Introduction to Isaiah 1-39 (Pt. 2)

We mentioned that the authorship of Isaiah is under attack, that more than one author is assumed to have written these things.  Again, we do not want to give the detailed answer to this, but we do want to tell you why they think this.  Isaiah contains some detailed prophecies, one in particular involving the Persian king Cyrus who defeated the Babylonians.  Here are two short quotes from Victor Buksbazen on this matter.

Two basic assumptions underlie the negative approach to prophecy; first that anything which cannot be explained in a rational way is not real, hence miracles do not exist, and second, that predictive prophecy, in the true sense of the word, does not exist.

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A naturalistic approach to prophecy has to reject a priori as ungenuine, the predictive prophecy about Cyrus (Isaiah 44:28-45:1) made nearly two centuries before the actual event.  However, to Isaiah himself, this very prophecy was an authenticating proof of its divine origin and genuineness.  It was a testimony that “the Holy One of Israel” alone is able to foretell the future, long before it comes to pass.

Isaiah is a truly remarkable book in the Bible and worthy of our study.  Thus there is no surprise the attacks on its integrity from those who would deny the possibility of the supernatural.  If we ascribe to this improper criticism we will deny ourselves of the Word of the true God.

To help give some continual context to our studies, which will essentially take us one chapter at a time, here is an outline of chapters 1-39 (Buksbazen, Table of Contents):

·        Chapters 1-6: Prophecies Concerning Judah and Jerusalem

·        Chapters 7-12: The Book of Immanuel

·        Chapters 13-23: Oracles Concerning Israel’s Neighbors

·        Chapters 24-27: The Apocalypse of Isaiah

·        Chapters 28-33: The Book of Woes

·        Chapters 34-35: The Doom of Edom and the Return of the Redeemed

·        Chapters 36-39: Historical Events

The false idea that chapters 1-35 are full of vengeance and chapters 40-66 full of grace can be misleading.  Both sections actually contain both messages.  Ch. 1-35 contain some important, powerful and positive Messianic prophecies.  And furthermore, wherever we find messages of God’s vengeance we ought not categorize them as negative and arrange to avoid them.  That is foolishness for us, His created beings, to ignore His warnings.