In these last chapters of the Book of Isaiah, I believe that the prophet is seeing beyond the Babylonian exile and is given a vision of not only a restored Israel but a world that has been put right with its Maker. For example in Isaiah 65:17-25, we are given a vision not only of a new Jerusalem but a new heavens and new earth. This passage provides the raw material for John’s vision of the New Jerusalem and the new heavens and the new earth that we find in Revelation 21.

Some Bible commentators have theorized that Isaiah 40-66 was written by a different author than the Isaiah who wrote Isaiah 1-39. There are various reasons for this, but the main one is that some of these commentators find it hard to fathom how Isaiah could have known ahead of time about the Babylonian exile and the fact that LORD would use the Persian King Cyrus to bring His people back into the Promised Land ((Isaiah 45:1).

But these commentators need to remember that even if their later date for Isaiah 40 -66 was accepted, the great prophesy of the suffering servant in Isaiah 52:13 – 53:12, still occurred over 450 years before Jesus Christ. The Church consensus is that the passage of Isaiah 52:13-53:12 is a prophesy of the suffering of Jesus the Christ. If Isaiah could prophesy about the life, death and resurrection of the great Redeemer, then he could of prophesied Judah’s exile and subsequent return during the reign of the Persian Empire.

According to the Apostolic witness in the New Testament, Isaiah not only prophesied Christ’s first coming (John 12:37-41), but also about what happens after Christ returns the second time (Revelation 21). Isaiah was truly a great prophet. Jewish tradition believes that he was sawed in two during the reign of King Manasseh. The reference in Hebrews 11:37a is thought by some Christian commentators to refer to Isaiah. Thank you LORD for the faithful witness of people like Isaiah.  May we be found faithful in serving the LORD. In Christ’s love and service, Pastor John

Click here for tomorrow’s reading of Isaiah 66:19 – Jeremiah 10:13.