Isaiah is a book that unveils the full dimensions of God's judgment and salvation. God is "the Holy One of Israel" (see 1:4; 6:1 and notes) who must punish his rebellious people (1:2) but will afterward redeem them (41:14, 16). Israel is a nation blind and deaf (6:9-10; 42:7), a vineyard that will be trampled (5:1-7), a people devoid of justice or righteousness (5:7; 10:1-2). The awful judgment that will be unleashed upon Israel and all the nations that defy God is called "the day of the Lord," Although Israel has a foretaste of that day (5:30; 42:25), the nations bear its full power (see 2:11, 17, 20 and note). It is a day associated in the NT with Christ's second coming and the accompanying judgment (see 24:1, 21; 34:1-2 and notes). Throughout the book, God's judgment is referred to as "fire" (see 1:31; 30:33 and notes). He is the "Sovereign Lord" (see note on 25:8), far above all nations and rulers (40:15-24).
Yet God will have compassion on his people (14:1-2) and will rescue them from both political and spiritual oppression. Their restoration is like a new exodus (43:2, 16-19; 52:10-12) as God redeems them (see 35:9, 41:14 and notes) and saves them (see 43:3; 49:8) and notes). Israel's mighty Creator (40:21-22; 48:13) will make streams spring up in the desert (32:2) as he graciously leads them home. The theme of a highway for the return of exiles is a prominent one (see 11:16; 40:3 and notes) in both major parts of the book. The Lord raises a banner to summon the nations to bring Israel home (see 5:26 and note).
Peace and safety mark this new Messianic age (11:6-9). A king descended from David will reign in righteousness (9:7; 32:1), and all nations will stream to the holy mountain of Jerusalem (see 2:2-4 and note). God's people will no longer be oppressed by wicked rulers (11:14; 45:14), and Jerusalem will truly be the "City of the Lord" (60:14).
The Lord calls the Messianic King "my servant" in chs. 42-53, a term also applied to Israel as a nation (see 41:8-9; 42:1 and notes). It is through the suffering of the servant that salvation in its fullest sense is achieved. Cyrus was God's instrument to deliver Israel from Babylon (41:2), but Christ delivered mankind from the prison of sin (52:13-53:12). He became a "light for the Gentiles" (42:6), so that those nations that faced judgment (chs. 13-23) could find salvation (55:4-5). These Gentiles also became "servants of the Lord" (see 54:17 and note).
The Lord's kingdom on earth, with its righteous Ruler and his righteous subjects, is the goal toward which the book of Isaiah steadily moves. The restored earth and the restored people will then conform to the divine ideal, and all will result in the praise and glory of the Holy One of Israel for what he has accomplished.
