OT: Isaiah
This week we begin our journey through the later prophets. Before we get started with Isaiah, I’d like to take a brief moment to introduce the prophets, discuss the prophets’ function in Scripture, and the type of literature we’re dealing with as we read their writings.
First, the prophets.
Remember, we are looking at the Old Testament as it is arranged in the Jewish tradition. So technically, we’ve already been in the prophets for some time. Joshua, Judges, Samuel & Kings are all considered the “Former Prophets.” Now we are ready to begin the Latter prophets, beginning with Isaiah. But first, let’s take a look at the chronological order of the latter prophets.
Here’s the order we’ll be looking at them in.
Isaiah – Jeremiah – Ezekiel – Hosea – Joel – Amos – Obadiah – Jonah – Micah – Nahum – Habakkuk – Zephaniah – Haggai – Zechariah – Malachi
As you can see we’re not taking them in exact chronological order. And we’ve left out two books that are normally included with the prophets in our modern order, Lamentations and Daniel. These will be covered later, in the group called “the writings.”
So, these are the prophets. But what exactly, is a prophet? What does the prophet do?
First, a prophet is one who speaks God’s words, or one whom God speaks through. Judaism and Christianity are not the only religions with prophets. Islam and Buddhism also have prophets, as do most major religions. Of course, we would consider their prophets false, and they would consider ours misunderstood.
The Hebrew Scriptures use two words in reference to the prophets. The first is normally translated as “seer” and means the person could see or envision things others could not, about both the present and the future.
The second term is always translated “prophet” and means “speaker, spokesman, one who announces.” This is the predominately used word.
For this reason, we can speak of the prophets’ job as both foretelling and forth-telling. The prophet forth-tells truth, inspired by God, concerning the people’s sins, impending punishment, and future restoration. This often includes prescriptions for avoiding the punishment.
90% of what the prophet writes and says, deals with moral problems and sin. Only about 10% deals with future events, and most of those have already taken place in our day. This means that a very small portion of what we’ll read in the prophets, will deal with future events. Most will deal with historical events, and interpret those events for us in light of the sins of the people/nation, and God’s judgment on those sins.
Since 90% of what they write deals with the sins and moral problems of the people, and since people haven’t really changed much in the last couple thousand years, that means most of what they write can easily be applied to our own sinful lives. The prescriptions they give for repentance and avoiding God’s wrath, can be taken as teaching about faithful living.
Another thing to remember is that prophetic writings do not always follow a chronological timeline. That means events portrayed in the book, might not be in exact historical order. This can make reading a book of prophecy a bit confusing.
Remember the prophet’s goal though. His objective is to expose idolatry, announce judgment, call to repentance, and offer future hope. Everything you’ll read has one of those purposes.
With that in mind, let’s get to work in Isaiah.
Isaiah, the man, the prophet, lived from about 740-680 BC. His ministry takes place in the Southern Kingdom of Judah during the reigns of Kings Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah. He was still living, and died, under the reign of King Manasseh.
Isaiah had a tough job. His calling was to declare the truth of the Word of God to a people who would not listen. God’s righteous judgment was coming and the people would not repent.
8 And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Then I said, “Here am I! Send me.” 9 And he said, “Go, and say to this people:
“‘Keep on hearing, but do not understand;
keep on seeing, but do not perceive.’
10 Make the heart of this people dull,
and their ears heavy,
and blind their eyes;
lest they see with their eyes,
and hear with their ears,
and understand with their hearts,
and turn and be healed.”
11 Then I said, “How long, O Lord?”
And he said:
“Until cities lie waste
without inhabitant,
and houses without people,
and the land is a desolate waste,
12 and the Lord removes people far away,
and the forsaken places are many in the midst of the land.
13 And though a tenth remain in it,
it will be burned again,
like a terebinth or an oak,
whose stump remains
when it is felled.”
The holy seed is its stump. (ESV)
That is the call of Isaiah. God intends to judge. The people will not repent. They will bear God’s wrath. It is in Isaiah that we are presented with the image of the holy God. Just a few verses before the call, Isaiah relates his vision of God on the throne and the angels that serve him there singing.
6:1 In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple. 2 Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. 3 And one called to another and said:
“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts;
the whole earth is full of his glory!”
4 And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke. (ESV)
At this point Isaiah becomes unnerved. He has witnessed the image of a holy, holy, holy God. And he knows his own sinfulness.
5 And I said: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!” (ESV)
Isaiah fears for his life. Witnessing this scene in the throne room of heaven and knowing his own sinfulness, drives home the awesome reality of the offensiveness of sin to a holy God. God must judge those who commit such offense, he would not be who he is to let it go unpunished. Isaiah sees this and fears. Yet there is hope.
6 Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar. 7 And he touched my mouth and said: “Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for.” (ESV)
Atonement can be made for sin. Purification is possible. The rest of the prophet’s writing is aimed at eliciting this same response and giving this same hope to his readers.
As Isaiah’s vision roles along, we see coming judgment on both Israel and Judah, but also on all the nations of the world. Judgments are announced on Assyria, Egypt, even Babylon. God is the judge of the whole earth. He uses these nations as tools to judge Israel, but in turn he will judge them for their own wickedness.
In chapter 24, he announces judgment on the entire earth.
24:1 Behold, the Lord will empty the earth and make it desolate,
and he will twist its surface and scatter its inhabitants.
21 On that day the Lord will punish
the host of heaven, in heaven,
and the kings of the earth, on the earth. (ESV)
Judgment is coming because of idolatry. The people are worshiping and giving glory to created things rather than to the Creator. This idolatry is addressed throughout the book, but I want us to look at two passages a little closer.
In chapter 46, the prophet contrasts the falseness of idol worship with the reality of Yahweh worship. The idols people worship are not deity, they are foolish, powerless, pretenders.
5 “To whom will you liken me and make me equal,
and compare me, that we may be alike?
6 Those who lavish gold from the purse,
and weigh out silver in the scales,
hire a goldsmith, and he makes it into a god;
then they fall down and worship!
7 They lift it to their shoulders, they carry it,
they set it in its place, and it stands there;
it cannot move from its place.
If one cries to it, it does not answer
or save him from his trouble.
8 “Remember this and stand firm,
recall it to mind, you transgressors,
9 remember the former things of old;
for I am God, and there is no other;
I am God, and there is none like me,
10 declaring the end from the beginning
and from ancient times things not yet done,
saying, ‘My counsel shall stand,
and I will accomplish all my purpose,’
11 calling a bird of prey from the east,
the man of my counsel from a far country.
I have spoken, and I will bring it to pass;
I have purposed, and I will do it. (ESV)
Idolatry is foolish because the idol has no real power, only Yahweh can save. Only Yahweh hears and answers prayer. And yet, the people are rebellious and idolatrous. God will judge them for it. Yet God’s judgment is not just wrath unleashed on sin, it has a redemptive purpose.
As we read of this idolatry, I want to you think about how we are like the people Isaiah is speaking to/about. For example, let’s look at a passage from chapter 2.
6 For you have rejected your people,
the house of Jacob,
because they are full of things from the east
and of fortune-tellers like the Philistines,
and they strike hands with the children of foreigners.
7 Their land is filled with silver and gold,
and there is no end to their treasures;
their land is filled with horses,
and there is no end to their chariots.
8 Their land is filled with idols;
they bow down to the work of their hands,
to what their own fingers have made.
9 So man is humbled,
and each one is brought low—
do not forgive them! (ESV)
Now listen again as I reread this passage, paraphrasing it to our context in America.
For you have rejected your people,
The Christians in America,
Because they are full of the things of this world
They seek guidance from Oprah,
They seek safety from the government.
Their refrigerators are full of food,
Their houses are full of possessions,
Their ipods are full of songs,
Their is no end to their treasures;
Their garages are full of cars,
Their streets are full of SUVs.
Their land is full of idols;
They bow down to the things they have bought,
They worship what has been made by man.
So man is humbled,
They are all pitiful -
Do not forgive them!That is the prophet speaking to the Lord, about the Lord’s people!
The next two verses are directed at us.
10 Enter into the rock
and hide in the dust
from before the terror of the Lord,
and from the splendor of his majesty.
11 The haughty looks of man shall be brought low,
and the lofty pride of men shall be humbled,
and the Lord alone will be exalted in that day. (ESV)
Find a cave or a hole in the ground and hide from the judgment of God. God will humble the proud. He alone will be exalted.
What are you exalting? What are your idols? What do you worship? Is it your stomach? Is it your relationships? Is it music? Is it your popularity (the number of friends you have on facebook)? Is it the size of your church? Yes, church can become an idol. Maybe it’s your own righteousness? Oh yes, doing good, and being thought of as good, can be idols!
God hates false worship. Hypocritical religion is not pleasing to him.
12 “When you come to appear before me,
who has required of you
this trampling of my courts?
13 Bring no more vain offerings;
incense is an abomination to me.
New moon and Sabbath and the calling of convocations—
I cannot endure iniquity and solemn assembly.
14 Your new moons 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,
I will hide my eyes from you;
even though you make many prayers,
I will not listen;
your hands are full of blood.
16 Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean;
remove the evil of your deeds from before my eyes;
cease to do evil,
17 learn to do good;
seek justice,
correct oppression;
bring justice to the fatherless,
plead the widow’s cause. (ESV)
God desires that we worship with our lives, not just our church attendance, or our tithe, or our words during Sunday School or conversations with other Christians.
This is the idolatry that Isaiah faced. We’ve already heard about it in 2 Kings. They continued to offer sacrifices to Yahweh, but also worshiped the gods of the surrounding culture.
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 like crimson,
they shall become like wool.
19 If you are willing and obedient,
you shall eat the good of the land; (ESV)
This gives us a picture of the redemption that is possible and lies in wait for those that will follow the Lord. Sadly, the majority do not.
Just keep your finger there in chapter 1, we’ll be returning. Chapter 1 through chapter 2 verse 5 serves as a summary of the entire book really.
And so we see the people continuing in their idolatry, even trying to hide it from God!
15 Ah, you who hide deep from the Lord your counsel,
whose deeds are in the dark,
and who say, “Who sees us? Who knows us?”
16 You turn things upside down!
Shall the potter be regarded as the clay,
that the thing made should say of its maker,
“He did not make me”;
or the thing formed say of him who formed it,
“He has no understanding”? (ESV)
We often do the same thing. We ignore our sin. Try to hide it, even from ourselves or God, if that were possible. We think perhaps that because we haven’t been caught yet, we can keep ahold of this little part of our idolatry that we want to hang on to, but God knows. Hiding in the darkness isn’t the answer.
5 O house of Jacob,
come, let us walk
in the light of the Lord. (ESV)
Walking in the light of the Lord is the answer.
But like Israel, without God bringing that light to us we are spiritually blind (42:18), lost in the darkness of our own sin. This is the hope that Isaiah offers for redemption, God has brought a light to those in darkness.
The answer is the promised savior, the Messiah, the one we’ve been reading about and hoping for since Genesis chapter 3. Isaiah gives us a lot more information about the Messiah than we have previously had in the Old Testament. We looked at most of this back in December when we looked at Christmas in the Old Testament, but let’s look again.
Isaiah 7:14-1714 Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. 15 He shall eat curds and honey when he knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good. 16 For before the boy knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good, the land whose two kings you dread will be deserted. 17 The Lord will bring upon you and upon your people and upon your father’s house such days as have not come since the day that Ephraim departed from Judah—the king of Assyria.” (ESV)
In this passage, King Ahaz is having a weak moment of faith and the prophet Isaiah encourages him to strengthen his faith by asking for a sign from the Lord. He refuses. He has placed his faith in the king of Assyria to save him from his enemies. So the Lord offers a sign of his salvation. His ultimate salvation.
So God says the sign of his salvation will be a son, born to a virgin. Some will suggest to you that this Hebrew word simply means “young woman” and not “virgin.” The word actually refers specifically to an unmarried and sexually chaste young woman or maiden. It comes from a root word that means “to lie hidden.”
200 years before the birth of Christ, Jewish scholars translated the OT into Greek for the Greek speaking, Hellenistic, Jews spread around the Roman empire. This translation is called the Septuagint. When they translated this passage in Isaiah, they used the Greek word parthenos, which specifically means “virgin.”
Matthew quotes this passage in his Gospel (Matthew 1:23), applying it to Jesus birth. He uses the same Greek word the Septuagint uses. If we let Scripture interpret Scripture, there is no way around understanding Isaiah to mean virgin.
The prophecy can be confusing because of it’s immediate application in the time of King Ahaz, but the point is that the virgin birth was prophesied 800 years prior to Jesus’ birth.
The name Immanuel has significance. The name literally means “God with us.” That is the entire point of Jesus’ birth. We were estranged from God because of our sin. A perfect sacrifice was needed to atone for our sin and restore our relationship with God. We were completely incapable of fulfilling such a requirement, so God himself had to enter the human world, live a perfect life, and die the perfect death to be the propitiation for our sins. Propitiation means to appease God and satisfy his wrath. That is the entire point of the incarnation (the embodiment of God in human flesh).
Now let’s turn a couple pages over and look at Isaiah 9:1-7. Here we see mention of Galilee. Speaking in the past tense because of the nature of his vision, Isaiah tells us that God was going to make Galilee glorious. Like the narrowing of the biological line through which the Messiah will come, we also see an increasing specificity concerning his geographical origins. First it was promised in Genesis that God would bless all nations through Abraham (Genesis 12:3), and he gave him the land of Canaan (Genesis 17:8). Now it has been narrowed down to Galilee, and in Micah 5:2 we are specifically told it is the town of Bethlehem in which he will be born.
Continuing in Isaiah, God promises that though they are in the darkness of despair, overrun by an enemy, yet salvation is coming. Light in the midst of darkness.
Isaiah 9:1-79:1 But there will be no gloom for her who was in anguish. In the former time he brought into contempt the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the latter time he has made glorious the way of the sea, the land beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the nations.
2 The people who walked in darkness
have seen a great light;
those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness,
on them has light shined.
3 You have multiplied the nation;
you have increased its joy;
they rejoice before you
as with joy at the harvest,
as they are glad when they divide the spoil.
4 For the yoke of his burden,
and the staff for his shoulder,
the rod of his oppressor,
you have broken as on the day of Midian.
5 For every boot of the tramping warrior in battle tumult
and every garment rolled in blood
will be burned as fuel for the fire.
6 For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given;
and the government shall be upon his shoulder,
and his name shall be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
7 Of the increase of his government and of peace
there will be no end,
on the throne of David and over his kingdom,
to establish it and to uphold it
with justice and with righteousness
from this time forth and forevermore.
The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this. (ESV)Imagine if you will, that you are standing on a bluff overlooking the sea. Not a calm sea, but a stormy one. It is night and a terrible storm rages. The waves crash against the rocks, the wind howls through the night, the thunder rolls ominously. There are occasional flashes of lightning, but they do not illuminate enough to make walking along the edge of this bluff safe. Far out across the waves you see a bright spot of light. It is a gap in the clouds and the moonlight is streaming through, shining on the water below. In the darkness, the moonlight is brilliantly white and bright.
This is how Charles Spurgeon describes the experience of the prophet Isaiah. He is standing in the midst of a world filled with darkness and despair. The storm of sin and death rages all around him. There is the occasional flash of lightning. The grace of God demonstrated in the life of Abraham, or Moses, or David, but they are short lived and tainted by sin themselves. Yet as the prophet looks across the ocean of time, he sees a moment in time when the clouds will be rolled back and the light of God’s grace will shine through. That moment is the earthly life of Jesus. He is the only light in the darkness of our sinful lives.
If we can discern any brightness in our own hearts, or in the world’s history, it can come from nowhere else, than from the one who is called “Wonderful, Counselor, the mighty God.” ¹
This is verse 2 of chapter 9.
Not only does Christ bring light to the darkness, but he also breaks the oppression and bondage of sin in our lives. Notice that the oppression will be broken, the enemy defeated, only by the power of God (v4). Midian was a nation over which Gideon won a victory that would have been impossible but for the power of God. With 300 men, armed with torches and trumpets, they went to battle against an overwhelming force. God defeated their enemies for them (Judges 6-7). Isaiah says the triumph of the coming Messiah will be like that day. Through no effort of our own can we defeat the enemy of our soul. Through no strength of our own can we overcome sin which holds us captive. The Lord defeats the enemy and overcomes our captor. How?
Verse 6 tells us it begins with the birth of a baby.
Isaiah 9:6-76 For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given;
and the government shall be upon his shoulder,
and his name shall be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
7 Of the increase of his government and of peace
there will be no end,
on the throne of David and over his kingdom,
to establish it and to uphold it
with justice and with righteousness
from this time forth and forevermore.
The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this. (ESV)A son is to be born. This child is “given” to us as a gift.
“…when you hear, A child has been born to us, make the two letters US as large as heaven and earth and say, The child is born, it is true; but for whom is he born? Unto US, for us he is born says the prophet. He was not born solely to his mother, the Virgin Mary, nor solely for his compatriots, his brethren and kinfolk, the Jews. Much less was he born to God in heaven, who was in no need of the birth of this child; but he was born unto us humans on earth.” ²
He is given to us as a savior and we know from Scripture that all who call on the name of Jesus will be saved (Romans 10:13), and that his is the only name that saves.
And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.
He is the King of universe, and this tiny child, born to the virgin, will rule. His rule is very different from that of an earthly king. An earthly king rules from the top down. He is the above his subjects, and they carry him on their backs, with taxes, with labor, with service, etc. But in Christ’s kingdom it is different. He is the King of Kings, and yet he carries his kingdom on His back. His kingdom being the church, all those who believe in him and trust in him for salvation. The king serves the subjects, he carries the kingdom on his back as a suffering servant. He bore more than just our sins, he carries us as he transfers us from the kingdom of the world into his eternal kingdom. He carries us through the trials of this world, as a shepherd carries a wounded sheep across his shoulders.
And so Isaiah gives us this picture of the birth of the Messiah. But he also gives us a picture of his ministry, and the means by which he rescues us from this present darkness we are engulfed in.
13 Behold, my servant shall act wisely;
he shall be high and lifted up,
and shall be exalted. (ESV)
– 53:12
Isaiah describes for us the suffering servant. He describes an exchange. You see, when we commit idolatry, which is at the root of all sin, we are exchanging the truth about God for a lie. Paul talks of this exchange in Romans.
21 For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Claiming to be wise, they became fools, 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.
24 Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, 25 because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen. (ESV)
It is because of this dark exchange that we are condemned. Yet Isaiah describes another exchange. A great exchange in which our sin and the accompanying judgment is laid on Jesus, while his righteousness is laid on us.
He took our sin.
…the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
…he shall bear their iniquities.
…he bore the sin of many.
He took the judgment for our sin.
…he was wounded for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities;
…stricken for the transgression of my people
…it was the will of the Lord to crush him;
He accomplished our salvation.
…upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his stripes we are healed.
…shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous,
Do you see the exchange? Jesus took our sin and our punishment, and gave us his own righteousness in return! What an amazing salvation! We can’t earn that. We can’t do it for ourselves. We can only rely on his mercy and grace in having already accomplished that for us.
The result is not just our salvation from sin and death, it is the ultimate defeat of death. The death of death and perfection restored.
8 He will swallow up death forever;
and the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces,
and the reproach of his people he will take away from all the earth,
for the Lord has spoken.
9 It will be said on that day,
“Behold, this is our God; we have waited for him, that he might save us.
This is the Lord; we have waited for him;
let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation.” (ESV)
If we return to chapter 2, our summary passage, we’ll see the end result.
2 It shall come to pass in the latter days
that the mountain of the house of the Lord
shall be established as the highest of the mountains,
and shall be lifted up above the hills;
and all the nations shall flow to it,
3 and many peoples shall come, and say:
“Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord,
to the house of the God of Jacob,
that he may teach us his ways
and that we may walk in his paths.”
For out of Zion shall go the law,
and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
4 He shall judge between the nations,
and shall decide disputes for many peoples;
and they shall beat their swords into plowshares,
and their spears into pruning hooks;
nation shall not lift up sword against nation,
neither shall they learn war anymore.
5 O house of Jacob,
come, let us walk
in the light of the Lord. (ESV)
So, what is the message of Isaiah? It is the promise of the Messiah. (Again from the Christmas lesson)
The promise of the Messiah is a promise of great hope. Hope for victory over Satan and sin. A deliverance which humanity has been in need of since the third chapter of Genesis. Hope for lasting security and deliverance. Hope for shalom, for peace and healing from the effects of our sin, which put us at odds with God. God chose
…through him [Jesus] to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross. (Colossians 1:20)
1 Charles Spurgeon, Spurgeon’s Sermons (Baker Books, 5th printing, 2007) v.5 p. 16
2 Martin Luther, Complete Sermons of Martin Luther (Baker Books, 2nd printing, 2007) p.215-216
