Isaiah knew his audience
Whenever we study OT passages, we need to understand that there are 4 types of people being addressed (remember we are dealing with the theocracy — under the Mosaic law we are dealing with both believers and unbelievers. Whether you were a believer or unbeliever you were obligated to keep the Mosaic Law and if you didn't you would receive discipline. If there was sufficient sin in the nation then the entire nation would be judged, if there was sufficient obedience, then the entire nation would be blessed)
1) True believers who were walking with God (the minority)
2) The believer who was not walking with God
3) The unbeliever who was trying to live by the Mosaic Law
4) The unbeliever who had no concern for living according to the Mosaic law (Dr. Jerry Hullinger’s notes on Isaiah[1]
Preachers today also must know their audiences in order to connect
The famous evangelists, Billy Sunday, worked hard at knowing to whom he was preaching and then using that knowledge to persuade his listeners.
Billy Sunday was masterful at picking up the language and sayings of the people in the cities where he was conducting his evangelistic campaigns and using them in his sermons to better identify with the people. Here is a Billy Sunday example:
Once in a community of lumbermen, Billy Sunday noticed how they would go deep into the forest to cut wood and sprinkle sawdust to find their way back. At the end of the workday, the foreman would holler, “Let’s hit the sawdust trail and go back home.” In the next service under the large Billy Sunday Tabernacle, which had sawdust as a covering for the floor, Sunday, in his invitation, exhorted wicked lumbermen to “Hit the sawdust trail” and make their way back to God. From then on, Sunday employed the phrase in his meetings and saw many come to Christ.
Isaiah the Man
We know about Isaiah not from history but from what he said and wrote, especially in Isaiah 6:1-13. We preachers today needs these character traits.
1) He was humble. “Woe is me.”
2) He obeyed God’s call, “Here am I, send me.”
3) Isaiah ministered to Judah’s kings (1:1) for around 58 years. He finished his course.
a. Uzziah (790-739) had a long reign during which Assyrian Tiglath-Pileser III (744-727) confronted Israel and forced them to pay tribute (2 Kings 15).
b. Jotham (750-732) saw the beginnings of the decline of Judah.
c. Ahaz (735-715) sought the help of Tiglath-Pileser III for protection from Israel and Syria instead of trusting in Yahweh.
d. Hezekiah (715-686), whose reign saw the threat on Jerusalem from Sennacherib. Isaiah's ministry began sometime in Uzziah's reign, and he probably died sometime after the death of Hezekiah because Isaiah wrote a biography of him (2 Chron. 32:32).
e. Hezekiah lived after the death of Sennacherib in 681 BC (37:38). Isaiah ministered for at least 58 years (from at least 739, when Uzziah died [6:1], to 681, when Sennacherib died.
4) Isaiah was a scribe (2 Chronicles 26.22). He has been called the “Shakespeare of the Old Testament.”[2] Isaiah was accused by the leaders of Israel of treating and teaching them like they children (Isa 28:9-13). Harry Ironside and J. Vernon McGee taught his pastoral students to keep the cookies on the bottom self.
As Spurgeon once commented, ‘Christ said, ‘Feed my sheep…Feed my lambs.’’ Some preachers, however, put the food so high that neither lambs nor sheep can reach it. They seem to have the read the text, ‘Feed my giraffes.’”[3] Tony Merida agrees with Spurgeon: “The overall truth to remember in explaining is to avoid overly academic language. Luther said that when he preached, he aimed at the youth in the church, not the highly educated. Refrain from trying to impress people with your personal study. Make the text plain and understandable, so that you teach the text to all of the listeners.”[4]
5) Isaiah was married and had two sons (7.3, 8.1-4).
6) Isaiah lived in Jerusalem (He wrote much about Jerusalem). Isaiah referred to Jerusalem by using more than 30 names. Isaiah has been called the “book of the city” (1:1, 8 and 65:18-19; 66:13).
The book of Isaiah is about a city (click to open).
In Isaiah, “Jerusalem” appears 49 times and “Zion” 47, and these references are distributed throughout Isaiah’s 66 chapters. Jerusalem is referred to as “the city of righteousness” (1:26), “the faithful city” (1:26), “the valley of vision (22:1), “Ariel” (29:1–2), “the City of the LORD” (60:14), “Zion of the Holy One of Israel” (60:14), “My Delight Is in Her” (62:4), “daughter Zion” (62:11), “Sought Out” (62:12), and “A City Not Forsaken” (62:12).
But from the outset of the book we are introduced not to one city but to two: the present Jerusalem full of corruption (1:2–20), and the future Jerusalem, redeemed and righteous (1:21–2:5).[5]
7) Isaiah trained disciples (8:16).
8) There is no historical record of Isaiah’s death. Jewish tradition held that he suffered martyrdom under King Manasseh (697-642 B.C.) because of his prophesying. The early church father Justin Martyr (ca. A.D. 150) wrote that the Jews sawed him to death with a wooden saw (cf. Heb. 11:37).[6]
Isaiah’s ministry to four of Judah’s kings for 58 years reminded me of Billy Graham who met with 13 U.S. presidents and was known as the “pastor to presidents.” [click to open] Graham ministered to Harry S. Truman, Dwight D. Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson, Richard M. Nixon, Gerald R. Ford, Jimmy Carter, Ronald W. Reagan, George H. W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Barack Obama, and Donald J. Trump. About George H. W. Bush, Graham said, “He says straight out that he has received Christ as his Savior and that he is a born-again believer.”[7]
Isaiah the Book
Isaiah’s name, “The Lord (Yahweh) is salvation,” meaning the Lord is the source of salvation, summarizes the book's message.
1. Judgment of Sin (chs. 1-39)
2. Salvation from Sin (chs. 40-66)
Wiersbe as well as many others called Isaiah “The Bible in Miniature”[8] because
1. 39 chapters in the OT match the first 39 chapters of Isaiah (chapters 1-39)
2. 27 chapters in the NT match the following 27 chapters of Isaiah (40-66)
• The second section begins with John the Baptist (40:1-11), just like the NT begins.
• The second section ends with the New Heaven (66:22-24), just as the NT ends.
• Isaiah 53 about the penal substitutionary death of Christ is the center of 40-66. Which John Whitcomb entitled a book Christ Our Savior: The Greatest Prophecy: Isaiah 53.
Isaianic authorship
The book claims to have come from Isaiah (1:1; 2:1; 7:3; 13:1; 20:2; 37:2, 6, 21; 38:1, 4, 21; 39:3, 5, 8)
Jesus Christ and the apostles quoted him as the writer at least 21 times, more often than they quoted all the other writing prophets combined.
Critics of Isaianic authorship
There is no record of any serious scholar doubting the Isaianic authorship of the entire book before the twelfth century when Ibn Ezra, a Jewish commentator, did so. However, with the rise of rationalism, some German liberal scholars took the lead in questioning it in the late eighteenth century.[9] The critics rejected Isaianic authorship because they rejected supernatural predictive prophecy.
These critics advocate three different authors who wrote to three different historical settings in these three parts of the book:
1. Isaiah’s lifetime (ca. 739-701 B.C.; chs. 1—39)
2. The Babylonian exile (ca. 605-539 B.C.; chs. 40—55)
3. The return (ca. 539-400 B.C.; chs. 56—66).” John D. W. Watts [10] is a modern commentator on Isaiah who advocated this approach.
Evidence for Isaianic authorship
NT writers quote from all these sections claiming Isaiah as the author:
Chapters 1-39: Romans 9:29 quotes Isa 1:9.
Chapters 40-55: Matt 3:3 quotes Isa 40:3 concerning the ministry of John the Baptist. Romans 10:16 quotes Isa 53:1.
Chapters 56-66: Romans 10:20-21 quotes Isaiah 65:1.
External evidence (New Testament citations) and internal evidence points to the unity of authorship. The title for God, “holy one of Israel,” is mentioned 12 times in chapters 1-39 and 14 times in chapters 40-66. This title of God is mentioned only seven times elsewhere in the entire Old Testament.
Outline of Isaiah
1. Prophecies of judgment for sinners: Isaiah 1-39
Israel had broken the Mosaic Law. God predicted the punishment for breaking his Word in Deuteronomy 28:25.
A. Prophecies of judgment on Judah (1-12)
1) The Lord’s indictment against Judah (1-6)
a) Prophecy is preaching (1:1-31) You are sick
b) Prophecy is predicting (2:1-5) In the future you will be well when you trust in the Lord
c) Prophecy is preaching (2:6-4:1) Stop trusting in people
d) Prophecy is predicting (4:2-6) In the future God’s people will be fruitful
e) Prophecy is preaching (5:1- 30) Be fruitful now
2) Prophecies of deliverance (7-12) The Book of Immanuel (Trusting God or Man/Assyria)
a) Prophecy of the virgin birth (7:14)
b) Prophecy of the birth, death, and reign of Christ (9:6-7)
c) Prophecy of the reign of Christ (11:1-12:6).
The Assyrian kingdom will fall (Isa 10:34). This prophecy was fulfilled in the Battle of Carchemish in 605 BC. God’s kingdom will rise (Isa 11:1-12:6). This prophecy is fulfilled in Revelation 11:15: “Then the seventh angel blew his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, ‘The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever.’”
1. A description of the Messiah (11:1-5)
2. A description of the Kingdom (11:6-9)
3. A description of the Remnant (11:10-12:6). How do we know these are millennial prophesies? Because these prophecies can only be fulfilled literally in the millennium.
Wayne Grudem argues that “Several Old Testament passages seem to fit neither in the present age nor in the eternal state. These passages indicate some future stage in the history of redemption which is far greater than the present church age but which still does not see the removal of all sin and rebellion and death from the earth.”[11] These are not being fulfilled in our age, nor can they be fulfilled in eternity (Isa 11:10).
B. Prophecies of judgment on the Nations hostile to Judah (13-23)
1) Prophecies against nine sinful Gentile nations or cities were given to convince Israel that God will judge her enemies and set up his kingdom to persuade Israel to trust Him and the other nations.
a) Babylon (13:1-14:27)
b) Philistia (14:28-32)
c) Moab (15-16)
d) Damascus (17:1-11)
e) Assyria (17:12-18:7)
f) Egypt (19-20)
g) Edom (21:11-12)
h) Arabia (21:13-17)
i) Jerusalem (22)
j) Tyre (23)
2) Prophecies are written to assure Judah that God will judge her enemies. God will right all wrongs.
C. Prophecies of universal judgment and blessing on the earth (24-35)
1) The Little Apocalypse (Isa 24-27)
The Book of Revelation is the Big Apocalypse
Transition from immediate to future judgment (24) and Kingdom blessing (25-27). God’s judgment on the nations through the Assyrian invasions (chaps. 13–23) forms a backdrop for the Lord’s eventual judgment on the whole world (24:1, 4). Known as “Isaiah’s apocalypse,” chapters 24–27 describe the earth’s devastation and people’s intense suffering during
a. The coming Tribulation (24)
b. and the blessings to follow in the millennial kingdom (25-27)
There is chronological progression in this eschatological section from
I. The Tribulation (24:1-20) “the time of Jacob’s trouble” (Jer 30)
A. The coming worldwide apocalypse (24:1-6)
B. The extent of the worldwide apocalypse (24:7-13)
C. The result of the worldwide apocalypse (24:14-16) A remnant.
D. The description of the worldwide apocalypse (24:17-20) Like the flood (Gen 7:11; Mt 24:37-42)
II. The Second Coming (24:21-23)
A. Isaiah 24:21: The Second Coming in Revelation 19:11-21 against the kings of the earth
B. Isaiah 24:22: God’s enemies cast into the “pit” in Revelation 20:1-3
C. Isaiah 24:23: The thousand-year reign of Christ in Revelation 20:4-6
III. The Millennium and beyond (25-27).
A. The humble to be exalted (25:1–9)
B. The proud are abased (25:10-12)
C. The blessings of the Millennium (chapters 26-27)
1. Jerusalem will be righteous, peaceful, and safe (26:1-6)
2. Israel will be a witness to the lost world (26:7-11)
3. Dead Israel is resurrected (26:12-21) (Rev 19:11-20:6)
4. Resurrected Israel will bless the world (27:1-11)
5. Israel regathered from around the world (27:12-13)
The millennial sections explain various aspects of God’s activity during this time (Constable). Soon after God in His judgment will wipe out sinful people (chap. 24) the Messiah’s glorious kingdom will begin. In poetry Isaiah described the praise that will be ascribed to the Lord in the Millennium for His marvelous work.
1) Praise to the Lord for the coming kingdom (24:1-5)
a) The prophet ascribed praise to the Lord’s name (His revealed character)
b) for His marvelous acts of judgment (vv. 2–3)
c) and deliverance vv. 4–5).
2) Effects of the coming kingdom (24:6–12)
3) The humble to be exalted (25:1–6)
4) Deliverance to come from God (26:7–21)
5) The culmination of judgment (27:1)
6) The song of the vineyard (27:2-6)
7) The coming judgment (27:7–11)
8) The regathering of Israel (27:12-13)
2) Woes against those who set themselves against God and were scoffing at Isaiah’s messages (28-33)
(Gen 12:1-2) I will bless them that bless you and.curse them that curse you (See Ryrie’s Basic Theology)
1. Woe to Ephraim and Judah (chap. 28)
2. Woe to Jerusalem (chap. 29)
3. Woe to the obstinate children (chap. 30)
4. Woe to the Egyptian alliance (chaps. 31–32)
5. Woe to the destroyers (chap. 33)
3) Vengeance and blessing (chaps. 34–35)
1. The Lord’s day of vengeance (chap. 34) against the enemies of God.
2. The Lord’s day of blessing (chap. 35) for the people of God.
D. Prophecies of the Captivity (36-39) A Historical Bridge
Historical interlude: Judah to be in captivity (chaps. 36–39)
1) God defeated Assyria as predicted (Isaiah looks back in chapters 36-37 and climax 1-35).
a) Isaiah wanted to portray Hezekiah as one who believed in God and was miraculously delivered from the Assyrian threat by a sovereign act of God. The point of these chapters is that God can and does fulfill His Word to His people. He had told them on a number of occasions that the Assyrians would be defeated; now that promise was fulfilled.
b) Hezekiah was a man of faith
2) God delivered Judah from Babylon as predicted (Isaiah looks forward in chapters 38-39 and lays a foundation for 40-66).
a) In chapters 36–37, Hezekiah was a man of faith, but here he was a man of pride.
b) This account is also recorded in 2 Kings 20.
c) Three events occurred in 701 BC.
1) Sennacherib’s attack (Isa 36-37)
2) Hezekiah’s sickness (Isa 38)
3) Merodach-baladan’s visit (Isa 39)
“Hezekiah faced three crises in a short time:
1) An international crisis (The invasion of the Assyrian army),
2) A personal crisis (sickness and near death)
3) A national crisis (the visit of the Babylonian envoys). “He came through the first two victoriously, but the third one tripped him up”[12]
2. Prophecies of Comfort for the believer (the remnant): Isaiah 40-66
God promised God’s People that He would return them to the land for their obedience (Dt. 30:1-5). Judgment, emphasized in chapters 1–39, is the purifying force that leads to the forgiveness and pardoning of sins emphasized in chapters 40–66 (cf. 27:9).
This section is divided into three parts of nine chapters each (chaps. 40–48; 49–57; 58–66).
A. Prophecies of deliverance from captivity in Babylon (40-48).
The chief deliverer is Cyrus, mentioned near the middle of the section (44:28–45:1). The prophecy of Cyrus was stated in about 726 B.C. and fulfilled in 536 B.C. 190 years later.
B. Prophecies of the rejection and restoration of the Suffering Servant (49-57).
Servants in the OT
1. Job in Job 42:7 “My servant”
2. Assyria is God’s servant though not called a servant (Isa 10:5)
3. Cyrus is God’s servant “shepherd” (Isa 45:28)
4. Nebuchadnezzar (”my servant”) (Jer 25:9)
Servants in Isaiah
1. David (37:35)
2. Israel (41:8; 43:1-10; 45:4: 48:20)
3. Messiah (42:1-12; 49; 50:4-6; 52:13-53:12
Four “Servant” Prophesies
1. The Servant is sent (42:6-7)
2. The Servant is rejected (49:3-7)
3. The Servant is abused (50:6)
4. The Servant is crucified (52:13-53:12)
The Servant’s Greatest Service
1. The Servant is humbled and exalted (52:13-15)
2. The Servant is rejected (53:1-3)
3. The Servant is punished (53:4-6)
4. The Servant is submitted (53:7-9)
5. The Servant is exalted (53:10-12)
C. Prophecies of the consummation of God’s restoration of Israel and the world (58-66). At the heart of this third section is the coming of the Messiah (chaps. 61–63).
1. The restoration to come by God’s initiative (chaps. 58–60) (59:20)
2. The coming of the Messiah (61:1–63:6)
3. The nation’s prayer and the Lord’s response (63:7–65:25).
4. The Lord’s fulfillment of His promises (chap. 66)
Theology of Isaiah
The central doctrine of Isaiah is the Holy One of Israel
1. Isaiah’s call is rooted in the holiness of God in Isaiah six. The adjective “holy” (Heb. qadosh) describes God 33 times in Isaiah and only 26 times in the rest of the Old Testament. Holiness is the primary attribute of God that this prophet stressed.
2. Isaiah is the prophet of holiness
a. In the book of The King his holiness is rejected (5:24)
b. In the book of The Servant He dies for sinful people (Isa 53)
c. In the book of The Conqueror sinners will bow before the Holy one of Israel (60:14)
Another important doctrine is God who keeps His promises (covenant promises)
In the ancient Near East, names were more meaningful than they are today. A person’s name was an indication of his or her character. The Book of Isaiah is no exception, for in this book, the meanings of God’s names play an important role in several prophetic utterances. Isaiah used the name “the LORD” (Yahweh) by itself more than 300 times, making it by far the most prominent name for Deity Isaiah used. Since this name is the covenant name for God, it is natural that Isaiah used it often.
He also frequently used the name “God” (’ělōhîm) in both parts of the book. It is noteworthy that “God” occurs six times in chapter 40 (vv. 1, 3, 8–9, 27–28; “God” in v. 18, however, translates the shorter form ’ēl), which introduces the section on comfort for the covenant people. As the one supreme Deity, God can give comfort to His people[9] (Bible Knowledge Commentary).
God fulfilled the first-coming prophecies literally, and God will keep the second-coming millennial prophecies literally. However, Covenant postmillennialist Loraine Boettner provides an example of allegorizing the millennial passage of Isaiah 11:6-8, which predicts that in the future kingdom:
The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb.” Here is how Boettner allegorizes this prophecy for Israel: “A fitting example of the wolf dwelling with the lamb is seen in the change that came over the vicious persecutor Saul of Tarsus, who was a wolf ravening and destroying, but who was so transformed by the Gospel of Christ that he became a lamb. After his conversion, he lost his hatred for the Christians and became instead their humble friend, confidant, and defender.[13]
This fanciful interpretation was not Isaiah’s message to his original audience. This allegorical interpretation violates the historical/grammatical method of hermeneutics. First, there is no indication in the New Testament that “the lamb” in Isaiah 11 is a type and Paul is the antitype. An actual type is the Passover lamb in Exodus 12 and the antitype is in 1 Corinthians 5. Plus, the context is not Saul of Tarsus’ conversion but the future millennium. From above the context is clear:
Prophecy of the reign of Christ (11:1-12:6).
The Assyrian kingdom will fall (Isa 10:34). God’s kingdom will rise (Isa 11:1-12:6). This is the fulfillment of Revelation 11:15.
1. A description of the Messiah (11:1-5)
2. A description of the Kingdom (11:6-9)
3. A description of the Remnant (11:10-12:6). How do we know these are millennial prophesies? Because these prophecies can only be fulfilled literally in the millennium. These are not being fulfilled in our age, nor can they be fulfilled in eternity (Isa 11:10).
God literally keeps His promises. What promise from God’s Word do you need today? The promise of salvation (Rom 10:19), forgiveness (1 Jo 1:9), strength (Phil 4:13), or God’s supplies (Phil 4:19). Claim these promises proclaimed by God’s prophets!
[1] Dr. Hullinger’s notes on Isaiah
[2] Brent A. Strawn describes the common interpretations of Isaiah authorship (click to open)
[3] John Stott, Between Two Worlds: The Challenge of Preaching Today (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1994), 146-147.
[4] Tony Merida, The Christ-Centered Expositor: A Field Guide for Word-Driven Disciple Makers (Nashville: B&H, 2016), 180.
[5] Bo Lim, A Tale of Two Cities (click to open), Seattle Pacific University
[6] William Sanford LaSor, Great Personalities of the Old Testament (Old Tappan, NJ: Revell, 1959), 136.
[7] Billy Graham: pastor to presidents (click to open) Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, February 23, 2026.
[8] Wiersbe on Isaiah: Be Comforted.
[9] Thomas Constable, Netbible.org.
[10] Thomas Constable, Netbible.org. Bibliotheca Sacra 144:573 (January-March 1987):24-43; and idem, “Literary Genres in Isaiah 40—55,” Bibliotheca Sacra 144:574 (April-June 1987):144-55.
[11] Wayne Grudem, Systematic Theology
[12] Bible Knowledge Commentary
[13] The Meaning of the Millennium p. 90).
