Wonderful images of mankind's great future in the first 44 chapters of Isaiah

Isaiah presents the messages of future blessings, future salvation and the ultimate realization of all God’s promises and ambitions in the form of wonderful visions. These great, colorful and impressive images were given to him by JHWH.

Isaiah has rendered these visions and images into words and written them down in the Bible-book that carries his name.

It is not possible to summarize these visions in a few sentences. People who really want to benefit from them ought to read them in their original version in their own Bibles with as much attention as they can. They should let each word and each sentenvce really enter their mind.

Isaiah 2: 1-4 gives a wonderful vision of the central meaning of God’s people and God Himself for the ultimate realization of His intention with the earth and with mankind. It is a vision of the earth under the kingdom of God.

Isaiah 2: 18-22 gives a vision of God’s limitless power and the degree to which His enemies ought to have fear of Him.

Isaiah 2: 20-23 presents a sharp picture of the disgusting behavior of the people of God’s nation in Isaiah’s days. It also shows us why He had to punish His people so severely in those days.

Isaiah 6: 11 expresses in one sentence that nobody can misinterpret what that behavior of God’s people simply had to lead to.

Isaiah 7: 14 points forward to a time when JHWH will give His people a sign which will show them very clearly how He will realize His intention with the earth and with mankind: A virgin will get pregnant and give birth to a son and call him Emmanuel.

Isaiah is often called the prophet-evangelist. Many of his visions point forward to the Messiah, the promised seed (descendant) of mankind who will crush Satan in the head and will forever be seated on David’s throne in the Kingdom of God which is to be established.

Isaiah 8: 9 shows us that God uses nations like Assyria and Babylonia to shatter Israel and Judah, only to be shattered themselves afterwards. Both Biblical and world history proves that in later centuries this prophecy was completely fulfilled.

Isaiah 9: 2 shows that Israel and Judah may prefer to walk in utter darkness for a while, as they did in Isaiah’s days, but one day they will see a great light. This verse also points forward to the coming of the Messiah.

Isaiah 9: 6 and 7. A child will be born and he will be king. His kingship and His peace will never come to an end. He will be seated on the throne of David in an eternal kingdom. These two sentences clearly show how God will fulfill all His promises through a seed (a descendent, a child) of mankind. This child will begin to rule a kingdom which will continue to exist for ever. Under this kingdom, the earth and mankind will achieve the aims which God had in mind when He created the earth and man.

Isaiah 10: 5 and 6. JHWH again tells his unfaithful people that their worst fears will come true: Assyria will come, destroy the country, and carry the people away. But see what you can read a few verses further on: Isaiah 10: 21: a small number of God’s people who have been carried away into exile will return to their God-given country.

Isaiah 11: 1-12. A twig from the trunk of Jesse will appear. A sprig will come up from Jesse’s roots (Jesse was the father of King David). This is a very clear Messianic prophecy.

Even though it seems that in 607 B.C. David’s dynasty comes to an end and it seems as if after this year no descendent of David will ever sit on David’s throne again…… Appreances are deceptive. Reality will prove to be different.

In a wondrous way, God will provide:

--- a seed, a sprig, a descendent of David

--- a throne on which he can sit for ever

--- in a kingdom in which all the consequences of the rebellion of Satan, Adam and Eve have been done away with and all the people voluntarily subject themselves to the royal authority

--- in a kingdom characterized by perfect happiness and perfect justice where everybody possesses a thorough knowledge of JHWH See in this context - verse 12: God will bring together the exiles, the banished ones of Israel.

The destruction of Israel in 740 B.C. and of Judah in 607 B.C. seems to be the end of everything, but in reality this is not the case.

Isaiah 25: 6-9. Another vision shows what life will be like in the everlasting kingdom that will be established by the son of David (Jesus Christ, the Messiah). The vision presents human life as a feast. In the future kingdom, nobody will die any more. All the tears on the faces of all people will be wiped away. Everybody will be overjoyed by the salvation which JHWH has brought about.

Isaiah 32: 1-5. The king of the new kingdom will reign with perfect righteousness.

Isaiah 32: 16-19. God’s people will live in peaceful dwellings in the kingdom to be established.

Isaiah, the whole of chapter 35. A highly-detailed vision shows what life on earth will be like when the son of David will have established his everlasting kingdom here. The blind will see, the deaf will hear, the mute will speak.

The subjects of the kingdom that God will establish will live for ever on a paradise-like earth in perfect health and perfect happiness.

This is the aim for which God has made the earth and man. The achievement of this aim is the only meaning of all human history. Also, it is the only meaning of the destruction of Israel in 740 B.C. and of Judah in 607 B.C.

Isaiah 42: 1-9. In a very powerful vision, JHWH points forward to the coming of His servant (Jesus Christ). He is both the promised seed and the king who will for ever be seated on the throne of David. In verse 6, God points out that His servant will establish a new covenant with mankind. In the same verse, God calls the coming Messiah the light of the nations which will open the eyes of all people for God’s truth.

Isaiah 43: 6. An image shows JHWH who commands the Assyrians and the Babylonians and all other nations who have enslaved His covenant-people to give His sons and daughters back to Him.

Isaiah 43: 24-28. Again, JHWH points out that He is almighty (His powers are limitless). He is the one who will decide mankind's future, and not the Assyrians and the Babylonians. With great emphasis, JHWH points out that even after its total destruction in 607 B.C, Jerusalem will be inhabited again and the towns of Judah will be rebuilt.

In verse 28, JHWH mentions the name of the man who will see to it that the Jews who were carried into captivity by the Babylonians will be allowed to return to Israel. This man is the Persian King Cyrus. He defeated the Babylonians in 539 B.C. by capturing their capital Babylon. In 537 B.C., he issued a decree in which he allowed the Jewish exiles to return to Israel.

Within this context, everybody should be aware of the fact that Isaiah finished his Bible-book of the same name about 730 B.C. About 200 years before these things really happened, Isaiah could not only predict that Jerusalem and the towns of Israel would be rebuilt, he could also mention the name of the future Persian king who would make the return of the Jewish exiles possible.