This essay will show that the overall message of Isaiah is redemption by showing that God is Omniscient, Omnipotent and He gives us chances of repentance.
Isaiah’s writings can be broken up into two groups chs.1-39, before the captivity which focus on judgement and chs. 40-66 post captivity where salvation and comfort are the focus.[1] This second group can be broken up yet again into two sections, (40-55; 56-66),[2] or three (40-48; 49-57; 58-66)[3]. It is argued that there are at least three authors and three different time periods in which the book was written.[4] These ideas are relying on the fact that a prophet would not give prophecy into the distant future.[5] God shows His omniscience by giving Isaiah these words and the way that Jesus uses them puts this idea to rest (Is 61:1-2), (Lk 4:16–21).[6] If God was not omniscient, how would He be able communicate so clearly to Isaiah these future events. Isaiah is trying to remind the people that they have a special relationship with God. That they are His and that He has a covenant with them.[7] God declares that all that there is to be proud of will be brought low. He declares that the LORD alone will be exalted on that day (2:9–17).[8] In Isaiah 44:28-45:1 God mentions Cyrus by name before the exile to Babylon, before the Medes and Persians conquered Babylon.
God shows that He is omnipotent when He raises up and puts down leaders and nations at His will. He sometimes works supernaturally.[9] One dramatic example is when the angel of God was sent to kill 185,000 in the Assyrian camp to defend Jerusalem after telling Hezekiah that they will be turned away (Is 37:29,36). The prophecy of the conquering of Tyre (Is 23:1-15) along with its rebuilding (Is 23:17). The prophesied proclamations against Syria, Israel, Ethiopia and Egypt (17:1-19:17). Proclamations of the coming judgement (Is 24:1-22). Chapters 40-66 go beyond just laying out redemption from sin and “speak of a change in the cosmos.”[10] “For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth; And the former shall not be remembered or come to mind. But be glad and rejoice forever in what I create (65:17-25).” If God was not omnipotent, how could He do this? The gods of the Babylonians were “powerless to protect the Babylonian people (46:1–11)”[11] Yet Yahweh is able again and again protect and preserve the Israelites.
God gives us chances to repent when He shows nations what they are doing wrong (30:18-19). Not just nations but individuals are responsible for our own actions (Is 3:10-11). In Isaiah 63 God talks about wrath and mercy and repentance. Note that mercy comes before the repentance. Isaiah 63:9 is an example of His divine mercy and it can only be talking about the Messiah. In between the proclamations of woe to many nations is a section that describes a time of peace and commerce throughout the land that could not have happened yet (Is 19:18-25).[12] How can people go from “the land of Judah will be a terror to Egypt (Is 19:17)” to a highway interconnecting three nations that have been at war for how long??? The only explanation is the Hand of God.[13]
This means that we can be redeemed. No matter what we have done or will do. The name of God “Redeemer is used 14 times in the Old Testament, 13 of which are in chapters 41-63.[14] “The Expectation of Messiah is so strong in Isaiah, that Jerome To Paulinus calls his book not a prophecy, but the gospel: ‘He is not so much a prophet as an evangelist.’”[15]
By referencing verses in Isaiah, it has been shown that God is omniscient, omnipotent and gives us chances of repentance.
[1] John A. Martin, “Isaiah,” in The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures, ed. J. F. Walvoord and R. B. Zuck, vol. 1 (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1985), 1031.
[2] John Peter Lange et al., A Commentary on the Holy Scriptures: Isaiah (Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software, 2008), 414.
[3] Martin, “Isaiah,” in The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures, 1091.
[4] Gary Smith, Isaiah 40-66, vol. 15B, The New American Commentary (Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 2009), 30.
[5] Andrew E. Hill and John H. Walton, A Survey of the Old Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2009), 521.
[6] Ted Cabal et al., The Apologetics Study Bible: Real Questions, Straight Answers, Stronger Faith (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2007), 1076.
[7] Martin, “Isaiah,” in The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures, 1031.
[8] Cabal et al., The Apologetics Study Bible: Real Questions, Straight Answers, Stronger Faith, 992.
[9] C. John Collins, “Can God’s Actions Be Detected Scientifically?,” in The Apologetics Study Bible: Real Questions, Straight Answers, Stronger Faith, ed. Ted Cabal et al. (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2007), 1003.
[10] Martin, “Isaiah,” in The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures, 1032.
[11] Cabal et al., The Apologetics Study Bible: Real Questions, Straight Answers, Stronger Faith, 992.
[12] Cabal et al., The Apologetics Study Bible: Real Questions, Straight Answers, Stronger Faith, 1017.
[13] Martin, “Isaiah,” in The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures, 1067.
[14] Hill, A Survey of the Old Testament, 529.
[15] Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset, and David Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible, vol. 1 (Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 1997), 429.
Bibliography
Cabal, Ted, Chad Owen Brand, E. Ray Clendenen, Paul Copan, J.P. Moreland, and Doug Powell. The Apologetics Study Bible: Real Questions, Straight Answers, Stronger Faith. Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2007.
Hill, Andrew E., and John H. Walton. A Survey of the Old Testament. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2009.
Jamieson, Robert, A. R. Fausset, and David Brown. Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible. Vol. 1. Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 1997.
Lange, John Peter, Philip Schaff, Carl Wilhelm Eduard Nägelsbach, Samuel T. Lowrie, and Dunlop Moore. A Commentary on the Holy Scriptures: Isaiah. Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software, 2008.
Martin, John A. “Isaiah.” In The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures, edited by J. F. Walvoord and R. B. Zuck, 1:1032. Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1985.
Smith, Gary. Isaiah 40-66. Vol. 15B. The New American Commentary. Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 2009.
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