Isaiah
(2 Kings 19.20. 2 Chron. 26:22, 32:20-32; Isaías.1: 1)
(C3224-3324, 780-680 BC)
His name comes from the Hebrew yesh-ah-hoo-yaw' that, like Joshua, translates as "Yahweh saves", "Yahweh is salvation" or even "salvation of Yahweh."
He was the son of Amoz ("Strong Man"), of which little is known, but some think he was the "man of God" mentioned in 2 Chronicles 25:7-8.
Rabbinic tradition holds that Isaiah was a descendant of the royal house of Judah and Tamar, and his father Amoz was the brother of King Amaziah of Judah, so he would then be cousin of King Uzziah. His high standing is evidenced by his easy access to the king (Isaiah 7:3) and intimacy with the priest (Isaiah 8:2).
The only source of information we have on the life of Isaiah is the Bible. We do not know if God has already used his services before the remarkable vision that is described in Chapter 6, which happened in the year 759 BC, when King Uzziah of the kingdom of Judah died (Isaiah 6:1).
Isaiah called his wife a prophetess (Isaiah 8:3), because either she herself had prophesied as Deborah (Judges 4:4) and Huldah (2 Kings 22:14-20), or simply because she was his wife. They had two sons, who were given symbolic names: Sear-Jashub ("a remnant will return" - Isaiah 7:3) and Maher-Salal-Has-Baz ("swift as the enemy to plunder" - Isaiah 8:3), referring to the mad lust of Assyria to conquest other peoples.
Isaiah prophesied boldly, with the authority and firmness of the Lord, without hiding anything or showing any fear of man. He also stands out for his spirituality and his deep reverence for the Lord, the Holy One of Israel (Isaiah 10:20, etc.)..
His prophetic ministry continued during the reigns of Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah, successors of Uzziah (Isaiah 1:1).
If he lived for several more years after the death of Hezekiah in 698 BC, which is quite possible, Isaiah was also a contemporary of King Manasseh for some time.
In view of this we conclude that Isaiah may have lived for about a century, having profesied during a period of at least sixty four years.
When very young, Isaiah would have been present during the invasion of Israel by the monarch Pul of Assyria in 771 BC (2 Kings 15:19). This was, according to some historians, the king who was converted by the preaching of Jonah.
The kings of Syria paid homage and gave tribute to Pul, and because of this invasion King Menahem of Israel also gave him a tribute of a thousand talents of silver, so as to help him to confirm his hold on the kingdom, extorting the money from the most powerful and wealthy in Israel (2 Kings 15:19-20).
In the year that King Uzziah died, Isaiah was apparently in the temple and there he was called to his prophetic ministry (Isaiah 6:1-13). As we read in John 12:37 it was the Son of God, which later became incarnate as Jesus Christ, who spoke to Isaiah this vision. He responded with remarkable enthusiasm and accepted his mission, though he knew from the start that it consisted of a warning and exhortation that did not promise success.
Twenty years later, after having received this vision, there was the invasion of Israel and Syria by Tiglath-Pileser of Assyria in his career of conquest in the Middle East.
Many historians believe that Pul and Tiglath-pileser were one person: his name would be Pul as king of Babylon, and Tiglath-pileser III his title as king of Assyria. Pul founded the second Assyrian empire, and organized and consolidated his conquests on a large scale. His ambition was to found a kingdom covering the entire civilized world, centered in the city of Nineveh.
On this occasion Ahaz king of Judah refused to cooperate with the kings Pekah of Israel and Rezin of Syria in opposition to the Assyrians. Because of this, in 741 BC, Pekah and Rezin with their armies attacked and defeated the army of King Ahaz of Judah in battle (2 Kings 16:5, 2 Chronicles 28:5,6).
Ahaz, humbled, sided with Assyria, and sought the aid of Tiglath-pileser against Israel and Syria. Tiglath-pileser brought his army the following year, defeated Israel and Syria, and took with him many captives back to Assyria (2 Kings 15:29, 16:9, 1 Chronicles 5:26). Soon after, a new king of Assyria, Shalmaneser V, set out to eliminate the kingdom of Israel and in 722 BC took and destroyed Samaria.
The kingdom of Judah was quiet for being allied with the Assyrians while Ahaz reigned, but in 726 BC his successor, Hezekiah, rebelled against the king of Assyria (2 Kings 18:7) and entered into an alliance with the king of Egypt (Isaiah 30:2-4). In this he was encouraged by Isaiah, who exhorted his people to place all their dependence on Jehovah (Isaiah 10:24; 37:6).
The king of Assyria kept on threatening Hezekiah, but only years later Sennacherib (701 BC) led a powerful army to invade the land of Judah. Hezekiah panicked and surrendered to the Assyrians (2 Kings 18:14-16).
But after a brief interval they fell out again, and again Sennacherib led his army there, and a detachment threatened Jerusalem (Isaiah 36:2-22, 37:8). Isaiah again encouraged Hezekiah to resist the Assyrians (Isaiah 37:1-7), causing Sennacherib to send threatening letters to Hezekiah. Hezekiah spread them before the LORD and prayed declaring his allegiance to God and asking for help.
Isaiah sent word to Hezekiah that, because he had prayed to God against Sennacherib, the Lord had ordered him to declare that the king of Assyria had defied and blasphemed the Holy One of Israel. So he would not enter the city or shoot an arrow there, but by the way he had come by the same he would return, for the LORD would defend the city to save it for His own sake and for His servant David's sake.
Then " the angel of the Lord went out, and killed in the camp of the Assyrians one hundred and eighty-five thousand: and when people arose early in the morning, there were the corpses - all dead." (Isaiah 37:36).
In view of this Sennacherib withdrew and went, going back to dwell in Nineveh. He never recovered from the shock of the disaster he had suffered in Judah. He ceased sending military expeditions to attack Judah and Egypt.
The remaining years of Hezekiah's reign were peaceful (2 Chr 32:23,27-29). Isaiah probably lived after his death for some years in the reign of Manasseh, but, as with his birth, the time and manner of his death are unknown. There is an ancient tradition found in the apocryphal books of the Jews according to which he suffered martyrdom at the hands of King Manasseh.
Although religious and political advisor of the nation of Judah, his prophetic horizon was boundless, and is considered by many as "the universal prophet of Israel."
According to some, Isaiah prophesied and described so many things applicable to the Christian era, hidden in the Old Testament, that the impression is given that he was not prophesying, but telling the history of events already past. It is he who stands out most among the writing prophets, and his book is one of the deepest, highlighting the theme of salvation by faith.
The whole book is a prophetic vision (Chapter 1:1), written as a poem, in verse, in the original. It involves three distinct historical periods:
1. The 2nd. half of the eighth century BC, time of the invasions by the Assyrians (ch. 1-39).
2. The 1st. half of the sixth century BC, during the Babylonian exile (ch. 40-55).
3. The 2nd. half of the sixth century BC, at the return from exile (ch. 56-66).
There are, intermingled with the messages, prophecies about Jesus Christ, fulfilled in the New Testament and others still in the future, eg chapter 9:6 (Luke 2:11 and Ephesians 2:14-18), chapter 50:6 (Matthew 26:67, 27:26,30), chapter 61:1,2 (Luke 4:17-19), chapter 52:13-53:12 describes the Lamb of God, etc., His ministry, crucifixion, and still future return as King.