The prophet's dictionary guide to the supernatural

696. Isaiah—The first of the Old Testament’s major prophets responsible for leaving extensive complex literature behind. Isaiah’s name means “Savior Lord” or “Jah (The Lord) has saved.” It designates the prophetic bent of his mantle, that of prophesying and igniting the Lord’s salvation. Serving in the seventh century B.C., Isaiah’s political and royal prophetic assignment covered four Judean kings. He was considered to be of royal descent, which could account for his easy access to the upper echelon of his society. During Isaiah’s approximately forty years of service, he prophesied to kings Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, carrying out a quite impressive career. His genealogy and upbringing no doubt prepared him for his call to handle the breadth of military, political, social, royal, and religious tasks assigned by the Lord. As a contemporary of Amos, Hosea, and Micah, three significant minor prophets, Isaiah’s ministry ran the full gambit of prophetics. The eighth chapter of his prophecy indicates that he even had a prophetic school where his disciples were privy to the extraordinary revelations and wisdom God dispensed to him. His prophetic duties encompassed those of a statesman, ambassador, healer, leader, divine scribe, and royal functionary in God’s service. He is famous for writing the longest of the prophetic discourses. His book contains sixty-six chapters, as many chapters as there are books of the Bible, which is why his is considered a mini-Bible in itself. The work addresses all the elements of Scripture from Genesis to Revelation in some form or another. Some scholars argue that Isaiah did not personally produce all the content in his book. However, with his having a prophetic school, it is quite likely that his students recorded and retained them for an appointed time, later compiled his writings, predictive and historical, and appended them to his existing, a practice common between mentoring prophets and their prodigies. Isaiah’s prophetic mantle was lyrical and rhythmic, two effective tools of prophecy meant to override the high resistance of intellectual listeners. Not surprising, with his scope of prophetic application, Isaiah is dubbed a messianic prophet whose later writings foresee and foretell Christ’s coming, world evangelism, the Holy Spirit’s Pentecostal outpouring, and the Messiah’s ultimate rule over the world. 697. Ishtar—Babylonian fertility goddess whose religion was birthed by the revolt of Nimrod, along with that of Murduk, his deified name. 698. Ishtar Cult—The ancient Babylonian cult worshipped the goddess Ishtar. Her many vile requirements included having young girls dress immodestly and