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Isaiah’s Seven-Part Structure defines Babylon as a composite entity made up of individual entities of various kinds (Isaiah 13–23; 47). These consist of the nations of the world, aggressive world powers (like Assyria and its alliance), tyrants and oppressors, rulers and men of power, enemies and adversaries, proud kindred peoples, and the wicked of God’s […]

In Isaiah’s Seven-Part Structure, ascent to a higher level is preceded by a temporary descent. That descent consists of the test or tests of loyalty that God orchestrates for each individual. It involves a period of suffering and humiliation that serves as a personal trial of one’s faith; however, this is but the prelude to

Linked ideas throughout the Book of Isaiah demonstrate how God’s people respond to his end-time servant’s message. Those who acknowledge the servant do as he does. As the servant keeps the terms of God’s covenant, so do they. When they live God’s law for its own sake, not for the sake of reward, God blesses

Have you wondered whether the Hebrew prophets wrote down revelations precisely as God gave them, or whether they added their own thoughts and ideas? Isaiah, for example, was a literary genius as well as an inspired prophet of God. His writings exhibit many layered literary devices. These mechanics of prophesying show an amazing deliberation in

Many persons maintain that God will nullify prophecies of doom if people repent. They cite Jonah’s prophecy of the destruction of Nineveh as an example. The people of Nineveh repented of wickedness and God did not destroy Nineveh as he said he would. Jonah became embarrassed and angry when God seemed to go back on

Explanation: Souls who choose the opposite of keeping God’s laws atrophy to where they no longer resemble who they used to be. Isaiah uses imagery of physical impairments, vegetation, and the spirits of beasts to portray people who lose the light they once had. Their destruction in God’s Day of Judgment that is coming upon

Explanation: As people ascend the spiritual ladder by keeping the laws of God’s covenants pertaining to each level, God re-creates them closer to his own image and likeness. By keeping the laws God has decreed, they grow more like God and acquire his divine attributes. Isaiah’s creation theme shows that God continues to create or

In God’s Day of Judgment no one will be able to say “You have no idea what I had to deal with,” or “You put me through this while you sat aloof on your heavenly throne,” or “I had to sin to survive,” and so forth. Israel’s God paid the ultimate price to save his

I sat spellbound as a rabbi taught that the clean animals Isaiah mentions allude to God’s people Israel and the unclean to Gentiles. This gave new meaning to the ox and the ass and the millennial idea of harmony between the lamb and the lion. Although I don’t recall much of what the rabbi taught,

The roles Israel’s God fulfills when redeeming humanity from evil—of Father and Son, Priest and Sacrifice, Savior and Firstborn—all fall in the category of “salvation,” that being a gift from God which we receive on condition we “repent” of sins and “return” to him. Repentance, in turn, is the essence of living the lesser law

Continuous with Jehovah’s re-creation of persons who attain Isaiah’s seraphs level—who “ascend as on eagles’ wings” (Isaiah 40:31)—appears Jehovah’s end-time servant. The servant’s attaining the seraph level (cf. Isaiah 14:29; 51:9–10; 63:9) thus forms a high point of Jehovah’s narrowing creations as outlined in chapter 40. Personifying righteousness because he keeps Jehovah’s law and word

Isaiah characterizes Jehovah as a personification of “salvation”—as the epitome of a Savior of his people. His servant’s “work” of preparing a people to meet their God (Isaiah 40:10–11; 42:3) precedes Jehovah’s coming: “Tell the Daughter of Zion, ‘See, your Salvation comes, his reward with him, his work preceding him’” (Isaiah 62:11; emphasis added). As