What Was It Isaiah Said?

The power of prophecy

Quite a world we live in, isn’t it? Isaiah understood.

The next word of Isaiah’s prophecy is that word that can spark hope or dash dreams. Coming from the mouth of God, it is always the former because He always, always, always gives more good than we deserve.

“Nevertheless…”

Though Israel’s refusal to trust God had plunged them into darkness, God was unwilling to leave them there. He’d made a promise, and prophet Isaiah got to see its fulfillment before it happened.

The lands of Zebulun and Naphtali in northern Israel were first to fall when the Assyrians rushed in. When the battle was over, nearly all the inhabitants were deported, and the land of promise was filled with pagan immigrants. Those immigrants became the despised Samaritans, and the region became known as “Galilee of the Gentiles.”

When we see the word “gentile,” we may get a warm, fuzzy feeling — because that’s what most of us are: Gentiles. It even sounds nice — like “genteel” or “gentle.” But the Hebrew word is goy. Doesn’t have quite the same ring to it, does it? The literal definition of goy isn’t bad — it simply means “belonging to a people.” “What people?” you may ask.

Any people but the Jewish people. Goy didn’t define who you were, but who you were not. In common usage, it became synonymous with unclean, inferior, even contemptible.

Yet as Jesus ministered, He chose to fill that region, Galilee of the Goy, with more of the light of His presence and the power of His ministry than the region of the pureblooded, privileged Judeans. Raised in Nazareth, He first hinted who He was in their synagogues, did His first miracle in Cana of Galilee, chose Galileans as His first disciples, and made Capernaum His hometown.

Now, isn’t that just like God! He shows up in the most unexpected places in the most surprising ways.

When Isaiah delivered the promise of the Light to the rulers in Jerusalem, their response was like that of Nathanael who, when hearing the same, said, “Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?”

Isaiah began to paint a picture for his listeners, revealing the light of the coming Deliverer:

As soon as Isaiah spoke those words, those listening started looking for a warrior king who would break the power of their enemies. They would be relieved of the yoke King Ahaz had brought down on them; they would expand their land; they would become a people of joy and rejoicing once more. When Isaiah recalled for them the time Gideon and his small band of warriors defeated the Midianites, a glimmer of hope was rekindled.

When good king Hezekiah took the throne a couple of decades later, many thought he was the man. But when he died and evil king Manasseh took his place, their hopes began to fade, and by the time the Babylonians carried them off, they must have been hopeless indeed. The remnant’s children and their children’s children, those who had remained faithful, must have gotten together at times and asked, “Now what was it Isaiah said?” Then someone would pick up the scroll of Isaiah and read,

And so they held on. For seven centuries they held on.

One night, some crazy shepherds came running into town, babbling about some baby born in a barn. Not many listened. Some months later, majestic men on camels passed through bearing gifts but were never heard from again.

Now what was it Isaiah had said?

He would be no earthly king.
He would be an infallible, inexhaustible source of wisdom and guidance.
His rule would be marked by justice and righteousness.
He would be a king with real power, able to deliver. A divine hero.
He would be their forever, wherever, whenever, compassionate provider and protector.
His kingdom would be a place of rest and restoration.
His reign would end all oppression. No more revolving door of good and evil overlords.
Their identity as the descendants of great King David would forever be restored.

As Isaiah stood amidst an unjust, unrighteous people and declared what a righteous kingdom they would be, what did it look like in the minds of his listeners?

Because when Jesus presented himself as their Messiah, he looked nothing like the Messiah they expected. That arrogant young man was telling them they needed to give up their rights. That traitor was telling them to submit themselves to the Romans, the goy. That lunatic Jesus said the kingdom of God was already in their midst. In the eyes of most first-century listeners, nothing had changed. The promised light was no nearer.

Oh, but it was! As soon as the words passed through Isaiah’s lips, prophecy was set in motion. The faithful remnant had a blueprint to inform their prayers, and in the centuries that followed, they lifted their voices to heaven to remind God of His promise. Undoubtedly with tears sometimes as they watched evil kings come and go, their countrymen drowning in despair, they prayed.

The light seemed barely a flicker sometimes, but still, the faithful held on. The power of prophecy had been set in motion. In time, shepherds and kings and fishermen watched God as He watched over His word to perform it.

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