The Resurrection Hope (25:6-8; 26:13-19).

        There is little clear teaching on the resurrection in the Old Testament, this passage being one of the earliest. In 25:6-8 we have the abolition of death for all peoples, but it does not extend further than the living at the setting up of the kingdom of God. In 26:13f there is the guarantee that the oppressors of Israel are gone for ever, never to rise. But then in 26:16-19 comes the promise that Israel’s dead will arise. Further Isaiah was not permitted to see; and it seems that his con­temporaries were not able to grasp his message (cf. 38:18f). This may have been partly due to the obscurity of the language, partly perhaps to its restriction to his own inner circle.