The Vision

Isaiah 1:1

“The vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.”

In the introduction, we looked at Isaiah’s calling and made the statement that Isaiah was more of a volunteer, for he overheard the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Then Isaiah said, “Here am I!  Send me.”  And the Lord said, “Go, and say to this people:” and we will look at what he was to say at another time.

As we read and explore this wonderful book and the man God picked to record His Words for all of us, it might be helpful to review some fundamentals of Scripture.  First and foremost is Genesis 1:1, “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.”  I’ve been taught about time dimensions and it is very interesting, but the bottom line is no matter how many dimensions there are, they do not control God.  As we view the fundamentals, God created all things for His purpose, including time.  Have you given thought to faith and its relationship to time, it requires time dimensions?  My friend Bill Gilham taught me the following; “When faith is no longer needed, time will cease to be.”  I also learned from Bill that God is not controlled by His creation; He is not time-dimensional, but you and I are time-dimensional beings.  Bill would often use this example: “God is like a man in a helicopter viewing everything (including your life) as present tense.  God knows everything and sees forever into both the past and the present.  Christ’s life is eternal, extending forever into what you call the future, and forever into what you call the past.”

Now as we look into these visions shown to Isaiah by God, does that information from Bill help you understand the prophet’s ability to declare insights that will take place years after the prophet has left planet earth?  The apostle Peter wanted to make sure we understood how and where we get prophecy; “knowing this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone's own interpretation. For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.” (2 Peter 1:20-21, ESV)

A great example of this is Isaiah sharing with us 698 years before Christ showed up on planet earth these insights: “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and of peace here will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore.  The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.” (Isaiah 9:6-7, ESV)

Be very careful with the scholars who seem to remove Genesis 1:1 and 2 Peter 1:20-21 from their understanding of the Scriptures, for it is such that contest Isaiah’s authorship of chapters 40-66.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice