Bible 101 Notes for November 13, 2006—Introduction to Isaiah

Review: Much of this session will be review of Israel’s history from the time of the exodus (1446 B.C.) to the beginning of the conquest (1406 B.C.), the monarchy (Saul the first king in 1050 B.C.), to the split kingdom (930 B.C.), the fall of Israel/Northern Kingdom (722 B.C.), and the final exile of the people of Judah/Southern Kingdom (586 B.C.). All of this history is the backdrop of Isaiah whose time as a prophet spanned the reigns of four kings of Judah: Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah, kings who reigned from 782 to 686 B.C.

Prophets: the office of prophet is Biblical and is found in both the Old and New Testaments. A prophet speaks to the people for God; the priest speaks to God on behalf of the people. Jesus was both; so were Moses and Samuel. The first prophet to kings was Samuel, who was also the last of the judges, a priest, and the man who anointed both Saul and David as God’s chosen kings. Before Samuel, Moses was a prophet, as was Joshua. Miriam (Moses’ sister) was briefly called a prophet, and Deborah, one of the judges, was known to be a prophet. Some nameless prophets appeared in the OT (one told Eli, for example, that his failure to discipline his sons, and the flagrant misuse of the office of priests by his sons would result in death to his family—both he and his sons, and future generations as well would die and not live to old age). Some prophets were known as writing prophets (Isaiah and Jeremiah, for example), some speaking prophets (Elijah and Elisha), a few did both (Moses, Isaiah, Jeremiah, for example). In the Old Testament, the prophetic books begin with Isaiah and are divided into major and minor prophets (the first five prophetic books are longer and are called major: Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel, Daniel; the remaining 12 are called minor prophets: Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahm, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah and Malachi).

New Testament: In the New Testament, after a 400 year silence during which no prophet appeared, John the Baptist became the last of the “Old Testament” prophets fulfilling Malachi 3:1 “See I will send my messenger, who will prepare the way before me. Then suddenly, the Lord you are seeking will come to his temple; the messenger of the covenant whom you desire will come, says the Lord Almighty.” John announces the coming of the long-awaited Messiah, Jesus. Jesus is prophetic in both the sense that he calls people to repentance and he predicts future events. Then the apocalyptic book, Revelation, concludes the New Testament, and reveals events still to come, when Jesus returns for his church, the devil is thrown into the pit, and judgment of all mankind takes place. A new heaven and a new earth, where there will be no more pain and tears, will replace what we now call home.

Deut 18: Deuteronomy is Moses’ farewell speech to the nation in which he teaches the generation about to enter and settle the Promised Land. He reviews the nation’s history, the way God rescued his people from slavery and took them to Mt. Sinai where he gave them the law and a system of worship. Moses then reviews those laws and the offerings, use of the Tabernacle, the holiness code and other means by which people could live in harmony with each other and God. In Deut. 18, he gets to the office of priest—specifically, how they and the Levites were to be supported by the people’s offerings. In the latter half of the chapter (beginning at v. 14), he defines a prophet. This is a critical passage: Moses shows them how to distinguish between a true prophet of God and a false prophet: “You may say to yourselves, ‘How can we know whena message has not been spoken by the Lord?’ If what a prophet proclaims in the name of the Lord does not take place or come true, that is a messsage the Lord has not spoken. That prophet has spoken presumptuously. Do not be afraid of him.” (Deut. 18:21-22). The proof is in the pudding; if the prophet says “it will not rain for three years,” as Elijah did in the time of Ahab, and it does not rain, it is evidence that he spoke for God. It did not rain.

Prophets’ messages: What did a prophet sound like? Not all oracles or statements made by the prophets were predictions of future events, though much of what they said did look into the near or distant future. But often the prophet was to go to the king and the people and say “This is what the Lord says: you have strayed from the covenant; you have disobeyed; you have been unfaithful to me.” Over and over the prophets told the people about their sin, warning them to repent, turn to God in obedience and live within the covenant. If the warning was not heeded, the prophet often spoke of coming punishment: an invading army would kill and/or take captive the people, their crops would be destroyed, a plague could fall on the people.

Acted out: sometimes the prophets acted out their prophecies. We saw that in Elijah’s challenge to the prophets of Baal; it was also true when God asked Jeremiah to buy and wear a linen belt for a few days; then God instructed him to take the belt off and bury it under some rocks. After a period of time, Jeremiah was instructed to go back, dig up the belt, and he found it was in tatters. God used this to symbolize the once intimate relationship he had with Judah—binding the nation to him with a belt. The ruined belt is like the ruined relationship; Judah and Israel defy the Lord’s commands; God will punish both nations severely.

Significance of prophecy: Peter makes it clear in his second epistle: “We [the apostles] did not follow cleverly invented stories when we told you about the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. . . And we have the word of the prophets made more certain, and you will do well to pay attention to it as to a bright light shining in a dark place until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts. Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation. For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.” (II Peter 1:16, 19-21) Peter is emphatic that the Gospel is the fulfillment of prophecy (like that of Isaiah) and that prophecy is evidence of God’s plan. In addition, he makes it clear that not only were he and the other apostles not making up stories about Jesus, but the prophets, too, spoke because God told them to. The question is why did God find it necessary to speak through the prophets? In Isaiah, that question is answered.

First, some background: Isaiah prophesied during the reigns of Uzziah (also known as Azariah), Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah, kings who reigned from 782 to 686 B.C. in Judah. Israel’s history as a nation began with the call of Abraham in Gen. 12; God asked Abraham to walk by faith to a place God would show him. And God promised that Abraham, a man without any children, would be the father of a great nation. That promise was fulfilled 25 years later when Isaac was born. Isaac had twin sons, Jacob and Esau; each became the father of numerous sons, but it was through Jacob’s 12 sons that God’s promise to build a nation was fulfilled. The 12 tribes spent some time in Egyypt as slaves (400 years) and then, God delivered them, leading them out into the wilderness for a little over a year in which he gave them the law and a system of worship. We saw that instruction given in Exodus and Leviticus, and then in Numbers, the tribes are organized and given jobs and a place to pitch their tents around the Tabernacle. They get their marching orders in Numbers 10, and by Numbers 14, their faith has failed. The 12 spies sent to survey the Promised Land come back with a 10-2 majority believing “we are but grasshoppers in their eyes,” and that the task of conquest is too difficult. And so God adds 38 years to their wilderness experience. The entire generation which came out of Egypt died in the wilderness—all except Joshua and Caleb the two spies who believed the conquest WAS possible because God would fight for Israel. And so in Joshua, the land is conquered, in Judges it’s settled, but in Judges the geographic separation of the people leads to cycles of apostasy and punishment, repentance and deliverance. Finally, Samuel, the last of the judges, becomes the man who anoints the first two kings of Israel, inaugurating the time of the monarchy. So as to time: the exodus occurred in 1446 B.C., the conquest began in 1406 B.C., and Saul was anointed king in 1050 B.C. He reigned for 40 years, and was succeeded by David in 1010 B.C. David united the 12 tribes into a nation with borders almost touching Egypt on the west and stretching to the Euphrates River on the east. With David’s conquest of neighboring nations, his son Solomon inherited a peaceful, prosperous nation. Solomon began to reign in 970 B.C., and built the temple which David designed. But by the end of Solomon’s reign in 930 B.C., there was dissension in the nation, and it divided. Solomon’s son Rehoboam became king over two tribes, Benjamin and Judah in the south, and a man who’d once been on Solomon’s staff became king of the 10 northern tribes. He was Jereboam, and the first thing he did was to set up worship centers in Dan and Bethel so that the Northern tribes would not be tempted to go back to Jerusalem for the three pilgrimage festivals. They’d remain separate, and Jereboam put golden calves into those worship centers, let anyone who wanted to become a priest, and the nation slipped into disobedience. Meanwhile in Judah, a few good kings succeeded Rehoboam, all descendants of David. A total of 39 kings reigned in the two kingdoms; 19 in the North, all bad, and 20 in the south, a handful “good” meaning they were faithful to God. The history of the divided nation comes to an end in stages: in 722 B.C. the northern kingdom is defeated by Assyria, and the nation is emptied of its people. The Assyrians resettle the land with their own people, and then, Assyria threatens the southern kingdom. Isaiah’s prophecies concern this threat. The Assyrian king attacks Jerusalem, but God defeats him during Hezekiah’s reign. Nevertheless, because of all of Judah’s unfaithfulness, in 586 B. C., the nation of Judah is defeated by Babylon, and the people carried into exile. Isaiah prophesies to kings who reign at a time when Israel falls, and when the threat of God’s punishment on Judah is growing loud and clear. Still the southern nation survives for another 150 years, in large part because of the faithfulness of kings like Hezekiah, Josiah, Joash and others.

Prophets in Israel: God sent many prophets to the kings of Israel, the northern kingdom, including Elijah and Elisha. Each confronted both king and people with their sin. They were given the opportunity to turn from sin, repent and reform. But no northern king ever did. Thus we read in II Kings 17, that Israel is defeated by Assyria: “All this took place because the Israelites had sinned against the Lord their God. They worshiped other gods and followed the practices of the nations the Lord had driven out before them, as well as the practices that the kings of Israel had introduced.” (II Kings 17:7-8). God had said through Moses that if the nation was obedient and faithful to the law and to him, they would prosper, but if they were disobedient and unfaithful, they would be punished (Deut. 28).

Isaiah: Isaiah is one of several prophets in Judah, but of the prophets, he’s considered one of the greatest because of his great scope and literary style. The book bearing his name is called “a miniature Bible” containing 66 chapters just as the Bible contains 66 books. The first 39 chapters resemble the 39 OT books in that judgment is the dominant theme; the last 27 chapters resemble the 27 NT books in that their theme is hope and comfort for God’s people. It’s sometimes called the OT gospel, and Isaiah is compared to Paul as a writer of strength and power. Isaiah is the most often quoted writer in the New Testament; more of his prophecies concern the Messiah than those of any other prophet. About Isaiah himself, little is known. We know he was the son of Amoz, he was a priest, married, and had at least two sons (all this is revealed in the book). He was a contemporary of the prophets Amos, Hosea and Micah. Isaiah’s name means “The Lord saves,” appropriate since it is the theme of his message. We know that Isaiah received a dramatic call from God; this he records in ch. 6: “In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seatedon a throne, high and exalted, and the train of his robe filled the temple. . . . ‘Woe is me!’ I cried. ‘I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord almighty.’” And then he hears God saying “Whom shall I send and who will go for us?” And Isaiah answers, “”Here am I. Send me!” God answers: “Go and tell this people. . .” and God reveals his message to Isaiah which he in turn will give to the people. In this chapter, God tells him what his message is, that God will give him the ability to speak and write the message, the time he will prophesy, and God tells him that the people will hear him but won’t respond. It is this section that Jesus quotes in Matt. 13; Jesus tells the parable of the sower and the disciples ask for an explanation. Jesus then quotes Isaiah: “this people are ever hearing but never understanding, ever seeing, but never perceiving. . .” in other words, as their forefathers ignored God and his messengers, so the present generation was ignoring God and his messenger, Jesus, God in the flesh. From the beginning, then, Isaiah knows he’s got a tough job. In fact, a prophet‘s job was risky; no one wanted to hear that they were sinning, displeasing God, and that punishment would follow. Prophets were threatened with bodily harm and death; in fact, tradition says that Isaiah was sawn in half by Manasseh, the prophet’s death referred to in Heb. 11:37, “They were stoned; they were sawed in two; they were put to death by the sword.” The Old Testament, however, does not record the circumstances of Isaiah’s death. It does tells us that Joash, who had brought reform during his reign 835-796 B.C.), had Zechariah the prophet stoned to death because he confronted Joash with his sin (II Chron. 24:21). Nevertheless, prophets like Isaiah boldly confronted kings and people with the state of their spiritual health (or lack of it) and urged repentance. And that is the way the book begins.

Isaiah 1: Notice that Isaiah writes that the content of his prophecy comes from a vision from God, a revelation of God’s diagnosis of the people of Judah and their future if they did not repent. It also involved much more distant events, those of the promised Messiah who would appear 700 years after Isaiah prophesied. In the first verse, he also tells us when he saw these vision, and we can date his ministry from the reigns of those kings (782 to 686 B.C.). In ch. 6, he tells us he begins to prophesy in the year that king Uzziah died, 740 B.C., and he continued until at least the beginning of Manasseh’s reign, 686 B.C. In this first chapter, Isaiah speaks God’s condemnation of Judah, a covenant people who have rebelled against God. Their disobedience and rebellion constitute sin, and God compares them to a sick person, to Sodom and Gomorrah, and Jerusalem is compared to a harlot. God is unhappy, disappointed, grieving over this nation, the people he chose as his own. In addition to their flagrant sin, he condemns them for their hypocrisy: making sacrifices and performing rituals which are without meaning; their hearts are not in their worship. But God is willing to forgive; listen to his plea: “Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord. Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool. If you are willing and obedient, you will eat the best from the land; but if you resist and rebel, you will be devoured by the sword. For the mouth of the Lord as spoken.” (Is. 1:18-20). God promised Solomon in II Chron 7:14 that forgiveness would follow when the people repented; God has not gone back on this promise. But he has not gone back on his word to punish, either.

Next week: We’ll go further into the prophesy of this great prophet.

Homework for those who want to go deeper:

1. Review II Kings 15 to the end of the book for a historic background of the time of Isaiah’s prophecy.

2. Reread Isaiah 1 for its poetic figures of speech: metaphors, similes, imagery. How does God picture his people’s sin? How does he picture their punishment if they do not repent?

3. Read Psalm 50, a psalm that pictures God as judge; relate it to Isaiah 1.