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).

Here we see a direct connection with the New Testament, since St. John the Baptist said of himself: "I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness" (John 1:23; Isaiah 40:3). What is this voice about according to the prophetic utterance? That "every valley shall be filled," that is, that all that is humble shall be exalted, "every mountain and hill shall be made low," that is, that all that is proud shall be abolished and humbled, and the glory of God shall be revealed. St. John Chrysostom says that "before this was accomplished during the return from captivity, since the people came without difficulty and obstacles. Then the filling of the wilds, the lowering of the mountains, the hills, and the change of the difficult into the easy signifies the path that leads to the virtues, that it is easy and even, so that on it... there will be no obstacles for those who want to walk along it... Before the coming of Christ, the power of virtue was like thick cedar groves, rapids and wooded places, it was almost impassable; the prophets, the righteous, wept and mourned those who inhabited these harsh places; but after Christ it is not so<... >Many enter this path [of virtue] without doubt or fear" [29, vol. 5, p. 215].

Salvation, joy and consolation are associated with the appearance of a certain servant of the Lord or the Servant of the Lord. Chapters 42 to 53 are the most important from the point of view of the messianic content of the book of the prophet Isaiah, and from the dogmatic point of view of the entire Old Testament in general.

«Вот, Отрок Мой, Которого Я держу за руку, избранный Мой, к которому благоволит душа Моя. Положу дух Мой на Него, и возвестит народам суд; не возопиет и не возвысит голоса Своего… трости надломленной не переломит, и льна курящегося не угасит; будет производить суд по истине; не ослабеет и не изнеможет, доколе на земле не утвердит суда, и на имя его будут уповать народы» (Ис. 42: 1–4). Об исполнении пророчества Исаии свидетельствует евангелист Матфей (Мф. 12: 18). Итак, избавление будет связано с приходом этого Отрока. Для чего Он пришел? «Поставлю Тебя в завет для народа и в свет для язычников». «Светом во откровение языков» называет Христа в своей молитве святой Симеон Богоприимец (Лк. 2: 32). Он придет «чтобы узников вывести из заключения и сидящих во тьме – из темницы. Я Господь, это – Мое имя, и не дам славы Моей иному… Вот, предсказанное прежде сбылось, и новое Я возвещу; прежде, нежели оно произойдет, Я возвещу вам» (Ис. 42: 7–9).

Пророк Исаия еще не использует слова «Новый Завет». Но он подразумевается. Господь, сотворивший мир и поддерживающий его в бытии, имеет намерение и власть обновить обветшавшее. «Я, Я Господь, и нет Спасителя кроме Меня.<…>Вот, Я делаю новое; ныне же оно явится; неужели вы и этого не хотите знать? Я проложу дорогу в степи, реки в пустыне.<…>Этот народ Я образовал для Себя; он будет возвещать славу Мою. А ты, Иаков, не взывал ко Мне; ты, Израиль, не трудился для Меня.<…>Я, Я Сам изглаживаю преступления твои ради Себя Самого и грехов твоих не помяну» (Ис. 43: 11, 19, 21–22, 25). То, что собирается сделать Господь, уподобляется Исходу и даже новому творению.

Что же возвещает Господь? Он обещает излить воды Свои на жаждущих: «А ныне слушай, Иаков, раб Мой, и Израиль, которого Я избрал. Так говорит Господь, создавший тебя… не бойся, раб Мой, Иаков, и возлюбленный [Израиль], которого Я избрал; ибо Я изолью воды на жаждущее, и потоки на иссохшее; излию дух Мой на племя твое и благословение Мое на потомков твоих. И будут расти между травою, как ивы при потоках вод. Один скажет: “я Господень”, другой назовется именем Иакова; а иной напишет рукою своею: “я Господень”, и прозовется именем Израиля» (Ис. 44: 1–5). Это тоже обетование об излиянии Святого Духа.

В главах с 49–й по 53–ю содержатся пророчества об избавлении из Вавилонского плена и восстановлении Иерусалима. Однако эта яркая и торжественна картина мало соответствует тому, что в действительности произошло после возвращения из плена. Как мы знаем, израильтяне были притесняемы окрестными народами и испытывали многочисленные трудности.

Между тем возвещаемая здесь радость должна возвещаться всем «островам и народам дольним» (Ис. 49: 1; 51: 5), это событие вселенского масштаба. «Поднимите глаза ваши к небесам, и посмотрите на землю вниз: ибо небеса исчезнут, как дым, и земля обветшает, как одежда, и жители ее также вымрут; а Мое спасение пребудет вечным, и правда Моя не престанет» (Ис. 51: 6). Торжество избавления будет связано с явлением и служением Отрока Господня. «И ныне говорит Господь, образовавший Меня от чрева в раба Себе, чтобы обратить к Нему Иакова и чтобы Израиль собрался к Нему; Я почтен в очах Господа, и Бог Мой – сила Моя. И Он сказал… Я сделаю Тебя светом народов, чтобы спасение Мое простерлось до концов земли» (Ис. 49: 5–6).