Justly famous for his Messianic prophecies is Isaiah of Jerusalem, generally considered the basic writer of the first thirty-nine chapters of the book now entitled "Isaiah," and dating from 740 to 701 b.c. Isaiah was not, of course, the first in the Bible to envision progress for the people of Israel, provided that they would take a consistent stand for holiness and true government, established and forever maintained by God. As far back as Moses' time, the great Lawgiver is reported to have said to the Hebrews, in reference to the surrounding idolatrous peoples, "When thou art come into the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee, thou shalt not learn to do after the abominations of those nations. . . . Thou shalt be perfect with the Lord thy God" (Deut. 18:9, 13). Then follows the famous Messianic prophecy in verse 15, "The Lord thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto him ye shall hearken."
It was Isaiah, however, who both spelled out in greater detail the injunction to the people of Judah to turn to God and developed the concept of the Messiah's government. Isaiah foretold a remnant or righteous nucleus, which would remain to bless and be blessed. He called for a firm stand for holiness and just judgment. His vision of the peaceable kingdom and its basis for future progress finds an echo also in Micah's writing (see Isa., Chap. 2, and Mia, Chap. 4).
Prophesying in northern Israel, possibly even earlier than Isaiah, though more briefly, Hosea has been described as providing "the first hint of that ideal ruler whom we are to find in Micah and Isaiah" (The Doctrine of the Prophets by A. F. Kirkpatrick, p. 137). Hosea wrote (3:5), "Afterward shall the children of Israel return, and seek the Lord their God, and David their king; and shall fear the Lord and his goodness in the latter days." Kirkpatrick comments further on this verse, "David must mean not merely a prince of David's line, but a second David; one who corresponds to David as the man after God's own heart, and who, as is plain from the position which he occupies, is to be Jehovah's true representative."
