Bible 101 Notes for Nov. 20, 2006—Isaiah 1-5
Review: As we begin our study of prophets, it’s a good idea to keep in mind that prophecy is not just predicting the future, but it also involves “telling it like it is” to the people listening to the prophet in his own time. In other words, if we were to be visited by a prophet whose message included a prediction of World War III and naming the Antichrist emerging from it, we might think “that’s years from now, and it won’t affect me.” But then, the prophet might add: “And today, you need to consider your relationship with God. This society is ripe for punishment; God’s hand is ready to fall on America for its corrupt and immoral culture, its acceptance of filth in entertainment. . .” Further, he might say that those of us who haven’t spoken out against this moral decay need to repent and to begin to pray for the salvation of those who are leading our young people into such false beliefs. Just so, Judah, listening to Isaiah might have felt that though Israel was punished in their defeat by Assyria, their own punishment was years away. The prophets always spoke of more than one time frame—the present and the future; and that future might be near future or distant future, or both. And much of what the prophets said about the present and the future looked back at Israel and Judah’s history—the roots of their present situation. The past was also invoked as a way of showing God’s kindness and mercy in rescuing them from Egypt and from dozens of enemies since.
Code words and metaphors: The prophets’ language often involved code words or phrases. One of them used by Isaiah and subsequent prophets is “The Day of the Lord.” This refers to a time of judgment and/or blessing as God intervenes decisively in the affairs of the nations. So “the day of the Lord” for Judah would be their defeat by Babylon, God’s judgment for their sin. In other prophecies, the “day of the Lord” refers to God’s ultimate judgment of mankind at the time of Christ’s second coming. Isaiah uses several metaphors for the nation of Israel and Judah. In ch. 1, Judah is “the Daughter of Zion”; another is that God’s chosen nation is his vineyard. Jesus used the vineyard metaphor in several of his parables. Isaiah also uses similes. In ch. 1, for example, he compares Judah to “a shelter in a vineyard, a hut in a field of melons, like a city under siege” (v. 8), and later, he compares their sins to scarlet and crimson, but forgiveness to snow and wool, soft and pure (v. 18). A phrase Isaiah uses for God is “The Holy One of Israel,” and it is used 26 times in the book, while only six times in the rest of the OT.
Themes: Within Isaiah there are two dominant themes, the first Judgment and the second Hope. These are essentially the themes of all the prophetic books. First Israel and Judah are confronted with their sins, primarily of disobedience and of breaking their covenant with God. In both Ezekiel and Hosea, this “covenant” is compared to a marriage, and Israel and Judah have been prostitutes wandering away from God (their husband) into sin. Ezekiel 16 spells this out in detail. But Isaiah also uses this analogy effectively (see ch. 1:21ff). Sin separates mankind from God, and because God is holy and has provided a means of redemption and reconciliation, those who refuse to accept God’s offer of redemption are judged in their sinful state, and will remain forever separated from God. The other theme is hope: God told Moses in Ex. 34 who he the Lord was: “I am the Lord, I am the Lord, the merciful and gracious God. I am slow to anger and rich in unfailing love and faithfulness. I show this unfailing love to many thousands by forgiving every kind of sin and rebellion. Even so, I do not leave sin unpunished.” (vv. 6-7). All through Isaiah, then, we see God’s judgment, spelling out Israel and Judah’s sin and their inevitable punishment, contrasted with God’s invitation to return to him and be saved. We see it first in Isaiah 1:18 when God says “come let us reason together; though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow.” He is willing to forgive those who truly repent.
People’s attitude: Ezekiel, a prophet to God’s people during the exile in Babylon, wrote this: “Again a messaage came to me from the Lord: Son of man, what is the proverb they quote in israel: ‘Time passes, making a liar of every prophet’? Give the people this message from the Sovereign Lord: I will put an end to this proverb and you will soon stop quoting it. Now give them this new proverb to replace the old one: ‘The time has come for every prophecy to be fulfilled.’” (Ez. 12:21-23). The people of Israel and Judah had become complacent. They were deaf to God’s pleas that they repent; they were deaf to his promises of destruction. But God did act; the people of Israel were defeated in 722 B.C., and the first group of exiles was taken from Judah to Babylon in 601 B.C. (Daniel among them), another group in 597 B.C. (Ezekiel among them), and finally, the last group was taken in 586 B.C.when Jerusalem was destroyed. The people always believed there was more time; like children hearing parental threats of punishment, they said “God doesn’t mean it; he’s never punished us in the past.” But God keeps his word. In his second letter to the Corinthians, Paul writes: “Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation” (II Cor. 6:2) In Hebrews 3:7, we read a similar admonition quoting Psalm 95: “Today if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts.” But most of the people had rejected God’s invitations to obey him for so long that their hearts were calloused over and they refused to listen.
Isaiah 1: It’s into this kind of environment that Isaiah is called (Isa. 6); he’s given visions of Judah’s spiritual health and its future if it continues to live in its apostacy. He began his prophetic ministry about 740 B.C., 18 years before Israel fell. Israel had been deaf to its own prophets; God allowed the Assyrians to defeat them. Now the Assyrians are ready to pounce on Jerusalem and Judah. Isaiah is warning Judah’s king and people to repent. God begins Isaiah’s vision with an image of a courtroom; God is the judge. He asks heaven and earth to be his witnesses that his children are rebels. And, speaking to the witnesses, he compares his own children to those of the ox or donkey who obey their masters. What, he says, is wrong with those he nurtured and blessed? He compares the nation to a sick body: “your whole head is injured, your wholeheart afflicted. From the sole of your foot to the top of your head there is no soundness—only wounds and welts, and open sores, not cleansed or bandaged or soothed with oil” (vv. 5-6). And God’s tone is grieving: “why should this be?” he asks. He implies that forgiveness is possible, and with repentance and forgiveness comes new health. Isaiah uses imagery all through the book, and this first chapter pictures Judah’s condition in several images, all of which show pain and destruction. Then God tells Isaiah that he’s tired of the people’s sacrifices because they are made as ritual and without sincere hearts. Until the people repent, God will not listen to their prayers or accept their offerings. And then the tone changes in v. 18, and we see a father holding out his hand, saying ”Come, let us reason together.” God offers salvation, wholeness in place of their brokenness. Individuals have rejected God, their leaders have denied God’s authority, and justice is not being done. God is going to “turn [his] hand against you,” (v. 25), so Judah must not think God doesn’t see their wayward behavior and have punishment planned as a consequence of their idolatry, their unbelief and their sin.
Isaiah 2: In the midst of his judgment, God gives a message of hope: some day, “the mountain of the Lord’s temple will be established as chief among the mountains; it will be raised above the hills and all nations will stream to it. Many peoples will come and say, ‘Come let us go up to the mountain of the Lord.” (vv. 2-3). In “the last days” the time of the Messiah’s reign, all the peoples on earth will be attracted to God and to his law, his city and his people. Remember in Ex. 19:6, God told Moses his purpose for his people was to make them a “kingdom of priests and a holy nation” that would be a beacon of hope for everyone. We know Israel and Judah never fulfilled this role, but God says they will when the Messiah reigns. God invites his people to “walk in the light of the Lord.” And this follows a famous verse which is engraved on a sculpture in frontof the United Nations building in NY: “They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore.” This will not happen because mankind suddenly “gets religion.” It will happen because of God: Loving God and accepting the salvation he offers brings with it peace that “passes understanding,” Paul says. Such peace and perfect living is possible only with God.
Isaiah 2:6: Starting in this verse, God lists his case against his people: they are full of superstition, they practice divination, they “clasp hands with pagans,” they love money, horses, idols—all of these things are done in opposition to God’s law and his plan for his people. In II Kings 17:7-8, God said Israel was defeated by Assyria because “Israel had sinned against the Lord their God, who had brought them up out of Egypt from under the power of the Pharaoh, king of Egypt. 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.” And in Isaiah, God is saying the same thing is happening in Judah, and “man [Judah] will be brought low and mankind humbled.” When God’s punishment comes, it will be devastating: “go to the rocks, hide in the ground,” God warns. The day will be terrifying; God says, “avoid it; return to me.”
Isaiah 3: God continues to say what will happen to Judah and Jerusalem unless there is repentance. For one thing, all food and water will be cut off; the people will starve. Society will be turned upside down: children will be officials (v. 4) Clothing will be scarce. And God warns that continuing to behave as those who lived in Sodom and Gomorrah (a second reference to these cities; see ch. 1:9), “parading their sin,” woe and destruction are inevitable. God is still in court, judging the people; the righteous will be OK (v. 10), but the rest will be destroyed.
Isaiah 3:14: In this section, Isaiah uses two metaphors: one is that Judah is God’s vineyard and its leaders have ruined it. Secondly, the women of Jerusalem behave as harlots. These two metaphors are used frequently in OT prophecy. God’s vineyard was planted in love; he expected a good harvest. The people have negected him and there is no harvest. And under the covenant, God was like a husband to Israel and Judah. In playing the harlot, they’ve committed adultery. This image is used all through the book of Hosea, and will be seen again in Isaiah. And so God says, come back to me; if you don’t, all your fine clothes and jewelry will be taken away. God “looks on the heart,” not on outward adornments. The heart is the seat of love and commitment. It’s a changed and devoted heart, not sacrifices or meaningless prayers that God wants.
Isaiah 4: In a fairly short chapter, we read that conditions have left so few men in Judah that women compete for a man to marry; it’s not a pretty sight. And then Isaiah returns to that wonderful day when Jerusalem will attract all the earth to the worship of God. The old Tabernacle imagery of the cloud of smoke by day and fire by night returns symbolizing God’s presence, his glory living among his people.
Isaiah 5: The first half of this chapter is called “the song of the vineyard,” and in it, the vineyard metaphor returns in more detail. We see God acting as the planter, the nurturer, the caretaker of the vineyard—his people. He cleared a land for them (Canaan), he planted them to produce fruit, but “it yielded only bad fruit,” he declares. God speaks to observers: “what more could I have done?” he asks. What more indeed; God gave Israel every chance, and they spurned his love, disobeying him at every turn. And are we any better? Jesus offers us “life more abundantly” if we’ll commit wholeheartedly to him. And yet, we decide life as it is is OK. And then we wonder why we see few answers to prayer, disease, violence and war. At the end of this “song,” we read: “the vineyard of the Lord Almighty is the hosue of Israel and the men of Judah are the garden of his delight. And he looked for justice but saw bloodshed, for righteousness, but heard cries of distress.” (vv. 7-8).
Isaiah 5:9: To the end of this chapter, we read of six woes. Here God is specific about what he means by finding no justice and/or righteousness in Israel and Judah, and he illustrates the point. For example, “Woe to those who rise early in the morning to run after their drinks, who stay up late at night till they are inflamed with wine. They have harps and lyres at their banquets, tambourines and flutes and wine, but they have no regard for the deeds of the Lord, no respect for the work of his hands. Therefore my people will go into exile for lack of understanding . . .” and God makes their full punishment clear. The picture of pleasure-seekers whose only thought morning noon and night is having a party with wine, food and entertainment disgusts God. Why? They have “no respect for the work of his hands.” He has given them talents they’ve squandered; they are misusing his gifts in every way. They will be punished. The other woes are similar. “Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter.” Does this describe our society? The parallels are unmistakable when we see folks calling the 10 minutes they spend with their children “quality time” so that they can then spend 12 hours a day working to amass a healthy 401K account. Or those who defend the drunken orgies at college fraternity houses by saying “boys will be boys,” and now we’d have to say “girls will be girls.” It doesn’t take much imagination to see a picture of ourselves in this passage. No good will come from such behavior, God warns. Israel and Judah have made themselves and their own laws priorities rather than following God and his laws.
Next week: We’ll begin by reviewing Isaiah’s call and then going on into the visions and prophecy to come.
Homework for those who want to go deeper:
1. Who was king Uzziah/Azariah? (You can read about him in II Kings 15)
2. Compare Jesus’ woes on the Pharisees in Matt. 23 to the woes on Judah and Israel in Isaiah 5.
3. Choose one or two of the metaphors and trace them in other Biblical references (the vineyard, for example, is used by Jesus in John 15).