Chuck Smith :: Study Guide for Isaiah

ISAIAH 1: CALL TO REPENTANCE

Isaiah is the longest book of prophecy in the Bible. God gave Isaiah a clearer vision of the redemptive work of Jesus Christ than any other of the Old Testament prophets.

v.1 Historical time of prophecy begins in 760 BC when Uzziah is King of Judah. (2 Chronicles 26-32 gives historical background of Isaiah's prophecies.)

v.2 Man is no longer listening to the Word of God. God gives His indictment against Judah His own children have rebelled against Him.

v.3 The people don't consider God's provision for them. They are worse than animals, who at least know their master.

v.4 The nation is sinful and backslidden from God.

v.5-6 The nation of Israel has been battered. God has allowed this chastisement, as the people have not repented and turned to God.

v.7-9 As a result of their sin, the nation and land has suffered.

v.10 They are likened to Sodom and Gomorrah.

v.11-15 The attitude of heart is more important to God than the outward religious exercises (Ps. 51:17). God wearies of the religious form if our heart is not in it. God declares He will not listen to their prayers because of iniquity (Ps. 66:18; Is. 59:1-3).

v.16-17 God was concerned that they seek an honest judgment.

v.18 God calls Israel to repent and begin to live right. The Lord wants to reason with them. He does not want us to experience a non-reasoned religious experience, but He becomes our reason and our base.

Prophecy is one of His ways of providing us with evidence of who He is, so we have a basis for faith and not blind faith.

Even though the sins have permeated the very fiber of our being. God freely offers His grace.

v.19 The key to change is by our choice.

v.21-23 Jerusalem has become a harlot spiritually and her judicial system corrupt.

v.24-29 God will restore the city unto Himself and the people will repent of their cultic past.

ISAIAH 2: THE COMING KINGDOM

v.2-3 In the Kingdom Age Jesus Christ will establish His throne on Mt. Zion. We will also go there to be taught by Him. (Rev.1:6, 3:21, 19:15, 5:9-10.)

v.4-5 When Jesus reigns in the Kingdom Age no one will have to fear war anymore.

v.6-8 An apt description of present-day humanism. Man worships the creature rather than the Creator.

v.9-21 The Lord will bring down the proud and shake the earth. (Rev.6:12-17; Heb. 12:26.)

v.22 Better to trust God than man.

ISAIAH 3: DISINTEGRATION OF JERUSALEM THROUGH SIN

v.1-4 God is speaking of a present rather than future situation.

v.10 He comforts the righteous only.

v.16-26 They did not take God into consideration in their lives God describes His judgment for their iniquity and materialistic lifestyle.

ISAIAH 4: VISION OF THE COMING KINGDOM

v.2-6 Speaking of Jesus' righteous reign upon the earth in the future (Zech. 3:8).

ISAIAH 5: ISRAEL AND THE SIX WOES

The Lord likens Judah or Israel unto a vineyard.

v.1-7 God was looking for good fruit to come out of Israel, as He had provided and done all He could for it. (Jesus wants us to bear fruit. Jn. 15:1-10; Gal. 5:22.)

He will forsake Judah, as it did not bear fruit.

v.20 Men that stand for righteousness are ridiculed while the perverse are built up.

v.21 Woe unto them that judge by their own standards and not God's.

v.22-23 Woe to the judges and men in the government who are alcoholics.

ISAIAH 6: ISAIAH'S COMMISSION

v.1 At Uzziah's death the people were now led to look to the Lord and recognize that He is on the throne, as previously they had been trusting in a man.

v.2-3 Description of the throne of God and His holiness. (Rev.4,5; Ez. 1,10.)

v.5 Truly seeing God in His holiness humbles us and helps us see ourselves and condition in a true light (Mt. 5:3-4).

v.6-7 All God asks is that we recognize our condition and confess it. He will cleanse us the moment we do this (1 Jn. 1:9; Matt. 3:2).

v.8-13 Isaiah's commission is described. After God touched his life, he became an available instrument. The nation Israel will appear to be dead, but God promises to bring the people back from captivity.

ISAIAH 7: CONFEDERACY, THE SIGN OF THE VIRGIN'S SON, AND INVASION OF JUDAH.

v.1-9 God promises Judah will not be ruined by the confederacy of Rezin and Pekah.

Isaiah contains two-fold prophecies that have an immediate and distant fulfillment.

v.13-14 Isaiah wrote of things he did not understand, but he was inspired by the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit interprets (in Mt. 1:23) this to be the prophecy fulfilled through the virgin birth of Jesus Christ.

v.17-20 God will raise up another kingdom, Assyria, to invade and destroy Syria.

ISAIAH 8: OVERTHROW AND REMNANT

Continued description of Assyrian invasion.

v.7-8 Likens Assyria figuratively to a flood.

v.11-13 Mt. 10:28.

v.14-15 Prophecy concerning Jesus Christ (1 Cor. 1:23).

v.19 People were looking to the dead for guidance rather than to the living God.

ISAIAH 9: THE DIVINE CHILD AND GOD'S CONTINUED JUDGMENT

v.2 Prophecy describing the present-day position.

v.6-7 Prophecy of Jesus Christ's birth and ministry.

The disciples were confused regarding Jesus' death. They knew this prophecy, but felt His reign and kingdom on earth would be set up immediately (Mt. 16:21-23).

v.8-12 Despite the enemy's attack, the people's hearts are hard toward God.

v.16 Description of spiritual "hype" in today's world (Mt. 15:14).

v.17 God's hand is outstretched in judgment, but Israel still doesn't accept it.

ISAIAH 10: DEFEAT OF ASSYRIA

v.1-3 God will deal with the false leaders. Second Peter 2 describes how to recognize a false prophet.

v.5-11 God uses Assyria as His instrument of judgment to destroy Samaria. The Assyrians, in turn, are judged, as they became proud and didn't recognize that God was using them.

v.12-14 The Assyrians believe their idols are more powerful than the Lord, and He punishes them for their pride and exalting themselves before God.

v.15 The instrument by itself can do nothing. We cannot take credit for anything God has wrought, as in and of ourselves we can do nothing.

v.20 Regarding the future when God preserves the remnant during the Great Tribulation. These Jews will turn to the Lord in revival and not to the Antichrist.

v.28-34 The gathering of nations for Battle of Armageddon.

ISAIAH 11: DAVIDIC KINGDOM SET UP BY CHRIST

Speaking of the time after the Battle of Armageddon.

v.1 Picture of the nations being leveled as a forest; the "stem" arising is Jesus Christ. Prophecy regarding Jesus Christ coming from David's line.

v.2-4 Refers to the second coming of Jesus Christ. He is coming to judge the earth (Mt. 25).

v.6-9 The earth and animal kingdom will no longer suffer from man's rebellion against God.

v.10 This is what the disciples had expected Jesus to do immediately, and why they were confused at His death.

v.11 God will gather Israel together a second time when Jesus Christ comes again.

v.12 The "elect" are not the church but the outcasts of Judah (Mt. 24:31).

ISAIAH 12: THANKSGIVING IN THE KINGDOM

v.1 The declaration of Israel: Jesus is the true Messiah (Zech. 12:10; Rev.17).

v.2 "God" here means Joshua or Jesus. "Jehovah is salvation" is the literal meaning of the name "Jesus."

v.3 Jn. 4:10, 14, 7:37-38; Rev.21:6.

v.4-5 In that day they will exalt and praise God's name. Contains near and distant prophetic fulfillment.

ISAIAH 13: PROPHECY OF LAST DAYS

Punishment will be visited upon the nations, and Israel shall pass through the Great Tribulation. (Rev.17 and 18: ecclesiastical Babylon and commercial Babylon.)

v.1-4 Prophecy regarding Babylon in these end times. Worldwide wars are one of the signs of Jesus' second coming.

v.5-10 Description of Great Tribulation period (Mt. 24). This punishment is against the iniquity of the evil world, not the church (Rom. 2:5; 1 Thess. 5:9).

v.13 (See Scripture reference Isa. 2:9-21.) The shaking of the earth could be one of the ways God restores it to its original state.

v.14 The Babylonian invasion (near prophetic fulfillment).

v.17-19 Isaiah predicts the Medes' destruction of the Babylonian kingdom before the Medes even became a strong nation.

ISAIAH 14: CHRIST'S KINGDOM ON EARTH WITH ISRAEL RESTORED

v.1-8 At the end of the age Israel will be restored and exalted.

v.9-11 Satan will end up in Hell, and when you see him you will be amazed.

v.12-14 Lucifer's five "I will's"-the beginning of sin and rebellion in the universe, as he opposed God's will (Ez. 28:12-14).

By the Holy Spirit God will conform us back to our original state, by making us again into the image of Jesus Christ.

v.15-17 Satan's end is destruction.

v.24-27 The awesome sovereignty of God-His purpose and plans are always accomplished.

ISAIAH 15: GOD'S JUDGMENT AGAINST MOAB

v.2 A song of great mourning. (Moab today is Jordan.)

ISAIAH 16: MOAB REFUSES SANCTUARY TO ISRAEL'S FUGITIVES

Background: Assyria has been arising as a strong, powerful military force. Isaiah is speaking to the nations that will be in battle with the Assyrians.

v.1-4 Far fulfillment: Prophetically God has one more 7-year cycle to fulfill in the history of the nation of Israel. The 69 seven-year cycles were fulfilled from the time of the commandment to restore and rebuild Jerusalem to the coming of Jesus Christ: March 14, 445 BC to April 6, 32 AD, Jesus' entry to Jerusalem (Daniel 9:24-26).

Far fulfillment of prophecy unfolds at the point of Israel's fleeing, as Jesus said in Mt. 24:15-16. According to Jesus, when the Antichrist demands worship as God, then flee Jerusalem. In Revelation God tells how He gives Israel the wings of an eagle, to be carried into the wilderness where she is to be nourished 3 1/2 years (Rev.12:14). This prophecy will unfold when they flee to Petra.

v.5 The outcome: Jesus comes and sits on the throne and judges righteously-1,290 days from the day the Antichrist comes and declares he is God (Daniel 12:11).

v.6-12 Immediate condition of Moab is pride. Their vineyards are to be destroyed by conquering armies.

v.13-14 Within three years Assyria conquered Moab.

ISAIAH 17: DAMASCUS AND HER ALLIES FALL

v.1-7 All the inhabitants are destroyed by Assyria, but those who remain turn to God.

v.8-11 Because the Israelites had forgotten God and gone after false idols, God allowed Assyria to be used as His tool to punish them.

v.12-14 Foreshadow of God's judgment against Assyria.

ISAIAH 18: WOE TO ETHIOPIA

v.1-2 Ethiopia had come to Jerusalem to make a confederacy against Assyria. God did not want this confederacy.

v.3-7 Isaiah is saying that God will cut down Assyria. There is no need to have a confederacy.

ISAIAH 19: EGYPT'S DECLINE AND COLLAPSE

v.1-5 Civil war in Egypt.

v.6-11 Prediction of Aswan Dam and the ecological disasters created by the damming of the Nile River.

v.21-22 Egypt will become a religious center for the worship of the Lord.

v.24-25 In the day of the Lord, Egypt, Assyria (modern-day Iraq), and Israel will be joined together in harmony.

ISAIAH 20: IMPENDING CONQUEST OF EGYPT AND ETHIOPIA

v.1-6 Assyria conquers and leads their captives away in shame. This is why Isaiah told Israel not to look to a confederacy to stand against the Assyrians, but to look to the Lord.

ISAIAH 21: FOUR BURDENS ANTICIPATING THE MEDES' INVASION

v.1-2 Prediction of Medes and Elam (Persia) destroying Babylon.

v.3-4 Isaiah's physical reaction to the vision.

v.4-10 Circumstances of the invasion and fall of Babylon. Far fulfillment: destruction in Rev.14:8.

v.13-17 Saudi Arabia will take up the side of Israel when Russia begins to invade (Ez. 38:13). Immediate prediction: within one year Arabia was conquered by Sargon (716 BC).

ISAIAH 22: THE BURDEN OF THE VALLEY OF VISION

v.1-4 Isaiah sees the destruction of Jerusalem.

v.5-10 Jerusalem's preparations and precautions against the invasion of Assyria.

v.11 The Jews have tried to fortify themselves, but have not looked to God for their protection.

v.12 God calls them to consecrate themselves unto Him.

v.13-14 God's indictment against them is that their attitude towards Him will not change until they die (near fulfillment).

v.15-21 Shebna and Eliakim were two men of state in Israel. Eliakim is "God's choice" and Shebna is "moved on." Far fulfillment: Shebna is a type of Antichrist, and even as he will come and be hailed, he will be destroyed and the true Messiah will come. Eliakim is a type of Jesus Christ.

v.22-23 Jesus picks this up when He talks to church of Philadelphia in Revelation 3. Jesus takes these words and applies them to Himself in Revelation 3.

ISAIAH 23: THE FALL OF TYRE

v.1-16 Tyre is laid waste by the Chaldeans (Ez. 26-28).

v.17-18 The Lord will use Tyre again to supply the Kingdom of the Lord (Ps 45:12).

ISAIAH 24: PURGING EARTH BEFORE SECOND COMING

v.1 This could mean a polar-axis flip of the earth.

v.2-6 The Great Tribulation period will affect all people. Very few shall come out of it alive.

v.17 The "pit" the Antichrist shall come out of (Rev.11:7; Luke 21:34-35).

v.19-20 The earth will be devastated by earthquake. Present-day physicists who believe in a polar-axis shift also tell us that the earth will wobble as a top and flip on its axis. The wobble of the earth becomes greater as time goes on.

v.21 The "high ones" refers to the angelic hosts of evil.

v.22 Satan will be shut up for a period and then released, but ultimately cast into the outer darkness forever (Rev.20:7-10).

ISAIAH 25: TRIUMPHS OF THE KINGDOM AGE

v.1-4 God is praised by Isaiah for being our refuge and strength. This could also be a reference to God protecting His children in the tribulation (Luke 21:36).

v.8 Jesus has "swallowed up" death through His death and resurrection (1 Cor. 15:54-55)

ISAIAH 26: TESTIMONY OF RESTORED AND CONVERTED ISRAEL

v.3-4 In order to have the peace of God as an attribute of our Christian walk, we must first have peace with God as we receive Jesus Christ. To know the peace of God we need to keep our eyes on Him and not on our trials (John 14:27; Phil. 4:7).

v.5-9 Before the Kingdom Age God will bring down by His judgment the unrighteous.

v.12-18 Israel speaking to the Lord. When they were in prosperity they turned away from God, but in their adversity they repented and turned to the Lord.

v.19 Prediction of what took place at the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Those born before Jesus' time did not enter heaven but Abraham's bosom (Luke 16:22-31). When Jesus died He descended there to set them free (Mt. 12:40, 27:52-53; Acts 2:24-35).

Our bodies will be changed: Jn. 11:25-26; 1 Cor. 15:52-54; 2 Cor. 5:1-8.

v.20-21 Refers to the last 3 1/2 years of Great Tribulation when God's wrath is poured upon the earth for sin. But God hides His people (Rev.4:1).

ISAIAH 27: DELIVERANCE OF ISRAEL

v.1 "That day" refers to the great tribulation period upon the earth. "Leviathan" is Satan.

v.6 Prophecy of God stating how He will again bless the nation Israel and make them His vineyard. Already this prophecy is being fulfilled, as Israel is the third largest fruit exporting nation in the world (though it is smaller than the state of California).

v.10 The city at one time was barren.

v.12-13 After the barren period God regathers His people back into the land.

ISAIAH 28: WOE TO EPHRAIM

v.1-3 Northern kingdom of Israel was filled with pride and folly. The people do not seek God even in the midst of the adversity about to overtake them.

v.7 Their heavy drinking has caused their judgment to err.

v.11-12 Paul interprets this Scripture to refer to speaking in tongues (1 Cor. 14:2). Tongues are a restful experience for those who exercise the gift.

v.14-18 Judgment will come regardless of what men have done, other than receiving Jesus Christ, to keep them from hell.

v.20 The only sure rest is in Jesus Christ.

ISAIAH 29: DISCIPLINE AND BLESSING

v.1-10 Spiritual blindness and lethargy had overcome the people.

v.16 Analogy of man as clay in God the Potter's hands.

ISAIAH 30: WARNINGS TO TURN TO GOD, NOT MAN

v.1-2 The Israelites in their stupidity turn to man (Egypt), not to God, for their help. There is no real substance to Egypt.

v.7 God asks His people not to worry, but to be still and trust in God.

v.16-19 Those who fled to Egypt were destroyed, but those who stayed at Jerusalem were safe.

v.26 Description of sun possibly going into a supernova (Rev.16:8-9).

v.27 Tophet means "the place of the burning fire." This is the final place of the wicked. The New Testament Greek word for this is gehenna (Mk. 9:44, 46).

ISAIAH 31: THE LORD WILL DEFEND

Background: Impending invasion of Assyria and pressure on Israel to ally with Egypt.

v.1 Woe to those who are seeking help from man as their first resort.

v.4 The Lord will stand by His people.

v.5 Dual fulfillment: in 1917 the Turks held Jerusalem. It was preserved from destruction when the British reconnaissance planes flew over and frightened the Turks, who fled without battle.

v.8-9 The Assyrians will be destroyed, not by man but by the Lord (2 Kings 19:35). Angels are given charge over us for protection (Ps. 91:12, 34:7).

ISAIAH 32: CHRIST, THE COMING RIGHTEOUS KING

v.1-4 There will be restoration of man physically.

v.6-7 The liberal theology will be seen in a true light, as it has not really fed those who were hungry for God.

v.9-11 Defiled womanhood represents a defiled nation. Women are often used to portray the moral condition of a nation.

v.14-16 Signs of the last days: Israel's budding and God's Spirit being poured out (Joel 2:28-32; Acts 2:14-18).

v.17 Righteous living guarantees a quietness and assurance that one has done the right thing.

ISAIAH 33: JERUSALEM DELIVERED

v.1-8 The Assyrians have come and taken many of the cities of Judah and laid them waste.

v.10-13 God punishes the Assyrians.

v.14 The fire of God (Heb. 12:29). For the Christian, it's a refining process (James 1:2).

ISAIAH 34: ARMAGEDDON IN THE DAY OF THE LORD

v.1-4 Descriptions of occurrences in the earth during Armageddon. There will be much meteorite activity.

v.5-16 Isaiah encourages a turning to God's Word when these events happen, so we can see that God foreknew it.

ISAIAH 35: KINGDOM BLESSINGS FOR REGATHERED ISRAEL

v.1-6 In the Kingdom Age both the earth and man will be restored to the way God originally intended them to be.

v.9 In that day also all men will live in peace and safety.

ISAIAH 36: RABSHAKEH'S THREATS

v.1-7 Rabshakeh shows his ignorance in two areas: the worship of the Lord by Israel and the counsel God had given Israel not to trust in Egypt but in the Lord. Isaiah was encouraging Israel to trust in Him.

v.9-10 Rabshakeh ridicules them and blasphemes God by indicating that the Lord had directed him against Israel.

v.22 After hearing the threats of Rabshakeh, the men tore their clothes (as was the custom when one is in serious distress).

ISAIAH 37: GOD'S PROMISED DELIVERANCE FULFILLED

v.1 Sackcloth was used to "afflict" oneself in a sense of mourning.

v.6-7 God's answer to Sennacherib's threats.

v.14-20 Hezekiah immediately brings his problem to the Lord. He acknowledges the one, living, true God and prays for deliverance. Also, as he lays out the facts to God, he asks the Lord to glorify Himself and show that He is God.

v.21-29 The Lord's second message to Sennacherib.

v.30-35 The Lord assures Hezekiah and encourages him.

v.36-38 The Lord fulfills His promise. The Assyrians and Sennacherib are slain.

ISAIAH 38: HEZEKIAH'S HEALING

v.1 Isaiah was referring to Hezekiah setting his relationship with the Lord in order.

v.2-8 As proof to Hezekiah of His promise, the Lord changes the degrees of the sun. God is not held to the laws of the universe that He has set.

v.9-20 It would appear that there is a "direct" will of God and a "permissive" will. Because Hezekiah had begged to live, he two years later had a son, Mennassah, who led Judah down. When we insist on our own way over the Lord's, it is never the best way and the result is negative.

ISAIAH 39: BABYLONIAN CAPTIVITY FORETOLD

v.1-8 Another evil, out of the prolonging of Hezekiah's life: the king of Babylon approaches Hezekiah and learns of Judah's defenses.

ISAIAH 40: JOYFUL PROSPECT AND REPROOF FOR DESPONDENCIES

This chapter begins a new theme in Isaiah.

v.1-2 God's forgiveness and reconciliation.

v.3-5 The declaration of the coming of the Messiah and his return (Mk. 1:3)

v.6-8 Weakness and frailty of man contrasted with the power of God. The Lord's word is eternal.

v.10-11 Reference to Jesus Christ (Jn. 10:11).

v.13-14 Trying to instruct God or inform Him only indicates our lack of a true comprehension of the omniscience of God.

v.15 Merchants, to show their honesty, blew dust off a scale before weighing the merchandise. This is the dust these nations are likened to.

v.20-22 God is so awesome and great that there is no figure man can create that could accurately represent Him.

The Bible teaches us that the earth is round (Job 26:7).

v.25 We can't compare the infinite (God) with the finite (man).

v.29-30 His strength is perfected in our weakness (2 Cor. 12:9; Heb. 11:34).

ISAIAH 41: PREDICTION OF CYRUS' REIGN.

v.1-4 The Lord has raised up Cyrus.

v.8-10 Promises for Israel and the church. God has not cast them away (Rom. 11:25-27).

v.11 Many things done in the name of Christianity have misrepresented God. The outcome has been bitterness towards the church (Mt. 25:35-40).

v.15-20 Prediction of the tremendous agricultural success Israel enjoys today. The Lord had done it for them.

v.21-24 God challenges the people in the area of prophecy to see if their false idols can accurately tell of things to come.

v.26-29 The false gods the people were worshipping could not counsel them, as they are empty and vain.

ISAIAH 42: CHRIST, SERVANT OF JEHOVAH

v.1 Prediction of Jesus Christ and His gospel coming to the Gentiles.

v.2-4 Heb. 2:8-9; Col. 3:1.

v.6-7 Jesus frees us from the power of sin.

v.8 We must take care that we do not seek to serve God to bring glory to ourselves.

v.14 God has been patient with the earth for a long time.

v.15-16 The Lord will make the earth waste during the tribulation period, but then He will begin His restoring work.

v.19-20 Mk. 8:18; Jn 1:11.

v.21-25 The Jews were driven out of the land because of their rejection of the Messiah, yet they did not realize that this was the reason.

ISAIAH 43: ISRAEL TO BE REDEEMED AND RESTORED

v.5-6 God predicts the regathering of the Jewish people to Israel.

v.7 The word "bara" translated "created" from the Hebrew means "something created out of nothing."

v.10-11 God is declaring that there is no other God but Himself and no other gods to come

v.22-24 Israel had not been keeping the covenant with God by sacrifice and offerings.

v.25-28 Because they have not kept His covenant, they experienced desolation.

ISAIAH 44: THE PROMISE OF THE SPIRIT

v.4-5 The Lord foretells of a revival among the young.

v.6 The Father and the Son.

v.9-13 Various methods and types of idols the people had made.

v.16-17 The lack of logic and inconsistency of man in trying to create his own god.

v.18 They have rebelled so much against God that He allows their eyes to be shut (Jn. 12:39-40).

v.19 Rom. 1:25.

ISAIAH 45: PROOF OF GOD'S SOVEREIGNTY

v.1 Daniel 5:6.

v.2-4 The Lord predicts Cyrus' invasion 190 years before the event takes place Cyrus gave the decree for the rebuilding of Jerusalem after Israel's Babylonian captivity.

v.7 Hebrew word translated "evil" here means "sorrow, wretchedness, calamity, adversity or affliction."

v.9 To strive with God, a man must have the wrong concept of God. To strive with Him is the height of folly, as fighting Him is fighting your own good (Jer. 29:32). We are as clay in God's hands and can only discover the potter's plan as we yield ourselves to Him.

v.13 God formed Cyrus for the purpose of setting the people of Israel free to rebuild Jerusalem.

v.17 God will never cast off the nation Israel, but has promised to keep them.

v.18 This verse also used as a proof-text for the "gap" theory of creation.

v.20-23 God has revealed and declared himself in the Bible. We can make our own picture of God with our own ideas, but the truth is seen as He has shown us in His Word.

ISAIAH 46: POWER OF GOD AND POWERLESSNESS OF IDOLS

v.1-2 Their false gods became a burden even to the beasts that had to carry them.

v.3-4 The true and living God, rather than having to be carried and supported by man, carries them Himself.

v.6-7 They worship a god that is of no help to them. People today may not acknowledge the true and living God, yet they do worship their own idols of power, intellect, wealth, pleasure, etc.

v.12-13 God promises His righteousness placed in Zion.

ISAIAH 47: JUDGMENT UPON BABYLON

v.3 He will not meet Babylon as a man but as God in judgment.

v.4-10 God speaks against Babylon for her horrible treatment of God's people (Mt. 25:35-40).

v.7-8 The Babylonians' attitude of themselves was that they would reign forever. Isaiah predicts their destruction, as told in Daniel 5:17-31.

v.14-15 All the wise men and astrologers will not even be able to save themselves, much less anyone else.

ISAIAH 48: ISRAEL REMINDED OF GOD'S PROMISES

v.1 The name "Israel" means "governed by God." They call themselves after God, but do not live by Him.

v.8-9 God knew they would be stiff-necked and hard-headed, but because of His mercy He did not cut them off.

v.10 Affliction would be their refining process.

v.16-18 Speaking in regard to Jesus Christ (Jn. 8:59).

v.21-22 If they had obeyed His commands, then they would have had peace.

ISAIAH 49: ISRAEL'S COMING REDEEMER

v.1 7 Descriptions of Jesus Christ (Rev.2:16, 19:15; Ps. 22:9-10).

v.5 The purpose of Jesus Christ was to bring Israel back to God.

v.6 Jesus, rejected by the Jews, became a light to the Gentiles.

v.7 The gospel will permeate many nations.

v.10 Rev.7:16.

v.12-13 God will bring His people together again.

v.15 God declares that He will not forget Israel.

v.20-21 They will come into the land and prosper so that it will be too small for them.

v.22-23 The kings of the earth shall pay homage year by year.

v.25 If one fights against Israel, he fights against the Lord.

ISAIAH 50: THE HUMILIATION OF THE HOLY ONE

v.1 The nation was "put away" from God by their sins. They turned from God. He did not sell them; they sold themselves.

v.4-6 Prophecy regarding Jesus Christ. Jesus here is speaking as the obedient servant of the Father. Jesus willingly submitted Himself to the Father's will. A willing servant is a bondslave.

v.6 Jesus was scourged by the Roman government. Spitting was a sign in that culture of ultimate disdain and disgust (Mt. 27:26, 30).

v.11 Description of a pagan ritual that Israel practiced with fire. The Lord promises that those who took part in it shall "lie down in sorrow."

ISAIAH 51: GOD'S REMNANT EXHORTED

v.1 Mt. 5:6.

v.3 God speaks of a future day of restoration for the nation Israel.

v.4 The Lord will come and reign in righteousness.

v.6 Mt. 24:35.

v.7-8 The righteous will be preserved and endure, but the wicked shall perish.

v.9-10 Response of the people to God. They wonder where God has been, and recall their past and how God had helped them.

v.11 The Lord will set up His kingdom on earth and Israel will recognize Him.

v.12 Why fear man? Like everyone else, he will die himself (Mt. 10:28; Prov.29:25).

v.14-15 God declares that Israel is His people and He is the one who keeps them. They are the ones who have slept.

v.22-23 The day of their trouble will be over and there will be a glorious reuniting of God and His people. The Lord will judge those who have afflicted Israel. The reason for the severity of Israel's judgment is that they failed the responsibility God had given them (Luke. 12:48).

ISAIAH 52: JERUSALEM IN THE KINGDOM AGE

v.3 Man would not be redeemed with money.

v.6 When Jesus came to His own they did not recognize Him, but a time is coming when they will.

v.11 Call of separation from the world to God (Rom. 12:1-1; 1 Jn. 2:15)

v.13-15 Description of Jesus Christ (Jn. 12:32).

ISAIAH 53: VICARIOUS SACRIFICE OF CHRIST, JEHOVAH'S SERVANT

v.2 We will not be attracted to Jesus by His physical beauty. Each of us can identify with Jesus. It is the love and spiritual beauty we will be attracted to, not the physical (Rev.5:4-6, 1:7).

v.5 The Jews should not be held responsible for the death of Jesus Christ as has been the Church's pattern historically. We are all equally responsible.

v.6 God forsook His Son when our sin was placed upon Him (Mt. 27:46).

v.7 Mt. 26:62-63.

v.8 Daniel 9:26.

v.9 Mt. 27:57-60.

v.10-11 Christ became the sin offering for us according to God's will because He loved us. In seeing us in fellowship with God, Jesus was satisfied. Through Jesus, we are justified.

v.12 To reject Jesus after seeing He has fulfilled these things is to sin against the truth (Mt. 27:38; Luke 23:34).

ISAIAH 54: ISRAEL RESTORED AS JEHOVAH'S WIFE

v.1-2 The Lord will enlarge the nation as He receives them again and places His blessings on them.

v.4 Israel as an adulterous wife had forsaken the Lord.

v.7-8 The great mercies of God.

v.17 Our righteousness comes not of ourselves or our works but by God's grace alone.

ISAIAH 55: SALVATION THROUGH GOD'S GRACE

v.1 God detests commercialism and those who profiteer or exploit from the poor. In the Kingdom Age God will bless the earth to provide abundantly for everyone.

v.3 Christ will come and sit upon the throne of David.

v.8 Many times we don't understand why God does the things He does. But the difference between our ways and thoughts and God's is that He knows the end from the beginning. Therefore, He does not have to wonder whether what He has done is right.

v.9 Man's folly is that he becomes angry with God, because God has done something in a way that he doesn't agree with. If we insist on our own way we are exalting our knowledge above God's, making us supreme instead of God (Rom. 1:18; Ps. 37:5).

v.10-11 God uses a common thing to illustrate His Word. As rain waters the earth to spark life, so our lives by His Word are brought to life (2 Tim. 3:16). The Word comes to our spirit and brings all of God's potential into our lives. The first effect of the Word is what it does for us personally. The second effect is what it does through us for others (Ps. 126:6).

v.12-13 As you come into harmony with God, you come into harmony with nature and see things as you have never seen them before.

ISAIAH 56: REWARDS FOR OBEDIENCE TO GOD

v.1 The time of the Lord is always very close for each one of us. Knowing we only have one short life, we need to remember that the only lasting things will be those we have done for Jesus Christ (1 Cor. 3:12-15).

v.2 God wants us to live an honest life. A man who does this is blessed by God.

"Sabbath" is a covenant God set up with the nation of Israel. The Gentile church was not required to keep it, yet it would do us all good to have one day of rest each week for our health (Ex 31:16; Acts 21:25, Rom. 14:5).

v.4-5 1 Cor. 7:32-34.

v.7 God wanted those who weren't Jews but followed after Him to have access to Him at the Temple (Mk. 11:17).

ISAIAH 57: FALSE LEADERS REBUKED

v.1 May be a description of what happens at the Rapture of the Church.

v.3 Addressing those who have been involved in pagan religions. These people were to be joined to God as in a husband-wife relationship. Their adultery is that they don't devote themselves totally to the Lord.

v.5 In their worship of Baal, the people would offer their children as sacrifices to him.

v.13 The Lord contrasts the difference between trusting in Him and in a false god.

v.15-19 Even though they had forsaken God, He still promises His restoration.

v.20-21 There is constant turmoil for the man who has set His heart against God.

ISAIAH 58: HYPOCRITICAL RELIGION

v.1-2 The contrast was that outwardly they sought the Lord, but inwardly they still worshipped their idols.

v.3-5 They weren't fasting to seek God but to prove a point. Their fast was outward, not inward (Mt. 6:16).

v.6-8 When they fast as God wants, they should take their substance and give it to someone else.

ISAIAH 59: SINS

v.1-2 Answers to prayer are hindered by our sin. Our sin separates us from the Lord (Ps. 66:18).

v.11-15 Describing the perversity of man.

v.17 Eph 6:13-17.

v.19 There is no man to help, but the Spirit of the Lord is our defense.

v.20-21 Rom 11:17-24.

ISAIAH 60: THE DELIVERER OUT OF ZION

v.1-13 The glorious events that will come to Israel when the Messiah comes. The Jews had difficulty in recognizing Jesus because of the suffering in His life. The Jews had spiritualized the Scriptures that had foretold the suffering that the Messiah would endure (Mt. 16:16-23).

v.18 Many people will be coming to worship the Lord in great annual celebrations.

v.21-22 The Lord declares His glorious restoration will be taking place in His time.

ISAIAH 61: CHRIST'S TWO ADVENTS IN ONE VIEW

v.1-2 Prophecy of Jesus and His ministry. Jesus quoted this as a description of Himself (Mt. 11:4-5; see note Isa. 26:19). The "day of vengeance" still has yet to take place during the Great Tribulation. The "wrath" is not for the Church. The tribulation the Christian goes through is from Satan and a part of living in this world. The wrath that the non-Christian will go through is from God (1 Thess. 5:9; Jn. 16:33; Heb. 10:30).

v.6 The word "minister" means "servant" (Mt. 20:27).

ISAIAH 62: DIVINE UNREST UNTIL ISRAEL RESTORED

v.1 God will not rest until it is accomplished.

v.4 The people have felt forsaken, especially those who were part of the Holocaust.

v.5 God relates to Israel as in a marital relationship. In the New Testament Christ and the Church are likened this way as well (Eph. 5:22-33).

v.8-9 No longer will outsiders who invade the land take advantage of all the profit from the work the Jews have done for it.

ISAIAH 63: DAY OF VENGEANCE

v.1-4 The Lord will be spreading the fierceness of His anger upon the earth (Rev.14:10, 19:11-16).

v.4-6 God's coming judgment upon the earth.

v.9 Our persecutions are actually faced and suffered for Jesus Christ.

ISAIAH 64: THE REMNANT'S PRAYER

v.1-4 Prayer requesting that God manifest Himself as He had in the past. Our problem is that we don't wait on God but feel that we must help Him to carry out His work (1 Cor. 2:9-16; Eph. 1:17-19).

v.8 Whatever the potter decides for us is best. As we yield to Him, we know what His desires for us are.

ISAIAH 65: ANSWER OF JEHOVAH TO REMNANT OF ISRAEL

v.1-5 God declares how He stretched out His hands to the Gentiles (Rom 10:21).

v.8-9 God will bring a faithful remnant, His elect, back to the land. This follows along with God's promise to never forsake them.

v.15 The new name of the servants of God is "Christians" (Acts 11 :26).

v.17 To "create" here means "to create something out of nothing." This takes place beyond the millennial age (2 Peter 3:10-13). Since the material universe will be destroyed, we should not be living for the physical but the spiritual. We will not recall the horrible period of history when man rebelled against God (Mt. 6:19-21).

v.18-19 In the millennial age the earth will be restored as in the pre-Flood condition, when men lived extremely long periods of time. Those who are already in their new bodies will not be subject to death. They will reign with Christ as enforcers of righteousness. There will be people who will have lived through the tribulation to the second coming of Christ, and they will be subject to death.

v.25 The earth, man, and animals will all be in harmony with God.

ISAIAH 66: BLESSINGS OF THE COMING UNIVERSAL KINGDOM

v.1 We can give nothing to God that does not already belong to Him anyway. God does not require a place built by man to dwell in, for He dwells in the heavens.

v.22-23 In the new heaven and earth all will be in harmony with the Lord. Those who did not accept Him will have another destiny.

v.24 God's wrath or judgment is eternal. Before the great white throne judgment of God, Hades will give up their dead. This verse speaks of the second death. Gehenna, the place of eternal punishment, was originally meant for Satan and his angels, but those who follow him in this life will be placed there also (Mk. 9:44, 46).