In purely literary terms, the book of Isaiah — the twenty-third book in the Old Testament — is hard to beat. It is written poetically and contains many descriptions that are beautiful as well as bleak, frightening as well as encouraging, and gloomy as well as hopeful. It is a book that has been studied, mulled over, and taken apart word by word over the centuries.

But Isaiah';s prophetic book is far more than simple literature; it is also a collection of messages about judgment and salvation — both of which come from the same God. The first thirty-nine chapters of Isaiah are filled with pronouncements of judgment on an immoral and idolatrous people, but the final twenty-seven chapters are the declaration of a message of hope and salvation, not just for the people of Judah but also for the whole world.

Isaiah carried out his prophetic ministry to the people of Judah over a period of at least forty years. It was during this time that he warned and encouraged, and he saw not just what was happening in the world around him but also how God would finally accomplish His plan of salvation for all humankind.

The book of Isaiah is the most quoted Old Testament book in the New Testament. That includes many references in the Gospels — Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Matthew';s gospel contains many references to events in the life of Jesus Christ fulfilling what the prophet Isaiah had written some seven centuries before Jesus';s birth.

Isaiah saw in the future a Messiah — a Savior — who would come both as a suffering servant and as a conquering king.