Isaiah

Isaiah son of Amoz is often called "the evangelical prophet" because his book contains the most vivid Old Testament foreshadowings of the gospel. He ministered in Jerusalem for roughly half a century, "in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah" (Isaiah 1:1).

The call of the prophet

"In the year that king Uzziah died" Isaiah saw the LORD "high and lifted up," the seraphim crying "Holy, holy, holy" (Isaiah 6:1–3). Overwhelmed by his own uncleanness, he was cleansed by a live coal from the altar and answered God's call, "Here am I; send me" (Isaiah 6:8). This vision shapes the whole book's vision of God's holiness.

Counselor to kings

Isaiah advised King Ahaz to trust God rather than foreign alliances, giving the sign of Immanuel: "a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son" (Isaiah 7:14). Later he strengthened King Hezekiah during the Assyrian siege of Jerusalem, and God delivered the city (Isaiah 37). He also foretold Hezekiah's recovery and the later Babylonian exile (Isaiah 38–39).

Comfort and the Servant

The second half of Isaiah turns to comfort: "Comfort ye, comfort ye my people" (Isaiah 40:1). Its summit is the Servant Songs, above all Isaiah 53 — "he was wounded for our transgressions… and with his stripes we are healed" — a portrait of the crucified and risen Christ so precise that the New Testament quotes it repeatedly (Acts 8:32–35).

Legacy

Isaiah is the most-quoted prophet in the New Testament. His symbolic family — his wife "the prophetess" and his sons with sign-names — embodied his message that judgment and salvation both belong to God. Jewish tradition holds that he was martyred under King Manasseh.