This is my first Bible Journey post in a while, but I’m trying to get back into my routine. I hope to continue reading, studying, and blogging the Bible on a regular basis.
To read about where I’ve been, what’s been going on, and why I haven’t been blogging check out the post “There’s no place like home.”
Book of Isaiah Summary
Isaiah lived during the decline of Israel in the shadow of Assyria. He spoke the word of God to the people who were “deaf and blind,” who refused to listen to his warnings of looming disaster.
He warned that the sin of the people of Judah would bring God’s judgement, yet he also declared that God is sovereign and would use Cyrus the Persian to return them from exile.
The book speaks of a “servant,” a “man of sorrows,” who would be “wounded for our transgressions,” accomplishing God’s purposes for salvation.
The final chapters give a beautiful description of a new creation in which God will rule as King, judging the wicked and establishing eternal peace.
Isaiah prophesied about 740-700 B.C. (possibly till the 680s).
The book of Isaiah started out with a vision from Isaiah concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.
The Wickedness of Judah
This section discusses how Judah had become wicked. It seems as though it was written as if God were speaking. It says how bad things were at that time, and seemed that nothing the people could do would be enough. God didn’t even want sacrifices anymore.
The people would need to wash themselves and make themselves clean, stop doing evil and do good, seek justice and correct oppression. Their sins were like scarlet, but would soon be white as snow.
Was this a sneak peak or glimmer of hope for the people with the coming of Jesus?
Hear of heavens, and give ear, O earth;
for the Lord has spoken:
“Children have I reared and brought up,
but they have rebelled against me.
-Isaiah 1:2
Israel does not know,
my people do not understand.
-Isaiah 1:3
Ah, sinful nation,
a people laden with iniquity,
offspring of evildoers,
children who deal corruptly!
They have forsaken the Lord,
they have despised the Holy One of Israel,
they are utterly estranged.
-Isaiah 1:4
Why will you still be struck down?
Why will you continue to rebel?
The whole head is sick,
and the whole heart faint.
-Isaiah 1:5
Your country lies desolate;
your cities are burned with fire;
in your very presence
foreigners devour your land;
it is desolate, as overthrown by foreigners.
-Isaiah 1:7
Hear the word of the Lord,
Give ear to the teaching of our God.
-Isaiah 1:10
What to me is the multitude of your sacrifices?
says the Lord;
I have had enough.
-Isaiah 1:11
When you spread out your hands,
I will hide my eyes from you;
even though you make many prayers,
I will not listen;
your hands are full of blood.
-Isaiah 1:15
Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean;
remove the evil of your deeds from before my eyes;
cease to do evil,
learn to do good;
seek justice,
correct oppression;
bring justice to the fatherless,
plead the widows cause.
-Isaiah 1:16-17
Come now, let us reason together,
says the Lord:
though your sins are like scarlet,
they shall be as white as snow;
though they are red like crimson,
they shall become like wool.
-Isaiah 1:18
If you are willing and obedient,
you shall eat the good of the land;
but if you refuse and rebel,
you shall be eaten by the sword;
for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”
-Isaiah 1:19-20
The Unfaithful City
Here it describes how the faithful city had become unfaithful and its decline. Discussing the evil being done and what it has turned into.
How the faithful city
has become a whore,
she who was full of justice!
Righteousness lodged in her,
but now murders.
-Isaiah 1:21
Therefore the Lord declares,
the Lord of hosts,
the Mighty One of Israel:
“Ah, I will get relief from my enemies
and avenge myself on my foes.
I will turn away my hand against you.
And I will restore your judges as at the first,
and your counselors as at the beginning.
Afterward you shall be called the city of righteousness,
the faithful city.”
-Isaiah 1:24-26
Zion shall be redeemed by justice,
and those in her who repent,
by righteousness.
But rebels and sinners shall be broken together,
and those who forsake the Lord shall be consumed.
-Isaiah 1:27-28
The Mountain of the Lord
This part was the word that Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem. The mountain of the Lord would be established at the highest of the mountains, lifted up above the hills. All the nations would flow to it and the people would come.
“Come, let us go to the mountain of the Lord,
to the house of the God of Jacob,
that he may teach us his ways
and that we may walk in his paths.”
-Isaiah 2:3
He shall judge between the nations,
and shall decide disputes for many peoples;
nation shall not lift up sword against nation,
neither shall they learn war anymore.
-Isaiah 2:4
O house of Jacob,
come, let us walk
in the light of the Lord.
-Isaiah 2:5
The Day of the Lord
It discussed that all the evil things that people were doing would be stopped when the Lord rose to terrify the earth.
Enter into the rock
and hide in the dust
from before the terror of the Lord,
and from the splendor of his majesty.
The haughty looks of man shall be brought low,
and the lofty pride of men shall be humbled,
and the Lord alone will be exalted in that day.
-Isaiah 2:10-11
For the Lord of hosts has a day
against all that is proud and lofty,
against all that is lifted up,
and it shall be brought low.
-Isaiah 2:12
And people shall enter the caves of the rocks
and the holes of the ground,
from before the terror of the Lord,
and from the splendor of his majesty,
when he rises to terrify the earth.
-Isaiah 2:19
Stop regarding man
in whose nostrils is breath,
for of what account is he?
-Isaiah 2:22
Judgment on Judah and Jerusalem
This part started out with explaining how the Lord was taking away all supports from Judah and Jerusalem.
And the people will oppress one another,
every one his fellow
and every one his neighbor,
the youth will be insolent to the elder,
and the despised to the honorable.
-Isaiah 3:5
For Jerusalem has stumbled,
and Judah has fallen,
because their speech and their deeds
are against the Lord,
defying his glorious presence.
-Isaiah 3:8
Tell the righteous that it shall be well with them,
for they shall eat the fruit of their deeds.
Woe to the wicked! It shall be ill with him,
for what his hand have dealt out
shall be done to him.
-Isaiah 3:10-11
The Lord has taken his place to contend;
he stands to judge peoples.
-Isaiah 3:13
The Branch of the Lord Glorified
In that day the branch of the Lord would be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the land would be the pride and honor of the survivors of Israel. All who were left in Zion and remained in Jerusalem would be called holy.
Then the Lord would create a whole site of Mount Zion and over her assemblies a cloud by day, and smoke and shining flame by night. Over all the glory there would be a canopy.
There would be a booth for shade by day from the heat, and a refuge and shelter from the storm and rain.
Enjoyed the reading! Seems so much is relatable to our modern times and the path we as a nation are following! A reminder to look at things through the lens if God, rather than our own.
Absolutely!