THE BOOK OF ISAIAH
The Man, The Times, And The Book
Isaiah is often referred to as
“The Messianic Prophet”,
because of his many prophecies that werefulfilled in Jesus. The New Testament quotes and applies more scriptures from the book of Isaiah thanany other Old Testament prophet.Yet Isaiah’s work was not solely foretelling the future. A prophet of God was not primarily a futureteller, but one who spoke God’s word to the people of his own day. The word
“prophet”
literallymeans “to boil up like a fountain.” Therefore a prophet was
a spokesman
for God; not so much a“foreteller” as a “forth teller”!Isaiah was God’s spokesman to
Judah
and
Jerusalem
at time when the nation was immersed in sin.He spoke God’s indictment against their sins, urging them to repent. He then foretold destruction uponthem if they did not return to God.In the midst of these dire warnings, Isaiah also foretold of a bright future with the coming Messiah. Godwould not forget His covenant made to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and David. He would spare a remnantof the nation of Israel out of which would come the Messiah and His new kingdom.
ISAIAH, THE MAN
His name (Isaiah) means
“salvation of the Lord”
or
“the Lord is salvation”
, and is certainlysymbolic of his message. He is described as “the son of Amoz” (
Isa 1:1; 2:1; 13:1
), of whom theBible reveals nothing. He was married and had two sons,
Shear-Jashub
(“the remnant shall return”,
Isa 7:3
) and
Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz
(“in-speed-spoil-booty-hastens”,
Isa 8:3
), whose names alsosymbolized his message.Tradition says that Amoz was a brother of Amaziah, the son of Joash, king of Judah (
2 Kin 14:1
). Thiswould make Isaiah a close relative to those who were kings during his lifetime, and would explain hisclose association with kings and priests and involvement with world affairs.Isaiah received his visions in the days of “Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah” (
Isa1:1
). It is generally thought the vision of the throne scene which occurred “in the year Uzziah died” (
Isa6:1
) was the beginning point of his ministry as a prophet (ca.
739 B.C.
). According to Jewish tradition,Isaiah was executed by Manasseh only a few years after he ascended the throne. One source describesIsaiah as having been sawn asunder with a wooden saw (cf.
He 11:37
). This would mean Isaiahprophesied during a period of approximately fifty years (ca.
739-690 B.C.
).
ISAIAH, THE TIMES
It was a time of great political turmoil for the nation of Judah. Assyria was expanding its empire,attacking Israel and Syria to the north. When Judah refused to joined a coalition with Israel and Syriato resist Assyria, Judah was attacked by Israel and Syria in retaliation. As Judah seriously considered
Mark A. CopelandThe Book Of Isaiah3
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