The Story of the Bible

When the Edomites came against Judah, King Ahaz sent to the Assyrians, a great people far away, to come and help him. The Assyrians came, but they did not help him, for they made themselves the rulers of Judah, and robbed Ahaz of all that he had, and laid heavy burdens upon the land. At last Ahaz died, leaving his people worshippers of idols and under the power of the king of Assyria.

In the days of these three kings, Uzziah, Jotham and Ahaz, God raised up a great prophet in Judah, whose name was Isaiah. The prophecies that he spoke in the name of the Lord are given in the book of Isaiah. In the ear that King Uzziah died, Isaiah was a young man. One day, while he was worshipping in the temple, a wonderful vision rose suddenly before his sight. He saw the form of the Lord God upon a throne, with the angels around him. He saw also strange creatures called seraphim, standing before the throne of the Lord. Each of these had six wings. With two wings he covered his face before the glory of the Lord, with two wings he covered his feet, and with two he flew through the air to do God's will. And these seraphim called out to one another, "Holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!"

And the young Isaiah felt the walls and the floor of the Temple shaking at these voices; and he saw a cloud of smoke covering the house. Isaiah filled with fear. He cried out saying:

"Woe has come to me! for I am a man of sinful lips, and I live among a people of sinful lips: and now my eyes have seen the king, the Lord of hosts!"

Then one of the seraphim took into his hand the tongs that were used in the sacrifices. He flew to the altar, and with the tongs took up a burning coal. Then he flew to the place where Isaiah was standing, and pressed the fiery coal to Isaiah's lips: and he said, "This coal from God's altar has touched your lips, and how your sin is taken away, and you are made clean."

Then Isaiah heard the voice of the Lord saying: "Whom shall I send to this people? Who will bear the message of the Lord to them?"

And Isaiah said, "Here am I, Lord; send me!"

And the Lord said to Isaiah, "You shall be my prophet, and shall go to this people, and shall give to them my words. But they will not listen to you, nor understand you. Your words will do them no good, but will seem to make their hearts hard, and their ears heavy, and their eyes shut. For they will not hear with their ears, nor see with their eyes, nor understand with their hearts, nor will they turn to me and be saved."

And Isaiah said, "How long must this be, O Lord?"

And the Lord said:

"Until the cities are left waste without people, and the houses without men to live in them; and the land shall become utterly desolate; and the people shall be taken far away into another land. But out of all this there shall be a few people, a tenth part, to come back, and to rise like a new tree from the roots where the old tree has been cut down. This tenth part shall be the seed of a new people in the times to come."

By this Isaiah knew that, though his words might seem to do no good, yet he was to go on preaching, for long afterward a new Judah should arise out of the ruins of the old kingdom, and should serve the Lord.

Isaiah lived for many years, and spoke the word of the Lord to his people until he was a very old man. He preached while four kings, perhaps also a fifth, were ruling. Some of these kings were friendly, and listened to his words: but others were not willing to obey the prophet and do the will of God; and the kingdom of Judah gradually fell away from the worship of the Lord, and followed the people of the Ten Tribes in the worship of idols.

The Good King Hezekiah

II Kings xviii: 1, to xx: 21; II Chronicles xxix: 1, to xxxii: 33; Isaiah xxxvi: 1, to xxxviii: 22.

After Ahaz, the wickedest of the kings of Judah, came Hezekiah, who was the best of the kings. He listened to the words of the prophet Isaiah, and obeyed the commands of the Lord. In the first month of his reign, when he was a young man, he called together the priests and the Levites, who had the charge of the house of the Lord, and he said to them:

"My sons, give yourselves once more to the service of the Lord, and be holy, as God commands you. Now open the doors of the house of the Lord, which have been shut for these many years; and take out of the house all the idols that have been placed in it; and make the place clean, and pure from all evil things. Because the people have turned away from the Lord, he has been angry with us, and has left us to our enemies; now let us go back to the Lord, and promise again to serve him. God has chosen you, my sons, to lead in his worship; do not neglect the work that the Lord has given you to do."