Week 17: Isaiah 18-44- Isaiah: Themes of His Message

As you read through Isaiah several recurrent themes will stand out. First, the people that lead Israel into sin will later become their oppressors. At the direction of Balaam, the Moabites sent young women to entice the young men of Israel. This lead to intermarriage and subsequent idol worship. Later, God uses the Moabites to go to war against Israel and oppress them. This is a model for sin in our lives. The sins which we at first commit for pleasure, later harm us physically and often become additions to us.

Next, God will not leave those who oppress His people unpunished. One of the complaints against God was how He could use an unjust people to punish the disobedience of Israel. God uses foreign nations to chastise Israel but He will later judge and punish those people for their own sins. God is always intolerant of sin and will act to bring about justice.

The prophet gives details of the specific ways in which individual nations will be punished. But there are also several places when judgment on “all the nations” is described.

Christians believe this is a reference to a future time of tribulation when truly the entire world will come under God’s judgement. But it also promises a future where He will rule and reign on the earth brining about a time of unparalleled peace.

Another important theme of that of spiritual blindness and deafness. God repeatedly points out how Israel has failed to see how He has created them, delivered them and sustained them. Similarly the people have been deaf to hear His instruction. Spiritual deafness caused them to not be obedient to his commandments, laws and statutes. Their failure ultimately leads to God’s judgement and subsequent exile. But He also promises to never forsake them. He promises to hear them when they repent and cry out to Him. And most importantly He promises, through the coming Messiah, to forgive them and restore them to the Promised Land.

The prophetic message is interrupted by the recounting of the siege of Jerusalem by the Assyrians. We read of this in 2 Kings and now it is related again. The prophet uses the account demonstrates God’s care for Israel and judgement on their oppressors. It shows them in their current experience the elements that God has promised in the future.

Finally, God draws the distinction between Himself — the only true God, and the false idols that man worships. God makes two arguments.

First, He reminds them that He is the creator of all things. Second He states the He is the only one who knows the end from the beginning. One of the most important purposes of prophecy is to demonstrate God’s power through his knowledge of future events.

He know the future because

He knows His plans for the future. While modern man may not bow down to physical idols for reassurance about the future, we often bow to power and wealth to insure our future.