SUNDAY-SCHOOL

There are several differences between chapters 40-66 and chapters 1-39 of Isaiah. Chapters 1-39 focus on God's judgment on Israel, Judah, and the nations. Assyria is both the dominant power and God's instrument of judgment in these chapters. Eventually though, Assyria received judgment for its own sins. Chapters 40-66, by contrast, focus on the return from Babylon, the land of Judah's exile. These chapters are full of hope and the promise of redemption, and the language in these chapters reflects that different tone... Because of the change in tone and the fact that chapters 40-66 predict future events that were to unfold after Isaiah's lifetime, some scholars have speculated that someone other than the prophet Isaiah wrote these chapters. When all the evidence is weighed and measured, however, the only reason to reject the idea that Isaiah was the writer is an anti-supernatural bias. For those of us who believe God knows the future and revealed this information to His prophets for..