The book of Isaiah is a book of prophesies revealed to the prophet Isaiah in a vision, which covers both the future of Israel in the day the book was written, but also the future to come, embracing events affecting the whole world.
Most significantly it foretells the coming of Christ into the world and his vital role in bringing new life into mankind, building a relationship between him and the whole world. He is foretold as becoming the future King of Israel, setting up a kingdom on earth, reigning supreme, but embracing the whole of the Christian kingdom, termed the bride of Christ in the New Testament.
The book of Isaiah has often been called the Gospel of the Old Testament, foretelling many events that are recorded in the Gospels of the New Testament. It portrays the wonderful way God will vindicate the Israelites, embracing the church as well, through Jesus’ death on a cross, to pay the penalty of sin for mankind bringing both Jew and Gentiles together. It gives the whole world the choice of becoming part of Gods kingdom, through asking God for forgiveness, and allowing the Lord to be their master and guide.
At the time Isaiah wrote this book, Israel had failed miserably in keeping the laws and ordinances God, laid down through Moses. By and through Isaiah God revealed to Israel that he would no longer protect them from the warring nations around about. They would be over taken and becoming refuges in Babylon, living for 70 years in exile, with a nation that had no time for God. As a God of mercy he would in due course change the heart of Babylon and allow them to return to their country and rebuild it, and once again make God their Sovereign leader.
Lets take a brief look at some of the chapters in Isaiah, and highlight some of the events God foretold through Isaiah .
These following verses are often quoted over the Christmas period, foretelling Jesus’ birth.
Isaiah 7:14 reads: Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel. Then again in Isaiah 9:6 to 7. For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. 7:Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David's throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the LORD Almighty will accomplish this.
Isaiah then describes the work of Jesus while on earth as a babe, and then goes on to tell us how life will be when He comes back to earth with His church, and sets up his kingdom for a thousand years. Isaiah 11:1 to 12:A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit. 2:The Spirit of the LORD will rest on him - the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of power, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD -3:and he will delight in the fear of the LORD. He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes, or decide by what he hears with his ears; 4:but with righteousness he will judge the needy, with justice he will give decisions for the poor of the earth. He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth; with the breath of his lips he will slay the wicked. 5:Righteousness will be his belt and faithfulness the sash round his waist. 6:The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat, the calf and the lion and the yearling together; and a little child will lead them. 7:The cow will feed with the bear, their young will lie down together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox. 8:The infant will play near the hole of the cobra, and the young child put his hand into the viper's nest. 9:They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain, for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea. 10:In that day the Root of Jesse will stand as a banner for the peoples; the nations will rally to him, and his place of rest will be glorious. 11:In that day the Lord will reach out his hand a second time to reclaim the remnant that is left of his people from Assyria, from Lower Egypt, from Upper Egypt, from Cush, from Elam, from Babylonia, from Hamath and from the islands of the sea. 12:He will raise a banner for the nations and gather the exiles of Israel; he will assemble the scattered people of Judah from the four quarters of the earth.
In Isaiah 42:1 to 9 Isaiah continues to prophesy over the life of Jesus on the earth. It reads - "Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen one in whom I delight; I will put my Spirit on him and he will bring justice to the nations. 2:He will not shout or cry out, or raise his voice in the streets. 3:A bruised reed he will not break, and a smouldering wick he will not snuff out. In faithfulness he will bring forth justice; 4:he will not falter or be discouraged till he establishes justice on earth. In his law the islands will put their hope." 5:This is what God the LORD says - he who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spread out the earth and all that comes out of it, who gives breath to its people, and life to those who walk on it: 6:"I, the LORD, have called you in righteousness; I will take hold of your hand. I will keep you and will make you to be a covenant for the people and a light for the Gentiles, 7:to open eyes that are blind, to free captives from prison and to release from the dungeon those who sit in darkness. 8:"I am the LORD; that is my name! I will not give my glory to another or my praise to idols. 9:See, the former things have taken place, and new things I declare; before they spring into being I announce them to you."
The fruits and blessings of Jesus’ ministry by the Holy Spirits, are described in Isaiah 61:1 to 11:The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me, because the LORD has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, 2:to proclaim the year of the LORD'S favour and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, 3:and provide for those who grieve in Zion - to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the LORD for the display of his splendour. 4:They will rebuild the ancient ruins and restore the places long devastated; they will renew the ruined cities that have been devastated for generations. 5:Aliens will shepherd your flocks; foreigners will work your fields and vineyards. 6:And you will be called priests of the LORD, you will be named ministers of our God. You will feed on the wealth of nations, and in their riches you will boast. 7:Instead of their shame my people will receive a double portion, and instead of disgrace they will rejoice in their inheritance; and so they will inherit a double portion in their land, and everlasting joy will be theirs. 8:"For I, the LORD, love justice; I hate robbery and iniquity. In my faithfulness I will reward them and make an everlasting covenant with them. 9:Their descendants will be known among the nations and their offspring among the peoples. All who see them will acknowledge that they are a people the LORD has blessed." 10:I delight greatly in the LORD; my soul rejoices in my God. For he has clothed me with garments of salvation and arrayed me in a robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom adorns his head like a priest, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels. 11:For as the soil makes the young plant come up and a garden causes seeds to grow, so the Sovereign LORD will make righteousness and praise spring up before all nations.
The central work of Jesus by dying on the cross, in winning us back to Himself, is vividly prophesied in Isaiah 53: 1 to 12- it reads - Who has believed our message and to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed? 2:He grew up before him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground. He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him. 3:He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. 4:Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted. 5:But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. 6:We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all. 7:He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth. 8:By oppression and judgment he was taken away. And who can speak of his descendants? For he was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgression of my people he was stricken. 9:He was assigned a grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death, though he had done no violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth. 10:Yet it was the LORD'S will to crush him and cause him to suffer, and though the LORD makes his life a guilt offering, he will see his offspring and prolong his days, and the will of the LORD will prosper in his hand. 11:After the suffering of his soul, he will see the light [of life] and be satisfied; by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many, and he will bear their iniquities. 12:Therefore I will give him a portion among the great, and he will divide the spoils with the strong, because he poured out his life unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors. For he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.
Isaiah continues to describe God's plans after this age is ended in Isaiah 65:17 to 25:and then goes on to tell us how life will be on the earth when He comes back, with His church and sets up his kingdom for a thousand years. It reads - "Behold, I will create new heavens and a new earth. The former things will not be remembered, nor will they come to mind. 18:But be glad and rejoice forever in what I will create, for I will create Jerusalem to be a delight and its people a joy. 19:I will rejoice over Jerusalem and take delight in my people; the sound of weeping and of crying will be heard in it no more. 20:"Never again will there be in it an infant who lives but a few days, or an old man who does not live out his years; he who dies at a hundred will be thought a mere youth; he who fails to reach a hundred will be considered accursed. 21:They will build houses and dwell in them; they will plant vineyards and eat their fruit. 22:No longer will they build houses and others live in them, or plant and others eat. For as the days of a tree, so will be the days of my people; my chosen ones will long enjoy the works of their hands. 23:They will not toil in vain or bear children doomed to misfortune; for they will be a people blessed by the LORD, they and their descendants with them. 24:Before they call I will answer; while they are still speaking I will hear.25:The wolf and the lamb will feed together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox, but dust will be the serpent's food. They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain," says the LORD.
In the final chapter Isaiah 66: 15 & 16 Isaiah prophesies again what will happen shortly after the thousand years, when He finally sets up His new kingdom.
Isaiah 66:15 & 16 See, the LORD is coming with fire, and his chariots are like a whirlwind; he will bring down his anger with fury, and his rebuke with flames of fire. 16:For with fire and with his sword the LORD will execute judgment upon all men, and many will be those slain by the LORD.
As we reflect on the prophesy of Isaiah, let us take heed to what the Lord said to the apostle John in the last book of the Bible, Revelations Chapters 20:11 to 15 and Chapter 21:1 to 5
Revelations 20:11 Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. Earth and sky fled from his presence, and there was no place for them. 12:And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books. 13:The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to what he had done. 14:Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death. 15:If anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.
Revelations 21:1:Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. 2:I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. 3:And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. 4:He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away." 5:He who was seated on the throne said, "I am making everything new!" Then he said, "Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true."
Lets make sure our name is written in the Lambs Book of Life.
Further studies to this book will be given at a later date.
