Messages of the Prophets: Isaiah 1-39

Isaiah divides into (at least) two parts. The second half clearly relates to the late 500s BC. The first part relates to Isaiah's own time (700s BC). 

Isaiah 1-12 Hope and Judgment for Israel

1:4 -- corruption (concrete harm to others)

1:11 -- sacrifices, who cares

1:15 -- against their violence

1:17 -- "Seek justice" which is to defend the oppressed, taking up the cause of the fatherless, and pleading the case of the widow (social justice)

1:23 -- you partner with thieves; you love bribes; you don't defend with widow and orphan (concrete wrongs to others; social justice)

Isaiah 2 -- hope for restoration

2:6 -- don't follow the practices of those who worship other gods and idols

Chapter 2 -- those following other gods in the east are full of silver and gold (7, 20). They are arrogant (11, 17). They will be humbled (12). humility

Chapter 3 -- judgment, you have been arrogant and plundered the poor (social justice)

Chapter 4 -- hope for restoration

5:7 -- judgment because "he looked for justice, but saw bloodshed; for righteousness, but heard cries of distress." (violence, social justice)

5:11-17 judgment on the rich who live lavish lives (social justice)

5:18 -- deceit in practice

5:23 -- "who acquit the guilty for a bribe, but deny justice to the innocent." (wrong others, social justice)

Chapter 6 -- the holiness of God, judgment is coming (love God)

Chapter 7 -- trust in the Lord for deliverance (hope)

8:19 -- hope, don't consult the dead or use mediums (other gods, evil powers)

Chapter 9 -- hope, coming justice and righteousness in a ruler

9:19ff -- judgment

10:1-2 -- unjust laws, oppressive decrees, deprive the poor of their rights, withhold justice from the people, make widows their prey and the fatherless (social justice)

Chapter 11 -- hope for a Davidic king and restoration of the northern kingdom; social justice, vs. 4, "with righteousness he will judge the needy, with justice he will give decisions for the poor of the earth."

Chapter 12 -- hope for salvation

Isaiah 13-26 Judgment of the Nations (oppressors)

Chapter 13 -- judgment on the oppressor Babylon, vs. 11 -- "I will put an end to the arrogance of the haughty and will humble the pride of the ruthless." humility

Chapter 14 -- continued judgment of Babylon, judgment of Philistines

14:30 -- the poor/needy will find pasture and safety (social justice)

Chapter 15 -- judgment on Moab (wealth they have accumulated too, social justice)

Chapter 16 -- continued judgment on Moab the oppressor and arrogant; instead a Davidic king of justice will rule (5) 

Chapter 17 -- judgment on Damascus and Israel -- worship other gods (8)

Chapter 18-20 -- against Cush and Egypt (other gods, the dead), 3

Chapter 21 -- against Babylon and Edom

22:11 -- Jerusalem turned away from Yahweh (love God)

Chapter 23 -- against Tyre, vs. 9, arrogance and wealth, 17-18 (social justice, humility)

Salvation Coming (24-25)

24:5 -- Praise of God begins, against lawlessness of the earth, breaking of covenant, Yahweh will reign, 23 (love God)

25:4 -- God is a refuge for the poor, will bring down the proud, 11 (social justice), will bring hope

26:5-6 -- God brings down the proud, brings justice to the oppressed and the poor

26:21 -- against bloodshed (oppressors)

The Woes (28-35)

Chapter 27 -- hope for salvation, no more idols (9), will love God (13)

28:6 -- spirit of justice coming, also 17

Isaiah 29 -- worship in form but not in heart (love God)

29:19-21 -- the humble and needy will rejoice; the false witness and oppressor disappear (social justice, oppression)

Chapter 30 -- going to other nations is going to other gods; there is hope

Chapter 31 -- don't go to other nations which is turning to other gods, trust in Yahweh (other gods, love God)

32:1 -- a king of righteousness/justice is coming, vs 16

Chapter 33 -- woe to the destroyer (oppression), come justice (5), go arrogant (humility)

Chapter 34 -- judgment on the nations (oppressors)

Chapter 35 -- hope of salvation; blind will see, deaf will hear, mute will speak (5)

Historical Interlude (36-39)

These chapters are inserted from 2 Kings as a bridge to the second half of Israel.

Summary

Clearly a great deal of Israel 1-39 is about judgment on the oppressors of Judah and Israel. The rest might be said to be heavily about the oppressors within Israel. Thus the theme of social justice features large. Along with all of this is the hope of salvation and a righteous Davidic king. 

The proper worship of Yahweh is associated with all these things. Turning to other nations is turning to other gods, and to worship other gods in Israel is to weaken Israel. Isaiah 6 gives us a sense of the pure worship of Yahweh. Worshiping Yahweh is another strong theme of these chapters.

The Sections of Isaiah

Breaking down the outline of Isaiah today in a class. You may have seen divisions of Isaiah into chapters 1-39, 40-55, 56-66. As with most outlines, this captures a truth. Chapters 1-39 are mostly about Isaiah's own time. Chapters 40-55 seem to picture a point right at the end of the exile when Cyrus, king of Persia, allows significant numbers of Jews to return to Jerusalem from Babylon. Then chapters 56-66 seem to picture a time after the return has taken place.

I would rather just divide Isaiah into two parts: 1) chapters 1-39 which relate mostly to the pre-exilic time of Isaiah and chapters 40-66 which relate to the time at the end and after the exile.

Here is a more detailed outline of the content:

Part I: Chapters 1-39
A. Prophecies of Isaiah
1. Isaiah 1-12
This is a concentrated collection of Isaiah's prophesies, including both condemnation for the sins of Israel in Isaiah's day and hope for a king who will restore righteousness. The fear of Assyria is in the background.

2. Isaiah 13-23
Next we have a series of prophecies against various nations, including Babylon, Moab, Damascus, Cush, Egypt, Tyre, and even Jerusalem itself.

3. Isaiah 24-35
These chapters may actually belong with 13-23 but I thought it was worth teasing them out because they deal more broadly with the situation of the world, God's judgment of all the nations, the faithlessness of the leadership of Israel and Judah, and the future restoration of God's people. There are some passages here that were ripe for later eschatological imagery (e.g., chap. 26).

B. Historical Interlude
4. Isaiah 36-39
These chapters are virtually word for word the same as 2 Kings 18-20. Using evidentiary reasoning, we would likely conclude that they were taken from 2 Kings. However, for various reasons, some would strongly want to argue that 2 Kings copied his chapters from Isaiah. These chapters deal with the latter reign of Hezekiah and the surrounding of Jerusalem by the Assyrian king Sennacherib.

Part II: Chapters 40-66
A. Preparing to Return
5. Isaiah 40-55
Suddenly, the context of Isaiah shoots forward two hundred years to the time when Cyrus, king of Persia, allows the Jews to return to Jerusalem from Babylon. Cyrus himself is mentioned in 45:1. Whatever one thinks about authorship of this section (Isaiah is not said to be speaking in these chapters), to understand them we must put ourselves around the year 539BC to read them in context.

B. Hope in Devastation
6. Isaiah 56-66
From a literary standpoint, I don't see as clear a break here inductively, but I haven't studied it thoroughly either. It does seem to me that the tone changes in the last chapters of Isaiah. Whereas 40-55 are hopeful and optimistic, these last chapters have a certain sadness to them at points. It's almost as if the exiles arrived in Jerusalem from Babylon, and found a land laid waste (e.g., 64:10; 61:4; 62:12).