Introduction to Isaiah

Isaiah ministers during a very long period of time and reveals God’s plans for an even longer period of time.  His ministry begins at the very end of Uzziah’s reign and covers all of reigns of Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah.  He reveals God’s immediate plans for the nation of Judah in His day as well as God’s eternal plans for all the nations in His presence.  Uzziah had a long and prosperous reign during which the nation of Judah became politically strong and financially prosperous however they also grew spiritually cold.  Their relationship with God became ritualistic indifference.  This same attitude of pride continued through Jotham’s reign.  Things begin to unravel while Ahaz is king because of an alliance between the ten northern tribes of Israel and Syria.  Instead of turning to God for help to overcome this threat; Ahaz reaches out to the king of Assyria and finds temporary relief.  However, this ungodly alliance led the nation down a path from spiritual apathy to idolatry the culminated in Ahaz building a pagan idol in Solomon’s temple.  God determines to judge this sinful nation but also demonstrates His grace by rising up Hezekiah who brought spiritual reform and revival to the nation as well as freedom from Judah’s alliance with Assyria.  When the king of Assyria attacks Judah he begins in victory and seems to have a chokehold on Jerusalem when Hezekiah cries out to the Lord for help and gains deliverance.  Unfortunately Hezekiah becomes prideful and ends up revealing Judah’s riches to envoys from Babylon that will one day return to claim them as their own.  This is the historical setting from which Isaiah writes his message of judgment in the near future as well as his message hope and salvation for the distant and eternal future.  Isaiah’s language is poetic and beautiful and his message demonstrates the seriousness of sin as well as God’s mercy and grace through Christ.  God’s power to overcome man’s sin and establish His kingdom is clearly revealed. 

GOD DESCRIBES HIS JUDGMENT OF SINFULNESS: God is a judge.  He has established the standard by which man is expected to order his life and God evaluates the degree to which man follows that standard.  Since no man or nation has ever kept God’s standard; God, as judge, determines the consequences for that failure.  As a prophet of God, Isaiah is called to the task of warning the people of God’s judgment and calling them to repentance.  Isaiah begins by revealing God’s judgment of Judah.  The nation has experienced many highs and lows throughout its history but in Isaiah’s day, as is often the case, Judah has been on a financial high but a spiritual low.  Due to transitions in power taking place in the surrounding nations Judah was experiencing relative peace and prosperity which resulted in pride.  When things are going well we can easily be deluded into thinking that we are no longer in need of God in our lives.  Instead of being grateful to God it is easy to become indifferent to God.  The people of Judah were focused on building their own little “kingdoms” but were not concerned about the kingdom of God.  They were promoting their own agendas while ignoring the Lord’s.  Times of prosperity are very dangerous to our spiritual well-being.  Trials tend to make us look to God while success tends to make us self-absorbed. Isaiah warns the people that their neglect of God and rebellion against His laws will lead them to slavery.  The people refused to listen.  When the political tides began to shift and Judah found itself under the threat of attack from the surrounding nations; they failed to cry out to the Lord.  Instead, they tried to make political alliances with the pagan nations that surrounded them.  These humanistic solutions only lead them further from the Lord and brought about a return to idolatry in the nation.  Isaiah warns the people that they are on the path to judgment and slavery.  The prophet then turns his attention to the nations of the world and systematically pronounces God’s judgment on all of the nations of that day.  It is wrong for us to think that God was only dealing with the nation of Israel in the Old Testament.  He has always been the judge of all the nations and will continue to occupy this position throughout the history of the earth.  However, there is hope as the chastisement of the Lord is always designed to turn His people back to Himself.  God’s judgment will ultimately result in Judah’s recognition of sin and turning to Him.  God has a plan of redemption that He is working out throughout all of history.  His goal will be accomplished.  Isaiah writes to warn the people that they must learn to put their trust in the Lord and not in their own might or the might of any other nation.  God alone wants the trust of His people.

GOD DELIVERS JERUSALEM FROM SENNACHERIB: Isaiah takes some time off from looking to the future in this middle section of the book and records the history of the actual events of his day.  The nation of Assyria has fortified herself enough to begin to try to recover from the losses of the past.  Sennacherib decides to come and collect the tribute that Judah had refused to pay during the nation’s time of weakness.  As Sennacherib’s vast army marches into Judah and overwhelms Lachish, the second most important city in Judah, along with many other smaller cities; Judah’s demise seems imminent.  Sennacherib sends messengers to Jerusalem demanding immediate surrender and promising that he will treat the people who surrender with kindness.  Hezekiah is now king of Judah and he has been working to reform the spiritual condition of the nation by removing the idols from the reign of Ahaz.  Now in this time of desperation he continues to do the right thing by crying out to the Lord for help.  Hezekiah goes to Isaiah for advice and assurance that the Lord has heard his prayers.  Isaiah assures Hezekiah that God has every intention of delivering His people from this attack so he encourages Hezekiah to stand firm.  Sennacherib scorn’s Hezekiah’s trust in the Lord and tries to intimidate the people into surrender by mocking God and especially Hezekiah’s faith in God’s deliverance.  Sennacherib points out the fact that the idols have been removed from Judah so in his mind they have abandoned their gods.  He lacks the knowledge and understanding that there is only one true God.  However, he is about to get His first illustration of the one true God’s power and control over the world.  In the midst of his siege on Jerusalem he receives word that his country is facing attack so he pulls out of Judah with the promise to return.  In his haste to return the army panics and ends up killing one another and leaving the plunder from their previous victories behind.  This is a graphic illustration of all that Isaiah has been trying to teach the nation.  It is vain to trust in self or other nations no matter how strong you might thing you are.  It only makes sense to trust in the living God who can deliver from any enemy.  Faith in God and obedience to His Word are the only means by which we can please Him and enjoy His gracious protection.  It is utter foolishness to abandon our faith in Him to trust in ourselves or others that have no power to save.

GOD DECLARES JUSTIFICATION THROUGH THE SAVIOR: God is more than just a judge; He is also the Savior.  Isaiah ends his book with a glorious section on the graciousness of God and His glorious plan to save His people through the sacrifice of Messiah and the establishment of His glorious kingdom.  God has made it abundantly clear that He will judge the nation of Judah just as Israel was judged and taken into captivity.  The only difference being that Judah would be conquered by the Babylonians instead of the Assyrians.  However, even before the captivity begins God speaks a message of hope through Isaiah.  The nation is given a promise of future restoration.  Not only will Judah be restored; but eventually all of Israel will be restored.  The land that was promised to Abraham will be inhabited by a united Israel who will be brought back from exile. The purpose of God’s discipline is always to bring about repentance and restoration.  He longs to be reconciled to His people and is willing to judge them in order that He might bring them back to Himself.  God’s plan for His people involves much more than physical restoration to the land.  His principle objective is spiritual justification through faith in the work of Christ on the cross.  Isaiah unfolds God’s plan of redemption though the suffering Savior in the clearest way of all the Old Testament writers.  Jesus and the apostles quote Isaiah extensively as they point Israel and the nations of the world to the fact that Jesus was indeed the Son of God and Messiah.  Jesus came into this world for the purpose of saving sinners from death by paying the price for their sin through His own death on the cross.  He came in order to reconcile men unto God through His death and resurrection.  Israel, Judah and all of the nations of the world can be redeemed from sin and restored to perfect fellowship with God through the ministry of justification realized through Jesus.  Israel expected Messiah to be a King that would provide freedom from oppression but they did not understand that in order for that to happen; Messiah had to be a Sacrifice that would provide freedom from sin.  However, Isaiah also makes it very clear that God has a glorious plan for a kingdom in which He will reign over the earth and Israel will be completely and permanently restored to The Promised Land.  God always keeps His promises.  He will establish a kingdom but He will do so through the spiritual revival in Israel.  The nation will one day recognize Jesus as Messiah, repent of their sin, place their faith in Christ and find forgiveness of sin, freedom from sin as well as restoration from captivity.  The land will be theirs but it will be a prosperous and glorious land.  Isaiah reveals God’s plan for a millennial kingdom as well as His plans for an eternal kingdom.  In the millennium lives will be prolonged, food will be abundant, animals will be at peace with one another and sin will be justly judged by Christ the King.  In the eternal kingdom there will be no death, no darkness and no sin.  God has a wonderful plan of justification that He will accomplish through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  We must trust, serve and hope in Him alone.