The Book of Isaiah

In his prophetic book, Isaiah says we will work forever on the “new earth” where God will establish his eternal kingdom (see Isaiah 65)!

Isaiah is the most-quoted Old Testament book in the New Testament, and the prophet Isaiah is generally regarded as the greatest of the Old Testament “writing prophets” (those who wrote books eventually included in the Bible) because so many of his prophecies focus on the coming Messiah and on an age of remarkable divine blessing when “the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea” (Isa 11:9).

The vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.

The vision of Isaiah: This book contains the prophesies of Isaiah, the son of Amoz, who ministered from about 740 to 680 B.C. For about 20 years, he spoke to both the northern kingdom of Israel and the southern kingdom of Judah. After Israel’s fall to the Assyrians in 722 B.C., Isaiah continued to prophesy to Judah.

This period of Israel’s history is told in 2 Kings 15 through 21 and 2 Chronicles 26 through 33. Isaiah was a contemporary of the prophets Hosea and Micah. By the time of Isaiah, the prophets Elijah, Elisha, Obadiah, Joel, Jonah, and Amos had already completed their ministry.

By this time, Israel had been in the Promised Land for almost 700 years. For their first 400 years in Canaan, judges ruled Israel. These were spiritual, military, and political leaders whom God raised up as the occasion demanded. Then, for about 120 years, three kings reigned over all Israel: Saul, David, and Solomon. But in 917 B.C. Israel had a civil war, and remained divided into two nations, Israel (to the north) and Judah (to the south) up until the time of Isaiah.

Up until the time of Isaiah, the northern nation of Israel had some 18 kings – all of them bad, and rebellious against the LORD. The southern nation of Judah had some 11 kings before Isaiah’s ministry, some good and some bad.

In the time of Isaiah, Israel was a little nation often caught in the middle of the wars between three superpowers: Egypt, Assyria, and Babylon.

As Isaiah’s ministry began, there was a national crisis in the northern nation of Israel. The superpower of Assyria was about to engulf the nation of Israel. During the span of his ministry as a prophet, the southern nation of Judah was faced with repeated threats from the larger surrounding nations.

Many modern scholars think that there was more than one author to the book of Isaiah. They throw about terms like “Deutero-Isaiah” and “Trito-Isaiah” or the “Isaianic School.” The New Testament quotes Isaiah by name more than all the other writing prophets combined. In John 12:37-41, John quotes from both the “first” part of Isaiah and the “second” part of Isaiah – the parts supposedly written by two or more different Isaiahs – and specifically says it is the same Isaiah.

Isaiah, son of Amoz: The name Isaiah means Salvation is of the LORD. There are at least seven men by the name of Isaiah in the Bible, but only one is Isaiah, the son of Amoz.

Introduction to Isaiah