Isaiah presents historical events out of order and sets them beside future prophecy without obvious distinction. Alfred Martin tells the reader which is which. Read more.
Prophecy can be confusing, and Isaiah is the hardest case: historical events are presented out of order and placed directly beside future prophecies without any obvious distinction between the two, and the book is full of symbols like the sprout from the root of Jesse.
What a reader needs is a guide - someone to say what is historic and what is prophetic and to explain the symbolism clearly. Alfred Martin does that across the whole book in the Everyday Bible Commentary series, which is written for the ordinary reader rather than the student.
