Isaiah 1:1 - Meaning and Application

Here we have the prophet’s name, Isaiah, or Jeshajah in Hebrew, which the New Testament writes as Esaias. His name means “the salvation of the Lord,” a fitting name for a prophet through whom God gave his people knowledge of salvation. It is especially fitting for this prophet, because he speaks so much about Jesus the Savior and the great salvation he would bring.

He is called the son of Amoz, not Amos the prophet, since the Hebrew names are different. The Jews think Amoz was the brother, or perhaps the son, of King Amaziah of Judah, but that tradition is uncertain. They also say that when a prophet’s father is named, that father was himself a prophet, but that rule is not reliable. A prophet’s pupils and successors are often called his sons, but we have very few clear examples, if any, of his own sons following him in that office.

The prophecy is described as a vision, because it was shown to him in a vision while he was awake. He heard the words of God and saw the visions of the Almighty, as Balaam said of himself (Numbers 24:4), though this may not have been as bright and glorious a vision at first as the one described later (Isaiah 6:1). The prophets were called seers, or men who see, so their prophecies are rightly called visions. Isaiah saw these things in his mind with clear divine help, and he knew them as surely as if he had seen them with his own eyes.

This gives us two lessons. First, God’s prophets saw what they spoke about. They knew what they said, and they ask us to believe only what they themselves believed and were sure of (John 6:69; 1 John 1:1). Second, they could not keep silent about what they saw, because they understood how deeply everyone around them was involved. They had to speak out, even when it was costly (Acts 4:20; 2 Corinthians 4:13).

The subject of this prophecy is Judah and Jerusalem, the land of the two tribes and its capital city. There is not much here about Ephraim, or the ten tribes, unlike the prophecy of Hosea. Some later chapters speak about Babylon, Egypt, Tyre, and other nearby nations, but the book takes its title from the main subject, Judah and Jerusalem. Those other nations are mentioned because they had dealings with the Jewish people.

Isaiah brings Judah and Jerusalem three things in a special way. He brings them instruction, because it is their privilege to have God’s word entrusted to them. He brings them reproof and warning, because if sin is found in Judah, where God is known, and in Jerusalem, where his name is great, then they will be judged first. He also brings comfort and encouragement in hard times, because the children of Zion will rejoice in their king.

Isaiah prophesied during the reigns of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah. This shows that he served for a long time, especially if the Jewish tradition is true that Manasseh later put him to death in a cruel way by sawing him in two, which some think is what Hebrews 11:37 refers to. From the year King Uzziah died (Isaiah 6:1) to Hezekiah’s sickness and recovery was forty-seven years, and it is not certain how much earlier or later Isaiah prophesied. Some place his whole ministry at sixty years, others at eighty.

This was an honor to Isaiah and a blessing to his nation, because God kept him useful for so long. We should also notice that he likely began young and continued into old age. Prophets were not limited, as priests were, to a fixed age for beginning or ending their work. Isaiah’s long service reminds us that God can keep a faithful servant at work for many years.

He also lived through very different times. Jotham was a good king, and Hezekiah was even better. They likely encouraged Isaiah, sought his counsel, and valued him as a trusted advisor. But between their reigns, during the time of Ahaz, the nation was deeply corrupt and sinful. Then Isaiah was likely looked down on at court, and perhaps even forced into hiding.

Good people and good ministers must expect hard times in this world and prepare for them. During that time, religion was pushed down so far that the doors of the Lord’s house were shut, and pagan altars were set up throughout Jerusalem. Isaiah, with all his God-given power of speech and messages straight from the Lord, could not stop it. The best people and the best ministers cannot always do the good they would like to do in the world.