Where it fits

Isaiah is the 23rd book of the Bible, with 66 chapters, and it opens the section of the Major Prophets. Isaiah lived in Jerusalem in the 700s BC, during the reigns of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah (1:1), when Assyria was rising and threatening Judah. Read straight through, it takes about three hours.

The prophet and his message

Isaiah was called in a vision of the LORD enthroned in the temple, with angels calling “Holy, holy, holy.” Overwhelmed by his own unworthiness, Isaiah is cleansed by a burning coal, and when God asks who will go, he answers, “Here I am. Send me” (6:1–8). His message is that God is holy, that Judah's injustice and empty religion are an offense to him (1:11–17), and that judgment is coming. But he never speaks only of judgment. A remnant will return, and a king will come.

The book falls into three parts. Chapters 1 to 39 speak to Isaiah's own time, with warnings of judgment on Judah and the nations, promises of a coming king (7:14; 9:6–7; 11:1–9), and an account of Jerusalem's rescue from Assyria under Hezekiah (36–37). Chapters 40 to 55 speak to a people in exile in Babylon. They offer comfort (40:1), mock idols, and promise return, naming Cyrus as God's instrument (44:28; 45:1). They also include four Servant Songs about a faithful servant who suffers for others (42:1–9; 49:1–6; 50:4–9; 52:13–53:12). Chapters 56 to 66 deal with life after the return, with calls for justice and true fasting (58) and a promise of new heavens and a new earth (65:17–25). Many scholars think chapters 40 to 66 come from the exile or later, while others hold to a single author.

Three ideas to hold on to

1. God is holy, and he is also near. Isaiah sees God high and lifted up (6:1), yet God also dwells with those who are humble and contrite (57:15).
2. God cares about justice, not just worship. God is tired of empty sacrifices and calls his people to seek justice, rescue the oppressed, and defend the orphan and the widow (1:11–17).
3. God will comfort and restore. The second half opens with “Comfort, comfort my people” (40:1) and a God who gathers his people like a shepherd (40:11).

Passages people ask about

• Isaiah 6:1–8. Isaiah's call.
• Isaiah 7:14. The sign of Immanuel, “God with us.” The Hebrew word can mean a young woman of marriageable age, and the Greek translation that Matthew quotes uses a word for virgin (Matthew 1:22–23). Readers see a sign for King Ahaz's day and a fuller fulfillment in Jesus.
• Isaiah 9:2–7. A child born, with names like Wonderful Counselor and Prince of Peace.
• Isaiah 40. Comfort for exiles, and the greatness of God.
• Isaiah 52:13–53:12. The suffering servant. Jewish readers have often seen the servant as Israel, and Christians see Jesus, as Philip did when he explained the passage to the Ethiopian official (Acts 8:32–35).

How it points to Jesus

Isaiah is one of the most quoted books in the New Testament. John the Baptist is the voice crying in the wilderness (Isaiah 40:3; Matthew 3:3). Matthew applies “God with us” to Jesus (1:23). In the synagogue at Nazareth, Jesus reads Isaiah 61:1–2 and says, “Today, this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing” (Luke 4:16–21). And the suffering servant of chapter 53, who is pierced and bears our sins, is taken by the New Testament as a portrait of Jesus' death (1 Peter 2:22–25).

A common misunderstanding

The Christmas verses in Isaiah are often read only as predictions of Jesus. They are that, but they were first spoken to real people in real crises. The sign of Immanuel was given to King Ahaz, who was afraid of enemy kings, around 734 BC (7:1–17), and the promise of a child with the name Wonderful Counselor was given to a people living in darkness under Assyria's shadow (9:1–7). Reading them in their setting shows that the hope Isaiah described was larger than any king of his time.