Kingdom View: Isaiah

Notes

The ESV Study Bible Theme

The central theme of the book is God himself, who does all things for his own sake (48:11)

Isaiah 48:11 CSB

I will act for my own sake, indeed, my own, for how can I be defiled? I will not give my glory to another.

Microcosm

The ESV Study Bible Theme

A microcosm of the book’s message appears in 1:2–2:5.

Isaiah 1:2-4

The Lord announces his basic charge against the people: they have received so much privilege from God and ought to be grateful children, but “they have despised the Holy One of Israel” (1:2–4).

Isaiah 1:5-9

He describes the purpose of the various judgments they face, namely, to bring them to repentance, or at least to preserve a remnant who will repent (1:5–9).

Isaiah 1:10-20

Judah is very diligent to observe the divinely appointed sacrifices, but the people’s hearts are far from God, as their unwillingness to protect their own weakest members exhibits (1:10–20).

Isaiah 1:21-2:5

The Lord called his people to be the embodiment of faithfulness in this world, and yet they are now filled with rampant unfaithfulness at every level (personal, religious, and social); but God intends to purge Zion of its sinful members and set her up as a beacon of light for the whole world. In view of this glorious future, Isaiah’s contemporaries should commit themselves afresh to walking “in the light of the Lord” (1:21–2:5).