Introduction.
‘The vision of Isaiah, the son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem, in the days Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.'
Isaiah's prophecies date from the year of Uzziah's death (Isaiah 6:1) in aound 740 BC, through the period when the independence of Judah was lost by Ahaz, who refused to trust Yahweh for deliverance and instead turned to Assyria for help (2 Kings 16:7), to the great success under Hezekiah when Yahweh amazingly delivered Jerusalem from Assyria (36 to 37). But when, in contrast, Hezekiah looked to men for deliverance and not to Yahweh (Isaiah 39:1-6) and allowed Babylon to know the size of his treasures, Isaiah foresaw what this would mean for the future. It was not wise to reveal one's treasures to a predator of the nature of Babylon.
Isaiah's prophecies are said to be a vision of the future for Judah and Jerusalem. For he knew that that future would in the end be the consequence of the sinfulness of his people, and their rejection of God's ways as revealed in His covenant. It would result from the state of the nation which these opening Chapter s describe. But beyond that he saw hope, for he knew, as God revealed to him, that finally their future lay in the hands of God, and that God would not fail in His promises to Abraham that through his seed all the nations of the earth would be blessed (Isaiah 41:8; Isaiah 51:2; Genesis 12:3 and often), or in His promise of the rise of a great king of the house of David who would rule in God's name and whose seed would rule an everlasting kingdom (Isaiah 9:6-7; Isaiah 11:1-10; Isaiah 55:3-4; 2 Samuel 7:13-16; Psalms 2; Psalms 89), even though later consideration made him reinterpret the idea.
So in Chapter s 6-11 he depicts the replacement of the earthly Davidic house which had failed to trust Yahweh, with One who will be miraculously born, can be described as the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace, and Who will have everlasting dominion, and will fulfil all the promises to David (Isaiah 9:6-7). While in 41-55 he depicts the seed of Abraham as being Yahweh's Servant, fulfilling the promises made to Abraham, and resulting in One Who will give Himself as a sacrifice for the sins of the world (53). And in Isaiah 59:20; Isaiah 61:1-2; Isaiah 63:1-6 he reveals Him as the Redeemer Who comes with an offer of redemption to His people
The prophecies are gathered in thematic rather than chronological order. Prophecies made by him at different times are selected and put together to form a theme. This explains why sometimes connections may seem disjointed, and a certain abruptness is found in the narrative. For it was not originally written as one whole. (This refers especially to the first half of Isaiah). Prophecies made at different times and in differing circumstances were thus brought together to present a unified picture.
Thus the purpose of the first chapter is to lay the foundation for the whole book, which it summarises. It firstly brings out God's view of His people's moral condition, and why judgment was so necessary, followed by His view of their religious superficiality, and how their whole attitude needed to be changed. It then deals with His requirement for a complete change of heart and mind, declaring why refinement would in the end also be so necessary, and how He would bring about deliverance in the future, while destroying the wicked. It describes how the old harlot Jerusalem will become a new Jerusalem, the city of righteousness, and utterly condemns the turning of Israel/Judah to Canaanite religion. In a slightly different order this is precisely what we find in chapter 66. And the book itself will finally finish with the description of the new heaven and the new earth, the true worship of the redeemed and the final fate of the wicked (Isaiah 66:22-24). It is a declaration of the triumph of God in the face of the intransigence of His people and of the world.