Isaiah 1: Introductory Prophecies: Chapter 1: Introduction to Isaiah

Isaiah’s prophecies are divided into two large sections: Isaiah 1-39 and Isaiah 40-66. The first section focuses on the decline and fall of the kingdom of Israel through the failure of men. The second section focuses on the restoration and reconstruction of the Kingdom through the power of the Holy Spirit.

Theologians often refer to these two sections as First and Second Isaiah, as if they were written by two different authors. However, the structure of the book shows that they were meant to be two halves of a single book. As with so many other books of the Bible, Isaiah is written in a Hebrew parallelism, or chiasm, as Dr. Bullinger shows us in his introductory notes.

A Exhortations (1:2 – 5:30)

B The Voice from the Temple (6:1-13)

C Historic Events and Prophecies (Ahaz) (7:1 – 12:6)

D Burdens of the Nations (13:1 – 27:13)

D₁ Woes of the Nations (28:1 – 35:10)

C₁ Historic Events and Prophecies (Hezekiah) (36:1 – 39:8)

B₁ The Voice from the Wilderness (40:1-11)

A₁  Exhortations (40:12 – 66:24)

As anyone can see, the parallelism would be incomplete without the final B₁ and A₁.

Isaiah’s World

Isaiah lived in a time that saw the destruction of Samaria and the kingdom of Israel and the deportation of the Israelites into Assyria. He was in Jerusalem when the Assyrians came again to try to conquer Judah. The Assyrian army was destroyed by the angel of God (Isaiah 37:36), thus sparing the kingdom of Judah for another century.

However, a century later, God raised up Babylon to conquer Jerusalem and remove the people to Babylon for 70 years.

Most Christians focus so much on the story of Judah that they forget the story of Israel. Somehow Judah and Israel become one in their minds, and this is the source of much prophetic confusion that exists in the church today. When the prophets speak of Israel, many Christians think in terms of the Jews (i.e., “Judah”), and so their minds associate these prophecies with the modern Jewish state which they named Israel in order to perpetuate that confusion.

The prophets, however, never confuse the two after Israel and Judah split into two nations. During the United Kingdom of Israel, the term Israel referred to all the tribes. But after the split, during the Divided Kingdom, the term Israel was used by the prophets to distinguish it from Judah, except when they were contemplating the repair of the breach and the future reunification of the two nations.

Knowing the difference between Israel and Judah is one of the foremost keys to understanding Bible prophecy. Most Christians, however, do not understand this difference, and so they remain in a state of confusion and are misguided by many prophecy teachers today who assume that the Jews are the Israelites and that the state of Israel is the reconstruction of ancient Israel. Yet the “lost tribes of Israel” remain lost, at least to those who have not studied history. They remain lost because they lost their name Israel.

Isaiah himself knew the difference, as we will see from his prophecies. He lived in the time of the Divided Kingdom, when all of the people knew the difference between a Jew and an Israelite. But if we do not know what Isaiah knew, we will never truly understand Isaiah, because we will be using different definitions of his terminology.

Isaiah prophesied in the years of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, who were kings of Judah. Uzziah of Judah was the contemporary of King Jeroboam II of Israel, during whose reign the great earthquake occurred (Amos 1:1). This earthquake greatly weakened Israel and caused a 24-year disruption of the monarchy in Israel.

Finally, some of the more powerful warlords in Israel took the throne, ruling for short periods of time. During the time when Pekah ruled Israel, Jotham, son of Uzziah reigned in Judah. Jotham’s son, Ahaz, ruled during the final years of Pekah in Israel and into the time of Hoshea, the last king of Israel.

Hezekiah, son of Ahaz, came to the throne of Judah in the third year of Hoshea, king of Israel (2 Kings 18:1). Hezekiah had ruled just four years in Jerusalem when the Assyrians laid siege to Samaria and conquered it after three years (2 Kings 18:10). Isaiah was still prophesying during this time, although he was living in Judah. Hence, he was not directly affected by the downfall of Israel. Isaiah was said to have been martyred by Hezekiah’s son, Manasseh.

This turbulent time in Israel’s history was when Isaiah prophesied, bearing witness to the word of the Lord. Because Hezekiah was a good king, the life of the kingdom of Judah was extended, even as Hezekiah’s own life was extended 15 years (Isaiah 38:5).

The Two Mandates Reunited

Though Isaiah was from Judah, most of his prophecies concerned the northern House of Israel, which carried the birthright of Joseph (1 Chron. 5:1, 2). When Israel was destroyed and the people deported to Assyria, the birthright appeared to be lost as well. Isaiah, however, gave hope, prophesying the restoration of the birthright and its Fruitfulness Mandate, which was the authority (the right) to bring forth the sons of God.

The division of the kingdom split Judah’s Dominion Mandate from Joseph’s Fruitfulness Mandate, ensuring that the sons of God would not be manifested in the earth for a very long time—except, of course, for individual overcomers in a limited way. The manner in which the two Mandates are reunited begins to be clarified in the New Testament, but only those who have eyes to see will comprehend this.

Isaiah’s prophecy gives many such foundational truths, which the New Testament writers—the Apostle Paul especially—draw upon in constructing Christian teaching. These things we will study as we proceed.

Isaiah’s Calling

Isaiah’s name is a shortened version of the Hebrew, Yesha yahu, “Yahweh Saves.” So his primary message was to tell Israel, as Paul put it, “all Israel will be saved” (Rom. 11:26). Paul then quotes Isaiah 45:25 in support of this statement. Paul’s quotation was part of a longer passage in Isaiah 45:22-25,

²² Turn to Me and be saved, all the ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is no other. ²³ I have sworn by Myself, the word has gone forth from My mouth in righteousness and will not turn back, that to Me every knee will bow, every tongue will swear allegiance. ²⁴ They will say of Me, “Only in the Lord are righteousness and strength.” Men will come to Him, and all who were angry at Him will be put to shame. ²⁵ In the Lord all the offspring of Israel will be justified and will glory.

More than any other passage, this encapsulated Isaiah’s message and gave hope through the New Covenant vow of God Himself. Because of God’s “righteousness,” He will keep His word. Because of God’s “strength,” He is able to keep His word in spite of all opposition. These two key concepts are the reason for the success of the New Covenant.

Most Christians today misunderstand the nature of the covenants. They are told that the Old Covenant is conditional and the New Covenant is unconditional. Yet both covenants are conditional. The Old Covenant is conditional upon man’s obedience; the New Covenant is conditional upon God’s will and ability to keep His oath.

The usual Christian concept of salvation today is essentially that it is based upon a conditional covenant—the Old Covenant. Why? Because the promises of God have no effect apart from man’s will. Since most men will not respond during their lifetime, it is assumed that death is the great deadline for salvation. Hence, only a tiny number of people seem to be saved through this Old Covenant method.

On the other hand, the New Covenant places the responsibility upon God Himself to save anyone and everyone. He did not merely vow to make it possible for us to fulfill our Old Covenant vows. No, God made a vow to save all mankind, and this vow is empowered by His strength and ability to fulfill it in righteousness. “Every knee will bow.” “Every tongue will swear allegiance.”

When? Obviously, most people will bow and confess Christ at the Great White Throne judgment after they have been raised from the dead in the general resurrection. Hence, death is not a deadline for salvation; it is only a deadline to qualify as an overcomer who will be raised in the first resurrection and thereby receive “eternal life” (i.e., aionian life in the Millennial Age).

It is only because “God is able” that we may have confidence in the New Covenant, for it is based wholly on the sovereignty of God. In fact, using the principle of Equidistant Letter Spacing, if we begin with the first yod in Gen. 1:1, every 521^st letter thereafter spells in Hebrew, Yeshua is able. Hence, God’s sovereignty, i.e., God’s ability to accomplish His will, is one of the earliest and most fundamental principles built into the Scriptures.

Whereas the ELS in Genesis sets forth Yeshua’s strength and ability in creation, the New Covenant oath in Isaiah 45 sets forth Yeshua’s strength and ability to save not only Israel but “all the ends of the earth.” In other words, in spite of all the sin, all the rebellion, and, yes, even in spite of all the divine judgments, God is still able to swear an oath that “every knee will bow, every tongue will swear allegiance.”

In other words, He is able to save and restore all that He created in Gen. 1:1. The ELS of 521 that begins with the first yod in Gen. 1:1 also puts Yeshua-Jesus into the picture “in the beginning.” John 1:2 confirms this, telling us that Christ, the Logos, “was in the beginning with God.” This establishes Christ’s pre-existence.

The Significance of Isaiah’s Name

The prophet Isaiah was a type of Christ, even bearing His name and its Hebrew meaning. His book of prophecies shows forth Christ’s judgments upon Israel on account of its sin as well as Christ’s ability to restore the nation on account of the righteousness of God. The prophet was simply a spokesman, a mouthpiece through whom Christ spoke judgment and salvation.

It is obvious, then, that the judgment was temporary and corrective in nature. Judgment came upon them for violating their vow at Mount Horeb (Exodus 19:8), a vow which we call the Old Covenant. Being unable to fulfill their vow, they were judged. But God too made a vow, which we know as the New Covenant, first with Noah (Gen. 9:9, 12), later with Abraham (Gen. 12:2, 3), and still later with Moses (Deut. 29:12-15) at the end of Israel’s wilderness journey—a covenant which Joshua (Yeshua) was commissioned to implement (Deut. 31:23).

A spokesman is essentially an agent. So we may call Isaiah the agent of Christ. A good agent does not speak on his own initiative. He speaks only what he hears from another. We call it “inspiration,” and this is why we believe that all Scripture is inspired (2 Tim. 3:16). Just as Christ was His Father’s Agent, so also was Isaiah the agent of Christ. In fact, all who are inspired by the Holy Spirit are agents of Christ, commissioned as ambassadors of the Kingdom.

Isaiah’s salvation message was founded on the New Covenant, even though he was a prophet in a time when the Old Covenant dominated. But as we have seen, the New Covenant actually preceded the Old Covenant, being clearly set forth to both Noah and Abraham.

Hence, as Paul tells us in Gal. 3:17, the New Covenant promises to Abraham could not be invalidated by the Mosaic covenant that came 430 years later in the time of Moses. No, the New Covenant has greater authority and the power to limit the jurisdiction of the Old Covenant.