Who Is Isaiah?
Isaiah is a prophet in the Old Testament of the Bible. He is called a major prophet, along with Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Daniel. This classification doesn’t mean they’re more important than the twelve minor prophets. This designation is because their books are much longer than those of the minor prophets. In fact, at sixty-six chapters, the book of Isaiah is the second-longest book in the Bible, trailing only Psalms with its 150 chapters.
Isaiah’s dad is Amoz. The Bible tells us nothing about Amoz other than he is Isaiah’s father, which it does often. Isaiah’s public career as a prophet spans several decades, during the reigns of four kings of Judah: Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah. Isaiah is a contemporary of the prophets Amos, Hosea, and Micah.
During Isaiah’s ministry, Assyria conquered Israel (sometimes called the Northern Kingdom) and relocated the people. Judah (sometimes referred to as the Southern Kingdom) is all that remains of God’s people. Babylon will later conquer them. Isaiah warns the people about this, but the conquest doesn’t happen during his ministry.
Many of Isaiah’s prophecies consider God’s people in the near term, but other prophecies look forward several centuries to the coming of Jesus, as well as John the Baptist, who precedes Jesus. The New Testament quotes many of Isaiah’s words, making him a favorite prophet of many people.
There are two notable occurrences. First, when Jesus reads Scripture in the synagogue, he reads a passage from Isaiah, which prophetically looks forward to the coming Savior. Then Jesus proclaims himself as the fulfillment of that passage. How bold and unexpected—and fully appropriate.
Another notable New Testament story is the Ethiopian eunuch. As he reads from the book of Isaiah, Philip approaches him and explains the meaning of Isaiah’s prophecy about Jesus. The Ethiopian man believes in Jesus, and Philip baptizes him.
Even centuries after Isaiah died, his words still influenced others, just as they can influence us today.
While we may not have the influence of Isaiah, what can we do to influence people during our lifetime and even after we’re gone?
[Discover more about Isaiah in 2 Kings 19–20, John 1:23, Luke 3:4, Matthew 8:17, Luke 4:16–21, and Acts 8:26–39.]
