Introduction to Isaiah

The Prophet Isaiah

An Introduction

The prophet Isaiah

We seem to be living in a terrible world, a world that seems to be at the mercy  of powerful men, behind whom is a power that is the enemy of all that is good and the enemy of the people whom God loves. But we have just read the 62nd chapter of the prophet Isaiah and that should give us the assurance that this enemy will not succeed. This chapter in Isaiah speaks of Jerusalem, a city in which he used to delight, and will again and until that time comes he will watch  over it.

I have set watchmen on your walls, O Jerusalem. They shall never hold their peace day or night. You, who make mention of the Lord, do not keep silent and give him no rest till he establishes and till he makes Jerusalem a praise in the earth.

There is a sense in which God is watching over us, his people, in this New jerusalem that he is establishing. But there is also a sense in which we are the watchmen on the walls of the city, whose duty is not to be silent, but to pray and to speak out for him.

There is so much to learn from the prophet Isaiah. 

There is one thing of which I am absolutely sure. You all love God’s word. We all love God’s word, and I have no doubt that all the preachers who have come to speak at this fellowship are of the same mind.

I would hope that that would be true of all churches throughout this land. I am also convinced that wherever God’s word is preached, it will have an effect in some way and will accomplish what God intends, for he has promised that his word will not return void or empty or without result:

Isaiah 55:10–11 “As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.” 

Those words from the prophet Isaiah tell us a number of things. It tells us that what comes from God is designed to bring blessing. The rain and snow falling on the earth make it bud and flourish. It gives seed for the sower and bread for the eater. It is a continual process, not short lived. Its purpose is to lead to growth and satisfaction. 

The very next verse, familiar to us all, I’m sure, speak of harmony in the world.

Isaiah 55:12 “You will go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and hills will burst into song before you, and all the trees of the field will clap their hands.” 

There are some Christians who spend most of their time in the New Testament, possibly because it was through the words of the Gospels and the letters that they have come to know Jesus and in the New Testament have what they need to live a Christian life. Those who do that are missing out on the richness and depth of God’s word, for the Gospel is found throughout the whole Bible from Genesis to Revelation.

The New Testament writers and Jesus himself frequently made reference to or quoted from the Old testament Scriptures. Do you remember the occasion when two of Jesus’ followers were on the road to Emmaus and he joined them and asked them what was worrying them. Here’s what it says in Luke 24:27 “And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself.” 

We should never neglect the Old Testament. The disciples and the writers of the New Testament certainly didn’t. Even a brief study will show how frequently the New testament writer referred to the scriptures that they knew.

Matthew 3:3 “This is he who was spoken of through the prophet Isaiah: “A voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.’ ”” 

Isaiah 40:3 “A voice of one calling: “In the wilderness prepare the way for the Lord; make straight in the desert a highway for our God.” 

Matthew 3:16 “As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him.” 

Isaiah 11:2 “The Spirit of the Lord will rest on him— the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of might, the Spirit of the knowledge and fear of the Lord—” 

Matthew 3:17 “And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.”” 

Isaiah 42:1 ““Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen one in whom I delight; I will put my Spirit on him, and he will bring justice to the nations.” 

In Matthew’s Gospel alone there are more than thirty references to words from the Prophet Isaiah. What is striking is just how many familiar New Testament quotations or pictures are from the Old Testament. 

Take another example. In Ephesians chapter six we have Paul’s description of the whole armour of God. This was written while Paul was in prison in Rome, chained to a Roman Soldier. Or some would say that soldier was chained to him and had no choice but to listen to Paul’s preaching. The obvious conclusion was that the garments worn by the Roman soldiers was the inspiration for what Paul had to say. But I think that Paul took his inpiration first from the prophet Isaiah and then built upon that. Here’s what it says in Isaiah 59:17 “He put on righteousness as his breastplate, and the helmet of salvation on his head; he put on the garments of vengeance and wrapped himself in zeal as in a cloak.” 

A study of the Old Testament, then, will give us so much more to enrich our Christian walk, will teach us more about God’s plan of redemption, and give us a deeper appreciation of the great God who chose us to belong to him.

So today I want to begin to look deeper into the old Testament and to look specifically at the prophet Isaiah. If you have studied Isaiah you will know that his book is divided into sixty six books and some biblical scholars have divided it into sections. The style and content seemed to change dramatically after chapter 39, so some biblical scholars have concluded that there must have been two different authors. Coincidentally, the 39 chapters of the first section and the 27 chapters in the second section correspond to the number of books  in the Old and New Testaments. That’s all it is, a coincidence, since the bible wasn’t divided into chapters and verses till a few centuries after the early church came into being.

But were there two authors? if you go to John chapter 12 John quotes from Isaiah chapter 53. John 12:38 “This was to fulfill the word of Isaiah the prophet: “Lord, who has believed our message and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?”” 

Then in verse 40 he quotes from Isaiah chapter 6, indicating that it was the same Isaiah. John 12:40 ““He has blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts, so they can neither see with their eyes, nor understand with their hearts, nor turn—and I would heal them.”” 

It is clear that we should regard Isaiah as being the author of the whole book.

Alec Motyer, a scholar that most of you have heard of and some of you may have known him, who lived in Poynton, spent a large part of his life studying and teaching Isaiah.

He has very helpfully divided Isaiah’s book into sections.

In the first section, Isaiah’s Preface Isaiah paints a picture of the situation in which he was called to be a Prophet. That is chapters 1-5

The next section, chapters 6-37 he calls the Book of the King. Against the background of the failed monarchy of the house of David, Isaiah shares the vision of the Great David who is yet to come.

Chapters 38-55 is the next section, the Book of the Servant. The Lord’s answer to sin is the revelation of the Servant of the Lord.

Chapters 56-66 he calls the Book of the conqueror. A key passage in this section is chapter 63: 1-6, the Lord in Salvation and Judgment.

When Jesus began his ministry in his home town of Nazareth he began with the words of the prophet Isaiah:

Luke 4:16–19 “He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. He stood up to read, and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written: “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour.”” 

What is interesting about that is that he stopped without completing the quotation. This is what we read in Isaiah 61:1–2 “The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn,” 

Jesus had not yet gone to the cross; his saving work was yet to be accomplished and those who believe in him would be saved. But there will come a day when he will come as conqueror, he will come as the righteous judge and every knee will bow. We know those words from Romans 14:11 “It is written: “ ‘As surely as I live,’ says the Lord, ‘every knee will bow before me; every tongue will acknowledge God.’ ”” and Philippians 2:9–11 “Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” 

They were first written  by Isaiah; 

Isaiah 45:23 “By myself I have sworn, my mouth has uttered in all integrity a word that will not be revoked: Before me every knee will bow; by me every tongue will swear.” 

As we read Isaiah we will be reminded time and again of things that we have learned already from the New Testament; not just the words of Isaiah, but the stories he tells and the pictures he paints as he descibes the nation of his day and the God of that nation.

So who was Isaiah? His name means “the Lord Saves” and he lived during the reigns of four kings of Judah, Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah. He was a prophet in Jerusalem and had access to the kings. We don’t know much for certain about his background, whether he was of royal descent or of priestly descent. I’ll leave it to others to argue that. We do know that his ministry began in the year that King Uzziah died - 742bc- when he had that vision of God, recorded in chapter 6. He married a prophetess, but we know nothing of her prophecies. He had two sons, and just like Hosea, his children had names with particular meanings. One was Shear Yashub (A remnant shall return). The other was Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz (Speed the spoil, Hasten the plunder).

You will remember that in the time when Isaiah was a prophet, Israel was not one kingdom, but two. After Solomon, Jeroboam became leader of the northern tribes of Israel, who broke their ties with Rehoboam, Solomon’s son, the king in Jerusalem. Rehoboam had refused to lessen the burden of taxes and forced labour on the people of the land, especially the tribes north of Jerusalem.

1 Kings 12:16 “When all Israel saw that the king refused to listen to them, they answered the king: “What share do we have in David, what part in Jesse’s son? To your tents, Israel! Look after your own house, David!” So the Israelites went home.” 

A second kingdom, then, was set up in the north and Jeroboam immediately set about establishing a separate religious system to entice those who lived in the north away from their allegiance to the temple in Jerusalem

1 Kings 12:28–29 “After seeking advice, the king made two golden calves. He said to the people, “It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem. Here are your gods, Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt.” One he set up in Bethel, and the other in Dan.” 

1 Kings 12:30 “And this thing became a sin; the people came to worship the one at Bethel and went as far as Dan to worship the other.” 

From that time there were several kings in the north and none of them followed the way of the Lord. Instead this was what was said of most of them:

2 Kings 13:2 “He did evil in the eyes of the Lord by following the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, which he had caused Israel to commit, and he did not turn away from them.” 

2 Kings 13:11 “He did evil in the eyes of the Lord and did not turn away from any of the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, which he had caused Israel to commit; he continued in them.” 

Of the Southern kings we read this of Uzziah (also known as Azariah)

2 Kings 15:3 “He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, just as his father Amaziah had done.” 

of Jotham

2 Kings 15:34 “He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, just as his father Uzziah had done.” 

Ahaz was  different

2 Kings 16:3 “He followed the ways of the kings of Israel and even sacrificed his son in the fire, engaging in the detestable practices of the nations the Lord had driven out before the Israelites.” 

Hezekiah

2 Kings 18:3 “He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, just as his father David had done.” 

Israel, as the northern kingdom was known, had turned their back on God despite the calls from the prophets like Elijah, Elisha, Hosea, Amos. The time would come when the Lord would act according to what he had promised in Deuteronomy 28 and 29

Deuteronomy 28:1 “If you fully obey the Lord your God and carefully follow all his commands I give you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations on earth.”

Deuteronomy 28:15 “However, if you do not obey the Lord your God and do not carefully follow all his commands and decrees I am giving you today, all these curses will come on you and overtake you:” 

Deuteronomy 28:49 “The Lord will bring a nation against you from far away, from the ends of the earth, like an eagle swooping down, a nation whose language you will not understand,” 

Deuteronomy 28:64 “Then the Lord will scatter you among all nations, from one end of the earth to the other. There you will worship other gods—gods of wood and stone, which neither you nor your ancestors have known.” 

Those words from Deuteronomy were not just for the northern kingdom, but for the whole nation. Judah, too, had turned away from God.

Isaiah 1:4 “Woe to the sinful nation, a people whose guilt is great, a brood of evildoers, children given to corruption! They have forsaken the Lord; they have spurned the Holy One of Israel and turned their backs on him.”

Isaiah’s ministry was to be in Judah, the southern Kingdom, but he was to witness the end of the Northern Kingdom just twenty years after he had that vision in the Temple, which set him on his course to be a prophet.

Both  Israel and Judah were surrounded by hostile nations and we will meet them in Isaiah’s writings. To the south was Egypt and to the north was Aram, another name for Syria. But another nation was growing in strength. This was Assyria and Isaiah foretold the fall of the northern kingdom.

Isaiah 8:3–4 “Then I made love to the prophetess, and she conceived and gave birth to a son. And the Lord said to me, “Name him Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz. For before the boy knows how to say ‘My father’ or ‘My mother,’ the wealth of Damascus and the plunder of Samaria will be carried off by the king of Assyria.”” 

Samaria and the northern Kingdom fell to the Assyrians in 722BC.

This was the situation when Isaiah lived. Samaria was in terminal decline and its people would be scattered. Judah was no better and judgment would come, but God continually reminded them that he had chosen them and there was always hope if they turned back to him. Many of the verses that are known so well come from the pen of Isaiah.

Isaiah 1:17–18 “Learn to do right; seek justice. Defend the oppressed. Take up the cause of the fatherless; plead the case of the widow. “Come now, let us settle the matter,” says the Lord. “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool.” 

Isaiah the prophet was speaking, first of all, to the people of his day with a diagnosis of their condition in relation to their God, especially in the first five chapters. He prophesied that Judah would escape from the power of Assyria, but Israel would not. He also spoke of Babylon, which in his day was just a little place far away and of no importance. And he spoke of Cyrus, King of a nation that would replace the Babylonians and permit the temple in Jerusalem to be rebuilt. 

Isaiah 44:28 “who says of Cyrus, ‘He is my shepherd and will accomplish all that I please; he will say of Jerusalem, “Let it be rebuilt,” and of the temple, “Let its foundations be laid.” ’” 

Cyrus was king of the Empire, which would sweep away the Babylonians; an Empire that would stretch from India to Africa.

Isaiah spoke of a remnant that would remain faithful to God. who would bring them back.

Isaiah 10:20 “In that day the remnant of Israel, the survivors of Jacob, will no longer rely on him who struck them down but will truly rely on the Lord, the Holy One of Israel.” 

Isaiah 10:21 “A remnant will return, a remnant of Jacob will return to the Mighty God.” 

And he spoke of a time when a son would be given, a servant would be pierced to redeem, not just Israel and Judah, but you and me too.

Isaiah 49:6 “he says: “It is too small a thing for you to be my servant to restore the tribes of Jacob and bring back those of Israel I have kept. I will also make you a light for the Gentiles, that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.”” 

Isaiah spoke of a time when God would gather his chosen people and bring them back to their land:

Isaiah 11:12 “He will raise a banner for the nations and gather the exiles of Israel; he will assemble the scattered people of Judah from the four quarters of the earth.” 

And Isaiah spoke of a yet future time, when we shall live in a new heaven and a new earth.

Isaiah 65:17–19 ““See, I will create new heavens and a new earth. The former things will not be remembered, nor will they come to mind. But be glad and rejoice forever in what I will create, for I will create Jerusalem to be a delight and its people a joy. I will rejoice over Jerusalem and take delight in my people; the sound of weeping and of crying will be heard in it no more.” 

And, of course Isaiah speaks to the nations today; to you and to me; to the religious leaders and to the political leaders.

He is always on the side of the poor

Isaiah 1:17 “Learn to do right; seek justice. Defend the oppressed. Take up the cause of the fatherless; plead the case of the widow.” 

Isaiah 10:1–2 “Woe to those who make unjust laws, to those who issue oppressive decrees, to deprive the poor of their rights and withhold justice from the oppressed of my people, making widows their prey and robbing the fatherless.” 

Those last words from Isaiah nearly three thousand years ago are particularly appropriate for the world today.

Next time we will look more closely at what Isaiah wrote, especially about the state of the nation in the first five chapters.