It is essential to the approach we are using in Thinking through the Bible that you consider Isaiah and his message from God in the context of the story when Isaiah lived. It would be worth your while to review the passages in the Historical Books that describe the times of the kings when God delivered His message through Isaiah.
Isaiah 1:1 gives a descriptive opening to the book: The vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah. The first period of his ministry was in the reigns of Uzziah (792-740 B.C.) and Jotham (750-738 B.C. as regent, 738-732 B.C. as sole ruler), in which he called for repentance without success, and consequently had to announce judgment and banishment. The second period extended from the commencement of the reign of Ahaz (735-715 B.C.) to that of the reign of Hezekiah . The third period is from the commencement of Hezekiah , to the fifteenth year of his reign. Isaiah took no further part in public affairs after this. He lived till the commencement of Manasseh's reign when, according to a Jewish tradition, he suffered martyrdom by being sawn apart.
Isaiah did not argue against logical thinking or pretend that trusting God would always be easy, but he knew that those who put their trust in humans were deceiving themselves. God used Isaiah to have the people see the inadequacies of trusting in human resources. They needed to be reminded that Yahweh, the Holy One, was King, the Creator, the Redeemer, the Power that controls history, and the everlasting God who strengthens the weak. Simply put: God is trustworthy!
Seven pictures set the stage for Isaiah’s time:
- Plot: Israel’s sin caused Yahweh to send Assyria to punish the people. God delivered Jerusalem from destruction and defeated the Assyrians, thus giving the people a second chance. God then comforted Judah. Yet He threatened a future Babylonian invasion. God ultimately redeemed persons from many nations through the work of the coming Son of David.
- Major characters: Yahweh, Isaiah, Ahaz, Hezekiah, Israel’s Remnant, Assyria, and Babylon.
- The population: The upper class women wore high fashions, and their husbands oppressed the poor. People thought they did not need to trust God. The land was full of gold, horses, and pride.
- Prophets: Hosea, Nahum, Micah.
- Kings of Judah: Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah.
- Kings of Israel: Pekah and Hoshea.
- Major events: Isaiah’s call, Ahaz’s fear of Samaria and Syria, Assyria’s invasion of Israel, God’s deliverance of Jerusalem, God’s comforting of Israel, Babylon’s future invasion of Judah, and God’s final judgment and restoration.
We can now look at the kings of Israel and Judah in the context of God’s message through Isaiah to them. This gives you a good review of 2 Kings and 2 Chronicles.
Uzziah (Azariah) in 2 Kings 14:21; 2 Chronicles 26:1-23.
He was sixteen years old when he became the tenth king of Judah, and ruled Judah for fifty-two years.
He followed the example of his father by doing what was pleasing to the Lord, but he had ‘exceptions’ in his life:
He allowed pagan worship to continue. The Lord struck him with leprosy.
He dwelt in an isolated house outside the city until his death.
He only sought God during Zechariah’s (unknown advisor) lifetime.
He depended upon a strong army.
He depended upon his own strength so that his heart became proud.
He took on priestly duties by burning incense on the altar. Eighty-one priests warned him, but he responded with anger. He lost the honor of the Lord.
Isaiah prophesied for only a few years before Uzziah's death. His prophecies of that period (Isaiah 1-6) also apply to Jotham's reign.
Isaiah warned Judah of her folly and rebellion (Isaiah 1:2-9). They separated themselves from God by the sins of greed, pagan alliances and idolatry (Isaiah 2:6-9). God called them a fruitless vine. God had tried patience, then punishment, and now pagan kings must destroy them. Isaiah’s call and commission came at the tragic death of King Uzziah (Isaiah 6:1).
Jotham in 2 Kings 15:32-38; 2 Chronicles 27:1-9.
He was twenty five years old when he became governor of Judah under his father Uzziah for ten years because of his father’s leprosy. He reigned six more years as the eleventh king of Judah.He refrained from his father’s sins.
Yet, the people insisted on sacrificing to idols in pagan worship places.
The Lord made this king mighty because he prepared his ways before the Lord his God.
Isaiah did not have to write any prophecies against this good king of Judah!
Ahaz in 2 Kings 16:1-19; 2 Chronicles 28:1-27.
He was twenty years old when he became king of Judah and reigned for 16 years. He served with his father Jotham for about four years, but refused to follow his ways. He was one of Judah’s worst kings:
He had no time for Isaiah’s prophecies.
He chose to follow in the evil ways of the kings of Israel, Pekah and Hoshea.
When the Edomites and the Philistines defeated him, he took silver and gold from the temple of God and sent it as a present to the king of Assyria. The Assyrians took the treasure, promised to help, but only came up against the Syrians. They took Damascus, and slew Rezin.
He made idols for the Baals.
He imitated the Canaanites by burning his children in sacrificial fires.
He personally sacrificed and burned incense on the places for pagan worship on the hills and under every green tree.
Idolatry was as common in Judah as it was among pagan nations.
He turned to the gods of Damascus thinking “The Syrian gods helped the kings of Syria, so if I sacrifice to them, they may help me too”.
He closed the doors of the house of the Lord and made for himself altars in every corner of Jerusalem.
The Lord was so provoked that He brought Judah low.
Ahaz was buried in Jerusalem, but not in the tombs of the kings of Israel.
Isaiah’s message to King Ahaz and the nation is simply stated as doom for idolatry. This not only applied to Israel, but to the nations around them.
Hezekiah in 2 Kings 18-20; 2 Chronicles 29-33.
He was twenty five years old when he became the thirteenth king of Judah for twenty-nine years.He obeyed the Lord as his ‘distant’ father, King David had done:
He removed the pagan worship places, broke the sacred pillars, cut down the wooden images and broke into pieces the bronze serpent that Moses had made, because the Israelites turned it into an idol.
He trusted in the Lord God of Israel so that after him no other king was like him among all the kings of Judah, or before him.
He held fast to the Lord, keeping His commandments that came through Moses.
He refused to co-operate with the enemy, Assyria, and he subdued the Philistines.
He strengthened the people through his trust in the Lord.
He gave the same message of encouragement that Moses (Deuteronomy 31:6) and Joshua (Joshua 10:25) gave before him: “Be strong and courageous…” (2 Chronicles 32:7).
Isaiah encouraged Hezekiah to place his trust in God for deliverance from the Assyrians under Sennacherib. Hezekiah received recognition from the nations around him, which increased his wealth. This became his downfall. The Lord extended his life for fifteen years after an illness. The sign from the Lord through Isaiah was that the sun went backward ten degrees (20 minutes) on the sundial of Ahaz. Then he boasted of his riches and tragedy struck his life so that Isaiah rebuked him and the nation of Judah.
One hundred and eighty five thousand died when the angel of the Lord slew them through a swift and terrible disaster. Sennacherib, King of Assyria, returned home to his capital, Nineveh, only to have his two sons strike him down with the sword (Isaiah 37:36-38).
Manasseh in 2 Kings 21:1-18; 2 Chronicles 33:1-20.
He was twelve years old when he became king of Judah, reigning for fifty-five years.He did not follow in the ways of his father Hezekiah, but copied the nations that the Lord had cast out before the children of Israel:
He rebuilt the places of worship his father had destroyed.
He built altars for the worship of Baal.
He made images of the goddess Asherah (wife of Baal).
He worshiped the gods of Assyria.
He sacrificed his sons as a burnt offering.
He practiced divination and magic.
He consulted fortune-tellers and mediums.
He placed the goddess Asherah in the temple of the Lord.
Tradition says he had the prophet Isaiah sawed in two.
The Assyrian army invaded Judah. Manasseh was captured and pierced with hooks, put in chains, and taken to Babylon. He repented, so that he was returned to Jerusalem convinced that the Lord was God. He commanded the people to return to the worship of the God of Israel. They compromised by continuing their sacrifices at the pagan places of worship, but to the true God.
Sharing:
- There are times when very little is recorded about a good king, whereas lengthy details are given about a bad king. It seems we need to hear more about God’s mercy. Isaiah shows that even in exile (judgment), God is merciful.
- There are so many parallels to the behavior of kings. It was typical of them not to listen. God was in their neighborhood, speaking through Isaiah, yet people lived like foreigners who did not have the presence of God.
- When kings ignored the messages they heard, the country declined. Things crumbled under their feet. The message of hope meant nothing to them.
In Ahaz’s reign political and social conditions were much worse. Ahaz worshiped foreign gods, oppressed the lower class, and refused to trust God. God punished the nation by sending Rezin, king of Syria, and Pekah, king of Israel, to defeat Judah. The Assyrian king, Tiglath-Pileser III, rescued Ahaz from this situation, but he levied heavy taxes on Judah.
Much of Isaiah 13-39 relates to Sennacherib’s attack on Jerusalem during the reign of Hezekiah. Hezekiah charted a course independent of Assyrian policy and in opposition to the religious patterns of his wicked father Ahaz. In response, the Assyrians conquered all of Judah except Jerusalem. During this crisis, Isaiah gave the nation reasons to trust God.
Hezekiah maintained the independence of Judah, but his son, Manasseh, submitted to the Assyrian King Esarhaddon, encouraged the worship of other gods, and oppressed the people of Judah.
The final chapters of Isaiah picture the destruction of Babylon, the appearance of the Persian King Cyrus, and the return of the remnant to Jerusalem. Life in exile caused some to question God’s power, their status as God’s chosen people, and God’s love for them. Isaiah challenged the people not to fear other nations or gods, but to trust God. He would accomplish His plan of deliverance.
The social structure in these nations included kings, princes, wise men, soldiers, wealthy daughters of Zion, craftsmen, shepherds, widows, and merchants. These groups developed a social order, but could not completely control conditions in their nation, for nations destroyed nations.
Pro-Egyptian groups in Judah thought their political status was dependent on help from foreign horses and chariots. Isaiah believed God planned political order and military victories. A nation’s military power was nothing to God.
The book containing Isaiah’s prophecies has two major divisions:
Chapters 1-39: Reflects on the concerns and sociopolitical realities of Isaiah’s time. The book opens with a prophecy from 701 B.C., toward the end of Isaiah’s career. In the aftermath of the Assyrian invasion, Isaiah urged Judah to repent, warning that persistence in sin would bring even more severe judgment. Chapter 39 tells of an episode from this same period in which Isaiah warned that the Babylonians would eventually take the people of Judah into exile.
Of interest to many is Isaiah 14:12:
“How you are fallen from heaven,
Of interest to many is Isaiah 14:12:
“How you are fallen from heaven,
O Lucifer, son of the morning!
How you are cut down to the ground,
You who weakened the nations!
The question is often raised as to who Lucifer is in this verse. Literally, it means, “shining one, son of dawn.” Is it Satan or the king of Babylon
Isaiah 7:14 is also of interest:
Soon after Ahaz assumed the throne of Judah, the Assyrian forces were a threat to Judah’s security. This brought great fear to the king and the people of Judah (see 2 Chronicles 28:5-8, 17-19). To encourage his faith, the Lord offered Ahaz a sign, but Ahaz pretended to be humble by refusing the sign (Isaiah 7:11-12). Isaiah then broadened his audience beyond Ahaz to include the whole house of David (Isaiah 7:2). The Lord chose His own sign, which would be fulfilled far beyond Ahaz’s lifetime: “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel” (Isaiah 7:14). This prophecy reached forward to the virgin birth of the coming Anointed One. The Hebrew word for virgin that refers to a ‘young woman of marriageable age’ is used seven times in the Old Testament (e.g. Genesis 24:43). The birth of Isaiah’s own son recorded in Isaiah 8:3 – “Maher-shalal-hash-baz” – could not have fully satisfied the prophecy in Isaiah 7:14, as some suggest. Isaiah’s son, which means “swift is the booty”, is a partial fulfillment for the audience in Isaiah’s time. Before his son was even able to talk, Assyria would initiate an invasion into Syria and the northern kingdom. These two nations are referred to as Damascus and Samaria in Isaiah 8:4. Isaiah’s son served as the type of the coming Immanuel (Isaiah 7:14).
Chapters 40-66: The book’s second major section anticipates the exile and addresses concerns of the future exiles in Babylon. It seeks to convince the exiles that their God is alive and well, despite appearances. He is willing and able to deliver them from exile and to usher in a bright new era in the nation’s history. The great Persian ruler, Cyrus is even mentioned by name 200 years before his arrival.
Isaiah's prophecy also points beyond the immediate future to the coming of the righteous Servant (Isaiah 53:11) several centuries later. The heart of this stunning prophecy occurs in chapter 53, as Isaiah develops the description of God's Servant to its highest point. The Servant's suffering and death and the redemptive nature of His mission are clearly foretold. Although mankind deserved God's judgment because “we have turned, every one, to his own way” (Isaiah 53:6), God sent His Servant to take
away our sins. We need salvation from ourselves! According to Isaiah, it is through His suffering that we are made right with God, since "the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all" (Isaiah 53:6).
Of interest to many is Isaiah 53:5:
But he was wounded for our transgressions,
He was bruised for our iniquities;
The chastisement for our peace was upon Him,
And by His stripes we are healed.
Many have made a case for physical healing from this verse. Healed is a figure of speech for spiritual healing. It has to do with the healing of the nation. Isaiah 6:10 describes it this way. The word also includes “healing” bad water (see 2 Kings 2:21 – “wholesome”, NIV), salt water (Ezekiel 47:8), pottery (Jeremiah 19:11 – “repaired”, NIV, “made whole”, NKJV). It has to do with the restoration of divine fellowship through the forgiveness of sins, and all the benefits that come with forgiveness from sins. False prophets gave false healings (see Jeremiah 6:14 and 8:11 – dress”, NIV).
The Book of Isaiah presents more insights into the nature of God than any other book of the Old Testament. To Isaiah, God was first of all a holy God. His holiness was the first thing that impressed the prophet when he saw Him in all His glory in the Temple (Isaiah 6:1-8). But God's holiness also reminded Isaiah of his own sin and weakness. "Woe is me," he cried, "for I am undone! Because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the
midst of a people of unclean lips" (Isaiah 6:5). After this confession, a live coal from the altar cleansed Isaiah’s lips, and he agreed to proclaim God's message of repentance and judgment to a wayward people.
Isaiah also tells about a God who is interested in the salvation of His people. Even the prophet's name, "God is salvation," emphasizes this truth. He uses the word salvation 28 times in his book, while all the other Old Testament prophets combined mentioned this word only ten times. In Isaiah's thought, salvation is of God, not man. God is the sovereign ruler of history and the only One who has the power to save.
Sharing:
- God used Isaiah to tell the truth that bad things were going to happen. It’s easier to tell people what they want to hear, especially because the speaker is given more recognition.
- Isaiah’s message has been referred to as the ‘Fifth Gospel’ because it speaks much of God’s redemption.
- Isaiah 42:3 shows that God honors the smallest amount of faith. He will not break the weak, but they will be healed: “A bruised reed He will not break…”
- Isaiah 45:14 and onwards shows that God is exclusively the ‘Savior’.
- Isaiah 53 is a summary of the coming ‘Anointed One’s’ life. It is amazing how people ignored or missed Him.
- Isaiah 48 reflects that this is ‘God’s Story’! The purpose of the whole message is that it is God, not you, that receives all the glory. God is saying, “See it My way!” It gives the reasons why this is so important. If we love God, it is better for us. When you realize this, you are blessed. You realize that God can love so much better than you can. It deals with selfishness. It takes the message beyond us to our children and grandchildren. This is a challenge to us to pass the message on!
- Isaiah 32:9 speaks directly to women: “Rise up, you women who are at ease…” It warns women specifically about complacency so that they will leave a legacy of following God. This message was spoken to the upper-class women of Jerusalem who lived in false security. They were trusting in Egypt instead of in God.
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