ISAIAH'S PROPHESIES ABOUT JESUS
Isaiah was written about 700 years before Jesus, and of the 350+ prophesies in the Old Testament that point forward to Jesus, about 10% of them are in Isaiah.
Isaiah 7:14
14 Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.
Isaiah 53:5
But he was pierced for our transgressions,
he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was on him,
and by his wounds we are healed.
Isaiah 9:1
in the future he will honor Galilee of the nations, by the Way of the Sea, beyond the Jordan
Isaiah 40:3
3 A voice of one calling:
“In the wilderness prepare
the way for the Lord;
make straight in the desert
a highway for our God.
John 12:37-41
37 Even after Jesus had performed so many signs in their presence, they still would not believe in him. 38 This was to fulfill the word of Isaiah the prophet:
“Lord, who has believed our message
and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?”
39 For this reason they could not believe, because, as Isaiah says elsewhere:
40 “He has blinded their eyes
and hardened their hearts,
so they can neither see with their eyes,
nor understand with their hearts,
nor turn—and I would heal them.”
41 Isaiah said this because he saw Jesus’ glory and spoke about him.
The 17th-century Jewish historian, Raphael Levi, admitted that long ago the rabbis used to read Isaiah 53 in synagogues, but after the chapter caused “arguments and great confusion” the rabbis decided that the simplest thing would be to just take that prophecy out of the Haftarah readings in synagogues. That’s why today when we read Isaiah 52, we stop in the middle of the chapter, and the week after, we jump straight to Isaiah 54.
-Eitan Bar
ISAIAH'S PROPHESIES FOR ISREAL
We see throughout the Old Testament that when the leadership listened to God and kept him first, the people prospered. Likewise, when they ignored God and did their own thing, the people suffered.
Isaiah is warning the leaders about this on the front end, that if they don’t keep the covenant of God, He will not keep covenant with them. He calls them out for Rebellion, Idolatry, and Injustice, and tells them that an outside force is going to come in and burn down the old Jerusalem that is walking away from God and create a New Jerusalem that follows the Lordship of God.
Isaiah 7:10-13
10 Again the Lord spoke to Ahaz, 11 “Ask the Lord your God for a sign, whether in the deepest depths or in the highest heights.”
12 But Ahaz said, “I will not ask; I will not put the Lord to the test.”
13 Then Isaiah said, “Hear now, you house of David! Is it not enough to try the patience of humans? Will you try the patience of my God also?
He’s looking at the leadership in Israel and telling them that going down this path always has the same outcome. Isaiah is completely alone in doing right, and the people he’s calling out don’t see it.
He is saying, RIGHT, GODLY, HOLY things, and the people he’s talking to are completely writing him off.
Starting in Chapter 13, Isaiah starts prophesying about The Assyrians falling, and a new even worse enemy called the Babylonians coming.
Isaiah 14:15
brought down to the realm of the dead,
to the depths of the pit
He also lists all of Israel's neighboring countries calling out their pride and injustice: Philistia, Moab, Damascus, Cush, Egypt, Edom, Arabia, and Tyre.
Isaiah is the MASTER of speaking the truth in love.
Then in chapters 28-35, Isaiah calls out the leaders of Jerusalem for making an alliance with Egypt that would protect them militarily. Again, Isaiah tells them that their ONLY HOPE is trust in God and repentance.
A new King, King Hezeiah comes into the picture and he DOES humble himself and God protects the Jewish people from an attack from the Syrians! But, pretty soon afterwards, he falls.
Hezekiah invites a delegation from Babylon, trying to make make an alliance with them to keep Isreal safe, instead of trusting in God to do that.
Isaiah 39:2-6
2 Hezekiah received the envoys gladly and showed them what was in his storehouses—the silver, the gold, the spices, the fine olive oil—his entire armory and everything found among his treasures. There was nothing in his palace or in all his kingdom that Hezekiah did not show them.
3 Then Isaiah the prophet went to King Hezekiah and asked, “What did those men say, and where did they come from?”
“From a distant land,” Hezekiah replied. “They came to me from Babylon.”
4 The prophet asked, “What did they see in your palace?”
“They saw everything in my palace,” Hezekiah said. “There is nothing among my treasures that I did not show them.”
5 Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, “Hear the word of the Lord Almighty: 6 The time will surely come when everything in your palace, and all that your predecessors have stored up until this day, will be carried off to Babylon. Nothing will be left, says the Lord.
SPEAKING THE TRUTH IN LOVE
As the body of Christ, we need to be ready and willing to speak the truth in love. We can’t be a church that sees people slipping into a dangerous place, and just sits back and watches as they do it.
Be like Isaiah, point to the hope in Jesus, but be willing to step in and say something.
Ephesians 4:14-16
14 Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming. 15 Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ. 16 From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.
