Book of Isaiah Themes

Why does everything that happens in Isaiah—or, all the wrathful stuff, anyway—need to happen? "Sin" is one answer. God needs to punish everyone's sins, hence the Assyrians invade and get slaugh...

The first theme was sin, which leads automatically to the second theme: suffering. The suffering inflicted on Judah (and other places) for sinning is pretty significant. Cities are destroyed, peopl...

Justice and judgment—next to, and not behind, mercy and compassion—is probably the biggest theme in Isaiah. God continually visits his wrathful judgment on everyone, constantly, throughout the...

Two kinds of power are on display in Isaiah: human power and the (so much greater) power of God. Human beings continually strive to use their power to do things like conquer the world (what the Ass...

Loyalty is what God demands from Judah and Israel. They shouldn't get distracted by other gods, or by lust for cash or craving for power. It's closely tied in with obedience, but there's an element...

The big dream that animates the Book of Isaiah is the dream of a future time of perfect peace—basically the exact opposite of what's been going on throughout the course of the book, what with all...

Last but not least in our themes, we have compassion and forgiveness—or, in a word, mercy. These ideas comprise the biggest and probably most important theme in Isaiah (along with justice and jud...