ISAIAH ONE “The vision of Isaiah” March 13, 2005
Introduction: Questions
What comes to your mind when you think about the prophet Isaiah and his book? What are some of your favorite texts or passages in Isaiah?
I. Isaiah, the Prophet 1:1
The vision of Isaiah son of Amoz, which he saw (envisioned) concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Juda.
“Isaiah” is a composite name, “Yahweh brings salvation.” We shall see that salvation was a permeating theme of his prophetic ministry.
“Vision”? What did Isaiah see?
Historical Time Line B.C.E.
1800-1600 Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob Israel in Egypt Exodus out of Egypt The Conquest of Canaan Period of the Judges Samuel and Saul The United Kingdom David 1000-961 Solomon 961-922 The Divided Kingdom: Northern Israel The Divided Kingdom-Judah Rehoboam-Amaziah 922-783 Uzziah (Azariah) 783-742 Jotham 742-735 Ahaz (Jehoahaz) 735-715 Hezekiah 715-687/6 Manasseh-Zedekiah 687/6-587 587 Fall of Jerusalem to the Babylonians 587-520 Babylonian Exile The Restoration Under Egyptian and Seleucid (Syrian) control Maccabean Revolt: Independence Romans capture Jerusalem under Pompey
The Prophet
Isaiah son of Amoz has been called “the statesman prophet of the Old Testament” whose ministry of over forty years was spent in one of the most trying times in Israel’s history. Yet all we know of him is contained in the book that bears his name. Isaiah’s prophetic ministry to King Hezekiah of Judah, recorded in chapters 36-39, is paralleled in 2 Kings chapters 18-20 and mentioned in 2 Chronicles 32:20. He lived with his wife and children in Jerusalem.
From about 750 to 700 B.C.E., he prophecied during the reigns of four Judean Kings—Uzziah , Jothom, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, all under the threat of Assyria to the east. Northern Israel and Syria to the north were also a problem during the reign of Ahaz. Political crises abounded during the period of Isaiah’s ministry. In this arena, where nations vied for power, Isaiah discerned and interpreted what Yahweh, the covenant God of Israel and the Sovereign of nations, was saying and doing in these tense political times. We could use such a prophet today! We have many pretenders.
Isaiah enjoyed full access to the inner sanctums of royalty during his public ministry, speaking with “kings as a king.” Jewish tradition has it that his father Amoz was the brother of King Amaziah, father of Uzziah, but there is no objective evidence for Isaiah’s own royal lineage.
In relation to his prophesies, Isaiah records in 8:16-18 what he was told to do:
Bind up the testimony, seal the teaching among my disciples. I will wait for the LORD, who is hiding his face from the house of Jacob, and I will hope in him. See, I and the children whom the LORD has given me are signs and portents in Israel from the LORD of hosts, who dwells on Mount Zion (cf. 30:8).
Early in his ministry Isaiah’s message to Judah had fallen on deaf ears (6:9-13). So it appears that he eventually withdrew from public life in order to “bind up the testimony” and “seal” the teaching among his disciples. Yahweh was “hiding his face from the house of Jacob.” It was a time of “the eclipse of God” when Isaiah could only wait and hope for Yahweh to come in glory and to speak with power to his people. So apparently probably gave his written oracles to a faithful prophetic community where they were treasured and handed on by his disciples. It was a tradition that lived on for several centuries.
II. Isaiah, the Book
Place in the Old Testament Canon
In the structure of the Canon that we have in our English Bibles, the final form of the tradition of Isaiah’s prophetic ministry is found among the Prophets, which is divided into Major and Minor Prophets. Isaiah is the first of the three Major Prophets. In the Hebrew canon, or Hebrew Bible, Isaiah is placed among the Latter Prophets, which include what we know as the Major and Minor Prophets minus the book of Daniel. It took a scroll each for each of the three larger books and one for the “Book of the Twelve,” all four scrolls being approximately the same length
Outline of Contents Isaiah 1:1—66:24 “A vision that dramatically portrays God’s view of history.”
Introduction to the Prophecy: The Present and Future of God’s People (1:1—5:30) God’s Denunciation, Appeal, and Promise (1:1-31) Superscription (1:1) Israel’s Condition (1:2-9) God’s Desire: Justice, Not Hypocritical Worship (1:10-20) God’s Response to Present Realities (1:21-31) The Problem: What Israel Is versus What She Will Be (2:1—4:6) A Harvest of Wild Grapes (5:1-30) The Call to Servanthood (6:1-8) Whom Shall We Trust? Basis for Servanthood (7:1—39:8) The Vocation of Servanthood (40:1—55:13) The Marks of Servanthood (56:1—66:24)
From John Oswalt’s outline we could call the theme of the book of Isaiah “The Servant Character of the People of God.” John Watts states that “the book proclaims that Isaiah in the eighth century revealed Yahweh’s decisions and strategy concerning Israel, Judah, and the empires.”
III. Some Great Isaianic Texts
1:3, 18; 6:1, 5; 7:14; 9:2, 6; 11:1-3, 6, 9; 40:3-5, 29-31 41:1; 43:1-2, 18-19; 44:3; 53:3-6; 61:1ff.; 65:17ff.
Conclusion
The God of the Bible does speak in troubled times! What is he saying to our times? They sure are troubled! Perhaps as we study Isaiah’s prophecies together we can find a vision for our faith in the historical situation of our own day, and for the future or our own situations as we look ahead to tomorrow. BIBLIOGRAPHY
Own
1891-1892--Franz Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Prophecies of Isaiah. Volumes I & II. 1927--George Adam Smith, “The Book of Isaiah,” The Expositor’s Bible(1947 reprint). 1965—George A. F. Knight, Deutero-Isaiah: A Theological Commentary on Isaiah 40-55. 1965-1969—Edward J. Young, The Book of Isaiah, cc. 1-18 & cc. 19-39, The New International Commentary on the Old Testament, Volumes I & II. 1968—John L. McKenzie, S. J., Second Isaiah: The Anchor Bible 1975—R. N. Whybray, Isaiah 40-66: The New Century Bible Commentary 1978—James Luther Mays, Ezekiel, Second Isaiah: Proclamation Commentaries. 1980—R. E. Clements, Isaiah 1-39: The New Century Bible Commentary. 1985-1987—John E. W. Watts, Isaiah 1-33 & Isaiah 34-66: Word Biblical Commentary, Volumes 24 & 25. 1986—John Oswalt, The Book of Isaiah, cc. 1-39, The New International Commentary on the Old Testament.
Adam Clark, Ross Price BBC,
Other
199? Brevard Childs, OTL, vols? 200? JosesphBlenkinsopp, Anchor, 3 vols. 1998 John Oswalt, The Book of Isaiah, cc. 40-66, The New International Commentary on the Old Testament. ; Bernhard W. Anderson and Katheryn Pfisterer Darr, Understanding the Old Testament, abridged 4th edition (Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 1998), 584-589. Four divisions: Law, Historical Books, Poetical Books, and the Prophets. Major: Isaiah, Ezekiel, Jeremiah: Minor: the Twelve. Three divisions: Law, Prophets—Former and Latter, Writings. John D. Watts, Word Biblical Commentary, Volume 24: Isaiah 1-33 (Waco, Texas: Word Books, Publisher, 1985), xxiv. John N. Oswalt, The Book of Isaiah Chapters 1-39 and Chapters 40-66: The New International Commentary on the Old Testament, two volumes, ed, R. K. Harrison (Grand Rapids, Michigan: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1986, 1988), I, 60-64 and II, 16-19). Watts, Isaiah 1-33, xxiv.
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Frank G. Carver