As we continue the Writers of the Word series, we're spending October with Isaiah.

Isaiah is one of the four major prophets and author of the book bearing his name. For a book of 66 chapters, he tells us shockingly little about himself. We know he was the son of Amoz (Isa. 1:1), and a husband and father (Isa. 7:3; 8:3, 18). Jewish tradition holds that he lived in Jerusalem and was the nephew of King Amaziah, making him a member of the royal family.

Isaiah's call to ministry is famous. He sees the Lord high and lifted up, and his first response is despair: "Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips" (Isa. 6:5). Only after a seraph touches his lips with a burning coal does he hear God ask, "Whom shall I send?" Cleansed and forgiven, Isaiah answers, "Here I am! Send me" (Isa. 6:8). What follows is a grueling and beautiful prophetic life. God warned him that his preaching would harden the hearts of his own generation (Isa. 6:10), yet his words would one day bring deep comfort to God's people (Isa. 40:1). Isaiah wrote for readers he would never meet. Isaiah wrote for us.

We know very little about who Isaiah was, but we know a great deal about what he believed. His life embodied the words often attributed to Count Zinzendorf: "Preach the gospel, die, and be forgotten." Isaiah was small, and his God was big.

Isaiah is best known for his messianic prophecies: a virgin's son called Immanuel, and a Suffering Servant pierced for our transgressions, all fulfilled in Jesus Christ. By some counts, Jesus fulfilled over 300 Old Testament prophecies, and nearly 100 of them come from Isaiah.

The Book of Isaiah tells two intertwined stories: a coming judgment and a coming salvation. It is a book for people who live in the reality of their salvation while still walking through a broken world. As I said, Isaiah is for us.

Written by Rainer Erani