Isaiah

Isaiah Prophet

Isaiah, whose name meaning "the Lord saves", was the son of Amoz and was born in the year 765 BC. approximately, he belonged to the Tribe of Levi, consecrated to divine worship. Isaiah is considered with Elijah one of the most important prophets of the whole Bible, then he will be succeeded by Jeremiah, Ezekiel and Daniel. The political weight given to him by his being a prophet made him a very prominent figure in his time; his political and prophetic activity was constantly engaged in denouncing the moral degradation brought about by the country's prosperity.

Isaiah in the prophecies reveals that the Kingdom of Judah will be punished by God, through Assyria, for its infidelities and immorality. Only a small part will escape from the disaster which will be the germ of the new messianic people. The Prophecies close with the promise of the Restoration, and from the Davidic stock will arise the Messiah who will reign eternally in Zion.

The first years of the prophet's activity concern the last period of Uzzia's reign and the Syro-Ephraimite war. Prosperity reflects the time of Uzzia, a period during which military power is exalted: "His country is full of horses, and has endless chariots".

In his prophetic cycle the importance of the alliance with Egypt is also underlined. Against the pro-Egyptian party Isaiah suggests a policy of fidelity to the pacts with Assyria, which took place in the last period of his life, during the time of Hezekiah, after the great crisis produced by the invasion of Sennacherib. Two grandiose paintings describe the extermination of Edom and the return to Zion of the Jews by a holy road that will cross the desert, which for the occasion has become a rose garden.

We find, in the historical appendix, the description of the invasion of Sennacherib, with the prophecy of Isaiah, and the illness of Hezekiah with the miraculous healing. The preaching of the Prophet Isaiah concerns the life of the Jewish people: worship, politics, social life, economic life. Isaiah continually intervenes in the life of his city, in the attitude of his kings and in the behavior of his fellow citizens. His word expresses God's judgment on history and humanity, the former represented by all the Middle Eastern powers and Egypt, the latter by the Jewish people themselves.

The first part of the biblical book dedicated to him is a call to conversion as the only attitude to avoid the punitive intervention of God which will materialize in exile. It condemns the very bearing realities of the life and history of Israel which by now do not "bear fruit". Liturgical worship detached from vital commitment is vehemently condemned. The conception of belonging to the People of God which leads to action in injustice, in selfishness and in the non-recognition of human dignity, especially if weak, is condemned.

In the second part, Isaiah shows his concern for a living Jew towards the end of the Babylonian exile and speaks of the forthcoming liberation of Israel, his return to Palestine and the inauguration of the "Kingdom of God". The time of slavery is over, Ciro will bring the Jews back from exile, everything is the work of God. The figure of the "servant of God" reappears who, suffering for the people, will ask for and obtain salvation for them. Liberation from exile is the first step towards the messianic era and, to the people who complain about the delay in salvation, Isaiah never misses an opportunity to emphasize that the cause lies in his sins.

This second part therefore contemplates a message of consolation and liberation, which reaches Israel at a particular moment in its history, when it finds itself weakened and prostrated by Babylonian power. This liberation is historically seen in the person of Cyrus, the Persian king who in 538 will allow the return of the Israelites to their land. On the level of biblical faith, however, it anticipates the figure of the Messiah who will implement the definitive liberation through the gift of life with his offering as a ransom for all.

The third part of the book includes a great song of joy for the return from exile. This return is seen as a second exodus. It describes the joy, the wonders and the feast of the first exodus, that from Egypt. Jerusalem and Zion are the point of arrival, but also of departure for proclaiming the salvation received. All are called to experience the reality of this second exodus: both those who in fact returned from exile and those who remained in Jerusalem. The latter are asked for an "exodus on the spot", that is, an exit from themselves to meet their neighbor, through the practice of fasting and sincere worship.

The central core of Elijah's doctrine is God's holiness, therefore all the people of Israel must aspire to become holy. He was a brilliant prophet in speaking and was able to attack, with subtle irony, certain pagan customs and rites practiced by many. In fear of pagan contamination, he was opposed to any alliance with foreign peoples. According to Isaiah, the future kingdom would be realized through those who would have accepted Jehovah's requests without reserve. At the head of this kingdom is the king Messiah, descendant of David, the Emmanuel, the God-with-us. The biblical text describes the Messiah as the Emmanuel who would be conceived from the womb of a Virgin and as the shoot that would sprout from the root of Jesse, thus describing him as true God and as true Man. Jesus himself, according to what is reported in the Gospel of Luke, chooses a passage from Isaiah to begin his preaching. Isaiah, seeing that his latest prophecies were addressed to "deaf people who did not want to listen", withdrew from public life, following God's advice: "Close this testimony, seal this law among my disciples [...]. Now come and trace these things in their presence on a table, and write them in a book, so that they remain for the days to come, forever". His generation did not listen to him, but future generations would listen to him. Isaiah then passed on his oracles to a circle of faithful who kept them with love and passed them on to posterity, probably revised in the light of the latest teachings of Isaiah himself.