Another Bible Commentary: Isaiah

Isaiah’s ministry was from about 740 to 680 BC. There are so many prophecies about Jesus in this book, some people call it the Fifth Gospel. Isaiah was a contemporary of Micah. Micah is somewhat like a Cliff’s Notes version of Isaiah. The Book of Isaiah is divided into a focus on judgment (Chapters 1 through 39) and comfort (Chapters 40 through 66). Some people divide Chapters 40-55 and Chapters 56-66; some of them even refer to “first, second, and third Isaiah” to imply different writers. I’m not endorsing the view of people who doubt prophets were capable of predicting things; I only mention it so you know what the heathens are talking about in case you hear them.

1:1 Uzziah was presented to us as a good-ish but leprous king. Isaiah’s ministry continued through the years of a ruler who sacrificed his own son and replaced God’s altar, but then Hezekiah enacted reforms encouraged by Micah. Isaiah 1 has a few elements in common with Isaiah 66.

1:3 “manger” A feed trough like Baby Jesus slept in.

1:5-7 See 2 Chronicles 28. Judah was pillaged by Syria, Israel, Edom, the Philistines, and Assyria during Ahaz’s reign. Prophets also speak of future events as if they had already happened, so we can’t be sure exactly when Isaiah had specific visions.

1:10 Isaiah mentioned the people from Genesis 19 to admonish the rulers of Judah.

1:11-13 They acted like Sodom, so their worship rang false. See Proverbs 21:3, Proverbs 21:27, Hosea 6:6, Amos 5:24, and Micah 6:6-8.

1:15 “full of blood” from innocent victims as seen in the NLT.

1:17 See Exodus 3:9, Deuteronomy 24:14, and Deuteronomy 27:19.

1:21 As God’s wife, the chosen people’s idolatry is the adulterous prostitution in focus in the prophets; see verse 29 for clarification. The idols had no ethical demands, so murder and oppression crept in easily.

1:22 “wine is diluted with water” Much is made of how ancient peoples used wine to treat bad water in an effort to scare congregations away from modern alcohol concentrations, but God endorsed the uncut stuff here.

1:23 Micah 2, Micah 3:5, and 1 Kings 21:10 illustrate these activities.

1:26 “Faithful” like verse 21.

1:29 See 2 Kings 18:4.

1:31 “mighty man” The rulers from verse 23. See Isaiah 22:15-25, Isaiah 24:21-23, Isaiah 25:2-5, and Isaiah 66:24. The rest of Isaiah elaborates on “mighty” oppressive religious leaders, cruel kings, fallen angel princes, and bad shepherds in general.

2:2-5 Compare Jeremiah 3:17, Zephaniah 2:11, and Micah 4 (especially Micah 4:3) to this section.

2:6-8 Romans 1, Leviticus 19, Deuteronomy 17, and Deuteronomy 18 are instructive regarding this type of behavior.

2:11-12 The Day of the Lord: Jeremiah 30:5-7, Ezekiel 30:1-4, Joel 2:1-2, Joel 2:31, Amos 5:18-20, Zephaniah 1:14-18, and Malachi 4:5 for starters. The Day of the Lord is whenever He visits to punish or to save. This language for a notable event is similar to Isaiah 9:4 “the day of Midian”; there are a lot of people focused on one big Day of the Lord in the eschatological sense of it being the end of man’s “day”, but He’s had plenty of notable days involving floods, burning sulfur, etc. Amos’ warning of what eventually happened to the northern kingdom of Israel in 722 BC is likely the first use of this phrase in the prophets chronologically.

2:22 like Jeremiah 17:5. They have that ephemeral “breath” from God in their nostrils like in Ecclesiastes. Relying on humans instead of God leads to the events of Isaiah 3. God took away the things they trusted.

3:4 Having a child king is frequently a recipe for misrule and anarchy.

3:10 Relax, Jesus made us righteous (2 Corinthians 5:21).

3:12 “women” More to come in verse 16. For more on the guides, see Isaiah 9:16 and Matthew 15:14.

3:16 See Isaiah 32:9-20 and compare Amos 4 for this section.

4:1 Even the unloved traditionally got Exodus 21:10-11; desperate times were promised.

4:2 like Isaiah 60:21.

4:3 “recorded” like Daniel 12:1, Malachi 3:16, and Revelation 20:15.

4:4 is referenced in Luke 3:16 about Jesus.

4:5 like Exodus 13:21.

5:1 The vineyard is identified in verse 7.

5:7 Wordplay: tzedakah righteousness; tzeakah cries for justice.

5:8 As we’ve seen repeatedly, mere material prosperity is not a problem but a blessing. In context, God promised land to Abraham’s descendants (Genesis 13:15, Genesis 17:8) and expected them to preserve the allotments (Leviticus 25). Instead, they perpetrated land grabs like Proverbs 22:28 and 1 Kings 21.

5:11-12 These specific drunkards rose early to no productivity and instead ripped off their neighbors, taxpayers, and congregations to get all that booze.

5:14 Sheol is described similarly to Mot, the Canaanite god of death, eating.

5:16 God, who is most powerful and mysterious, is truly holy, set apart, and notable by HIs righteousness.

5:20 This helps explain Matthew 12:32.

5:21 See Proverbs 3:5-6.

5:22-23 are a unit. The drunks condemned here are rulers, and the price of wine suggests they are exploiters/extorters/robbers/etc.

5:24 like James 1:10-11.

5:26-30 This type of international enemy team happens repeatedly in the prophets.

6:1 Isaiah saw the Lord in a vision like in Isaiah 1:1; therefore, Isaiah was theoretically not in danger of dying (Exodus 33:20). John 12:41 further clarifies that Isaiah saw Jesus. Since the hem was also used to seal documents back then, the train of His robe is the Name (1 Kings 5:2-5). Seizing a hem was an act of submission (Zechariah 8:23, Matthew 9:20-21). Similar scenes can be found in 1 Kings 22 and Ezekiel 1.

6:2 Seraphim or “the burning ones” can’t even look at God either. They are sometimes depicted as winged snakes; the same word is used in Numbers 21:6, Isaiah 14:29, and Isaiah 30:6.

6:3 “Holy, holy, holy” God in three Persons; Blessed Trinity.

6:4 Incense smoke like 1 Chronicles 6:49 is a familiar image, but we’re also dealing with “the burning ones”.

6:5 The focus on lips instead of, say, hearts looks back to Isaiah 3:8. Compare Moses’ calling in Exodus 4:10.

6:9 like Ezekiel 12:2; like the eyes and ears of the idols they worshiped. Matthew 13:15 and the Septuagint agree that God was not to blame for their problem. They were hardened like Pharaoh. Isaiah knew his work was futile except for the remnant. The Righteous King Jesus fixes things in Isaiah 32:1-4.

6:10 “This people’s heart has become calloused…and they have closed their eyes.” The Gentiles would believe in Christ before most of the Hebrews (Isaiah 52:15 through Isaiah 53:1). Paul explains this in Romans (Romans 11:25 has the gist).

7:1 Context concerning these kings can be found in 2 Kings 15, 2 Kings 16, and 2 Chronicles 28. Aram and Israel fought Judah to try to force them to join the anti-Assyrian coalition. Spoiler alert: Judah stayed out and Assyria conquered Israel.

7:3 Isaiah had a son named Shear-Jashub, or “a remnant will return”. A “fuller” washed/bleached the oil out of wool for use as new cloth.

7:13 Prophecy has a timeless quality and can be fulfilled multiple times/ways. Isaiah was no longer speaking only to Ahaz about the whole house of David. There was an immediate fulfillment of this next prophecy concerning that situation, but the prophecy also applied to Christ.

7:14 Yes, the word here translated as “virgin” can mean young woman, especially with regard to the short-term fulfillment of this prophecy for its first hearers. Yes, “God with us” was a familiar concept (Joshua 1:9, Psalm 46:4-11, etc.). Knowing this does not change the miracle of the Incarnation. Keep reading, it gets better.

7:15 “eating curds and honey” means when the child was weaned.

7:16 like Isaiah 8:4.

7:20 The reference to shaving the genitals signifies making them as weak as prepubescent boys.

7:22 “curds and honey” were in Deuteronomy 32, which referenced the Exile of the Hebrews and the rule of Christ.

7:23-25 “briers and thorns” like Micah 7:1-4.

8:1 Isaiah named his son Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz, or “quick to the plunder, swift to the spoil”.

8:4 like Isaiah 7:16.

8:6 “Shiloah” or “Siloam” in reference to the Temple; see Nehemiah 3:15. “Rezin” refers to Aram here, and the “son of Remaliah” was Pekah of Israel.

8:9 “Come get wrecked, distant lands, in a manner much like what is promised in Revelation!”

8:13 like Luke 12:5; we can be fearless children of our fearsome Father.

8:14 like Luke 20:18.

8:15 like Matthew 21:44.

8:18 “signs and symbols” namely Isaiah “The LORD will save” (thanks, Jesus!) and his children: “a remnant will return” and “quick to the plunder, swift to the spoil (the enemies)”.

8:19 See Deuteronomy 18:9-13.

9:1-2 See Matthew 4:12-16 about the Messiah, the ideal Davidic King. Jesus is God. Modern Jews deny He is the Messiah because by their reckoning world peace they don’t see yet is supposed to accompany His reign. However, Romans 9 through Romans 11 details the plan to use we Gentiles to make them want Him. God is mercifully giving everyone time so as many people as possible can choose Jesus and be saved.

9:4 references the time of Gideon in Judges 6 and Judges 7.

9:5 as in a holy war victory like Joshua 11:9; see also Zechariah 9:10.

9:6-7 Jesus. See also Micah 5:2. As to complaints about “from that time on and forever”, Isaiah 42:4 makes it clear that establishing the effects of His kingdom is a process.

9:15 The bad shepherds

9:16 like Isaiah 3:12 and Matthew 15:14.

9:17 like Jeremiah 6:11. This was not undeserved; see Micah 7:2 and Romans 3. For any dismayed at the Isaiah 9:17 plus Isaiah 9:20 plus Isaiah 10:2-3 implications of the widows eating the orphans because of injustice to widows and orphans and the like, God has always had a knack for sparing “righteous” individuals (Noah, Lot, etc.) even amidst general catastrophes. Next time, Isaiah 65:8 applies.

9:18-21 Think about Isaiah 66:24; fire that burns and worms that eat.

10:1 The bad shepherds

10:2 See Deuteronomy 27:19.

10:5 God’s people are like “made men” in an organized crime film; even if they have it coming, no one can lay a hand on them without repercussions. God used the Assyrians against them, and then punished the Assyrians for what they had done (Isaiah 10:12).

10:9 Ironically, Assyria finally fell when Babylon beat Assyria’s Egyptian allies (national alliances changed several times in this period) at Carchemish in 605 BC.

10:14 Guess who ends up getting that loot? Se Isaiah 60:5-11 and Isaiah 66:12-13.

10:16 See 2 Kings 19:35.

10:26 See Judges 7:25 and Exodus 14.

10:28-32 These places are listed “as the crow flies” so to speak.

11:1 The Branch from Jesse is a commonly used symbol for the Messiah, Jesus Christ.

11:2 like Matthew 3:16-17.

11:4 “poor” like the Beatitudes (Matthew 5). See also Jeremiah 5:14 and Revelation 19:21.

11:5 This attributes/clothing image expands to the armor of God in Isaiah 59 and Ephesians 6.

11:6-9 Remember Leviticus 26:6 while reading this; it was there all along. See also Isaiah 60:21, Hosea 2:18, and Ezekiel 34:25. Then, see Romans 8:19-22. People joke about vegetarian lions, but the Fall broke our reality. The world we see is not the good world Father gave us. Christ gave Christians back the life we lost in Eden, and eventually in the Millennial Kingdom our surroundings will be set right too. The “earth” here is in the prophetic sense of true Israel and its hegemony (the land spoken of in Leviticus 26:6) because things in verse 14 depict events away from the “holy mountain”.

11:10 Amen. We’ll discuss how Jesus is our Sabbath rest later in Hebrews 4; the new Heaven and the new Earth will be awesome, too.

11:11-12 as promised in Deuteronomy 30:4-5.

11:15 to go with the new Exodus experience being discussed here. Overall, the promise of return and the warnings to the nations that follow this in Isaiah sound like Exodus 15:11-18.

12:2 He has become my salvation.

12:3 See John 6:35.

12:4 Gentile inclusion in the Great Commission is no surprise.

13:2 “gates” where court cases happened.

13:4 Another multinational army like in Psalm 83, Ezekiel 38-39, and Revelation 20 but with a different target this time.

13:8 Death in childbirth was common.

13:9-10 About the Day of the LORD, see Joel 2:10, Joel 2:31, Joel 3:15, Ezekiel 32:7-8, Amos 8:9, Matthew 24:29, Mark 13:24, Luke 21:25, Luke 23:45, Acts 2:20, and Revelation 6:12 for starters. These don’t all reference the same event. The Day of the LORD is whenever he visits to judge or to save. In the Bible, sometimes there are blindness metaphors as in Ecclesiastes 12:2, sometimes this is a poetic way to depict a failure of government as a Genesis 1:16-18 reference (the heavenly bodies “govern” there), and other times there is actual miraculous darkness.

13:17 to contrast scenarios like 2 Kings 23:35 and 2 Chronicles 16:1-10.

13:21 “desert creatures” are sometimes translated as “goat demons”.

Isaiah 14 – There was a literal human king of Babylon, and there was also a world system dating back to the Tower of Babel involving a shadow government of fallen angel Watchers, etc. There has been much discussion about the subject of this; taunting the human king of Babylon by comparing his downfall to Satan’s splits the difference between popular viewpoints. Venus (the “morning star”) descends quickly. (When Christ is called the Morning Star, it is because He’s bright and comes down to us. Context matters.)

14:1 “foreigners” like Exodus 12:38.

14:2 a repeat of the Joshua experience.

14:4 Compare the following section with Exodus 15.

14:8 “cut us down” for siegeworks.

14:10 “as we are”, “like us” defeated or mortal/dead.

14:12 See Luke 10:18, Exodus 15:7, and Revelation 12:9

14:13-14 Note the similar language to Exodus 15:9. Depending on your translation, there are five “I will” statements for maximum hubris. I will continue this commentary, God willing.

14:17 “made the world a wilderness” For those favoring a secondary interpretation about the Snake (in addition to the straightforward angle about an earthly kingdom immediately relevant to the original hearers), think of our discussion of what the Fall did to this world; “captives” See the stuff about being slaves to sin in Romans 6. Prophecies can be fulfilled more than once.

14:25 “the Assyrian” Babylon was once just a city within the Neo-Assyrian Empire.

14:28 in 715 BC.

Isaiah 15 – See Jeremiah 48, Ezekiel 25:8-11, and Amos 2:1-3. A “city lament” was a common type of poem back then; we will see this style a few more times in our trip through the Bible. Assyria invaded Moab a few years after Isaiah's prophecy. Moab had plenty to lament when the Babylonians visited in 582 BC, too.

16:2 PLOP!

16:5 Jesus. (Okay, for the original audience, Hezekiah was a fine short-term solution.)

Isaiah 17– Assyria conquered Damascus in 732 BC (2 Kings 16:9). Remember the promises of Isaiah 7 through Isaiah 8.

18:1 “Cush” The Upper Nile region. Since the Nile flows northward, it’s the part of the map that says “Ethiopia” at the time of this writing.

19:1 The gods of Egypt metaphorically remembered Exodus 12:12.

19:2 There were civil wars in Egypt in the 8th century BC.

19:11 “wise counselors” Magicians like in Exodus 7:11 as promised in Isaiah 19:3.

19:13 “deceived” by the magicians.

19:18 “City of the Sun” the Heliopolis as seen in Genesis 41:45. Heliopolis, or “On”, is the city of the Ra cult where the phoenix was said to be reborn, symbolic of Joseph’s comeback. See also Jeremiah 43:13.

19:23 See also Jeremiah 46:26 and Micah 7:12.

19:24-25 Remember the original audience. Instead of continuing to be a pawn in the Assyria/Egypt feud of the 700s, Israel was promised to be elevated to equal footing.

20:1-2 This won’t be the last nude performance art by a prophet in the Bible. Think of modern protesters like the WNBR, etc.

20:3 This was in service of delivering the sermons of Isaiah 18 and Isaiah 19. Isaiah 58:7 shows that the prophet was not unique in his attire.

20:4 For those that insist “naked” meant merely “inadequately protected against the elements” in this episode, by all means let’s keep having the winter coat drives for poor kids, but this verse has visible buttocks in it. Other parts were politely not mentioned.

21:2 Babylon was warned this would happen back in Isaiah 13.

21:5 like in Daniel 5.

21:8-9 Prophets may speak of future events in the past tense. Seeing from an eternal perspective can be trippy. This vision is referenced in Revelation 18.

22:1-12 Historical background: Jerusalem was threatened by Sennacherib in 701 BC and taken by Nebuchadnezzar in 586 BC.

22:13 They remembered Ecclesiastes 8:15 and forgot Ecclesiastes 8:12-13.

22:17 “mighty” See Isaiah 1:31 note.

22:20 See also 2 Kings 18:18 and Jeremiah 1:1.

23:1 looks like it was fulfilled by Sennacherib.

23:2 “merchants of Sidon” Tyre and Sidon were Phoenician cities (of decidedly not-genocided Canaanites); the focus on merchants in the prophets and in Revelation may be because the same word in Hebrew means “Canaanite” and “merchant” because of these Phoenicians.

23:3 Remember this lament when we get to Revelation.

23:15-16 As seen in Sirach 9:4, hookers sang back then (like how ice cream trucks play songs).

23:17-18 Isaiah just depicted God pimping out Tyre. See also Isaiah 60:5,11 and Isaiah 66:12-13 for more loot coming in.

24:1 See Jeremiah 4:23-28, Micah 7:13, and Zephaniah 1. The word for “earth” can be “land” or “territory”, because otherwise the scattered inhabitants would be astronauts. Jeremiah 4 uses images of the end of the world and of creation being unmade in reverse to describe Babylon attacking Judah, and Zephaniah 1 parallels Jeremiah 4.

24:5 Scattered for lawbreaking; the Exile is like leaving Eden. Since the “earth” is likely the “land”, the eternal covenant here more likely involves the Law of Moses than the Noahide Laws.

24:6 See Deuteronomy 32:22. The specific burning here is in contrast to the more general destruction of Zephaniah 3:8 and 2 Peter 3:10-11.

24:13 “on the earth and among the nations” Distinguishing nations from the earth is another clue that here the “earth” is the “land”, like what Abraham was promised.

24:21 The powers above the earthly kings are fallen angel Watchers.

24:22 like Revelation 20:1-10.

25:6 Eating together meant peace, fellowship, and protection by the Host.

25:7 like the veil in the Temple ripping at the Crucifixion and Peter seeing a new sheet in a vision about Gentile inclusion in Acts 10.

25:8 God eats Mot, the god of death usually depicted as eating people; “tears” see Revelation 21:4.

25:9 Salvation by grace through faith will be a big theme in the New Testament. Trusting Him for salvation (or waiting on Him, depending on your translation) sounds a lot like 2 Chronicles 20, which didn’t go well for Moab…

25:10 “on this mountain” meaning Jerusalem. Christians are the New Jerusalem; Moab gets it in this verse, right on time it seems. See Isaiah 16:11 and Jeremiah 48:13,27,42. As to why they seem to get special handling after all this apocalyptic happy ending talk, a) they could be generic bad guy stand-ins because of Deuteronomy 23:3-4 comparable to Edom/Adam in Isaiah 34 b) they were of the same ethnic stock as Israel but worshiped Chemosh, providing a Goofus/Gallant contrast c) Moab means “from the father”, and John 8:44 may suggest a clue and/or d) these are the Jeremiah 9:25-26 “circumcised in flesh only” faithless Hebrews with the rest of humanity being represented in Isaiah 34. Jeremiah 48:47 provides a “hope spot” for one of the Moabs, as it were.

26:1-4 “salvation” “faith” “trust” Salvation by grace through faith will be a big theme in the New Testament.

26:5 like Isaiah 1:31, Isaiah 24:21, Ezekiel 21:25-26, and the Song of Mary.

26:6 See Isaiah 25:4-5.

26:7 Experiencing an anointing of ease upon your life has been criticized as prosperity-speak, yet here it is. The road will not be free of bumps, plenty of Christians still suffer real persecution worldwide, etc., but you can probably see evidence of His influence in your life and thank Him. Jesus is the Way to Heaven.

26:9 “of the world” Gentile inclusion as in Isaiah 49:6. Israel’s mission was to be a kingdom of priests to introduce the world to God (Exodus 19:5-6).

26:10 The Hebrews would go on to sully God’s reputation among the Gentiles with their conduct while in captivity (Ezekiel 36:20-23). They are not unique among humanity, for even in the Millennial Kingdom (in which we reign with Christ for a thousand years) there will be malcontents (Revelation 20:6-8).

26:12 “all that we have accomplished you have done for us” is as fine an admission about the finished work of Christ as any.

26:18 “gave birth to wind” Did you think you would be reading about flatulence today? “We have not brought salvation to the earth” They failed the Exodus 19:5-6 mission, so Jesus accomplished it as a one-man Israel.

26:19 contrasts Isaiah 26:14. See Daniel 12:2.

26:20 sounds like Passover, the apostles locked in their room, or us at the wedding feast with Christ while other things occur on Earth. 2 Peter 3:8 clarifies that a “little while” or promises of coming soon might not seem like it to us.

26:21 See this paid back in Isaiah 66:24; see also Revelation 6:10.

27:1 Remember this Dragon when we get to Revelation.

27:2 Compare the vineyard of Isaiah 5 with the vine and branches relationship we have with Christ in John 15.

27:3 Thanks, Father.

27:4 He is not angry by His own admission, but He (to use an informal vernacular) “wish somebody would” mess with us so He could run in with a can of gasoline (Revelation 20:9) like your most loyal gangsta friend. The “briers and thorns” are from Isaiah 7:23-25; compare Micah 7:1-4.

27:5 He would prefer peace, of course.

27:6 See Genesis 12:3.

27:8 Prophets may speak of future events in the past tense.

27:11 like those who do not attach themselves to Christ in John 15. He’s been the point all along.

27:12 like in Matthew 24:31.

27:13 reminds me of the events of 1 Corinthians 15:52 and 1 Thessalonians 4:15-18 in which the dead answer the final trumpet (like Numbers 10:7) first and rise.

28:1 “Woe” in cultural context means start the funeral procession. Regarding “those laid low by wine” we will see in verse 7 they are the leaders and prophets. Extracting enough wine from subsistence farmers to stay hammered all day in no condition to rule or to distinguish holy from unholy (Leviticus 10) entailed exploitation.

28:2 This flood talk is going somewhere in the verse 17 note.

28:10 Christianity isn’t about rules but about letting Christ rule. We’ll learn more in verse 12.

28:11 “strange tongues” speaking Assyrian.

28:12 This is a message of God’s grace, and “they would not listen”. See Matthew 11:28-30 and believe Him.

28:13 Paul asserted in Romans 5:20: “The law was given so that transgression might increase but, where sin increased, grace overflowed all the more.” Not only does this teach us that attempts at Law-keeping are cursed and doomed to fail (Romans 7:8, Galatians 3:10-11) as does this verse in Isaiah, but that it is by definition impossible to out-sin the grace of God (Relax, legalists, you don’t really want to as a new creation; see Philippians 2:13).

28:14 Bad shepherds.

28:15 See Isaiah 65:4 and Ezekiel 8.

28:16 No one who trusts Him will be disappointed (John 6:37).

28:17 Jesus is a carpenter. A plumb line can be used to see if a structure is vertical/level. A leaning structure may need to be torn down (2 Kings 21:13, Lamentations 2:8, Amos 7:7-8). The language about water sweeping their dwelling away as if it were built in a flood plain that becomes a river in the desert when it rains is behind Matthew 7:27; Jesus implied Isaiah 29 as well along with that reference. The bad shepherds lacked faith in the Good Shepherd so Rome knocked their Temple down just like what the Babylonians did eventually this time after Isaiah spoke.

28:21 “Perazim” in 1 Chronicles 14:11; “Gibeon” in 1 Chronicles 14:16; “strange work” because He usually saves them instead of treating them like the Philistines.

28:24-25 The Alpha and Omega brings life from destruction.

28:27-28 They were promised a lack of overkill.

29:1 “Ariel” is approximately “altar”, so there’s a whiff of burning in this passage.

29:3 Isiah spoke well in advance of 586 BC (and 70 AD).

29:7 like the ill-fated multinational enemy team at the end of Revelation.

29:10 The idols they worshiped were blind, too.

29:13 The Septuagint and Matthew 15:8-9 say that “their teachings are merely human rules”.

29:16 Humans from mud is not merely a metaphor (Genesis 2:7).

29:18 Jesus healed people suffering from blindness and deafness.

29:19 Again, like the Beatitudes.

29:20-21 The liars of Revelation 21:8 don’t fare well, either.

30:1-2 See 2 Kings 18:21 and Isaiah 36:6.

30:3 like Isaiah 20.

30:7 “Rahab” not the converted hooker, but the snake/dragon/seraphim/etc., for which she was named. Their national symbol was a snake (Exodus 4:3 note); Egypt’s harmlessness is the point.

30:12 “relied on oppression” See Isaiah 28:1 note.

30:15 Salvation by grace through faith will be a big theme in the New Testament.

30:17 like Deuteronomy 32:30.

30:18 “rise up” He longed to run to them like the father depicted in the Parable of the Prodigal Son in Luke 15.

30:19 like Revelation 21:4.

30:21 Don’t be paralyzed trying to “stay in God’s will” regarding decisions about earthly circumstances that aren’t about sinning. Left door or right door? It doesn’t matter; since you’re united with Christ, He goes with you either way. See Jeremiah 31:34, Psalm 23:2-3, Romans 8:14, and Philippians 2:13. If you know that the Cross worked, that Jesus really fixed you, that you are righteous (2 Corinthians 5:21), that you are clean (2 Peter 1:9), and that you are as close to Him as possible (1 Corinthians 6:17), then being led by the Spirit feels remarkably like doing what you, as a saint, actually want to do.

30:22 See Leviticus 15:19-20. The period tent was a picture of the exile and return.

30:26 Compare Isaiah 60:19-20. This verse contrasts Babylon in Isaiah 13:10. It is also the inverse of a blindness metaphor like Ecclesiastes 12:2.

30:27 “tongue…fire” A weapon similar to Jesus’ mouth sword in Revelation.

30:30 See Exodus 9:22-26 and Joshua 10:11.

30:31 This was welcome news to Isaiah’s hearers.

30:32 He beat them in time to a personal soundtrack. He is the coolest.

30:33 “Topheth” See Jeremiah 7:31 and 2 Kings 23:10. You may have heard of the Valley of Ben Hinnom by the name Gehenna. It was a burning trash heap outside Jerusalem that had been used for child sacrifice. It is mentioned a few times in the Gospels as a way to talk about the judgment of God and/or Hell. As for the “king” for which it was prepared, see Matthew 25:41. The “fire pit” is like the Lake of Fire in Revelation.

31:1 See Deuteronomy 17:16.

31:5 note the Passover wordplay.

31:8 See Isaiah 37:36.

31:9 “fire” “furnace” His altar and the fire pit (Isaiah 30:33).

32:1-2 Here’s the Righteous King to reverse Isaiah 6:9-10. Note the “and rulers” phrase; we will reign with Him, and we’re helpful like shade in the desert. The shelters the original hearers were used to seeking in the desert were things like rock walls and bushes like the “rotem” which provided “just enough” relief to get them to the next bush (still in the “thirsty land”). You don’t always have to be a giant oak and completely solve everyone’s problems for them; sometimes a little relief is all you can offer, like sitting silently with the grieving.

32:3 like Jeremiah 31:34 and Hebrews 8:11.

32:6 “fools” The godless; see Jude 12.

32:8 “noble” as in good and generous; see Psalm 112:9.

32:9 Compare this next section with Isaiah 3:16-26 and Amos 4.

32:11-12 Based on the Hebrew, the ladies were told to strip themselves bare and to gird their loins. They were told to wear outfits providing the same (lack of) coverage as the loincloths/belts of Genesis 3:21 prior to leaving like Eve. Since the Promised Land is where Eden used to be before the Fall, the Exile mirrors the ejection from the Garden thematically and geographically. The new uniforms are not described as morally injurious to participants or to onlookers, despite what modern moralizers who use stigmatizing language like “topless” to describe biblically fully-dressed women (whether a baby is presently being fed or not) will tell you.

32:15 see Ezekiel 37 and Acts 2.

32:16 Verses like this led to people like the Essenes and John the Baptist (Matthew 3) living out there.

33:1 Do unto others as you would have them do unto you (Luke 6:31 and Matthew 7:12).

33:14 “Who of us can dwell with the consuming fire?” See Deuteronomy 4:24 and Psalm 15.

33:15 “shut their eyes against contemplating evil” Those who don’t even think of participating in the lying, extortion, bribery, and murder going on around them also mentioned in this verse.

33:16 Manna and water were provided on the Exodus hike, but John 6:35 is better.

33:18 “took in the revenue” (or “counts the towers” depending on the translation) The Assyrian taxman.

33:20-21 like Ezekiel 47.

33:22 “He…will save us.” Jesus did.

33:24 The forgiveness of sins will be a big theme in the New Testament. Isaiah told them that their sins “will be forgiven”; we have what he promised (Ephesians 1:7 and 1 John 2:12).

Isaiah 34 – since “Edom” and “Adam (humanity)” are similar words, sometimes you can sense a hint at all of God’s enemies when Edom is mentioned in the prophets.

34:1 See Ezekiel 36:5.

34:2 like Ezekiel 38, Ezekiel 39, and Revelation 19:19-21.

34:4 like Revelation 6:14.

34:5 Specifically, Edom was involved in the sacking of Jerusalem. See Psalm 137, Lamentations 4, Ezekiel 35, and Obadiah 10-14.

34:9-10 Think of the land ruined in Genesis 19. See also Obadiah 16.

34:14 “night creatures” is translated as “Lilith” (a night demon thought to be Adam’s first wife) by some.

34:16 like Genesis 6:20.

34:17 “He allots their portions” “They will possess it forever” Basically, He said He would make Edom into the Goat Demon Promised Land.

35:5-6 A preview of those Jesus has healed. Also, look at the connection between the water supplies of Exodus 17, 1 Corinthians 10:4, and John 6:35.

35:8 This is why the early followers of Jesus (and perhaps John the Baptist, speaking of preparing the way) were known as the Way. See Acts 9:2 and John 14:6.

35:10 like Revelation 21:4.

36:1 See 2 Kings 18 and 2 Chronicles 32.

36:2 is set where Isaiah warned them that Assyria was coming in Isaiah 7:3.

36:3 For context about these people, see 2 Kings 18:18, Jeremiah 1:1, and Isaiah 22.

36:6 like Isaiah 30:1-7.

36:7 The pagan thinks that a god’s power is proportional to the number of its worship sites and adherents. The Assyrians didn’t comprehend that the true God requires no help and that Hezekiah was obeying Him.

37:1 As yet, the origin of this tradition is unknown. Reuben back in Genesis was the first on record to rip an expensive item in an agrarian society like Hulk Hogan removing his shirt. Is it a replacement for the skin cutting and shaving the pagans did for grief? A hole to let the pain out through? Was it always a reminder that even if the outer shell is ruined, the soul underneath is still eternal even before Judeo-Platonism?

37:18 Assyria was only as dominant as it was because it suited God’s purposes at the time (Isaiah 10:5-19).

37:29 The Assyrians treated captives as animals. See also Amos 4:1-3.

37:36 Herodotus’ hypothesis was a plague carried by rats. See also Isaiah 38:1,21 and 2 Kings 20:7.

37:38 Adrammelek and Esarhaddon remind me of a darker version of Esau and Jacob. Adrammelek was the heir, but he was replaced by Esarhaddon thanks to an influential mother. Adrammelek was still popular, so Esarhaddon was sent away for his safety. Adrammelek and his little brother Sharezar killed their father Sennacherib. Adrammelek lost some supporters; Esarhaddon returned with an army and took the throne. The Assyrians were weakened by fighting nomadic Scythians in addition to the civil war. Assyria peaceably abandoned Israel and Judah while dealing with their own stuff, giving (spoiler alert) King Josiah his opportunity, thanks be to God.

38:1 Others see Hezekiah affected by the same plague as the Assyrians; regardless of the mechanism, 1 Kings 18:21 plus Deuteronomy 17:16 reveals the reason. The very definite “you will not recover” phrasing goes on to prove that with God, mercy is even more important than keeping your word. If there are any future Jephthahs reading this, don’t sacrifice your daughters.

38:5 Comparing with 2 Kings 21:1, we see that mercy allowed for the birth of Manasseh and the continuation of David’s line.

38:17 Since it was assumed that illness was a result of sin, healing meant forgiveness.

38:18 like Psalm 6:5 and Psalm 115:17. Hezekiah was bargaining. Feel free to take a break to sing a praise song now if you feel like it.

38:19 Hence, the Revelation 4:8 eternal praise band for we who live forever.

39:1 This section is like 2 Kings 20:12-19. They came to form an anti-Assyria alliance.

39:6 Hezekiah’s descendant, Zephaniah, prophesied about the coming of Babylon, too.

These first 39 chapters have mostly addressed Old Covenant circumstances. Starting here, the next 27 chapters mostly speak of Isaiah’s audience’s future. Curiously, there are 39 Old Testament books and 27 New Testament books.

40:1 News of return from exile sounds like another Exodus, if you will.

40:2 God is not unjust. Exodus 20:3-6 told them not to make idols in the likeness of animals. Since the animals they weren’t supposed to have were found in their possession (Exodus 22:9), they were open to double penalties.

40:3 Therefore, the Essenes moved out there in monastic seclusion. But, when John the Baptist spoke to the outsiders among the people of Jerusalem that came to see him out there, God showed up. See Matthew 3.

40:6-8. See Psalm 103:15 and James 1:10-11. The Word of God, Jesus (John 1), stands forever (Hebrews 7:25).

40:9-11 The Messiah/Christ is God Incarnate. The ”reward” is also in Revelation 22:12. The leader is frequently compared to a shepherd (John 10) in the Bible. For example, in Numbers 27:16-21 regarding Joshua (same name as Jesus).

40:12 More boasts about being Creator are here as in Job.

40:18 Rather than worshiping idols we made or other parts of Creation, Jesus Christ is our physical experience of God.

40:23 Remember this when we get to Matthew 25. The Good Shepherd is in, and the bad shepherds are out.

40:26 “calls…by name” like a shepherd. So it is with the saints as well in John 6:39 and John 18:9.

40:29-31 This is yours; you don’t even have to name-it-claim-it-gab-it-grab-it. See Psalm 103:5.

41:2 “one from the east, whom victory meets at every step” Cyrus the Great of Persia. Isaiah predicted this man far in advance.

41:4 “first” “last” The Alpha and the Omega.

41:7 Nails hold the idol, but the One who chose to endure the nails holds you.

41:8 “Israel, my servant” Sometimes, nobles are simply called by the name of the place they rule. You can still see this in old movies and historical dramas; the Duke of Suffolk can be referred to as Suffolk by his equals instead of a birth name like Henry. In a collectivist society (individualism didn’t arrive until Ezekiel 18’s “The One Who Sins Will Die”), toggling between the nation and its King when speaking of God’s Servant is not far-fetched. You have also seen in the Books of Kings how the fate of the nation was tied to the character of its ruler. Therefore, in these writings, sometimes the servant is the nation, and sometimes the Servant is Jesus. Context will guide you. Regarding “friend”: See John 15:14-17. True, Abe had deeds demonstrating his faith in Genesis 22, but he was declared righteous for faith in Genesis 15.

41:10 You are secure because He has got you (John 10:28-29 and Romans 8:38-39, for starters).

41:15 like Micah 4:13.

41:17 Interested in not being thirsty or forsaken? Read John 6.

41:18 like Exodus 17:6 and Psalm 107:35.

41:25 The sun rises in the east. Remember that written Hebrew is a string of consonants with the vowels being a matter of interpretation; “from the north” is phonetically tzafon and “hidden” is tzafan. Prophetic references to “the north” are about spooky invaders unless it references them attacking from the vulnerable north face of a city, etc.

41:26 “no one foretold it” Therefore, it was “hidden” (Isaiah 41:25 and its note).

42:1 “in whom I delight” See Matthew 3:17. God loves Jesus and loves us enough to give Jesus in our place. Isaiah 42:1-4 is quoted in Matthew 12:18-21.

42:3-4 See Matthew 11:28-30. If Jesus’ teachings seem hard to you, you may be reading messages meant for a different audience that had needed to realize their need for grace. His mastery of the Torah is another clue that He is the Messiah (Isaiah 51:4). Also, His “teaching” in verse 4 is translated as “Name” in Matthew 12:21. We, Gentiles especially (“the islands”), put our faith in Him rather than in how well we perform based on His sermons.

42:6 He is our covenant (Matthew 26:28 and 1 John 2:2) and our light (John 8:12).

42:7 In context, see verses 19 and verse 22 (You see, this is proof there is a captive servant and a Servant; the wise and foolish servant theme seen repeatedly in the parables is in part Jesus and us as the Body of Christ vs. late Old Covenant Israel). However, Jesus healed the blind (John 9), freed the bent-over woman (Luke 13:16) from her “prison”, etc. (Also, in Isaiah “captives” meant Israel in exile, not violent felons that would have been executed quickly back then per Genesis 9:6.)

42:9 “new” Get ready.

42:16 Notice that He did everything needed to save us.

42:18 In context, they are blind and deaf toward God. See John 9:41.

42:19 There’s a foolish, blind servant, and then there’s a Servant.

42:21 like Psalm 71:19 and Romans 3:19. The Law demonstrates that He is righteous and that humanity is not (apart from His intervention).

Isaiah 43 – Look at these promises the Savior gave to Israel (and know that Paul says we Gentiles are grafted into God’s people – we’re all together as a new creation now):

43:1 “Do not fear, for I have redeemed you”; “you are mine”

43:2 “I will be with you”; “you will not be burned”

43:4 “You are precious and honored in my sight”; “I love you”

43:5 as promised in Deuteronomy 30:4-5.

43:7 “everyone who is called by my name” Israel aka “Wrestles With God” was the focus here, but since the Church is the Bride of Christ we have taken His name.

43:13 See Deuteronomy 32:39, Isaiah 41:10, John 10:28-29, and Romans 8. Notice the logic that if no one is powerful enough to save an enemy from Him, then no one is powerful enough to take us from Him either.

43:14 See Revelation 18:19.

43:17 Pharaoh’s army sleeps with the fishes.

43:18 Read that over and over. See also Hebrews 8:12. God alone is trustworthy, and He promised to forget all your mistakes, so why dwell on them ever?

43:19 See Hebrews 8:13. Looking at Isaiah 43:16-21 as a whole, Is it any wonder that a religious movement calling itself The Way (verse 19) was into getting in the water in the wilderness?

43:20-21 Hints at Gentiles benefitting from what was prepared for the Chosen People. See Paul’s argument in Romans 9 through Romans 11.

43:25 See Psalm 103:12, Hebrews 8:12, Colossians 2:13-14, and Micah 7:18-19. He forgets all of your sins for His own sake, which is to say He forgets because He loves you and doesn’t want to see you like that. The New Covenant is not a second chance at the Old; Israel blew that with the Golden Calf before they left Sinai as well as many more “second” chances thereafter. Rather than have us try to get right and stay right and get right with Him again and again, God got rid of the scoreboard.

44:2 He can call them “Jeshurun” or “Upright One” because of Isaiah 43:25.

44:3 “water” “streams” “Spirit” See John 4:10.

44:5 By this logic, even rabbi and philosopher Maimonides said that proselytes are better in a way than born Hebrews (think of how well a naturalized citizen knows the history they were tested on vs how little native-born citizens know; think of the zeal of the recently converted) and that Abraham is the father to all believers.

44:21-22 Acts 17:25 says that God is not served by human hands. Notice that God making His “servant” contrasts the person making the idol in verse 17. Ergo, the “service” is demonstrating God to the rest of humanity. Similarly, Christians demonstrate God’s grace by our very existence as seen in Ephesians 2:1-9. God does everything that is worth doing, and we are as helpless as the idols humans make; “I have redeemed you”.

44:28-45:1 Isaiah wrote 150 years before Cyrus. Cyrus was anointed to deliver the Jewish people; prophets, priests, kings, honored guests, etc., were anointed. Jesus is different. Jesus is The Messiah, The Christ, The Anointed One.

45:7 like Amos 3:6. Uh-oh. Good thing Jesus took the bad stuff; for us, see James 1:17. Verse 8 clarifies this. Verse 7 is addressed to Cyrus, who had not acknowledged God (Isaiah 45:5). Plus, all God made was good, and then some of it chose evil; even so, from the viewpoint of God’s absolute sovereignty, even evil still serves Him in a way (and will definitely have to answer to Him).

45:8 See, righteousness and salvation is what He likes to hand out. That’s a relief.

45:9 Particularly, don’t argue with Him about Jesus; He is the shower of righteousness and spring of salvation hinted at in verse 8. See John 6:28-29, John 3:16, and John 5:24. Pottery metaphors like this and Jeremiah 18 are informed by the circumstances of our creation in Genesis 2:7.

45:11 We are made in the image of our Maker, who is neither ugly nor a bad artist.

45:19 See John 18:20.

45:23 The author of Hebrews uses this to show that our salvation depends on the strength of our absolutely trustworthy God’s promise to God (Hebrews 6:13-20).

45:24-25 They can’t skip Jesus, though (Deuteronomy 18:16,19 and Acts 3:23). All believers are justified; if true Israel were blood and not belief, then there would be no Matthew 8:11-12 or Romans 9:2-3.

46:1-2 “Bel” or “lord” (like Baal) here refers to the Babylonian god Marduk. Nebo is his son. The beasts of burden are mentioned because just prior to Cyrus’ conquest, Nabonidus ordered the idols to be carried off for safekeeping. It didn’t work.

46:4 He made us new creations and still carries us (like the idols we’re compared to). See Philippians 1:6.

46:10 Him doing as He pleases doesn’t have to seem ominous; He wants to save everyone (1 Timothy 2:4, Ezekiel 18:23, and 2 Peter 3:9).

46:11 Cyrus.

47:1 This begins a city lament for Babylon, similar to the one in Revelation.

47:2-3 Compare Jeremiah 13:26-27. God’s omnipotence is constrained by His good character (Hebrews 6:18, Titus 1:2, etc.) I will leave the implications regarding appropriate domestic discipline options to the reader. Also, since this is a part of Scripture and 2 Timothy 3:16-17 says what it does, between this type of material, various prophets preaching nude for years, and the mere existence of Song of Songs/Solomon, the freakiness bar for “obscene stories” (Ephesians 5:4) is higher than many in societies founded by Puritans think it is. Also, God tempts no one to sin (James 1:13), so even if God’s punishment here weren’t a metaphor it would not be morally injurious to onlookers to see someone thusly stripped as we will discuss when we recontextualize the Sermon on the Mount’s teachings about lust.

47:13 Stated simply: “Horoscope bad; no do.”

48:1 “called by” He’s hinting that it’s in name only. They’re more like the “heelish” Jacob.

48:3 The penalties for failure were in the Law they had even before entering the Promised Land. Their failure and punishment was even predicted in the Song of Moses (Deuteronomy 32).

48:8 Again, Jacob the “heel”.

48:16 like John 18:20.

48:20 like Isaiah 52:11.

49:1 The words of this section might as well be printed in red.

49:2 See Ephesians 6:17; the Sword of the Spirit is the Word. This is behind the mouth sword of Revelation, etc.

49:3 Per the Isaiah 41:8 note, “You are my servant, (King of) Israel…”

49:4 “I said…in vain” like Matthew 27:46. Regarding “my reward”, Jesus Christ is the Remnant of Israel, all 1 of them, and He shares the reward with us. See Genesis 15:1.

49:5 For those that insist that the servant is always Israel in an attempt to discredit the Christian interpretation, please re-read this verse. Israel wasn’t put in a womb to bring Israel back to God. Rulers can be addressed as their dominion’s name, so we’re reading about King Jesus.

49:6 “too small” But wait! There’s more! Jesus completed Israel’s mission from Exodus 19:5-6 we looked at in Isaiah 26:9,18. Gentile inclusion was always part of the plan.

49:8 He is our covenant (Matthew 26:28 and 1 John 2:2).

49:9 See Psalm 23. Think of Jesus feeding the 5,000 and the 4,000.

49:10 See John 6:35.

49:16 It’s hard to forget us, since we’re written in His nail marks.

49:18 like the New Jerusalem/Bride of Christ in Revelation 21.

49:23 Hope in Him.

49:26 That got harsh. It’s meant as the inverse of Deuteronomy 28:53.

50:1 See the Jeremiah 3:8 note.

50:4 The LORD was talking in verses 1 through 3; now the Suffering Servant speaks.

50:6 was fulfilled at the Crucifixion.

50:9 See Romans 8:33.

50:10 To properly “fear” and “obey” Him, “trust in the name of the LORD and rely…”

50:11 contrasts verse 10. These people relied on their own works (John 9:41). It’s like they light their own fires to depend on in defiance of the Sabbath (Exodus 35:3) when Jesus is the real Sabbath rest (Hebrews 4, Colossians 2:16-17) and the only real light (John 8:12). See Matthew 11:28.

51:4 “A teaching (Torah) will go out from Me…”; there was a similar hint in Isaiah 42:4. They knew Messiah would perfectly interpret/explain the Law and follow it perfectly (Deuteronomy 17:19-20). As we’ll see, the Sermon on the Mount was more about proving Jesus is the Jewish Messiah than our ability to live by it.

51:5 “wait in hope for My arm” is longing for Him to rule and fix things like in Psalm 82.

51:6 The new Heaven and new Earth arrive in Revelation 21.

51:7 “insults” like the slaps in Matthew 5:39. Don’t be vexed by evildoers because He avenges.

51:9 “Rahab” the sea monster, not the prostitute.

51:17 Verse 23 explains the cup metaphor further; this is more like getting roofied (lying down dead or subjugated, totally helpless like in Genesis 9:21) than partying. See also Habakkuk 2:15-16. This is in contrast to the cup of blessing in Psalm 23 and Psalm 104:15. Esther 1:8 shows that the Host assigns the portions. See Isaiah 45:7; what’s used as a blessing for one is a curse for another. The poison is in the dose. Enjoy God’s blessing responsibly.

52:1 contrasts the images in Isaiah 47:3; they were coming back from the Habakkuk 2:15-16 predicament.

52:3 See Psalm 44:12.

52:5 See Ezekiel 36:20-23.

52:7 “good news” is another way of saying the Gospel. Jesus Christ reigns, and through His death and resurrection we are united with Him.

52:11 like Isaiah 48:20. Note that the prohibition of touching unclean things was for Levites carrying Temple paraphernalia.

52:13 Jesus was raised up on the Cross and later ascended visibly to Heaven.

52:14 like Isaiah 1:5-6. Jesus was beaten beyond recognition.

52:15 “sprinkle” refers to Leviticus 14:7. Jesus healed lepers, and not all of them were Jewish (Luke 17:11-19). As for “they will understand”, Gentiles understood Jesus before most of His people group. See Isaiah 6:9-10.

53:4 See Matthew 8:17 and Deuteronomy 21:23.

53:5-6 Re-read these verses over and over until they sink in. See John 1:29, 2 Corinthians 5:21, and 1 John 2:2.

53:7-8 are quoted in Acts 8:32-35 as in reference to Jesus. All the lambs (Genesis 4, Exodus 12, Leviticus 16, etc.) all point forward to Him.

53:9 “the rich” Jesus was buried in a rich man’s unused new tomb.

53:10-11 That oft-quoted “pleased to crush Him” riff is translated in the Septuagint as “The LORD is pleased to purge Him from His blow” i.e. resurrect Him, as seen in the “prolong his days” part that follows. See Zech 12:10. A Messiah that died and returned was right there in the text for them all along. Jesus prayed for a different way, but accepted God’s will to save us in Matthew 26:39.

53:12 “a portion among the great” God gave Him all the people (Psalm 2); “numbered with the transgressors” See 2 Corinthians 5:21; “made intercession” See Luke 23:34 and Hebrews 7:25.

54:7 See Jeremiah 3.

54:8-10 If God can say this to the city that killed Jesus, what do you think He feels about His adopted children? He has everlasting kindness, compassion, and love for you. He will never be angry with you; He promised.

54:11-12 See Revelation 21.

54:13 See Jeremiah 31:34. Here, “peace” is shalom, an all-around wellbeing which includes prosperity.

54:15 like Micah 5:5-6.

54:16 “the destroyer” See Hebrews 2:14. Since the weapon in verse 16 mirrors the weapon in verse 17, the destroyer in verse 16 is the Accuser in verse 17. Note “their vindication from Me”; it’s not about what we do, but about what Jesus did.

55:1 Grace isn’t cheap, it’s free; “all” means all.

55:3 available to us in Jesus.

55:5 See John 17:22 and 1 Corinthians 6:2. How do you feel about ruling the world? You will.

55:6 See Romans 10:9.

55:7 “forsake their ways” by dying to Sin with Christ at salvation (Galatians 2:20 and Romans 6).

55:11 Jesus is the Word (John 1) and He finished (John 19:30, Hebrews 10:14) what He came to do (John 16:28).

55:13 “for the LORD’s renown, for an everlasting sign” like how we will be trophies of God’s mercy forever (Ephesians 2:7).

56:2 Ah, the Sabbath (Exodus 20:10, but Hebrews 8:7; see also Mark 2:27-28). Christ is our Sabbath (Hebrews 4). The sacrifices in Isaiah 56:7 make it clear this chapter is still about the Old Covenant.

56:4-5 Leviticus 21:21-23 said eunuchs could still profit from the Temple enterprise, just not serve as priests. Due to misunderstanding Deuteronomy 23:1-8 about what they were to be excluded from, Jewish youths castrated by the Babylonians (Isaiah 39:7) thought they wouldn’t share in the redeemed nation of Israel and/or the world to come. The memorial is reminiscent of 2 Samuel 18:18.

56:6 The Sabbath is for the Jewish people (Ezekiel 20:10-12). Foreigners who “bind themselves” and “hold fast to My covenant” were proselytes who underwent circumcision and became fully Jewish (Esther 8:17) under the Law of Moses. This section is about who the new Jewish people were as they came back from the Exile, not the full promised Gentile inclusion yet. All this is part of the offer of national repentance in effect for the First Coming.

56:7 “burnt offerings and sacrifices will be accepted on My altar” See, I told you this was still the Old Covenant. “My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations” as in Jeremiah 4:2; “will be” is in the future tense relative to Isaiah’s time. Righteous Gentiles or God-fearers or ger toshav or Noahides who followed God’s expectations for all humanity (Genesis 9:12-13 note) without getting circumcised/converting to Judaism (compare Esther 8:17) were people like Cornelius (Acts 10) who became some of the earliest converts to New Covenant Christianity.

56:11-12 These bad shepherds were leaders who were misusing their office.

57:1-2 Sometimes the righteous leave us down here sooner than we’d like; take comfort in knowing they’re far better off.

57:3 like Isaiah 1:21.

57:5 “oaks” “tree” Asherah poles, sacred groves, etc. Their “lust” was for idolatry which was adulterous to God, their Husband, which becomes really clear in verse 8.

57:9 “dead” See Isaiah 28:15,18 and Isaiah 65:4. They were willing to cheat on God with Mot.

57:12-13 “righteousness and your works” Good deeds will be as helpful at the Last Judgment as a collection of idols. Take refuge in Him instead of relying on yourself like the people in Matthew 7:22.

57:15 Thanks to Jesus, God lives in you (John 17:20-26); you are now a high and holy place. The “lowly in spirit” phrase (like Psalm 51:17) points ahead to the Beatitudes of Matthew 5. About reviving the spirit and the heart, see Ezekiel 36:26-27. At salvation, you got a new heart, a new human spirit, and the Holy Spirit. See Phiippians 2:13; unless you’re listening to Sin, you want what God wants, and you don’t want what God doesn’t want. Being led by the Spirit feels a lot like you doing what you want to do as a saint. Unlike under the Old Covenant, the Holy Spirit will never leave you (Isaiah 59:21 and John 14:16). This is amazing New Covenant stuff.

57:16 like Exodus 34:6-7 and Psalm 30:5.

57:17 “sinful greed” of the bad shepherds in Isaiah 56:11.

57:18-19 God heals people anyway. Grace. We Gentiles were “far”.

57:20-21 The wicked are those who do not trust in Him (Isaiah 50:10, Isaiah 57:13).

58:3,6 For more about this fasting, see Zechariah 7. This speech about “injustice” and the “oppressed” is not about ending slavery as an institution (Exodus 21, Leviticus 25, Deuteronomy 15), but actually obeying the Sabbatical year (Exodus 21:2 and Jeremiah 34:14) and Jubilee. The Bible is consistent. The Trans-Atlantic slave trade was unbiblical in many ways and does not reflect the working relationship depicted in the Bible.

58:5 The “fast to be more humble” crowd misses this verse.

58:7-10 See Deuteronomy 15:4,7-11, Job 31:16-23, and Matthew 25:35-40. Based on Isaiah 58:7-10, Ezekiel 18:7,22, the offer to Nebuchadnezzar in Daniel 4:27, Psalm 112:9, Proverbs 10:2, and Proverbs 11:4-8 regarding “righteousness” (tzedakah, charity, gifts for the poor) we see alms righteousness or “treasure in Heaven” further developed in Tobit 4 and Sirach 29 on its way to Jesus’ teachings about the Law. Properly keeping Deuteronomy 15:7-11 amidst the poverty they experienced under occupation (“spending themselves”) would have taken everything they had. Only Jesus gave enough (2 Corinthians 8:9), and only Jesus had anything worth giving; we rely on Christ’s righteousness (2 Corinthians 5:21).

58:11 “like a spring whose waters never fail” like God (Jeremiah 17:13). Being righteous is being like Father.

58:13-14 This is part of the sales pitch for national repentance like during the First Coming. John the Baptist also told them all to straighten up because the Messiah was coming. Of course, Isaiah was told that such preaching would be in vain (Isaiah 6:9); they were hardened temporarily so the Gentiles could be brought in to make them jealous (Romans 9 through Romans 11). The Sabbath is for the Jewish people (Ezekiel 20:10-12; Exodus 20:10, but Hebrews 8:7; see also Mark 2:27-28). Christ is our Sabbath (Hebrews 4). Isaiah 56:7 makes it clear this issue is still about the Old Covenant.

59:2 like Psalm 34:16.

59:4-5 “give birth to evil”, “hatch the eggs of vipers” Remember all those times John the Baptist and Jesus called people a brood of vipers? They remembered these verses. There was also an ancient superstition that ovoviviparous snakes killed their parents when hatching, so calling Pharisees a “brood of vipers” meant calling them parent-killers (for denying them financial support through korban and for making up rules that would have damned their more-righteous ancestors).

59:6 See Genesis 3:7,21, Galatians 3:27, Colossians 3:10, and Revelation 19:8.

59:9 like Deuteronomy 28:29.

59:16 See Ezekiel 22:30; not even Isaiah could head this off. “His own arm…salvation” God saved us.

59:17 The garments and robe are missing for us in Ephesians 6:10-20 because the Cross worked and vengeance is His, not ours.

59:21 Jesus promised that the Holy Spirit never leaves us in John 14:16.

60:1 See John 8:12.

60:5,11 “wealth” The wealth that Assyria aspired to conquer and control in Isaiah 10:14.

60:6 “gold and incense” This Tabernacle paraphernalia is similarly brought by eastern Gentiles to God’s dwelling place among us in Matthew 2:11.

60.7 like Hosea 11:11. Despite different flavors of style and presentation of the humans involved, the prophets were all inspired by the same Holy Spirit.

60:12 This is behind Matthew 25:45. While pastors are supposed to motivate us toward love and good works (Hebrews 10:24), misinterpreting Jesus’ three categories of sheep, goats, and brethren as if we’re not already united with Christ and destined to rule with Him is not the way. You’re as safe as Jesus on Judgment Day (1 John 4:17).

60:14 like Revelation 3:9.

60:19 Whether the sun is there or not, we won’t need it. See Zechariah 14 and Revelation 21.

60:20 like Isaiah 30:26.

60:21 as promised in Isaiah 4:3 and Isaiah 11:9. For “shoots” He didn’t plant, see Matthew 13:38 and John 8:44.

61:1 See Isaiah 11:2 and Luke 4:16-30. The word “anointed” here is where all the talk of The Anointed One, The Messiah, and The Christ (all of those are synonyms) comes from. See Psalm 45, particularly verses 7 and 8. The “release from darkness” is sometimes translated as a reference to curing the blind as in Luke 7:22.

61:2 Jesus didn’t read the angry part in Luke 4 because vengeance wasn’t on the menu during the First Coming. God is waiting to take vengeance so more people can be saved (2 Peter 3:9). Comforting the mourner is in the Beatitudes in Matthew 5.

61:3 This type of makeover was given to kings’ honored guests. The things that the person in Matthew 22:11 lacked would have been complimentary for the occasion. Grace is free, so don’t turn it down.

61:6 See Exodus 19:6; the priest status is not new. The promise of mooching from foreigners was meant to comfort them as they were being exploited by the Babylonians.

61:7-8 The firstborn double portion of Exodus 4:22 matches the double-for-trouble prize of Job; “inheritance” and “robbery” are both mentioned as causes.

61:10 See Isaiah 59:6, Galatians 3:27, Colossians 3:10, and Revelation 19:8.

62:2 “new name” like Revelation 2:17.

62:4-5 “Hephzibah” means “My Delight Is In Her”; Beulah means “married”. The Old Covenant believers understood their relationship to God as that of a (frequently wayward) wife (Deuteronomy 10:20) long before we were the Bride of Christ. See also Hosea 2:19-20. This is behind Jesus’ prayer to be one with us in John 17. We married out of our league; we didn’t earn anything. See also Romans 7:4, 2 Corinthians 11:2, and Revelation 19:7.

62:11 as in Revelation 22:12.

62:12 Jesus did such a good job, even the carnal Christians of Corinth were still called saints (1 Corinthians 1:2).

63:1 God’s love (“faithfulness” or hesed) for His people sometimes manifests as wrath for others. Since “Edom” and “Adam (humanity)” are similar words, sometimes you can sense a hint at all of God’s enemies when Edom is mentioned in the prophets.

63:3 See Jeremiah 25:30 and Revelation 19:13.

63:6 “drunk” to the point of loss of consciousness is used to depict death here. Biblical drunkenness is drunk enough to father their own grandchildren like Lot did and beyond.

63:8 like Exodus 3:7.

63:9 Remember how the Angel of the Lord is thought to be Jesus (appearing early) in the Old Testament?

63:16 See Exodus 4:22.

63:17 Paul answers this question at length in Romans 9 through Romans 11; it was to save the Gentiles.

64:1 He came, and He’s coming back.

64:3 like in Exodus.

64:4-5 Emphasis “acts on behalf”. The answer to the rhetorical question “How then can we be saved?” is that Jesus did it all for us because we can’t do anything of value without Him.

64:6 See Romans 3. Alleged good deeds are like used menstrual pads (Leviticus 15:19). Women were ritually impure during their period but then returned to the Temple; this is a picture of the Exile.

64:7 Call to Jesus and reach out for Him. For more about being given over to sin, see Romans 1:18-32.

64:8 All Jews were used to saying “our Father” in a general sense (Genesis 2:7 and Jeremiah 18 for Him as Potter); when Jesus Christ said “My Father” like those co-regent fathers and sons in the books of Kings and Chronicles, He rightfully claimed equality with God.

64:11 Prophets speak of future events in past tense; their fate was sealed.

65:1 That would be us. See Deuteronomy 32:21 and Romans 9 through Romans 11.

65:2 like Jesus on the Cross.

65:4 “sit among the graves” to worship evil spirits; “pigs” Since Tammuz/Adonis was killed by a wild boar, what do you think was on the menu for worshipers of this dying/rising god? See also Isaiah 66:17.

65:5 like the Pharisees’ attitude and condition (Matthew 23:26).

65:7 like in Matthew 23:36 and Luke 11:51.

65:8 “juice” If there was one mature seed in a cluster, it was kept as a firstfruit offering. More people are promised to live compared with last time (Isaiah 9:17). Compare Genesis 18:32 and Matthew 13:24-30.

65:11 “Fortune” and “Destiny” were thought to be gods like “the Fates” or “Fate”. You’ve probably heard Carl Orff’s O Fortuna from Carmina Burana in a disaster movie or a phone commercial or something. Don’t worship something as changeable as the moon; stick with Jesus (Hebrews 13:8).

65:16 See Hebrews 8:12.

65:17 See Deuteronomy 4:26, Deuteronomy 30:19, Deuteronomy 31:28, and Revelation 21:1-8. Under the New Covenant, God’s choosing us and the old snitches have got to go, along with any cursed ground as seen in Genesis 3, Deuteronomy 28, etc.

65:18 The New Jerusalem is the Church, the Body of Christ (Revelation 21).

65:20-22 Earthly promises to Abraham’s descendants will be fulfilled in the Millennial Kingdom when we will reign with Christ here on Earth for a thousand years closer to the ending of the Bible. You can tell there’s something between life as we know it today and the sweet by-and-by, because death still exists for the unregenerate in these verses, even with the longer Genesis-like lifespans restored.

65:25 See, things will get Eden-like again. Holy mountains (like Exodus 19:12-13) even become safe to touch.

Isaiah 66 has some general themes in common with Isaiah 1, providing narrative bookends.

66:1-2 When God speaks of the worship He demands, He looks to we “poor in spirit” (Matthew 5) who realize that Jesus is God and that we are not.

66:3 The God of Deuteronomy 12:15,20 did not suddenly become vegan. These people made offerings without the humility in verse 2 and with the idols and oppression of verse 4 as if they could control God with meat bribes. This was not a new development (Isaiah 58:3, 1 Samuel 3:14, and 1 Samuel 15:22). See also Jeremiah 6:20.

66:4 “displeases Me” Namely, idols and oppression.

66:5 like Matthew 10:22-25.

66:9 calls back to Isaiah 26:18 and Isaiah 37:3.

66:12 “wealth” The wealth that Assyria aspired to conquer and control in Isaiah 10:14.

66:16 as seen in Revelation 19:21.

66:17 See Isaiah 65:3-5. Promising that “they will meet their end together with the one they follow” in the context of Tammuz worship meant a trip to the graveyard and the underworld. Since all false gods are basically Satan in masks, see Revelation 20:10,15.

66:18 like Jeremiah 3:17 and Matthew 28:19.

66:19 like the Great Commission (which has been completed according to Colossians 1:23, but we appreciate and support evangelism and Bible translation for every group of people on the planet).

66:20 “offering” Metaphorically for bringing Abe’s descendants to the Promised Land so they can live out what was promised. For what an offering looks like lived out by us, see Romans 12.

66:21 “priests and Levites” Figuratively, as they are bringing the “offering” of verse 20. 1 Peter 2:5 is a new thing under the New Covenant.

66:23 The New Moon is a symbol of resurrection as well as the coming new heavens and new Earth. See also Exodus 15:17-18, Jeremiah 3:17, and Zephaniah 2:11 (as to those gods mentioned there, Matthew 25:41 says there’s an eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels that might make an appearance in the next verse).

66:24 Wow, did that seem abrupt and harsh? It’s a fulfillment for Isaiah 26:21 and a restatement of Isaiah 34:3,10. It seems to be like a new version of Exodus 14:30-31 in a new context. See Isaiah 1:21-31; think about the purification of the city and the punishment of the rebels that we’ve seen in the last few chapters. Again, there are narrative bookends. The Hebrews experienced Deuteronomy 29:22-28, so their happy ending is something similar happening for their/God’s enemies. The fire and hungry worms are reminiscent of Isaiah 9:18-21, but there, those are inherent properties of wickedness whereas holiness is wholeness. See also Isaiah 26:14, Daniel 12:2, and 2 Peter 2:6.

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