The Introduction And Setting (1:1)
Neal Pollard
Few Bible books are as diverse and as grand as the prophecy of Isaiah, whose autobiographical data is found in the first verse of his lofty volume. All we know is that he is the son of Amoz, and we know nothing else of his personal life. We are given his audience and the span of his work in that first verse, too. His focus is on the southern kingdom of Judah and its capital, Jerusalem. He prophesies during the reign of four kings, Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah. The span of the reigns of these four generations of the direct descendants of David is 113 years, so Isaiah must have lived and prophesied for many decades–even if he began at the end of Uzziah’s reign and ended at the beginning of Hezekiah’s.
Uzziah was a king whose reign could be characterized as righteous, despite a costly act of pride that caused God to strike him with leprosy (2 Chron. 26:16ff) and he did not remove the high places where people offered sacrifices rather than at Jerusalem (2 Ki. 15:4). Jotham also was characterized as a righteous king (2 Ki. 15:34) except that the high places weren’t removed (2 Ki. 15:35). Take note of the fact that the “people continued acting corruptly” (2 Chron. 27:2), something Isaiah will roundly condemn.
Ahaz was inordinately wicked, a fact that Isaiah will bring to bear in Isaiah 7:1ff. The chronicler will itemize his wickedness in graphic terms in 2 Chronicles 27. He is described as being so bad that he was like a king of Israel, none of whom were righteous (27:2). He sacrificed and burned incense in the high places, worshipped idols, and murdered his sons in offering burnt offerings to those gods (27:3-4). God judges him and his army pays the price as Aram and Israel kill 120,000 soldiers and take 200,000 of his citizens captive (27:5ff). Ahaz turned to Assyria rather than the Lord (27:16ff). He was as thoroughly rotten as almost any king who ever occupied a throne among the Jewish people. When he died, he wasn’t even buried in the tomb of the kings (27:27).
Hezekiah follows Ahaz, and his reign occupies more inspired space than any other king during the Divided Kingdom period (2 Ki. 18-20; 2 Chron. 29-32). In the only narrative section of the book of Isaiah, it involves this righteous king (ch. 36-39). His reign was so righteous that he actually removed the high places in addition to undoing the wicked actions of his father, Ahaz (2 Ki. 18:2ff). The inspired writer of 2 Kings summarizes, “He trusted in the Lord, the God of Israel; so that after him there was none like him among all the kings of Judah, nor among those who were before him. For he clung to the Lord; he did not depart from following Him, but kept His commandments, which the Lord had commanded Moses. And the Lord was with him; wherever he went he prospered” (2 Ki. 18:5-7a).
God commissions Isaiah to speak to the southern kingdom at a very roller coaster period of their existence. It is at the beginning of their final decline as the nation of Judah draws nearer to earning Babylonian Captivity for their national sins. While three of these four kings can be called “righteous,” the daily lives of the people are filled with the kind of sins Isaiah will point out in chapter one. As one has put it, “What was of utmost importance to Isaiah was to proclaim and then record what God was communicating to his people, not to express his own opinions or explain his own joys or struggles with God’s messages of judgment or hope” (Smith, NAC, 34). Thus, Isaiah will focus on other nations as well as Judah and even Israel. He will speak not only of their present sins, but their future afflictions and their future hope. On that latter note, Isaiah will paint several glorious pictures of the coming Messiah, some of the most memorable and familiar passages in the entire book. He will be revealed as descendant of David (11:1), virgin-born Immanuel (7:14), of unique character (7:15-16; 9:6-9; 49:6; 52:13), rejected by His own (ch. 53), and resurrected Lord (53:10).
God’s exalted nature will be the consistent thread throughout this epic book of prophecy. Let us explore together the various themes and messages of Isaiah and from it glean application and instruction for our daily living.
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