Isaiah 7 – 11
Isaiah is full of prophecies and with most prophetic writings they are open to interpretation. One of the more fascinating prophecies scattered in these chapter are the ones of Jesus. When reading this one has to remember that Isaiah wrote this book some 700 years before Jesus walked the earth. Yet in chapter 7 Isaiah references a person born to a virgin (verse 14):
Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.
The Gospels all describe Mary’s virgin birth and Jesus fulfills this prophecy. God gave Isaiah a vision of the future, which as you read on becomes more amazing when you start “doing the numbers!” The probability becomes astronomical very quickly and very quickly leaves little doubt Jesus is the one Isaiah and other foretold about. Even with the miracles and signs Jesus did, one could say it was a story. Yet God took care of this by giving us signs hundreds and thousands of years before Jesus walked the land. This would help conclusively prove Jesus is who he claims He is.
But even still people do not believe Jesus is the Messiah. Verses 14 and 15 highlight Jesus not being accepted:
14 And he will become a sanctuary and a stone of offense and a rock of stumbling to both houses of Israel, a trap and a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. 15 And many shall stumble on it. They shall fall and be broken; they shall be snared and taken.”
Jesus is a “stumbling block” for all who do not believe. For Hebrew and Muslim religions they have to dismiss much of the prophecies that were written about Jesus to keep their “religion” alive. Hence this is why Paul in Romans 9 talks about this prophecy. It is difficult to accept the foundation of what you believe to be shaken to its core.
Verse 17 talks about Jesus being “from the house of Jacob”. If you study the lineage you find quickly that King David is from the “house of Jacob”. So once again we see a prophecy fulfilled from Isaiah. Again you look at all 48 prophecies Jesus fulfilled the odds point conclusively that Jesus is “the man!”
Chapter 9 and 11 both start with where Jesus is from, which again adds to the case for Jesus being Lord. Verse 2 points to something key in that “people who walked in darkness have seen a great light” in Jesus. Funny thing is we can live in that darkness and hide from the light knowing it’s there all the time. I sure did in my youth. I knew what was acceptable in the eyes of the Lord and how to walk in the “light” but chose to ignore that path. Sure it caused difficulty but as I look back I can see time and time again God nudging me back on the path until I finally submitted. From experience I can say, don’t drift but live for Jesus. The path will not be perfectly smooth, but you will not stumble as much!
The final quick observation in the reading comes from chapter 10 when Isaiah is deconstructing what will happen to those who oppress. Many points caught my eye, but one stuck with me in verse 2 where “they may make the fatherless their prey.” This hit me along with the beginning about widows as not some past time, but today. Society has become accepting of single moms to a point where people are willing to take the easy path of divorce in marriage. The government will “help” those in need, but at the same time they oppress them into a life dependent on them. If you really think about it, one could start applying these apocalyptic prophecies to today and that’s spooky!!