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| Isaiah, by Michelangelo on the Sistine Chapel |
The Outline of Isaiah – The Mini Bible
Isaiah’s prophecy, the “mini-Bible,” has sixty six chapters,
as our Bibles have sixty six books. The
first thirty nine books of the Bible, the Old Testament, correspond to the first
thirty nine chapters of Isaiah, both of which focus on sin and (therefore)
judgment. But Isaiah 40:1 reads “comfort
my people” and with those words Isaiah transitions to a new focus. In the twenty seven chapters that follow, we
have a new section, which we may call the “New Testament” portion of Isaiah
since it emphasizes the coming messiah and the blessings of God’s
salvation. A simple outline would look
something like this:
I.
Isaiah 1 – 39 Focus on Judgment for Sin à
corresponds to the Old Testament
II.
Isaiah 40 – 66 Focus on the Messiah and Salvation à
corresponds to the New Testament
Notice the word “focus.”
The main emphasis in the first section is judgment and the main emphasis
on the second is salvation. But that
does not mean that there is no mercy in the first portion or no judgment in the
second any more there is no mercy in the Old Testament or no judgment in the
New! We are presented with a savior in
the first section (chapters seven, nine and eleven are well known, especially
at Christmas time), but that is not the emphasis. We have judgment in the second section
(chapter 63 is a gruesome picture of the Lord executing vengeance), but again,
that is not the focus.
The Authorship of Isaiah – Only One?
This separation has led liberal scholars to divide up Isaiah
into two separate authors, the one responsible for the second section being
called “Deutero-Isaiah.” Others scholars
add more authors, claiming Isaiah is a collection of many writers.[2] Oversimplified, their reasoning is this: Whereas
the first thirty nine chapters seem to have Israel before the Assyrian
captivity in mind, the second section seems to have Israel in the captivity of
Babylon in mind. The second portion
deals in such specific terms it must have been written by someone alive at that
time. In response, the story told in
chapters 36 to 39 form a break in Isaiah’s prophecy. They describe how King Hezekiah’s obedience
and reform led to a postponement of God’s judgment. However, at the end of the story we discover
that Hezekiah allows people from Babylon to see the secrets of the city. As a result, Isaiah says that “Behold, the days
come, that all that is in thine house, and that which thy fathers
have laid up in store until this day, shall be carried to Babylon: nothing shall
be left, saith the LORD. And of thy sons
that shall issue from thee, which thou shalt beget, shall they take away; and
they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon (Isaiah 39:6-7).”
This story is a transition, and from then on God uses Isaiah to speak
prophetically to the nation for when they are in captivity. The fact that Isaiah speaks in detail to the
nation hundreds of years in advance does, in a sense, demand that someone
besides Isaiah wrote those portions. But
it is not a so called “deutero-Isaiah.”
In the words of Isaiah 48 – “The Lord of Hosts is His name!”
The Theme of Isaiah – The Greatest One of
All
One of the best questions you can ask as you read the Bible
is “What do I learn about God from what I’ve read?” Though there are many fascinating things
about Israel, angels, Satan, Babylon, Assyria, Egypt, the Millenium, etc. in
Isaiah, the greatest subject in this prophecy is God Himself. We will take Isaiah 45:21b as our theme verse
for this book “There is no god beside me, a just God and a savior.” These three attributes of God are thread all
throughout this wonderful prophecy.
The Only God
“Woe to him who strives with his Maker! Let the potsherd strive with
the potsherds of the earth! Shall the clay say to him who forms it, ‘What are
you making?’ Or shall your handiwork say, ‘He has no hands’? Woe to him who says to his father, ‘What are
you begetting?’ Or to the woman, ‘What have you brought forth?’ ” Thus says the
LORD, The Holy One of Israel, and his Maker: “Ask Me of things to come
concerning My sons; And concerning the work of My hands, you command Me. I have
made the earth, And created man on it. I—My hands—stretched out the heavens,
And all their host I have commanded.” Isaiah 45:9-12
In Isaiah we find that it is the LORD alone who is the true
God. He alone is the creator. Anyone else is an imposter and a false
God. See Isaiah 31:7 for an example of how
idols are mocked. But the
creation of the universe is a miracle that neither Israel, nor we, could
verify. That is to say, the LORD (as in
Jehovah, the covenant name for the God of Israel) claims to be the
creator. Others, like Baal, Allah (in
the sense of the God of the Koran) or the many gods of Native American
religions or Mormonism, also claim to be the creators. We can see easily enough that there must have
been a designer, but how can we tell which supposed deity is that designer? To prove that He is the only God, the LORD
not only reveals Himself as the creator of heaven and earth, but also as the
controller of history and events. Time
and again in Isaiah the LORD proves that He is the true God by fulfilling
prophecy.
Often when you create a username and password for an
internet site, you are asked to give answers to identity questions. I know well the reason why because I often
forget my password. If you request for
the site to give you your password, they ensure that it is the real you and not
an imposter by asking you an identity question, something that only you would
know. In Isaiah, God gives the world His
identity question – something that only God would know – the future. This is a sure proof for even a hard headed
skeptic. Notice that this is the Lord’s
logic in Isaiah 48:3-8, “I have declared the former things from the beginning;
They went forth from My mouth, and I caused them to hear it. Suddenly I did
them, and they came to pass. Because I knew that you were obstinate, and your
neck was an iron sinew, and your brow bronze, even from the beginning I have
declared it to you; Before it came to pass I proclaimed it to you, lest you
should say, ‘My idol has done them, And my carved image and my molded image
Have commanded them.’ “You have heard; See all this. And will you not declare
it? I have made you hear new things from this time, Even hidden things, and you
did not know them. They are created now and not from the beginning; And before
this day you have not heard them, Lest you should say, ‘Of course I knew them.’
Surely you did not hear, Surely you did
not know; Surely from long ago your ear was not opened. For I knew that you
would deal very treacherously, And were called a transgressor from the womb.”
As a side note, notice that God is concerned with convincing
the stubborn. As seekers, it is our
responsibility to have soft hearts and to “buy the truth and sell it not.” But as God’s representatives our position is
that of Paul, “therefore knowing the fear of the Lord we persuade men,” even if the person is being difficult. We can remind them that they need to seek for
the truth, but that does not let us off the hook. All too often people shrug out of their God
given mandate to persuade others because they make the decision that the other
person wouldn’t want to hear it anyone, so why “cast your pearls before
swine?”
But let’s get back to prophecy in Isaiah. God proves Himself by predicting the future. This same reasoning occurs frequently throughout Isaiah (see for example 44:24-28, 45:1-6), but at this point I want to bring up one specific occurrence. In Isaiah 7, King Ahaz (of Judah) is about to be besieged by King Rezin (of Syria) and King Pekah (of Israel). Through Isaiah, God comforts Ahaz that this will come to nothing and that he shouldn’t be afraid. To prove Himself, God gives Ahaz a sign – “the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel. Curds and honey He shall eat, that He may know to refuse the evil and choose the good. For before the Child shall know to refuse the evil and choose the good, the land that you dread will be forsaken by both her kings. The LORD will bring the king of Assyria upon you and your people and your father's house—days that have not come since the day that Ephraim departed from Judah.” (Isaiah 7:14-17) Many of us are very familiar with this prophecy and know that it is used in reference to our Lord’s birth (see Matt. 1:23). But clearly this was fulfilled in the days of King Ahaz! This is an excellent example of what is called “double fulfillment.” Some prophecies are worded in such a way that the whole thing (or just different parts) are fulfilled at separate times in history. Keeping this in mind will save you from a good deal of confusion as you read through Isaiah. For example, we find double fulfillment in chapter 13 (the destruction of the past Babylon and the Tribulation with its destruction of the future Babylon) and chapter 14 (the King of Tyre and Satan).
Because the LORD is the only God, He alone deserves the
glory. Twice we read in Isaiah that the
Lord “will not give His glory to another.”
He alone stretched out the heavens.
He alone controls history. He
alone is to be worshipped. When we get
this emphasis in Isaiah, the wording of the New Testament becomes all the more
significant. In Isaiah we read “Look to
Me, and be saved, All you ends of the earth! For I am God, and there is no
other. I have sworn by Myself; The word has gone out of My mouth in
righteousness, And shall not return, That to Me every knee shall bow, Every
tongue shall take an oath.” (Isaiah 45:22-23).
In the New Testament we read “Therefore God also has highly exalted Him
and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus
every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those
under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is
Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” (Phil. 2:9-11) In Isaiah we read “I am the LORD, and there
is no other. . .I – my hands – stretched out he heavens.” (Isaiah 45:5,
12) In the New Testament we read “by Him
[Jesus Christ] all things were created that are in heaven and that are on
earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or
powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. And He is before all
things, and in Him all things consist.” (Col. 1:16-17). In Isaiah we find in the clearest terms that
there is only one God. And in the New
Testament we discover that He is Jesus Christ!
The uniqueness of God was so important for the Israelites to
remember, especially in light of their attackers. In the narrative section (chapters 36-39),
Sennacherib attacks Judah. The Rabshekah
that he sends is like many who attack the people of God today – he tries to
play the religion card and sneak in privily as a false brother, only to show
his true colors in the end. In an effort
to get Judah to surrender, he says in 36:7 “But if you say to me, ‘We trust in
the LORD our God,’ is it not He whose high places and whose altars Hezekiah has
taken away, and said to Judah and Jerusalem, ‘You shall worship before this
altar’?” (how many are like this today, attacking the faith without actually
doing their homework!) He says in verse
10 “Have I now come up without the LORD against this land to destroy it? The
LORD said to me, ‘Go up against this land, and destroy it.’ ” (Not all that
glitters is gold – not everyone using the name of the LORD is speaking for
Him. Some say the exact opposite!) Then
he shows his true colors in verse 18, “Beware lest Hezekiah persuade you,
saying, “The LORD will deliver us.” Has any one of the gods of the nations
delivered its land from the hand of the king of Assyria? Where are the gods of
Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim? Indeed, have they delivered
Samaria from my hand? Who among all the gods of these lands have delivered
their countries from my hand, that the LORD should deliver Jerusalem from my
hand?’ ” The uniqueness of God was an important for Isaiah’s audience. The same lessons are needful for us
today. May we recognize the Rabshekahs
of today, who try to lump Jehovah in with the so called gods of other
religions. The LORD will not have
it. “We are in Him who is true and in
His Son, Jesus Christ. This is the true
God and eternal life. Keep yourselves
from idols.” (1 John 5:21) May we be faithful to the only God, “besides Him
there is no other.”
The Just God
It stretches the imagination to hear people say as
authorities of Christianity that God is mostly about love and not about
punishment. One wonders, have you ever
read . . . the Bible? You certainly won’t
get that idea from Isaiah. For therein we read in no uncertain terms that God is a
just God and always punishes sin. The
message of the seriousness of sin hits us in the very first chapter in these
famous words. We quote it at length so
you can get a feel for the heaviness of Isaiah’s tone. “Hear,
O heavens, and give ear, O earth! For the LORD has spoken: “I have nourished
and brought up children, And they have rebelled against Me; The ox knows its
owner And the donkey its master's crib; But Israel does not know, My people do
not consider.” Alas, sinful nation, A people laden with iniquity, A brood of
evildoers, Children who are corrupters! They have forsaken the LORD, They have
provoked to anger The Holy One of Israel, They have turned away backward. Why
should you be stricken again? You will revolt more and more. The whole head is
sick, And the whole heart faints. From the sole of the foot even to the head,
There is no soundness in it, But wounds and bruises and putrefying sores; They
have not been closed or bound up, Or soothed with ointment. Your country is
desolate, Your cities are burned with fire; Strangers devour your land in your
presence; And it is desolate, as overthrown by strangers. So the daughter of
Zion is left as a booth in a vineyard, As a hut in a garden of cucumbers, As a
besieged city. Unless the LORD of hosts Had left to us a very small remnant, We
would have become like Sodom, We would have been made like Gomorrah. Hear the
word of the LORD, You rulers of Sodom; Give ear to the law of our God, You
people of Gomorrah: To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices to Me?”
Says the LORD. “I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams And the fat of fed
cattle. I do not delight in the blood of bulls, Or of lambs or goats. “When you
come to appear before Me, Who has required this from your hand, To trample My
courts? Bring no more futile sacrifices; Incense is an abomination to Me. The
New Moons, the Sabbaths, and the calling of assemblies— I cannot endure iniquity
and the sacred meeting. Your New Moons and your appointed feasts My soul hates;
They are a trouble to Me, I am weary of bearing them. When you spread out your
hands, I will hide My eyes from you; Even though you make many prayers, I will
not hear. Your hands are full of blood. (Isaiah 1:2-15). So much for the idea that God is not
concerned about sin.
As you read through Isaiah you’ll find that “God is no
respecter of persons,” (Acts 10:34). Egypt is held accountable for their sins
(chapter 19). Moab is held accountable
for their sin (chapter 15). Israel is
held accountable for their sins (i.e. Isaiah 1:2-15, 10:5-6, 64:6). God punishes Israel by sending the
Assyrians. And then the Assyrians are
held accountable for their sins by the coming Babylonians. And then the Babylonians are held accountable
for their sins by the coming Persians.
And guess what – the Persians are held accountable for their sins.
The other day at our Kids’ Club, a girl complained to me
that someone kicked her in the shin. I
investigated the situation and found out that the kicker was just paying her
back for being kicking earlier. This
sort of situation is commonplace to anyone in children’s work or
parenting. So what did I do? I told the one who complained to me that she
got what she deserved and that if you kick people they will want to hurt you in
return. But then of course I had to deal
with the other girl and she got in trouble too!
The same thing happens on a larger scale all throughout the world. Isn’t it good to know that there is someone
above it ALL who knows all and is perfectly just!
This quality about God is so fundamental to His nature that
when Isaiah is called to his ministry in chapter six, he sees the Lord sitting
on His throne and the seraphim worship saying “Holy, Holy, Holy.” When Isaiah sees Him, his exclamation is the
same as Peter’s – “woe is me I am undone for I am a man of unclean lips and I
dwell in the midst of a people with unclean lips for my eyes have seen the
King, the Lord of hosts.” (Is. 6:5). Many
today would see themselves as basically good.
Their problem is that they don’t know good. They haven’t seen the King, the Lord of
hosts. If they could see the one who is
thrice holy, then they would fall down like Isaiah and say “woe is me.”
This emphasis of the Lord being holy and just runs
throughout all of Isaiah. When we get to
the New Testament, we find who this holy holy holy God is. After quoting from the passage above, Isaiah
6, John says “These things said Isaiah when he saw His glory and spoke of Him.”
(John 12:41) In Isaiah we find that God stands far above all His creation,
absolutely holy. In the New Testament we
discover that it is Jesus Christ who is this just God, who is “holy, harmless,
undefiled, and separate from sinners.”
(Heb. 7:26)
We need to have a renewed and healthy fear of the Lord. Have we forgotten the one we pray to is too awesome for angels to behold? Have we forgotten that when we say “Dear God” in our breakfast prayers, we are addressing the one to whom all the nations, and every man must give an account – the great King of all the earth? A fear of the Lord should be seen in our prayer life, as well as our seriousness in studying Scripture. “Thus says the LORD: “Heaven is My throne, And earth is My footstool. Where is the house that you will build Me? And where is the place of My rest? For all those things My hand has made, And all those things exist,” Says the LORD. “But on this one will I look: on him who is poor and of a contrite spirit, and who trembles at My word.” (Isaiah 66:1-2) May we be those who tremble at His word!
The Savior God
If all we did was notice the sovereignty and justice of God,
we would do a great injustice to this majestic prophecy. Remember our theme verse, Isaiah 45:21b –
“There is no god beside me, a just God, and a savior.” We read in 43:11, “I, even I, am the Lord,
and beside me there is no savior.”
If you’ll remember from earlier, the second section of
Isaiah is addressed to the nation of Israel prophetically as they will be in
the Babylonian captivity. But from that
bondage God promised salvation. It’s for
this reason that Cyrus, the King of Persia, is called the Lord’s anointed (Is.
45:1). “The king’s heart is in the hand
of the Lord” and God moved Cyrus to release Israel from their bondage, fully
funding their trip back to the land and their rebuilding of the temple, the
city, and the walls.
But there is an even grander salvation that is envisioned in
Isaiah’s prophecy – not only a return to the land, but a creation of a new
heavens and new earth. Israel will be
the head of the nations and the curse from Adam and Eve will greatly diminished. People who die at the age of 100 will be
considered children. Lions will lay down
with lambs. It will be a time of
unprecedented peace for Israel. But not
only for Israel, but also for the whole world.
In that coming day Egypt will be called “God’s people” and Assyria will
be called “the work of God’s hands.”
“The earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters
cover the sea.” And this is another
important theme in Isaiah – not only will God send someone to gather the nation
of Israel, but that person will be “a light for the nations that [he] should be
[God’s] salvation to the ends of the earth” (Isaiah 49:6).
And this leads us to another striking feature of Isaiah,
specifically the later section. Without this
theme what we have said so far would be like the outer perimeter of a puzzle
with nothing in the middle. We have seen
God’s exclusivity and His justice. All
must give an account to Him and all are guilty before Him. Even the executors of His judgment and the
instruments of His mercy stand guilty before God. And yet there is a time of peace and blessing
among all the nations. What
happens? Enter the Servant of the Lord. Isaiah has these famous portions, called
Servant Songs. These are descriptions
about the person and work of the messiah, written 700 years before His
advent. They can be found in chapters
42, 49, 50, 53 and 61. They describe Him
as the servant who will come to bring about the spiritual reformation that is
necessary to put the nation in a position to receive God’s salvation. These Servant Songs climax in Isaiah 53 where
we discover that not only does the messiah preach peace, but He Himself
provides the basis for that peace by offering Himself as an atonement for
sin.
This is the LORD – the only God, the just God, and the
savior God. As you read through Isaiah,
preferably in one sitting, pay attention to the characteristics of God that are
described there. Do so in an attitude of
prayer, trusting the Holy Spirit to show you “the sufferings of Christ and the
glories which should follow” (1 Pet. 1:11).
You will not come away disappointed.
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