Isaiah 1:1, commentary and pictures

The verse introduces the vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, opening the first part of the book in chapters 1-39 given during his active public ministry. He began prophesying as a young man under Uzziah about 760 B.C. and continued through the other three kings to about 698 B.C., a ministry of nearly sixty years. His name means Jehovah is salvation, and he is called the Gospel prophet because he speaks extensively of the last days, Christ's suffering and work, and the coming kingdom of glory. God spoke to His people by giving visions to prophets, taking possession of Isaiah's mind so that he was shown the future concerning Judah's backsliding, Jerusalem's downfall and captivity, the Messiah, and the everlasting kingdom. That opening vision is a reproof of God's professed people, teaching that temple service, religious ceremonies, and profession of faith are unacceptable to God when joined with selfishness, neglect of the poor, and disobedience to His moral law. Those reigns were a crucial and stormy period typical of greater events to come, so the warnings given then against idolatry and like sins are warnings needed now, with the same names applying in the next chapter to the Protestant churches in the last days just before the day of the Lord.

Prophet, Time, and Vision

The opening words name the prophet as Isaiah the son of Amoz, who lived in Jerusalem, and his name means Jehovah is salvation or Salvation of Jehovah. He is called the Gospel prophet or evangelical prophet because he speaks extensively of the last days, the Christian dispensation, Jesus Christ's suffering and work, and the coming kingdom of glory. His prophetic ministry stood in Judah during the reigns of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah. He began prophesying as a young man under Uzziah, possibly in Uzziah's last year about 758 B.C. or about 760 B.C., and continued through the other three kings through most of Hezekiah's reign to about 698 B.C. or about 700 B.C., amounting to nearly sixty years. The book is thus dated to about 760-698 B.C. or about 760-700 B.C., with the vision concerning Judah and Jerusalem beginning about 760 B.C.

Together with 2 Kings 16:1-2, the verse establishes Ahaz's place among Judah's kings as one who reigned in Jerusalem during Isaiah's time. Tradition holds that his prophesying continued into Manasseh's reign and that Manasseh martyred him. The verse shows Isaiah lived and prophesied at the same time as Hosea, in days when God rebuked Israel for idolatry and for wearing jewelry as a sign of apostasy. The vision described in Isaiah 6 occurred in the year King Uzziah died, within this broader period of Isaiah's prophetic ministry.

The verse shows that God speaks to His people by giving visions to prophets, that Isaiah himself experienced visions, and that his sixty-six chapters concerning Judah and Jerusalem were largely or wholly given through vision as God-given revelation of the future, since only God knows the future. The Spirit of God took possession of his mind so that for the time he was entirely unconscious of what transpired around him and was shown whatever God desired him to know, either to reveal to others for their instruction when brought back to natural condition or to understand for his own benefit, making visions an important agency in the revelation of God's will to man. The verse shows Isaiah as a true servant of God marked by humility and self-effacement: he did not boast about his work or assert his own greatness as proof of a divine commission, but simply told the visions he saw. The verse identifies the book as the vision of Isaiah son of Amoz concerning Judah and Jerusalem during those four reigns, and critical conclusions about the date of a separate Second Isaiah cannot be trusted.

Structure and Message to Judah

The vision opens upon literal Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah. Chapter 1 stands in the first part of the book, chapters 1-39, which holds prophecies and historical accounts belonging to Isaiah's period of active public ministry. Those prophecies were given on different occasions and were afterward gathered into one collection, yet they remain distinct prophecies. This opening vision begins the first section exposing Israel's sins and belongs with the opening twelve chapters directed to the kingdom of Judah.

That opening section is a reproof of God's professed people for neglecting practical care for the needy. Religious ceremonies and public worship are unacceptable to God when joined with selfishness and failure to help the poor. The chapter likewise condemns religious worship that is not joined to obedience. Judah's temple service and profession of faith could not take the place of obedience to God's moral law, and faithful obedience would have brought the nation blessing and honor.

Compared with Isaiah 2, the vision shows that Judah's idolatry was more than the worship of images and extended to excessive attachment to created things. Its warning reaches to the last days, when the land is full of idols and people indulge themselves in Babylon's abundance. The visions concerning Judah and Jerusalem dealt with the people's backsliding and the Lord's coming work. They traced events toward Jerusalem's downfall and the Babylonian captivity, and they revealed the Messiah, the restoration of all things, and the everlasting kingdom. The vision described in Isaiah 6 occurred in the year King Uzziah died, within this broader period of ministry centered at Jerusalem.

Prophecy and Last-Day Application

The reigns of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah named in the verse were a crucial period in Judah that was typical of the great days to come. Those days were typical of greater events to come. They were stormy times like the time of the last days, with like false prophets and like sins. The warnings given then are therefore warnings needed now, and the same One who was mighty to save then is mighty to save now.

The warning of the vision concerning Judah and Jerusalem is applied to the last days, when the land is full of idols and people indulge in Babylon's abundance.

The verse introduces literal Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah as the subject of the vision. Beginning in the very next chapter, however, the same names Judah and Jerusalem apply to the Protestant churches in the last days just before the day of the Lord. This illustrates a sudden transition from type to antitype and a double fulfillment of prophecy.