Isaiah was the son of Amoz and lived in Jerusalem (Isaiah 1:1). He was married to a woman he calls the prophetess, and he gave his sons names that were sermons (Isaiah 7:3; 8:3). He served for decades through four kings.
His call came in a vision of the LORD on the throne. His first words were not brave. He said he was lost and unclean (Isaiah 6:5). God cleansed him first and then sent him. Much of his book is the most beautiful poetry in Scripture, and it comes from a man who knew he needed mercy.
“
Here I am! Send me.
Name means
The LORD is salvation
Home
Jerusalem
Role
Prophet to Judah under Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah
Read in
;
Isaiah's story
Barefoot for three years
Beginning
Woe is me
He sees the LORD high and lifted up and cries that he is a man of unclean lips.
High point
Here I am
A burning coal touches his lips. His guilt is taken away, and he volunteers to go.
Turning point
Ahaz will not ask
He tells King Ahaz to trust God. Ahaz refuses, and God gives the sign of Immanuel anyway.
Turning point
Naked and barefoot
For three years he walks as a living warning not to trust Egypt.
Turning point
Babylon foretold
Hezekiah shows his treasures to envoys. Isaiah says it will all be carried to Babylon.
Ending
Comfort my people
God gives him words of comfort for a people after judgment.
Starts as a man undone by God's holiness. Ends as a voice of comfort for people who had not yet suffered.
Where Isaiah lived and went
Only places Scripture records. Softer, dotted pins are traditional or uncertain sites. Tap a pin for the passage.
HomeMinistryKey momentTraditional or uncertainPinch or use + to zoom. Tap a cluster to spread it out.
Isaiah's ministry is centered in Jerusalem.
How Isaiah is wired
The Reformer
Enneagram 1, Helper wing
To see God's people live rightly before a holy God.
Scripture doesn't give us much here, so treat this as a best guess.
At their best, toward 7 Under stress, toward 4
Why we think so
1
Burdened by holiness. His first response to God is an awareness of his own uncleanness. ()
2
Calls for justice. He tells Judah to seek justice, correct oppression, and care for the fatherless and widow. ()
3
Rebukes leaders. He confronts Ahaz and the steward Shebna. ()
His heart for the weak and his words of comfort show a warm, helping side. ()
The Enthusiast. He imagines a feast for all peoples and death swallowed up forever. ()
The Individualist. He turns inward in self-condemnation, crying that he is lost. ()
The case for 4
His poetry, symbolic acts, and deep emotional range could point to an Individualist who expresses truth through beauty.
Other lenses
Big Five. Read from what is recorded in Kings and the prophets.
ReservedOutgoing
SteadyReactive
ChallengingAccommodating
SpontaneousDisciplined
TraditionalCurious
DISC style: clear voice, long view
Strengths & struggles
What's good in Isaiah
Vision of God's holiness, poetic power, courage with kings, long faithfulness, hope beyond judgment ().
Where Isaiah struggles
Scripture records little personal failure. He was given a hard message that hearers would not understand, and he felt its weight ().
What Isaiah wanted most
For God's people to trust the LORD instead of foreign powers ().
Isaiah saw the glory of the King, and John says that King was Jesus.
John writes that Isaiah “saw his glory and spoke of him” (). Isaiah foretold Immanuel and a servant who would suffer for others: “he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities” (). The prophet with unclean lips points to the one whose wounds heal us.
Questions to sit with
1
When you see God more clearly, what do you see in yourself?
2
What hard message might God be asking you to carry without seeing results?
Study Isaiah with your group
Ready-to-lead group studies with discussion questions and a leader's note are on the way.
