Lesson 1.16: Isaiah The Prophet

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LESSON 1.16: ISAIAH THE PROPHET

Loved ones, it only took a few years after the death of Solomon (1 Kings 11:9-13, 43) for the Jewish kingdom to divide and become two irrevocably separate kingdoms (Read 1 Kings Chapter 12). The ten northern tribes made their own government and were called Israel with their capital the city of Samaria. The two southern tribes, Judah and Benjamin, remained loyal to the House of David centered in Jerusalem. They became known as the kingdom of Judea (from whence the word “Jew” was eventually derived).

In the north, all the kings were evil. In the kingdom of Judah, some of the kings were good and some were bad. The good kings followed the example of their ancestor David. They obeyed the commandments of the Lord and followed God with their whole hearts. God blessed these kings with success.

But the evil kings did not obey the commands of the Lord, and the people of Judah became more and more evil. God sent prophets to warn the kings and to draw the people back to Himself. The Hebrew word for "prophet" means "one who is inspired by God," or "one who speaks for God."

God Calls Isaiah To Be A Prophet (Isaiah 6:1-10)

About 300 years after King David died, there lived in Jerusalem a young man by the name of Isaiah. In the temple one day, Isaiah saw a vision of God. He saw the Lord sitting on an extremely high and wonderful throne. His long robe filled the temple. Seraph angels were saying, "Holy, holy, holy; the Lord All-Powerful is very holy. His glory fills the whole earth."

Isaiah became very scared. He said, "Oh, no! I will be destroyed. I am not pure enough to speak to God. And I live among people who are not pure enough to speak to him. But I have seen the King, the Lord All-Powerful."

There was a fire on the altar. One of the seraph angels used a pair of tongs to take a hot coal from the fire. Then, the angel flew to Isaiah with the hot coal in his hand and touched Isaiah's mouth with the coal. The angel said, "When this hot coal touched your lips, your guilt was taken away, and your sins were erased."

Then Isaiah heard the Lord's voice. The Lord said, "Whom can I send? Who will go for us?"

Isaiah said, "Here I am. Send me!"

The Lord said to Isaiah, "Go and preach to the people."

God's Case Against His People

After this vision, Isaiah served as a prophet for fifty years. Isaiah warned the people about sin, and called the people back to God.

Isaiah said to the people of Judah, "Listen to the Lord. The Lord says, 'I raised my children and helped them grow up, but they have turned against me. A bull knows its master, and a donkey knows where its owner feeds it. But Israel does not know me. My people don't understand'" (Isaiah 1:2-3).

"The Lord says, 'Stop doing the evil things I see you do. Stop doing wrong! Learn to do good. Be fair to other people. Punish those who hurt others. Help the children that have no parents. Help the women whose husbands are dead'" (vs. 16-17).

Isaiah Warns The People

Again and again, Isaiah pointed out the sins of the people. He said, "You people rise early in the morning and go looking for beer to drink. You stay awake late at night, getting drunk on wine. You party with your wine, harps, drums, flutes, and other musical instruments, but you don't see what the Lord has done. You don't notice what his hands have made" (Isaiah 5:11-12).

With grief in his heart, Isaiah said, "Look at those people! They pull their guilt and sins behind them like people pull wagons with ropes” (v. 18).

“They say that good is bad, and bad is good. They think light is darkness, and darkness is light. They think sour is sweet and sweet is sour” (v. 20).

“Those people refused to obey the teachings of the Lord All-Powerful. They hated the message from the Holy One of Israel. So the Lord has become terribly angry with his people, and the Lord will raise his hand and punish them” (vs. 24-25).

Isaiah urged the people to change their hearts and lives. God wanted to forgive them. "The Lord says, 'Come, let's discuss this. Even if your sins are red like scarlet, that stain can be removed, and you will be as pure as wool that is as white as snow'" (Isaiah 1:18).

Isaiah Sees A New Kingdom (Isaiah 2:1-4)

The Spirit of God came into Isaiah, and Isaiah was able to look into the future. Isaiah looked ahead and saw a new kingdom. It was not like the kingdom of Judah. It was a spiritual kingdom with spiritual values and laws. It was God's kingdom.

It stood above all the kingdoms of the earth. It was a kingdom that would attract people from all nations. People would come from far and near to worship God and to learn about God's way of living. They would follow God's rule and obey God's commands

The kingdom that Isaiah saw would have its beginning in Jerusalem with the preaching of God's special message on Mount Zion. From Jerusalem, the word of God would go out to all the world, and people who accepted God's rule would change their ways.

Those who had been in the habit of arguing and fighting would learn to love one another and live together in peace. They would stop using weapons of war. They would make plows from their swords and use their spears as tools for pruning trees and vines. They would stop fighting against other people and never train for war again.

These prophecies pointed ahead 700 years to the day when God would set up His kingdom in Jerusalem. This kingdom would never be destroyed.

Isaiah Sees A New King

As Isaiah looked into the future, he also saw a new King ruling over God's kingdom. This King would be different from other kings. He would be more than a man. Inspired by the Spirit of God, Isaiah described the new King as follows:

The King will be born of a virgin. "Look, a virgin will become pregnant and give birth to a son. She will name him Immanuel, meaning 'God with us'" (Isaiah 7:14).

The King will be the Son of God. "God will give us a son. His name will be 'Wonderful Counselor, Powerful God, Father Who Lives Forever, Prince of Peace'" (Isaiah 9:6).

The King will come from David's family. "The King will be like a branch growing out of the stump of Jesse [David's father]. That branch will grow from Jesse's roots. The Lord's spirit will always be with that new king" (Isaiah 11:1-2, 10).

The King will be announced by a prophet in the desert. "Listen! There is someone shouting, 'Prepare a way in the desert for the Lord. Make a straight road there for our God'" (Isaiah 40:3).

The King will be a Shepherd. "Like a good shepherd, the Lord takes care of his people. He gathers them like little lambs in his arms. He holds them close" (Isaiah 40:11).

The King will have the Spirit of God in Him. The King will say, "The Spirit of the Lord God is on me.” The King will be a Servant. He will say, "The Lord has chosen me to tell good news to the poor and to comfort those who are sad. He sent me to tell the captives and prisoners that they have been set free. He sent me to announce that the time has come for the Lord to show his kindness, when our God will also punish evil people" (Isaiah 61:1-2).

The King Will Be A Suffering Servant (Isaiah Chapter 53)

As Isaiah looked ahead, he saw an awful thing. He saw the King suffering and dying for all humanity.

Isaiah described that terrible scene as follows: "People made fun of him [the suffering king], and even his friends left him. We treated him like someone of no importance, like someone people will not even look at but turn away from in disgust. The fact is it was our suffering he took on himself. He bore our pain, but we thought God was punishing him, that God was beating him for something he did. But he was being punished for what we did. He was crushed because of our guilt. He took the punishment we deserved, and this brought us peace. We were healed because of his pain. We had all wandered away like sheep. We had gone our own way, and yet the Lord put all our guilt on him" (vs. 3-6).

"He was treated badly, but he never protested. He said nothing—like a lamb being led away to be killed. He was like a sheep that makes no sound as its wool is being cut off. He never opened his mouth to defend himself. He was taken away by force and judged unfairly. He was put to death for the sins of his people. He had done no wrong to anyone. He had never even told a lie. But he was buried among the wicked. His tomb was with the rich" (vs. 7-9).

"Even after giving himself as an offering for sin, he will see his descendants and enjoy a long life. After his suffering, he will see the light, and he will be satisfied with what he experienced. He will be raised from death. He was considered a criminal, but the truth is, he carried away the sins of many. Now he will speak for those who have sinned" (vs. 10-13).

Amazing Prophecies

These are some of the most amazing prophecies in the Bible. Seven hundred years before the King was born, Isaiah explained what the King would accomplish by dying on a cross. He would have no sin, but God would put our sins on Him. God would do this for us so we could become right with God. The Lord says, "My servant who always does what is right, will make his people right with me; he will take away their sins" (v. 11).

Review

God's plan for saving humanity from evil has developed before our eyes as we have traced the events of Old Testament history. The relationship between God and humanity was ruined by sin, but God planned to restore that broken relationship:

A descendant of Eve will crush Satan's head.

All families of the earth will be blessed through a descendant of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

A true King will come through the family of Judah and David.

The King will be born of a virgin.

He will be fully human and fully God.

The Spirit of God will dwell in Him.

He will be God's servant for humanity.

He will be rejected by the people He came to serve.

He will be forsaken by God.

He will be forsaken by His friends.

He will be mocked and shamed by His enemies.

His hands and feet will be pierced.

People will gamble for His clothes.

He will sacrifice His life to save others from sin.

But He will rise from death and live again.

He will speak to God for people who have sinned.

Other Prophets Finish The Picture.

The prophets of the Old Testament have painted a picture of the coming King—like artists painting a picture on canvas. Other prophets add a few final strokes to the picture.

The prophet Micah says that the King will be born in Bethlehem (Micah 5:2).

Zechariah reveals that the King will ride into Jerusalem triumphantly on the back of a donkey, and will be betrayed for thirty pieces of silver (Zechariah 9:9; 11:11-12).

Daniel calls Him "the Son of man," and says that he will return to God to rule over an everlasting kingdom (Daniel 7:13).

From beginning to end, the message of the Old Testament is the same… someone is coming to defeat evil and to save humanity from sin. If you know your Bible, you know that someone is Jesus, the Christ (Luke 19:10).