It is all too easy to put our own interpretation on the prophecies of Isaiah. But that would be doing us and the prophet a grave disservice. Unless we apply Isaiah's own definitions of things, we are "wresting the scripture to our own destruction" (cf. 2 Peter 3:16). So it is, too, with Isaiah's "good news" (Hebrew besora, also "good tidings" or "gospel," Isaiah 40:9; 42:27; 52:7; 61:1). It turns out that Isaiah's gospel isn't a lesser law based on the teachings of Moses. In fact, it is the same gospel we find in the New Testament. Only, Isaiah's Hebrew version is richer and more comprehensive in scope, so that even the New Testament is best understood in its light.
What scholars call the gospel's "systematic theology" is wonderfully systematized, for example, in the seven spiritual levels or categories of people that appear in the Book of Isaiah. But like all else in its pages, its treasures are concealed within literary patterns that disclose their secrets only on diligent searching. Ascent from the Jacob/Israel to the Zion/Jerusalem level ensures a person's salvation. But ascent to levels higher ensures one's exaltation or "glory." All hinges on keeping the laws of God's covenants as they pertain to each level of ascent. Descent from the Jacob/Israel to the Babylon level, or even to Perdition, on the other hand, ensures one's damnation.
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