Bible

Understanding

Made Easy

Isaiah

I. ISAIAH VOLUNTEERS TO BE A PROPHET

Isaiah was one of God’s prophets in the Old Testament days (Isaiah 6).
Remember, the prophets were the preachers of the Old Testament who God would speak to and they would tell God’s Words to the Jewish people.
In fact, Isaiah volunteered to go and preach to the Jewish people.
However, God told him ahead of time that his preaching job would be extremely hard, because many would not obey the things that he told them from God!
What do we learn from this story?
First, we learn that we should volunteer to do anything God blesses us to have the ability to do.
Get involved in church activities as much as possible.
This is to serve God and is one way of us showing our love for Him!
Second, we learn that many times people will not want to hear what we say about God.
Don’t be afraid to tell the truth at all times especially about God.
You cannot worry about if people get angry when we tell the truth about Him.
We will make God angry if we lie.
So, we should be more concerned about making God mad instead of other people.

II. ISAIAH WARNS THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL TO REPENT AND ADDRESSES THEIR VAIN WORSHIP

In Isaiah 1, God shows his anger that the sinfulness of the Southern Kingdom of Judah caused.
God instructs the children of Israel in Judah to repent of their sins and He would bless them.
He tells them that due to their sins, their religious acts were in vain.
This means that God did not accept their worship and considered it worthless to Him.
Furthermore, He stated that He will judge the sinners that obviously would not repent of their evil ways.
In fact, God is telling the Jewish people that if they would not repent, then He would not answer their prayers as well.
This is no different today for Christians.
Our worship is in vain, which means unacceptable to God, if we are living as hypocrites.
Also, God will also not answer our prayers today if we are living in disobedience to Him.
Another way of angering God and keeping Him from accepting our worship and prayers is to stop believing in Jesus and God the Father (1 Peter 3:12; Hebrews 11:6; James 1:6).
As always, even the Christian, nowadays, has to repent of sin, confess it to God, and ask God to forgive him/her in order to be at peace with Him again (Acts 8:22; 1 John 1:9).
In fact, Christians often miss out on blessings from God as well, because obedience is necessary for us to receive the things that we ask for in prayer (1 John 5:14-15; 1 Peter 3:12).

III. ISAIAH FORETELLS THE COMING OF THE CHURCH OF CHRIST

In Isaiah 2, Isaiah foretells of the coming of the church of Christ hundreds of years before it was on the earth.
Isaiah 2:2-3 speaks of the establishment of God’s house, which is the church, and all nations pouring into it.
This is a prophecy of not only God putting the church in the earth, but also that it would have Jewish and non-Jewish Christians within it.
This prophecy, in Isaiah 2:2-3, also talks about the Word of the Lord going out from Jerusalem.
This means that the church would start in Jerusalem.
Jerusalem is also called “Zion” in the Bible.
This chapter also speaks of why God would judge (i.e. punish) the children of Israel and this is because of their refusing to stop worshipping idols.

IV. THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL RETURN GOD'S LOVE WITH DISOBEDIENCE INSTEAD OF LOVE AND THANKFULNESS

Moving on, God shows His disappointment with the children of Israel for their being ungrateful of how well God treated them (Isaiah 5).
God tells the children of Israel about His great, loving care for them.
Instead of being thankful and loving to God in return, they returned His great love with sinfulness.
Remember. we must show our love back to God by obeying Him.
If we are not trying to live right, then we are not truly loving God in return (1 John 5:3).
Instead of living right, the children of Israel were greedy, treated each other in mean ways, and were often drunk.
As punishment for their sinfulness, God sent famine, thirst, and Babylonian captivity to the Southern Kingdom of Judah (Isaiah 5:13).
Two important prophecies are given in Isaiah 7.
A prophecy in this case is to the tell the future.
The first one reveals that God was going to bring the Savior, Jesus Christ, into the world that really did happen hundreds of years after Isaiah told us these Words from God.
This prophecy says that Jesus would come into this world through a virgin mother (Isaiah 7:14).
This we know is true as the virgin, Mary, was Jesus’ mother and God was His Father (Matthew 1:20-25).
The second prophecy is that the Northern Kingdom of Israel would be destroyed by the Assyrians, which surely did happen later on as punishment for the sins of the children of Israel in the Northern Kingdom of Israel.
God was saying that 65 years after this prophecy in Isaiah 7, God would destroy the Northern Kingdom and it would be no more (Isaiah 7:7-8).
This is true, because the Northern Kingdom no longer exists as a country today.
The Assyrians destroyed it as God said.

V. JESUS IS GOD'S APPOINTED KING OF HIS KINGDOM CHURCH THAT SPANS THE ENTIRE WORLD

In Isaiah 9, God shows us that Jesus would be the Father God’s appointed King over a kingdom spanning the entire world (i.e. the church).
It also shows us that King David would be Jesus’ ancestor.

VI. BEING THANKFUL WHEN GOD FORGIVES US

Isaiah 12:1 shows us that we should praise God when His anger is turned from us.
This is good, because Christians should be thankful when God forgives us of our sins when we are baptized (Acts 22:16).
We should also be thankful every time God continues to forgive us for our sins when we have repented of sins that we have done after becoming a child of God (1 Thessalonians 5:18; Acts 8:22; 1 John 1:9).
Christian nowadays should praise the Lord in song (Isaiah 12:5).
In fact, singing is one of the five parts of worship.
The other parts are praying, taking the Lord’s Supper, giving, and hearing God’s Word (Acts 20:7; 1 Corinthians 16:1-2; 1 Corinthians 14:15).

VII. FEAR NO ONE BUT GOD

Isaiah 12:2 gives us wisdom that will keep us from fear, which is trust in God!
We should fear no one but God (Matthew 10:28).

VIII. ISAIAH FORETELLS THE DESTRUCTION OF BABYLON

Isaiah foretells the eventual destruction of the Babylonian Empire as God judged them for their sinful ways.
We know that God allowed the Babylonians to conquer the children of Israel in the Southern Kingdom Judah because of their idol worship
But even the Babylonian’s would be destroyed because God would use the Medes to eventually conquer Babylon (Isaiah 13).
Isaiah 14 further describes the destruction of the Babylonians by God.
What is interesting is that Isaiah 14:12-15 tells us about the spirit that had overtaken the Babylonians.
That spirit was the spirit of Satan.
The Babylonians were also a proud people that trusted in themselves due to their mighty military strength.
They were arrogant just like Satan was in heaven that wanted to be God!
This is why Satan was cast out of heaven-His pride caused rebellion against God because He wanted to be God!
Thus, Babylon was prideful and God broke this pride through the Medes that were to soon conquer them! (Isaiah 14).

IX. ISAIAH FORETELLS WHAT HEAVEN WILL BE LIKE

In Isaiah 25, God tells us, through the Prophet Isaiah that the Lord will eliminate death for God’s people and dry away all tears (Isaiah 25:8).
This is the promise of the future life in heaven for the Christian where there will be no more dying, crying, sorrow, or pain.
This is the future life of the Christian of eternal life and joy forever more with the Lord Jesus Christ (Revelation 21:4; 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17).
To make it more amazing, these words from God were written hundreds of years before God gave us the book of Revelation that tells us the same thing.

X. ISAIAH FORETELLS THE RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD

In Isaiah 25, God tells us, through the Prophet Isaiah, that the Lord will eliminate death for God’s people and dry away all tears (Isaiah 25:8).
This is the promise of the future life in heaven for the Christian where there will be no more dying, crying, sorrow, or pain.
This is the future life of the Christian of eternal life and joy forever more with the Lord Jesus Christ (Revelation 21:4; 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17).
To make it more amazing, these words from God were written hundreds of years before God gave us the book of Revelation that tells us the same thing.
Regarding Isaiah 26, the prophet foretells the resurrection of the dead on that final day when Jesus comes back to the earth.
The Bible says that all will get out of the graves and face the judgment day of mankind.
Some will go to heaven and some will go to eternal punishment (Matthew 25:31-46; John 5:28-29).
Only those saved by Jesus will go to heaven (Mark 16:15-16).

XI. ISAIAH SPEAKS AGAINST DRUNKENESS

In Isaiah 28, God warns against becoming a drunk.
God was angry with this, because even the religious leaders became alcoholics and unable to do their religious jobs as God would have it to be.
Remember, drunkenness in the Old Testament and the New Testament is sinful (Isaiah 28:7; 1 Corinthians 6:9-10).

XII. WORSHIPING IN SPIRIT AND TRUTH

In Isaiah 29, Isaiah teaches us about worshipping in spirit and truth.
This is a warning against people acting as if they are worshipping God, but are not doing so with all their heart.
In other words, they are not sincere about what they are doing and God knows when we are not sincere (John
4:24).
To worship in spirit means to worship from the inside out, which means that our hearts are devoted to God in our singing, listening to the preaching, believing it, and obeying it!
If we do not worship God in a sincere way, then our worship is in vain and that means it is worthless to God!
We must also worship in truth, which means that we must worship only the way that God has said in His New Testament.
If we add things to the worship service that God does not want, then He does not want our worship.
If we take away things from our worship service that God does want, then He does not want our worship.

XIII. ISAIAH FORETELLS THE DEFEAT OF THE ASSYRIANS WHO TRIED TO ATTACK THEM

Isaiah 33 and 34 foretells of the Assyrians who tried to defeat and capture the city of Jerusalem.
The Lord protected Jerusalem and destroyed the Assyrian army later in Bible history (2 Kings 19:35; 2 Chronicles 32:31;Isaiah 37:36).
Remember, when God decides to protect His own and deliver them, then no weapon formed against them shall prosper (Isaiah 54:17; Hebrews 13:6).
This means that people can try extremely hard to hurt God’s people, but He can protect them from their enemies.
Isaiah 33:32 also shows why God delivered the children of Israel from the Assyrians, which was because they prayed to Him for this blessing and they trusted in Him.
Well, let’s look at some more highlights of what happened at the time:
Hezekiah was the king of the Southern Kingdom of Judah (2 Kings 18).
He was 25 years old when he became king and he was king for 29 years.
He did what was right in the eyes of God.
He had a lot of faith in God, which means He trusted the Lord with all his heart.
He refused to worship idols and he destroyed many of them along with the places the children of Israel went to worship them.
He obeyed the commandments of Moses, which are in the Old Testament of today’s Bible.
God blessed him with many victories in battle (2 Kings 18:1-8).
While Hezekiah was king, the Northern Kingdom of Israel was defeated and captured by the Assyrians.
God allowed the Assyrians to defeat them and take them away out of their homeland, because they would not repent of their sins (2 Kings 18:9-12).
Unfortunately, Sennacherib, king of Assyria, also attacked the Southern Kingdom of Judah and defeated many of its cities.
As a result, King Hezekiah paid Sennacherib for peace in an extreme amount of silver and gold.
Even some of the gold in the Temple was used to pay off Sennacherib.
This only made temporary peace, because the Assyrians were greedy and also wanted the city of Jerusalem!
So, they came back later to conquer Jerusalem (2 Kings 18:13:16).
When the Assyrians returned to Jerusalem, King Sennacherib’s field commander came to threaten Hezekiah and the children of Israel in the Southern Kingdom of Judah (2 Kings 18:17-37).
He lied and said that the Lord had sent him to conquer Jerusalem and destroy it.
He told them to not trust Hezekiah, because he could not defeat the Assyrians.
Even worse, the field commander told them to not trust in the power of God to deliver them either!
He was extremely arrogant and the Lord took offense to this challenge against Him as you will see later in the story.
Isaiah came back to Hezekiah and his men with a Word from God (2 Kings 19:1-13).
God told them not to fear the Assyrians, because He would send them back to their own homeland and destroy them there!
The King Sennecherib sent messengers again to Hezekiah to tell King Hezekiah not to believe the Word from God saying He would deliver them from the Assyrians.
King Sennecherib was so arrogant that he said other nations the Assyrians destroyed before had gods too that could not help them.
So, he was saying that there is no god, even Hezekiah’s God, that can stop the Assyrian army.
The problem that Sennecherib had was that he did not understand that Hezekiah’s God was a real God with power and not some worthless statue that he saw weaker nations have!
Hezekiah prayed to the Lord for deliverance and He gave Hezekiah his wish (2 Kings 19:14-37; Isaiah 36-37).
God sent an angel that killed 185,000 people in the Assyrian army.
This made King Sennecherib flee back to Assyria where he was killed by 2 of his sons.
Remember, when God’s people are threatened, He takes it as an insult against Himself because He loves us!
This is why we believe in the power of prayer (it can make anything happen for us) (James 5:16)!

XIV. ISAIAH FORETELLS JESUS' MIRACLES CENTURIES BEFORE THE EARTHLY BIRTH OF JESUS

Remember, Isaiah was a prophet, which means that God would give him a message to tell other people.
Sometimes, this message was telling the future.
One message that God gave Isaiah was that a special person would come and do miracles in front of the Jewish people (Isaiah 35:5-6).
We know that this special person is Jesus who did these miracles hundreds of years after Isaiah died.
Jesus, Himself, tells us that the miracles that Isaiah spoke about were His miracles in Matthew 11:4-5.
These miracles were the blind being able to see.
The deaf being able to hear.
The handicapped being able to walk.
And the mute being able to talk.
Jesus did all of these things as proof He is the Son of God!

XV. HEZEKIAH'S PRAYER DURING HIS SICKNESS

When Hezekiah was really sick and about to die, He prayed to God and God gave Him 15 more years to live (Isaiah 38).
This shows us there is power in prayer.
However, just like Hezekiah, we must be living righteously for God to answer our prayers (1 Peter 3:12).

XVI. ISAIAH FORETELLS THE COMING OF JOHN THE BAPTIST

When we look at Isaiah 40, Isaiah foretells the coming of John the Baptist hundreds of years before He was born.
God would use John the Baptist to announce the coming of the Son of God, which is the Savior of the world when Jesus was baptized by him (Isaiah 40:3-5; Matthew 3:1-3).
God also used John the Baptist to teach the people to repent so they could be saved;
This means they must change from an evil lifestyle to one that is right in the sight of God as all Christians today must do to be saved (Acts 2:38).

XVII. ISAIAH'S MINISTRY REVEALS TO US THAT THE WORD OF GOD WILL NEVER DIE

Isaiah shows us that we all die, but the Word of God lasts forever (Isaiah 40:8).
In other words, God’s Word never changes!
Instead, people and their opinions do change, but anything someone tells us that is different than what God commands, we are not to believe them and believe the Bible instead.
God’s Word is the only thing that can save us even if others tell us different things.

XVIII. ISAIAH TELLS US THAT GOD WILL GIVE STRENGTH TO THE FAITHFUL

Isaiah 40:31 says, “But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.”
This Scripture shows us that God gives us the strength to live right if we serve Him with all our might!
He gives sincere children of God strength every day to keep our faith and walk in obedience to Him (Ephesians 3:16; Philippians 4:13).
He gives us the ability to keep doing good to others even though charity work can be tiring (Galatians 6:9).
He gives us the ability to walk; meaning live the faithful life of a Christian, without quitting to our own doom (Revelation 2:10; Philippians 2:12-13).

XIX. ISAIAH FORETELLS THE COMING OF THE JESUS WHO WILL BE THE RIGHTEOUS RULER IN THE EARTH

Isaiah 42 is a prophecy written hundreds of years before Jesus was born and it described what type of Person Jesus would be when He arrived on the earth.
Isaiah told us that Jesus would be God’s chosen one, which means the Lord over all the earth .
God told us ahead of time that He was very pleased with Jesus.
He would give Jesus the Holy Spirit, which would allow Him to lead righteously
He would always treat His people, which are Christians right, and lead them in the right way to live (Isaiah 42:1).
Isaiah also told us that Jesus would not make a big show of Himself.
Instead, He would be a humble and gentle type of person not shouting and raising His voice to get His point across (Isaiah 42:2).
He would be the type of person to encourage others to get stronger out of compassion instead of discouraging them (Isaiah 42:2).
He would also bring a new Word from God that we know is called the New Testament today that would release all Christians from sin so they could be saved (Isaiah 42:3-7).

XX. THE RELEASE OF THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL FROM BABYLONIAN CAPTIVITY FORETOLD

Through Isaiah, God foretold the release of the Jews from Babylonian captivity as the Persians conquered the Babylonians and freed the Jews!
Cyrus is the future Persian king that Isaiah calls by name and isn’t even born yet!
Bible scholars believe that Cyrus did not live for another 100 to 150 years after the Holy Spirit moved Isaiah to tell this prophecy

XXI. THERE IS NO GOD BUT GOD

Isaiah 44:6 is where God declares that there is no God but Him.
Idol worship is unprofitable and worthless (Isaiah 44-45).

XXII. THE FALL OF BABYLON FORETOLD

Regarding Isaiah chapters 46-48, these chapters continue to foretell the fall of Babylon at the hands of Cyrus of Persia (Halley, 2000).
Isaiah 46:10 tells us that God can see the future before it happens.
It is interesting to know that Isaiah 47 tells us that Babylon will have to pay for their sinful behavior.
Though God used Babylon as a tool of punishment against the Jews, He still will punish the oppressive, sinful nation of Babylon.
Thus, God makes every one responsible for their deeds, especially all men, individually at the final judgment of mankind when Jesus comes back (Revelation 20:12).
Isaiah 47 tells us also that Babylon could not be saved from the wrath of God by its many people that practiced black magic in Babylon.
This reminds us of those in Egypt in the time of Moses that were magicians, but they were not able to save the Egyptians from the many plagues that God put on them!
So, Christian, do not be fooled!
Black magic profits nothing, but only makes God upset with us.
Please do not trust in psychics and astrologers, because this is very sinful in the sight of God (Revelation 9).

XXIII. JESUS' PREACHING MINISTRY AND SUFFERING FORETOLD

Isaiah 49 talks about the Messiah before He was born.
We know that the Messiah is the title for Jesus as the Lord and Savior.
Isaiah shows us that God would call people (i.e. non-Jews) from distant lands to be saved (Isaiah 49:1-6).
God’s Word talks about the Messiah’s mouth being like a sharp sword (Isaiah 49:2).
The Word of God is a sharp sword (Revelation 1:16).
God uses His sword, which means to speak, through Jesus Christ today (Hebrews 1:1-3).
This is talking about the preaching of the Gospel of salvation and New Testament commands throughout the world.
Isaiah 49:4-6 talks about the ministry of Jesus on earth hundreds of years before it happened and reads according to New International Version, “4 But I said, “I have labored to no purpose; I have spent my strength in vain and for nothing. Yet what is due me is in the LORD’s hand, and my reward is with my God.” 5 And now the LORD says—he who formed me in the womb to be his servant to bring Jacob back to him and gather Israel to himself, for I am honored in the eyes of the LORD and my God has been my strength—6 he says: “It is too small a thing for you to be my servant to restore the tribes of Jacob and bring back those of Israel I have kept. I will also make you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring my salvation to the ends of the earth.”
From a human standpoint, Jesus felt as if His labor of preaching to the Jewish people was doing no good in order to bring them out of a life of sin unto a faithful life with God (John 6:29; Luke 13:3, 5).
Remember, the only way to be at peace with God the Father is to believe in and obey the Lord Jesus (John 14:6).
We know that Jesus preached to thousands of people at a time, but unfortunately, after He died and rose again only 120 followers assembled in His name (John 6:5-15; Matthew 13:1-9; Acts 1:15).
The masses of Jewish people accepted Him for awhile, but rejected Him when they found out that He was building a spiritual kingdom instead of a nation that would kick the Roman occupying force out of Israel (Matthew 21:1-11).
Fortunately for Jesus, He still continued on with His preaching event though many rejected Him, because He loved every one and wanted to save them.
Even more, the Bible talks about Jesus not only trying to save the Jewish people, but also reaching out to the Gentiles.
Gentiles are another name for non-Jewish people. (Isaiah 49:6; Acts 10).
Obviously, the Word of God was given.
Even though Jesus was discouraged, the Words He spoke would save both Jewish and Gentile people in a number that no one could count (Revelation 7)!
Even as young people, try to teach others about Jesus so they can be saved too.
They may not always come to worship service every time you ask them, but keep inviting so they can hear the minister teach about Jesus’ salvation for us so your friends and family can be saved too!
In Isaiah 50, the Messiah speaks about no one paying attention to His Words when He came to earth hundreds of years after the death of Isaiah.
He talks about how powerful He is; including having the ability to speak and dry up rivers, turn river areas into deserts, cause the fish to die in the seas, and make the sky black (Isaiah 50:1-3).
Furthermore, the Messiah revealed that the Father constantly revealed His Word to Him.
This is how Jesus had all the Divine wisdom and knowledge of God the Father and could preach these things to us (Isaiah 50:4).
Even more, He reveals to us that He was obedient to everything God the Father told Him to do (Isaiah 50:5).
Moving on to Isaiah 50:6, we see that the Messiah knew hundreds of years before He was born on earth that He would suffer.
We are told that He knew He would be whipped on His back, people would rip the hairs off of His face, He would be verbally insulted, and His enemies would spit in His face (Isaiah 50:6 ).
Remember, He endured all of this punishment, because He loved us and wanted to save us!
Lastly, the Messiah shows that God is with Him and will destroy His enemies (Isaiah 50:7 -11).

XXIV. THE RETURN OF THE JEWISH CAPTIVES FROM BABYLON IS SYMBOLIC OF CHRISTIAN SALVATION

In Isaiah 51, God talks about the redeemed, which are those Jewish people released from Babylonian captivity coming back to Zion, which is Jerusalem.
Obviously, the literal fulfillment is the Jews returning to Jerusalem from Babylonian captivity, but it is symbolic of the Christian being delivered from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of light (Colossians 1:13-14).
In other words, it is symbolic of the fact that Christians have been taken out of the power of Satan and death.
They have been given over to the power of Christ; salvation, and eternal joy in the kingdom of God forever more (Revelation 21:4)
Remember, the eternal place that Christians are going to live in is called New Jerusalem (Revelation 21:2).
Just like the Jews’ sadness was taken away from them when they returned to earthly Jerusalem from Babylon, the Christians will rejoice in the taking away of their sorrows forever in the New Jerusalem (Revelation 21:4).

XXV. THE PROPHESY OF JESUS' SUFFERING AND DYING FOR YOUR SINS

Isaiah 53 talks about the Messiah, which is Jesus, being beaten and killed because of our sins.
This was a prophecy, which means to tell the future for Isaiah.
Jesus was be beaten and crucified hundreds of years before He was born on the earth.
Isaiah tells us that when Jesus came to the earth the first time, He did not come in fancy clothes or look like royalty (Isaiah 53:2).
In other words, He looked like an ordinary guy.
He looked very humble in other words.
He wasn’t flashy.
Isaiah tells us that many would hate Him and not accept Him as the Savior (Isaiah 53:3).
Isaiah tells us Jesus was punished for our sins and not for anything He did wrong (Isaiah 53:5-6).
Jesus was perfect and always did the things the Father God was pleased with (Hebrews 4:14-16; John 8:29).
Thus, we must imitate everything He did for God to be pleased with us too.
Because Jesus died for our sins, we have peace with God and forgiveness of our sins (Romans 5:9-10; 8:29).
Isaiah goes on to tell us that Jesus would not defend Himself (Isaiah 53:7).
In other words, He would not say anything to try and save His life, because He was volunteering to die so we can have eternal life (John 10:15-17, 27-28).
He couldn’t do anything to stop the process of His dying so we could go to heaven.
Furthermore, Isaiah tells us that Jesus would not get justice (Isaiah 53:8).
In other words, He would not get a fair case when He went in front of mankind’s courts.
This would result in Him dying for our sins.
Even more, Isaiah talks about Jesus dying with the wicked, which were the 2 thieves on the cross and being laid in a rich man’s tomb after He was crucified (Isaiah 53:9).
This happened when Jesus was crucified, died, and put in the rich man’s tomb.
That rich man’s name was Joseph of Arimathaea (Matthew 27:57-60).
Lastly, Isaiah tells us that God the Father planned the death of Jesus so that mankind can saved (Isaiah 53:10-12; John 3:16-17).
However, He would also reward Jesus with everlasting life that began with His resurrection and would also make the Lord very great!
In fact, Jesus is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords today (1 Timothy 6:14-16)!

XVI. GOD WILL HAVE MERCY ON SINFUL PEOPLE WHO WILL REPENT

Regarding Isaiah 55, this chapter shows us God’s mercy to a sinful person.
We know that God calls for the sinful to repent, which means to stop sinful behavior.
This brings God’s forgiveness to the person (Isaiah 55:7).
This is the same today.
We must repent before we can have our sins forgiven before becoming a Christian (Acts 2:38).
Even after becoming a Christian, we are to repent of our sins when they happen, because being a Christian is a growing process until we die (Acts 8:22).
In other words, we are to always try to become better Christians every day of our lives.
As long as we are Christians, we will find things that we have to change as time goes on and we continue to learn more of God’s Word during our Christian lives!
Also, Isaiah 55:8-9 tells us how smart and wise God really is.
It tells us that God does not think like us.
It tells us that God does not do things the same way we would do them.
It tells us that He is far more intelligent than we will ever be.
Since this is the case, we can have faith in Him at all times.
We must trust that when He causes things to happen in our lives whether or good or bad, He knows what He is doing.
He has a plan for our lives that we may not understand, but it will work out to be something good in the end (Romans 8:28).
It may take a long time for you to see, but you will realize one day that all things God allows us to do and happen to us works out for the good in the end.

XVII. GOD WILL GIVE HIS PEOPLE A NEW NAME

Regarding Isaiah 56, Isaiah foretells that God will give a new name to His people hundreds of years before it happened.
What is this new name?
The New Testament tells us.
It is the name “Christian” (Acts 11:26).

XVIII. THE EFFECTS OF SIN

In Isaiah 59:2, Isaiah tells us the effects of sin.
It separates us from God, including all Christians (1 Peter 3:12).
So, in order to restore our relationship with Him, we must repent of our sins, confess our fault to Him, and pray that He will forgive us.
If Christians do not restore their relationship with Him, then just like the children of Israel in Isaiah’s time, Christians will also remain separated and their prayers will not be answered by God.
Yes, a Christian can lose his/her salvation, if the person does not restore themselves to God before they die (Acts 8:22; 1 John 1:9).

XIX. THE COMING OF THE REDEEMER, JESUS CHRIST

Also, Isaiah 59:20 foretells the coming of the Redeemer, Jesus Christ.
This means that the Holy Spirit made it known that Jesus would come to Jerusalem hundreds of years before He was born.
The Redeemer, means one who delivers God’s children from the wrath of God and eternal punishment.
This Redeemer is none other than Jesus Christ, because He is the Peacemaker between all Christians and God (Romans 5:9-10)

XX. ISAIAH PREVIEWS HEAVEN

In Isaiah 60, God talks about how beautiful and peaceful heaven will be.
It will be a very rich place.
It will always have peace.
It will be safe from any enemies.
In the Bible, God calls this new heavenly city for the saved Christian by the name “New Jerusalem.”
It shall be made up of both Jews and Gentiles with everlasting peace within its gates.
This everlasting peace will began when the wicked and righteous people are separated by God at the judgment day (Matthew 25:31-46).
God calls the saved people “sheep” at the judgment day, because they follow their Shepherd, which is Jesus, obediently.
He calls the unsaved people “goats” at the judgment day, because they are stubborn and won’t obey their Shepherd.
Remember, only in the heavenly city of New Jerusalem will there be no sin and strife (i.e. fighting and arguing) (Revelation 21).
In this heavenly city, there will be no more crying, dying, pain, or sorrow, because God will not allow these things to come into heaven (Revelation 21:4).
Only joy and peace will be there.

XXII. ISAIAH FORETELLS THE FIRST VISIT OF JESUS TO THE EARTH

Isaiah chapter 61 is a prophecy.
This means that Isaiah was blessed by God to foretell the future of the days when Jesus came to the earth for the first time.
He tells us of the mission of the Messiah-Jesus Christ!
Isaiah revealed to us what Jesus was thinking before He was born in Isaiah 61:1-2, which reads, “1 The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; 2 To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn…”
When Jesus was alive, hundreds of years later, He told us that Isaiah was talking about Him (Luke 4:16-21).
Isaiah told us that Jesus was coming to preach the good news of salvation to those who needed to be saved.
He told us that Jesus was coming to release those captured (i.e. locked up in prison) of their sins.
In other words, God would not hold sin against the Christians.
We would be released from the guilt of our sins by Jesus’ death on the cross (Romans 3:23; 6:3).
In other words, Jesus was punished for us so we do not have to be punished for the wrong deeds we have done (Isaiah 53).
Instead He would forgive them for their sins instead of punish them in hell (Romans 1:16; 3:23; John 8:32)!

XXIII. THE NEW NAME GIVEN TO GOD'S PEOPLE

In Isaiah 62, God is telling the future to the Jewish people through the mouth of Isaiah.
He tells them that one day, they would have a new name God would give them (Isaiah 62:1-2)..
Today, we know that the new name is “Christian” (Acts 11:26).
Since God has named us, we should not call ourselves anything else.
We are not Baptists, Methodists, Catholics, or any other names.
God also allows us to call ourselves “children of God” (Matthew 5:9).
Also, God tell us that He will be married to the church.
This means that His Son, Jesus, and the church will be one.
This is why you hear Christians today say we are the bride of Christ (Isaiah 62:3-5; Revelation 21:2).
Lastly, Isaiah foretells what the church would be like after Jesus suffered died and rose again.
He wants the church to go out and tell others about Jesus so they can be saved (Isaiah 62:10-12; Matthew 28:18-20).

XXIV. THE JEWISH PEOPLE REPENT IN BABYLON

In Isaiah 64, the Bible shows the Jewish people being held captive in Babylon .
The good part of about them is they were confessing their sins to the Lord and asking for His forgiveness.
Remember, even Christians sin every day and only a humble heart that will admit its faults to God will be forgiven by Him.
God forgives us when we repent (i.e. change), confess our sin to Him, and ask for forgiveness in prayer (2 Corinthians 7:10; Matthew 5:1-6; Acts 8:22; 1 John 1:9).
A guilty conscience is good, because it makes us change for the better!

XXV. THE BRINGING IN OF THE JEWISH AND NON-JEWISH CONVERTS AS ONE

In Isaiah 65-66, God foretells the fact He is going to bring all people together, Jews and Gentiles alike, to worship Him as His chosen people instead of the Jewish people alone.
This is a prophecy of the church of Christ that came later in in Bible history and exists today (Romans 16:16; Isaiah 66:23; Matthew 16:18; Acts 2:37-47).
The church of Christ is a reality today (Romans 16:16).
God’s true church is made up of Jews and Gentiles according to Acts chapters 2 and 10 as it is today.
Lastly, Isaiah foretells the destruction of God’s enemies in hell (Isaiah 66:24).
Jesus even preached about hell being the place of judgment for those who will not obey God (Matthew 25:41).