The Life and Sufferings of Holy Prophet Isaiah

My beloved spiritual children in Our Risen Lord and Our Only True God and Our Only True Savior,
CHRIST IS RISEN! TRULY HE IS RISEN!

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ON MAY 9th OUR HOLY ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN CHURCH COMMEMORATES THE LIFE AND SUFFERINGS OF THE HOLY PROPHET ISAIAH

"Having seen and been taught of the divine Seraphim, who unceasingly glorify the single dominion of the Godhead in three Hypostases (Isaiah 6:2-3), thou wast assured of the grace of prophecy, O wondrous one; wherefore, celebrating thy most sacred memory, we bring thee before Christ as a most powerful advocate."

Saint Gregory (335-395 A.D.), Bishop of Nyssa, believes that the Prophet Isaiah "knew more perfectly than all others the mystery of the religion of the Gospel." Blessed Jerome (342-420 A.D.) also lauds the Prophet, Isaiah, saying, "He was more of an Evangelist than a Prophet because he described all of the mysteries of the Church of Christ so vividly that you would assume he was not prophesying about the future, but rather was composing a history of past events."

The Isaiah (pronounced Esaias in Greek), whose Hebrew name is an approximate translation of the abbreviated form Yesha' yah, is derived from the fuller and older form Yesha, Yahu, meaning " 'J' is salvation." It is therefore synonymous with Joshua or Jeshua (Jesus) or "God is salvation" or "God of salvation." This Great Prophet, born in 765 B.C., hailed from Jerusalem. His family was related to the imperial house of Juda. He was the son of Amos (Isaiah 1:1), who was the brother of King Amessias or Amaziah (796-767 B.C.) of Juda. From his writings, it is safe to presume he was well educated and that he probably came from an upper-class family. Israel and Juda, under Jeroboam II (793-753 B.C.) and Ozias or Uzziah (791-739 B.C.), enjoyed a time of prosperity during the Prophet's boyhood, with little interference from foreigners. He was called to the prophetic ministry at a young age, in his twenties, through a divine vision during the last year of the reign of King Ozias or Uzziah (Isaiah 6:1), in about 740 B.C. Isaiah was married to a woman described as "the Prophetess" (Isaiah 8:3). They had two sons, naming one Jasub meaning "A remnant shall return" (Isaiah 7:3) and the other Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz, meaning "Spoil quickly, plunder speedily" (Isiah 8:3).

Prophet Isaiah admits, "The instruction of the Lord, even the Lord, opens mine ears, and I do not disobey, nor dispute" (Isaiah 50:5)." "Comprehend what the Prophet means," says Blessed Jerome, "The Lord has given me an ear. Because I did not possess that ear which is of the heart, He gave me one that I might hear God's message. Whatever the Prophet hears, therefore, he hears in his heart."

Possessed of considerable literary skill by the grace of the Holy Spirit, the Prophet's devotion to God is manifest. He is one of the four major Prophets, that is, those with longer writings extant. His prophesy is the third-longest book in the Holy Bible, sixty-six chapters, being exceeded only by the books of the Prophet Jeremiah and the Psalms. His long ministry, approximately forty-years, extended from about 740 B.C. until at least 701 B.C. (Isaiah 37-39). The life and times of the Prophet are also mentioned in two other books of Holy Scripture, namely Chronicles (32:20, 32) and 4 Kings (20:1-19). He is depicted in sacred icons as approaching old age and having gray hair and a long pointed beard. 

The Son of God

1. "I am" (Isaiah 41:4)

Prophet Isaiah prepared the people for the Coming One. He speaks of the One Who spoke to Moses and reveals His Divine Name, saying, "I am the Being; He said, 'Thus shall ye say to the children of Israel, the Being has sent Me to you" (Exodus 3:14). God's parousia shall be for all the human race. "Who has wrought and done these things? He has called it Who called it from the generations of old; I God, the first and to all futurity, I am" (Isaiah 41:4). Saint Justin explains the name: "God cannot be called by any proper name, for names are given to mark out and distinguish their subject-matters, because these many and diverse; but neither did anyone exist before God Who could give Him a name, nor did He Himself think it right to name Himself, seeing that He is One and unique, as He Himself also by His own Prophet testifies (Isaiah 44:6). On this account, God did not, when He sent Moses to the Hebrews, mention any name, but by a participle, He mystically teaches them that He is the One and Only God. "For, "14) says He, 'I am the Being' (Exodus 3:14); manifestly contrasting Himself, 'the Being,' with those who are not (not-beings)...(B)y the participle "Being" He might teach the difference between God Who is and those who are not (that is, the God-being and not-beings).

Saint Ambrose says that "the Son of God had no beginning, seeing, seeing that He already was at the beginning, nor shall He come to an end, Who is the Beginning and the End (Alpha and Omega) of the Universe; for being the Beginning, how could He take and receive that which He already had, or how shall He come to an end, being Himself the End of all things so that in that End we have an abiding-place without end? The Divine Generation is not an event occurring in the course of time, and within its limits, and therefore before it, time is not, and in it time has no place."

2. "There is No Other God Beside Me" (Isaiah 45:5)

Not wishing the Jews to fall into polytheism, "this is why the Prophets revealed the Son of God to the Jews in a somewhat dim and scantly fashion," says Saint John Chrysostom, "rather than with clear and obvious statements. After the Jews had just been set free from the error of polytheism, they would have fallen back into the same disease if they were again to have heard of one person is God and another person who is God and another person who is God. This is why, throughout the Old Testament, the Prophets are constantly saying, "there is one God except for Him (cf. Deut. 4:35; Isaiah 45:5, 21). The Prophets were not denying the Son--God forbid!--but they wished to cure the Jews of their weakness and meanwhile, to persuade them to give up their belief in the many gods which did not exist. (Source: The Lives of the Holy Prophets)

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"Glory Be To GOD For All Things!" -- Saint John Chrysostom

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With sincere agape in His Holy Resurrection,
The sinner and unworthy servant of God

+Father George