Isaiah uses ancient contemporary characters and even those prior to his day as symbols of future people or classes—types—of people in the end-time scene of events. Usually these ancestors represent a spiritual level of progression toward God. Sometimes they characterize end-time actors who will fulfill roles of events to come.
Often these characters have either parallel or contrasting times. Take for example the symbolism of Hezekiah and Cyrus, both used by Isaiah to represent the end-time Davidic servant. Converse to this role is the King of Babylon, also known as the Assyrian, whose role is antithetical to the Davidic servant.
Below are some of people that appear within the first chapter of Isaiah and their symbolic role.
Some of the main actors that become symbolic types of our day are the kings of Judah and the prophets of ancient Israel. Isaiah uses these as types of characteristic patterns observed in our present day and end-time individuals as well as portraying actions or roles that will be performed by apocalyptic leaders.
Isaiah was an integral member of the aristocracy in the Southern Kingdom of Judah. It is believed that Isaiah was a cousin to the kings of Judah. Therefore, it is not surprising that they play a prominent role in his symbolic narrative of the events of the last days. In the first line of Isaiah’s book, it is written:
The vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.
Isaiah 1:1
That last two kings, Ahaz and Hezekiah, represent antithetical characters symbolizing spiritual differences between obedience and disobedience of covenant leaders in the last days.
Ahaz was a wicked and idolatrous king of Judah during the days before the Assyrian invasions. He represents a covenant king of the covenant and chosen people who has dismissed his allegiance to Jehovah in pursuit of the idol gods of the northern kingdom (2 Kings 16:2-3). He disregarded the warning voices of the prophets and led the covenant people away from worship of their God.
Though Ahaz only appears in a handful of verses in Isaiah, and most notably in chapter 7, he becomes a type and shadow of one or more end-time leaders that disregard the warning voice of the Lord’s true servant in pursuit of that which is not of God. His appearance in the writings of Isaiah is intended to contrast the rule of the righteous king Hezekiah. Where king Hezekiah becomes a mediator for covenant promises for his people, king Ahaz become the lightning rod for covenant curses upon the people of Judah.
Hezekiah is the son of the wicked king Ahaz. But, unlike his father, upon coronation Hezekiah immediately seeks to put down the idol worship pervasive among the Jews at that time and reconstruct the righteous worship of Jehovah. Hezekiah most notably appears in the writings of Isaiah in chapters 36-39, but is referred to in other areas foreshadowing the future Messiah as well as the end-time Davidic servant (see Isaiah 7:14-16).
Hezekiah is placed in juxtaposition to his wicked father Ahaz. Where Ahaz’ evil words brings the house of Judah under the oppression of Assyria, Hezekiah’s righteous sacrifices in behalf of his people liberate Judah from the grasp of Assyria. Thus, Hezekiah symbolizes the relationship between a king and his people and becomes a mediator, acting in behalf of the Savior, for his people, answering before God for the sins of his people. This becomes a type and shadow of one of the roles of the end-time servant.
Though Isaiah does not often speak about himself, as the narrator of the story, we see his spiritual path as he grows closer to God. His story provides a symbolic pattern of the spiritual journey of the Davidic servant.
The message of Isaiah was structured in such a way that though some events chronologically may seem out of sequence, they appear in the sequential order needed to create symbolic meaning. Isaiah (‘שע’ה|yεsh-ä-yä’) means “God has saved” and demonstrates that meaning in the symbolic patterns of his involvement in the vision, specifically trough his personal spiritual experiences, but also as a messenger in behalf of the Lord. The vision of Isaiah (1:1) and the words of Isaiah (2:1) are truly a vision about and words concerning the Davidic servant and his role in the end-time scenes.
Isaiah describes his own calling as a prophet and messenger in chapter 6 and proceeds to show his interactions with both the wicked king Ahaz (see chapters 7-8) and the righteous king Hezekiah (see chapters 36-40). Isaiah also becomes the type and shadow of the shame and captivity of Egypt (see chapter 20). Even though his name only appears in the above-mentioned chapters, he become the unseen messenger of God’s words, symbolic of the Davidic servant who will rise to lead God’s people in the last days.
Another pattern seen in Isaiah’s writing is using people as types of spiritual progression and symbolizing a spiritual journey. Among those used in his writings to portray this end-time journey are the symbolic uses of Jacob and Israel.
Jacob is the son of Isaac, and grandson of Abraham. His name was later changed from Jacob to Israel after he received a covenant promise from God. Jacob in Hebrew means “supplanter” and is an apt name given the story of how he took the covenant birthright promise from his older brother Esau. Isaiah uses Jacob as a symbol of an individual who has made a covenant with God and is on his or her journey to receive a covenant promise from God.
Jacob can represent a person, but more likely represents an entire covenant people or nation. It represents also the people who inherit the covenant promise from their fathers. There is a slight distinction between the symbolism of Jacob and Israel. The former has made a covenant promise with God, the former has received in turn a promise from God, and therefore, a new name.
The end-time scene depicts how the house of Jacob have rebelled from God. “Hear ye this, O house of Jacob, which are called by the name of Israel, and are come forth out of the waters of Judah, which swear by the name of the Lord, and make mention of the God of Israel, but not in truth, nor in righteousness. For they call themselves of the holy city, and stay themselves upon the God of Israel; The Lord of hosts is his name” (Isaiah 48:1-2). Our rebellion becomes the catalyst of the Lord’s end-time events. The Lord pleads, “O house of Jacob, come ye, and let us walk in the light of the Lord; yea, come, for ye have all gone astray, everyone to his wicked ways.” Yet he knows we will not come without first being chastened, “Therefore, O Lord, thou hast forsaken thy people the house of Jacob” (Isaiah 2:5-6).
Despite the rebellion of the covenant children from God, he will not forget his covenant with them. “Hearken unto me, O house of Jacob,” he calls, “and all the remnant of the house of Israel, which are borne by me from the belly, which are carried from the womb; and even to your old age I am he; and even to hoar hairs will I carry you; I have made, and I will bear; even I will carry, and will deliver you” (Isaiah 46:3-4). Isaiah declared, “The Lord will have mercy on Jacob, and will yet choose Israel” (Isaiah 14:1). The great promise is that “the Redeemer shall come to Zion, and unto them that turn from transgression in Jacob, saith the Lord” (Isaiah 59:20). As he establishes Zion, he promises, “I will bring forth a seed out of Jacob, and out of Judah an inheritor of my mountains; and mine elect shall inherit it, and my servants shall dwell there” (Isaiah 65:9).
Israel is the name given by God to Jacob after God made an everlasting covenant with him, similar to the covenant made to his grandfather, Abraham, and good father, Isaac. It derives from two Hebrew root words that means “He will rule as God”: שרה|sä-rä’, meaning to prevail, and אל|āl, meaning God. Jacob was born into a covenant based on his Father’s covenant. He later received the same covenant himself. This journey through the covenant path is a symbolic journey that the house of Jacob or Israel takes in Isaiah’s writings.
Israel can represent a person, but more likely represents an entire covenant people or nation. Just as the house of Israel before composed a nation of believers, so in Isaiah’s writings, the believers in Christ, who have made a covenant with him, are symbolized as Israel or Jacob. There is a slight distinction between the symbolism of Jacob and Israel. The former has made a covenant promise with God, the former has received in turn a promise from God, and therefore, a new name.
Isaiah’s begins his prediction of end-events by detailing how those covenant sons of God have rebelled from God. “The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master’s crib; but Israel doth not know, my people doth not consider. Ah sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of evildoers, children that are corrupters; they have forsaken the Lord, they have provoked the Holy One of Israel unto anger, they are gone away backward” (Isaiah 1:3-4). Isaiah describes how those who should have kept the covenant, “have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, broken the everlasting covenant. Therefore hath the curse devoured the earth, and they that dwell therein are desolate; therefore the inhabitants of the earth are burned, and few men left” (Isaiah 24:5-6).
Yet the Lord will not forget his covenant with his children. “O Israel, thou shalt not be forgotten of me” (Isaiah 44:21). Regarding Jacob and Israel, he says, “The Lord will have mercy on Jacob, and will yet choose Israel” (Isaiah 14:1). As we being to repent and return to the Lord, “he shall cause them that come of Jacob to take root; Israel shall blossom and bud, and fill the face of the world with fruit” (Isaiah 27:6). As Isaiah’s predictions come to a close, those remnant few who remember their covenants or make them anew will be called “Israel mine elect” (Isaiah 45:4) and “Israel mine inheritance” (Isaiah 19:25).
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