Faith In Action: Make More Room

Well, these super-promising words were spoken by the Prophet Isaiah to the Jews, and he was talking about something that would happen to the Jewish nation in the future; that of being exiled in foreign Babylon.

Slide 3: Prophets like Isaiah–are men whom God raised as His mouthpiece during the dark days of Israel.

In the Old Testament, the word prophet comes from the Hebrew word nabi, meaning "one who is called."

In the New Testament, “nabi” in Greek is “prophates,” meaning “one who speaks on behalf of another.” As the word indicates, a prophet does not speak his own words but is called by God to speak the words of God. His job description is clear and straightforward: to speak the message of God who sent them, which usually happens in times of national crisis and need.

Deut 18:17-22 (NIV)

17 The LORD said to me: “What they say is good. 18 I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their fellow Israelites, and I will put my words in his mouth. He will tell them everything I command him. 19 I myself will call to account anyone who does not listen to my words that the prophet speaks in my name. 20 But a prophet who presumes to speak in my name anything I have not commanded, or a prophet who speaks in the name of other gods, is to be put to death.”21 You may say to yourselves, “How can we know when a message has not been spoken by the Lord?” 22 If what a prophet proclaims in the name of the Lord does not take place or come true, that is a message the Lord has not spoken. That prophet has spoken presumptuously, so do not be alarmed.

PRETTY EASY TO FOLLOW! If God said it, “100% that it will happen!’ 100% that is it true! V23 says, “I am Yahweh” I am speaking.” Let’s quickly scan the

Prophetical Books:

A. Major Prophets – (big volume - more chapters and pages)

Isaiah

Jeremiah

Lamentations

Ezekiel

Daniel

B. Minor Prophets (small volume)

Hosea

Joel

Amos

Obadiah

Jonah

Micah

Nahum

Habakkuk

Zephaniah

Haggai

Zechariah

Malachi

The prophets' message is more of forth-telling (preaching the will of God rather than foretelling or predicting the future). What we have observed in many cases is that people are more interested in foretelling than forth-telling. So, we see people willing to pay a hefty price to fortune-tellers.

Example: Acts 16:16-19 - It happened that as we were going to the place of prayer, a slave-girl having a spirit of divination met us, who was bringing her masters much profit by fortune-telling. 17 She followed Paul and the rest of us, shouting, “These men are servants of the Most High God, who are telling you the way to be saved.” 18 She kept this up for many days. Finally, Paul became so annoyed that he turned around and said to the spirit, "In the name of Jesus Christ, I command you to come out of her!" At that moment, the spirit left her. PAUL EXPELLED IT. ONLY DEMONS ARE EXPELLED!

19 When her owners realized that their hope of making money was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace to face the authorities. Now, what did Jesus say about the prophets? Luke 24:25-27

(v25) He said to them, “How foolish you are, and how slow to believe all that the prophets have spoken! (26) Did not the Messiah have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?”

Luke 22:37 - For I tell you that this Scripture must be fulfilled in me: ‘And he was numbered with the transgressors.’ For what is written about me has its fulfillment.

Jesus being numbered with the transgressors was prophesied centuries before:

(Isaiah 53:12) Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong because he poured out his soul to death and was numbered with the transgressors, yet he bore the sin of many and makes intercession for the transgressors.

Overall backdrop of prophetical books are

1) The scattering of the Jews among the nations of the world.

2) The coming of the Messiah from the line of David

3) The restoration of God's people to their land under the coming Messiah.

4) The reign of the Messiah over the whole earth.

When reading a biblical prophecy, we are after finding what is there to learn about the nature and character of God.

So, what is Isaiah’s prophecy about? 49:19-23 is talking about the future glory of Zion (Israel). Yes, the prophecy says the nation of Israel would be exiled for 70 years in Babylon.

When this happens, the Jews would think that God had abandoned them. But God assured them that He would not turn His back on them. GOD WILL REBUILD JERUSALEM. God will restore his relationship with his people. He assured them of his love, his enduring love – like the love of a nursing mother (49:14-15). As no mother in her right heart and mind would forget her baby or withhold compassion on the child, she bore, and even though some mothers might, God assured them that his people were engraved in the palm of his hands.