The Holy Spirit inspired the beloved physician, Luke, to record the conversion of a man from Ethiopia. He was a treasurer returning home from Jerusalem on the road that led to Gaza. Philip ran to the chariot and found the man reading. When asked if he understood what he was reading, the man said, “How can I unless someone explains it?” And beginning at the Scripture, Philip taught him about Jesus and salvation found only in His name. What was the man reading? He was reading words recorded by the prophet of God, Isaiah (Acts 8:26-39).
Isaiah’s name means, “God is Salvation.” All one really needs to know about his life and work is to know the meaning of his name. He was a man who cared deeply about God and the salvation that was found in the Christ to come. Isaiah 1:1 tells us about when he lived and the interaction he had with kings. He moved with ease among the most powerful men on the face of earth during his days. Isiah could do this because he wasn’t interested in serving earthly kings, but only the God of heaven. He preached to the southern nation of Judah for approximately 50 years. He lived and wrote about 700 years before Jesus would leave Heaven and come to earth.
Consider three great lessons from his life of preaching and writing:
He only spoke what the Lord spoke.
We first read his name in 2 Kings 19:2. The king of Judah is Hezekiah and they are under attack by the Assyrians, who have taken Israel captive. The king of Assyria is breathing great threats against Hezekiah and the people of God. King Hezekiah sends word of the prophet Isaiah. You, dear reader, can study the fascinating account beginning in 2 Kings 19, but for our purposes, focus on the words of Isaiah from this context. In 2 Kings 19:6, Isaiah’s first words are, “Thus you shall say to your master, Thus says the Lord…” (2 Kings 19:20,) “Thus says the Lord God of Israel…” (2 Kings 19:21,) “This is the word which the Lord has spoken…” Do you see the pattern? Isaiah teaches us, like so many of the wonderful prophets, the need to simply speak what the Lord speaks. It was Isiah who was willing to say to God, “Here am I, send me,” (Isa. 6:8). God needed a man to speak His words to His people and Isaiah never failed the responsibility given to him. May we never get bored or fail to see the importance of using the Bible as the only authority for all we say and do!
He never failed to recognize God’s glory and holiness
The life and ministry of Isaiah was filled with many great challenges. If you read the book of Isaiah, you will find that he was tasked with trying to get God’s people to repent of their ungodliness and wicked living. He was also given the responsibility of pronouncing judgment on Judah’s neighbors (Assyria, Egypt, Ethiopia, Babylon, Arabia, and Tyre to name a few). He began his prophesy in the year 759 B.C. which was 38 years before the fall of the northern kingdom, Israel. His was not a life of ease, but of great work.
Yet, in all the struggles he faced, Isaiah never failed to recognize the glory and holiness of Almighty God. The word ‘holy’ is found 54 times in the book of Isaiah. This is by far the most uses of the word in any of the writings of the prophets. God is called “The Holy One” 29 times in the 66 chapters of Isaiah. Isaiah 6:3 says, “And one cried to another and said: Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth if full of His glory.” Again, the words of Isaiah 57:15,
For thus says the High and Lofty One who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: ‘I dwell in the high and holy place, with him who has a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones.’
May we never fail to see God through eyes like Isaiah – the Holy One who is full of glory!
Isaiah spoke with certainty about Jesus
Isaiah is often referred to as the “Messianic Prophet.” He had much to say about the Messiah who was to come. How blessed we are to live this side of the cross and to know that everything Isaiah and the prophets had to say about the Messiah were all fulfilled in Jesus. Isaiah wrote about the coming kingdom of Jesus and its beginning in Jerusalem (2:2-4). He wrote about the virgin birth (7:14). We learn so many of the names and titles that Jesus would wear (9:6-7). Of course, our knowledge of Jesus is so much the richer with the portrait of Jesus as God’s suffering servant in Isaiah 53. It was this chapter the man from Ethiopia was reading and where Philip began to tell him of salvation available in Jesus. Isaiah helps us to get a glimpse of this salvation.
As you study the life and work of Isaiah, please know this is just a glimpse of the vast imagery that is provided. This was a man who loved God and wanted only to be His man. Isaiah was not interested in popularity with man, but being popular with God. Isaiah never failed to see God as totally set apart – full of holiness and glory. And Isaiah knew the promises of God were going to be fulfilled. We can have that same confidence in a great God because everything he said would be fulfilled in Jesus came true. Let’s strive to love God and see Him through the eyes of the one named, “God is Salvation.”