The Review and Herald
April 8, 1915
The Voice of Faithful Warning
(Concluded.)
Rich and abundant are the promises made to those who are watchful to bring joy and blessing into the lives of others. “If thou draw out thy soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul; then shall thy light rise in obscurity, and thy darkness be as the noonday: and the Lord shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones: and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not.” Isaiah 58:10, 11. RH April 8, 1915, par. 1
The idolatrous course of Ahaz, in the face of the earnest appeals of the prophets, could have but one result. “The wrath of the Lord was upon Judah and Jerusalem, and he ... delivered them to trouble, to astonishment, and to hissing.” 2 Chronicles 29:8. The kingdom suffered a rapid decline, and its very existence was soon imperiled by invading armies. “Rezin king of Syria and Pekah son of Remaliah king of Israel came up to Jerusalem to war: and they besieged Ahaz.” 2 Kings 16:5. RH April 8, 1915, par. 2
Had Ahaz and the chief men of his realm been true servants of the Most High, they would have had no fear of so unnatural an alliance as had been formed against them. But repeated transgression had shorn them of strength. Stricken with a nameless dread of the retributive judgments of an offended God, the heart of the king “was moved, and the heart of his people, as the trees of the wood are moved with the wind.” Isaiah 7:2. RH April 8, 1915, par. 3
In this crisis, the word of the Lord came to Isaiah, bidding him meet the trembling king, and say: RH April 8, 1915, par. 4
“Take heed, and be quiet; fear not, neither be faint-hearted.... Because Syria, Ephraim, and the son of Remaliah, have taken evil counsel against thee, saying, Let us go up against Judah, and vex it, and let us make a breach therein for us, and set a king in the midst of it, ... thus saith the Lord God, It shall not stand, neither shall it come to pass.” The kingdom of Israel, and Syria as well, declared the prophet, would soon come to an end. “If ye will not believe,” he concluded, “surely ye shall not be established.” Isaiah 7:4-7, 9. RH April 8, 1915, par. 5
Well would it have been for the kingdom of Judah had Ahaz received this message as from heaven. But choosing to lean on the arm of flesh, he sought help from the heathen. In desperation he sent word to Tiglath-pileser, king of Assyria: “I am thy servant and thy son: come up, and save me out of the hand of the king of Syria, and out of the hand of the king of Israel, which rise up against me.” The request was accompanied by a rich present from the king's treasure and from the temple storehouse. 2 Kings 16:7, 8. RH April 8, 1915, par. 6
The help asked for was sent, and King Ahaz was given temporary relief, but at what a cost to Judah! The tribute offered aroused the cupidity of Assyria, and that treacherous nation soon threatened to overflow and spoil Judah. Ahaz and his unhappy subjects were now harassed by the fear of falling completely into the hands of the cruel Assyrians. RH April 8, 1915, par. 7
“The Lord brought Judah low” because of continued transgression. In this time of chastisement, Ahaz, instead of repenting, trespassed “yet more against the Lord: ... for he sacrificed unto the gods of Damascus.” “Because the gods of the kings of Syria help them.” he said, “therefore will I sacrifice to them, that they may help me.” 2 Chronicles 28:19, 22, 23. RH April 8, 1915, par. 8
As the apostate king neared the end of his reign, he caused the doors of the temple to be closed. The sacred services were interrupted. No longer were the candlesticks kept burning before the altar. No longer were offerings made for the sins of the people. No longer did sweet incense ascend on high at the time of the morning and the evening sacrifice. Deserting the courts of the house of God, and locking fast its doors, the inhabitants of the godless city boldly set up altars for the worship of heathen deities on the street corners throughout Jerusalem. Heathenism had seemingly triumphed; the powers of darkness had well-nigh prevailed. RH April 8, 1915, par. 9
But in Judah there dwelt some who, amid the prevailing apostasy, maintained their allegiance to Jehovah, steadfastly refusing to be led into idolatry. It was to these that Isaiah and Micah and their associates looked in hope as they surveyed the ruin wrought during the last years of Ahaz. Their sanctuary was closed, but the faithful ones were assured: “God is with us.... Sanctify the Lord of hosts himself; and let him be your fear, and let him be your dread. And he shall be for a sanctuary.” Isaiah 8:10, 13, 14. RH April 8, 1915, par. 10
In this time of “trouble and darkness” and “dimness of anguish” (verse 22), the future was made bright by means of many precious communications to the church of God concerning her future triumph. Judah was to suffer much from Assyrian oppression, and from the scourgings of other nations, and was finally to be carried away captive; yet this sore chastisement, grievous though it might seem at the time, would be used by a merciful Providence as a means of salvation. “By this,” Isaiah declared, “shall the iniquity of Jacob be purged; and this is all the fruit to take away his sin.” Isaiah 27:9. At the close of the period of captivity, those who had remained faithful, together with those who might choose henceforth to serve the living God, were to be permitted to return to the land of their fathers. RH April 8, 1915, par. 11
The promise of restoration was accompanied by many prophecies concerning the advent of the Messiah. In the fullness of time Immanuel, the promised Deliverer, was to appear, to dispel the darkness of centuries of apostasy. Those dwelling “in the land of the shadow of death” were to see “a great light.” Isaiah 9:2. The prophet, looking with rapture upon this glorious deliverance of those who had so long been groping in darkness, exclaimed: “Unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even forever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.” Verses 6, 7. RH April 8, 1915, par. 12
“In that day shall the branch of the Lord be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the earth shall be excellent and comely for them that are escaped of Israel. And it shall come to pass, that he that is left in Zion, and he that remaineth in Jerusalem, shall be called holy, even every one that is written among the living in Jerusalem: when the Lord shall have ... purged the blood of Jerusalem from the midst thereof by the spirit of judgment, and by the spirit of burning.” Isaiah 4:2-4. “And in that day shall the deaf hear the words of the book, and the eyes of the blind shall see out of obscurity, and out of darkness. The meek also shall increase their joy in the Lord, and the poor among men shall rejoice in the Holy One of Israel.” “They also that erred in spirit shall come to understanding, and they that murmured shall learn doctrine.” Isaiah 29:18, 19, 24. RH April 8, 1915, par. 13
“O Lord, thou art my God; I will exalt thee, I will praise thy name; for thou hast done wonderful things; thy counsels of old are faithfulness and truth.... Thou hast been a strength to the poor, a strength to the needy in his distress, a refuge from the storm, a shadow from the heat, when the blast of the terrible ones is as a storm against the wall.... And in this mountain shall the Lord of hosts make unto all people a feast of fat things, a feast of wines on the lees, of fat things full of marrow, of wines on the lees well refined.” Isaiah 25:1, 4, 6. RH April 8, 1915, par. 14
“In that day shall this song be sung in the land of Judah; We have a strong city; salvation will God appoint for walls and bulwarks. Open ye the gates, that the righteous nation which keepeth the truth may enter in. Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee. Trust ye in the Lord forever: for in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength.” Isaiah 26:1-4. RH April 8, 1915, par. 15