Isaiah 2 begins with another heading, “The word that Isaiah, the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem, marking the beginning of a major section that runs from 2:1-12:6. This section begins and ends with the eschatological reign of the King over Israel and the nations. In chapter 2 the king is identified as Yhwh; in chapter 11 he is identified as Davidic. In between Isaiah provides evidence that he is both God and man in one person. This major section can be divided into three sub-sections: 2-5, 6, 7-12.
The section (chs. 2-5) comes in four parts.[1] The first part (2:1-4) picks up on the promise given at the end of chapter 1 that “Zion shall be redeemed by justice” (1:27). It looks to this future day when the temple mount is the exalted place where all the nations will come to learn from Yhwh his ways and his law. Yhwh will rule from Zion over a pacified earth and will be the judge over all international disputes. The second part of this section (2:5-4:1) calls on Judah to walk in the light of Yhwh because at present Judah is full of idolatry. The remainder of chapter 2 is then taken up with a description of the eschatological day of Yhwh, which will come upon the proud who exalt themselves against Yhwh. Chapter 3 may shift the focus to the more immediate day of Yhwh in which Jerusalem will fall (or both the near and the far day may be in view). Isaiah 4:2-6 returns to eschatological Zion, thus sandwiching the part on the Day of Yhwh judgment with texts about the restoration of Zion. The Messiah is introduced obliquely here as “the Branch of Yhwh” (cf. 11:1), and Zion is described as the place of Yhwh’s presence, using the pillar of cloud and fire imagery from the exodus. Chapter 5 closes out this section with a song in which Israel is represented as a fruitless vineyard that will be destroyed. Isaiah then pronounces a series of woes on the sinners of Judah for their sins. Many of the same sins mentioned in chapter 1 are here repeated. Further chapter 1 began by noting “they have forsaken Yhwh, they have despised the Holy One of Israel” (1:4), and toward the end of chapter 5 Isaiah reiterates, “they “have despised the word of the Holy One of Israel” (5:24).[2]
Isaiah 6 stands as a hinge chapter between Isaiah 2-5 and Isaiah 7-12. Oswalt observes, “In a real (though brief way) this chapter answers the question posed by chs. 1-4…. How can this Israel become that Israel.”[3] Following the preceding section’s prophecies of Yhwh ruling from the temple in eschatological Jerusalem, Isaiah has a vision of the Lord enthroned as judge in the temple. He has been called the Holy One of Israel three times in the preceding chapters, and now he is hailed as thrice holy by the seraphim (likely a reference to the Trinity). Just as the glory of God filled the tabernacle and temple in the past, so now it is said that his glory fills the whole earth. This scene anticipates the eschatological day in which that will be a manifest reality. Isaiah confesses that he has seen the King, Yhwh of armies, and that he is undone due to his uncleanness. The unclean was not to come into contact with the holy. In response a seraphim touches his lips (which is what Isaiah had specified as unclean) with coal from the altar, signifying that his sin was atoned for. Atonement is the only way an unclean, guilty people can enter the presence of a thrice holy God. The coming of the King in judgment is not good news unless it is preceded by the coming of the Servant to atone. This done, the Lord says, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” (the plurals here also gesturing toward the triune nature of the Lord).[4] Isaiah volunteers, and the Lord commissions him to minister in such a way that Israel’s heart is hardened. Isaiah asked how long he would have this ministry of condemnation, and the Lord told him that it would be until the land was entirely desolate and the people deported. Even the remnant would be consumed. Yet the last words are words of hope: “The holy seed is its stump.”[5]
Isaiah 7-12, the next section in the book, begins with a narrative about king Ahaz, which demonstrates the hardness of heart the previous chapter had predicted.[6] Isaiah 7 also draws a sharp contrast between the Lord as King and the king of Judah, who is fearful of Israel and Syria.[7] The Lord assures Ahaz through Isaiah that Israel and Syria will not succeed against Judah, and Yhwh invites Ahaz to ask for a sign “deep as Sheol or high as heaven (7:10). Ahaz, with false piety declines, and so the Lord gives a sign to the house of David: “a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.” But while Judah will be spared from Syria and Israel, it will not be spared from Assyria. Isaiah is told to name his own son, “The spoil speeds, the prey hastens” (8:1, 3, ESV mg) because Assyria would spoil Syria and Israel before the boy could say “my father” or “my mother.” Assyria would also sweep into Judah, like a river overflowing its banks. Assyria would fill the land of Judah, coming up to the neck (referring to the days of Hezekiah when the whole land save Jerusalem fell to the Assyrians). In this situation Isaiah is warned to fear not what they fear, but to fear the Lord. In the midst of this dire prophecy, God gives hope to the region of Galilee, which would be the first to bear the brunt of invaders from the north. That region would be blessed with a great light, “For unto us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder” (9:6). In chapter 2 Yhwh was said to reign from Zion, in chapter 4 the branch (which 11:1 will link to the house of Jesse) is implied to rule in Zion, in chapter 7 the birth of a child who is named God with us is prophesied, and now a king who is called “Mighty God” is promised, and he is said to be a Davidic king (9:7). Then abruptly Isaiah turns from this good news back to the judgment that Assyria would bring on Israel and Judah (9:8-10:4). However, Assyria itself will not escape God’s judgment (10:5-19). Furthermore, God will preserve a remnant and will permit Assyria to go only so far (10:20-34). Then Isaiah looks ahead to the day when the Spirit-empowered Davidic king rules over all the nations with justice, when the creation itself is restored and enjoys shalom, when Israel is restored to the land, and the nations too will seek the Lord. In that day Israel will praise the Lord for his salvation and will enjoy the presence of the Holy One of Israel in their midst (chs. 11-12).
[1] Here I’m drawing on Wolf, Interpreting Isaiah, 76; Kaiser, Preaching and Teaching the Last Things, 58-59; Tully, Reading the Prophets as Christian Scripture, 156-57.
[2] Abernethy, The Book of Isaiah and God’s Kingdom, NSBT, 24.
[3] Oswalt, NICOT, 55.
[4] Bavinck, RD, 2:264.
[5] Isaiah 11:1 predicts “There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse.” And Isaiah 53:2 says the Servant will be “like a root out of dry ground.” Wolf, Interpreting Isaiah, 88.
[6] Wolf, Interpreting Isaiah, 89.
[7] Abernethy, The Book of Isaiah, NSBT, 27-28, 123-24.