Why Isaiah Is Hard to Understand
I want to say a few things about the words from Isaiah I’ve just written down. The truth is, Isaiah’s writings are hard for my people to understand. They don’t know how Jewish prophets speak.
I haven’t taught them much about the Jewish way of doing things. Their practices were full of darkness and twisted rituals.
So I’m writing to my people—and to everyone who will read this later—so they can understand that God’s judgments fall on all nations, exactly as he said they would.
Listen closely, my people, you who are descended from Israel. Isaiah’s words might seem confusing to you, but they’re crystal clear to anyone filled with the spirit of prophecy. I’m going to give you prophecy too, according to the Spirit in me. I’ll speak as plainly as I’ve spoken ever since I left Jerusalem with my father. I love being clear with my people, so they can actually learn something.
I love Isaiah’s writings. I grew up in Jerusalem. I’ve seen the Jewish people firsthand. I know they understand the prophets in a way no one else can—unless others are taught the Jewish way of seeing things.
But I haven’t raised my children in the Jewish tradition. I lived in Jerusalem, so I know the region well. I’ve told my children about God’s judgments on the Jews—everything Isaiah spoke about—but I haven’t written those details down.
I’m moving ahead with my own prophecy now, speaking as plainly as I can. I know no one can miss what I’m saying. When Isaiah’s prophecies come true, people will know for certain—because the events themselves will make it obvious. Isaiah’s words matter. They’re valuable. And to anyone who thinks they’re not, let me speak directly: I’m writing these things for my own people. They’ll be precious to them in the last days, when they finally understand them. That’s why I’ve written them down—for their good.
The Pattern of Destruction
Generation after generation of Jews has been destroyed because of their wickedness. But they were never destroyed without the Lord’s prophets warning them first.
They were told about the coming destruction right after my father left Jerusalem. But they refused to listen. Just as I prophesied, they’ve been destroyed—except for those carried away captive to Babylon.
I say this because of the Spirit in me: Even though they’ve been taken captive, they’ll return and reclaim Jerusalem. They’ll be restored to their homeland.
The Coming Messiah
But there will be wars and rumors of wars. And when the Only Begotten of the Father—the Father of heaven and earth—appears to them in the flesh, they’ll reject him. Their wickedness, their hard hearts, their stubborn pride—it will all blind them.
They’ll crucify him. After he’s laid in a tomb for three days, he’ll rise from the dead with healing power. Everyone who believes in his name will be saved in the kingdom of God. My soul loves to prophesy about him. I’ve seen his day, and my heart celebrates his holy name.
After the Messiah rises from the dead and shows himself to his people—to everyone who believes in his name—Jerusalem will be destroyed again. It’s disaster for those who fight against God and his people.
The Jews will be scattered among all nations. Babylon itself will fall. Other nations will scatter them.
The Restoration
After they’ve been scattered, and the Lord has let other nations punish them for many generations—down through the ages—they’ll finally be persuaded to believe in Christ, the Son of God, and in his atonement, which covers all humanity. When they believe in Christ, worship the Father in his name with pure hearts and clean hands, and stop waiting for another Messiah—then the time will come when they must accept these truths.
The Lord will reach out a second time to restore his people from their broken, lost condition. He’ll do something marvelous and astonishing.
He’ll bring them his words—words that will judge them in the last day. These words will prove to them that the true Messiah was the one they rejected. They’ll convince them they don’t need to wait for another Messiah, because anyone else who comes will be a fraud trying to deceive people. The prophets spoke of only one Messiah—the one the Jews rejected.
According to the prophets, the Messiah is coming six hundred years from the time my father left Jerusalem. And according to the prophets—and also the angel of God—his name will be Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
My brothers and sisters, I’ve spoken plainly. You can’t miss this. As surely as the Lord God brought Israel out of Egypt, as surely as he gave Moses the power to heal people bitten by poisonous snakes when they looked at the bronze serpent, as surely as he gave Moses the power to strike the rock and bring forth water—I tell you, there is no other name under heaven by which anyone can be saved except this Jesus Christ I’ve been talking about.
That’s why the Lord God promised me these things I’m writing will be preserved and passed down through my family line, generation after generation. This fulfills the promise to Joseph—that his descendants would never disappear as long as the earth stands.
These writings will pass from generation to generation as long as the earth exists. They’ll go wherever God decides. And the nations that receive them will be judged by what’s written in them.
Grace and the Law
We work hard to write these things, trying to persuade our children and our people to believe in Christ and be reconciled to God. We know we’re saved by grace, after everything we can do.
Even though we believe in Christ, we still keep the law of Moses. We look ahead with confidence toward Christ, until the law is fulfilled.
The law was given for this very purpose. It’s become dead to us now—we’ve come alive in Christ through our faith. But we still keep the law because we’re commanded to.
We talk about Christ, we celebrate in Christ, we preach Christ, we prophesy about Christ. We write down our prophecies so our children will know where to look for forgiveness of their sins.
We teach about the law so our children understand it’s dead now. Once they know the law is dead, they can look to the life that’s in Christ and understand why the law was given in the first place. After the law is fulfilled in Christ, they won’t harden their hearts against him when the law should be set aside.
The Right Path
Listen, my people: You’re stubborn. That’s why I’ve spoken so plainly—so you can’t possibly misunderstand. What I’ve said will stand as evidence against you. These words are enough to teach anyone the right path. The right path is to believe in Christ and not deny him. If you deny him, you’re also denying the prophets and the law.
The right path is to believe in Christ and not deny him. Christ is the Holy One of Israel. You must bow before him and worship him with everything you have—all your strength, all your mind, all your heart, your whole soul. If you do this, you will never be thrown out.
As long as it’s required, you must keep the rituals and ordinances God gave, until the law given to Moses is fulfilled.