06/08/2014 – Day 005 – Isaiah – Chapters 1 – 5
Again, I am going to share excerpts of Halley’s Bible Handbook and his amazing book introductions.:
ISAIAH – The Messianic Prophet
“Called the Messianic Prophet because he was so thoroughly imbedded with the idea that’s nation was to be a Messianic Nation to the world; that is, a nation through whom one day a great and wonderful blessings would come from God to all nations; and he was continually dreaming of the day when that great and wonderful work would be done. The New Testament says that Isaiah ‘saw the glory of Christ and spoke of him’ (John 12:41).”
The Man Isaiah
“He was a prophet (insert: 8th century B.C.E.) of the Southern Kingdom, Judah, at the time the Northern Kingdom, Israel, was destroyed by the Assyrians.
Isaiah lived in the reigns of Uzziah’s death, but some of his visions may have been earlier (see on 6:1). He was slain, according to Jewish tradition by Manasseh. Tentatively, we may place his active ministry at about 745 – 695 B.C.
Rabbinic tradition has it that Isaiah’s father, Amoz (not Amos the prophet), was a brother of king Amaziah. This would make Isaiah first cousin to king Uzziah, and grandson of king Joash, and thus of royal blood, a man of the palace.
…
“His Martyrdom. A tradition, in the Talmud, which was accepted as authentic by many early Church Fathers, states that Isaiah resisted Manasseh’s idolatrous decrees, and was fastened between two planks, and “awn asunder” thus suffering a most horrible death. This is thought to be referred to in Hebrews 11:37.”
ARCHAEOLOGICAL NOTE: The Isaiah Scroll
“… And now, in 1947, at Ain Fashkha, about 7 miles south of Jericho, 1 mile west of the Dead Sea, some wandering Arab Bedouins, carrying goods from the Jordan Valley to Bethlehem, searching for a lost goat, in a way, that empties into the Dead Sea, came upon a partially collapsed cave, in which they found a number of crushed jars with protruding ends of scrolls. The Bedouins pulled out the scrolls, took them along, and passed them on to St. mark’s Syrian Orthodox Convent in Jerusalem who turned them over to American Schools of Oriental Research.
One of these schools was identified as the BOOK OF ISAIAH, Written 2000 Years Ago, a 1000 Years Older than any know manuscript of any Hebrew Old Testament book. AN AMAZING DISCOVERY!
It is a roll, written on parchment, about 24 feet long, made up of sheets about 10 by 15 inches, sewed together, in script of ancient Hebrew, with evidence that it was made in 2nd century B.C.
This and other schools, had, originally, been carefully sealed in earthenware jars. Evidently they were part of a Jewish library, which had been hidden in this isolated cave, in time of danger, perhaps in the Roman Conquest of Judea.
Our Reading – Chapters 1 through 5:
2: 2-5 – The City of Peace. Isaiah’s vision was in the last days, the 2nd coming of Jesus, and leading into the 1000 year old kingdom. The verses are sublime, particularly verses 2 & 3! Thoughts?
Here is an excerpt from J. Alec Motyer’s commentary, verse 4 in his book : “Isaiah”:
“The world will be transformed. Submission to the Lord brings the world under his rule whereby he will judge (‘decide issues’) and settle disputes (‘arbitrate’). Where the Lord thus reigns, nationalisms are gone and weapons of war are made into garden tools: Eden has returned. The means of war (swords … spears), the practice of war (take up) and the mentality of war (train for) are gone.”
2: 22 – “Put no more trust in man who has only the greath in his nostrils. What is he really worth? My Bible footnote reads: “… God alone is worthy of trust; relying on human devices is a waste of time.” Would you characterize our world today as more lost in that regard, perhaps in all of human history, post flood?
3: 10 -11 . Footnote: “God’s covenant with Israel established a broad relationship between obedience and blessing, disobedience and curse (Leviticus 26:1-45; Deuteronomy 27 – 28)… In the end, the righteous person is vindicated, in the resurrection (see Acts 10: 36-41), if not before.
4:2: Footnote: “Some interpreters view the phrase ‘branch {tsemach} of the LORD will be beautiful and glorious’ as a sign of the land’s fertility. They view it as a parallel to the next phrase, ‘the fruit of the land will be the pride and glory of Israel’s survivors.’ Others take the ‘branch of the Lord’ as a messianic title based on other occurrences of the word, used in the sense of the springing forth of salvation (2 Samuel 23:5) or ‘a horn’ (Psalm 132:17) for David. These passages, because they speak of the continuing line of David, carry a messianic implication. Isaiah, a prophet of Jerusalem close to the royal court, likely knew these songs. Later he called the Messiah ‘a shoot’ (chatter) that will come up from the stump of Jesse, even a ‘branch’ (nether) that will bear fruit (Isaiah 11:1). Jeremiah referred to the ‘righteous Branch’ or ‘Branch of righteousness’ from David (Jeremiah 23:5; 33:15) and Zechariah (Zch 3:8; 6:12) used the term “Branch” with a messianic meaning.”
5: 12,19 Footnote: “Isaiah identified a person who is blind to spiritual realities as one who cannot ‘perceive the LORD’s actions’ or has refused to ‘see the work of His hands.’ While claiming to welcome the Lord’s redemptive action (v. 19), they are unable to understand what He is already doing to enact His judgments. They insist on seeing the Lord at work, according to their own idea of what He is supposed to do, before they will believe in Him. Jesus rejected the idea of doing another miracle, or sign, to prove who He was (Matthew 16: 1-4). The people already had the Law and the Prophets (Luke 16: 29-31). Isaiah understood that, eventually, God would blind the eyes of persistent unbelievers so that they would not be able to see the truth (Isaiah 6: 9-10; see Mark 4: 11-12; Acts 28:27).”
As I noted, we can look forward to ten more consecutive Saturday studies and fellowship in the Book of Isaiah. One source I will use amongst many for commentary throughout this study: “Isaiah” by J. Alec Motyer. (ISBN 0-87784-244-2) InterVarsity Press – 1999.
It is true throughout the year, but with the first seven books we are studying in our 7 day theme ideally call for seven facilitators, one for each day. A Bible Study group can easily spend an entire year in a thoughtful study of Isaiah.
Soli Deo Gloria!