The Prophecy of Isaiah - Lesson 2: Structure and Themes

The Prophecy of Isaiah

Lesson 2: The Book’s Structure and Main Themes

Structure of the Book of Isaiah

• Importance of chapters 36-39
  
  • Form a historical interlude between chapters 1-35 and 40-66.
  • Chs. 36-37: the defeat of Assyria, which is a fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecies in chs. 1-35.
  • Chs. 38-39 predict the Babylonian captivity, which is the dominant theme of chs. 40-66.
• Chapters 1-35
  
  • Chs. 1-6: Opening Messages and the Call of Isaiah
  • Chs. 7-12: The Rule of Assyria and the Messiah
  • Chs. 13-23: Oracles against the Nations
  • Chs. 24-27: The Apocalypse
  • Chs. 28-35: Book of Woes and Restoration
• Chapters 36-39: Historical Interlude
  
  • Chs. 36-37: The Fall of Assyria
  • Chs. 38-39: The Rise of Babylon and Prediction of the Babylonian Captivity
• Chapters 40-66
  
  • Chs. 40-48: Deliverance from Babylon
  • Chs. 49-57: The Ministry of the Servant of the Lord
  • Chs. 58-66: Ultimate Blessing for God’s People

Isaiah’s Main Themes

• Standard pre-exilic message:
  
  • You’ve broken the covenant (through idolatry, social injustice, religious ritualism) so repent!
  • No repentance? Then judgment! Judgment will also come for the nations.
  • Yet there is hope beyond the judgment for a glorious future restoration both for Judah/Israel and the nations.

Remnant

• Recurring theme word (šeʾār, šeʾērît)
• “Remainder,” “rest,” or “residue.”
• Theologically it refers to the faithful remainder of people that God has chosen, people who are looking to God to work his will in and through them.
• They return to the Lord and experience the fullness of salvation when others don’t.

The Sovereignty of God

• God is the sovereign Lord of the universe, and as Sovereign, he is actively at work in the world, guiding all history in accordance with his grand purpose.
• “The Lord has spoken” – when the ruler speaks, the matter is settled.
• God’s sovereignty does not end at the borders of Israel or Judah. He is the Lord of all nations, whether they know him or not.
• Even though Isaiah ministered primarily to Judah, he understood the universal sovereignty of God.
• Many people from many nations will recognize God’s sovereignty one day, while others never will, but God nonetheless remains sovereign (10:5–7; 37:24–26).

The Servant

• “Servant” (ʿebed) occurs 39 times in Isaiah.
• Servants are slaves to their master. Their duty consists totally of doing their master’s will.
• In Isaiah, the term “servant” occasionally describes God’s people as a group (41:8; 54:17) but usually denotes individuals who fully follow God’s will and serve his people faithfully (22:20; 42:1; 52:13).
• Serving their master faithfully fulfills God’s will for their lives.
• The NT makes much use of this “servant” concept, using the Greek equivalent (doulos) 122 times.
• The OT “servant of the Lord” becomes “servant of Christ” in the NT.
• Paul argued that slavery to God brought people true freedom—freedom to become all God has created them to be.

The Holy One of Israel

• “Holy One of Israel” occurs 31 times in the OT, and 25 of those are in Isaiah.
• The words of the seraphim, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty . . .” (Is 6:3), profoundly affected Isaiah’s thinking and theology.
• God stood utterly apart from his creation, including his people.
• His holy nature clashed with his people’s sin. Yet he loved them, desired fellowship with them, and called to them through the law of Moses, as well as through Isaiah and other prophets.
• The expression “Holy One of Israel” occurs in both judgmental and redemptive contexts.
• The Holy One of Israel has experienced rejection from his people, who have resisted his sovereign purposes (Is 1:4; 5:19, 24).
• He also will judge nations who oppose him (37:23).
• But the Holy One of Israel also stands as Israel’s Savior (43:3) and Redeemer (43:14), who delivers them from exile and establishes his kingdom.

The Messiah

• The word “Messiah” comes from the Hebrew māšîaḥ, which means “anointed one.”
• Kings, priests, and prophets all experienced God’s anointing, which symbolized God setting them apart for special service. 
• The term māšîaḥ and the corresponding verbal form māšaḥ occur only twice in Isaiah (45:1; 61:1 respectively).
• One of the most interesting usages appears in 45:1, where Cyrus, king of Persia, is so designated. 
• We do not know to what extent Cyrus understood his mandate from the Lord (Ezr 1:1), but the Bible is clear that God set him apart for a special work: to bring his people back to their land. 
• The Messiah is God’s chosen instrument to bring about his kingdom.
• Even though the word does not occur regularly in Isaiah, the concept of messiah lies beneath the surface of many prophetic utterances (9:6–7; 11:1–10; 32:1–4; 42:1–4; 52:13–53:12).
• God’s chosen instrument works faithfully to bring about God’s earthly and heavenly kingdoms. 
• Though many prophets, priests, and kings carried the title māšîaḥ in Old Testament times, the New Testament points to Jesus, God’s Son, as the ultimate Messiah (Gk. Christos).
• As we will see, many of Isaiah’s prophetic utterances point to this Jesus.

Resources used for this lesson:

• Bryan E. Beyer, Encountering the Book of Isaiah
  
• J. Daniel Hays, The Message of the Prophets
  
• Herbert M. Wolf, Interpreting Isaiah