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The witness of the prophets

By the time we get to the books that are included in today's reading, Moses had been dead for a long time, but the role of God's witnesses was still just as important! Do you remember how God described the role of Moses and the Israelites from yesterday's reading? He said that they were to be a "kingdom of priests" to the nations, but what does that mean?

Simply put, it meant that the Israelites were supposed to be the mediators between God and the rest of the world. In other words, their witness, or their testimony, was supposed to reveal God to the other nations! The main way that they were supposed to do this, was by living according to the standards set by God in his law. That's how the law served as God's witness - it showed the world his perfect moral and relational character!

At this point, however, Israel has not been fulfilling their role as a kingdom of priests; so God continued to raise up chief witnesses, or people similar to Moses, in order to remind them of their role. It was these people, the prophets, who experienced God in ways similar to how Moses did (see Isaiah chapter 6), and then, they relayed God's instruction to the rest.

As you read the passages for today, think about the following:

1. How can you see Jesus foreshadowed in the vision that Isaiah had?
2. In your life today, do you identify more with the prophets (like Isaiah) or the Israelites who were not fulfilling their role as God's witnesses?