Isaiah
Background
The book is named after the prophet Isaiah who prophesied mainly to the kingdom of Judah after the separation of the kingdoms of Judah and Israel. Isaiah had a long ministry spanning approximately sixty years and the reigns of four kings. The period was characterised by open rebellion against God and appalling injustice. Isaiah believed that his children’s names, and his own, carried a message about the plans that God had for his people (8:18).
The book contains three key messages:
Judgement is the first core theme in the book of Isaiah. The first chapter opens with a heart rending cry from God concerning Judah and Israel:
‘I reared children and brought them up but they rebelled against me’.
The name of Isaiah’s first son explains God‘s judgement. Before the child was conceived God instructed Isaiah to write the name down and to call his son by that name. The name means ’swift to plunder and quick to spoil.’ God told Isaiah that before the boy was old enough to say ‘mother’ or ‘father’ Damascus and Samaria would be defeated and exiled by the king of Assyria. This signified God’s judgement against the two cities for their rebellion against Judah, God’s people. In rebelling against Judah, they had rebelled against Judah’s God, the only true God. Chapters 13-24 contain messages of judgement against rebellious cities, nations and the whole earth.
God’s people had become rebellious, worshipping idols and indulging in injustice. God’s message through Isaiah was clear. He would not let sin and rebellion go unpunished. For her rebellion, Israel would be plundered by foreign nations and its people taken captive. God would also punish any other nation that oppressed his people and rebelled against him.
Restoration
Alongside the message of certain judgement, Isaiah prophesied a message of restoration. God would preserve a remnant of faithful people. The message of restoration is embodied in the name of Isaiah’s other son whose name means ‘a remnant will return’ (7:3). The book uses a range of motifs to describe this remnant: the mountain of the Lord (2); the branch of the Lord (4); the redeemed of the Lord (35) and Zion, the City of God (62). These ideas are later taken up in the New Testament to refer to the Church (Hebrews 12:23-23; John 15).
God called Israel to repent and return to him. There is a refrain throughout the book of Isaiah - ‘in that day’ or ‘in the last days’ - pointing to a time when God’s people would return to him in repentance and faith. They would be ‘the mountain of the Lord’ - strong and visible and ‘the branch of the Lord’ - intimately connected to and sharing in his life.
Isaiah demonstrates that God’s purpose extends beyond Israel. Just as judgement extended to all godless nations, so too would restoration reach to all nations, bringing salvation to the ends of the earth (49). Chapters 55-66 depict God’s desire to impact the whole earth. Isaiah prophesied an invitation to all who are thirsty to come to God and drink. He affirmed that no foreigner who turned to God would be excluded. God’s plan has always been to have a people for himself drawn from all the nations of the earth. A people who would choose obedience and champion righteousness and justice in the earth. He is called the God of all the earth (54).
Christ
Isaiah gives several signs that signify the person and work of the Messiah revealed in the New Testament as Jesus Christ.
Firstly is given the sign of Immanuel - God with us (7 and 8). The sign was given in the context of the threat of a military attack on Judah by the allied armies of Aram and Israel. Isaiah prophesied that the Sovereign Lord would defeat Judah’s enemies. Judah rejoiced over the impending defeat of their enemies but rejected God’s care. Isaiah therefore prophesied that God would also punish Judah by enticing the Assyrian army against them. God wanted his people to rely on his ability to win victory for them. The ultimate fulfilment of this prophecy is the work of Jesus Christ, born of a virgin, in defeating Satan and any enemy that confronts the people of God. God is with his people to defend them.
Secondly is the sign of Christ as revealing God’s plan beyond the physical Jewish nation of Israel. Isaiah prophesied that God would honour Galilee of the Gentiles, a child would be born, a Son given (9). God chose for his son to be raised in Galilee, among the Gentiles, a people not perceived to be loved by God. The Son was given to build Jews and Gentiles into one Kingdom.
Thirdly is the analogy with the Branch of Jesse (11). Jesus quoted this scripture to affirm that he was the promised Messiah (Luke 4:18-19). This follows on from the thoughts developed in the ninth that the Son would rule over David’s throne and establish his Kingdom with justice and righteousness. Jesus Christ thus fulfilled the Jewish expectation of a king in the line of David.
Elsewhere, Isaiah refers to the Christ as the Lord’s servant. Chapter 53 describes how the servant would suffer - a prophetic picture fulfilled in the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. The revelation concerning Christ is interwoven within Isaiah’s prophecies about judgement and restoration, making Christ the underlying theme throughout the whole book.
Conclusion
God is holy and will not leave sin unpunished. Yet he is merciful and calls all to return to him in repentance. He promises to defeat our enemies and restore us. God’s plan has always been to make a people for himself from all the nations of the earth. He achieved this through Jesus Christ who defeated Satan, is restoring God’s people through the Church and thereby extending the Kingdom of God to the ends of the earth. Christ is the basis and means by which rebellion against God is defeated and his Kingdom established.
The Book Background was written by Mahongo Shibemba who is a member of King’s Church Manchester