Through the prophet Isaiah, Yahweh speaks a golden message that transcends time, revealing Yahweh’s eschatological kingdom plans. Astounding prophetic details of the Person and work of the Messiah, the Hebrew word for “Christ,” are revealed.
Isaiah ministered as a prophet to the nation of Judah between 740-680 BC dur
ing
the reigns of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah. From
931−722 BC, the nation of Israel dwelled in the land as two divided
kingdoms. The northern kingdom retained the name “Israel,” and is also
referred to in the Bible as Ephraim.
The southern kingdom, which included Jerusalem, was called Judah. Isaiah lived through the socio-political shift that transpired in 734-732 BC as Assyria became the dominant empire. Ahaz was the king of the southern kingdom of Judah during this period of political turmoil. When the kings of Israel and Damascus threatened Judah, Yahweh sent the prophet Isaiah to Ahaz with an offer of His divine intervention.
Ahaz panicked, spurned Yahweh’s outstretched hand, and sought the aid of Tiglath-pileser III, the king of Assyria, against the threats of the kings of Damascus and Israel. Ahaz, king of Judah, became an Assyrian vassal, paying heavy tribute to the foreign nation. He also supported the worship of Baal in Jerusalem (Isa 7:16; 2 Chr 28:1-8, 16). Isaiah 14:18 records the death of Ahaz, which occurred in 715 BC.
Yahweh whistled and the northern kingdom of Israel was captured and scattered by the Assyrians in 722 BC. Isaiah witnessed the destruction of the northern kingdom of Israel. Hezekiah, the son and successor of Ahaz, also witnessed the destruction of the northern kingdom. King Hezekiah sought to turn Yahweh’s fierce anger away from Judah through religious reformation. He cleansed the temple of idols, invited all Israel and Judah to come to Jerusalem to keep the Passover (2 Chr 30:1), restored the services of the priests and Levites, and removed the high places from the land.
“So there was great joy in Jerusalem, for since the time of Solomon the son of David king of Israel there had been nothing like this in Jerusalem. Then the priests and the Levites arose and blessed the people, and their voice was heard, and their prayer came to his holy habitation in heaven” (2 Chr 30:26-27).
When Sennecarib and the Assyrian army laid siege to Jerusalem, King Hezekiah placed his whole trust in Yahweh. In response to Hezekiah’s prayer, the angel of the Lord killed 185,000 in the camp of the Assyrians in one night (2 Kings 20:35).
God’s miraculous deliverance of Jerusalem’s inhabitants provides the historical context for the writings of Isaiah. Judgment is the central theme of the first main division of Isaiah (1−39), addressed to the survivors of the Assyrian invasion.
Isaiah’s shift from the past to the future is introduced in chapter 39 as the prophet reveals the Babylonian exile that would take place a century later (Isa 39:6-7).
Isaiah transitions from the past Assyrian threat (1−39) to address the future Babylonian captivity (40−55) and Post-Exilic era (56−66). Within the chronological framework of Isaiah, Yahweh progressively reveals His ultimate eschatological purpose to redeem and restore His kingdom under the reign of the Messiah.
The book of Isaiah, written close to 700 years before the birth of Jesus, is often called the Gospel of the Old Testament because of its astounding prophetic revelation of the Person and work of the Messiah. The fulfillment of prophecy testifies that the God of Israel is the One True God whose sovereign power extends over all nations, kingdoms, power, and authority. The fulfillment of messianic prophecy in the life and work of Jesus testifies to the glory, greatness, power, and grace of our God.
The God of Israel is the one true God who watches over His Word to fulfill it. What God has promised, God will do. What God has purposed, God will accomplish. What God has done testifies to His sovereign power to fulfill His plans to redeem and restore His people, just as He promised, just as He revealed through His Word.
Trust in God. Turn to God through faith in Jesus, the Messiah, Son of God, Son of Man.
“Who among you fears the Lord and obeys the voice of His servant? Let him who walks in darkness and has no light trust in the name of the Lord and rely on His God” (Is 50:10).
“Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose trust is the Lord” (Jer 17:7).
“Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also. And you know the way to where I am going.’ Thomas said to him, ‘Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?’ Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him” (John 14:1-7).
Heb. 2:1 Therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it. 2 For since the message declared by angels proved to be reliable, and every transgression or disobedience received a just retribution, 3 how shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation? It was declared at first by the Lord, and it was attested to us by those who heard, 4 while God also bore witness by signs and wonders and various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will.
Heb. 2:5 For it was not to angels that God subjected the world to come, of which we are speaking. 6 It has been testified somewhere,
“What is man, that you are mindful of him,
or the son of man, that you care for him?
7 You made him for a little while lower than the angels;
you have crowned him with glory and honor,
8 putting everything in subjection under his feet.”
Now in putting everything in subjection to him, he left nothing outside his control. At present, we do not yet see everything in subjection to him. 9 But we see him who for a little while was made lower than the angels, namely Jesus, crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.
Heb. 2:10 For it was fitting that he, for whom and by whom all things exist, in bringing many sons to glory, should make the founder of their salvation perfect through suffering. 11 For he who sanctifies and those who are sanctified all have one source. That is why he is not ashamed to call them brothers, 12 saying,
“I will tell of your name to my brothers;
in the midst of the congregation I will sing your praise.”
Heb. 2:13 And again,
“I will put my trust in him.”
And again,
“Behold, I and the children God has given me.”
Heb. 2:14 Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, 15 and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery. 16 For surely it is not angels that he helps, but he helps the offspring of Abraham. 17 Therefore he had to be made like his brothers in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. 18 For because he himself has suffered when tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.
Heb. 12:1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.
The southern kingdom, which included Jerusalem, was called Judah. Isaiah lived through the socio-political shift that transpired in 734-732 BC as Assyria became the dominant empire. Ahaz was the king of the southern kingdom of Judah during this period of political turmoil. When the kings of Israel and Damascus threatened Judah, Yahweh sent the prophet Isaiah to Ahaz with an offer of His divine intervention.
Ahaz panicked, spurned Yahweh’s outstretched hand, and sought the aid of Tiglath-pileser III, the king of Assyria, against the threats of the kings of Damascus and Israel. Ahaz, king of Judah, became an Assyrian vassal, paying heavy tribute to the foreign nation. He also supported the worship of Baal in Jerusalem (Isa 7:16; 2 Chr 28:1-8, 16). Isaiah 14:18 records the death of Ahaz, which occurred in 715 BC.
Yahweh whistled and the northern kingdom of Israel was captured and scattered by the Assyrians in 722 BC. Isaiah witnessed the destruction of the northern kingdom of Israel. Hezekiah, the son and successor of Ahaz, also witnessed the destruction of the northern kingdom. King Hezekiah sought to turn Yahweh’s fierce anger away from Judah through religious reformation. He cleansed the temple of idols, invited all Israel and Judah to come to Jerusalem to keep the Passover (2 Chr 30:1), restored the services of the priests and Levites, and removed the high places from the land.
“So there was great joy in Jerusalem, for since the time of Solomon the son of David king of Israel there had been nothing like this in Jerusalem. Then the priests and the Levites arose and blessed the people, and their voice was heard, and their prayer came to his holy habitation in heaven” (2 Chr 30:26-27).
When Sennecarib and the Assyrian army laid siege to Jerusalem, King Hezekiah placed his whole trust in Yahweh. In response to Hezekiah’s prayer, the angel of the Lord killed 185,000 in the camp of the Assyrians in one night (2 Kings 20:35).
God’s miraculous deliverance of Jerusalem’s inhabitants provides the historical context for the writings of Isaiah. Judgment is the central theme of the first main division of Isaiah (1−39), addressed to the survivors of the Assyrian invasion.
Isaiah’s shift from the past to the future is introduced in chapter 39 as the prophet reveals the Babylonian exile that would take place a century later (Isa 39:6-7).
Isaiah transitions from the past Assyrian threat (1−39) to address the future Babylonian captivity (40−55) and Post-Exilic era (56−66). Within the chronological framework of Isaiah, Yahweh progressively reveals His ultimate eschatological purpose to redeem and restore His kingdom under the reign of the Messiah.
The book of Isaiah, written close to 700 years before the birth of Jesus, is often called the Gospel of the Old Testament because of its astounding prophetic revelation of the Person and work of the Messiah. The fulfillment of prophecy testifies that the God of Israel is the One True God whose sovereign power extends over all nations, kingdoms, power, and authority. The fulfillment of messianic prophecy in the life and work of Jesus testifies to the glory, greatness, power, and grace of our God.
The God of Israel is the one true God who watches over His Word to fulfill it. What God has promised, God will do. What God has purposed, God will accomplish. What God has done testifies to His sovereign power to fulfill His plans to redeem and restore His people, just as He promised, just as He revealed through His Word.
Trust in God. Turn to God through faith in Jesus, the Messiah, Son of God, Son of Man.
“Who among you fears the Lord and obeys the voice of His servant? Let him who walks in darkness and has no light trust in the name of the Lord and rely on His God” (Is 50:10).
“Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose trust is the Lord” (Jer 17:7).
“Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also. And you know the way to where I am going.’ Thomas said to him, ‘Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?’ Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him” (John 14:1-7).
Heb. 2:1 Therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it. 2 For since the message declared by angels proved to be reliable, and every transgression or disobedience received a just retribution, 3 how shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation? It was declared at first by the Lord, and it was attested to us by those who heard, 4 while God also bore witness by signs and wonders and various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will.
Heb. 2:5 For it was not to angels that God subjected the world to come, of which we are speaking. 6 It has been testified somewhere,
“What is man, that you are mindful of him,
or the son of man, that you care for him?
7 You made him for a little while lower than the angels;
you have crowned him with glory and honor,
8 putting everything in subjection under his feet.”
Now in putting everything in subjection to him, he left nothing outside his control. At present, we do not yet see everything in subjection to him. 9 But we see him who for a little while was made lower than the angels, namely Jesus, crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.
Heb. 2:10 For it was fitting that he, for whom and by whom all things exist, in bringing many sons to glory, should make the founder of their salvation perfect through suffering. 11 For he who sanctifies and those who are sanctified all have one source. That is why he is not ashamed to call them brothers, 12 saying,
“I will tell of your name to my brothers;
in the midst of the congregation I will sing your praise.”
Heb. 2:13 And again,
“I will put my trust in him.”
And again,
“Behold, I and the children God has given me.”
Heb. 2:14 Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, 15 and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery. 16 For surely it is not angels that he helps, but he helps the offspring of Abraham. 17 Therefore he had to be made like his brothers in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. 18 For because he himself has suffered when tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.
Heb. 12:1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.
