It includes the full scope of His life: the announcement of His coming (Isaiah 40:3–5), His virgin birth (Isiah 7:14), His proclamation of the good news (Isiah 61:1), His sacrificial death (Isaiah 52:13–53:12), and His return to claim His own (Isiah 60:2–3). Why is Isaiah so important? The book of Isaiah provides us with the most comprehensive prophetic picture of Jesus Christ in the entire Old Testament.
Christ will reign personally on this earth as we know it, as well as in the new heavens and new earth (Rev. The future exaltation of Jerusalem will be on earth, not in heaven. The kingdom promised to David belongs to Israel, not the church. This fact disqualifies the case for proposing that the church receives some of the promises made originally to Israel. To contend that those yet unfulfilled will see non-literal fulfillment is biblically groundless. He is bound by His own Word to fulfill the promises He has made to bring them back to Himself and bless them in that future day (Isaiah 55:10–12). On the former issue, literal fulfillment of many of Isaiah’s prophecies has already occurred, as illustrated in Introduction: Historical and Theological Themes.
The nation is on the palms of His hands, and Jerusalem’s walls are ever before His eyes (Isaiah 49:16). On the latter issue, numerous portions of Isaiah support the position that God has not replaced ethnic Israel with an alleged “new Israel.” Isaiah has too much to say about God’s faithfulness to Israel, that He would not reject the people whom He has created and chosen (Isaiah 43:1). The most critical of them focuses on whether Isaiah’s prophecies will receive literal fulfillment or not, and on whether the Lord, in His program, has abandoned national Israel and permanently replaced the nation with the church, so that there is no future for national Israel. Interpretive Challenges - Interpretive challenges in a long and significant book such as Isaiah are numerous. Excellent overview same intro as in MacArthur Study Bible. Introduction to Isaiah by Dr John MacArthur: Title, Author, Date, Background, Setting, Historical, Theological Themes, Interpretive Challenges, Outline by Chapter/Verse.