Two quarters ago, the topic was the book of Jonah, a mere forty-eight verses: after an introduction, just four verses a week for the quarter. This time, the study encompasses sixty-six chapters, a major undertaking even without time constraints.

Isaiah has often been called the Gospel Prophet; and the book, the fifth Gospel, though largely on the basis of chapters 40–55+.

Though concentrating only on the first and the last, this week’s lesson spans the first five chapters. They serve as a good guide to what follows.

As a starting point, open your Bible and look at the text. First, if you are using a modern translation, note that most of the book is poetry. Hebrew verse has a style all its own, and it will be helpful to consult a Bible dictionary for the characteristics, especially parallelism.

Second, interspersed are narrative (that is, non-poetic) sections such as 1:1; 2:1, and chapter 4 (and later, chs. 36–39). Some of these, like 1:1, give historical information in the third person that serves as a framework, but much detail is not included, such as the 160-year gap between the end of chapter 39 and the start of chapter 40 that includes the times of both Jeremiah and Ezekiel.

It is sometimes (confidently) claimed that prophets wrote in verse because it was regarded as a more elevated style. I know of no unambiguous basis for such a claim. It is clear that from the time of Amos (the first of the so-called writing prophets) prophetic oracles were delivered in person, orally. Poetry may have been adopted as a way to help listeners more easily recall what they had heard. Although now in translation, it is still helpful to read the chapters aloud and allow oneself to be caught up in the passion of the messages.

Fourth, when reading, note the style. Too often we read for content alone these days, and in so doing miss much. The writing is rich with similes and metaphors. These are important to understand, since we know nothing of God apart from human analogies.

In the narrative books of Joshua, Judges, Samuel, and Kings (the "Former Prophets" in the Hebrew Bible), if the question is, "What is God like?" the answer is, "Let me tell you a story." In the prophetic books the answer is, "Listen to what God said." However, one must play close attention to when God is speaking and when it is the prophet’s voice. The former has an introductory formula like: "Thus says the Lord!" A failure to distinguish between the two has led to a rigid view of the prophets as—to use a modern analogy—receiving celestial faxes that were in turn delivered in the public square. It was not like that at all.

When delivering the divine oracles (messages directly from God) could the prophet have held a news conference? We have all seen in the media where the first reports of a tragedy are so sketchy that the designated official reads a statement but eschews questions until more information is at hand. Traditional understanding of the message from God delivered by—but, not through—the prophet, demands a negative answer; but as you read, note how the prophet intersperses his own comments, such as "and daughter Zion is left like a booth in a vineyard, like a shelter in a cucumber field, like a besieged city" (1:8). To so do is to see inspiration at work.

As you read the five chapters this week, listen to the words of God, but also hear the passion of the prophet. Note how the latter sets the former in context. For instance, 1:2, 3 contains the first oracle, which is followed by excoriating comments from Isaiah, ending with reference to God in the third person: "If the Lord of hosts had not left us a few survivors.…" (1:9).

Fifth, evidence of play and counterplay among the prophets can be seen by comparing Isaiah 2 and Micah 4. Clearly they share the same basic vision of the future, but each account is shaped both by the context of the prophet and by his individual message.

Sixth, the role of the prophet did not overlap the town crier assuring the citizenry, "10 o’clock and all’s well." Isaiah speaks often about the absence of basic, human justice.

I will never forget my shock when reading four of the prophets in my Hebrew study at Sydney University. As a teenager, I had listened to preachers intone that the mission of Adventism was not to change the world. Rather we were to warn the world and be out of here.

In stark contrast were the repeated prophetic demands for justice and mercy, and the care of the underprivileged in the here and now. Indeed, the presence of such was regarded as the hallmark of true religion, and their absence, intolerable. Isaiah is firmly in that tradition.

In response, God is frequently pictured as convening court. Israel is on trial, and witnesses include such as the all-seeing mountains, or the surrounding nations. God lays out his case and invites the people to respond, but they have no defense.

Seventh, Isaiah is frequently quoted in the New Testament. For instance, Jesus’ parable of the vineyard bears a striking relationship to Isaiah 5:1–6. It is easy to forget in such circumstances that the writings of the prophet had a primary historical context. Keeping this in mind will help understand the original intent. This in turn lays the foundation for understanding later New Testament applications.

The writings of Isaiah have had a profound effect both on Judaism and on Christianity. Since the God of the Old Testament is the God of the New Testament, it is important that we listen carefully to what the book of Isaiah has to say.

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