Biblical Theology XIX: Isaiah

Isaiah exists in three major sections (1–39, 40–55, and 56–66). Each section is a prophecy concerning God’s people in various stages of judgment and redemption. The first is Isaiah prophesying judgment over Israel and Judah for their bad theology (i.e., idolatry and places of worship) and ethics (injustice and lack of concern for the covenant poor). Isaiah predicts that the north will no longer be a nation after the Assyrians wipe them out, and that the south will go into exile. There are two cities, the lofty city and the new Jerusalem, one representing rebellious humanity and the other representing the righteous remnant. The second section is from describes the time of the exile. It picks up on the promises of hope for the remnant that Isaiah promised in the earlier section. The final portion describes Judah back in the land, and it argues that the return to the land is not the final fulfillment of the promises. Instead, the prophet predicts a day when the inheritance of Israel will be the wealth and submission of all nations, perpetual life will be given to its people, and a new heavens and earth will be made. The return from the exile, then, is merely a microcosmic foreshadowing of the eschatological age to come when faithful Israel will become all that God purposed them to be.

Theology: The book begins by arguing that Israel has lost sight of who God is. A donkey knows its master, but Israel does not know God. God calls His people, therefore, to repentance by coming to know Him again through His judgment of Israel. Isaiah himself becomes a representative of this repentance. He witnesses God’s awesome holiness and this causes him to repent. A burning coal, something very painful, is placed on his lips, not to destroy him, but to purify him. In the same way, God’s holiness will be displayed in His judgment of Israel and the other nations. It will wipe away false Israel, but true Israel, the remnant, will come to know God through it and be purified by it as Isaiah was purified by the burning coal.

Judah will be delivered from its enemies (i.e., pagans and false covenant members), and the sign of this promise will be an ‘almah giving birth to a child. The child will be called Immanuel. Later, a child is promised, like this child, to deliver God’s people, and his name is beyond comprehension, mediator, mighty God, everlasting father. He will take upon himself rule and authority.

In the book, the exile is seen as insufficient to cleanse Israel of their sins, and so a suffering servant is prophesied as the federal head through which Israel will finally be cleansed and restored. This servant will be unjustly killed, not for his own sin, but for the sin of his people. He will then be restored to “long life,” which is terminology for perpetual life in the Old Testament. He will then be “high and lifted up,” which is terminology said of God throughout the book. The messianic overtones throughout the book, therefore, convey the idea that the promises given to Israel must take place through the Davidic king prophesied. It is the house of David that is in view that will ultimately deliver the people from their sins and their oppressors (both internal and external enemies). The people only need to repent to take part in the promises given to that house. Because Israel functioned as a priesthood to the nations, when they are judged, there is no priest left for the world. Hence, the world is judged because there is no more mediator left between the Holy God and wicked men. All nations will again be brought to God through Israel’s Messiah, who will restore Israel as the royal priesthood of the nations.

Ethics: There is no indication that if someone repents he or she would escape the judgment of God upon the nation. The judgments of God themselves convey His holiness/justice, and they are, then, a necessary act for the sanctification of God’s people, as it causes them to understand who God is. Instead, individual repentance determines whether a person will be a part of the remnant who will eventually enter the holy city, the new heavens and earth, the age to come. This is an important point, since many might have thought that repentance would stay the wrath of God when, in fact, it only turns that same fire into a purifying one instead of an all-consuming one. Instead, a lack of repentance indicates a lack of understanding who God is, and an obliviousness to what world one’s evil actions are leading. Only those who know God in His holiness will repent, and only the repentant will be cleansed of their sin and take part of the paradisal world to come. Repentance is acknowledging God’s holiness and remorse for our own sinfulness, and is expressed by confession, ceasing to do evil, and learning to do good.