Hi all! So, cool as they are, I’m a little tired of posting links to archaeology-related articles. So, for the month of Advent, I’ll be posting quotes on Wednesday from an actual ancient document: the Book of Isaiah. That’s right, we are going to have double quotes for the next few weeks.

“Isaiah wrote during the stormy period marking the expansion of the Assyrian empire and the decline of Israel (late 700s B.C.). Although the fall of Jerusalem would not take place until 586 B.C., Isaiah assumes the demise of Judah and proceeds to predict the restoration of the people from captivity. Isaiah predicts the rise of Cyrus the Persian, who would unite the Medes and Persians and conquer Babylon in 539. The decree of Cyrus would allow the Jews to return home in 538, a deliverance that prefigured the greater salvation from sin through Christ.” (my NIV study Bible, p. 1008)

The book of Isaiah sees a lot of traffic around Christmas time, and you will soon see why.

The LORD spoke to me with his strong hand upon me, warning me not to follow the way of this people. He said:

‘Do not call conspiracy everything that these people call conspiracy;/do not fear what they fear, and do not dread it./The LORD Almighty is the one you are to regard as holy,/he is the one you are to fear,/he is the one you are to dread,/and he will be a sanctuary,/but for both houses of Israel he will be/a stone that causes men to stumble/and a rock that makes them fall./And for the people of Jerusalem he will be/a trap and a snare.’

I will wait for the Lord, who is hiding his face from the house of Jacob./I will put my trust in him.

Isaiah 8:11 – 14, 17