First let's get something clear about erroneous notions of Paul and his founding a new religion, which he didn't. True, the halakhah of his Judaism switched from the Pharisaic oral law to the Ruach Hakodesh, but his religion was still one of the Judaisms of the time, not a new non-Judaism Gentile religion.

YESHAYAH (ISAIAH)

The first six chapters of Isaiah summarize much of the rest of

the book. In his prophecy, Isaiah preaches against ethical

relativism (5:20), loitering drunks who disregard the L-rd and

his works (5:11,22), cut-throat land-grabbing nobility (5:8),

unjust murderers (1:15,21; 5:7), fortunetellers and fraternizers

with pagan mockers (2:6), idol worshippers (2:8), humanism

(2:22), blind guides leading the people into disaster (3:12), the

haughty rich who exploit in greed the penniless (3:15-16),

justice-subverting bribe-takers (5:23) and all those who reject

the Word of G-d (5:24). Invasion by foreign armies (5:26-30),

firey destruction, and exile (5:13,29) will cause a reversal of

fortune for these people, and the Day of the L-rd will cause the

haughty rich to be brought low (2:17) and the poor in spirit to

become purged in the fire and holy (1:25; 4:3).

Along with the survivors will come in the aftermath the Moshiach,

the Tzemach (Branch) of the L-rd (4:2) who is identified (in the

book of Isaiah itself, not merely in Jer. 23:5-6; 33:15 or Zech.

3:8) with the Tzemach T'zadik (Righteous Branch) of the L-rd and

of Dovid, the Tzadik Avdi the Righteous Servant of the L-rd

(53:11) and Dovid (37:35). This Moshiach-Servant is associated

with the L-rd in many ways: He too is "raised high and lifted up"

(compare 52:13; 6:1); He too is glorious, Jesse's glorious root

(compare 4:2 and 11:10 with 6:3, noticing also the word Shoresh

[root], linking 11:10 and 53:2); He too is the rallying

focal-point of the nations (compare 11:10 to 2:2-4 and see the

one "to whom the obedience of the nations belongs"--Genesis

49:10; see Ezekiel 21:27 [21:32 in the Hebrew Bible; Psalm 18:43;

Isaiah 42:1,4; 49:6); He too bears a divine name and governing

function (9:5-6); He too is Immanuel, (G-d-with-us), the

rightful owner of Israel's land (compare 8:8 and 7:14 to 5:5); He

too, this anointed Moshiach-Servant (11:2; 42:1), is righteous

(see 11:4-5 and 42:21; 51:5). The Moshiach-Servant, through the

Dovidic covenant, witnesses as a light to the Gentiles (9:6) to

those outside the covenant (Isaiah 55:3).

Job standing rejected and forsaken with mockers around him (Job

17:2) reminds the reader of the picture we have of the suffering

Servant of the L-rd in Isaiah 53 or the mocked Dovidic King in

Psalm 22 (compare Job 27:4 to Isa. 53:9). In the midst of the

false accusations Job "holds fast to his righteousness" (Job

27:6) and waits on the L-rd to confirm the innocence of his cause

(Job 42:7-8). So the mocked sage who becomes a fool that the

world curses and makes sport of is depicted in Isaiah 53. We have

seen this picture before in that other image, the judge of

Israel, Samson, being made sport of by the Philistines (Judg.

16:25) or in the King of Israel, Dovid the sage, pretending to be

mad before a similar scoffing Philistine audience (I Sm.

21:13-15). When sages like Moshe or Dovid are nearly stoned by

the people (Ex. 17:4; I Sm. 30:6) we see this reemerging picture

of the rejected-yet-vindicated-as-righteous Sage of Israel.

Significantly, the Son of Dovid is depicted as the sage par

excellence in the life of Shlomo in I Kings. Then II Chronicles

intensifies this portrait and gives Messianic prophetic

significance to Dovid's Son as the Moshiach Sage of Israel.

Finally, Isaiah combines the two portraits of the sage found in

Job and Shlomo and depicts the Dovidic Servant of the L-rd as the

mocked and rejected sage-counsellor (9:5-6) filled "with the

spirit of wisdom" (Isa. 11:2) who seems to labor "in vain" but

trusts his cause to the L-rd (Isa. 49:4) and, after mockery and

rejection (Isa. 53:2-4), is finally vindicated by G-d as

righteous (see Isa. 53:11-12).

The Moshiach is the eternal Kohen who sprinkles the nations with

a Cosmic Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur) sacrifice. (Ps. 110:4;

Zechariah 6:11-13; Isaiah 52:15; Lev. 16:14-17).

The Moshiach is the Seh Elohim (the Lamb of G-d) provided from

heaven as the sacrifice in order that G-d's people might be

passed over and redeemed from divine judgment, as Isaac was and

as the nation of Israel was. G-d sent His Word and healed His

people from the plagues of judgment He poured out on the heathen.

G-d saved His people in order that they might make an exodus to

new abundant life in accordance with His gracious covenant

promise in the Moshiach (Gen. 32:8; Ps. 107:30; Isa. 53:5-6,10;

Deut. 7:15; Isaiah 42:1,6-7; 40:3; 42:16; 43:19; 49:5-26).

The words "son" and "child" are very important to Isaiah's

message. His own two sons are given portentous names (7:3;

8:1-3) and the conception of the second son in the womb of his

prophetess-wife is divinely timed. In chs. 7-9, Isaiah refers to

his own son and to Dovid's son, a son he calls "G-d with us" and

"Mighty G-d." Isaiah shows us a Deliverer who can rule the world

(9:5-6), and yet he marvels at this personage being born as a

humble child, just as a little child leads the rest of creation

in the future kingdom--Isaiah 11:6. The future kingdom is

described in passages which include 2:1-4; 4:2-6; 11:6-9; 25:6-8;

35:1-10; 60:1-22. The future king of this glorious kingdom is

described in passages which include 7:1-12:6; 32:1-20;

49:1-57:21; 61:1-11. The Moshiach is the Descendent of the Woman

who will battle that Ancient Serpent, Satan (Gen. 3:15), called

"Leviathan the twisting serpent" in Isa. 27:1.

The secondary, if not primary meaning of the word Ha'Almah in

Isaiah 7:14 is virgin because the same Hebrew word means virgins

in Song of Shlomo 6:8, since the king's female companions were

queens and either concubines or virgins (see Esther 2:13-14,17),

not mere unmarried maidens who may have previously cohabited with

another men--a capital offense in Israel and a disqualification

for the king's harem in the book of Esther. In Esther 2:13-14,17

there are two harems, one for the virgins, and one for the

concubines. Queen Vashti occupied another area, as did Esther

when she became queen. Many older Jewish Bibles admitted this by

translating its plural form as Almot "virgins" in Song of Shl.

6:8. In Isaiah 7:14, the prophet is referring to a "sign" for

the dynasty of Dovid, and the ultimate fulfillment of that

prophesy involves no one other than Yehoshua, G-d's Immanuel,

whose virgin mother was betrothed to a descendent of Ahaz's

Messianic Davidic dynasty--see Hebrews 7:14; Romans 1:3; Matthew

1:1,16; Luke 3:23,31. The legal right to the throne came through

the father--see Babylonian Talmud Baba Bathra 130a on Deut.

21:16. Also, see Ignatius' Epistle to the Ephesians, "Miryam of

the seed of David."

The Branch of the L-rd and of Dovid is called "the L-rd" in Mal.

3:1 and Ps. 110:1, since Adon refers to Hashem in Zechariah 4:14

and 6:5. Therefore, we shouldn't surprised if the name of G-d is

given to the Moshiach in Isa. 9:5-6. The Hebrew words Moshi'a

and Go'el found in the books of Judges and Ruth point to this

Savior/Redeemer figure, the Moshiach. See Isaiah 49:26. Three

kings serve as foils in Isaiah's depiction of the Moshiach: Ahaz

son of David, Hezekiah son of David (compare 7:4-17 and

27:1-7,21-35), and the Persian King Cyrus, called Moshiach

(45:1), because he saves the Jewish people from the Babylonian

Exile and sends them home to rebuild their land and Beis

Hamikdash. About 734 B.C.E. Rezin King of Damascus (Syria) and

Pekah King of Israel organized a coalition to rebel against

Assyria. When Ahaz refused to join them and they invaded Judah

(7:1), Ahaz apppealed directly to Assyria for help, beginning the

process of foreign invading armies and exile that would swallow

his throne in 586 B.C.E. Assyria captured Damascus (732 B.C.E.),

Samaria (722 B.C.E.) and Babylon (defeating Assyria) captured

Jerusalem in 586 B.C.E. Isaiah warned Ahaz's son and successor,

Hezekiah about the coming Babylonian captivity (see 39:5-7 and

6:11-12). Isaiah also prophesied about the release from Exile

and the return to the land (48:20f).

For prophesies by Isaiah against the nations, see 13:1-14:23;

21:1-10; 43:14-15; chp. 46-47 (Babylon): 14:28-32 (Philistia see

ch. 20 on Ashdod); ch.15-16 (Moab); 17:1-11 (Damascus); chp.

19-20 (Egypt); 21:11-12 (Edom); 21:13-17 (Arabia); ch. 23 (Tyre);

23:4,12 (Sidon); 10:5-19; 14:24-27; 37:33-35 (Assyria); 18:1-7

(Cush, Nubia south of Egypt);

Isaiah was well aware of Deuteronomy 4:26-27 which says that sin

will cause the people to be "utterly destroyed...and...only a

small number of you will remain." Isaiah was also aware of the

covenant reprisals in Deuteronomy 28:32-33,36-37,41,45-62.

Therefore, when he begins to prophesy, he sees only a few

survivors left after G-d's scourge of judgment is finished (see

1:9; 10:22). Isaiah foresees that Assyria will be G-d's rod of

judgment (10:5) against Israel, though later G-d would destroy

the Assyrian hordes as He did the oppressive Midianites in Judges

7:22-25 (see Isaiah 9:4; 10:24-27). The fulfillment of these

very prophecies, as well as 30:31 and 31:8, about the destruction

of Assyria came in 701 B.C.E. (see 37:36-38) when the Assyrian

army was supernaturally defeated. Later, the capital of Assyria,

Nineveh, would be destroyed in 612 B.C.E., as Isaiah (31:8-9),

Nahum, and Jonah had predicted.

Isaiah also predicts the Babylonian captivity. (See Isaiah

39:5-7; 14:3-4) It is important to keep the historical facts in

mind: Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon brought down the

Assyrian Empire in 605 B.C.E. at the battle of Carchemish (see

Isaiah 10:9) in the Upper Euphrates in South Turkey,and Cyrus the

king of Persia brought down the Babylonian Empire in 539 B.C.E.,

when Cyrus took the city of Babylon and released the Jewish

people to return to Israel (see Ezra 1:1).

So Isaiah saw both the Assyrians and the Babylonians coming as

G-d's instruments of judgment on the unrepentant Israelites, and

he also foretold the great latter day exodus that would occur

when G-d would bring His people back from Exile and they would

stream into Zion with Messianic and Millennial fulfillment. In

fact, Isaiah foretold an end-time exodus which would eclipse the

Exodus from Egypt. It would be so great he says (Isaiah 43:18)

there will be "no need to think about what was done before." This

"streaming to Zion" theme is a recurring motif in Isaiah,

including the notion that G-d will make a supernatural causeway

(like the highway He made through the Red Sea) for the remnant of

repentant and humbled survivors to return to Him through the

wilderness. (See Isaiah 2:2; 4:5-6; 14:1-2; 27:12-13. See

especially 11:15-16, also ch. 35; 10:25-27; 40:3-11; 43:16-21;

46:3-4; 48:21; 51:10; 52:12; 56:6-8; 60:11-14; 63:9-13).

But Isaiah saw that the remnant would be pathetically few (1:9).

As we shall see in the second half of Isaiah, a remnant of one,

the Suffering Servant of the L-rd, will be sacrifically stricken

to death for the transgressions of the people as a whole (Isaiah

53:8,10). Over and over the recurring theme in Isaiah is that

the cataclysmic fires of judgment continually bring the ultimate

Day of the L-rd near, the Assyrian and Babylonian armies

functioning as divine proxies as the fires of their armies serve

to refine the wicked dross from the remnant (see Isaiah 1:25).

For all the rulers of the world are under the control of the G-d

of Israel. The theme of Proverbs 21:1 is seen in Isaiah 37:29

and in the passages about Cyrus. The "nations are but drops in a

bucket," but "the King's heart is in the hand of the Lord" and,

if invaders are allowed to punish G-d's wayward people, it is

G-d's method of refining out that faithless segment of the people

who refuse to fear G-d and repent. So, G-d, the refiner, has

this smelting process to remove waste products (dross) as he

tests the metal of His people's faith by means of foreign

military threats (see Isaiah 48:10).

Following each cycle of warning and judgment, there is a hopeful

promise of blessing, restoration, and the promise of the coming

of the Moshiach. Notice this judgment-restoration pattern in

relation to all the Messianic prophecies in Isaiah, esp. 1:2;

7:14; 9:6-7 (5-6, Hebrew); 11:1-5,10,12; 16:5; 22:22; 32:1;

33:17; 37:35; 42:1-9; 49:1-13; 50:4-9; 52:13-53:12; 55:3; 61:1-2;

63:1-6.

It is important to note that G-d uses military defeat and exile

to show His people that they are estranged from Him. He is "the

Holy One" and their sins have made Him hostile to them and have

placed them under His covenant ours. (Isa. 59:2). But the Good

News of Isaiah is the announcement of release from the exile of

sin (61:1-4) and from hellish divine estrangement through the

coming of the Moshiach, G-d's instrument of reconciliation (see

Isaiah 52:7-53:12). Through Him, those who repent will find

that, though their sins "are scarlet, they may yet be white as

snow (Isaiah 1:18).

See also Isaiah's teaching that hell is eternal torment in Isaiah

66:24; 14:11; 48:22; 50:11; 57:21; 1:31. Cf. also Dan. 12:2;

Matt. 25:46; Mark 9:48; Rev.20: 10.

The nation of Israel as servant (Isa. 41:8; 42:19; 44:1) is

restored from divine estrangement and exile (Isa. 42:1; 49:1;

52:13-53:12) by an individual, the Moshiach, the beautiful

"Branch of the L-rd," "David My Servant" (Isaiah 4:2; 33:17;

37:35: 52:13; 53:11) who restores the nation to a right

relationship to G-d (Isa. 49:5-6; 53:11).

Skeptics think Isaiah could not have foreseen the Exile (but see

5:13,29; 6:12; 27:8) and beyond so clearly (i.e. predicting Cyrus

King of Persia by name (Isaiah 45:3) and therefore postulate 2 or

3 or more other later unnamed prophets who suppoudly padded out

the more supernatural parts (i.e. 41:2,25; 44:28-45:5,13; 46:11),

cloaking themselves under Isaiah's name, as they wrate at various

times over 100 years after Isaiah's death. Some liberal scholars

believe "Second Isaiah" wrote chs. 40-55 from Babylon and "Third

Isaiah" wrote chs. 56-66 later still, from Israel after the end

of the Exile some 180 years after the death of Isaiah. Some

liberal scholars think they see the hand of even later "Isaiahs"

in chs. 56-66. But all this speculation does not build faith or

edify, nor is there any more exegetical warrant for these

theories than for the single author assertion, which the Brit

Chadasha Scriptures and Moshiach Yehoshua Himself affirms (see

Mark 7:6). We must remember that the writing prophets of the

Hebrew Bible were not ghost writers. It does not seem credible

that the Jewish people would know the names of the authors of

such tiny books as Obadiah and Yoel (Joel) but not have a clue as

to the identity of the author of Isaiah chapters 40-66, probably

the most magnificent section of prophecy in the entire Bible.

Furthermore, virtually every theme in chapters 40-66 of Isaiah

can be found, at least embryonically, in chapters 1-39, a fact

that makes multiple authorship an improbable hypothesis.

Also the many verbal parallels between chs. 1-39 and chs. 40-66

discredit this liberal theory. King Josiah is predicted by name

in I Kings 13:2 and Moshiach Yehoshua is predicted by name in

Zechariah 6:12 (cf. Ezra 3:8) nearly 300 years and 500 years

respectively before three sons of David were born. Since the last

of these predictions can be proven beyond all doubt, there seems

no excuse to doubt the other predictions or, for that matter,

Isaiah's authorship of the entire book bearing his name.

Isaiah's message is that, even though the nations will stream to

Jerusalem in the end (2:2-3), in the meantime in pride and

rebellion both Israel and the nations have exalted themselves

against the L-rd, and he will judge them in an awesome display of

power which will leave only a few survivors (1:9). Therefore, the

inference is, if G-d can "part the sea" for the Exile and the

Return, why can he not also use His right arm of power to raise

up eternally alive and victorious both the Moshiach and the dead

for the Millennium (2:4; 11:6-10; 24:23; 33:24) and the new

heavens and the new earth (65:17)?

ISAIAH 7:14

Therefore the L-rd himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a

virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name

Immanuel. [This word Ha'almah is translated "virgin" not only in

the rabbinically translated Septuagint but in older modern Jewish

translations of the same word in Song of Songs 6:8, so there is

no good reason not to trandate the verse as above.]