The book of Isaiah is filled with prophetic truths and promises. Over the next few weeks we will look at several of these prophetic passages. But first it is important to understand how prophetic scripture works. When the prophet speaks his words can relate to the immediate present, the short-term future, or the long-term future. He does not always know the timeline. Thus, as we look at the book of Isaiah, we will attempt to help you understand the timeline.

The prophet Isaiah spoke during the reign of four kings. His ministry ranged from about 740 to 680 B.C. During his ministry two of the kings were good and two were bad. These kings had a great effect on the nation.

Today we will look at two promises and a calling. Isaiah begins the book calling the rebellious nation of Judah to repent. In chapters 1-4 he declares God's anger over the sins of Judah. However, he gives them a promise in Isaiah 1:18-19. The promise is awesome. The Lord promises that he will take their sins (and ours also) and make them white as snow. This promise was for Judah if they repented and obeyed, but it is also a foretelling of what Jesus did our us.

A second promise is found in Isaiah 2:1-5. Here the prophet Isaiah looks way into the future and shows a a glimpse of the thousand year reign of Christ on earth. We discover that Christ will teach His people and the message will go out from Jerusalem to all the nations. If we stopped here we could say that Christ has already done this, but the message tells us that there will be peace everywhere. Now that has not happened yet and will not happen until Christ returns and rules as King of kings and Lord of lords.

We conclude today looking at Isaiah 6. This passage is well known to most Christians. Here Isaiah stands in the very presence of the Lord in His throne room. This occurs during the reign of Uzziah (Uzziah was the first king during Isaiah's ministry). One of the greatest failings we can have as Christians is not to realize who God is and what His character is like. We are reminded in this passage that God is God and He is Holy.

Isaiah is humbled by this expereince. Verse 5 states: "Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts." But the chapter ends with a call for Isaiah to go. That same call is to us. Matthew 28:19 states: "Go and make disciples of all nations..." Will you accept the call?