Isaiah: Part 2

“Comfort, comfort my people, says your God.” 
Isaiah 40:1 

O.k. Let’s address the elephant in the blog. If you have been following along you probably can predict with great accuracy the order and content for each of these articles. You know that when we start a new book in our Bible Reading Plan, there is always an intro article for that book. If we are still reading a book by the time next week rolls around, you will find an article related to something from that day’s reading. So why is it that we are having yet, another “intro to Isaiah”-ish article?

First off, although I am breaking Isaiah into three parts and “introducing” each section, it does not mean that Isaiah should be thought of as three distinct books. There are some theologians and historians who believe that Isaiah was actually written by multiple authors; one author for each part (1-39, 40-55, 56-66), however I do not believe that. One reason for this is because the NT authors seemed to all have the same understanding that Isaiah was written by a single author (Isaiah 40:3–5 cf Matt 3:3; Mark 1:2–3; Luke 3:4–6; John 1:23 || Isaiah 42:1–4 cf Matt 12:18–21 || Isaiah 53:1 cf John 12:38; Rom 10:16 || Isaiah 53:6–8 cf Acts 8:28, 32–33, etc.)

So why break Isaiah apart and introduce each one separately then? Well, for one, Isaiah is a very large book. It is not the largest book in the Bible; this honor goes to the book of Jeremiah, and so there are a lot of topics and themes covered. Additionally, Isaiah seems to have really nice divisions which break the book up into three different sections. So, dividing this large book just makes sense and having intro’s for each part will help us to better handle the text and properly interpret the chapters within them.

The middle section of Isaiah is encapsulated in these chapters for various literary reasons, one being that they form an inclusio. To elaborate, chapter 40 seems to be a prologue to the section with chapter 55 serving as the epilogue. In the prologue, we find several mirrored themes with chapter 55, one example being how the word of the Lord stands forever (40:8) and how Gods word also accomplishes its intended purpose (55:11).

While reading the middle portions of Isaiah, I want you to consider two major themes in chapters 40-55. The first theme concerning the character and nature of God. In this section, God is compared to several other “powers” and man-made idols and none of them are comparable to God (40:25). Throughout, we also find many titles attributed to God such as “Creator” (40:28), everlasting God (44:6), Savior (49:26), and Redeemer (54:5).

The second theme is more popularly known and is about the coming Messiah who will suffer as God’s servant. And this really is interesting to think about, because it is only after we read of Isaiah calling the people to place their faith and trust in the true God, who bears all of the titles that I mentioned earlier, that he then calls them to understand how great His servant is. In fact, as we continue reading through Isaiah, we find that this servant is more than just a faithful servant, but also one who bears the same titles as God.

Bridging the first 39 chapters, the people hear about the coming judgments of God and how they are to remove their trust from nations and idols and are reminded of the powerful of God. Further, the people must come to recognize what the Servant has done for them in dying for their sins. They, like us, must come to trust in God and the work of the Servant, to truly enjoy the great salvation from God. Which is a theme we will explore further in the final section of Isaiah.

Grace and Peace,
Alex Galvez

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