Isaiah’s conceptualization of Zion as a safe place appears from more than forty instances of the name “Zion” in his prophecy. Each is accompanied by depictions of the destruction of wicked entities and the deliverance of righteous ones at the presence of an intercessory figure such as a Davidic king. The latter, however, may appear under any one of a number of personas, pseudonyms, or aliases that identify either God’s end-time servant or Israel’s God himself.
A key instance of Zion ideology in the Book of Isaiah serves as the historical type of an end-time destruction of the wicked and deliverance of the righteous at the presence of a Davidic king. When Assyria laid siege to Jerusalem with an army of 185,000 men in Isaiah’s day, King Hezekiah interceded with Israel’s God on behalf of his people. In response, God sent an angel who destroyed the Assyrian host, foreshadowing what would repeat itself in the end-time.
God destroys the wicked of his people and the nations (Isaiah 1–39)
A Davidic king intercedes on behalf a repentant remnant (Isaiah 36–38)
God delivers the righteous of his people and the nations (Isaiah 40–66)
This triangulation of ideas may derive from Jebusite ideology. Under its tenets, a king such as Melchizedek acts as surety for his people’s divine protection when they keep his law and he keeps God’s law. Isaiah replicates this formula for obtaining God’s protection in the face of a mortal threat under the terms of the Davidic Covenant: when a proxy savior—God’s vassal—answers for his people’s disloyalties to God—their emperor—God delivers them.
Examples of Zion ideology in the following passages depict proxy saviors who typify God’s servant David at end-time “Assyria’s” siege: (1) King Hezekiah—after he had interceded with Israel’s God at ancient Assyria’s siege of Jerusalem (cf. Isaiah 37:14–20):; (2) a “flying seraph,” a messianic term that represents God’s end-time servant; and (3) “Righteousness,” a pseudonym or alias of God’s servant (cf. Isaiah 41:2). A fourth example features Jehovah as Savior-King.
(1) King Hezekiah, a type of an end-time David
Isaiah 37:32–36Out of Jerusalem shall go a remnant,
and from Mount Zion a band of survivors.
The zeal of Jehovah of Hosts will accomplish it.
Therefore, thus says Jehovah
concerning the king of Assyria:
He shall not enter this city or shoot an arrow here.
He shall not advance against it with armor,
nor erect siegeworks against it.By the way he came he shall return;
he shall not enter this city, says Jehovah.
I will protect this city and save it,
for my own sake
and for the sake of my servant David.
Then the angel of Jehovah went out
and slew a hundred and eighty-five thousand
in the Assyrian camp.
And when men arose in the morning,
there lay all their dead bodies!
(2) A “flying seraph,” a type of God’s end-time servant
Isaiah 14:28–32Rejoice not, all you Philistines,
now that the rod which struck you is broken.
From among the descendants of that snake
shall spring up a viper,
and his offspring shall be a flying seraph.
The elect poor shall have pasture,
and the needy recline in safety.
But your descendants I will kill with famine,
and your survivors shall be slain.Wail at the gates; howl in the cities!
Utterly melt away, you Philistines!
From the North shall come [pillars of] smoke,
and no place he has designated shall be left out.
What shall then be told the envoys of the nation?
Jehovah has founded Zion;
let his long suffering people find refuge there.
(3) Righteousness, a pseudonym of God’s servant
Isaiah 1:26–28I will restore your judges as at the first,
and your counsellors as in the beginning.
After this you shall be called
the City of Righteousness, a faithful city.
For Zion shall be ransomed by justice,
those of her who repent by righteousness.
But criminals and sinners
shall be altogether shattered
when those who forsake Jehovah are annihilated.
(4) Jehovah, the God and Savior-King of Israel
Isaiah 24:21–23In that day will Jehovah deal on high
with the hosts on high
and on earth with the rulers of the earth.
They shall be herded together
like prisoners to a dungeon
and shut in confinement many days, as punishment.
The moon will blush and the sun be put to shame,
when Jehovah of Hosts manifests his reign
in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem,
and [his] glory in the presence of his elders.