INTRODUCTION

Once upon a time there was a King, who ruled a beautiful kingdom. However, a horrible evil dragon attacked the kingdom, plagued it with a haunting darkness, and stole away the beauty and the ones the King loved most. The King was heartbroken but determined to win back those he had lost. So for many years, the King prepared to return to save his loved ones and restore the beauty of his kingdom. But it would not be easy. He would have to fight the evil. While those he lost strained under the pain and devastation of the evil that now plagued the kingdom, the King found ways to whisper his promise into secrets they could discover and remember. He gave them hope that he would return and save them. However, amidst the promises, there was a dark pain in the hearts of those he loved, for they knew that in order to save them, he would have to enter the kingdom under the guise of a peasant, fight the evil as an ordinary man, and take the full brunt force of this dark evil’s hate on himself and drink up all its venom. Then and only then would the kingdom be free. Then and only then could those whom the King loved be able to choose to love him again. But would they want to? Would they choose to?

The bleakest times call for the most heroic measures. Tragedy and human suffering cry out for superhuman strength. Our despair and darkness beg for the miraculous. Crisis and catastrophe demand lionhearted leaders with transcendent wisdom and mystical powers. If no one swoops in or emerges from the ash, we create them. Authors dream and screenwriters imagine. And we willingly devour their special effects and fantastic inventions.

We need superheroes and gallant warriors who defeat evil, rescue the beauty, defy death, and liberate the adoring masses. Even if there is a fine line between mystery and imagination or special effects and real life heroics, we want to believe that—somewhere in all the tales, the folklore, the movies, and the centuries-old legends—there is truth. There must be some shred of reality in all these stories. Honestly, in the chaotic mess of our world and our personal lives, we need to know that there is a yet-to-be-revealed rescuer still disguised as an ordinary “one of us.”

The prophesies of the legendary heroics of God becoming a man are rooted in the most ancient writings and can be traced back to the beginning of humankind. They’ve been passed down through oral history and ancient riddles so that they seem more like folklore (except with much more profound implications).

The Bible is full of prophets foretelling the coming of a God among men, the rescuer and Savior of the world who would destroy evil, crush death, and set man free from the shackles of fear. These writings are so descriptive and exciting that, even to the scholars, the promises are the stuff of our wildest dreams. Even two thousand years ago, people thought of the coming Messiah as a legend. Today, even with all our sophistication, civilization, and technology, the script surrounding Christmas is considered the greatest story ever told.

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WHY STUDY THE BOOK OF ISAIAH?

Where is God when life is most desperate? Is he far away and distant? And if he is nearby, does he even care to get involved in our pain and problems? If he cares, can he do anything about it?

Imagine a time of collective crisis, a nation long ripped apart by civil war. One half of the divided nation conquered; her citizens dragged off to live in exile in foreign lands. The nation that remained suffered turmoil and strife—the rise of a king, then his death or fall.

Under such political distress and national unrest, a faith-filled young man was chosen and called to preach to his nation and her leaders. At this point, God’s people were left wondering where he was. How could he let something like this happen? They feared for their lives and felt alone!

Around 740 BC, Isaiah called his countrymen back to God… but more powerfully, he preached to reintroduce them to the God that they had heard of but truly did not know. He served for thirty-four years through the fall of the northern nation of Israel at the hand of Assyria and through the reign of four different kings of Judah. Isaiah recorded his sermons in a book that later became part of the Old Testament (the time before Jesus) of the Bible. He was more like a composer and his book a symphony. His writing was scored for various instruments to create a full and robust sound: sounds of judgment and love, comfort and correction, suffering and hope.

He offered hope for those in Judah, and he can offer hope for you today. Isaiah wants you to know that you can trust the Lord.[1] Isaiah wants you to know about the powerful and comforting presence of God, especially God in the flesh—Jesus, Immanuel![2] “It is this emphasis on redemption that gives Isaiah a message for the whole world.”[3]

Can you imagine a better solution to your problems and worries than the very Son of God? God doesn’t leave us stranded, and he doesn’t leave us alone. He sent his very son, and when Jesus left, he sent us the Holy Spirit to be our comforter and counselor. There are other people with other names and other titles, but there is no greater name than Immanuel—God With Us!

When we read and study the Book of Isaiah, we meet God and his story through the various movements of this written symphony of words.  Isaiah’s writing is a powerful work which boldly introduces the reader to the depth of the nature and attributes of God, captured in the various names of God. Each name takes us into a deeper understanding, revelation, and wonder of God and his coming Messiah.

The Book of Isaiah is not just a compilation of sermons but a prophetic writing. Isaiah was both a preacher and a prophet; he told people what God was saying but also foretold what God was going to do in the future. God revealed his purposes and plans through Isaiah, some that took place hundreds of years later. We often read history and forget where each part fits. We are awed when we realize that Isaiah foretold the coming of the Messiah in great detail. Then when we overlay these prophesies to the life of Jesus, it becomes obvious that Jesus fulfilled these prophetic promises of God (written by human hand hundreds of years earlier)!

This remarkable work of Isaiah reveals that God is in complete control of human history. He is separate from and far above the evil in our world, yet he is personally and intimately involved in each moment of life, perfectly orchestrating his involvement with each of us. As we read this book, we discover that nothing is beyond God’s ability to use. Like instruments, he uses everything and everybody to play a unique note or sound in his great work, which ultimately is a beautiful symphony playing the song of God’s rescue and remaking of the mess humans have made.

Isaiah reveals that an all-powerful, sovereign God—who will not tolerate wrongdoing—loves us so much that he would come to give his life to rescue us from certain eternal death. This is a book that captures the names of God, the heart of God, and the sacred story of how God interacts with and saves humankind.

[1] Andrew E. Hill and John H. Walton, A Survey of the Old Testament, 3rd Ed., (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2009), 519.

[2] Ibid.

[3] Wiersbe, Be Comforted, 16.