The Message of Isaiah, On Eagles' Wings, Barry G. Webb

   Considering the modern debate about whether or not Isaiah the Prophet really wrote the book in the Bible that bears his name, keeping a little gem like Barry Webb's, The Message of Isaiah, On Eagles' Wings, readily available to believers is vitally important. Webb's position falls within the scope of a conservative stance on the authorship and dating of the book. Webb argues somewhat against the prevailing modernistic views that question even the existence of a prophet Isaiah and break up the unity of the book by proposing multiple "Isaiahs." He is concerned for the validity and unity of the book and rightfully so seeing that it has suffered greatly at the hands of scholarly investigation, so-called. Beneath much of this "scholarly investigation" is belief that is predisposed to doubt the possibility of biblical prophecy. Hence, there cannot have been only one Isaiah because it is impossible for him to have predicted future events with such assurance. Instead, there must have been multiple men we may call Isaiahs which means that these are not prophecies but simply men speaking about current events, so the thought goes. Webb's approach is not distrusting of the Bible's ability to foretell future events. Webb endeavors to take the text at face value. I appreciate that. In fact, at times he is quite devotional. I appreciate that as well. On the other hand, Webb is not naive. He wrestles with the text and the facts. 

   In this work, Webb is fixated on the task of giving his readers a faithful and concise expose of the majestic message of Isaiah's prophecy. In a little more than 250 pages, he sweeps over the towering landscape of Isaiah's prophecy with amazing insight and observation. He is concise but does not let that fool you. Webb deals with the text as well. There is much sound exposition to be helpful to the student of the Bible. You will not waste your time reading this book. The book has become somewhat of a classic for a good reason. It's good! This is brevity that has grown from a thorough knowledge of the book. 

   If you would like to study the book of Isaiah on your own time, for Bible study, for a sermon, or a college class let me encourage you to include The Message of Isaiah, On Eagles' Wings by Barry G. Webb. It's clear, concise and trustworthy. 

Post tenebras lux, 

Scott