V. Contents, Character, and Authority of the Book of Isaiah. —it was not the vocation of the prophets to change anything in the religious con stitution of Moses, which had been introduced by divine authority ; and they were not called upon to substitute anything new in its place. They had only to point out the new covenant to be intro duced by the Redeemer, and to prepare the minds of men for the reception of it. They themselves in all their doings were subject to the law of Moses. They were destined to be extraordinary ambassa dors of God, whose reign in Israel was not a mere name, not a mere shadow of earthly royalty, but rather its substance and essence. They were to maintain the government of God, by punishing all, both high and low, who manifested contempt of the Lawgiver by offending against his laws. It was especially their vocation to counteract the very ancient delusion, according to which an external observance of rites ivas deemed sufficient to satisfy God. This opinion is contrary to many passages of the law itself, which admonish men to circum cise the heart, and describe the sum of the entire law to consist in loving God with the vvhole heart ; which make salvation to depend upon being inter nally turned towards God, and which condemn not only the evil deed, but also the wicked desire. The law bad, however, at the first assumed a form corresponding to the wants of the Israelites, and in accordance with the symbolical spirit of antiquity. But when this form, which was destined to be the living organ of the Spirit, was changed into a corpse by those who were themselves spiritually dead, it offered a point of coalescence for the error of those who contented themselves with external obser vances.
The prophets had also to oppose the delusion of those who looked upon the election of the people of God as a preservative against the divine judg ments ; who supposed that their descent from the patr;archs, with whom God had made a covenant, was an equivalent for the sanctification which they wanted. Even Moses had strongly opposed this delusion ; for instance, in Lev. xxvi. and Dent. xxxii. David also, in the Psalms, as in xv. and xxiv., endeavours to counteract this error, which again and again sprang up. It was the vocation of the prophets to insist upon genuine piety, and to shew that a true attachment to the Lord neces sarily manifests itself by obedience to his precepts; that tbis obedience would lead to happiness, and disobedience to misfortune and distress. The pro phets were appointed to comfort the faint-hearted, by announcing to them the succour of God, and to bring glad tidings to the faithful, in order to strengthen their fidelity. They were commissioned to invite the rebellious to return, by pointing out to them future salvation, and by teaching them that without conversion they could not be partakers of salvation ; and in order that their admonitions and rebukes, their consolations and awakenings, might gain more attention, it was granted to them to be hold futurity, and to foresee the blessings and judg ments which would ultimately find their full ac complishment in the days of the Messiah. The Hebrew appellation nebiint is by far more expres sive than the Greek qrpoOp-ns, which denotes only a part of their office, and which has given rise to many misunderstandings. The word tt= (from the root t‘1:), which occurs in Arabic in the signi fication of to infbrm, to explain, to speak) means, according to the usual signification of the form S+up, a person into vvhoin God has spoken ; that is, a person who communicates to the people what God has given to him. The Hebrew word indicates
divine inspiration. What is most essential in the prophets is their speaking b., wyeewcrt ; conse quently they were as much in their vocation when they rebuked and admonished as when they pre dicted future events. The correctness of our ex planation may be seen in the definition contained in Deut. xviii. where the Lord says, I will raise them up a prophet from among their brethren like unto thee, and will put my words in his mouth; and he shall speak unto them all that I shall com mand him.' The prophet here mentioned is an ideal person. It is prophetism itself personified. It is a charac teristic mark that God gives his word into the mouth of the prophet, by means of which he is placed on an equality with the priest, who is like wise a bearer of the word of God. The prophet is at the same time distinguished from the priest, who receives the word of God from the Scriptures, while the prophet receives it without an intervening medium. The internal communications of God to the prophets are given to them only as being mes sengers to his people. By this circumstance the prophets are distinguished from mystics and theo sophers, who lay claim to divine communications especially for themselves. Prophetism has an en tirely practical and truly ecclesiastical character, remote from all idle contemplativeness, all fantastic trances, and all anchoretism.
In this description of the prophetical calling there is also contained a statement of the contents of the prophecies of Isaiah. He refers expressly in many places to the basis of the ancient covenant, that is, to the law of Moses ; for instance, in viii. 16, 20, and xxx. 9, ro. In many other passages his utterance rests on the same basis, although he does not expressly state it. All his utterances are interwoven with references to the law. It is of importance to examine at least one chapter closely, in order to understand how prophecies are related to the law. Let us take as an example the first. The beginning, Hear, 0 heavens, and give ear, 0 earth,' is taken from Deut. xxxii. Thus the prophet points out that his prophecies are a com mentary upon the Magna Charta of prophetism contained in the books of Moses. During the prosperous condition of the state under Uzziah and Jotham, luxury and immorality had sprung up. The impiety of Ahaz had exercised the worst in fluence upon the whole people. Great part of the nation had forsaken the religion of their fathers and embraced gross idolatry ; and a great numbet of those who worshipped God externally had forsaken Him in their hearts. The divine judgments were approaching. The rising power of Assyria was appointed to be the instrument of divine justice. Among the people of God internal demoralisation was always the forerunner of outward calamity. This position of affairs demanded an energetic in tervention of prophetisin. Without prophetism the ex-Xoyrj, the number of the elect, would have been constantly decreasing, and even the judg ments of the Lord, if prophetism had not furnished their interpretation, would have been mere facts, which would have missed their aim, and, in many instances, might have had an effect opposite to that which was intended, because punishment which was not recognised to be punishment, necessarily leads away from God. The prophet attacks the distress of his nation, not at the sur face but at the root, by rebuking the prevailing corruption. Pride and arrogance appear to him to be the chief roots of all sins.