The author is a Scientist and he has been a church planter and a Bible study teacher for over three decades. He is a child evangelist and has written over seventy stories some of which have been published with coloured illustrations drawn by two artists from Australia and Hungary.This book is one among a series on some famous men and women in the Bible. These are written in such a way that apart from the story value, the excellent character of these men of God must appeal to children and they should also learn to become one like them serving God and fellow men. For other publications contactdrnjpaul@mail.com or the publishersWord of Christ, RA-GEM, Tallakulam,Madurai, INDIA 625001

A Prince who became a Prophet

By Dr.N.J.Paul

First Edition-2004

Copies- 2000

Email. drnjpaul@mail.com

Holy men of God among peopleLong ago there were Holy men of God to whom God spoke directly. Abraham was one such great person. They led all the people around them to lead a good life. Later God sent priests who taught the people right and wrong and also offered sacrifices and offerings and prayers on behalf of the people. Still later times there were a class of people called the prophets. They were like hermits but lived among the people bringing God’s words of blessings or corrections from time to time. They were bold and not afraid even of the kings. 4

Isaiah the ProphetOne such prophet by name was Isaiah. Many prophets appeared in history, but Isaiah is considered to be one of the greatest. He brought messages of warning and encouragement at a critical time in history of the Jewish nation. Isaiah in Hebrew means God is my Saviour or protector. Isaiah was born around 700 years before Jesus. He foretold many things even about the life and death of Jesus. Isaiah thus gave messages of things that were to take place several hundred years later.

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Uzziah was not a good kingIsaiah was born in a royal family. His uncle was a king. And therefore Isaiah was a member of the royal court advising the king on many important issues. At that time a king by name Uzziah was on the throne and he was not a very good king. Therefore Isaiah could not give him much advise. Uzziah did not even respect the priests in the temple and God punished him with leprosy. Therefore his son took his place and ruled the country.

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Isaiah in the templeOne day Isaiah went to the worship place to pray. Suddenly God appeared to him in great Majesty. He could see the hem of God’s garment and it filled the whole temple. Isaiah was spell bound He wanted to cry in fear. But an angel appeared to him and he had a burning stick in his hand . He touched the lips of Isaiah with the splinter because Isaiah was shouting I am unholy and wicked. God wanted Isaiah to talk no more talk politics and things of the world but only the things what God would put in his heart and mouth. 10

Myriads of angelsIsaiah was spell bound for a long time. He saw the angels covering their faces and their feet by their wings and hovering over crying HOLY, HOLY, HOLY, LORD GOD ALMIGHTY. And God spoke from the throne to Isaiah that he was deeply upset by the way which people were living. Yet they were considering that everything was alright with them. He was upset to hear that God’s people were following the examples of the heathen nations around them and were even worshipping the idols. Even the priests were not correcting them.

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Isaiah became a prophetFrom that day Isaiah left the royal court and became a prophet. Those days people did not have much respect for the prophets as we have now. They considered the prophet as one who brings bad news and try to meddle with the social style of the people unnecessarily. They felt that the prophets were overdoing the job of the priests and the kings. It was sad that the priests got a lot of money as offering and sacrifices but the prophets received no money from anyone. Therefore the prophets were a poor class of people unwanted by any one.

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Isaiah in market placeIsaiah had to give up his royal way of living and he and his wife came to live among the poor people. The priest wore thin fine white linen and Isaiah had to wear the thick sack like cloth or a blanket over him which most of the poor people or the prophets wore so that people who saw him could identify him as a prophet. Also he had to rise very early in the morning and pray for a long time and wait for God’s message if any. Then he had to go to the market place and shout to the people what God was telling him. What a contrast to his royal way of life! 16

People were wondering at himThe prophets normally do not wear slippers and as a royal family member Isaiah wore expensive clothing and shoes. Now his tender feet had to carry him in the hot sun through the rough roads of the cities and villages. Some people who had seen him in his earlier majesty, were wondering what had happened to a prince like him. Some thought he must have gone crazy to leave all the luxury and wander like a beggar. Isaiah remembered how people in the royal court waited to hear the king’s words but in the market place people ran away from him. 18

Prophet in the streetsBut when he shouted the words received from God’s throne, people walked away without any concern. Some ridiculed Isaiah because he spoke of danger and difficult times while the Nation was really enjoying prosperity and having good relationship with their neighbours. Business was flourishing. Only lazy and foolish people like him had to go about begging for food. Some hated to hear his voice because day after day he said the same message without any change but nothing happened. It was to them,like a weather forecast which always go wrong.

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He could speak only what God toldIsaiah as a prophet could not

speak anything other than what God told him. He like any other prophet had to go even to the king and boldly tell him certain things that he would not relish. The rich people were cruel to the poor and afflicted them but enjoyed a luxurious living at their cost. Even the priests were crooked and the judges took bribes to pervert justice. Isaiah had to go to the king many times with God’s word of correction and warning. But it was always a dangerous thing to face a king who may not be good. 22

God gave them prosperity butTo whom could the people then go and make a petition? So they went to the god’s of their neighbouring countries because they saw the poor people who were living there did not suffer as much as they did. It was sad God’s people went after idols and even sacrificed their children to strange gods. The nation as a whole was going astray from worshipping a living God. What would God do in such a situation?. He gave them peace and prosperity and protection so that they could be faithful to Him, and him alone.

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They worshipped the idolsBut now…So God was looking for a faithful messenger.Isaiah knew very well that the meaning of his name was help, protection and salvation. And that was what God was waiting to give to his people- protection at a time of danger that was waiting at their door step. If God’s people walk away from him and do the same things as the pagan, then they have to go to those gods for help and Jehovah cannot do anything to them when disaster would strike them. God is like a parent who wants to correct or sometimes punish his children.

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People thought they were goodIt is because he wants them to be good. He is not only a provider for our needs but He is One who cares for our entire life.We want our children to obey us but we ourselves do not want to obey a good and a great God!. It was difficult for Isaiah to explain the great but the urgent message to the people. They thought they were good and God’s chosen people and nothing was wrong with them. So Isaiah made it as a story form and told them so that even the simple could understand it.

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Babylon the enemy comingMany of them were farmers and some were keeping sheep. So he told them about a vineyard that was once so good but become spoilt and a wasted away land. That was a parable about the nation. And within few years Uzziah died and his grand son sat on the throne. God told Isaiah that the enemy was coming from the North. But the new king Ahaz, and the people were not worried. Every one was concerned about making more money and they cheated the poor people and the rulers taxed them. 30

First attack by neighboursThey were doing all kinds of crime including murder and theft. As Isaiah said, few years later the king of Syria along with the support of Ephraim came to fight against Ahaz. And Ephraim were one of the twelve tribes of Israel.They had joined hands with the alien nation to fight against their own brothers. Ahaz one day went to the top of a tower and saw a big army surrounding his city. He became very nervous. But Isaiah reminded him to ask God for help. But he would not believe it. Instead he decided to get help from another powerful nation in the north called the Assyrians. 32

Isaiah met Ahaz at upper poolAnd he paid them lot of gold

which he took from the temple (God’s holy worship place). Instead of asking God for help, he robbed God’s place. What a sad thing! Isaiah did not like that idea. But Ahaz had seen from the top of the castle the enemy camp below. For him God’s help seemed not practical at that time. Isaiah went to meet Ahaz at the upper pool where the washer men were at work washing the clothes. Ahaz had not only asked help from Assyria but also he brought their idols also and kept them in his God’s temple. 34

People could not understandHe felt that if Jehovah does not help him, the strange gods would. Sad that even these days that Christians go to other gods for help.Isaiah told them how God’s great plan was to send a virgin who would bear a child to rule over the nations and deliver God’s people from all wickedness and cruelty and evil. Even Isaiah perhaps did not know that he was talking about Jesus Christ who was to come seven hundred years after him. Prophets did not us simple words and are difficult to understand by the people.

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They did not want God’s helpThe spoke to them in the form of folk songs and riddles. Some country folk enjoyed it as music and failed to see the deep truth behind.Isaiah told Ahaz that it was God’s plan to cleanse the nation free from all guilt just as the washer men were beating the clothes on the stone to remove all the dirt from it. But Ahaz thought he could solve the problem by paying the money which was lying idle in the God’s worship place. If Jehovah did not help him in such time of danger he thought it was not worth to decorate his worship place with so much gold. 38

Assyria would do more harmEven these days we find people despising God and not bringing offering to the church but rather pay it to people or doctors and try to get the help they want.Isaiah gave God’s word, that help from Assyria would lead to more danger later. God told Isaiah to name two of his sons to sound a message of warning. One boy’s name sounded ‘the thief is coming to plunder’ and the other boy’s name was ‘a small portion would remain’. Although it was funny to call boys by such names, God wanted to remind them that every time they were pronounced it was to remind them his warning signal.

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People laughed at IsaiahPeople thought and laughed thinking Isaiah had gone crazy to a point of calling even his sons by funny names. The king of Assyria came and fought against Syria and helped Ahaz.And he took away as slaves to Assyria the people of Ephraim who had joined hands with Syria. But he stayed longer in Juda, and took all other neighbouring nations of Edom, Moab and Ammon who failed to help Juda at that time. All these happened according to the words of Isaiah within few years time.

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People mocked at the prophetThey thought the gods punished the wicked nations and saved them because they made only small mistakes compared to the pagan people. But the poor people suffered during the time of wars and peace. Why did God punish the poor for the mistakes of the rich? So the poor people failed to understand the prophet but mocked at him. They blamed even God in their helpless situation. The kings could no more see Isaiah as a politician but as an illiterate farmer. And all of them did not want to correct their ways but went into idolatry. 44

Assyria attacked Juda laterGod not only told Isaiah about Assyria but also about another great kingdom Babylon which was just emerging in history. Isaiah told the kings and the people if they do not get corrected after the warnings they would be destroyed like Ephraim, their neighbouring country and be taken as slaves to Babylon. The Assyrian army came again twenty years later under the leadership of Shalmanazar. He destroyed many nations on the way and attacked Juda also as Isaiah had warned.

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They destroyed many townsAt that time there was a good king ruling over Juda. His name was Hezekiah. He was God fearing and very wise. He renewed the worship place and built many water facilities and developed farm lands and even made so many war weapons for the defense of the nation. And he listened to God’s word through Isaiah and obeyed. But when he saw the Assyrian army surrounding his city his heart melted away. The enemy had destroyed more than 30 villages that belonged to them.

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Isaiah met HezekiahHe has heard how they have destroyed all the nations round about according to God’s word through Isaiah One morning God’s word came to Isaiah and he went to see the king. He said God would show mercy to his people and deliver them from the hand of Assyrians. That night a viral fever broke out and more than 180, 000 of the army died. In the morning Hezekiah was surprised to see all men dead in the enemy camp below and only their captain marching back home alone.

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Hezekiah became illThere, one day when he was worshipping his god, his sons killed him. But Hezekiah after seeing all these God’s great deliverance and ‘salvation’ instead of being thankful, became very proud. So God let a deadly sickness come upon him. Isaiah told him that he would die soon and so he should organize all family matters. Hezekiah became sad and began to cry to God. So God had compassion on that good king and told Isaiah to go back and tell him that he would live for another fifteen years more. 52

Princes of Babylon at the courtHezekiah was very happy that

God healed him miraculously. But he did many things foolishly without consulting the prophet as before. Many kings sent greetings and gifts to Hezekiah when they heard of his recovery. Among them was the princes of Babylon. At that time Babylon was a very small country. Hezekiah therefore wanted to show them the greatness and riches of his kingdom. He took them round his palace. And showed them all the gold and riches he had and his armory and the weapons. 54

They saw all the richesIsaiah came to know of it and was very much upset because Hezekiah had shown them every thing. God had already told him of the dangers that was to come through a country called Babylon but the king nor his advisors took note of it. People become so proud that they want to show their greatness to others that it was all through their efforts or wise action they got all those riches but fail to thank God who in his mercies gave it to them. Even godly people like Hezekiah make mistakes at times. 56

Manasseh the bad kingHezekiah died fifteen years later according to the words of Isaiah and they made a great and honorable burial for him. And his son Mannaseh sat on the throne. Hezekiah did not set up his home in order as the prophet warned him and therefore the king who sat on the throne after him was very wicked in all history and he brought back all the idolatry and worship of foreign gods into his country. God gave peace and prosperity and protection to the nation because of his father but the young king despised Jehovah. 58

Idolatry in JudaHe even took away the holy altar and brought into God’s holy temple an altar like that of Assyrians. He thought the gods of Assyria were stronger than Jehovah and therefore he no more deserved reverence or worship. He removed the faithful priests of Jehovah and appointed mean and wicked people as priests.The nation was thus going far away from a true God and failed to take a warning from the disasters that came upon their neighbouring countries including Ephraim.

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The king ordered to kill IsaiahIsaiah tried to correct him as he

did it with his father and grand father. But he listened more to his wicked friends and pagan priests. Because of him the whole nation left worshipping Jehovah and started building small temples on hillocks and mounds for goddess Ashera for fertility and prosperity. They even started worshipping devils and the stars and the celestial bodies. God was very patient with the people for a long time. The king one day ordered to kill Isaiah They tied him between two poles and cut him by a saw.

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Jeremiah the prophetThus the life of a great prophet came to an end. Some kings who came after Mannaseh were good but some were even more wicked. God sent many more prophets to warn the nation. At last another great prophet by name Jeremiah came. He like Isaiah gave them warnings about impending danger. By this time Babylon became a mighty nation powerful and strong. They defeated even Assyria and finally marched towards Juda and finally destroyed the city and even the holy temple of Jehovah. They took all the rich people captives to Babylon.

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Taken captives to BabylonThere they remained slaves for seventy years. After that Babylon was defeated by another king from Media. They in turn were defeated by Persian kings. Thus the people of Juda served prison terms in strange lands for a long time until one kind Persian king by name Cyrus permitted them to return to their country and build their temple. That happened in the time of another great man called Nehemiah about whom we shall read in another book.

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