CHAPTER IX ISAIAH AND THE ASSYRIAN INVASIONS The prophets of the century following the time of Hosea wrought in the face and under the shadow of an impending national disaster which colors the work of all of them. Against the background of the Assyrian invasions we see clearly that the fall of Samaria could not long be delayed. Without strong leaders, already a vassal to Assyria, her kings too lacking in discernment to see that in loyalty to Assyria lay their only safety, it was but a question of time when the Assyrian destroyer would have his way. To us who see only the map, with its thirty miles of hill and plain stretching between Samaria and Jerusalem, it seems almost inconceivable that more than one hundred years could elapse before the city of Jerusalem would share the fate of its sister capital. That such was the fact was due not to the strength of the city, nor to the wisdom of her kings, but to the work of the prophets. Believing that Jehovah would never abandon his people, they fed the hopes of the nation, checked the rashness of kings, and by their statesmanlike counsels averted many a disaster. First, and possibly chief among these men was Isaiah of Jerusalem. The story of his life may be gathered from his writings1 more fully and clearly than that of any prophet before him. Unlike Amos and Hosea, the field of his activity was in the Southern Kingdom, and chiefly in the city of Jerusalem itself. Separated by only one generation from Amos, growing into manhood within a few miles of the Tekoan home of his predecessor, seeing distinctly what Amos less clearly discerned, the oncoming Assyrian conqueror, his conception of Jehovah, while as uncompromising as that of Amos, was shot through with gleams of hope, and sustained by a faith which proved for the time being the salvation of the nation. I The last twenty-seven chapters of the Book of Isaiah belong to a period much later than that of Isaiah, and reflect a much more advanced conception of God. A literary confusion perhaps of some editor has brought these two distinct books together into one. We may recall that the Assyrian armies, which were busy in other directions, had left Palestine unmolested for many years, with the result that the reign of Jeroboam II' in the North had been as prosperous as it was long. For the same reason Judah in the South, under Uzziah, had extended her territory and developed her resources in undisturbed peace through fifty years. But in both the Northern and the Southern Kingdoms, beneath seeming prosperity lay the rottenness of commercial greed, extortion and craft, spendthrift luxury, low ideals of personal and national life, and a formal worship which constantly belied the character of Jehovah. Riches and pleasure brought with them the same kind of uncontrolled joy that had characterized the life of the North in Jeroboam's day, and this joy found expression in extravagant religious demonstrations. In Jerusalem at the great temple, the worship of Jehovah was dishonored by excesses similar to those accompanying the worship of heathen gods. Throughout the land images were freely used, and the religious zeal of the people was so great that it could not expend itself in the worship of Jehovah alone. But this fanatical religious life was based upon the old sordid conception of God which regarded him as pleased above all with material gifts and elaborate ceremonial. His moral requirements, simple honesty, justice, mercy, and truth, were not apprehended or were disregarded. The Call of Isaiah2 But we must not suppose that no one in Jerusalem had a higher conception of Jehovah. There were doubtless some who had taken to heart the messages of Amos and Hosea, though spoken to their northern neighbors. Some there were who saw the nation. weakening under the strain of the debauched life of the people. To Isaiah belonged not only this clearer vision, but the power to act in accordance with it. He has himself given us the story of the hour when it was borne in upon his understanding that he must carry a message to his people. Doubtless the account was written years afterward, and bears the imprint of the prophet's I See pp. 64-70, for conditions under Jeroboam II. 2 Isa., chap. 6. later experience, as he looked back upon fruitless labors. But that the story is the description of a real and vital experience we cannot doubt. It makes clear to us the source of that enthusiasm which the passing years transformed into stern and patient determination. In the year that King Uzziah' died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple. Above him stood the seraphim:2 each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he 5 covered his feet, and with twain he did fly. And one cried unto another, and said, "Holy, holy, holy, is Jehovah of hosts; The whole earth is full of his glory." And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice IO of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke. Then said I, 15 20 "Woe is me! for I am undone; Because I am a man of unclean lips, And I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: For mine eyes have seen the King, Jehovah of hosts."3 Then flew one of the seraphim unto me, having a hot stone in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar: and he touched my mouth with it, and said, "Lo, this hath touched thy lips; And thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin removed.”4 1 (790–739 B.C.): For the biblical account of the reign of Uzziah or Azariah see II Kings 15:1-7. The death of the king from leprosy, a disease which the Hebrews always regarded as a visitation of the displeasure of Jehovah, would make a strong impression upon a man of Isaiah's type of mind. That he should be found in the temple, absorbed in contemplation and adoration of the holy character of Jehovah, that out of this there should arise an overpowering conviction of duty for himself, and that he should describe his experience, even to himself, in terms of a vision-all this is but natural for a man of Isaiah's deep piety and mystical temperament. 2 Seraphim: This is the only use of the term in either the Old or the New Testaments. There are other allusions in Isaiah to a "fiery flying serpent" which suggest the conclusion that the seraphim of this vision were glowing dragon or serpent forms with wings as described. 3 Have seen the king: The glory of his vision overwhelmed Isaiah with a sense of humiliation, and also of fear, for he recalled the old tradition that, “No man may look upon the face of Jehovah and live.” 4 Thy sin is removed: Burned away by the heat of the stone. 1 25 30 35 40 And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, And who will go for us?" Then I said, "Here am I; send me." And he said, "Go, and tell this people, Go on hearing, but understand not; Go on seeing, but perceive not. Make the heart of this people fat,1 And make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; Lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, And their heart should understand and they be healed again." Then said I, "Lord, how long?" And he answered, "Until cities be waste without inhabitant, And houses without man, and the land be left a desolation, And the forsaken places be many in the midst of the land. 2 It also shall in turn be burnt, like the terebinth, and like the oak, Whose stock remaineth when they are felled." A Demand for Reform The first effect upon the prophet of this vision of holiness was to make still more abhorrent to him the sham and paltriness of the national life, and to strengthen in him the belief that the God of whom he had had a vision would not long bear with such a people. In the menacing Assyrian he saw the instrument of Jehovah's 1 Make the heart, etc.: These imperative commands state rather a great law-that unheeded warnings leave men more callous than before, until their power to heed is lost completely. With the experience of Amos and Hosea behind him Isaiah saw little probability that the people of Judah would listen to his message, or that the destruction of the nation would be less complete than that of a tree when the stump is burned. Can we overestimate the courage of a man who would undertake so hopeless a task? 2 Terebinth: A tree common in Palestine, but somewhat less so than the oak. wrath descending in punishment upon his people. But to Isaiah punishment was an instrument of reform, not an act of vengeance. He felt that the nation was not to be utterly destroyed, but to be regenerated. Faith and hope were ever his strongest allies. Never despairing, he threw himself into a fight for moral and religious reform, seeking to startle the nation from its fancied security, and to make a remnant of the people fit to survive the destruction which he so clearly foresaw. The following selection will serve to illustrate this early campaign of Isaiah against the social evils of his day. I For, behold, the Lord, Jehovah of hosts, Doth take away from Jerusalem and from Judah stay and staff, The whole stay of bread, and the whole stay of water, The mighty man, and the man of war; 5 The judge, and the prophet, and the diviner, and the elder: The captain of fifty, and the honourable man, and the counsellor, And the expert charmer, and the skilful enchanter. And I will give children to be their princes, and babes shall rule over them. And the people shall be oppressed, one by another, and each by his neighbour: IO The child shall behave himself proudly against the old man, and the base against the honourable. When a man shall take hold of his brother in the house of his father, saying, "Thou hast clothing, be thou our ruler, And let this ruin be under thy hand." In that day shall he lift up his voice, saying, 15 "I will not be a healer; For in my house is neither bread nor clothing: Isa. 3:1-15 (Am. Standard Rev. Ver., by permission). This passage enumerates all the different classes of leaders in commercial, social, and religious life. It pictures them swept away, and superseded by inexperienced and childish leaders, whose only qualification for their position is the fact that they can afford to possess the necessary garments of state. |