True & Beautiful Things About the Bible--Old TestamentSample

Isaiah: The Fifth Gospel

The fifth gospel. Like Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John tell the story of Jesus in the New Testament, the book of Isaiah tells us the good news of Jesus in the Old Testament, 700 years before Jesus Christ was born.

But that good news of a Savior was delivered with really bad news of coming consequences for Israel.

Isaiah tells God’s people they were going to be judged for their sin, individually and as a nation. Why? They simply forgot who God was. They forgot His promises, how He had always loved them and provided for them. They yawned when Isaiah talked about how awesome God was. They just did their own thing for multiple generations. And now they had to face the consequences.

Then Isaiah promises, beginning in chapter 40, But don’t worry—it looks bad now, but someday God is going to make everything right. Don’t give up. Keep trusting the Lord in spite of what’s coming.

Where does hope like that come from? Every generation will tell you the same—it’s only possible in Jesus.

Look for Jesus in Isaiah, and you’ll see glimpses of Him throughout the book: Jesus’ birth (7:14), His character (9:6), His life (61), His death (53), His resurrection (53:10-11), and His second coming (63:1-9). Some call Isaiah’s prophecy “a Bible within the Bible,” with 39 chapters looking at history (like the 39 books of the Old Testament) and 27 chapters pointing to Jesus as Messiah (like the 27 books of the New Testament.)

How did Isaiah know all this? He was supernaturally allowed to see the very throne room of God. He said, “In the year of King Uzziah’s death, I saw the Lord” (6:1). Isaiah actually saw Jesus, before Bethlehem, before Nazareth, before Jerusalem. He saw Jesus, the pre-incarnate Creator, Ruler of the universe, the Second Person of the Trinity (confirmed in John 12:41). He got one quick glimpse of Jesus in all His glory, and it took his breath away and took him beyond his own time and space, even beyond our universe.

Isaiah anchors us in the truth about Jesus. First, by giving us a hint of His glory now, with a promise of being with Jesus in grander glory in the future.

Next: A message in the ashes