"For the help of Egypt will be in vain and in vain; therefore I said to them, Their strength is to sit still. Now go and write it on their board, and write it in a book, so that it will remain for the future, forever, forever. For they are a rebellious people, deceitful children, children who will not hear the law of the Lord, who say to the seers, "Cease to see," and to the prophets, "Do not prophesy righteousness to us, tell us flattering things, foretell pleasant things; get out of the way, get out of the way; remove from our eyes the Holy One of Israel." Therefore thus saith the Holy One of Israel: Inasmuch as ye reject this word, and put your trust in deceit and unrighteousness, and lean on it, this iniquity shall be unto you as a fissure threatening to fall, which is found in a high wall, the destruction of which shall come suddenly, in an instant" (Isaiah 30:7-13). The image of a cracked wall, which outwardly looks reliable, but is ready to collapse at any moment, burying those around under its rubble, will later meet us in other prophets.

"The sinners in Zion were afraid; Trembling took possession of the wicked: "Who among us can live by a consuming fire? Who among us can live under eternal flames?'" (Isaiah 33:14).

Several planes constantly resonate here: the prophet's own time, the coming of Christ and the Second Coming of Christ, the end of times. "And all the host of heaven shall perish; and the heavens shall be rolled up like a scroll of a book; and all their army will fall as a leaf falls from a vine, and as a withered leaf falls from a fig tree. For my sword is drunk in heaven: behold, it descendeth upon Edom for judgment, and upon the people whom I have conjured" (Isaiah 34:4-5).

The return of Israel after captivity, after punishment, is also presented in such words that cannot but be perceived as a messianic prophecy: "The wilderness and the dry land will rejoice, and the uninhabited country will rejoice, and will blossom like a daffodil; it will bloom and rejoice magnificently, it will triumph and rejoice.<... >Then the eyes of the blind will be opened, and the ears of the deaf will be opened. Then the lame shall leap up like a deer, and the tongue of the dumb shall sing; for the waters will break forth in the wilderness, and streams in the desert. And the phantom of the waters will turn into a lake, and the thirsty earth into springs of water..." (Isaiah 35:1-2, 5-7).

One immediately recalls the numerous healings of souls and bodies that took place in the time of Christ, as well as Christ's words about the water that He will give and which will be the source of eternal life. In the prophetic books, water is also a stable symbol of the grace of the Holy Spirit, which will be poured out on the faithful after the coming of Christ. "And there shall be a high road, and the way therein shall be called the holy way: the unclean shall not walk in it; but he will be for them alone; those who follow this path, even the inexperienced, will not get lost<... >And those who have been delivered by the Lord will return, and will come to Zion with a shout of joy; and everlasting joy shall be upon their heads; they will find joy and gladness, but sorrow and sighing will depart" (Isaiah 35:8, 10).

26.12. Historical Department. The invasion of Sennacherib.

Hezekiah's illness. The Prediction of the Babylonian Captivity

The next few chapters, from the 36th to the 39th, are devoted to historical events that took place in the time of the prophet Isaiah and were directly related to him, namely the invasion of the Assyrians under the leadership of Sennacherib, king of Assyria (Isaiah 36:1 – 37:38). To the servants of King Hezekiah, the prophet Isaiah says: "Thus say to your master: Thus says the Lord: Do not be afraid of the words that you have heard, with which the servants of the king of Assyria have reproached Me. Behold, I will send a spirit into him, and he will hear the message, and he will return to his land, and I will smite him with the sword in his land" (Isaiah 37:6-7). The prophet accuses the Assyrians of believing that their king believes that he has achieved everything by his own power, asserting that Jerusalem will not be able to stand before him, just as all the other cities did not stand, and just as the gods of other nations could not help their cities against him, so the God of Jerusalem will not be able to do anything against his armies (Isaiah 36:  18–20). Even earlier, through the prophet Isaiah, the Lord revealed that Assyria is a whip, a whip called by the Lord in order to inflict punishment (Isaiah 10:5-6), without which the correction of the Jews is impossible, but this does not relieve the Assyrians themselves of moral responsibility for their blasphemy, cruelty, pride and greed. And although Assyria fulfilled the service of God, nevertheless it is not exempt from moral responsibility for its own deeds (Isaiah 10:7-19).

This is an important point. Serving God or participating in His providential action does not place man above good and evil, nor does it absolve him of responsibility for the way he has done it. This removes the question of the responsibility of Judas Iscariot, through whose betrayal Christ accepted His saving suffering for the world: "The Son of Man goes as it is written about Him; but woe to the man to whom the Son of Man is betrayed: it would have been better for that man not to have been born" (Mark 14:21).

The Lord says to the king of Assyria: "Because of your insolence against Me, and because your arrogance has come to My ears, I will put My ring in your nostrils, and My bit in your mouth, and I will bring you back by the same way by which you came<... >And an angel of the Lord went out, and smote a hundred and eighty-five thousand men in the camp of Assyria. And they arose in the morning, and behold, all the bodies were dead. And Sennacherib king of Assyria departed, and went, and returned, and dwelt in Nineveh" (Isaiah 37:29, 36-37).

Then the illness and recovery of King Hezekiah are described (Isaiah 38:1-22). When he fell mortally ill, the prophet Isaiah came to him and said: "Make a will for your house, for you will die and not recover" (Isaiah 38:1). Hezekiah begins to pray (Isaiah 38:9-20), and then the Lord says to Isaiah: "Go and say to Hezekiah, 'Thus says the Lord, the God of David your father: I have heard your prayer, I have seen your tears, and behold, I will add fifteen years to your days' (Isaiah 38:5). And as a sign he is given the appearance of the sun's shadow, which returns 10 steps against the usual motion of the sun.

The pious King Hezekiah commits a very unwise act. Ambassadors of the king of Babylon come to him. It is known from the history of the ancient world that this was the moment when Assyria was still at its zenith, but at that time Babylon began to strengthen again. And so the king of Babylon sent his ambassadors to Hezekiah (Isaiah 39:1). And he, overjoyed, does what should not be done: he shows the Chaldeans all his treasures and all the treasures of the house of God (Isaiah 39:2), showing them his goodwill, hoping for an alliance with them against Assyria. The prophet Isaiah then says: "Behold, the days will come, and all that is in your house, and which your fathers have gathered up to this day, will be carried away to Babylon; nothing will remain, saith the Lord" (Isaiah 39:6). The prophecy of the Babylonian captivity (Isaiah 39:6-7) concludes the historical section of the book of the prophet Isaiah and its first part, which contains mainly diatribes and formidable prophecies.

26.13. Comforting Prophecies. Christ and the Church

The next part, from chapter 40 to the end of the book, is sometimes called the "Book of Consolation." If before that denunciations, menacing and terrible prophecies about the destruction of Jerusalem prevailed (Isaiah 32:13-14), then here the main theme becomes the joyful news of the deliverance and the manifestation of the Kingdom of God: "Comfort, comfort my people, saith your God" (Isaiah 40:1). If earlier the prophet exclaimed: "Where shall I beat you?", now it is said: "comfort My people". Why? Because "for his iniquities satisfaction has been made, for he has received double from the hand of the Lord for all his sins. The voice of one crying in the wilderness: Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert the paths of our God; let every valley be filled, and every mountain and hill be made low<... >And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see [the salvation of God]; for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it" (Isaiah 40:2-5).