That purpose may be traced in the book which is frequently thought of as if it stood quite apart from the rest, the book of Jonah; the earliest, probably, in the collection. A few remarks illustrating the connexion between this and the later prophecies will not be out of place.

(1) Israel's vocation was to be an intermediary agent, through which the grace of God should be diffused over the world. But what if Israel were untrue to its vocation, and refused to do its part in working out the divine plan? The history of Jonah's mission to Nineveh proved that, in that case, God was able, if He so willed, to work by them, even as reluctant agents, for the publishing of His word among the Gentiles.

(2) The ready reception of that word by the people of Nineveh was a pre-inti⚫mation of what was hereafter to take place on a larger scale in fulfilment of the ancient prediction: "I will move them to jealousy by them that are no people'." The first commencement of the period of Israel's national "casting away" was marked by a great pagan city's turning to God.

(3) The fact that the doom pronounced on Nineveh was suspended upon their repentance, was a suitable prelude to the warnings of coming judgment, which Israel was about to receive. If Nineveh had been spared, how could the covenant people doubt that they too would be spared, if only they repented? (4) If, on the other hand, they should not repent, would not "the men of Nineveh rise up in the judgment, and condemn them "?

(5) This reformation of the Ninevites, king and people, made them the more suitable for being employed as "the rod of God's anger" in the punishment of Israel, during the following two or three generations.

(6) That in all this there was nothing arbitrary, that the divine procedure was regulated throughout by the supreme rule of right,—was seen, when, on the one hand, Sennacherib falling back into the old sin of his ancestors, self-deifying pride, was stricken down by judgment; and on the other hand, Hezekiah and his people, having humbled themselves in true peni

1 Deut. xxxii. 21.

tence, found that mercy was ready to "rejoice against judgment."

So much, then, as regards the view to be taken of the prophetic function.

§ 3. If this view be correct (and it is undoubtedly the only one which is in harmony with Scripture itself), it is plain that no one, who is held in the chains of naturalistic speculation, is qualified to expound the writings of the prophets. They, who deny the possibility of man's spirit being elevated, illumined, informed by the Spirit of God, oppose themselves to what is stated or implied in every part of the records of revelation, from the first chapter of Genesis to the last of the Apocalypse. Such persons are as little fitted to speak on matters of biblical exegesis, as one who denies the law of gravitation is to lecture on astronomy. They have yet to gain the very basis of theological science, a belief in God as the Creator and Upholder of the universe.

It is well to state this at the outset ; since not a few, in recent times, have come forward to interpret the prophets, who do not so much as admit the possibility of such a thing as genuine prophecy.

The assumption, on which this error rests, will encounter us again, when we have to speak of its application to Isaiah in particular. We shall then confront it with an appeal to facts. At present we shall be content with shewing, (1) that it is not axiomatic, and (2) that it is incapable of proof.

The assumption runs thus:-It is inconceivable that God should communicate to man any foreknowledge, or prevision, of future events.

(1) The dictum is generally introduced as if it were an axiomatic truth.

This, however, it cannot be; for a large portion of mankind, including not a few who have been eminent for scientific ability, philosophic insight, and practical intelligence, have believed that such communication has actually taken place.

It can have no claim, therefore, to being an axiom.

(2) Nor yet can it be established by reasoning, whether deductive or inductive.

For a deductive proof, it would have to

2 Gen. i. 2, 27; Rev. xxii. 17.

be shewn, either that God has not the power to impart such knowledge, or that it did not enter into His all-wise plan for the government of the world to do so. To assert the first (it could be but assertion) would be to limit the Almighty. To assert the second, a man must needs be himself omniscient. "Who hath known the mind of the Lord1?”

As to induction;-we may say boldly, that an inductive process, legitimately performed on the facts supplied by the Bible, establishes incontestably that men have foretold future events which lay beyond merely human ken; that a succession of such men professed to be sent by God to deliver such predictions; that their utterances were in many cases in direct opposition to the whole tendency of thought and feeling which prevailed in their age; that this exposed them to much outward suffering and sometimes inflicted deep inward anguish; that, as regards the leading points of their testimony,those which relate to the coming in of a new dispensation,-their words have at any rate found a most remarkable amount of verification in the history of Jesus Christ and the formation of Christendom2.

The dictum, then, is infinitely beyond the range of deductive proof, and is opposed to the result of genuine induction. We may add that, when viewed in relation to the whole scheme of redemption, prophetic announcements-far from being inconceivable-are altogether in harmony with our sense of fitness. Nothing appears more probable, than that, if such a fact as the Incarnation were to take place, it should be fore-heralded by divinely instructed prophets. Not only would such preparatory intimations befit the transcendently august character of the event itself; they would also supply to after-ages an evidence, altogether unique and inimitable, in confirmation of the histories in which the interposition itself might be recorded.

It is the reverse of improbable, therefore, that God would raise up persons qualified to foretell the coming of the world's Saviour;-the great work, which

1 Isai. xl. 13; Rom. xi. 34; 1 Cor. ii. 16. 2 This part of the argument will be again touched upon in III. § 4.

the prophets of Israel did actually perform: for "the testimony of Jesus was the spirit of prophecy"."

II. On the Life and Times of Isaiah.

S I. Of his personal, as distinct from his official, life, we know nothing, except that his father's name was Amoz. All else that we know about him seems to have a bearing on his vocation. His very name (Yesha-yahu, "The Salvation of the Lord") may be said to anticipate the work which was assigned him. His wife is "the prophetess"." is "the prophetess." His sons' names bear witness to his prophetic announcements. The only work that we know him to have engaged in, beside those which are mentioned in his own book, is spoken of as if it had an official character": "The rest of the Acts of Uzziah, the Former and the Latter, did Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, write."

$ 2. From his own book we learn that the "Vision," which he recorded, was granted him "in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah: "-which seems to imply that some portion of it is to be allotted to each of the four reigns. This, combined with the indications of time contained in vi. 1, vii. 1, xiv. 28, xxxvi. 1, leads to the following general distribution of his prophecies :

more detailed subdivision; but the above outline is what the way-marks set up by the prophet himself point to. It will be shewn hereafter that the internal evidence is entirely in accord with the external on this point.

What the exact limits of Isaiah's prophetic ministry were, we do not know. If the earlier limit be placed in the fourth year before Uzziah's death (762 B.C.), and the other in the last year of Hezekiah (698 B.C.), his ministry extended over 64 years. The lowest estimate possible would make it comprise 49 years; from the last year of Uzziah to the 17th of Hezekiah (759-710).

It may help us to form a better estimate of the burden he had to sustain during this long period, if we consider what Israel's national circumstances were at this epoch.

§ 3. For 400 years after the occupation of Canaan, Israel had no connexion with either of the two world-empires, Egypt and Assyria. With the former power intercourse was renewed by Solomon. It led very soon, in spite of fair outside appearances, to a dangerous violation of the Law'; and was rapidly followed by disastrous consequences. Solomon lived to find his bitter enemies Jeroboam and Hadad welcomed at the court of Pharaoh : and the next generation not only saw a king of Egypt capturing Jerusalem and despoiling the Temple and the Palace, but (worse still) witnessed the establishment of Apis-worship over the whole of the northern kingdom.

Facilis descensus. Sixty years after the schism, another and more decided form of apostasy was introduced into Samaria by Ahab's fanatical queen, Sidonian Jezebel; and was afterwards carried to Jerusalem by her no less fanatical daughter, Athaliah.

Where now are the hopes that truth and holiness should go forth from Zion to bless the nations? Does it not seem as if victory were-as of old-on the side of the powers of darkness?

The battle, however, was not yet over. At this terrible crisis the prophetic spirit was roused into unprecedented activity.

In the northern kingdom, first Elijah (910-896) and then Elisha (896-839) laboured to turn back the tide of sin. A great effect was produced. Baal-worship was put down. Yet of one king after another it is said; "From after the sins of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, he departed not." After the death of Elisha, the history begins to use language of touching pathos about God's long-suffering compassion, which warns us of the approaching end; and at last, in the long and prosperous reign of Jeroboam II, under whom written prophecy began, the sentence of reprobation is uttered; "Ephraim is joined to idols:-let him alone."

Nearly about the same time, written prophecy made its appearance in Judah also. Early, it would seem, in Uzziah's reign, Foel was directed to proclaim that the "Day of the Lord"" was drawing near, "great and very terrible." But no abiding effect was produced.

Outwardly the nation had not been so prosperous or well-organized since the days of Solomon. The Philistines had been humbled, and their cities occupied. The port of Elath had been recovered. Jerusalem was strongly fortified. A national guard had been organized; and new military engines invented. Agriculture, too, was greatly improved, and had been extended by means of irrigation into the desert.

It seemed as if art and science had now at length given stability to the throne of David. Uzziah's heart was lifted up with pride, the root of infidelity. Respect was, indeed, paid, and that unstintingly, to the traditional religion, but without any real faith or devotion. At last the secret unbelief broke out into a deed of extreme audacity-of direct contempt for God's ordinances such as had not occurred since the time of Korah. Uzziah went into the Holy Place, and insisted on having a right to burn in

cense.

The punishment was immediate and signal. Leprosy broke out on the king's brow; on that part of the head,

which in the high-priest was protected by the leaf of gold inscribed, "Holiness to the LORD." The king went forth with the brand of anathema upon him; and "lived in a several house,"-excluded from society, till the day of his death.

The monarch was stricken: but were the people less criminal? Was it not, Qualis rex, talis grex? And if so, must not they too be put away from communion with the Holy One, whom they had rejected?

§4. That was the question which had to receive an answer in the last years of Uzziah's reign; during which Isaiah commenced his prophetic work.

He brought to the men of Judah God's final offers of mercy; set before them the certain consequences of continued impenitence; told them of the true intent of the Law and the worthlessness of a gorgeous ritual without the love of God and man; and promised them full and free forgiveness, with an entire restoration of all covenant blessings, if only they would be "willing and obedient."

The offer was not accepted: nay, was scornfully rejected'. Then the prophet had a different mission assigned to him. He was bidden to go and pronounce a judicial sentence, dooming the nation to exile and their land to desolation. This measure was one of mercy, as well as of righteous retribution. By means of such severity Holy Love was working out its own gracious design. "By this shall the iniquity of Jacob be purged; and this is all the fruit to take away his sin?"

had performed of old, that of intercessor*: and a deliverance was granted them second in importance only to that original deliverance out of Egypt.

Thus the first cycle of Isaiah's prophecies received its outward seal. At the time when he spoke of "Immanuel," of Him whose Name was "Wonderful,” he had interwoven with those loftier utterances a definite prediction that the Assyrian should be broken in pieces in his assault on Judah. That assurance had now been made good, in a way which exceeded all human hope. A solid guarantee was thus provided of the ultimate fulfilment of those other deeply mysterious prophecies concerning a Divine Saviour.

The ban was uttered: yet its actual execution might be delayed by the zeal and piety of the faithful remnant, the "holy seed"," which existed inside the corrupt nation. It was a merciful God, not an impersonal Destiny, that they had to deal with. And so, when Hezekiah and his people, supported by the exhortations of Isaiah, turned to God with decision and uprightness, the power of Assyria, which had swept triumphantly over Samaria, was not allowed to touch Jerusalem. In the crisis of danger, when the nation seemed at its last gasp, Isaiah performed for it the office, which Moses

But the fulness of time for that mighty work is not yet. The sentence of banishment will yet take effect. Even good Hezekiah before long falls into the snare of self-confidence; as devout David and wise Solomon had before done. Isaiah is sent to pronounce the dethronement of the Davidic dynasty. Judah's royal family shall be captives in Babylon.

Now again, as ever, prophecy is as "a light in a dismal region." From this point a new and grander cycle of prophetic utterance begins. The chosen people is but as grass: even its goodliest are but as the fading "flower of the grass:" but yet "the Word of our God shall stand for ever"."

Isaiah had heard that Word fifty years before from the lips of seraphim; "His glory is the fulness of the whole earth"." He now himself proclaims it. Henceforth his personality disappears. He becomes a voice crying in the world's wilderness, "The glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together."

But this second cycle of prophecy, like the first, is to have its attendant prediction of temporal deliverance bound up with it; that the fulfilment of this in its season may become a new seal of the truth of those vastly larger promises with which it was associated. He, who wrought the deliverance from Sennacherib, would bring back His people

from Babylon; but not only so, He would vanquish mightier enemies than Assyria or Babylon. He would "visit upon the host of the high ones that are on high'." He would bring in an everlasting covenant; everlasting mercy, righteousness, sanctification, light, joy, salvation®.

Such was the testimony delivered by Isaiah seven centuries before the birth of Christ;-not only for the comfort of the men who lived in those centuries of expectation, but for the perpetual edification of the Church of God.

From first to last Isaiah's character stands before us as one of almost superhuman elevation. When we think of him during those sixty years discharging so many varied offices-prophet, apostle, psalmist, instructor, intercessor, evangelist, apocalyptic seer; expostulating, reproving, expounding, comforting; doing all with deepest self-resignation and unfaltering faith towards God, and with serene dignity towards men; we seem to be contemplating one who, while retain ing all purely human sympathies, has had a portion of seraphic nature communicated to him; one who was fitted not only to bear witness to the perfect "Servant of the Lord" in prophecy, but even, in some degree, to foreshadow His character in actual life.

§ 5. A few words may be added respecting the time at which this great prophet was raised up. The following facts shew that it was a remarkable epoch, whether as regards Israel or the world at large3.

(1) The historical event which stands in the centre of the book-the destruction of Sennacherib's army-took place in 710 B.C.

Now, this year is exactly midway between Israel's complete occupation of Canaan (1445 B.C.) and John the Baptist's announcement that the Kingdom of Heaven was at hand (A.D. 25).

And again, if we bisect the interval between the first erection of the tabernacle at Sinai (1490 B.C.) and the burning of the temple in A.D. 70 (which

was the end of the Levitical dispensation), the middle point will fall in the same year*.

(2) This same year, 710 B.C., is also the starting-point of a great political movement in the Gentile world. In that year (so far as can be ascertained) the foundation of the Median monarchy was laid in a very singular manner; Deioces being elected king, by the free choice of the Median tribes, on account of his reputation for justice. This striking event occurred eleven years after Salmaneser had placed a portion of his Israelitish captives "in the cities of the Medes"." One can scarcely help thinking of a possible connexion between these two facts. But, in any case, the rise of this Median kingdom was one of the most influential events in ancient history. To it is in a large measure attributable the overthrow of Nineveh (in 625 B.C.); to it the conquest of Babylon by Cyrus; to it the establishment of that Medo-Persian empire, whose influence on the later history of Asia and Europe. is incalculable".

III. The Unity of Authorship.

§ 1. To most of those who have entered appreciatively into the spirit of Isaiah's writings, the inquiry on which we now enter may seem superfluous. To them the authorship of chapters xl-lxvi is as little doubtful as the authorship of the 'Phædo' was to the Platonist:-"If Isaiah did not write me, there were two Isaiahs."

Since, however, the genuineness of these chapters has in recent times been frequently assailed, and as a full examination of the question will, we believe, lead to a clearer understanding of the book itself, we shall pass the whole evidence under review.

4 For some further details, see on ch. xxxvii. 2 K. xvii. 6.

6 Mr Birks has noticed that the last year of Uzziah, 759 B.C., is a mean between the three principal eras of ancient history; the First Olympiad (776), the building of Rome (754), and the era of Nabonassar (747).

In other words; the sentence of judicial blindness on Israel synchronizes with the commencements of historical life among the Gentiles.

7 See Dr Farrar's Witness of History to Christ,' p. 52.