The book of Isaiah is the first of the books of the prophets. Isaiah's ministry, which began in 760 B.C., lasted more than sixty years. He served four generations of kings. History tells us that he was martyred in a very cruel way by being sawn in two (Heb. 11:37). He was utterly faithful.
Isaiah's prophecy has a spiritual essence, and the essence is this: The Christ processed for the divine purposes being the centrality and the universality of the great wheel of the move of the Divine Trinity for the divine dispensing of Himself into His elect. Although the term great wheel cannot be found in Isaiah, this book does in fact speak of the great wheel of the move of the Divine Trinity. Each of the books of prophecy unveils a part of God's universal move. Whereas Ezekiel uses the word wheel to describe God's universal move on earth for the fulfillment of His eternal economy (Ezek. 1:15), Isaiah takes the lead to prophesy concerning God's move.
The book of Isaiah is full of the aspects of God's eternal economy. This book shows us how God, for the fulfillment of His eternal economy, has chosen a people, Israel, to be His elect and His beloved. Around Israel are the Gentile nations. In a sense, Israel has been chosen by God, and the nations have been set aside by Him. Nevertheless, in His move God cannot neglect the nations. Therefore, both Israel, God's chosen and beloved people, and the nations are very much involved in Isaiah's prophecy.
It is not easy for us to know any book of the Bible. In the New Testament, the most difficult book to enter into and to understand is Ephesians. In the Old Testament, the most difficult book to enter into and to understand is Isaiah. As a book concerning God's economy, Isaiah has its appearance, contents, and depths. Furthermore, this book involves God's dealing with many nations for a definite purpose. Thus, it is hard for us to enter into this book.
The book of Isaiah, which has sixty-six chapters, is a representative of the Bible, which has sixty-six books. In these messages on the book of Isaiah, we will not cover this book chapter by chapter and verse by verse, for this would lead us into a "forest." We will cover Isaiah in the way of a life-study, not for knowledge or theology but for life.
The best way to study Isaiah is to learn the secret and mysterious points of this book. Many of these secret points are related to Christ. Every aspect of what Christ is and of what He has done, is doing, and will do involves a secret. Some of these secrets are in Isaiah 7:14 and 9:6; others are in chapter fifty-three. In this book, there are secrets even concerning Babylon. When we get into all the secret and mysterious points in Isaiah, the whole book is open to us.