="Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes; cease to do evil; learn to do well; seek judgment; relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow....=

="I will turn my hand upon thee, and will thoroughly purge away thy dross, and will take away all thy tin:  and I will restore thy judges as at the first, and thy counselors as at the beginning:  afterward thou shalt be called the city of righteousness, the faithful city."=

=Isaiah’s originality.=—­The prophets and leaders who came before Isaiah had not fully grasped the idea of a God of all nations instead of one.  Amos and Hosea had only caught glimpses of it.  Before their time, even the greatest of the leaders of Israel had thought of Jehovah as for the most part the God of Israel only.  But now in the midst of the terror of cruel armies and ruined cities and smoking fields, when no one knew what to believe or where to look for comfort and protection, this great Isaiah was able to realize that Jehovah, the God of righteousness and justice and love, was the God of all humanity.  There were no limits to his realm.  All tribes and kingdoms and races were subject to his holy law.  The Assyrians are but “the axe that he hews with.”  His providence rules over all.  Whatever wicked men may say or do, his will is done in the end.  His plans are brought to pass.

=Isaiah’s faith.=—­With such a God as this in whom to trust, Isaiah was able to show himself to his countrymen as a wonderful example of the power of faith.  When they were panic-stricken he was calm.  “Thus saith the Lord God, ...  In returning and rest shall ye be saved; in quietness and confidence shall be your strength.”  Do not rush off to other nations and other gods.  They will fail you.  Most likely they will selfishly betray you.  Only do the will of the just God, who rules the nations, and quietly trust him.  Do that and no evil can befall you.  He is all-wise and all-powerful, and he is good.

So at last, the religion of the one All-Father, which we call monotheism, was born in the mind and heart of a man, and began to be clearly proclaimed by human lips.

STUDY TOPICS

1.  Look up “Isaiah” in the Bible dictionary.

2.  Read Isaiah 6. 1-8 for his own story of the experience which led him to be a prophet.

3.  What parts of this story in Isaiah 6. 1-8 express the idea of one great God of all nations?  Look up “Monotheism” in the dictionary.

4.  Read chapter one or chapter five of the book of Isaiah for a good example of his eloquent preaching.

CHAPTER XIX

A REVISED LAW OF MOSES

Amos and the great prophets who followed him met with the same fate as many other pioneers—­only a few of their hearers heeded their words, or even understood them.  But four great leaders in one century—­Amos, Hosea, Micah, and Isaiah—­could hardly fail to make some real impression on the minds and lives of their nation.  Isaiah was perhaps the most influential, partly because the others before them had prepared the way and partly because he himself lived and preached to the people during a long period of time—­more than forty years.