Isaiah

LeRoy Eims

The Book of Isaiah consists of two parts. The first section has 39 chapters and the second has 27. This is easy to remember in relation to the whole Bible. The Old Testament has 39 books and the New Testament has 27. In other words, Isaiah has the same number of chapters as there are books of the Bible. And isn't it interesting that the first part has a distinctive Old Testament flavor, and the second part has the flavor of the New.

The Old Testament prophet was constantly trying to call the people of God back into fellowship with the Lord and was forever warning them of the consequences of their sin. Fairly typical of this is the passage in Isaiah 5:20‑25: "Woe unto them who call evil, good, and good, evil; who put darkness for light, and light for darkness; who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter. Woe unto them who are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight! Woe unto them who are mighty to drink wine, and men of strength to mingle strong drink; who justify the wicked for reward, and take away the righteousness of the righteous from him! Therefore, as the fire devoureth the stubble, and the flame consumeth the chaff, so their root shall be as rottenness, and their blossom shall go up as dust, because they have cast away the law of the Lord of hosts, and despised the word of the Holy One of Israel. Therefore is the anger of the Lord kindled against his people, and he hath stretched forth his hand against them, and hath smitten them; and the hills did tremble, and their carcasses were torn in the midst of the streets. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still."

In this Book we see the wanton sin of the people, the warning of judgment to come and the outstretched hand of God calling His people to return to Him and be restored to a loving fellowship and brighter life. Throughout these first 39 chapters there are prophecies concerning the coming Messiah, just as there are throughout the 39 books of the Old Testament.

That Christ should be both God and man is clearly prophesied in the first part of Isaiah: "Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel." (Isaiah 7:14) "For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given, and the government shall be upon his shoulder; and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The Mighty God, The Everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace." (Isaiah 9:6)

That He should be of human descent and have a human nature is also clearly stated: "And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots." (Isaiah 11:1)

Then at the beginning of the second part a new flavor emerges. In the 40th chapter it almost seems like we are thrust into the times of the New Testament. Isaiah 40:1,2 is a clear reference to the Gospel: "Comfort ye, comfort ye my people saith your God. Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned; for she hath received of the Lord's hand double for all her sins."

Isaiah 40:3 speaks clearly of the ministry of John the Baptist: "The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God." Isaiah 40:9 follows the ministry of the Apostles who began at Jerusalem and went throughout the cities of Judah with the message of Christ: "Oh Zion, that bringest good tidings, get thee up into the high mountain! Oh Jerusalem, that bringest good tidings, lift up thy voice with strength; lift it up, be not afraid; say unto the cities of Judah, Behold your God!" Isaiah is truly a remarkable book.

There is an important difference in the usage of the word "prophet" in the scriptures and the way it is used in connection with the so‑called prophets who infest our land today. Modern day prophets make the headlines by predicting election results, various happenings in the lives of celebrities and movie stars, and various outcomes in the affairs of nations. Prediction is equated with prophecy, but not so in the Bible.

Oh, it is true that the prophets foretold the course of the world events, and were accurate to the letter under the inspiration of God, but the prophet was not only concerned with foretelling the future. His great burden was the sin and the corruption in the lives of the people, and an overpowering desire to see them repent and turn to God. His purpose was to instruct, rebuke, and denounce the wickedness of God's people. He predicted coming judgments, desolations, and deliverance and spoke of Christ, the coming Redeemer.

Thus there is a vital difference between the predictor of today who, through astrology, contact with the spirit world or any of the other abominations denounced by God, speak of the future but care nothing for the spiritual well being of the nation or its people. The great prophets of old, who cried day and night for repentance and deliverance, were truly God's voice.

Isaiah holds a distinctive position among the prophets of the Old Testament. He is the one who speaks of the servant of God and portrays in the most striking manner, the suffering savior: "He is despised and rejected of men, a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief, and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he hath borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement of our peace was upon him, and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way, and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all." (Isaiah 53:3‑6)

For good reason Isaiah is known as the Messianic prophet, the prophet of redemption. Read Isaiah with Jesus in mind and let God reveal His deep and abiding truth to your heart.