Who Was Isaiah the Prophet

Isaiah was perhaps the most famous of biblical prophets. Who was he, and what did he have to say that made him so famous to this day? Before we answer that, we should learn what a prophet was. In Hebrew, the word for prophet was “navi”, which meant ‘one who is called’, and ‘one who calls out’. The primary role of a prophet was not telling the future, but being called by God to deliver a message to the people. A true prophet had to pass two important tests. First, his message had to be in harmony with the Torah, and second, if he did predict something, it had to come to pass. Each prophet was called personally by God, given a message firsthand, and sent to deliver it. Isaiah’s calling is found in Isaiah chapter 6. In the Temple, Isaiah has a vision of God on his throne (“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory.”), and then Isaiah is cleansed of his sin. “Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” And I said, “Here am I; send me!” And he said, “Go and say to this people…” And the book of Isaiah we have today records God’s message in the form of poetry and speeches.

Not much is known about Isaiah himself. His name was Yeshayahu, and he was a prophet in the southern kingdom of Judah, in Jerusalem, from about 740 BCE, the year of his calling, to about 685 BCE. His career spanned the reigns of five kings, Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, Hezekiah, and Manasseh. He was married, with at least two sons. Tradition has it that he was King Uzziah’s cousin, and that he was closely associated with the Temple. When paganism flourished under Manasseh, the aged Isaiah was martyred by being sawed in half.

Isaiah tried to warn the king of Judah about the dangerous nation of Assyria, which destroyed the northern kingdom of Israel and threatened Judah as well. God’s message was that Judah was sinful and that the people had turned away from God. Idolatry, personal immorality, and political corruption were going to bring down God’s judgment. Isaiah revealed that God is behind all historical events, including the actions of nations, and that Assyria could be the instrument God would use to punish Judah.

When King Hezekiah rebelled against Assyria, the Assyrian army attacked Judah and besieged Jerusalem. The Assyrians apparently didn’t know they were God’s instrument, and they openly mocked God. King Hezekiah begged Isaiah to ask God for salvation for the remnant of the people. Isaiah said that the king and the people must repent and turn back to God, and then God would punish the arrogant Assyrians. Hezekiah repented and prayed, and an angel of the Lord destroyed so much of the Assyrian army that the siege was lifted. Thus, an evil nation might be used by God to punish his people, but a remnant would always be saved, and the evil nation would be punished for their own sins in the end.

Isaiah eventually died a martyr as the people drifted even further away from God. About one hundred years after Isaiah died, the Babylonian Empire conquered Assyria and took control of Judah. When Judah rebelled, Babylon invaded, destroyed Jerusalem and the Temple, and took the people into exile for fifty years. According to Isaiah’s world view, Babylon was another instrument to punish God’s people. But then Babylon was defeated by the Persian King Cyrus. Cyrus, then, was God’s instrument to rescue the remnant of the faithful and restore them to Jerusalem, ending the exile and letting the people go back home.

The amazing thing is, Isaiah foretold all of this: the fall of Assyria, the Babylonian exile, and the end of exile at the hands of King Cyrus. The words of Isaiah certainly did come to pass. No wonder his book was preserved and cherished after the exile by the people of Judah – he passes the tests of a true prophet mentioned above. God showed Isaiah this vision of punishment and salvation, including the rebuilding of Jerusalem and the Temple. These things also came to pass. But there was more. God told Isaiah about the future Servant of God who would be a final sacrifice for the forgiveness and removal of sin, a Messiah who would someday be a righteous ruler over a holy nation in Jerusalem, where the whole world would come to worship God. Many believe that part of the vision came to pass in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. The rest of the vision, the messianic age of justice and peace, has yet to come to pass. But Isaiah has a good track record so far, and Christians today place their hopes in his words.

You may have heard that many scholars believe that the book of Isaiah contains the writing of two or three people. According to this theory, the first person, Isaiah of Jerusalem, wrote chapters 1-39. One or two other people wrote chapters 40-66, a century or so later, in the tradition of Isaiah. Here are some examples of why scholars think this. The destruction of Jerusalem and the Babylonian exile are talked about as if they have already happened (40:1-2, 43:14, 48:20). Cyrus of Persia is mentioned by name (44:28, 45:1-4). These seem to be clues that later writers wrote these chapters after the events had happened. This question cannot be answered with certainty, and I suppose it comes down to whether you believe in God’s ability to know the future and tell it in detail to a prophet.

Isaiah is considered by Jews and Christians to be among the greatest of the prophets. His message of hope and social justice continues to speak to us today. In closing, here are Isaiah’s famous words of hope for peace in the world: “…they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.” (2:4)