I have heard your prayer ... I will heal ... I will add 15 years to your days ... from the hand of the Assyrian king I will save this city (2 Kings 20: 5-6). Hezekiah was grateful to the Lord and full of pious intentions: "... I will quietly spend all the years of my life ..." (Is.38: 11-15,17).
But the Lord sent him another test, “in order to reveal everything in his heart”: the Babylonian king (whose country, one of the few then, was independent from Assyria) heard about the miraculous healing of Hezekiah. Under the guise of congratulating him on his recovery, he sent an embassy to Judea, the real purpose of which was to conclude an offensive and defensive alliance with Hezekiah. Hezekiah was flattered by the visit of such a vast state and, out of vanity, showed the guests all his treasures. He quickly forgot about the omnipotence of God, put his hopes on people and on himself. After the ambassadors were removed, the prophet Isaiah predicted for him the loss of all treasures and the Babylonian captivity. Hezekiah repented (2 Kings 20: 13-19, 2 Chronicles 32:31, Is 39). The Lord forgave him and granted him the rest of his days in the world (2 Kings 20:21).
At the time of King Hezekiah, there are the following chapters of the book of the prophet Isaiah: 22, 28-33, 36-39, 40-66, as well as prophecies about foreign nations: chapters 15,16,18-20, 21: 11-17, 23).
Isaiah's Messianic Prophecies.
Preceded by the coming of the Forerunner (Is.40: 33), the Messiah, descending through humanity from the lineage of Jesse (11: 1), will be born of a unmarried Virgin (17: 4) and will be filled with the gifts of the Holy Spirit (11: 2) and bear names indicating to His Divine dignity (9: 6).
The humble and meek Servant of God ... called by Him to proclaim the truth to the peoples, the Messiah “will not break a broken reed, and will not quench a smoking flax”, will establish His kingdom on earth (9: 1-4). "Then the wolf will live with the lamb, and the leopard will lie with the goat ... The earth will be filled with the knowledge of the Lord ..." (11: 6-9).
But the onset of the kingdom must be preceded by the humiliation, suffering and death of the Messiah for the sins of people: “Lord,” the prophet exclaims, as if standing at the Cross of the Crucified Savior, “who believed what we heard ... ; there is neither form nor greatness in Him; and we saw Him ... He was despised and we put Him at nothing. " Whereas “He took our infirmities upon Himself, bore our diseases, and we thought that He was defeated, punished and humiliated by God. But He was wounded for our sins and we torment for our iniquities ... by His stripes we were healed ... He suffered voluntarily ... for the transgression of the people he suffered execution. He was assigned a coffin with villains, but He was buried with a rich ... "
Alongside this image of the suffering Messiah, majestic in His immeasurable humility, the prophet portrayed the Messiah, glorified for His suffering, the Founder of the Church: “It pleased Gsopod to smite Him and He gave Him up to torment; when His soul offers the sacrifice of atonement, He will see long-lasting offspring ... through the knowledge of it, He, the Righteous One, My Servant, will justify many and bear their sins on Himself. Therefore, I will give Him a portion among the great, and with the mighty he will have a booty because He gave His soul to death and was numbered among the evildoers, while He bore the sin of many on Himself and became an Advocate for criminals ”(Isa. 53: 1- 12).
Archpriest Seraphim Slobodskoy
The law of god
Old Testament
Prophet Isaiah
Especially famous among the Jewish prophets was the prophet Isaiah.
Isaiah was a descendant of King David, a relative of the kings of the Jews. The Lord called him to the prophetic ministry by a special manifestation. Isaiah saw the Lord sitting on a high throne. Six-winged seraphim stood around Him and cried out: "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts! The whole earth is full of His glory!" One of the seraphim took a burning coal from the heavenly altar with tongs, touched the mouth of Isaiah and said: "Behold, your sins have been cleansed." After that, the Lord commanded him to go and expose the unbelief and vices of the Jews.
The prophet Isaiah predicted that the Jewish kingdom would be destroyed by enemies, the Jews would be taken into captivity, and then they would return to their homeland again.
Especially clearly Isaiah predicted about Christ the Savior, that He would come from the lineage of David, that the Savior would be born of the Virgin and would not be an ordinary person, but together God: " behold the Virgin in her womb will receive and give birth to a Son and will call His name Immanuel, which means - God is with us"(Is. 7 , 14).
Isaiah's prophecy about the birth of the Savior from the Virgin
He predicted that the Savior would suffer and die for our sins: "He was wounded for our sins and we are tormented for our iniquities. By His stripes we are healed. He was tortured, but he suffered willingly and did not open his mouth. He was led to the slaughter like a sheep. and just as the lamb is dumb before the shearer, so He did not open His mouth. "
Isaiah also prophesied that the Savior crucified with the villains, will not be buried with them, but in the tomb of a rich man: " He was assigned a coffin with evildoers, but He was buried by a rich man".
Through faith in Christ the Savior, people will be saved from eternal destruction: " through the knowledge of Him, He, the Righteous One, will justify many, and bear their sins on Himself".
For the clarity of predictions about Christ the Savior, the prophet Isaiah is called Old Testament evangelist.
At the same time, Isaiah fervently denounced the contemporary Jewish king Manasseh, who, being wicked, set altars to pagan idols in Solomon's temple. (However, at the end of his life, Manasseh, captured and put in prison, repented and asked for forgiveness from God). Under the influence of their wicked king, the Jewish people began to completely forget the true God. The Jews even stopped celebrating Passover and other holidays established by Moses.
Yeshaya (ישעיהו, rus .: Isaiah) - the greatest prophet of the period of the First Temple, the spiritual head of the people of Yehuda.
He was born circumcised, without foreskin, just like the forefather Jacob, the prophet Moshe and some other righteous ( Shokher Tov 9: 7).
His father, the prophet Amots, was the brother of King Yehuda Amatia, the son of Yoash. And who reigned in 3115 year / 645 BC / Uziyau, the son of Amatia, was, respectively, a cousin to him ( Megila 15a; Yalkut Shimoni; Seder adorot).
Yeshaya calls for repentance (teshuve)
Addressing the children of Israel, Yeshaya tried to awaken them to repentance and thereby prevent the impending disaster. His prophetic conversion began with words full of tragedy: “Hear, heavens, and listen, earth, because God says: I raised and magnified the sons, and they rebelled against Me. The ox knows its master and the donkey is the stall of its master, but Israel does not want to know Me, My people do not think "( ibid. 1: 2-3, Rashi).
Assessing the spiritual state of his people, the prophet bitterly says: the children of Israel “resort to divination (that is, to different types occultism), like the Philistines, and are content with other people's children (that is, they take women from foreign nations as wives, and those give birth to them children who are no longer Jews) "( 2: 6, Rashi and Malbim).
And even when the Jews “served” the Creator, making sacrifices to Him, praying and arranging fasts, these actions were devoid of spiritual content, becoming an empty formality. “This people honored Me with their lips and with their lips, but they separated their hearts from Me,” the prophet conveyed the Creator's bitter reproaches. - Their trepidation before Me has become a confused commandment "( 29:13 ).
This was not a ministry that saves and redeems. “Your sacrifices in the new month and your festivities,” the prophet addressed to the Jews on behalf of Gd, “became hated by My soul. They have become a burden to Me, I am tired of enduring them. … And no matter how much you pray, I will not hear, [because] your hands are full of blood. Wash yourself, cleanse yourself, ... stop doing evil. ... Support the oppressed, take care of the orphan, stand up for the widow! " ( 1:14-17 ).
The Jews offendedly asked the Almighty: "Why did we fast, but you can't see?" But the answer conveyed through Yeshayu is: “Is this the fast that I have chosen? ... Break the shackles of anger, ... release the oppressed to freedom, and tear off every yoke! Isn't it that (that is, the fast desired by the Creator) that you share bread with the hungry and bring groaning beggars into your house ?! ... Then you will call - and Gd will answer, you will cry - and He will say: “Here I am” ( 58:3-9 )».
And since the people themselves were unable to repent and correct their actions, their crimes had to be atoned for by exile. "My people will go into exile because of foolishness" ( 5:13 ), Yeshaya predicted.
Such a punishment was necessary for the people of Israel itself, because "if the wicked one is pardoned, he will not learn the truth, he will act unjustly and will not comprehend the greatness of Gd" ( 26:10 ).
From the prophecy of Yeshai it followed that the Almighty would call upon the king of Assyria as a weapon of His anger: “O Assyria, the rod of My anger! ... I am sending him to the wicked people ... "( 10:5-6 ). The ten northern tribes will fall first, and then the Assyrians will approach Jerusalem ( see (see 7: 8, 7:17, 8: 4, 10:11).
But Yeshayu suffered the same fate as his great predecessors Osheyu and Amos: the people did not want to listen to their prophecies. “They are a rebellious people,” Yeshaya lamented, “sons of deceit, sons who do not want to listen to the Torah of Gd. They say to the seers: “Do not see!”, And to the soothsayers: “Do not divine the truth to us! Tell us something flattering, predict something funny! Get out of our way, deviate from the path, remove the Holy Gd of Israel from us! " ( 30:9-11 )».
With bitter irony, Yeshaya formulated the creed of his contemporaries: “So you said: We entered into an alliance with death and entered into a treaty with the underworld. When the scourge sweeps swiftly, it will not overtake us, for we have made deception our refuge and hid in lies ”(28:15). “Woe to you who call evil good and good evil, who regard darkness as light and light as darkness,” says the prophet. "Woe to you, wise in your own eyes and reasonable from your point of view!" ( 5:20-21 ).
Prophecies are starting to come true
V 3183 year / 577 BC / the twenty-year-old Ahaz, the son of Yotam, ascended the throne of Yehuda.
Under the new king, the people got even deeper into idolatry and other crimes ( II Melachim; Seder adorot).
But still, "Ahaz had shame in front of Yeshaya" ( Yalkut Shimoni, Yeshaya 7, 409), and the prophet transmitted to him the prophetic messages he received from Gd.
V 3187 year / 573 BC / Yeshai's formidable predictions began to come true: the Assyrian king Tiglath-Palasar captured the allotment of the tribe of Naftali, and then expelled the three tribes of Israel who lived on the eastern bank of the Jordan ( II Melachim; Seder adorot).
And, nevertheless, the king of Yehuda Ahaz, contrary to the warnings of Yeshai, called on Tiglath-Palazar to help him in the war against the Arameans and paid him for the service with the treasures of the Jerusalem Temple ( II Melachim).
V 3199 year / 561 BC / after the death of Ahaz, his son Khizkiyau (Khizkiya) ascended the throne.
This righteous king was able to return the people of Yehuda to the Torah ( II Melachim; Seder adorot). Yeshaya studied the Torah together with the king ( Shokher tov 22: 2, Otsar Ishey atanakh).
V 3205 year / 555 BC / Yeshai's prophecy about ten tribes came true: the Assyrians captured the northern kingdom of Israel and expelled most of its inhabitants ( II Melachim 17: 1-23, 18: 9-12; Seder Olam slave 22; Seder adorot).
And in 3211 year / 549 BC / Assyrians, led by the Jewish traitor Ravshakei, approached the walls of Jerusalem. But Yeshaya reassured the king of Hizkiah: he should not be afraid of the Assyrians, since their leader would have to lift the siege.
Indeed, Ravshakei learned that the king of Kusha had come out against the Assyrians, and turned his army towards a new danger ( II Melachim, Rashi; Yeshaya 37: 1-9; Seder adorot).
But in 3213 year / 547 BC / a huge Assyrian army under the leadership of King Sancheriv again laid siege to Jerusalem. It seemed that the days of the holy city were numbered, and the fate of the destroyed Shomron [the capital of the northern Israelite kingdom] would befall it.
However, Yeshaya confidently predicted: “This is what Gd said about the king of Assyria: He will not enter this city. ... He will return by the same road by which he came, but he will not enter the city ”( II Melachim; Seder adorot).
Prayer of King Khizkiyau
During the days when the army of Sancherib stood at the gates of Jerusalem, King Khizkiah fell mortally ill. And Yeshaya directly warned him: "This is what Gd said: Make a will to your house, for you will die and will not survive."
To the king's question "Why do I need this ?!" Yeshaya replied: "Because you did not fulfill the commandment" Be fruitful and multiply. " And when the king confessed: “It was revealed to me in insight that an impious son would come from me,” the prophet objected: “What do you care about the secrets of the Creator ?! You should have done what was commanded to you, and the Creator would have done what was pleasing to Him. "
And then King Khizkiya asked: “Give me your daughter as a wife. Perhaps, thanks to my and your merits, I will have a worthy son! " "Late. You have already been sentenced, ”objected the prophet.
And the king said: “Son of Amots! Stop your predictions and go! My ancestor David taught that even if the tip of the sword is already at the throat, one should not stop praying for mercy ”( Berachot, 10a).
And the king's prayer was heard. The Prophet has not yet left the courtyard of the royal house, when the Creator commanded him: “Come back and tell Khizkiah: I have heard your prayer. … Behold, I am healing you - on the third day you will enter the House of Gd. And I will add fifteen years to the days of your life, and I will save you and this city from the hand of the king of Assyria. I will defend this city "( II Melachim 20: 4-6).
On the third day, the king recovered - and on the same night a destructive epidemic began in the Assyrian camp, mowing down 185 thousand soldiers. Sancheriv with a small handful of surviving henchmen fled to his capital Nineveh ( ibid 19: 35-36; Seder olam slave 23).
Soon after his recovery, the king married Yeshai's daughter. And in 3216 year / 544 BC / the prophet had a grandson - the heir to the throne Menashe ( Seder adorot).
And although it seemed that Judah was spared from danger, in these days Yeshaya predicted to the king of Hizkiah that some time later the country would be conquered by a new superpower - Babylon, and the descendants of Hizkiah, together with their people, would be expelled from their land ( II Melachim 20:16:18).
Prophecies about the nations of the world
At the same time, Yeshaya predicted the fate of all the tribes surrounding Israel: the Philistines, Moabites, Arameans, Ethiopians, Egyptians and Phoenicians ( see (chap. 14-19, 23). All these peoples were expected to be exterminated and disappeared from the arena of history. And since the Creator used most of these nations to punish Israel, the prophet says about one of them, meaning all the others: “This is the lot of our robbers and the lot of our destroyers” ( ibid 17:14).
But especially many of Yeshai's prophecies are dedicated to the fate of Babylon, which will be destroyed by hordes of Persians and Medes: “Babylon, the beauty of kingdoms, ... will be like Sdom and Amora, destroyed by Gd. It will never be inhabited ... and the Arab will not pitch his tent there ... and the animals of the desert will live there ... and jackals will howl in his palaces "( 13:17-22 ). “I will rise up against them,” says the Gd of Hosts, “and I will destroy the name of Babylon and her remnant, and her son, and her grandson. ... And I will make him ... stagnant swamps, and sweep him with the broom of destruction, - says the Gd of Hosts "( 14:22-23 ).
This was predicted two centuries before Babylon succeeded Assyria as a world power and conquered Judah.
In that era, the sons of Israel will become “a light for the nations” ( Yeshaya 42: 6), and under their influence many peoples of the earth will return to the Creator. “And it will be, at the end of days,” says the prophet, “the mountain of the House of Gd will be established as the top of all mountains ... and many nations will go and say:“ Let's go up the mountain of Gd, to the House of Gd Yaakov, so that He taught us His ways and so that we would go in His ways "- after all, the Torah will come out of Zion, and the word of Gd - from Jerusalem" ( ibid. 2: 2-3). And then “the earth will be filled with the knowledge of Gd, as the sea is full of water” ( 11:9 ).
And since there will be no reason for military conflicts, a lasting peace will be established: “And they will hammer their swords into plows and their spears into garden shears; the people will not raise the sword against the people, and they will no longer learn to fight ”( 2: 4, Radak).
Foreigners who have persecuted the people of Israel throughout history will begin to help the Jews fulfill their mission in life: “And foreigners will come and feed your sheep, and foreigners will be your farmers and your winegrowers, and you will be called priests of the Lord, servants of our B -ha will call you "( 61:5-6 ).
This harmony will extend even to the natural world. “And the wolf will live with the lamb,” the prophet predicts, “… and the cow and the bear will graze,… and the lion will eat straw like an ox, and the nursing baby will play over the hole of the cobra” ( 11:6-8 ) - previously predatory and poisonous animals “will not do evil” ( 65:25 ).
There are commentators explaining that in the era of the Mashiach, the nature of predatory animals will change, which will return to their original state, because at the creation of the world there were no predatory or poisonous animals. And there are those explaining that the “wolf”, “bear” or “ox” are only allegories pointing to the peoples who were previously at odds with each other, and in the era of the Messiah will move on to cooperation and mutual assistance ( see Radak, Yeshaya 11: 6).
Yeshaya emphasized that all events in earthly history have long been predetermined by Gd. Moreover, the Creator communicated them to all mankind through his prophets. But when these events come true, they happen as if suddenly and unexpectedly, as was the case, for example, with the predicted death of the army of Sancheriv under the walls of Jerusalem. “For a long time I declared the former, and it came out of My mouth, - Yeshai tells the words of the Creator, - ... and [then] I did all of a sudden, and it came true” ( 48: 3, Radak).
The last days
Most of Yeshai's comforting predictions about the future were made in Last year reign of the king of Khizkiah. King Khizkiya himself began the work of collecting Yeshai's prophecies into a single book. And after the death of the king, which followed in 3228 year / 532 BC /, this work was completed by sages close to him ( Bava batra, 15a, Rashi).
After the death of Khizkiah, his twelve-year-old son Menashe, the grandson of Yeshai, reigned. As Khizkiya foresaw, the young man grew up a wicked: he resumed serving Baal and other deities of the surrounding peoples, and then ordered to bring the idol into the Temple ( II Melachim; II Divrei Ayamim; Dvarim slave 2:20).
Upon learning of this, Yeshaya immediately predicted that the Temple would be destroyed by the Babylonian king Neuhadnetsar.
In response, King Menashe, in anger, ordered to seize the prophet ( Psikta rabati 4).
By order of King Yeshai, he was killed. He was then one hundred and twenty years old.
Buried in the village of Baram, in the Northern Galilee ( Seder adorot).
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