Posted on 03/13/2021 3:06:48 PM PST by OneVike
If you ever want to study a book of the Bible that will give you great insight from a prophetic point of view, may I suggest you study the Book of Isaiah. Isaiah wrote what many have called the miniature Bible in the Bible. Like all Scripture, Isaiah is inspired by God. However, Isaiah is unique in it's arrangement. Something I believe was divinely inspired to be so.
Consider the following. How many books does the Bible have? Sixty-six. How many chapters does Isaiah have? Sixty-six. How many books are there in the Old Testament? Thirty-nine, and twenty-seven in the New Testament. The of Isaiah divides exactly in the same way.
The first half of Isaiah comprises of Thirty-nine chapters. Interestingly, like beginning of the New Testament, chapter 40 of Isaiah starts with the coming of the Messiah's forerunner, the "one crying in the desert". Thus the remaining Twenty-seven chapters constitute the second half of Isaiah.
The first Thirty-nine chapters shows man's worship is vain and the people are wicked as idolatry is rampant. We learn of the need for restoration with God, as it explains the judgment of God towards a sinful people. Chapter 39 warns of the coming captivity of Judah by Babylon, and this is where the similarity to the Old Testament in Isaiah ends.
Continuing along this thought, chapters 39 to 40 could be looked at as the silent years. The time when God is not recorded to have spoken through any prophets. It's not until The Angel of The Lord appears to Zacharias, that the New Testament begins with the history of John the Baptist as he came to announce the coming of the Messiah. Isaiah chapter 40 jumps right into prophesying the coming of John the Baptist:
The voice of one crying in the wilderness:John the Baptist uses this verse when responding to the question by the Priests, if he is Elijah. Thus fulfilling Isaiah's prophesy. The New Testament has begun, which is chapter 40 of Isaiah. Later in chapter 53 is a description of Christ, His persecution, and His sacrifice. The description of which is so accurate you would think Isaiah was present when it happened. His description is even more accurate than the one written by the Lord's most beloved Disciple, John.
"Prepare the way of the LORD;
Make straight in the desert
A highway for our God. " (Isaiah 40:3)
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Very interesting, thanks for posting.
Read this aloud to the family during our devotion time.
Ditto good post
Welcome to the study of the structure of scripture. I suspect that the addition of chapters and verses was guided by the Holy Spirit. There is no room for coincidence in God’s word and scripture cannot be broken.
Wow, really? Thanks
Welcome.
You are correct.
God never sits back and say’s “Wow, go figure, I never knew”.
It was brought to my attention that the image incorrectly states that there are 66 Chapters to the Bible. Which is WRONG. Wow. my bad. I fixed it on my blog, but I cannot fix it here. There are 66 Books to the Bible.
I found the image and it worked, but I should have looked closer and then I would have seen the error.
From now on I need to start creating my own images. I try to fins images that work for my commentaries and articles to save time. Yet, I can see my desire to save time, create confusion and questions. Thus God is NOT the GOPD of confusion, so I will from now on create my own images.
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