The Lost Scriptures.

The Martyrdom of Isaiah

 1 And it came to pass in the twenty-sixth year of the reign of Hezekiah king of Judah that he 2 called Manasseh his son. Now he was his only one. And he called him into the presence of Isaiah the son of Amoz the prophet; and into the presence of Josab the son of Isaiah. 6b, 7 And whilst he (Hezekiah) gave commands, Josab the son of Isaiah standing by, Isaiah said to Hezekiah the king, but not in the presence of Manasseh only did he say unto him: ‘As the Lord liveth, whose name has not been sent into this world, [and as the Beloved of my Lord liveth], and as the Spirit which speaketh in me liveth, all these commands and these words shall be made of none effect by Manasseh thy son, and through the agency of his hands I shall depart mid the torture of 8 my body. And Sammael Malchira shall serve Manasseh, and execute all his desire, and he shall

9 become a follower of Beliar rather than of me. And many in Jerusalem and in Judaea he shall cause to abandon the true faith, and Beliar shall dwell in Manasseh, and by his hands I shall be 10sawn asunder.’ And when Hezekiah heard these words he wept very bitterly, and rent his garments, 11 and placed earth upon his head, and fell on his face. And Isaiah said unto him: ‘The counsel of 12 Sammael against Manasseh is consummated: nought shall avail thee.’ And on that day Hezekiah 13 resolved in his heart to slay Manasseh his son. And Isaiah said to Hezekiah: [‘The Beloved hath made of none effect thy design, and] the purpose of thy heart shall not be accomplished, for with this calling have I been called [and I shall inherit the heritage of the Beloved].’

[Chapter 2]

1 And it came to pass after that Hezekiah died and Manasseh became king, that he did not remember the commands of Hezekiah his father but forgat them, and Sammael abode in Manasseh 2 and clung fast to him. And Manasseh forsook the service of the God of his father, and he served 3 Satan and his angels and his powers. And he turned aside the house of his father which had been 4 before the face of Hezekiah the words of wisdom and from the service of God. And Manasseh turned aside his heart to serve Beliar; for the angel of lawlessness, who is the ruler of this world, is Beliar, whose name is Matanbuchus. And he delighted in Jerusalem because of Manasseh, and he made him strong in apostatizing (Israel) and in the lawlessness which was spread abroad in Jerusalem 

The story of Isaiah’s martyrdom has a biblical basis for truth, coming from 2 Kings 20:16 to 21:18 and 2 Chronicles 32:32 – 33:20 – but there is no specific mention of his death. Under Hezekiah (2 Chronicles 32:23ff) Isaiah probably lived to the close of his reign, and possibly into the reign of Manasseh. The time and manner of his death are not specified in the Bible, but The Talmud [Yevamot 49b] says that he suffered martyrdom by being sawn in two under the orders of his grandson Manasseh.

Isaiah is widely regarded as one of the greatest prophets in the Bible. His name means “The Lord is salvation.” He lived in Jerusalem and the prophecies G-d gave him were directed toward Israel, Judah and other nations. The biblical account in chapter 1, verse 1 of the book he authored says he received visions from G-d during the reigns of four kings of Judah—Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah. The time covered is from the end of King Uzziah’s reign (Isaiah 6:1) to the Assyrian King Sennacherib’s siege of Jerusalem. It was at least a 40-year ministry during the last half of the eighth century B.C.

 Some of the greatest prophetic utterances we have come from Isaiah. It is Isaiah that the Christian church in particular looks to read especially when seeking Old Testament allusions to Jesus as the Messiah. We all want to know what happened to the authors of each book of the bible – whether they might be apocryphal or not. As such, this great prophet met a gruesome end – being a mouthpiece for the Lord.

Pastor Dave