Podcast:Conversations at the Ranch with Dudley Hall Published On: Mon Jan 01 2018 Description: Isaiah is one of the most important figures in the Bible. His writings are some of the very best, not only in the Bible but in history. His influence on the revelation of the gospel is unparalleled in the Old Testament. His story is fascinating. He was reared in an aristocratic environment. His family was well respected, and he was well trained as an elite in society. He was a faithful Hebrew having been taught the basics of Israel’s covenant with God. He lived in the last half of the 8th century B.C. when there was rampant apostasy among the people of God and a gathering storm of military threat. Uzziah had been a prosperous king for the southern tribe, but suddenly he died. Life had been good, but the prospects of the future were at best, uncertain. For whatever reason, Isaiah was in the temple during this sad and shocking time and experienced a radical encounter with the God he had only known conceptually. This encounter launched him into a ministry that confronted both the rebellious Jews and the pagan powers with the word of God. Later, he also became the voice of God for comfort to the remnant that would come out of exile.