Settings:The people of God lived in a time of unprecedented political, economic, and spiritual upheavals. The children of Israel had gotten sucked into all kinds of sick Ca- naanite idolatry and immorality (chs. 41, 44, 46, & 57; The Canaanite pantheon of gods involved sacred prostitution that would stimulate Baal and Ashtoreth to fertilize the land). There was also great temptation for idolatry because of political sway and power. As a result there was a constant shift in population and national boundaries. Isaiah’s call begins with the death of King Uzziah (possibly his cousin) who had been struck by God with leprosy because of his irreverence and “cut off from the house of the Lord” (2 Chron. 26:21). In this context, God calls Isaiah to warn His people during the reigns of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah” (1:1). At the onset of Isaiah’s ministry, Amos and Hosea were preaching similar messages to the people of the northern kingdom and Jeremiah would take up Isaiah’s mantle 50 years after Isaiah’s death (during that time Daniel and Ezekiel will ministers to the Jewish exiles in Babylon). Many believe that Isaiah was born around the 760’s and Jewish tradition held that he suffered martyrdom (Heb. 11:37?) under Manasseh (697-642). Isaiah prophesized for roughly 60 years and was married to a prophetess (8:3) and had two children. God revealed more to Isaiah about the Messiah, than any other Old Testament person.

God calls Isaiah to be one of His “covenant enforcement mediators.” In chapter 6, God instructs Isaiah to call out Judah, but also tells him that Israel won’t listen. Isaiah preached to three historical periods with such accuracy that many erroneously assume that much of Isaiah was written later as history and not prophecy (i.e. Isa. 45 prophesys about Cyrus who did not appear until 536; “I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come” 46:10) or at least multiple authors. Yet, Jesus quotes both the early and latter portions of Isaiah and attributes it to Isaiah in John 12:38 & 40. Also the Isaiah Dead Sea Scroll can be dated from the 2nd century BC and does not separate or have any distinctions (ch. 40 begins in the same column as ch. 39). Here is a typical way Isaiah is divided:

• 1-39 describes judgment on 8th century Israelites—both Israel and Judah will be taken captive.

• 40-55 comforts discouraged exiles—Israel’s God is disciplining them but the Jews will return.

• 56-66 encourages Jews who just returned to the land—the Messiah and complete restoration of Israel is yet to come!

Remember the Prophets must be understood through the lens of the conditional Mosaic covenant. It basically states that if Israel obeys they will be blessed and if they disobey they will be disciplined. Unfortunately, God’s people rejected Him and “exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator” (Rom 1:25). 2 Kings 17:13 states, “The LORD solemnly warned Israel and Judah through all his prophets and all the seers, ‘Turn back from your evil ways; obey my commandments and rules that are recorded in the law. I ordered your ancestors to keep this law and sent my servants the prophets to remind you of its demands.’”

Even before the conquest, the Lord predicts Israel’s apostasy and the foreign powers that the He will utilize to discipline and fulfill His side of the Mosaic covenant, “The LORD will scatter you among all nations, from one end of the earth to the other. There you will worship other gods that neither you nor your ancestors have known, gods of wood and stone. Among those nations you will have no rest nor will there be a place of peaceful rest for the soles of your feet, for there the LORD will give you an anxious heart, failing eyesight, and a spirit of despair.” (Deuteronomy 28:64-65, see also vs. 49, 52). The Old Testament reveals that God used 3 main foreign powers to discipline His people: 1) Assyria (northern tribes—Israel), 2) Babylon (southern tribes—Judah) and 3) Persia (return to the land).

Throughout Isaiah there are messages to multiple audiences: 1) to the “nations,” 2) unfaithful Jews, and 3) the faithful remnant. There is a constant theme of judgment of the wicked, and salvation and grace to the remnant. Isaiah cries out against the pride of his people: “Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help, and rely on horses, who trust in chariots because they are many...Now the Egyptians are men, and not God...Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver; I have tested you in the furnace of affliction. For My own sake, for My own sake, I will do it; for how should My name be profaned? And I will not give My glory to another.” (31:1,3, 48:10-11 ). God delights in strengthening the humble: “Strengthen the weak hands, and make firm the feeble knees. Say to those who are fearful-hearted, ‘be strong, do not fear!’....He gives power to the weak and to those who have no might He increases strength...Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, Yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.... (35:3-4, 39:28-31, 41:10,13, etc.)

God’s rejecting the prideful and strengthening the humble leads to Isaiah’s consistent emphasis on desperation (reliance) and deliverance that all people of God go through. Isaiah tells the people of God to “wait” (16 times) and “wait” during some of the darkest times in history, “We wait for light, but see only darkness; we wait for a bright light, but live in deep darkness....we wait for deliverance, but there is none, for salvation, but it is far from us.” (Isa 59:9, 11) We wait because we worship a God of grace and mercy and He loves to deliver, “Yes, as your judgments unfold, O LORD, we wait for you. We desire your fame and reputation to grow...For this reason the LORD is ready to show you mercy; he sits on his throne, ready to have compassion on you. Indeed, the LORD is a just God; all who wait for him in faith will be blessed...LORD, be merciful to us! We wait for you. Give us strength each morning! Deliver us when distress comes...But those who wait for the LORD's help find renewed strength; they rise up as if they had eagles' wings, they run with- out growing weary, they walk without getting tired...Then you will recognize that I am the LORD; those who wait patiently for me are not put to shame....Since ancient times no one has heard or perceived, no eye has seen any God besides you, who intervenes for those who wait for him.” (Isa 26:8, 30:18, 33:2, 40:31, 49:23, 64:4)

The message of Isaiah is a message of jealousy for the One, True God. Isaiah is preoccupied with the wonder and grandeur of Yahweh despite the chaos of his day and the days to come. Chapters 41, 44, 46 and 57 describe the absolute foolishness of idolatry—”Indeed they are all worthless; their works are nothing; their molded images are wind and confusion” (41:29). Over and over, God says, “There is none like me!” (43:12, 44:6,8, 45:5,6, 14, 21). “I am the LORD! That is my name! I will not share my glory with anyone else, or the praise due me with idols...For my sake alone I will act, for how can I allow my name to be defiled? I will not share my glory with anyone else!” (Isa 42:8, 48:11). There is only the One, True God that we must hallow:”The LORD of hosts, Him you shall hallow; Let Him be your fear, And let Him be your dread. But when he sees his children, The work of My hands, in his midst, They will hallow My name, And hallow the Holy One of Jacob, And fear the God of Israel.” (Isa 8:13, 29:23)

Isaiah means (Yahweh saves) and this promise is certainly affirmed throughout the Book. Isaiah reveals God’s plan for Israel and all of humanity—the Messiah is coming and He will be a suffering servant and He will have a universal reign. For the Jews of Isaiah, it didn’t always appear that God was faithful but He was and is. The prophesied Mes- siah will come and faithfully fulfill the covenant. “For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him” (2 Cor. 5:21). The Messiah embodied all of the Father’s hope for faithful Israel—the righteous and suffering servant. Four “suffering servant” songs occur in chapter 42, 49, 50 and everything culmi- nates in chapter 53, “Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; Yet we esteemed Him stricken, Smitten by God, and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgres- sions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed.” (Isa 53:4-5). The Jewish righteous remnant could not atone for the sins of the world, only a truly righteous suffering servant could take this on.

As we long for the glory of God, we are powerful witnesses of the One, True God. One of Isaiah’s message is to reemphasize the original purpose of the Abrahamic Covenant (Gen. 12:1-3), for Israel to be God’s special possession (Exodus 19:5-6) to bless all the nations (Gen. 12:3). Not only will God restore Israel, but He will send the Messiah who will be a “covenant mediator for people, and a light to the nations, to open blind eyes, to release prisoners from dungeons, those who live in darkness from prisons” (Isa 42:6-7). God will make Him “a light to the nations, so you can bring my deliverance to the remote regions of the earth." (Isa 49:6). God’s plan from the beginning was for His people to tes- tify of His glory, to be His witnesses: “It shall be that I will gather all nations and tongues; and they shall come and see My glory...And they shall declare My glory among the Gentiles...Therefore You are My witnesses...How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who proclaims peace, who brings glad tidings of good things, who proclaims salvation, who says to Zion, ‘Your God reigns!’” (66:18b,19b, 43:12, 44:8, 52:7)