Week 38, September 15–21: Isaiah 38–57

• Sun      9/15     Isa 38–40
• Mon     9/16     Isa 41–43
• Tue      9/17     Isa 44–46
• Wed     9/18     Isa 47–49
• Thu      9/19     Isa 50–52
• Fri        9/20     Isa 53–54
• Sat       9/21     Isa 55–57 

This week’s reading in Isaiah takes us from the first major portion of the book into the second “half”. Isaiah is a unified prophetic book in its message and themes, but there is a significant transition point at the end of chapter 39. Before Isaiah 40, the perspective mainly focuses on what happened in the time of Isaiah, during the reigns of the kings listed at the very beginning of the book. From chapter 40 to the end, the book shifts to a more foretelling perspective, looking ahead to events that will occur after Isaiah’s time, particularly focusing on the exile of Judah to Babylon and the eventual fall of Babylon to Cyrus and the Persians.

Having said this, it is also important to remember that, even though the book is framed in terms of these times in Israel’s history, the message is an eschatological one. Its ultimate vantage point looks at history much more broadly, seeing ahead to God’s great plans for his people and for the world through his Messiah long after the time of the exile, and even after the initial return from exile we read about in Ezra and Nehemiah.

The first part of Isaiah ended with a narrative section summarizing some of the key events of king Hezekiah’s life. During this time, Assyria was the enemy threat against Judah. They had already taken Judah’s estranged sister nation, Israel, out of the Promised Land and into exile, and now the Assyrian army was coming for Judah. Isaiah 36–39 may have seemed familiar, because the section is virtually identical to 2 Kings 18–20. Here we read of God’s miraculous deliverance of Judah from the Assyrian army, then of Hezakiah from what appeared to be a fatal sickness. Chapter 39 ends on an ominous note with Hezekiah showing the riches of Jerusalem to envoys from Babylon. As we turn to chapter 40, the focus is a prophetic look at the time after Babylon would come and take Judah into exile.

As a side note, Hezekiah’s prayer in verses 16–20 of Isaiah 37 is one of the Bible’s great examples of how we ought to approach God in prayer.

He begins by addressing God. “O Lord of hosts, God of Israel, enthroned above the cherubim, you are the God, you alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth; you have made heaven and earth.” (Isa. 27:16) The imagery of the Lord of hosts enthroned above the cherubim recalls the throne room scene in Isa. 6:1–3. This prayer connects to a theme that runs throughout Isaiah; that the Lord, Yahweh, is the one true, Creator God over all. God is sovereign and mighty, and Hezekiah’s prayer is instructive in that it begins with these statements of God’s character.

When facing an apparently impossible situation, he cries out to God, and before saying anything else, before making any request, he proclaims the Lord’s uniqueness and power as Creator of heaven and earth. God is mighty and able to help no matter what the circumstances are. When prayer begins from this kind of posture of praise, it is rooted in a confidence in him. He is worthy of our trust.

Then, even as Hezekiah moves towards making his petition, and as he recounts the danger he and his people face from the threat of the Assyrians, he still highlights the truth that all other gods are nothing (vv 17–19). Yahweh alone is the one true God. Finally, the prayer ends with a request. Hezekiah cries out to God saying, “So now, O Lord our God, save us from his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you alone are the Lord.” This too is instructive. His petition is not driven by selfish desires, nor is it even motivated primarily by the hope that Judah would be delivered. Rather, the aim of his prayer for deliverance is for the glory of God, for the Lord to be known. This too is a good example for us to follow as we make our requests to God in prayer.

The NT quotes or refers to Isaiah many times, more than any other OT book besides Psalms. These references to Isaiah include Matthew’s quotation of Isaiah 7 to show how Jesus being born of a virgin fulfills OT prophecy (Isa. 7: 14; Matt. 1:20–23), and the quotation from Isaiah 8 and 28 supporting Paul’s statement in Romans 9 that the message of the gospel for all nations would be a stumbling stone, a rock of offense, but all who believe in Jesus will not be put to shame (Isa. 8:14: 28:16; Rom. 9:33). It is the latter section of Isaiah, from chapter 40 to the end, that is referred to most in the NT. So much of what we are reading this week is the prophetic foundation for the gospel of Christ and his coming kingdom we read of in the NT.

And Isaiah prophesied hundreds of years before Jesus was born. This is the amazing thing about God’s word. God’s revelation through the prophets and the biblical authors is not constrained by time. The Lord is sovereign over history, and he knows the end from the beginning. In fact, this is also a theme through this week’s reading in Isaiah. One thing that sets the true God apart from other so-called gods is that, unlike these foolish idols, the Lord knows all things, even what will come about in the future (Isa. 41:21–29; 44:7; 45:21; 46:10).

We often think of the gospel as a NT idea, and it is right to think of it this way. It is in the NT where the good news of Jesus is proclaimed and expounded, where we read of Jesus birth, life, death, and resurrection and of the saving power of God demonstrated at the cross. And much of the point of the NT, especially the epistles, is to give instruction and exhortation to the church to live out the implications of this glorious gospel of Christ. However, the foundation for the gospel is laid in the OT, and Isaiah is where we find so much of this gospel language and thematic backdrop to the NT.

Isaiah 42 envisions Zion as a “herald of good news” (Isa. 40:9). Without going into full Bible-nerd mode, the earliest Greek translations of the Hebrew Bible (Jewish translations, before Christ and the NT) use the same language here that the NT uses for “gospel,” and where we get words like “evangelism”. A legitimate translation for Isaiah 42:9 would be, “Go up to a high mountain, O Zion, the evangelizer; lift up your voice with strength, O Jerusalem, the evangelizer.” Another example is in Isaiah 52:7, which is quoted in Rom. 10:15. Here it extols the role of the evangelist, the one who will proclaim the good news of God’s kingdom, the gospel of God’s peace and his goodness.

Isaiah 52:13–53:12 is perhaps the most detailed prophetic passage looking ahead to the atoning, redeeming, saving work of Jesus from the OT.

¹³ Behold, my servant shall act wisely;

he shall be high and lifted up,

and shall be exalted.

¹⁴ As many were astonished at you—

his appearance was so marred, beyond human semblance,

and his form beyond that of the children of mankind—

¹⁵ so shall he sprinkle many nations.

Kings shall shut their mouths because of him,

for that which has not been told them they see,

and that which they have not heard they understand.

53 Who has believed what he has heard from us?

And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?

² For he grew up before him like a young plant,

and like a root out of dry ground;

he had no form or majesty that we should look at him,

and no beauty that we should desire him.

³ He was despised and rejected by men,

a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief;

and as one from whom men hide their faces

he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

⁴ Surely he has borne our griefs

and carried our sorrows;

yet we esteemed him stricken,

smitten by God, and afflicted.

⁵ But he was pierced for our transgressions;

he was crushed for our iniquities;

upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,

and with his wounds we are healed.

⁶ All we like sheep have gone astray;

we have turned—every one—to his own way;

and the Lord has laid on him

the iniquity of us all.

⁷ He was oppressed, and he was afflicted,

yet he opened not his mouth;

like a lamb that is led to the slaughter,

and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent,

so he opened not his mouth.

⁸ By oppression and judgment he was taken away;

and as for his generation, who considered

that he was cut off out of the land of the living,

stricken for the transgression of my people?

⁹ And they made his grave with the wicked

and with a rich man in his death,

although he had done no violence,

and there was no deceit in his mouth.

¹⁰ Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him;

he has put him to grief;

when his soul makes an offering for guilt,

he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days;

the will of the Lord shall prosper in his hand.

¹¹ Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied;

by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant,

make many to be accounted righteous,

and he shall bear their iniquities.

¹² Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many,

and he shall divide the spoil with the strong,

because he poured out his soul to death

and was numbered with the transgressors;

yet he bore the sin of many,

and makes intercession for the transgressors. (Isaiah 52:13–53:12)