FOTB- ISAIAH PB

Isaiah has been called the 'fifth gospel'. Why? Because in it God speaks of his peoples' departure from truth, need for repentance and redemption provided by a coming saviour. Isaiah's imagery is some of the most beautiful, and terrifying, in the Bible. It was written in the 8th century BC at a time of material prosperity. This wealth had brought increased literacy and so God's people were provided with a book of 66 chapters to understand a world that had spiritual, as well as physical, dimensions. It is an important Old Testament book, charting a key change in the life of God's people and providing some of the most important prophecies fulfilled only in the life of Jesus. Its lessons for the contempory church are particularly apt.