Isaiah's vision

“The vision concerning Judah and Jerusalem that Isaiah son of Amoz saw during the reigns of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.” Isaiah 1:1
This verse is one that we might normally skim over when reading a book, but it caught my attention. In particular, one word caught my attention: ‘vision’. It is ‘the vision’, singular; not ‘the visions’, plural. The book of Isaiah, with its 66 chapters, is one unified vision, even though it spanned many years, from Uzziah through to Hezekiah – at least 55 years.* It is the vision of God’s plan. In the book of Isaiah we see the first and second comings of Jesus Christ (Isa. 7:14, Isa. 66). We see His death and resurrection (Isa. 53). We see Israel’s unfaithfulness, and salvation being extended to the Gentiles (Isa. 49:22). This is all unified in God’s plan for history. (A similar truth applies to the book of Revelation. It is not ‘the book of Revelations’ as many say; it is the Revelation of Jesus Christ, coming in glory, one unified vision that John was given.)
In fact, one of the most astounding things about the Bible as a whole is the unity of every book and every chapter. Even though it was written over a period of 2000 years by more than forty different people, the consistency of its message is testament to God being its author. Let us never take the Bible for granted!

* Isaiah probably started ministering late in Uzziah’s reign (Isa. 6:1), Jotham and Ahaz reigned for 16 years each (2 Chr. 27:1, 2 Chr. 28:1), and he ministered right through Hezekiah’s reign (2 Kin. 20) until Hezekiah’s son Manasseh came into power (there is a tradition that Manasseh killed Isaiah by cutting him in half, which may be what Heb. 11:37 alludes to).