Isaiah: The Lord is Salvation

Background

Every book has a story, a purpose for it’s existence, a message being communicated by it’s author. The bible has a story, a purpose for its existence, and a message being communicated by its author.

Its author is none other than God Himself, as He inspired men, by the power of the Holy Spirit, to write down exactly what He intended without compromising the personality of the human author.

In the pages of the Bible we discover the creation of this world, of humanity. We learn about God’s love for us. but we also see the tragic turning away of men and women from the God who loves them.

The Bible is the story of the relationship between God and man and while it starts off in a beautiful garden and a close relationship, soon, humans break their relationship with God and most of the rest of the story in the bible is man running from God and God reaching out to redeem them.

A man named Abraham was chosen by God to become a great and powerful nation. His grandson, Jacob, had twelve sons, each became the progenitor of one of the twelve tribes of Israel.

Through a series of unfortunate circumstances, God’s people found themselves as slaves in Egypt. As they cried out to God for deliverance, God raised up Moses, who brought them out of slavery and they eventually became a big and powerful nation.

They were not content to have God rule over them, they wanted their own king like the nations around them. They chose a man named Saul, but he didn’t work out so well. God then raised up a man named David who became the greatest King that Israel has ever known. He is a very important figure in the Bible. God promised David that one of his descendants would be the Messiah, the Savior of the world.

God’s people, the Israelites, had a horrible habit of turning the back on God. They could not stop doing wrong things. They decided they would define what was right, they decided they would live their own lives and give no regard to the heart of God, to His plan for them.

They sinned! And they sinned again! And they sinned again!

After a number of years, they had a bit of a civil war and the one nation of Israel split and became two nations: 10 tribes became the north kingdom, called Israel; and 2 tribes became the south kingdom, called Judah.

While the story of the southern kingdom has a couple bright spots, the history of the northern kingdom is pretty bad. Both kingdoms, for the most part, were falling deeper and deeper into the dark, selfish, evil habit of sin.

But God loved them! But they were doing wrong! But God loved them! But they were still doing wrong!

So God sends them prophets.

As we have gone now from the first book in the Bible, Genesis, to the Song of Songs, we have now come to the book of Isaiah.

Isaiah begins the section in our Bibles of the prophets. Take a look at the table of contents in your Bible; find Isaiah. All the rest of the books in the Old Testament, from Isaiah to Malachi, are all prophets. We will talk about the role of a prophet in a minute.

Most people divide the prophets into two categories: major and minor. The major being the first five: Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel, and Daniel. The minor prophets would be the remaining twelve: Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi.

The reason why these are called minor prophets and the first five area called major prophets is not because of the importance of their message, but because of their length. The major prophets are generally longer, the minor prophets are mostly shorter. But they each have a very important message—for the original people they were written to, but also for us.

Some of the prophets wrote to the northern kingdom, others wrote to the southern kingdom.

To understand the prophets, we have to talk about the exile.

An exile is “a period of absence from one’s homeland”. Because God’s people fell so far, they lost God’s blessings. Because of their sin—and it was bad!—God judged them. The way that He did this was by sending them into exile. So we see or hear about the exilic period, we are referring the time that God’s people were taken into exile and they were not in their homeland. The prophets spoke much about this. Some of them warned about a coming exile, other comforted them during their exile, and others were involved in them going back into their land after the exile.

This period of time in their history is also called “captivity”.

God used other nations—ungodly nations—to judge His people.

The Northern Kingdom (how many tribes were part of the Northern Kingdom?) were taken into captivity by the Assyrians in 722 BC.

The Southern Kingdom was taken into captivity by the Babylonians from 605-582 B.C. This is called the Babylonian Captivity.

While all this is going on: political turmoil, ungodliness, sinful activity, wars, bloodshed, God is speaking to the nation through prophets.

The message of many of the prophets also points way past their current time into the future and looks forward to the coming of a Messiah. That an exciting topic that we will be looking at through these books.

Let’s talk more about the Role of the Prophet.

The Role of the Prophet

The Biblical term “prophet” refers to “one who speaks for another”. In Exodus 7:1-2, we see that Aaron is called a “prophet” because he speaks for Moses.

In Israel those who are called prophets served one or more of three functions:

Preachers: expounding and interpreting the Mosaic law

Predictors: predicted judgment and, sometimes, deliverance

Watchmen: watched over the nation and warned the people.

While they functioned in these three ways, there was one major role that they occupied in Israel. That is the role of a prosecuting attorney. In other words, they represented God in bringing a case against a nation that was guilty of violating His covenant.

God had made a covenant, a promise with His people. Obedience to the covenant would result in prosperity and blessing; disobedience to the covenant would result in cursings and judgment.

The prophets were official representatives of Yahweh in the administration of the covenant. If you go to court today, you can hire a lawyer and that lawyer is your official representative.

These prophets, these attorneys, if you will, they would remind the people of the covenant. They would declare God’s heart, they would elaborate on the stipulations of the covenant. They would remind them of upcoming curses and judgement because they have broken the covenant.

They would often do this through speeches calling the heavens and the earth as witnesses. They would talk about how beneficial it is to walk with God and how futile it is to have false gods. And then they would pronounce judgment or give warning.

You can see this formula in the first few verses of Isaiah. Look at Isaiah 1:2-3:

Isaiah 1:2–3 (NIV84)

2 Hear, O heavens! Listen, O earth! - calling heaven and earth as witnesses

For the Lord has spoken: “I reared children and brought them up, - benefit of walking with God. They are His children.

but they have rebelled against me. 3 The ox knows his master, the donkey his owner’s manger, but Israel does not know, my people do not understand.” - the accusation.

Let’s talk more about the book of Isaiah.

The book of Isaiah is a very well-loved and beautifully written book. It’s quoted about 64 times in the New Testament; it is very prophetic, it has many passages that adorn Christmas Cards because they speak of the coming of the Savior. We’ll point them out soon.

Isaiah speaks much about the future Millennial Reign of Christ—our future eternal home.

As one commentator said, Isaiah discusses the “depths of Israel’s sin and the heights of God’s glory and His coming kingdom.” (BKC, p1027)

The name Isaiah means “Yahweh is salvation.”

Isaiah was married, he had two sons. If you’re looking for baby names, you should consider naming your boy after one of Isaiah’s sons: Shear-Jashub (7:3) and Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz (8:3). You could call him Baz for short.

We learn in v1 that Isaiah was a prophet during the reigns of 4 kings: Ussiah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah. That would have been well over a fifty year period. You could think of Isaiah’s role similar to Billy Graham or Franklin Graham to our presidents.

During this time, like all of the prophets, and similar to our time today, there was a great political and spiritual struggle in the land. They were just a few years away from being taken into captivity. In fact, many of Isaiah’s oracles are looking forward to an attack that occured in 701 BC by a man named Sennacherib. You can read about that in 2 Kings 18 or 2 Chronicles 32.

With that as a background, let’s talk about the Main Idea.

Main Idea

Isaiah prophesies condemnation for the wicked, rebuking those who have rejected Him but he also speaks comfort to God’s people, announcing the coming of the Messiah, future judgment and ultimate redemption.

Explanation

A simple reading of chapter one is all we need to conclude that God is not happy with His people. God calls their religious actions meaningless and detestable (Isa. 1:11-15) because their “hands are full of blood” (Isa. 1:15). Look at Isa. 1:11-15:

Isaiah 1:11–15 (NIV84)

11 “The multitude of your sacrifices— what are they to me?” says the Lord. “I have more than enough of burnt offerings, of rams and the fat of fattened animals; I have no pleasure in the blood of bulls and lambs and goats. 12 When you come to appear before me, who has asked this of you, this trampling of my courts? 13 Stop bringing meaningless offerings! Your incense is detestable to me. New Moons, Sabbaths and convocations— I cannot bear your evil assemblies. 14 Your New Moon festivals and your appointed feasts my soul hates. They have become a burden to me; I am weary of bearing them. 15 When you spread out your hands in prayer, I will hide my eyes from you; even if you offer many prayers, I will not listen. Your hands are full of blood;

Isaiah 1:23 (NIV84)

23 Your rulers are rebels, companions of thieves; they all love bribes and chase after gifts. They do not defend the cause of the fatherless; the widow’s case does not come before them.

Impending judgment is around the corner. Take a look at Isa. 3:1-2. (Isa. 3:1-2, 14; 5:1-30).

Isaiah 3:1–2 (NIV84)

1 See now, the Lord, the Lord Almighty, is about to take from Jerusalem and Judah both supply and support: all supplies of food and all supplies of water, 2 the hero and warrior, the judge and prophet, the soothsayer and elder, ...

Isaiah 3:14 (NIV84)

14 The Lord enters into judgment against the elders and leaders of his people: “It is you who have ruined my vineyard; the plunder from the poor is in your houses.

Chapter 5 is especially powerful. You should read the whole thing, but I’ll draw your attention to v7:

Isaiah 5:7 (NIV84)

7 The vineyard of the Lord Almighty is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah are the garden of his delight. And he looked for justice, but saw bloodshed; for righteousness, but heard cries of distress.

Are you beginning to feel the emotion? The desperation?

There is hope, however! God promises that He will send a Saviour.

Isaiah 6:13 (NIV84)

13 And though a tenth remains in the land, it will again be laid waste. But as the terebinth and oak leave stumps when they are cut down, so the holy seed will be the stump in the land.”

Here, the prophet is saying that as God’s people will be gone from the land, just like a tree leaves a stump when it’s cut down, the Messiah will come out of the remnant, or out of the stump.

Isaiah 7:14 (NIV84)

14 Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.

Another prophecy about the Messiah is found in Isaiah 9:7 and says that He will “reign on David’s throne” (Isa. 9:7).

Turn to Isaiah 11.

Isaiah 11:1–2 (NIV84)

1 A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit. 2 The Spirit of the Lord will rest on him— the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of power, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord—

Isaiah 11:5 (NIV84)

5 Righteousness will be his belt and faithfulness the sash around his waist.

Isaiah 61:1–2 (NIV84) - This is quoted in Luke 4:18ff

1 The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to preach 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, 2 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn,

At some point, this Servant, this Savior, will die for the sins of humanity (Isa. 52:13-53:12).

We see that in Isaiah 52:13-53:12. This is one of the most awesome and holy passages in all of Scripture. If you have never read Isaiah 53, do it soon.

Isaiah does not only deal with the nation of Israel, but also with the nations who come against God’s people. We see this from chapters 13-23 where he announces that Babylon, Assyria, Moab, Syria, Cush, and Egypt will be judged (Isa. 13-23). If you look at Isaiah 24:3, you see that a day is coming when “the earth will be completely laid waste and totally plundered” (Isa.24:3).

This would be a good time to pause and talk about the fulfillment of prophesy. In the bible as it relates to predictive prophecy, for many passages, there is a near fulfilment and a far fulfillment. In other words, the prophet could have been saying one or two sentences and his or her words are fulfilled in different ways at different times.

For example, look at Isaiah 17. Verse one reads

Isaiah 17:1–2 (NIV84)

1 An oracle concerning Damascus: “See, Damascus will no longer be a city but will become a heap of ruins. 2 The cities of Aroer will be deserted and left to flocks, which will lie down, with no one to make them afraid.

Verse 1 has never been fulfilled. Did you know that Damascus will one day become a heap of ruins. Verse 2 has been fulfilled.

The prophecies in chapters 13-23 contain both near and far fulfillment. One example of this is the prophecy that Israel will come back into the land after their exile. Look at c14.

Isaiah 14:1–2 (NIV84)

1 The Lord will have compassion on Jacob; once again he will choose Israel and will settle them in their own land. Aliens will join them and unite with the house of Jacob. 2 Nations will take them and bring them to their own place. And the house of Israel will possess the nations as menservants and maidservants in the Lord’s land. They will make captives of their captors and rule over their oppressors.

Has this been fulfilled?

Yes and no. Israel came back into the land in 538 BC under the leadership of Zerubbabel. That’s the near fulfillment. In 1948, Israel became a nation again. That is a fulfillment of Scripture. And many of these Scriptures will be ultimately fulfilled when the Lord comes back and evil is done away with for ever and Jesus is king.

The first 35 chapters of Isaiah have largely been condemnation. Chapters 36-37 are a historical account of King Sennacherib of Assyria threatening Judah. Remember Judah is the southern kingdom.

As King Hezekiah is faced with assault from Assyria, he calls out to the Lord and is delivered (Isa. 36-37). It’s a suspenseful, nail-biting account.

C38-39 documents Hezekiah’s alliance with Babylon and prophesy the Babylonian captivity. This happens as Hezekiah becomes sick and close to death, he asks for healing and receives it (Isa. 38). But he makes a mistake in showing all his treasure to the enemy (Isa. 39).

Looking forward to the Babylonian captivity, Isaiah offers many words of comfort for the captives (Isa. 40-43), and looks forward to the time when a man named Cyrus will let them go back to their own land (Isa. 45:1-13).

Many have divided the book of Isaiah into two main parts. c1-39 are “condemnation” and c40-66 are consolation.

Ultimately, Isaiah tells about a “new heaven and a new earth” (Isa. 65:17) where there will be no more sadness and a perfectly harmonious eternal existence (Isa. 65:18-25.

We’ll look at some of those verses in a minute.

That’s the book in a nutshell. Let’s take a look at some of the Leading Themes.

Leading Themes

The Coming of the Messiah

A major theme of Isaiah is the prophesying of the coming of the Davidic King and Messiah.

1. He will be born of a virgin (Isa. 7:14).

Isaiah 7:14 (NIV84)

14 Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.

2. He will be fully divine and fully human, bringing peace and ruling justly (Isa. 9:6).

Isaiah 9:6 (NIV84)

6 For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

3. He will be from the line of Jesse and be full of God’s Spirit bringing perfect justice (Isa. 11:1-4).

Isaiah 11:1–4 (NIV84)

1 A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit. 2 The Spirit of the Lord will rest on him— the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of power, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord— 3 and he will delight in the fear of the Lord. He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes, or decide by what he hears with his ears; 4 but with righteousness he will judge the needy, with justice he will give decisions for the poor of the earth. He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth; with the breath of his lips he will slay the wicked.

4. He will endure God’s wrath, humbly dying for the sins of the people (Isa. 52:13-53:12)

Comfort

God is a god of comfort (Isa. 57:18, 61:2, 66:13). Does anyone need comfort tonight?

Isaiah 57:18 (NIV84)

18 I have seen his ways, but I will heal him; I will guide him and restore comfort to him,

Isaiah 61:2 (NIV84)

2 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn,

Isaiah 66:13 (NIV84)

13 As a mother comforts her child, so will I comfort you; and you will be comforted over Jerusalem.”

God wants people to look to Him and find forgiveness and hope (Isa. 40:1-2).

Isaiah 40:1–2 (NIV84)

1 Comfort, comfort my people, says your God. 2 Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and proclaim to her that her hard service has been completed, that her sin has been paid for, that she has received from the Lord’s hand double for all her sins.

God invites people to turn to Him. If they do, they will be blessed, if they don’t they will be “devoured by the sword” (Isa. 1:18-20).

Isaiah 1:18–20 (NIV84)

18 “Come now, let us reason together,” 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. 19 If you are willing and obedient, you will eat the best from the land; 20 but if you resist and rebel, you will be devoured by the sword.” For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.

Even though God’s people will be in captivity in Babylon, the Lord will bring eventual comfort by making the “wilderness like Eden” and the “desert like the garden of the Lord” (Isa. 51:3).

Isaiah 51:3 (NIV84)

3 The Lord will surely comfort Zion and will look with compassion on all her ruins; he will make her deserts like Eden, her wastelands like the garden of the Lord. Joy and gladness will be found in her, thanksgiving and the sound of singing.

Judgment

The other side of comfort is judgement; and this another theme that we see in Isaiah. For those who do not turn to the Lord, a bleak future awaits. God loves them; we can see that in Isa. 5:1, but He will judge them for their actions (You can read Isa. 5:5-30, and Isa. 9:8-21).

Much of the responsibility for the condition of the people is placed on the shoulders of the leaders (Isa. 9:13-17).

Isaiah 9:13–17 (NIV84)

13 But the people have not returned to him who struck them, nor have they sought the Lord Almighty. 14 So the Lord will cut off from Israel both head and tail, both palm branch and reed in a single day; 15 the elders and prominent men are the head, the prophets who teach lies are the tail. 16 Those who guide this people mislead them, and those who are guided are led astray. 17 Therefore the Lord will take no pleasure in the young men, nor will he pity the fatherless and widows, for everyone is ungodly and wicked, every mouth speaks vileness. Yet for all this, his anger is not turned away, his hand is still upraised.

Beyond Israel, the Lord will also judge all who have sinned (Isa. 14:3-25:12). Isaiah also looks forward to the final eternal judgement due to all who have rebelled against the Lord (Isa. 66:14-24).

Isaiah 66:15–24 (NIV84)

15 See, the Lord is coming with fire, and his chariots are like a whirlwind; he will bring down his anger with fury, and his rebuke with flames of fire. 16 For with fire and with his sword the Lord will execute judgment upon all men, and many will be those slain by the Lord…18 “And I, because of their actions and their imaginations, am about to come and gather all nations and tongues, and they will come and see my glory. ... 23 From one New Moon to another and from one Sabbath to another, all mankind will come and bow down before me,” says the Lord. 24 “And they will go out and look upon the dead bodies of those who rebelled against me; their worm will not die, nor will their fire be quenched, and they will be loathsome to all mankind.”

Israel Returning to the Land

Scattered throughout Isaiah’s prophecy are hints of Israels returning to their land. Some of these words refer to their exit from Babylon (Isa. 44:28)...

Isaiah 44:28 (NIV84)

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.” ’

... but others are of an eternal nature pointing toward the Millennial Kingdom (Isa. 55), where Jerusalem will be the place where the “Lord’s house will be established” (Isa. 2:1-3). Motivated by His compassion, God will “settle them on their own land” (Isa. 14:1).

The New Kingdom

One of my favorite themes in Isaiah is that of the New Kingdom. God promises that He will create a “new heaven and a new earth” (Isa. 65:17). This will be a place filled with joy and gladness (Isa. 65:18-19), long life (Isa, 65:20), economic satisfaction (Isa. 55:1-3) and peace even in the animal kingdom (Isa. 65:25). It will be eternal and will be a place of worship (Isa. 66:22-23).

Isaiah 65:17–20 (NIV84)

17 “Behold, I will create new heavens and a new earth. The former things will not be remembered, nor will they come to mind. 18 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. 19 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. 20 “Never again will there be in it an infant who lives but a few days, or an old man who does not live out his years; he who dies at a hundred will be thought a mere youth; he who fails to reach a hundred will be considered accursed.

Isaiah 66:22–23 (NIV84)

22 “As the new heavens and the new earth that I make will endure before me,” declares the Lord, “so will your name and descendants endure. 23 From one New Moon to another and from one Sabbath to another, all mankind will come and bow down before me,” says the Lord.

Isaiah 65:25 (NIV84)

25 The wolf and the lamb will feed together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox, but dust will be the serpent’s food. They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain,” says the Lord.

Isaiah 55:1–3 (NIV84)

1 “Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost. 2 Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy? Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good, and your soul will delight in the richest of fare. 3 Give ear and come to me; hear me, that your soul may live. I will make an everlasting covenant with you, my faithful love promised to David.

How Does this Relate to Us?

The book of Isaiah is extremely significant for those of us who live in modern times.

First, it tells of the coming of the Messiah. Isaiah 52:13-53:12 is a remarkable prophetic section in the book that looks at the substitutionary death of Jesus on the cross. Additionally, Isaiah 7:14 and Isaiah 9:6 confirm the identity of Jesus as God’s Messiah by predicting His virgin birth, deity, and eternal kingdom. This demands a response. Will you believe in Him?

Second, we learn, as we do in other prophetic books, that God punishes sin—all sin. He is deeply concerned with justice. God’s people, Isaiah reveals, are guilty of “religiosity”—carrying on with devout celebrations, festivals, and practices without engaging their hearts with the Lord. This screams at us to be close to the Lord and not succumb to “going through the motions”. How many times have you, or have I, just “gone through the motions” of Christian worship?

For those who are committing injustice and sin, and yet have an outward appearance of religion, they can be sure that God hates it, cannot stand it, is tired of it, will refuse to acknowledge it, will not listen, and commands it to be stopped (Isa. 1:13-15). Instead, he wants—even invites—repentance and the doing of justice (Isa. 1:16-20).

Lastly, Isaiah gives us reason to hope! There is a new existence coming. Eventually, those who trust in the Lord will be in a place of perfection where there will be no more sadness, crying, or pain. It will be a place of perfect joy, peace, and justice. The Lord will rule, the guilty will be punished, and God’s people will worship Him forever.

That’s the book of Isaiah!