Isaiah: Holy, holy holy!
Hymn 120, 160, 400
Unity Issue: 1-39; 40-55 (Second or Deutero Isaiah) ; 56-66
First raised by Ibn Ezra in 1167
Modern discussion begun by J.C. Diderlein 1775 and J.G. Eichhorn 1783. 1892, B. Duhm identifies Third Isaiah.
Historical argument 1) 43:14; 48:20 addresses exiles in Babylon 2) 44:26-28; 49:14-23 Jerusalem has been destroyed and awaits reconstruction
Literary argument 1) the Isaiah of Jerusalem is cryptic and biographical 2) Deutero Isaiah is expansive, solemn and lyrical
Thematic argument: 1) 1 Isaiah chastises and calls for punishment 2) Deutero Isaiah offers consolation
Treatment of Foreign nations 1) I Isaiah treats them as tempters to apostasy 2) 2 Isaiah treats them as agents of salvation
Historical Context of I Isaiah
Judah is confronted with a series of crises. Knowledge of the people's response to these crises helps the modern reader understand the significance of Isaiah's call to put one's trust in the strength of the Lord. Given that those who live by the sword die by the sword, we might as well beat our swords into plough shares.
Uzziah 783-742 marks a period of prosperity and military strength. In contrast to the north, there seems to be an equitable distribution of wealth.
Things fall apart: Uzziah attempts to usurp the authority of the priesthood and gets leprosy. Assyria invades Syria. An anti-Assyrian league forms but King Ahaz refuses to join.
Crisis 1: The Anti-Assyrian League lays siege to Jerusalem
Edom and Philistia annex territory in the south. Judah is in a state of Panic - Is 7:1-12 gives words of comfort.
Judah turns to Assyria for help and surrenders its independence to Tiglath Pileser. Tiglath Pileser commits a violation of the laws of sanctified property, 2 Kings 16:8.
Overview of Mesopotamian History and Culture
Syllabus for course at Saint John's with links too sites on the Ancient World
Compton Encyclopia's excellent brief account of the History of Babylon, Assyria and Chaldea
In the North, Hoshea with the support of Egypt stops paying the tribute to Assyria when Tiglath Pileser dies.
Egypt backs out of the agreement.
Crisis 2: 722 Sargon II conquers the Northern Kingdom.
Artist's reconstruction of citadel Archaeological find Reconstructed gate
NBC account of Sargon II 722-705
Hezekiah comes to the throne in Jerusalem and purges the temple of Avodah Zara (strange worship).
Visit an interesting web site on the First Temple that includes pictures of Hezekiah's Tunnel
Crisis 3: 713-711 Ashdod and Philistia allie with Egypt who is also backed by Ethiopia. They invite Judah to join the rebellion.
Isaiah points out the irony of Judah seeking Egypt's friendship 18:1-2; 30:7, and Hezekah listens to him.
Crisis 4: Hezekiah allies with Babylon
Isaiah 38:5-7 Judah looks to her eventual destroyer for protection
Crisis 5: Judah once again seeks the support of the Egyptians. Perhaps Isaiah's prophecy in 22:8b that Judah looks to weapons not the the Lord belongs in this context. Judah acts as though there were no Lord. 29:15-16
Crisis 6: Sennacherib in 701 invades Judah and sets up camp in Lachish and awaits surrender.
A disasterous pestilence spreads through the Assyrian camp and the army returns to Ninevah.
Read Lord Byron's poem, The Destruction of Sennacherib
Judah remains a quiet vassel of the Assyrians until the Babylonians destroy Ninevah.
Read the narrative section Isaiah 36-39 carefully. The refrain of "trust in the Lord" that runs throughout Isaiah is underscored by the taunts of Rabshakeh, the Assyrian general, and the words of Isaiah. Other important, albeit inchoate, themes appears in Hezekiah's prayer: true monotheism and creation theology. These are closely related themes.
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What is Isaiah's message in this historical context? The metaphor of parent and child is significant in this context. Judah, like the recalcitrant teenager, asserts her independence from God and, when she gets into trouble, thinks that she can get herself out of trouble. God, like a parent, calls his child to talk to him. God calls Judah to trust in his protective power. The forces of Assyria are treated as a punitive agent with set limits. The images in Is 28:23-29 underscore that God does not punish to destroy but to heal.
Chapter 1 culminates in verses 18-20: Come now, let us argue it out.
The problems are the same old story - oppression of the poor, idolatry, but these are symptoms of a greater problem: Israel's failure to trust in God's power.
Vision of the consequence: 2:9-22 esp. 19-22
Chapter 3 a picture of the desperate clining to human power (3:6).
3:25 Your men shall fall by the sword; your warriors in battle. (Does this remind you of another saying?) Judah has made a covenant with death (Is 28:15).
The alternate vision: 11:1-9 The Peacable Kingdom
Edward Hicks, The Peacable Kingdom
Isaiah weaves together a picture of God as the Rock and God as the Gardener. The metaphor of the garden seems to be an allusion to Eden.
5:1-2 Let me sing for my beloved my love-song concerning his vineyard; My beloved had a vineyard on a very fertile hill. He dug it and cleared it of stones, and planted it with choice vines; he built a watchtower in the midst of it, and hewed out a wine vat in it he expected it to yield grapes, and it yielded wild grapes.
12:2 Surely God is my salvation; I will trust, and not be afraid, for the Lord God is my strength and my might; he has become my salvation. (This passage is probably the central assertion of Isaiah's prophecy.)
17:10-11 For you have forgotten the God of your salvation, and have not remembered the Rock of your refuge; therefore, though you plant pleasant plants and set out slips of an alien god, though you make them grow on the day that you plant them, and make them blossom in the morning that you sow; yet the harest will flee away in a day of grief and incurable pain.
27:2-5 On that day: A pleasant vineyard, sing about it! I, the Lord, am its keeper; every moment I water it. I guard it night and day so that no one can harm it; I have no wrath. If it give me thorns and briers, I will march to battle against it. I will burn it up. Or else let it cling to me for protection, let it make peace with me, let it make peace with me.
At a number of points in First Isaiah, a sort of theology that will become full blown in Second Isaiah begins to emerge.
The image of restoration in Is 11:6-9 hearkens back to creation. The image of God's enemies is drawn from ANE creation myths. In Is 27:1 he slays Leviathan and in Is 30:7, Egypt is called Rahab.
God's authority stems from his role as creator rather than from the covenant (17:7-8 "on that day, people will regard their maker").
The oracles against the nations end, not with their total destruction, but with the destruction of their altars and with worship of God (19:23; 23:17-18).
Isaiah envisions the universal authority of God. 27:6.
Isaiah and Holiness
The images of the garden are blended with images of the Temple. For Isaiah, God's righteousness, his presence, his authority, is associated with the Temple in Jerusalem.
Cherubim - what they don't look like. Cherubim - what they really look like (scroll down).
28:15-17 ...we have made lies our refuge and in falsehood we have taken shelter, therefore thus says the Lord God, "See, I am laying in Zion a foundation stone, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone,a sure foundation." "One who trust will not panic." "And I will make justice the line, and righteousness the plummet; hail will sweep away the refuge of lies, and waters will overwhelm the shelter."
The Image of the Rock must be connected to the Temple. Isaiah calls God the Holy One of Israel. His emphasis upon the Temple on Mount Zion and the theme of Holiness resounds throughout his prophetic message.
Was Isaiah a priest?
Holiness is the central theme in the inaugural vision. (cf. Is 8:12; 29:23 on consciousness of gulf between the divine and humanity) This is tied to Isaiah's concern that we not reduce God to the level of a creation.
Isaiah contains a vision of the ingathering of the nations and the universalization of holiness 2:2-4 and Israel as the holy remnant that purifies and consecrates 4:2-6; 5:16-25; 10:20-23; 11:10-11; 18:7; 25:6-10
Isaiah presents a vision of the present and future that depends upon his notion of holiness. Israel has sinned and has become unclean, unworthy of approaching God. In the coming Assyrian invasion, Israel will become a sacrifice. Those who survive will be a holy remainder. This group will be responsible for demonstrating God's holiness to the nations. The nations will respond by coming to God's holy mountain to worship God.
The Messiah
7:14 the sign of the young woman and Immanuel 'al mah -- LXX oarthenos, Vulgate virgo (Hebrew vigin = betulah)
9:6 the prince of peace = fulfillment of 2 Sam 7:12-16
11:1 Shoot of Jesse
35:5 restoration imagery
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Rather than treating these tests simply as a prophetic witness to Jesus, we should recognize that they provide us with important clues to how the New Testament writers and the early church understood Jesus.
Jesus replaces the Temple. (Ephesians 2:20; 1 Peter 2.5; Gal 2:9; Matt 26:61; John 2:20; 1 Cor 3:11, 16; 6:19).
