Scroll to the bottom for thoughts/discussion questions!
One-sentence summary: Isaiah sees a vision of the Lord on His throne, warns Israel of the coming judgment and exile, and prophesies a Savior who will be named Emmanuel- God With Us.
Isaiah says his beloved to planted a vineyard and expected it to bring forth good grapes, but it only brought forth wild grapes. The Lord says what more could He have done for His vineyard Israel, and why did it bring forth wild grapes? The Lord says He will take away His vineyards's hedge, and it will be burned, and its wall, and they will be trampled. It will not be pruned, and thorns and briars will come up from it. He will command the clouds not to bring rain. The Lord says the vineyard is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah, His plant. He looked for justice and righteousness but only saw injustice and a cry for help. The Lord says houses will be desolate. He says woe to those who drink all day. They do not regard God's works. The people have gone into captivity because they have no knowledge. Everyone will be humbled, but the Lord will be exalted in judgment and hallowed in righteousness. Then, the land will feed in their pastures and strangers will eat there. He declares, "Woe to those who draw iniquity with chords of vanity!" and, "Woe to those who call good evil and evil good, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who call bitter sweet and sweet bitter... Woe to those who are wise in their own sight!" These people "justify the wicked for a bribe and take away justice for the righteous man," so their path will be "as rottenness... because they have rejected the law of the Lord of hosts and despised the word of the Holy One of Israel." So God's anger is aroused against His people, and He has stretched out His hand and stricken them. Israel will be taken away into captivity.
In the year King Uzziah dies, Isaiah sees the Lord seated on a throne, high and lifted up, and the train of his robe fills the temple. Seraphim are around Him, and they cry out, "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts! The whole earth is filled with His glory!" The house if filled with His glory. Isaiah says, "Woe is me! I am undone! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell with a people of unclean lips, for my eyes have seen the king, the Lord of hosts!" A seraphim flies to him with a live coal from the altar and touches his lips with it, saying his iniquity has been taken away and his sin purged. The Lord asks, "Whom will I send, and who will go for us?" Isaiah responds, "Here I am! Send me!" The Lord tells him to tell the people may they see but not perceive and hear but not understand, to make their hearts dull and ears heavy and to shut their eyes, "lest they see and hear and understand with their heart and return and be healed." Isaiah asks how long, and the Lord says until the cities are laid waste and empty, the houses empty, the land desolate, and there are many forsaken places. Yet 1/10 will be in the land and return. Like an oak whose stump remains when it is cut down, a holy seed will remain.
In the days of Ahaz king of Judah, King Rezin of Assyria and Pekin king of Israel go up to Jerusalem to make war, but they cannot prevail. The house of David is told, and his heart and the people are moved, and the Lord tells Isaiah to go out to meet Ahaz and tell him to listen and be quiet and not be afraid because they have plotted evil, saying they hope to trouble Judah and take it and set a king over it. The Lord says it will not happen and that within 65 years, Ephraim will be broken so that they will not be a people. He says he must believe in order to be established and to ask Him for a sign either in the seas or heavens. However, Ahaz says he will not test the Lord. Isaiah tells the house of David not to weary the Lord, that the sign will be this: "A virgin will conceive and bear a son and shall call His name Emmanuel." Everyone left in the land will eat curds and honey.
The Lord tells Isaiah to take a scroll and write on it. He says he goes to the prophetess, and she conceives and bears a son, and the Lord says to call him Maher-shalal-hash-baz (roughly translated as "spoil to the swift.") Before the child can call his parents by name, the riches of Damascus and the spoil of Samaria will be taken away from the king of Assyria. "For God is with us." The Lord tells him not to walk in the way of the people. He says not to call conspiracy what they call conspiracy or be afraid of their threats, but to fear the Lord only. The Lord will be a sanctuary to Isaiah but a rock of offense, a trap and a snare, to Israel and Judah, and many will fall and stumble and be taken. The Lord tells Isaiah to bind up the testimony and seal the law among his disciples. Isaiah says, "I will wait on the Lord who hides HIs face from the house of Jacob, and I will hope in Him." And, "Here am I, and the children God has given me!" He says, "We are for signs and wonders in Israel from the Lord of hosts, who dwells in Mt. Zion." He says people must seek the Lord and not mediums. If people do not speak "according to this word," it is because there is no light in them. When they become hungry, however, they will curse the king and God, but look to the earth and see gloom and anguish and be driven into darkness.
Thoughts/discussion questions:
We are not to fear man, but God only.
The Lord has never given up on Israel and promised to send them a Savior.
We need the Lord to cleanse us and make us fit for service in His kingdom (John 13:8.)
We must be careful to seek God's wisdom and not trust in our own "wisdom."
There are so many beautiful prophesies concerning Jesus in this passage!