ENLIGHTENED MANKIND

1. Isaiah’s Prophecies  

a) Isaiah declares, "Come let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob, that he may teach us about his ways, and that we may walk in his paths. The law will go forth from Zion and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem" (Isaiah 2:3). Isaiah looks forward to the gospel. In Isaiah, you will find nine prophecies, quoted in the New Testament, concerning the preaching of the gospel to the whole world, both Jew and Gentile. Some of these prophecies focus on the ministry of Jesus. These prophecies show how the gospel of Jesus would bring understanding to an ignorant world.

2. Enlightened Mankind

Matthew 4:12-16
12 Now when Jesus heard that John had been taken into custody, He withdrew into Galilee; 13 and leaving Nazareth, He came and settled in Capernaum, which is by the sea, in the region of Zebulun and Naphtali. 14 This was to fulfill what was spoken through Isaiah the prophet:

15 “The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali,
By the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles —
16 “The people who were sitting in darkness saw a great Light,
And those who were sitting in the land and shadow of death,
Upon them a Light dawned.”

Isaiah 9:1-2
1 But there will be no more gloom for her who was in anguish; in earlier times He treated the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali with contempt, but later on He shall make it glorious, by the way of the sea, on the other side of Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles.

2 The people who walk in darkness
Will see a great light;
Those who live in a dark land,
The light will shine on them.

a) Isaiah looks forward to a day when the Son of God will sojourn in Galilee and bring the light of his gospel to its people. But that was only the beginning. Jesus sent his apostles, "men of Galilee" to the remotest parts of the earth, so the gospel might spread its light in all the world (Acts 1:8-11, Acts 2:7-11, Mark 16:15).

b) Today the world lies in darkness. "The god of this world has blinded the eyes" of so many people, yet for those who wish to see, "the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ who is the image of God" shall illumine them. He has "shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ" (2 Corinthians 4:4-6).  

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