We are going to start a walk through the book of Isaiah. As a way to get started, I like to share just a touch of backstory, or context. I am copying from my Hebrew-Greek Key Word Study Bible (NASB), whose Executive Editor is Spiros Zodhiates, Th.D. This is an excellent resource and I highly recommend it. It is a very high-quality Bible that I enjoy having in a form I can hold in my hands.

Isaiah is one of the longest and most important books of the Old Testament. The prophet began his career during a time of relative peace and prosperity under Judah’s kings, Uzziah and Jotham, but before long, conditions deteriorated, especially on the international scene. During Ahaz’s reign Assyria became a superpower and deported Judah’s sister kingdom, Israel, in 722 B.C., but Ahaz saw Syria and Israel as greater threats. Isaiah tried to reassure Ahas, asking only that he have faith in God, but Ahaz refused. Later, in 701 B.C., during Hezekiah’s reigns, Assyria ravaged the Judean countryside, and Jerusalem itself almost fell. Again, Isaiah preached a message of hope for a repentant Judah who would trust in the LORD. 

… [skipping a few lines]

To view Isaiah merely as a preacher about events during his lifetime is to have only half of the picture, because he is perhaps best known for his prophecies about the intermediate and distant future. Isaiah 1-39 deals primarily with events during the prophet’s lifetime, but the latter part of the book is all concerned with the future. Isaiah 40 begins a major section that looks ahead to Judah’s return from Babylonian exile in the sixth century B.C. The later chapters also peer beyond Isaiah’s day, but the time period covered is more difficult to determine. The New Testament finds in many of these passages, including some in the first part of the book, prophecies about the Messiah. The most striking of these relate to Jesus’ miraculous birth (Isa. 7:14) and His suffering and death (Isa. 53). 

As we read and study Isaiah, we will have to keep in mind the combination of prophecy and preacher, present day and future, that is recorded in this valuable book of history. We will also seek the timeless principles that apply throughout time to any period, like today… and beyond.

I invite you to pray with me:

Father, please let Holy Spirit open up our minds to fully understand the depth of the knowledge you have captured in Isaiah. Help prepare us to receive and learn and grow. Thank You that Your word is more than just text on a page, but a history of Your relationship with man and the instructions You want us to receive to direct all aspects of our lives. In the name of Yeshua, our Messiah, we pray. Amen.  

Shalom. May the grace and peace of our Lord, Yeshua, be with you. Devotion by John in service to Christ

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