Isaiah was witness to one of the most turbulent periods in Jerusalem's history, from both the political and the religious standpoint. His status enabled him to take an active part in events, and in some cases to guide them. His relations with the senior members of the royal house, as described in the Bible, and the fact that he had free access to the palace, together with the complex linguistic style of his prophecies, suggest that he belonged to the Jerusalem aristocracy.  This, though, did not prevent him from being an outspoken mouthpiece of the common people, who were being victimized by the rampant corruption of the ruling class:

Isaiah was the most "political" of the prophets. In the face of Assyrian expansionism he counseled a passive political and military approach. He put his faith in divine salvation, which would certainly follow from a necessary change in the moral leadership and in the people's spiritual tenacity. Every "earthly" attempt to alter the course of events was foredoomed, since the mighty Assyria was no more than a "rod" in God's hands with which to punish the sins of Jerusalem: 

When the comprehensive religious reforms introduced by King Hezekiah seemed, at first, to justify the hopes held out for him by Isaiah, the prophet supported him in the difficult moments of the Assyrian siege: 

The prophetic vision that affirmed principles of absolute justice and morality emerged in the Jerusalem of the First Temple period.  Isaiah is the most "political" of all the prophets.  Confronted by the powerful expansionist Assyrian empire, Isaiah counseled a passive political and military response.  He put his faith in divine salvation, which he declared would certainly come, if the nation's leaders made the necessary changes in their moral leadership and in the people's spiritual tenacity.  Isaiah emphasized the concept of historical linearity, which maintains that the flawed present, with its rampant suffering and injustice, will ultimately undergo a radical metamorphosis, and that finally absolute justice, peace, harmony, and spiritual awareness will prevail.

Although he stood by King Hezekiah, Isaiah took an unwaveringly dim view of Hezekiah"s attempts to forge alliances with Egypt and with the envoys of the Babylonian king Merodach-baladan, as a wedge against Assyrian expansionism. Such efforts, he said, attested to insufficient faith in the Lord.  Isaiah is also considered the most universal of the prophets and Christian theologians have drawn heavily on Isaiah's prophecies to support their doctrines.