Episode 25: Isaiah, the prophet of the Messiah

Isaiah is often called “the prophet of the Messiah” or even “the fifth evangelist”, because his prophecies about Christ are so clear that they seem written by a witness of his life. His book, of sixty-six chapters, is one of the most quoted in the New Testament. Isaiah prophesied in Jerusalem for about forty years, in times of political and spiritual crisis, and announced both God’s judgment and a glorious hope: the coming of a Child who would be called Mighty God, and of a Servant who would suffer for his people’s sins.

Who was Isaiah?

Isaiah, son of Amoz, lived in Jerusalem in the eighth century BC and prophesied during the reigns of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah, kings of Judah. His name, Yeshayahu, means “the Lord is salvation”, from the same root as the name of Jesus. He seems to have had access to the royal court and was an educated man with extraordinary poetic language. He was married to a woman he calls “the prophetess”, and his children received symbolic names as messages to the people.

The call: “Holy, holy, holy”

In the year King Uzziah died, Isaiah had a vision that changed his life. He saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple. Seraphim with six wings cried one to another:

“And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory.”
Isaiah 6:3

The posts of the door moved and the house was filled with smoke. Isaiah, overwhelmed by God’s holiness, cried: “Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips… for mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts.” Then a seraph took a live coal from the altar, touched his lips and said: “thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged.” Then Isaiah heard the voice of the Lord: “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” And he answered with words that have inspired missionaries in every age: “Here am I; send me” (Isaiah 6:8).

The sign of Immanuel

When King Ahaz was terrified because Syria and Israel had allied against Judah, Isaiah told him to trust God and offered him a sign. Ahaz refused, feigning piety. Then Isaiah announced that God himself would give the sign:

“Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.”
Isaiah 7:14

Immanuel means “God with us”. Matthew quotes this prophecy when narrating Jesus’ virgin birth (Matthew 1:22-23), seeing in it its full fulfilment.

“Unto us a child is born”

In dark times Isaiah announced a great light: “The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light.” That light would be the birth of a child with divine names:

“For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.”
Isaiah 9:6-7

This child would sit on David’s throne and his kingdom would have no end. Matthew notes that Jesus began to preach in precisely the region of Galilee Isaiah mentioned (Matthew 4:13-16). Isaiah also announced that “a rod out of the stem of Jesse” would come forth, on whom the Spirit of the Lord would rest, bringing a kingdom of justice and peace where the wolf would dwell with the lamb (Isaiah 11:1-9).

King Hezekiah and the deliverance of Jerusalem

In 701 BC the mighty Assyrian king Sennacherib invaded Judah, captured many fortified cities and besieged Jerusalem. His commander mocked the God of Israel. King Hezekiah spread the threatening letter before the Lord in the temple and prayed. Isaiah passed on God’s answer: the king of Assyria would not enter the city. That night the angel of the Lord struck the Assyrian camp, and Sennacherib returned to Nineveh (Isaiah 37).

Later Hezekiah fell mortally ill, and Isaiah told him he would die. Hezekiah wept and prayed, and God added fifteen years to his life. As a sign, the shadow went back ten degrees on the dial of Ahaz (Isaiah 38).

“Comfort ye my people”

From chapter 40 the tone of the book changes and announces comfort for a people who would suffer exile in Babylon: “Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God.” A voice cries in the wilderness: “Prepare ye the way of the Lord.” These words would be fulfilled in John the Baptist. These chapters contain some of the most beautiful pages on God’s greatness: “they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint” (Isaiah 40:31). They also announce Cyrus, king of Persia, as the instrument God would use to allow the exiles to return.

The suffering Servant

The heart of Isaiah’s message lies in the songs of the Servant of the Lord, especially Isaiah 52:13 to 53:12. There a Servant is described who would be despised and rejected of men, a man of sorrows, acquainted with grief, who would bear the sins of others:

“But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.”
Isaiah 53:5-6

The Servant would be brought as a lamb to the slaughter without opening his mouth, cut off out of the land of the living, make his soul an offering for sin, be numbered with the transgressors, and be with the rich in his death. But afterwards he would see the light, prolong his days and justify many. When the Ethiopian eunuch was reading this passage and asked whom the prophet meant, Philip “began at the same scripture, and preached unto him Jesus” (Acts 8:35).

Hope for all nations

Isaiah looks beyond Israel. The Servant would be “a light to the Gentiles”, so that God’s salvation might reach the end of the earth (Isaiah 49:6). Chapter 55 invites: “Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters.” And chapter 61 announces one anointed by the Spirit of the Lord to preach good tidings to the meek, bind up the brokenhearted and proclaim liberty to the captives. The book ends with a vision of new heavens and a new earth, where the voice of weeping shall be no more heard, nor the voice of crying (Isaiah 65:17-19).

Places in the story

Map of the places in this episode. Approximate locations; map data: Natural Earth (public domain).

Jerusalem: the city where Isaiah lived and prophesied, and where he had his vision in the temple.

The pool of Siloam and Hezekiah’s tunnel: Hezekiah built a tunnel over 500 metres long to bring water into the city in the face of the Assyrian siege (2 Kings 20:20). The tunnel can still be walked through, and in 1880 the Siloam inscription describing its construction was found in it.

Lachish: a city of Judah conquered by Sennacherib; the reliefs of its siege are displayed in the British Museum.

Interesting facts

The Great Isaiah Scroll: found in 1947 among the Dead Sea Scrolls at Qumran, it is a complete manuscript of the book copied around the second century BC, over a thousand years older than the manuscripts known until then. Today it is displayed in the Shrine of the Book in Jerusalem.

A miniature Bible: Isaiah has 66 chapters, as the Bible has 66 books; many note that its first 39 chapters speak more of judgment and the last 27 of comfort, like the 39 books of the Old Testament and the 27 of the New.

Jesus in Nazareth: at the start of his ministry Jesus read Isaiah 61:1-2 in the synagogue and said: “This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears” (Luke 4:21).

Hezekiah’s seal: in 2015 a seal impression bearing King Hezekiah’s name was found in Jerusalem.

A tradition about his death: according to an ancient Jewish tradition, Isaiah was sawn in two under King Manasseh; many link this to Hebrews 11:37.

Lessons for our lives

God’s holiness humbles and transforms us. God cleanses those who acknowledge their sin. God seeks those who will say, “Here am I.” Prayer changes history, like Hezekiah’s. Waiting on God renews our strength. Salvation is for all nations.

On the road to Jesus

No Old Testament prophet describes Jesus Christ in as much detail as Isaiah: his birth of a virgin (7:14), his divine nature (9:6), his descent from David (11:1), his forerunner in the wilderness (40:3), his ministry to the poor and brokenhearted (61:1), his silence before his accusers, his death for our sins, his burial with the rich and his resurrection (53). Isaiah’s suffering Servant is Jesus, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. “With his stripes we are healed.”

In the next episode we will meet Jeremiah, the weeping prophet, who announced a new covenant.

Prayer

Holy, holy, holy is the Lord. Like Isaiah, I acknowledge that I am a man of unclean lips. Thank you that in Jesus Christ my guilt is taken away. Thank you that he was wounded for my transgressions and by his stripes I am healed. Renew my strength as I wait on you. And today I say to you: Here am I; send me. Amen.