Isaiah, Jeremiah, and

Lamentations
© John Stevenson, 2012
 Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus,
Pentateuch Numbers, Deuteronomy
Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1-2
Historical
Samuel, 1-2 Kings, 1-2 Chronicles,
Books Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther
Poetic Job, Psalms, Proverbs,
Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon
Books
Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations,
Ezekiel, Daniel, Hosea, Joel,
Prophetic Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah,
Books Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah,
Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi
2000 - 1500 1500 - 1000 1000 - 500
Period of the Exodus Judges Kings of Israel

Return
Patriarchs and and Judah
Sinai
Torah Historical Books
Poetic Books
Prophetic
Books
What is a Prophet?
• They functioned as Preachers
• They functioned as Predictors
• Prophet versus Priest
Jeremiah 18:1-3
The word which
came to Jeremiah from
the LORD saying, 2 “Arise
and go down to the
potter’s house, and there I
shall announce My words
to you.”
3 Then I went down to

the potter's house, and

there he was, making
something on the wheel.
 Jeremiah 18:4
But the vessel that he was making
of clay was spoiled in the hand of the
potter; so he remade it into another
vessel, as it pleased the potter to make.
 Jeremiah 18:5-6
Then the word of the LORD came
to me saying, 6 “Can I not, O house of
Israel, deal with you as this potter
does?” declares the LORD. “Behold,
like the clay in the potter’s hand, so are
you in My hand, O house of Israel.”
 Jeremiah 18:7-8
At one moment I might speak
concerning a nation or concerning a
kingdom to uproot, to pull down, or to
destroy it; 8 if that nation against which I
have spoken turns from its evil, I will
relent concerning the calamity I planned
to bring on it.
 Jeremiah 18:9-10
Or at another moment I might
speak concerning a nation or concern-
ing a kingdom to build up or to plant it; 10
if it does evil in My sight by not obeying
My voice, then I will think better of the
good with which I had promised to bless
it.
Prediction Contingency Fulfillment
If I speak
If they turn I will relent
concerning
from their of the
a nation to
evil calamity
destroy it

If I speak
If they do I will think
concerning
evil and do better of
a nation to
not obey the good
plant it
• 2 Samuel 12:22. “…for I said, ‘Who
knows, the LORD may be gracious to me,
that the child may live.’”
• Jonah 3:9. “Who knows, God may turn
and relent and withdraw His burning anger
so that we will not perish.”
• Joel 2:14. Who knows whether He will
not turn and relent and leave a blessing
behind Him
• Conditional Predictions: “If… then”
clauses
• Unqualified Predictions
• Confirmed Predictions
• Sworn Predictions
“Come now, and let us reason together,”
Says the LORD,
“Though your sins are as scarlet,
They will be as white as snow;
Though they are red like crimson,
They will be like wool.” (Isaiah 1:18)
“If you consent and obey,
You will eat the best of the land;
20 But if you refuse and rebel,

You will be devoured by the sword.”

Truly, the mouth of the LORD has spoken.
(Isaiah 1:18-20).
Then Jonah began to
go through the city one
day’s walk; and he
cried out and said, “Yet
forty days and Nineveh
will be overthrown.”
(Jonah 3:4).
Then the LORD
answered me and said,
“Record the vision
And inscribe it on tablets,
That the one who reads it
may run.” (Habakkuk
2:2).
“For the vision is yet for the appointed
time;
It hastens toward the goal and it will not
fail.
Though it tarries, wait for it;
For it will certainly come, it will not delay.
(Habakkuk 2:3).
“Turn to Me and be saved, all the ends of
the earth;
For I am God, and there is no other.
23 I have sworn by Myself,

The word has gone forth from My mouth in

righteousness
And will not turn back,
That to Me every knee will bow, every
tongue will swear allegiance.” (Isaiah
45:22-23).
The Old Testament Gospel
 The Bible Isaiah
Old Testament: 39 Books Judgment: 39 Chapters
New Testament: 27 Books Comfort: 27 Chapters

Total Books: 66 Books Total: 66 Chapters

 Chapters 1-35 Chapters 36-39 Chapters 40-66

Judgments in the Historical Glory in the

Present Interlude Future

The Comfort of
The Judgment of God
God

Messiah the
Messiah the Judge
Servant
God’s Government God’s Grace
A throne (6:1) A lamb (53:6)
 The World of Isaiah’s Day
Northern Kingdom Ends !

740 735 716 697 687

Uzziah Ahaz Hezekiah Manassah

Jotham

Ministry of Isaiah

Amos Ministry of Micah Nahum

Ministry of Hosea
 Isaiah 1
A Microcosm of the Entire Book of
Isaiah
Isaiah 1:1 Genesis 1:1 Deuteronomy 32:1
Listen, O In the beginning God Give ear, O heavens, and let
heavens, and created the heavens me speak; and let the earth
hear, O earth and the earth hear the words of my mouth
 Isaiah 1:2-3
2 Listen, O heavens, and hear, O earth;
For the LORD speaks,
“Sons I have reared and brought up,
But they have revolted against Me.
3 An ox knows its owner,

And a donkey its master's manger,

But Israel does not know,
My people do not understand.”
 Isaiah 1:4
Alas, sinful nation,
People weighed down with iniquity,
Offspring of evildoers, Literally “Seed of
Evil Ones.”
Sons who act corruptly!
They have abandoned the Lord,
They have despised the Holy One of
Israel,
They have turned away from Him.
 Isaiah 1:10
Hear the word of the LORD,
You rulers of Sodom;
Give ear to the instruction of our God,
You people of Gomorrah.
 Isaiah 1:11
"What are your multiplied sacrifices to
Me?” says the LORD.
"I have had enough of burnt offerings
of rams,
And the fat of fed cattle.
And I take no pleasure in the blood of
bulls, lambs, or goats.
 Isaiah 1:21
How the faithful city has become a
harlot,
She who was full of justice!
Righteousness once lodged in her,
But now murderers.
 Isaiah 1:26-27
26 Then I will restore your judges as
at the first,
And your counselors as at the
beginning;
After that you will be called the city
of righteousness, A faithful city."
27 Zion will be redeemed with justice

And her repentant ones with

righteousness.
 Isaiah 6:1
In the year of King Uzziah’s
death, I saw the Lord sitting on a
throne, lofty and exalted, with the
train of His robe filling the temple.
 Isaiah 6:2-4
Seraphim stood above Him, each
having six wings; with two he covered
his face, and with two he covered his
feet, and with two he flew. 3 And one
called out to another and said, “Holy,
Holy, Holy, is the LORD of hosts, The
whole earth is full of His glory.” 4 And
the foundations of the thresholds
trembled at the voice of him who called
out, while the temple was filling with
smoke.
 Isaiah 6:5
Then I said, “Woe is me, for I am
ruined! Because I am a man of unclean
lips, And I live among a people of
unclean lips; For my eyes have seen
the King, the LORD of hosts.”
 Isaiah 6:6-7
Then one of the seraphim flew to
me, with a burning coal in his hand
which he had taken from the altar with
tongs. 7 And he touched my mouth
with it and said, “Behold, this has
touched your lips; and your iniquity is
taken away, and your sin is forgiven.”
 Isaiah 6:8
Then I heard the voice of the
Lord, saying, “Whom shall I send, and
who will go for Us?” Then I said, “Here
am I. Send me!”
 Child Motif
• Shear-jashub (Isaiah 7:3)
• Immanu-el (Isaiah 7:14; 8:8)
• Maher-shalal-hash-baz (Isaiah
8:3)
• Isaiah’s children (Isaiah 8:18)
• The Royal Child (Isaiah 9:6-7).
 Now it came about in
the days of Ahaz, the
son of Jotham, the son
of Uzziah, king of
Judah, that Rezin the
king of Aram and
Pekah the son of
Remaliah, king of
Israel, went up to
Jerusalem to wage war
against it, but could not
conquer it. (Isaiah 7:1)
When it was reported
to the house of
David, saying, “The
Arameans have
camped in Ephraim,”
his heart and the
hearts of his people
shook as the trees of
the forest shake with
the wind.
(Isaiah 7:2)
 Isaiah 7:3
Then the LORD
said to Isaiah, “Go
out now to meet
Ahaz, you and your
son Shear-jashub, at
the end of the
conduit of the upper
pool, on the highway
to the fuller’s field,
 Isaiah 7:4
“…and say to him, ‘Take care and be
calm, have no fear and do not be
fainthearted because of these two
stubs of smoldering firebrands, on
account of the fierce anger of Rezin
and Aram and the son of Remaliah.’”
 Isaiah 7:5-7
Because Aram, with Ephraim and
the son of Remaliah, has planned evil
against you, saying, 6 “Let us go up
against Judah and terrorize it, and
make for ourselves a breach in its
walls and set up the son of Tabeel as
king in the midst of it,” 7 thus says the
Lord GOD: “It shall not stand nor shall
it come to pass.”
For the head of Aram
is Damascus and the
head of Damascus is
Rezin (now within
another 65 years
Ephraim will be
shattered, so that it is
no longer a people)…
(Isaiah 7:8)
 Isaiah 7:10-12
Then the LORD spoke again to
Ahaz, saying, 11 “Ask a sign for
yourself from the LORD your God;
make it deep as Sheol or high as
heaven.” 12 But Ahaz said, “I will not
ask, nor will I test the LORD!”
 Isaiah 7:13
Then he said, “Listen now, O
house of David! Is it too slight a thing
for you to try the patience of men,
that you will try the patience of my
God as well?
 Isaiah 7:14-16
Therefore the Lord Himself will
give you a sign: Behold, a virgin will be
with child and bear a son, and she will
call His name Immanuel. 15 He will eat
curds and honey at the time He knows
enough to refuse evil and choose
good. 16 For before the boy will know
enough to refuse evil and choose
good, the land whose two kings you
dread will be forsaken.
 Isaiah 7:14
Partial Ultimate
Fulfillment Fulfillment
Seen in Isaiah's day Seen in Jesus who
with a young woman was born of a virgin
who gave birth to a and who is "God with
son us"
Woes of Judgment against Judah (1-5)

A Son and A Song of Salvation (6-12)

Woes to the Nations.
Babylon (13:1 - 14:23).
Assyria (14:24-27).
Philistia (14:28-32).
Moab (15-16).
Damascus (17).
Cush (18).
Egypt and Cush (19-20).
Babylon (21:1-10).
Edom (21:11-12).
Arabia (21:13-17)
Jerusalem (22).
Tyre (23).
A warning (24).
A Song of Salvation (25-27)

Woes of Judgment (28-35)

Historical Interlude
Isaiah 36-39
 Isaiah Isaiah Isaiah Isaiah
1-35 36-37 38-39 40-66
Messages Invasion Hezekiah Messages
for Israel of the faces for Israel
under Assyrians death & looking
Assyrian Babylon ahead to
Babylon &
struggle Persia
Historical Section
Prophecy Prophecy
Judgment Comfort
 Isaiah 40:1-2
“Comfort, O comfort My people,” says
your God.
2 “Speak kindly to Jerusalem;

And call out to her, that her warfare has

ended,
That her iniquity has been removed,
That she has received of the LORD’S
hand
Double for all her sins.”
 Isaiah 40:3
A voice is calling,
“Clear the way for the LORD in the
wilderness;
Make smooth in the desert a highway for
our God.”
 Isaiah 40:4-5
Let every valley be lifted up,
And every mountain and hill be made
low;
And let the rough ground become a plain,
And the rugged terrain a broad valley;
5 Then the glory of the LORD will be

revealed,
And all flesh will see it together;
For the mouth of the LORD has spoken.
Behold, My Servant, whom I
uphold;
My chosen one in whom My soul
delights.
I have put My Spirit upon Him;
He will bring forth justice to the
nations.
2 He will not cry out or raise His

voice,
Nor make His voice heard in the
street. (Isaiah 42:1-2).
A bruised reed He will not break
And a dimly burning wick He will
not extinguish;
He will faithfully bring forth
justice.
4 He will not be disheartened or

crushed
Until He has established justice
in the earth;
And the coastlands will wait
expectantly for His law. (Isaiah
42:3-4).
• Look through Isaiah
52:13 – 53:12 and
note the parallels to
the ministry of Jesus.
• What are the needs of Isaiah’s
readers that are underscored and
how are those needs met in the
Servant of the Lord?
The Weeping Prophet
 Isaiah Jeremiah
Saw the Northern Saw the Southern
Kingdom of Israel Kingdom of Judah
taken into Captivity at taken into Captivity at
the hands of Assyria the hands of Babylon
Foretold of the Explained the reasons
judgments that would for the judgments
come in the future Judah was
experiencing
Looks primarily to the Looks primarily to the
future present
 Isaiah Jeremiah
Bold and fearless Gentle and
compassionate
Was married to a Was commanded not
prophetess and had to take a wife or have
children with prophetic any children
names
  Carchemish

Babylon
Nebuchadnezzar
Jerusalem

Pharaoh
Neco
 Josiah dies at
Megiddo and
is replaced
 Megiddo
by his son
Jehoahaz

 Jerusalem
(Josiah)

Pharaoh
Neco
 Chapters Chapters Chapter
Chapter 1 Chapters 2-20
21-45 46-51 52
Prologue From Josiah to From Oracles Epilogue
the first year of Josiah’s to the
Call of Fall of
Nebuchadnezzar sons to the Nations
Jeremiah Jerusalem
Captivity
Judgment against Judah Nations
Call of Jeremiah (1)
Prophecies of Judah & Jerusalem (2-35)
Prior to the fall of Jerusalem (36-38)
Historical
The fall of Jerusalem (39)
Narrative
After the fall of Jerusalem (40-45)
Prophecies of other nations (46-51)
Fall of Jerusalem (52)
 Jeremiah 1:4-5
Now the word of the LORD came to
me saying, 5 "Before I formed you in the
womb I knew you, And before you were
born I consecrated you; I have appointed
you a prophet to the nations."
 Jeremiah 1:6-8
Then I said, "Alas, Lord God!
Behold, I do not know how to speak,
Because I am a youth."
7 But the LORD said to me, "Do not
say, 'I am a youth,' Because everywhere
I send you, you shall go, And all that I
command you, you shall speak. 8 Do
not be afraid of them, For I am with you
to deliver you," declares the LORD.
 Jeremiah 1:9-10
9 Then the LORD stretched out His
hand and touched my mouth, and the
LORD said to me, "Behold, I have put
My words in your mouth.
10 "See, I have appointed you this day
over the nations and over the kingdoms,
To pluck up and to break down,
To destroy and to overthrow,
To build and to plant."
 Jeremiah 5:1
Roam to and fro through the streets of
Jerusalem,
And look now, and take note.
And seek in her open squares,
If you can find a man,
If there is one who does justice, who
seeks truth,
Then I will pardon her.
 Jeremiah 29:10
"For thus says the LORD,
'When seventy years have been
completed for Babylon,
I will visit you and fulfill
My good word to you, to bring you
back to this place.
 70 Years
605 B.C. Includes Inaugral and 538 B.C.
Terminus year

1st Deportation by Return to land under

Nebuchadnezzar Cyrus & Feast of Booths
(Daniel taken to Celebrated at New Year
Babylon)
597 B.C.

2nd Deportation
(Ezekiel taken)
70 Years
586 B.C. Not including Inaugral 515 B.C.
or Terminus year

Temple Destroyed Temple

at 3rd Deportation Completed
 Jeremiah 32:6-7
And Jeremiah said, "The word of the
LORD came to me, saying, 7 'Behold, Hanamel
the son of Shallum your uncle is coming to
you, saying, "Buy for yourself my field which is
at Anathoth, for you have the right of
redemption to buy it."'
 Jeremiah 31:31-32
“Behold, days are coming,”
declares the LORD, “when I will make a
new covenant with the house of Israel
and with the house of Judah, 32 not like
the covenant which I made with their
fathers in the day I took them by the
hand to bring them out of the land of
Egypt, My covenant which they broke,
although I was a husband to them,”
declares the LORD.
 Jeremiah 31:33
“But this is the covenant which I
will make with the house of Israel after
those days," declares the LORD, “I will
put My law within them, and on their
heart I will write it; and I will be their
God, and they shall be My people.
 Jeremiah 31:34
And they shall not teach again,
each man his neighbor and each man
his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ for
they shall all know Me, from the least of
them to the greatest of them,” declares
the LORD, “for I will forgive their iniquity,
and their sin I will remember no more.”
 Old New
Covenant Covenant

Jerusalem Church

Let us go up to Go unto all the

the house of the world and make
Lord disciples of the
nations
Lamentations
The Song of Sorrow
 Lamentations
Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5
3rd person plural 1st person 1st person plural (“we”)
(“they”) singular (“I”)
Each verse begins with Each line Each verse No acrostic
an acrostic begins with begins with
an acrostic an acrostic
Writer addresses himself to his readers Writer prays
to God
Lamentations 3:40-42
Let us examine and probe our ways,
And let us return to the LORD.
We lift up our heart and hands
Toward God in heaven;
We have transgressed and rebelled,
Thou hast not pardoned.
Lessons from Lamentations
• God is Sovereign over the affairs of
men
• Sin brings forth tragic consequences
• There is hope in the darkness