A stunning new prophecy by Isaiah
The number of prophecies from Isaiah is growing with the delivery of a new prophecy today. But praise Yahweh, the tone of this one has changed. No longer the doom and gloom of his previous prophecies. Instead, there is comfort here. It appears that Isaiah has remembered that we are after all God’s people.
Whilst we are all suffering under the hand of Manasseh, his revocation of the many rules put in place by his father Hezekiah, it is therefore good to get some better news. It is encouraging to know that God will continue to redeem us! Though of course, it follows Isaiah’s ongoing perorations on idolatry – and today, not without reason.
There is some confusion however, Isaiah has given a different name to the Messiah. One Koresh has been named as our shepherd, to bring us back from the exile as previously prophesied by Isaiah. It is unclear who this Koresh is. And Isaiah has not given any indication of when these events are to take place.
Most concerning is the indication that this Koresh will rebuild Jerusalem and the temple. But we know that Yahweh Himself lives here, and so this temple will not be destroyed. It may be that Isaiah is getting too old for delivering prophecy.
In speaking to Isaiah, he has reminded us that Yahweh is El Olam, the eternal God. “This is the God who exists for all time”, said Isaiah speaking from their hideout, in the mountains of Bethlehem. “It is He who created the heavens and the earth. This God whom we worship, has spoken by His prophets from times of old, He will reveal in His time His purposes. We must turn if these events are not to beset us. But know, that our eternal God, will bring redemption to the house of Judah.”
This “article” was part of an activity at Bible College this year, whose purpose was to show the historical, social and cultural context and the events foretold in the prophecy of Cyrus enabling the exiles to return to Jerusalem. The idea was to capture the context of the time, the mood of the exiles, and how Isaiah might be feeling. We find the prophecy is Isaiah 44:24-28.
What stood out for me in this exercise, was not only the amazing prophecy, Cyrus foretold 150 years before he was even considered. In fact, the kingdom of Persia did not even exist at this time!
What stood out to me was another name of the Lord, El Olam, the eternal God, the God who exists for all time. I wanted that to be the focus of the prophecy.