Isaiah
Indictment of Israel
The Lord now stands ready to answer those who were not asking and to be found by those who were not searching (v. 1). He has reached out to stubborn and sinful people going their own way (v. 2), but they rejected him and continued in sin (vv. 3-5). God will not forget and will one day …
Consultation With Isaiah
Horrified by the demands of the Assyrians, King Hezekiah “rent his clothes” and “went into the house of the Lord” (v. 1). Hezekiah realized that only God could intervene to spare them. He sent leaders to Isaiah for consultation and to inform him of the situation (vv. 2-4). In contrast to …
Woes That Isaiah Pronounced on Judah
In this passage Isaiah pronounces a sixfold woe upon the sins of the nation of Judah: Exploiting others (vv. 8-10) – By foreclosing mortgages, the wealthy land owners acquired all the time adjoining land to form huge estates. Drunkenness (vv. 11-17) – He describes peopl …
Mission of the Servant
In this passage we find the first of four “Servant Songs” in Isaiah, referring to God’s servant (vv. 1-9). The “servant” is Christ Jesus Himself (v. 1). As God’s Servant, Jesus did what Israel could never do. He perfectly carried out the will of the Father so that people everywhere may believe in …
Sustaining Power of God
The book of Isaiah makes a dramatic switch of emphasis at this point from judgment to restoration and deliverance. When Isaiah wrote these prophecies of restoration, Judah still had over 100 years of difficulty ahead of her before she would fall to Babylon and then be forced into 70 years of …
The Day of the Lord
In this passage, Isaiah looks ahead to the time when God’s righteous kingdom (the millennium) will be established and the temple in Jerusalem will be the center for the worldwide worship of the Lord (vv. 1-3). There will be a wonderful future of peace when instruments of war will be …
Conclusion of Hezekiah’s Reign
This passage concerns an interesting event in Hezekiah’s life. This took place before the Assyrian invasion, and it was front-line news. Imagine how the people of Judah must have reacted when they heard their king was “sick unto death” (v. 1) and at the same time the Assyrians were on the …
Vindication of the Lord
This chapter deals with the overthrow of Babylon. Just as prophets, priests and kings were anointed by God to perform His special service, so Cyrus was anointed by God to perform his special service for Israel’s sake. The word “anointed” is the same term used to describe the relationship of Israel’s …
Christ Coming to Honor Israel
Jesus will have a two-fold ministry (vv. 1-3). In His First Coming, He will minister providing salvation and grace. In His Second Coming, He will provide judgment to the unbelievers and provide a second opportunity to the Jews. All of God’s promises to Israel will be fulfilled to the …
Judgment of Ethiopia
The prophet now turns his attention to the land of Ethiopia (Cush). Cush was a land that included modern Ethiopia, the Sudan and Somalia. the land shadowed with buzzing wings possibly refers to locusts and probably pictures the armies of Ethiopia. The king of Ethiopia had heard that …