Isaiah

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Isaiah The Gospel of Judgment and Salvation

Approaching Isaiah •

What kind of literature is Isaiah?

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Who wrote Isaiah?

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What are the structure and themes in Isaiah?

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How does Isaiah point us to Jesus and the NT?

Approaching Isaiah •

What kind of literature is Isaiah? •

With Isaiah, we come into the final section of literature in the OT: prophecy. •

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The roots of OT prophecy are found in Moses, Samuel, and Elijah: •

Moses declared God’s Word to God’s people, recognized other prophets would come, and gave guidelines for recognizing true from false prophets (Deut 13:1-5; Deut 18:15-22)

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Samuel and Elijah both spoke to Israel’s kings as God’s representative, holding them to the Deuteronomic ideal (e.g. 1 Sam 13:8-14, 15:10-31; 1 Kings 17-18).

Their ministries set the stage for the “classical prophets”—those who addressed Israel/Judah, informed them of God’s wrath against their sin, warned them of approaching judgment, called them to repentance, and proclaimed God’s salvation for those who turn to him.

Hebrew names for the books

Hebrew arrangement and classification

English arrangement and classification


 In the beginning
 These are the names
 And he called
 In the wilderness
 These are the words

Torah
 Genesis

Exodus

Leviticus

Numbers

Deuteronomy

Law (Pentateuch) Genesis

Exodus

Leviticus

Numbers

Deuteronomy

the beginning to

c. 1400 BC


 Joshua
 Judges
 1-2 Samuel

1-2 Kings

Former prophets Joshua

Judges

1-2 Samuel

1-2 Kings

History
 Joshua

Judges

Ruth

1-2 Samuel

1-2 Kings

1-2 Chronicles


 1400-1380 BC
 1380-1050 BC

1200-1150 BC

1100-971 BC
 971-560 BC
 1010-539 BC

Ezra

Nehemiah

Esther

Poetry and Wisdom Job

Psalms

Proverbs

Ecclesiastes

Song of Songs

539-450 BC
 445-410 BC

483-474 BC
 
 
 No specific historical period covered
 


Major prophets Isaiah

Jeremiah

Lamentations

Ezekiel

Daniel

Minor prophets Hosea-Malachi


 739-530 BC
 627-580 BC
 586 BC
 593-570 BC
 605-530 BC
 
 760-460 BC

Latter prophets 
 Isaiah

Isaiah

Jeremiah

Jeremiah

Ezekiel

Ezekiel

The book of the Twelve: The book of the Twelve:

Hosea-Malachi

Hosea-Malachi 
 Praises

Job

Proverbs

Ruth

Song of Songs

The Preacher

How!

Esther

Daniel

Ezra

Nehemiah

1-2 The Words of the days

The writings Psalms

Job

Proverbs

Ruth

Song of Songs

Ecclesiastes

Lamentations

Esther

Daniel

Ezra

Nehemiah

1-2 Chronicles

Approximate dates concerned

Approximate dates (BC)

Archeological period

Before 14000

Old Stone Age
 (Paeleolithic)

Pre-cave culture

14000-8000

Middle Stone Age (Mesolithic)

Cave culture

New Stone Age (Neolithic)

Neolithic revolution: cultivation of crops and beginning of rain-based agriculture, domestication of animals, first permanent settlements

Early Bronze

invention of writing. Birth of human civilization: Egyptian Old Kingdom; Sumerian and Akkadian kingdoms in Mesopotamia; Old Canaanite culture at Ebla.

Middle Bronze

Israel’s Patriarchs

Arrival of Amorites and other ethnic groups in Mesopotamia; Old Babylonian Empire; Egyptian Middle Kingdom

Late Bronze

Egyptian bondage; birth of Moses; the Exodus; Wilderness wanderings; Israelite conquest of Canaan

International contacts and balance of power. Powerful Egyptian New Kingdom exerts influence in Syria-Palestine. Rise and fall of new Hittite Empire; Kassite control in Mesopotamia

Iron Age I

Period of the Judges; United Monarchy—Saul, David, Solomon

Invasion of the Sea Peoples and disruption of major powers. Rise of new ethnic groups, including Arameans and Israelites. Rise of Assyria.

Iron Age II

Divided Kingdom: Israel falls in 722; Judah falls in 586

Weakened Egypt. Assyria reaches greatest strength before fall in 612. Neo-Babylonian empire—Nebuchadnezzar.

Iron Age III

Return of the Jewish exiles. Ezra and Nehemiah. Building second temple and walls of Jerusalem

Cyrus captures Babylon in 539. Persian Empire.

8000-4200

3300-2000

2000-1550

1550-1200

1200-930

930-539

539-332

Israel

Ancient Near East

Approaching Isaiah •

What kind of literature is Isaiah? Prophecy •

While the OT prophets came from a wide range of backgrounds, they shared many characteristics: •

The prophets possessed hearts devoted to God.

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They possessed a strong sense of divine calling. •

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Isaiah (Isaiah 6); Jeremiah (Jer 1:4-5); Amos (Amos 7:14-15)

They were messengers from God to the people. •

The expressions “This is what the Lord says” or “thus says the Lord” occur over 350 times in the prophetic books. The prophets were not delivering their message, but God’s.

Approaching Isaiah •

What kind of literature is Isaiah? Prophecy •

Their messages involved “forthtelling.” •

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Their messages also involved “foretelling.” •

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Admonishing God’s people for their failure to maintain covenant with God, warning them about the consequences (judgment especially from the Assyrians and Babylonians), and calling them to repentance.

What legitimated the authority of the prophet was his ability to foretell the future— whether in the short term or the long term. This was a sign that God was speaking through them (e.g. 1 Kings 22:13-28).

The prophets used a wide range of techniques to deliver their messages. •

Much of the prophetic material is printed like poetry in our Bibles, signaling that the techniques we learned in reading OT poetry apply here.

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There are also parables, prose narratives, dialogues, and diatribes in these books.

Approaching Isaiah •

What kind of literature is Isaiah? Prophecy •

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There were several common themes in OT prophecy: •

Israel had covenant obligations, set forth in Deuteronomy, that they were in danger of forsaking with dire consequences.

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The Day of the Lord would come with salvation and judgment upon God’s people and the nations.

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God would deliver his people through his anointed one (messiah) who would establish righteousness and peace.

As we will see, each of these themes is characteristic of Isaiah.

Approaching Isaiah •

Who wrote Isaiah? •

One of the common places of historical-critical scholarship, developed since the end of the 18th century, is that the prophet Isaiah did not write the entire book bearing his name.

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Some suggest that there were two “Isaiahs”—the first, the actual historical biblical prophet wrote Isaiah 1-39 and some later, unidentified scribe wrote Isaiah 40-66.

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Others suggest that there were three Isaiahs: the prophet who wrote 1-39; a scribe who wrote 40-55; and a final redactor who put the book together and wrote 56-66.

Approaching Isaiah •

Who wrote Isaiah? •

Reasons for the “multiple Isaiah theory” •

The time span of the book •

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While the biblical prophet Isaiah prophesied from 740-690 BC, there is no way that he could have foreseen the rise of the Neo-Babylonian empire.

The different subject matter of 1-39 and 40-66 •

Chapters 1-39 deal with the impending threat of Assyria; chapters 40-66 focus on Babylonian empire and exile as apparent realities and speak about the remnant’s return to Palestine.

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The different vocabulary and style of 1-39 and 40-66

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The mention of King Cyrus by name in Isa 44:28 and 45:1

Approaching Isaiah •

Who wrote Isaiah? •

There are good reasons to continue to hold that the essential authorship of Isaiah for the entire book. Against the reasons for multiple authors, we’d say: •

The time span of the book •

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The whole nature of prophecy as “foretelling” is that God knows the future and reveals it to his prophets (Isa 46:7-10; Am 3:7). It is no problem to think that God told Isaiah about both Assyria and Babylon.

The different subject matter •

It is no real objection that an author writing over a long span of time would write about different subject matter.

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But many common themes do occur in both parts of Isaiah: e.g. Messiah (9:6-7, 11:1-16, 42:1-4, 52:13-53:13), servant, remnant, nations, Holy One of Israel

Approaching Isaiah •

Who wrote Isaiah? •

The different vocabulary and style •

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Those who do textual analysis have demonstrated that both parts of Isaiah use similar vocabulary.

The mention of King Cyrus by name •

Once again, if God can tell his prophets in advance what will happen, is it difficult to believe that he could tell Isaiah the name, “Cyrus”?

Approaching Isaiah •

Who wrote Isaiah? •

There are two further reasons why we would support the essential authorship of Isaiah for the entire book: •

Textual evidence of a single author •

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Evidence from the New Testament •

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There are no known copies of Isaiah that divide the book: the Isaiah text from the Dead Sea Scrolls has no break.

NT writers attribute both sections of Isaiah to the prophet (Matt 3:3; Acts 28:25; Rom 9:27-29, 10:16, 20)

So, we would say that Isaiah was the author of the entire book bearing his name.

Approaching Isaiah •

Who wrote Isaiah? •

So, who was Isaiah, then? •

Isaiah was the “son of Amoz” (1:1), apparently a lifelong resident of Jerusalem.

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He was married to a prophetess and had at least two sons (7:3; 8:3)

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He began his ministry the year that King Uzziah died (6:1; 740 BC) and continued through the reigns of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah (1:1). •

He probably continued to live into the reign of Manasseh (696-642 BC) because he reported the death of Sennacherib (681 BC) in 37:38.

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The tradition held that Isaiah was sawed in half during Mannaseh’s reign (cf. Heb 11:37).

Approaching Isaiah •

What are the structure and themes in Isaiah? •

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God is the Holy One of Israel •

Isaiah’s call to prophesy given by the Holy One (6:1-13)

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“the Holy one of Israel”—Isaiah’s favorite designation showing up 25 times in this book (only 6 times elsewhere in OT); e.g., 1:4; 5:19; 12:6; 30:11-12; 40:25; 41:14, 16, 20; 54:5; 60:9.

God is the Savior and Redeemer •

Because God was holy, he would not abandon Israel but he would be her savior and redeemer (41:14, 43:3, 14; 47:4; 54:5)

Approaching Isaiah •

What are the structure and themes in Isaiah? •

God will rescue his remnant •

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God will send the Servant of the Lord •

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Though God will bring judgment upon his people (1:8-9; 6:13), he will bring new life and save a remnant of his people (4:2-3; 11:1-16). The result will be that the nations will come to him.

God will send his Servant (42; 49; 50; 53) who will remake Israel into his Servant (41:8-9; 44:1-2, 21; 45:4; 48:20; 49:3-6) to bless the nations

God is the Ruler over history and will accomplish his purpose for his own glory. •

God is the one orchestrating history so that new life might come and glory would result (41:21-24; 46:8-10)

Approaching Isaiah •

What are the structure and themes in Isaiah? •

Isaiah unpacks these themes by linking together salvation and judgment: •

Whereas Isaiah 1-35 emphasizes judgment, without neglecting salvation, Isaiah 40-66 emphasizes salvation, without neglecting judgment.

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Isaiah 36-39 serve as a historical bridge between the two parts—both because judgment and salvation are illustrated and because there will be a transition from Assyria to Babylon.

Approaching Isaiah •

How does Isaiah point us to Jesus and the NT? •

John the Baptist: the voice crying in the wilderness (40:3; Matt 3:3)

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The virgin birth of Immanuel (7:14; Matt 1:23)

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The hardness of heart paralleled between Isaiah and Jesus’ generations (6:9-10; Matt 13:13-15, 15:7-9; John 12:39-40)

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Jesus’ rejection and suffering (53:1; John 12:38; Acts 8:27-33)

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The mission to the Gentiles (9:1-2; Matt 4:13-16)

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The anointed one declaring Jubilee (61:1-3; Luke 4:14-21)

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The glory of Jesus was the glory of YHWH (6:1-3; John 12:41)

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The promise of new heavens and new earth (65:17-66:24; 2 Pet 3:13; Rev 21-22)