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Bible Commentaries
Isaiah

Kretzmann's Popular Commentary of the BibleKretzmann's Commentary

Chapter 1
Call to Repentance; Judgment and Promise.
Chapter 2
The Future Glory of Zion; Judgment on Nations.
Chapter 3
Judgment on Jerusalem and Judah; Societal Decay.
Chapter 4
The Future Glory and Purification of Zion.
Chapter 5
The Song of the Vineyard; Woes to the Wicked.
Chapter 6
Isaiah's Vision of God and Prophetic Commissioning.
Chapter 7
The Sign of Immanuel; the Syro-Ephraimite War.
Chapter 8
Prophecies about Assyria and the Coming Darkness.
Chapter 9
Prophecy of a Child Born to Rule; Light in Darkness.
Chapter 10
Assyria's Judgment and the Remnant of Israel.
Chapter 11
The Coming of the Righteous King; Peace.
Chapter 12
Praise and Thanksgiving for God's Salvation.
Chapter 13
Judgment against Babylon and the Day of the Lord.
Chapter 14
The Fall of Babylon; Taunt against the King.
Chapter 15
Lament over Moab's Destruction.
Chapter 16
A Call for Refuge in Moab and Future Judgment.
Chapter 17
Judgment against Syria and Israel.
Chapter 18
Prophecy Concerning Cush and Future Events.
Chapter 19
Judgment against Egypt and Future Blessing.
Chapter 20
Isaiah's Symbolic Act Concerning Egypt and Cush.
Chapter 21
Oracles Concerning Babylon, Edom, and Arabia.
Chapter 22
Judgment on Jerusalem; the Prophecy of Shebna.
Chapter 23
Prophecy against Tyre; its Future Desolation.
Chapter 24
The Lord's Judgment on the Earth; Global Desolation.
Chapter 25
Praise for God's Deliverance and Future Blessings.
Chapter 26
The Song of Trust; Deliverance and Restoration.
Chapter 27
The Deliverance of Israel and Judgment on Leviathan.
Chapter 28
Woe to Ephraim and Jerusalem; Coming Judgment.
Chapter 29
Judgment on Jerusalem; Future Restoration.
Chapter 30
Woe to Rebellious Judah; Promise of Restoration.
Chapter 31
Woe to Those Who Rely on Egypt; Deliverance Promised.
Chapter 32
A Future King's Righteousness and Transformation.
Chapter 33
Woe to the Destroyer; Future Blessing for Zion.
Chapter 34
God's Judgment on the Nations; Edom's Desolation.
Chapter 35
Joyful Restoration of Zion; Transformation of the Wilderness.
Chapter 36
Assyrian Invasion of Judah; Rabshakeh's Message.
Chapter 37
Hezekiah's Prayer; God's Deliverance from Assyria.
Chapter 38
Hezekiah's Illness and Recovery; God's Promise.
Chapter 39
Envoys from Babylon; Prophecy of Exile.
Chapter 40
Comfort and Promise of God's Coming Deliverance.
Chapter 41
God's Support for Israel; Promise of Victory.
Chapter 42
The Servant of the Lord; Prophecy of Justice.
Chapter 43
Israel's Redemption and Promise of Restoration.
Chapter 44
God's Promises; Rebuke of Idolatry.
Chapter 45
Cyrus's Role in God's Plan; Sovereignty and Righteousness.
Chapter 46
God versus Idols; Promises of Salvation.
Chapter 47
Babylon's Fall; Humiliation and Judgment.
Chapter 48
Rebuke of Israel's Disobedience; Promise of Deliverance.
Chapter 49
The Servant's Mission; Restoration of Israel.
Chapter 50
The Servant's Suffering and Obedience.
Chapter 51
Comfort for the Oppressed; Future Restoration.
Chapter 52
The Lord's Salvation; Zion's Redemption.
Chapter 53
The Suffering Servant; Atonement for Sins.
Chapter 54
God's Everlasting Covenant and Restoration of Zion.
Chapter 55
Invitation to Salvation; Blessings of the Lord.
Chapter 56
Salvation for All; True Worship and Justice.
Chapter 57
Warnings to the Wicked; Promises of Renewal.
Chapter 58
True Fasting and Social Justice; God's Response.
Chapter 59
Sin's Separation from God; Promise of Redemption.
Chapter 60
The Glory of Zion; Future Blessings.
Chapter 61
The Servant's Mission; Promises of Restoration.
Chapter 62
Zion's Future Glory and Salvation.
Chapter 63
God's Vengeance and Redemption; Lament and Praise.
Chapter 64
Prayer for Mercy and Intervention; Longing for Righteousness.
Chapter 65
New Heavens and New Earth; Judgment and Blessings.
Chapter 66
Final Judgment and Restoration; New Creation.

- Isaiah

by Paul E. Kretzmann

The Book Of The Prophet Of Isaiah

Introduction

Among the people of God of the Old Covenant who were actively engaged in His ministry were not only the priests, who were chiefly in charge of public worship, although they also did some teaching, but also the prophets, the official spokesmen of God to the children of Israel and others, whose work consisted not only in foretelling future events, but, in general, in uttering the message of God entrusted to them, whether this pertained to an exposition of the will of God, to an application of the Law to the circumstances of their time, or to an unveiling of the future, particularly of the glories of the Messianic period. The prophets were also called seers, men of God, messengers of Jehovah, servants of the Lord, in short, organs and instruments of the Lord in making Himself, His person and His will, known to men. They performed their work either in prophetical speech, spoken or written, or by the narration of visions and dreams vouchsafed to them by the Lord, or by symbolical acts signifying certain events in the coming history of God's people.

Among the men whose prophetical writings have been preserved in the canon of the Bible, Isaiah, the son of Amoz, stands first. Of the circumstances of his life little is known. He seems to have descended from a noble family, according to Jewish tradition a side-line of the reigning family of David. Isaiah was married and lived in Jerusalem, his two sons, by God's command, bearing names with symbolical meanings. He began his activity as prophet in the year in which King Uzziah died, 758 B. C. and appears to have been active for some sixty years. Beside his book of prophecy Isaiah also wrote a historical work, 2 Chronicles 26:22. According to an ancient tradition, which, however, cannot be verified, Isaiah suffered martyrdom under King Manasseh.

The period of Isaiah's activity is that of the Kings Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah. In the first part of this period the kingdom of Judah was in a most flourishing condition, 2 Kings 14:21, At this time the double kingdom once more had the extent which it had possessed in the days of David and Solomon. But with the accession of Ahaz came a period of disintegration and decay: gross idolatry, human sacrifices, desecration of the Temple, turning to the Assyrians for help, who, in turn, became a scourge of the country. With the accession of Hezekiah things took a turn for the better, since he restored the Temple services, celebrated the Passover, renounced the covenant with the Assyrians, and was miraculously delivered from the power of the Assyrian king. But when he gave himself to pride and made overtures to the Babylonians, he paved the way for the later ascendency of this world power and for the fall of the southern kingdom.

Isaiah stands midway between Moses and Christ. He was, at the same time, the great preacher of repentance and the evangelist of the Old Testament. To the godless he proclaimed the wrath of the Lord, the inevitable destruction, with an earnestness and impressiveness which is overwhelming in its force; to the believers, the small remnant, he preaches the comforting message of the deliverance of mankind through the Messiah, the Servant of Jehovah.

The Book of Isaiah is clearly divided into two parts 1 to 39 and 40 to 66, both parts being grouped about certain historical facts, the first being the hypocritical apostasy of Ahaz and the subsequent invasion of Sennacherib, the second the foolish act of Hezekiah in showing the envoys of the Babylonian king the treasures of his house and thus inviting the world power to covet the riches of Judah. The first group of prophecies concerns not only Judah and Jerusalem, but also the chief foreign countries and nations, chiefly Assyria, Babylon, Moab, Syria, Egypt, and Tyre. The second group is known as the Book of Consolations and pictures the restoration of the remnant of Israel, the Messianic King, and the final glory of the Church.

 
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