CHURCH LETTER
` See, I lay in Zion a tested Stone '
The title for this Letter comes from the Book of Isaiah, and the words lay within chapter 28, the very heart of Isaiah's vision and the central cry of his prophecies. A prophet's cry has always been concerned with man's failures, ever since his fall as seen in Genesis, but always he points to a Deliverer, a Saviour, who would come. Our title gives that assurance: `See, I lay in Zion a stone . . '. Prophecy was not needed until Adam's failure - indeed there was no need for prophets until the priests became so absorbed in their priestly rituals that they failed as the LORD's spokesmen and teachers. As we have said previously, prophecy will speak of the past, the present and the future and is not completely fulfilled until the future, and thus true prophecy will be Messianic in content and purpose.

However we have moved from the vision of Isaiah into the prophecies of Isaiah and so would return to the beginning of his book:

" The vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz, which he saw
concerning Judah and Jerusalem . . . . "

`Isaiah saw in a vision': We need to fill out this English word with the Hebrew word `Chazah', which means `something to gaze upon', which is not the same as the Hebrew word `Ra'ah', meaning `something to be looked at'. It was a vision, something wondrous, beyond natural comprehension, a Divine revelation of the LORD's purpose `concerning Judah and Jerusalem'. It was this wondrous vision that totally enveloped and permeated the whole of Isaiah's prophecies - here was the spiritual reality of `the vision' being distinct and separate from the `past, present and future' of prophecy, yet becoming one with them through `the Everlasting Covenant' which overshadowed and undergirded all that Isaiah spoke of concerning Judah and Jerusalem. But as the past, present and future are all within the one vision we cannot separate the three ages for the past leads to the present, whilst the present exists because of the past and in turn leads on to the future in fulfillment of the past. Isaiah's vision therefore concerns Israel and not the Church (as we understand that word to mean) except as it comes into contact with Judah and Jerusalem.

The beginning and the end of the vision concerns the salvation of Israel by the LORD through judgement and repentance and His Grace - those whom He has chosen and called to be His alone. We therefore need to look at this gathered people called Israel, for there is only one chosen, called-out people of God! It is the unbelieving theologians who have caused the dichotomy between Israel and the Church, which in the past has led to much violence towards Jewish people - and continues still today, albeit in a more benign nature. As Israel, the one people of God, we journey together with the past contained in our present and looking towards our sure and certain future. At a time appointed by God there came a Feast of Pentecost where He released the New Covenant promised to `the House of Israel and the House of Judah'. At that Pentecost some of the natural branches of the Olive Tree, which is Israel, were broken off through unbelief as they trusted still in the Old Covenant given through Moses, whilst the Gentiles, the wild olive branches, by accepting the New Covenant were grafted into the Olive Tree, Israel.

In his Letter to the Romans Paul speaks of this and warns those `New Covenant branches' against pride: (Romans 11:25)

" I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers, so that you may
not be conceited. Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full
number of the Gentiles has come in (that is wild olive branches grafted
into Israel, so all Israel, both grafted and re-grafted branches, will be saved). "

Earlier in chapter 11 Paul wrote concerning this mystery: (v 17-18)

" If some of the branches have been broken off, and you, though wild olive
branches, have been grafted in among the others and now share in the
nourishing sap from the Olive Root, do not boast over those branches. If
you do, consider this: You do not support the Root, but the Root supports you. "

And so we journey on as the one people of God, Israel, its many branches brought to fulfillment through the New Covenant promise to the House of Israel and the House of Judah at that Feast of Pentecost. And yet there is more as we wait and pray for the day when, as it is written:

" The Deliverer will come from Zion. He will turn Godlessness from Jacob,
and this is My Covenant with them when I take away their sins. "

In considering this, Jesus, when speaking in Matthew 16 to His disciples, said, `upon this Rock I will build My Church', He was speaking here to Jews in Israel, not to the Vatican, to Canterbury or to Constantinople but to Israel. Those words of Jesus still speak to Israel, the one people of God, as seen in the `vision' Isaiah so wonderfully gazed upon.

In its opening chapters the Book of Isaiah gives us an understanding of all that follows on and speaks of Israel as `a sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of evil doers, children that are corrupt, they have forsaken the LORD . . .'. Yet within these opening chapters lays the promise of redemption: (Isaiah 2:2 and 4:2))

" And it shall come to pass in the last days that the mountain of the LORD's
House shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted
above the hills, and all nations shall flow into it . . . . (because) in that
Day
the Branch of the LORD will be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of
the earth shall be comely for those of Israel that have escaped (destruction
in the Great Tribulation). "

Now in chapter 6 comes the `vision' that Isaiah would gaze upon, which would be at the very heart of his prophetic calling: (Isaiah 6:1 and 3)

" In the year that King Uzziah died I saw also the LORD sitting on a throne high
and lifted up, and His train filled the Temple . . . And one cried to another,
`Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of Hosts, the whole earth is full of His Glory'. "

As we have said previously, Isaiah saw . . looked closely . . and his cry was immediately, `Woe is me . . .'. This `seeing' was not one of wonder as in his vision; it was an understanding of whom he was in the presence of such a Righteous, Holy God, surrounded by the heavenly hosts: (v 8-10)

" Then I (Isaiah) heard the voice of the LORD saying, `Whom shall I send?
And who will go for us?' (Isaiah's response was immediate). `Here am I.
Send me.' (Now came his anointed commission). `Go and tell this people:

Be ever hearing, but never understanding;
be ever seeing, but never perceiving.
Make the hearts of this people calloused,
make their ears dull and close their eyes'. "

This anointed commission was to warn of a scattering of the people, to the point of the land being utterly desolate, but yet there would be a remnant which would return. This remnant is likened to terebinth and oak trees, which when cut down still carry life within them which will come forth again in time. So it will be with this remnant of Israel who carry the holy seed of life within them, for they will return to the land!

And so we come to the prophecy and great historical events during the reign of King Ahaz, and his fear of the rising power of Assyria joining in a confederation with the northern kingdom of Israel. Those events are well known: Isaiah came with a message that this confederation would fail, and when Ahaz refuses to ask for a sign of the truth of this he is given a sign by the LORD Himself: (Isaiah 7:14)

" Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son,
and shall call his name Immanuel. "

Sadly this has been turned into a `Christmas card story' by Christian tradition, and in doing so we cannot see the glory of that vision Isaiah gazed upon which so completely filled his life's calling. As we read on into those historical events and hold them within the context of the whole vision that Isaiah gazed upon we read: (Isaiah 9:6)

" For unto us a child is born; unto us a Son is given,
and the government shall be upon His shoulders. "

All the following titles: `Wonderful Counsellor, The Mighty God, The Everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace' reveal this `child' to be a King with full titles and power. And yet there was a real king born at that time who saved his people from that terrrifying confederation of Assyria and Israel and whose driving desire was to re-unite all Israel. This was symbolised in his marriage with Hephzibah and a great Passover Feast to which all were invited. This is true prophecy: The past events of this king, with his desire for the restoration of the kingdom of Israel, were then passed on to the present King, Who came to Israel in the Person of the Messiah Jesus to proclaim that the Kingdom of God and His King had come once again to Israel. He was rejected and the Kingdom is now held in abeyance for that time to come when He, the King of Israel, will come and take His Throne in Jerusalem. Then He shall rule with equity and justice with all the titles given to that Child of Promise during the reign of Ahaz.

This, then, was the vision that Isaiah gazed upon, and the consuming passion of all his prophetic ministry. It is set in the heart of the Book of Isaiah and occupies nearly one third of its content, concerning also prophecies against the wayward northern kingdom of Israel and against the surrounding nations who were bent on the destruction of Judah. Yet always within these terrifying prophecies there is the certainty of deliverance for the whole nation of Israel: (Isaiah 26:1)

" In that Day this song will be sung in the land of Judah:
We have a strong city;
God makes salvation its walls and ramparts. "

Later in chapter 35 we read: (v 1-2)

" The desert and the parched land will be glad; the wilderness
will rejoice and blossom. Like the crocus, it willl burst into
bloom; it will rejoice greatly and shout for joy . . .. "

As we have said, prophecy has within it the past contained in the present and waiting for its sure and certain fulfillment in the future. Isaiah gazed upon the whole vision, and he could therefore prophesy with that sure and certain hope for the vision was total and complete, undergirded by the Everlasting Covenant. In chapters 33-39 we return to the past, to the historical events of `the child' born during King Ahaz's fearful time, the child who would become the righteous king who withstood the powerful force of the Assyrian king Sennacharib. The words from the title of this Letter, `See, I lay a Stone in Zion, a tested Stone, a precious Cornerstone for a sure foundation', are set in the heart of the Book of Isaiah, in the heart of his Vision and in the heart of all of his prophetic ministry, for this Stone is indeed the Stumbling Stone for all who seek to overturn God's purpose for Israel.
As we draw this Letter to a close so too the Book of Isaiah draws to a close with its great assurance commencing in chapter 40, where we hear the second `Voice'. This second Voice does not cry out in the Temple, as did the first Voice which spoke of the scattering of the people from their land. This second Voice is a Voice crying in the wilderness: `Prepare the way of the LORD; make straight in the desert a highway for our God'. This second Voice says, `Comfort ye, comfort ye, My people', and speaks of a great re-gathering of the people out of the diaspora into which they had been taken. As we have said, this Voice was heard in the past and was contained within the present through the cries of John the Baptist, but through the rejection of that Voice it will now be brought fully to completion in the future during the time of the Great Tribulation, the Day of Jacob's Trouble, in the certainty of that `Stone laid in Zion': (Isaiah 40:9)

" O Zion, that brings good tidings, get you up into the high mountain;
O Jerusalem, that brings good tidings, lift up your voice with strength,
lift it up, be not afraid, say unto the cities of Judah: `Behold your God'. "

The concluding verses of chapter 66 reveal the glory of the `vision' Isaiah gazed upon for all to see, with its final promise: (v 22)

" As the new heavens and the new earth that I make will endure before Me,
declares the LORD, so will your name and descendants endure. "

This, then, is the true Spirit of Prophecy: A King who in the past, in the present and in the future brings full redemption and restoration to all His people - a glorious wedding at a Great Passover brought forward to a coming Feast of Tabernacles, The Great Diaspora is over! The Holy Spirit is re-gathering His people - all the re-grafted and grafted-in branches of the Olive Tree which is Israel, those who have been broken off, separated and scattered throughout the nations but now brought into His eternal Kingdom to His eternal Glory.

Israel - in all its full meaning - needs to catch sight of `the vision' which thereafter consumed Isaiah's ministry.

Selah

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