The United Bible Society’s Greek New Testament lists sixty-six quotations from Isaiah in the New Testament. This indicates that the coming of the Messiah proclaimed in the New Testament found large support in Isaiah (Texts from Isaiah also figure prominently in Handel’s Messiah). Isaiah 7:14, 9:1-7, 61:1-3 are considered by the church to be the height of Messianic prophecy.
The New Testament, especially Matthew, applies Isaiah’s prophecies to Jesus in unmistakable fashion. Still, they commonly have been seen by the church in such a way that their own historical context in Isaiah is obscure or even seen as unnecessary for today’s believers.
Indeed, their historical context in Isaiah largely is war – specifically the Syro-Ephraimitic War (734 B.C.) in a “forthtelling” (preaching to contemporaries) sense and the Babylonian Exile and its aftermath in a “foretelling” (predictive) sense. All this is to say that the book of Isaiah does not merely exist as a collection of Messianic prophecies for the distant future; that is, the New Testament quotations from Isaiah are not merely phrases and verses to be used out of context later. Matthew’s quotations from Isaiah bring with them into the New Testament something of the thoughts of God who originally inspired them through His prophet.
The same holds true of quotations in the New Testament from other prophets. To be rightly interpreted, Isaiah’s prophecy must receive due consideration of its historical and literary context and theology for the people who first heard his preaching. This approach will ensure that Matthew and other New Testament writers who cite Isaiah will have received from today’s interpreters a level of careful study and theological reflection that ALL of God’s Word deserves.
Dr. David Moore is a Baptist preacher in Pampa and an online instructor in Bible and theology for Taylor University and Nations University. Email: dm5867se@outlook.com
