Isaiah, Prophet of Salvation, Book 9, part 1

Isaiah 59-66 is the prophet’s culminating revelation about the New Covenant Messiah and His successful work in spite of the failures of mankind.

Isaiah 59 shows the hopelessness of man’s condition and his inability to be saved by his own will through the Old Covenant. Then the prophet sets forth a new path of salvation that is based on the New Covenant. This new way is based on the will of God that intervenes in the affairs of men so that the promises of God may be fulfilled.

Isaiah 60 shows how the light of truth will arise at last to dispel all darkness. God’s people everywhere will become the embodiment of that truth, for the glory of God will be seen upon them radiating the nature of God.

Isaiah 61 shows the exaltation of the people of faith who radiate the truth and light of God. Those who were formerly oppressed and afflicted in the kingdoms of men will be given authority over the nations. They will not oppress their former oppressors, as if motivated by vengeance, but will rule by example even as Christ led by example.

Isaiah 62 gives a picture of the great marriage between heaven and earth. Though only a few will be married to God at first, they will lead the rest of humanity into the same experience, so that the original purpose of creation may be fulfilled. The reconciliation of all things will bring New Covenant unity in this marriage. Ultimately, all will be part of this new city, New Jerusalem.

Isaiah 63 chides Edom for claiming credit for the vintage that is trodden down. The treading of the grapes is a common biblical metaphor for conquest. Grapes themselves represent the world of unbelievers, which must be trodden out in order to extract the wine for God’s Table.

The first part of this chapter sets forth the sovereignty of God, who alone has trodden the grapes. The last half of the chapter relates the underlying purpose and meaning of Israel’s history and the work of “the angel of His presence” (i.e., Peniel). Peniel is the angel of transfiguration.

Isaiah 64 is the prophet’s prayer invoking God’s promise. The prophet recognizes God as the Creator and as our heavenly Father, the Sovereign One who alone can turn the hearts of the people. He is the great Potter; we are mere clay in His hands.

Isaiah 65 recognizes that the whole world remains in darkness, except for a few whom God has hand-picked to be the first fruits of the New Creation. These are called inheritors who receive a double portion according to their calling, authority, and responsibility. In this chapter the prophet sets forth the idea of the Amen people, showing that they are the first to be in agreement with the will and mind of God.

The principle of the Amen is then set forth as the underlying principle of the great re-creation of the world. Both the new heavens and the new earth, as well as the New Jerusalem, are created as the will of God and men become one. Lastly, this is pictured metaphorically in terms of wolves and lambs at peace with each other. Neither will serpents be the enemy any longer.

Isaiah 66 is the culmination of this book, picturing heaven as God’s throne and the earth as His footstool. A footstool is a place where one may rest the feet, and this metaphor shows the end of the new creation. Just as God rested after the first creation, so also He is able to rest after the re-creation. He cannot rest, of course, until He has succeeded in doing all that He set out to do. Neither will He rest until all of creation has been reconciled to Himself.

The prophet also pictures this as the birth of a child.

Finally, in the prophet’s closing words, the promise of God is set forth saying, “all mankind will come to bow down before Me.” This fulfills the word of the Lord given earlier in Isaiah 45:23, “that to Me every knee will bow, every tongue will swear allegiance.” Not many have been able to grasp the scope of this universal salvation, nor can they see how God could do such a thing. However, when we understand the sovereignty of God and the nature of the New Covenant which proceeds from it, we are able to believe that God is able to do all that He has purposed.

Throughout the book of Isaiah, we see the revelation of God’s sovereignty. In the last half of the book, beginning with chapter 40, we see the New Covenant set forth. Whereas men’s vows and good intentions inevitably fall short of the glory of God, God’s vows and intents inevitably succeed in every way. Any good work that depends upon the will of man is sure to fail, but any good work that depends upon the will of God cannot fail.

Isaiah has been called the Prophet of Salvation and is also known as the “universalist” prophet. Some define his “universalism” merely in terms of his inclusion of foreigners in the scope of God’s love. But his universalist view was more than that, for the prophet’s New Covenant perspective gave him the faith necessary to believe that God would save all mankind in the end. His prophecies encompassed the whole earth in the divine plan, and the success of God was firmly rooted in His sovereign ability to fulfill His promises.

It has often been pointed out that the 66 chapters in Isaiah are a microcosm of the 66 books in the Bible as a whole. There are 39 books in the Old Testament, correlating with the first 39 chapters of Isaiah. Likewise, the 27 books in the New Testament correlate with the last 27 chapters of Isaiah.

Of course, the division of the Bible into chapters and verses was not made until just 700 years ago, so one may question the validity of these things. Nonetheless, the division in the book of Isaiah has been so striking that many critics have claimed two authors for the book. They regularly speak of first and second Isaiah, hoping thereby to discredit its inspiration and erode its authenticity.

Yet the revelation of Isaiah stands as a pillar of truth. It inspired the Apostle Paul, who found in its pages the character and nature of the New Covenant. In the final analysis, it does not matter if one author or two wrote the book of Isaiah, for its true Author was God Himself. There are other portions of Scripture that were written by anonymous authors, such as the last paragraphs of Deuteronomy, which recorded Moses’ death.