Discovering Isaiah

Isaiah is the fourth longest book in the Bible and the third longest prophetic book, second only to Jeremiah and Ezekiel. More significantly, this book received an outsized degree of attention in the New Testament (NT). Christ quoted from Isaiah more than any other Old Testament (OT) book except Psalms, and Paul quoted from Isaiah more than any other OT book, even more than Psalms. Altogether, Christ and the NT apostles quote or refer to 42 of the 66 chapters in this book. What makes this book so special and important?

Background Information

The title for this book – Isaiah – names the author of the book while announcing the general, overarching theme of the book, as well.

The name, Isaiah, means “Yahweh is salvation,” which is a central (if not the central) message and theme of the book. More on this later (see also Isa 12:2).

The author, Isaiah, issued the prophecies recorded in this book in the late eighth century (739-681 BC), during final stages of Israel’s residence in Palestine, leading up to the fall of Samaria (722 BC) and the invasion of the Northern Kingdom (10 tribes) of Israel by Sennacherib and the Assyrians (701 BC). His prophetic ministry spanned the reigns of five kings of Judah. The first four are Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah (Isa 1:1). Though he never mentions Manasseh by name, he apparently served during this king’s reign as well, since he was serving at the time of Sennacherib’s invasion (Isa 37:38).

Isaiah’s father’s name was Amoz (Isa 1:1). He was married to a prophetess (Isa 8:3), with whom he raised two sons, giving each a prophetic name. Shear-jashub means “a remnant will return” (Isa 7:3), and Maher-shalal-hash-baz means “swift to plunder, quick to carry away” (Isa 8:1). Before becoming a prophet, Isaiah was employed as a historian and scribe in the royal court of King Uzziah (2 Chron 26:22). As a prophet, he seems to have maintained close access to the royal courtroom and kings in Jerusalem (Isa 7:3; 38:1).

We do not know how Isaiah died, but he seems to have died during the early years of King Manasseh’s evil reign. Tradition indicates that he was martyred by being sawed into pieces (Heb 11:37).

Reading and studying this book reveals that Isaiah was a skillful communicator, using a vocabulary noticeably more diverse and larger than other major prophets, such as Jeremiah and Ezekiel. He used irony and sarcasm effectively and spoke with courage, earnestness, and reverence.

Commentator James Smith calls Isaiah “the Mount Everest of Prophetic Literature.” People are attracted to this book and impressed by its grand, majestic depictions of God’s character, heartfelt appeals for repentance from sin and faith in God’s salvation, and numerous profound prophecies about the future.

Historically, Jewish scribes have placed Isaiah third in sequence after Jeremiah and Ezekiel based upon order of each book’s size, from largest to shortest. Our English Bible, however, places Isaiah first among the prophetic books because Isaiah prophesied approx. seventy-five years before Jeremiah. As you may know, Isaiah prophesied up through the Assyrian invasion of the Northern Kingdom, while Jeremiah prophesied up through the subsequent Babylonian invasion of the Southern Kingdom.

Purpose for the Book

What was the purpose for writing this book? Two primary purposes may be observed. First, the book urges people to repent of arrogance, idolatry, injustice, self-sufficiency, and sin, turning to God instead in complete faith and trust. Second, the book makes clear Israel’s role in the world as the people through whom God would send the Messiah into the world and establish his everlasting, righteous kingdom.

Chris Anderson – pastor, Christian song writer, and now foreign missions leader – suggests the following five “sweeping themes” for this book:

• A proclamation of God’s unrivaled supremacy (holy, Lord of hosts, etc.)
• A rebuke for Israel’s perpetual, sinful rebellion
• A warning of coming, deserved judgment (God must punish)
• A promise of coming salvation (God shows mercy)
• An invitation to respond to God’s gracious salvation

Outline and Content

Chuck Swindoll offers the following general overview of the book:

• The Judgment of God (1-39)
• The Deliverance of God (40-66)
• The Supremacy of the Lord (40-48)
• The Servant of the Lord (49-53)
• The Future Plan of the Lord (54-66)

Commentator, John Goldingay, offers a more detailed outline as follows:

• Messages about Judah and Jerusalem, with ref. to King Ahaz (1-12)
• Messages about the nations around, with a ref. King Ahaz (13-23)
• Messages about the destiny of the world around, with no ref. to specific kings (24-27)
• Messages about Judah and Jerusalem, with ref. to King Hezekiah (28-39)
• Messages about Judah and Jerusalem, with ref. to King Cyrus (40-55)
• Messages about Judah and Jerusalem, with no ref. to specific kings (56-66)

When reading this book, it is clear that Ch. 39 marks a halfway point or dividing line of sorts, with the material up through this chapter referring to the exile as something which will happen in the future and the material from Ch. 40 on referring to the exile as something which had already happened long ago.

This change of historical perspective has prompted many OT scholars (many of whom are unbelievers) to speculate that multiple people contributed to this book besides the original prophet, Isaiah. This speculation is largely driven not by internal evidence, however, but by a desire to disregard Isaiah’s predictions of historical events as genuine prophecy. By assigning other authors to certain portions of this book, scholars are able to date the writing of those portions sometime after the historical events occurred. To acknowledge Isaiah as the author of the entire book means that he prophesied certain historical events long before they happened.

One such prophecy (or set of prophecies) which is esp. fascinating is how Isaiah foretold what would happen regarding the empire of Babylon, a man named Cyrus, and the return of Israel to their land. Isaiah spoke of these events as though they had already happened, using a technique frequently employed in OT prophetic literature called the “proleptic” or “prophetic” future. This technique wrote about future events as though they were past, underscoring the absolute certainty of their eventual fulfillment.

In this book, Isaiah announced that God would destroy the Babylonian empire, an empire which had not yet become the reigning world superpower (Isa 21:9), stating specifically that it would be overthrown by another empire, the Medes and Persians (Isa 13; 21:1-10). Furthermore, he claimed that a man named Cyrus would be the king who conquered Babylon (Isa 45:1-7) and who would also order the return of Israelites to their land to rebuild the Temple and walls of Jerusalem (Isa 44:28). This prophecy is esp. remarkable because history verifies the historical authenticity of this king and these events, which happened nearly 200 yrs. after Isaiah spoke about them, clear evidence of this being a divinely inspired prophecy.

Even more importantly, Isaiah provides numerous key prophecies regarding the future coming of Christ, the Son of God, God’s promised Messiah who would deliver people from sins (his first advent) and establish an everlasting righteous kingdom (his second advent). Some of these prophecies include:

• The virgin birth of Immanuel (7:13-14; cf., Matt 1:23; Lk 2:11)
• The dawning of a new day in the birth of a child (9:1-7; cf., Lk 2:7; Jn 3:16; Tit 2:13)
• The Shoot of the stem of Jesse (11:1-10; cf., Matt 3:16; Rom 15:12)
• The marriage supper of the Lamb (25:6-8; Matt 22:4)
• The ministry of the Messiah (42:1-4; cf., Matt 12:18)
• The Servant as a light to the Gentiles (49:1-13; cf., Lk 2:32; Acts 13:47; Gal 3:14)
• The willing obedience of the Servant (50:4-11; cf., Matt 27:26; Jn 18:22)
• The redemption achieved by the Servant (52:13–53:12; cf., Matt 27:14; Jn 12:38; Rom 10:16)

How many prophecies about Christ can you identify in Isaiah 53 alone?

When reading this book, you will notice an emphasis on “the Servant of the Lord,” presented as a “suffering” servant, in Isa 40-55 (esp. 42:1-4; 49:1-6; 50:4-9, and 52:13–53:12). In these passages, is appears that the nation of Israel in general (esp. those Israelites who believe in the Lord by faith) are the Servant of the Lord, God’s agent for bringing salvation into the world. But Isaiah places a much greater emphasis on the coming Messiah, who would come from Israel, as God’s suffering and victorious Servant. In this way, Christ’s ministry and role is central to the past and present of God’s plan of redemption.

The NT gospels specifically identify Jesus Christ as the Servant of the Lord, as when God announces his affirmation of Christ as his baptism (something each synoptic gospel records, echoing Isa 42:1, and which is repeated at his transfiguration). Also, Mk 10:43-44 emphasizes the greatness of Christ’s servanthood and also emphasizes his suffering “for many” (Isa 53;11-12; cf. Mk 14:24).

Key Takeaways

To wrap up this survey of Isaiah, we’ll offer a few personal takeaways from the book, connecting to the five key themes we noted at the beginning of this study:

God is holy, sovereign, and unrivaled.

This book provides an exalted and exclusive view of God, presenting him as entirely and supremely holy (Isa 6:1-5) and all other gods and idols as utterly worthless (Isa 44:9-20). Furthermore, exalted titles for God appear throughout the book repeatedly, such as: “Lord of hosts” (62x), “the Lord God” (22x), and “the Holy One of Israel” (26x – 13x in Isa 1-39 and 13x in Isa 40-66). “Lord of Hosts” presents God as commanding uncountable, powerful armies of angels, and “the Holy One of Israel” presents God as utterly sovereign. Such sovereignty enables God to command the events of history, both past and present, orchestrating even the behavior of pagan governments to accomplish his purposes.

We are naturally and hopelessly sinful.

Like Israel, we have a natural tendency to resist God, arrogantly rely on our own abilities and resources (Isa 44: 22-24; 53:6). Even the good we attempt to do apart from God is entirely repulsive (Isa 64:6). As a result, we all deserve God’s judgment as punishment for our sin.

We should turn to Christ and trust in God completely.

Though God is holy and we are sinful, God offers us his free and full salvation (Isa 12:1-6). And he does so through the incredible and extraordinary life, death, resurrection, and eternal reign of his promised Messiah, the Son of God, Jesus Christ. When we place our trust in Christ, we not only receive forgiveness of sins but a guaranteed assurance of never-ending life with God, and with all those who have trusted in him, in his perfect, everlasting kingdom (Isa 65:17–66:24). Knowing these things, we should commit ourselves to evangelizing and telling others the good news of God’s salvation  (Isa 52:7; 61:2)