CHAIM MINISTRY TO THE JEWISH PEOPLE PRESENTS:
"ISAIAH'S ADVENT MESSAGE"
A "Scriptures Dramatized!" live presentation
by Rev. Rick Anderson
A memorized dramatization of Isaiah the Prophet
as a celebration of our Lord's Advent
Performed in "period dress" as Isaiah might have rendered it.
KJV is the base text, with appropriate paraphrasings and explanations.
Follow-along programs with chapter-by-chapter synopses are provided.
All are welcome
When: 11 AM, December 24th
Where: Stratford Presbyterian Church
41 Warwick Rd., Stratford, NJ 08084
Given as part of our regular morning worship service
THE SCRIPTURE PASSAGES
Chapter 32:1,2
Isaiah looks beyond Israel's present political turmoil to the coming of a just King, using three powerful analogies from nature to describe Him and his reign.
Chapter 9:1,2,6,7
The prophet calls out regions in Galilee notorious for their coarseness and spiritual blindness, places where few Jews lived, and says that Messiah shall visit them. He refers to this King by three divine names and says His rule shall be eternal.
Chapter 1:1 through 18
God indicts the nation for its injustices and sins, condemns its pretense of religiosity, then offers mercy: "Come now, and let us reason together," He says.
Chapter 2:1 through 5
Isaiah predicts a time when all nations shall seek the Lord; a time when "they shall beat their swords into plowshares". This passage is engraved on the outside wall of the United Nations Building in New York City.
Chapter 6
The prophet receives a divine vision of God upon His throne, and of the six-winged seraphim, each calling to the other: "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of Hosts ..." Isaiah is overwhelmed by this, and fears for his soul. The Lord reveals the future to him.
Chapter 11
Of King David's father's family tree shall come forth a Branch, the Messiah who will render perfect judgment,defend the defenseless, and bring both justice and vengeance on the earth.
Chapter 12
With joyous enthusiasm, Isaiah exhorts the people of God to "cry out and shout" that God has become their salvation through the Messiah, the "Branch" of King David.
Chapter 40
One of the most dramatic and visual passages in all Isaiah's writings, memorialized in Handel's Messiah, and heralding the very words of John the Baptist at the River Jordan. The prophet warns the people to prepare to meet their God.
Chapter 42:1-12
A prophesy of the coming Christ, filled with detailed and brilliant imagery. Christ will be given as a "covenant to the people" and "light to the Gentiles." He will also be quiet and subtle in His method, as Matthew 12:18 records Isaiah's very words.
Chapter 52:13 through 53
A chapter avoided in synagogue readings, yet still considered part of the Jewish canon of Scripture. It is the clearest description of the coming Savior, given 700 years before His coming.
Chapter 55
God's offer of peace to the rebellious through the gospel message, and His promise that "My word shall not return unto Me void," but that it will have its intended effect regardless of how people respond to it.
Chapter 60
"Arise, shine, for thy light is come!" : a prophesy of heavenly Jerusalem's future glory, using the past imagery of Solomon's day when the wealth flowing into the city was in silver and gold. But here, the wealth is that of the souls of men.
Chapter 61
Luke 4:17 records Jesus in his hometown synagogue in Nazareth, called up to publicly read from the Scriptures (the "aliyah"), fulfilling a tradition still kept today in synagogues. Isaiah records his very words, 700 years before He spoke them.
Chapter 62
In Matthew 21:5 and John 12:15 God beckons Jerusalem to acknowledge her King, coming to her through the city gates on a donkey. Isaiah records the event before it happens here.
Chapter 9:1,2,6,7
The presentation ends as it began: with a rejoicing over the birth of a divine Child Whose names are the names of Divinity.
