A nation that is especially loved by God, surrounded by Him with loving care, he was an unfaithful people, he constantly rebelled against the Lord Himself.
That's why Isaiah, the greatest prophet of the Old Testament, so he spoke to the people :
“I want to sing to my friend a Song of his love for my vineyard! My friend had a vineyard on a fertile hill.
Well, he dug it up and cleared it of stones, and planted a noble vine in it.
And he expected, that he would produce grapes, but she yielded the berries tart.
So good, I will show you, what will I do to my vineyard;
I'll take down her hedge, to be plundered…, I will turn it into a desert, it will not be pruned or chaffed, so that the thistles and thorns will rise up.
I will order the clouds to rain on it. The house of Israel is the vineyard of the Lord God of hosts…” (From 5, 1-2a. 2c. 5-7).
Isaiah, syn Amosa, was born around 765 r. before Christ. In a strange way, God called him a prophet (From 6, 1 nn) in the last year of King Uzziah's reign (738). He was a prophet during the reign of three successive kings : Jonathan, He describes Ezechiasza.
King Ahaz (from 756 do 721 r. before Christ) the rulers of two neighboring countries set out against Jerusalem. In vain, Isaiah pleads with the king, to trust God and stay calm. Terrified Ahaz, who trusted more in the strength of arms and wealth than in the word of God, he asked for military aid to the great power, Asyrii.
The Assyrian king defeated Ahaz's enemies, but he himself robbed the treasures of the temple and the royal palace and subdued Jerusalem completely to Assyria. From then on, the Israelites met the pagan Assyrians and adopted some of their beliefs. King Ahaz himself commanded the Assyrian deities to be worshiped, and the Israelites obeyed him. True, they did not want to stop worshiping the true God, but they thought, that the worship of other deities is beneficial to them. Successor of Ahaz, Ezechias (from 721 do 693 r. before Christ), unlike his father, he was sincerely pious. He also tried to remove traces of idolatry from the country.
The prophet Isaiah counsels the king on behalf of God, that he would remain submissive to Assyria.
The king, however, did not obey the prophet. Therefore, misfortune befell the Israelites.
In year 701 Before Christ, the army of the Assyrian king conquered the rebellious land and stood before Jerusalem. The situation was hopeless, but Isaiah urged the king to trust in God. He announced, that God will save the city. So we must not give up. And indeed, the siege ceased, for a plague has broken out in the camp of Assyria, which decimated them. They left the city and fled in a panic. The unexpected fulfillment of the Lord's prophecy resulted, that in Israel, trust and faith in one and true God grew, savior of the nation.
From then on, the prophet was also trusted more.
But Isaiah, in the name of God, was not only the king's advisor in running the country. Above all, he stood steadfastly in guarding the covenant. He blamed his nation for it, that it multiplies the sacrifices, kadzenia, burnt offerings, and neglects good works and in heart, i.e.. truly, he doesn't love God (see : From 1, 11-20).
“This people comes to me only in words, and praises Me only with his lips, while his heart is away from me " (From 29, 13).
Isaiah rebuked evil and wrongs sharply, especially caused by unfair and corrupt judgments, he interceded for the poor, the weak and the disadvantaged.
"Woe to it, who call evil good, good evil, who acquit the guilty for the gift, and the righteous will be condemned from law…
They rejected the law of the Lord God of hosts and despised it, what the saint of Israel said.
For this reason God's anger was kindled against his people, he stretched out his hand at him, to strike a blow " (From 5, 20a. 23a. 24c-25a, see also Isa 10, 1-4).
As God's punishment for all the sins of the people, Isaiah foretold the great defeat of the nation.
Only "the rest" of Israel will be saved.
“The Lord will raise your hand a second time, to redeem the remnant of his people…
He will pick up a sign for the Gentiles and gather Israel's exiles ; will pick up the scattered of Judah from the four corners of the world " (From 11, 11a-12).
For Christians, the book of Isaiah has a special meaning. It also contains the messianic prophecies, thanks to which this book is often called the "Gospel of the Old Testament". None of the prophets has so accurately portrayed the Messiah and His Kingdom, as Isaiah will do. Centuries before the coming of Jesus Christ, he described It, who "will be pierced for our sins, crushed for our sins ", who "will justify many, their iniquities he himself will bear " (From 53, 11b). No wonder either, that in the New Testament the prophecy of Isaiah is quoted 85 times. Throughout the liturgical year, the Church's liturgy profusely benefits from the Book of Isaiah the prophet, especially in the Advent readings and the preparation of the Passover.
Isaiah preaches faith in salvation
