Book Review: Christ in Isaiah by F.B. Meyer

So did you know that Jesus is all over the Old Testament? As in, he didn’t just appear in a manger, live for 33 years, die by crucifixion, and then rise from the dead. Turns out he’s there from Genesis 1 all the way to the end. Maybe you have heard this but haven’t so much taken the time to see how the Old Testament talks about Jesus, see all the different prophecies that are fulfilled in him, and understand how pretty much everything in the Bible points to Jesus in one way or another. I know for a long time I didn’t really take the time to do that. I have just started scratching the surface of this adventure, and so when I saw this book I jumped on it. 

Christ in Isaiah is a series of essays about passages in Isaiah 40-53. I say “essays” because they’re not particularly connected; each chapter is about a section of scripture, and the next moves on to another passage. I would just like to share something from the book that really struck me and has transformed the way I’ve thought about several situations in the past week. The passage of scripture is, "Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of the Lord! Awake as in the ancient days, in the generations of old." It's in a section where the Lord is comforting His people. Meyer writes, “We are not bidden to purchase strength, or to generate it by our resolutions, prayers and agonizings- but to put it on. It is already prepared, and only awaits appropriation. Put on your strength, O tempted one! Before passing from the quiet morning hour into the arena which has so often witnessed failure and defeat, put on the might of the risen Savior. Do not simply pray to be kept, or to be helped, but arm yourself with the whole armor of God; take hold of his strength and be at peace; wrap yourself about with the mail of him who is stronger than the strong man armed. Reckon that it is yours! Dare to believe that you are more than a match for your worst foes! Say with David, "I will not be afraid of ten thousands of people who set themselves round about. The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid.?" So sweet, and so so true.