Community Bible Study -- Isaiah

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Isaiah: The Prophet and His Times

Isaiah is a special prophet who wrote a very special book. He's the author of so much of the prophesy of Jesus the Messiah - called Messianic prophesy - which we read in the New Testament and hear at Christmas and Easter. This makes Isaiah an important guide to understanding the identity and mission of Jesus. Moreover, Isaiah's writings are beautiful poetry . . . and highly quotable.

Another reason for choosing Isaiah is the way the religious and moral/ethical conditions at his time seem so similar to ours today. Isaiah lived in what I'll call a "nominally Jewish nation." The people knew about the One True God . . . but most of them paid no attention to Him. And most of those who followed God practiced a religion of blindly following rules - including traditions by which they violated the spirit of God's laws even as they followed all the religious rules. They made no effort to practice a heart attitude of loving God and man. Isaiah characterized their practices like this:

Do and do, do and do, rule on rule, rule on rule a little here, a little there (Isa 28:10)

Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, . . . who acquit the guilty for a bribe, but deny justice to the innocent (Isa 5:20, 23)

We find this kind of "rule on rule" religion practiced today in both tradition-based churches and legalist churches which are often called "fundamentalist." And today's liberal churches consistently "call evil good and good evil" by adopting an "anything goes" attitude, based on mischaracterization of the doctrine of "love" preached by Jesus. We also find in the secular world many who "acquit the guilty for a bribe," and in so doing "deny justice to the innocent."

The Jews of Isaiah's day also faced a severe military threat from pagan neighbors - just like today's Jews face from Arab neighbors . . . and (to a much lesser extent) the rest of the world faces from Al Qaeda and other Wahabists, increasingly influential within Islam.

Tonight's session is designed to set the scene for our study by discussing the cultural and historical context of Isaiah. The reason for this is that our goal is to attempt to ferret out how the original hearers understand scripture . . . then lift it to a modern application.

Where do we begin? The book of Isaiah can be precisely dated; we read in Isa 6:1: "In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a throne." King Uzziah - also knows as Azariah - died about 740 BC, so that's when Isaiah's ministry began. But to set the historical/cultural context, we'll go back about 200 years, to the end of Solomon's reign . . . when ancient Israel is at it's zenith: a kingdom forged by David and expanded by his son Solomon . . . with it's capital in Jerusalem.

Solomon is often thought of as the wisest king of Israel . . . author of most of the Proverbs . . . builder of the first Jewish temple . . . the king who brought Israel to its zenith of wealth and power by expanding its boundaries, exploiting its copper and other mineral wealth, and beginning a merchant marine force. But when Solomon built the temple and fortified cities like Megiddo, he placed a horrendous tax burden on the people. And Solomon married many foreign wives as part of ttreaties with his pagan neighbors, and allowed these pagan wives to worship their idols in shrines here on the Mount of Olives. One of Solomon's wives was pharaoh's daughter, for whom he built a special tomb.

Solomon's high taxes and pagan wives brought about disaster when he died in 922 BC. His oldest son and heir, Rehoboam was a spoiled rich kid . . . he rejected the good advice of his father's counselors to lower taxes, and listened instead to his young drinking buddies, who told him to raise taxes . . . a lot. Hence Solomon's chief builder, Jeroboam, led a revolt which split the kingdom. Jeroboam became king of the ten northern tribes of Israel, and chose as his capital the historic city of Shechem: rich in Jewish history at the gap between Mts Ebal and Gerizim, where Jacob built a well, and where Joshua built an altar to thank God after the Israelites conquered the land God promised their forefathers. Only David's tribe of Judah remained loyal to Rehoboam, who ruled from David's capital of Jerusalem. {1 Kings 6-12}

Jeroboam realized that if the people of his new nation had to enter Rehoboam's kingdom to worship in the temple in Jerusalem, they would not develop national identity - and might even fail to follow him as king. Therefore, he built two altars with golden calves for worship: one at Bethel, en route to Jerusalem, and the other at Dan, in the northern part of the kingdom, which was recently excavated and is being restored. These altars made worship more convenient - because the people didn't have to travel so far - but it also began a rejection of God by the people of Israel. {1 Kn 12} Furthermore, when later kings moved Israel's capital from Shechem to a new city of Samaria, Jacob's well and Joshua's altar no longer stood as constant reminders of God's promises to the people - and vice versa.

The lowest spiritual level of Israel may have occurred when Ahab became king. Ahab was controlled by his wife Jezebel, a pagan Phoenician princess he married as part of a treaty. Jezebel instituted worship of the Canaanite gods Baal and Asherah, and she murdered those who followed God. {1 Kn 16} Ahab built palaces at Dan, Megiddo, and Jezreel, in addition to his main palace in Samaria. The excavations at Dan have uncovered a royal ceremonial road and throne built by Ahab. We can almost picture him and Jezebel holding court here . . . using this scepter head, which archaeologists tell us belonged to him! {1 Kn 16}

As God's people are falling away, He sends prophets to set them straight. Hence Jezebel's proselytizing for to Baal precipitates a confrontation with the first of God's major OT preaching prophets, Elijah. Elijah stages a contest on Mt. Carmel to prove God is more powerful than Baal. After Baal's priests spend an entire day trying without success to get Baal to send fire to light a sacrifice, at Elijah's call God sends fire from heaven to light a sacrifice . . . clearly showing God is more powerful. But Jezebel doesn't accept God's victory; she plots to have Elijah killed, and forces him to flee to the Sinai desert. But "One man with God is always a majority"; God tells Elijah to ignore Jezebel, and explains who's in charge. God then instructs Elijah to anoint a godly king of Israel, a man named Jehu. Soon, Ahab dies in battle; and God's instructions to anoint Jehu are carried out by Elijah's successors, after Elijah is taken to heaven in a chariot of fire {2 Kn 2}, As soon as Jehu is anointed, he seizes the throne of Israel . . . and watches as Jezebel is thrown from the window of her summer palace in Jezreel, trampled by horses and eaten by dogs, leaving nothing to bury.

Unfortunately, Jehu eventually turns away from God. As a result, he loses Israel east of the Jordan to Aram (or Syria); and is forced to pay tribute to Assyria, an event commemorated by the Black Obelisk of Shalmaneser III, now in the British Museum. {2 Kn 3, 10}

When Jehu's successors to the throne of Israel are even more evil, God responds by sending more prophets. Elisha shows the power of God by raising a widow's son in Shunem, just across the hill of Moreh from Nain, where Jesus repeats the miracle about 800 years later. It was a key sign to the Jews that Jesus was Messiah when he repeated Elisha's miracle. Amos comes from Tekoa, near Bethlehem in Judah, and preaches repentance in Israel. But the people still fail to return to God.

Meanwhile, in the southern kingdom of Judah, David's offspring have continued to sit on the throne. These kings are the human ancestors of Jesus . . . but following the bad example of Rehoboam, they have also generally led the people away from God and allowed idol worship - just not quite as badly as in Israel. Kings, priests, and common people so consistently ignored God that by the 7th century BC, the Jewish scriptures - the very word of God - were lost and forgotten in a back corner of the temple. But perhaps the salvation of Judah was Solomon's temple in Jerusalem, the capital conquered by King David; merely living and working in the vicinity of the temple surely reminded the people of God's promises to them . . . and their commitment to God.

God finally had enough . . . and because of sin and idol worship in both Israel and Judah, God brought a visible, earthly punishment upon His people, to be administered by a pagan people: the Assyrians, based in modern Iraq. And since the Assyrians were legendary for their brutality - taking delight in torturing their victims - "punishment" by Assyria should be especially painful. Assyria was a factor in the Middle East from the time of Solomon and Jonah; King Jehu was forced to pay them tribute. But in the middle of the 8th century BC, the Assyrians begin a military buildup in preparation to conquer the entire Middle East. And God sends more prophets, to explain to His people what He is doing and why.

This is the situation when Isaiah enters the scene around 740 BC. We don't know much about Isaiah. He is a resident Jerusalem, and hence a citizen of the kingdom of Judah. He is an ordinary layman - not a priest or levite. (It's been said that all major religious reform movements in history have been led by lay people, and this is no exception.) We don't know if he was of royal blood. Isaiah was not a goody-goody, either; he was terrified when he first saw God in a vision; he protested:

"I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips" (Isa 6:5).

But God had Isaiah's "guilt . . . taken away and (his) sin atoned for" (Isa 6:7). Then came Isaiah's famous call to the office of prophet:

"I heard the voice of the Lord saying, 'Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?' And I said, 'Here am I. Send me!' (Isa 6:8)

When Isaiah heard his call from God, Assyria was poised to overrun the Arameans (aka "Syrians") and the Philistines. A scant 8 years after Isaiah began preaching, the Assyrians had conquered these nations - and the entire Mediterranean coast all the way down to Egypt. This means the Assyrian Empire borders Israel on the north and west, and Judah on the west.

So let's imagine the situation faced by the people of Judah and Israel. They aren't economic powerhouses with trading ships; they aren't technological leaders in things like smelting; they don't have large populations; hence they aren't major military powers. Their only source of strength - as we read in 1 & 2 Kings - is their protection by the one True God: who gave His people land along major trade routes so they might serve as witnesses to the blessings that come to those who follow God's law. But God's people have broken His law . . . they have turned away from the One True God to follow idols. Can they count on the God they have forsaken to protect them now against the most powerful army of their time?

That's one thing we'll find out in this study, because Isaiah's prophesy is interspersed with narratives about what happens as the Assyrian juggernaut approaches . . . first to Israel, then to western Judah, and finally to Jerusalem itself. Isaiah preaches to the kings and people of Judah - not Israel. Hence the perspective is: "look at the sins of your cousins in Israel . . . look at the Assyrian military power coming against them . . . and listen to what the Lord says will happen to them as punishment! Now took at your own sins . . . you're going down the same road, and the Lord has a word for you, too!

What is Isaiah's message? God has protected and provided for His people ever since he rescued them from slavery in Egypt over 500 years before. But for 200 years they have turned their backs on God, and now they are in for hard times. But side by side with "doom and gloom," Isaiah preaches Repentance, Return to God, and be Renewed . . . by a loving and forgiving God, who said to Isaiah

If the people would only "see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts," they could "turn and be healed" (Isa 6:10).

Isaiah preaches Salvation . . . as well as Judgment.

But most important, Isaiah's message of salvation is not just an abstraction: follow God's laws and be blessed. Isaiah promises a physical, identifiable savior: God's anointed Messiah, God's own son. This is especially important in the historical context. Recall: Isaiah is preaching to the people of Judah, the tribe of David, ruled by kings who are direct descendents of King David. God has promised David an eternal kingdom and an eternal throne (2 Sam 7:16). Does this give license to the Kings of Judah to do whatever they like, because God will not break His promise? Will God overlook their sin . . . or will God break His promise and allow Assyria to overthrow Judah and kill off the royal line of David - as was the case among every other conquered Middle Eastern people?

Through Isaiah, God addresses this question. The people learn for the first time that God's promise of an eternal throne for David's descendants is not an earthly throne and earthly kingdom. If God's will is to teach the people of Judah a lesson by removing David's offspring from the throne . . . God reserves the right to do that. But at the same time Isaiah brings hope: God will not allow the line of David to be wiped out . . . and at some future date He will send the ultimate "Son of David" as a savior - a Messiah - to restore David's eternal throne . . . and this Messiah will also be God's own son. The evil kings of Judah will not escape punishment for their sins . . . yet these evil kings will nevertheless be vessels through which David's seed is transmitted - until it comes to fruition in Jesus of Nazareth. And through Isaiah, God tells us about the ministry of the Messiah . . . and of his fate. In this way, the prophesy of Isaiah serves as an important guide to the character and message of Jesus . . . and even to His actions, because the ultimate proof to believing Jews that Jesus of Nazareth was the true Messiah is that his miracles matched those prophesied by Isaiah (and successor prophets).

How about the reliability of Isaiah's prophesy? To answer this, we need to discuss the "source documents" for our modern English bible. Isaiah's original writings disappeared long ago. The oldest complete Hebrew Bible is dated about 1010 AD, and is now in a museum in St. Petersburg (formerly Leningrad). The oldest fragments of the Hebrew Bible are the Dead Sea Scrolls, dated about 1000 years earlier around the time of Jesus. Since everything in the Hebrew Bible happened more than 400 years before Jesus, scholars must guesstimate when the texts were written . . . and sometimes these guesstimates reflect scholarly prejudice. For instance, some scholars suggest late dates for biblical texts merely because they don't believe in prophesy; they believe Isaiah was written after the events occurred . . . and maybe by 2 or 3 authors! But I believe with most faithful most Christians that God has the power to give His anointed prophets the ability to foresee the future - at lease in certain cases.

So with that assumption, let's look at the reliability of Isaiah's prophesy:
1. Isaiah prophesied and witnessed (from afar) the conquest of Israel by Assyria and the deportation of her people. This might have seemed a "no brainer" based on the might of Assyria and the weakness of Israel - but much of Isaiah's other prophesy is extremely unlikely.
2. Isaiah was in Jerusalem as Assyria attacked Judah, and Isaiah prophesied that a miracle by God would prevent Assyria from conquering Jerusalem . . . and this happened, even though the Assyrian King Sennacherib wrote in his report that the King of Judah was caught "like a bird in a cage."
3. Isaiah prophesied the destruction of Assyria by Babylon.
4. Isaiah prophesied the conquest of Jerusalem by the Babylonians.
5. In the most extraordinary example of God's "calling His shots" in prophesy, Isaiah predicted by name that Cyrus the Persian would conquer Babylon, set the Jews free, and rebuild Jerusalem and the temple. And all this happened.
6. Lastly, Isaiah prophesied the birth, character, ministry, and death of Jesus the Messiah

Hence we approach this study of Isaiah with three things in mind:
1. First, to learn what God may be saying to 21st century Americans, based on what he said to ancient Jews in similar circumstances of failing to follow God's laws and worship Him properly.
2. We will learn in Isaiah's prophesy more about the role and the purpose of Jesus as Messiah - helping us to better understand him for ourselves.
3. We'll learn what God is saying to us, to help us follow Jesus more closely.