Theological Message of Isaiah

INTRODUCTION

            The book of Isaiah begins by telling the reader that it is a vision that was given to Isaiah the son of Amoz. It tells the reader that the vision concerns Judah and Jerusalem during the reign of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah. He calls heaven and earth to hear and to witness the trial, “For the Lord has spoken.” Parallelism is then used as a literary technique to show how ungrateful and rebellious Israel has been. “The ox knows its owner And the donkey its masters crib; But Israel does not know, My people do not consider” (Isaiah 1:3). He proceeds to condemn the peoples pride and arrogance, and to proclaim that the Lord will be exalted.

            The year that Uzziah died which was 740 B.C. Isaiah beheld the glory of the Lord in all his majesty. Isaiah cried out, “Woe is me, for I am undone!” Beholding Gods exaltation brought to Isaiah the full reality of the sinful condition of himself and the people. A seraphim flew to Isaiah and touched his mouth with a live coal which took his iniquity away, and purged his sin. At this point he heard the voice of the Lord asked, “Whom shall I send, And who will go for us” (Isaiah 6: 8a)? Isaiah answered, “Here am I! Send me.” It is at this point that he received his commission.

 The theme of Isaiah would be that God is Holy and Exalted, and he will judge the proud, but the humble will be saved. This is a bit simplistic for a book that is so deep and profound with its poetry that brings forth the depth of feeling, but it is the essence of the book. God is above all. There is none greater, but even though God is “I AM” he is concerned about man. God had a covenant with Israel, and he would uphold His end of it. “Together, the portrayal of Yahweh as king, and the affirmation of the world wide extent of His glory constitute a claim for the sole sovereignty of Yahweh.”[1]

THE HOLINESS OF GOD

            J.J.M. Roberts focuses on the holiness of God which is upheld throughout the book of Isaiah and throughout the Bible. The visual that is given at the beginning of chapter 6 is a majestic vision of God in all His holiness. The sight of His robe filling the temple, and the sound of  the seraphim crying “Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord of host” would give one a feeling of awe, and would certainly make one aware of how unclean he was. The people would hear and see, but not understand or perceive, and Isaiah’s question was, “Lord, How long?”  Babylon would invade, and lay everything waste. Only a remnant would remain.

            The book of Isaiah displays Gods holiness, but it also shows the response of the people to His holiness. The people were laden with iniquity. They had forsaken Him, and provoked God to anger. The analysis of God’s holiness allows the reader to understand why the reaction of the people was beyond unacceptable. The people would either be humble or rebellious and gain salvation or judgement. This is a theme that runs through Isaiah. Much like the theme of Judges the reader begins to see the pattern of people worshipping idols and living in disobedience to God until things get so bad they call on God and change their ways, and God would send a judge to save them, and for a while they would walk with God, and then off they would go again. This is repeated through the book of Judges. In Isaiah God tells them to seek Him and live and to love  good and not evil. Isaiah 55:6-7 says, “Seek the Lord while he may be found; call on him while he is near. Let the wicked forsake their ways and the unrighteous their thoughts. Let them turn to the Lord, and he will have mercy on them, to our God for he will freely pardon.”

THEMES

Barry G. Webb finds passages in chapter 6 and 40 significant because Isaiah is called into Gods presence to receive a commission. The first was to judgement and the second to comfort. “The first has to do with the discipline that is brought to bear on the people of Judah and Jerusalem…Out of this scourging process there emerges, by the end of the book, a group of people who are truly repentant.”[2] God is Holy, and Webb asked how can a holy God forgive the sinner without compromising his holiness? “Forgiveness is possible only when atonement is made, and atonement is provided by God himself,”[3] The reader sees Christ in Isaiah 9:6. In this Scripture we see his humanity through his birth and his deity in the names Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father and Prince of Peace. His kingdom will be eternal.

Isaiah 50:6 presents the suffering of Jesus. He was pure, and all of the sins of the world were laid on Him. That would be horrible. We can appreciate how awful it would be to be falsely accused, but to be pure and have all the filth of the sins of the world placed on him, and to be separated from His Father. The shame, the humiliation, the horror of the situation is beyond our ability to understand the price that was paid for us. The price of love.

In Isaiah 61:1-2 we see the servant say, “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me” (Isaiah 61:1). Christ read these scriptures in the synagogue and then said, “Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing” (Luke 4:21).  This gives the idea that Christ related with these Scriptures as pertaining to His ministry.  

In Isaiah 52:13-53:12 we see the sin bearing servant. The interpretation is much different from Jews to Christians although in both translations the Messiah is evident. “Judaism interpreted Isaiah 53 to refer to an exalted Messiah who delivers a suffering Israel.”[4] John N. Oswalt points out that throughout Isaiah there is a “pairing of opposites” such as judgement and hope, and servanthood and kingdom. Trust and rebellion, arrogance, and humiliation. Other important themes are the uniqueness of Yahweh, righteousness, and the nations.”[5]

Who would the people put their trust in? They would put their trust in wealth and beauty. They were willing to put their trust in anything, but the living God. God would send the Assyrians against them, and they would find that their gods failed them, because they were powerless. There only hope lay in God. He was their source of total supply. All the things they had trusted in were bound to fail. Only God was all powerful and exalted. Their trust needed to be in the God that loved them and would fight for them. Like Peter when he was walking on the water, they had their eyes on everything around them instead of on God. When our eyes are no longer focused on our source we quickly lose ground. “Reliance upon his promises, quiet, confident trust in his word was the key to rest, security and well being (7:9; 28:12, 16; 30:15).”[6] Roberts points out that the only way back for them was the purging of judgement. Yahweh tried to bring them back, but they would have it their own way which meant they would have to walk through the fire to be able to find their way back.

CONCLUSION

            Isaiah must be treated as a whole, and not pieces. If we are to accept Isaiah 1:1 as a fact there is no doubt about the author and the time period. If we accept the idea of several authors the book loses some of its potency. The main theme of the book of Isaiah is that God is holy and is the creator of all things. He will judge the proud and save the humble.

[1] Roberts, J J M. 1982. "Isaiah in Old Testament theology." Interpretation 36, no. 2: 130-143. ATLA Religion   Database with ATLASerials, EBSCOhost (accessed December 14, 2016).

[2] Barry G, Webb. The Message of Isaiah. (Downer Grove, Illinois: IVP Academic, 1996), 31.

[3] Ibid., 32.

[4] Darrel L. Bock and Mitch Glaser. The Gospel According to Isaiah 53. (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Kregel Academic, 2012), 172-173.

[5] John N. Oswalt. Isaiah: The NIV Application Commentary.  (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan, 2003), 42.

[6] Roberts, J J M. 1982. "Isaiah in Old Testament theology." Interpretation 36, no. 2: 130-143. ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials, EBSCOhost (accessed December 14, 2016).