Monday 21 January 2008
Wednesday 9 January 2008
The Suffering Servant Who Redeems Mankind [52-53]
Zion is commanded to awake! God's people will be redeemed from their exile, and their captives shall be punished. God once again is promising to keep his people safe, to go ahead of them and to be their rear guard [52:12], just as he did when the Israelites left Egypt.
The end of 52 and all of 53 introduce us again to the Servant. There are two descriptions of the Servant in this section. One refers to his outer form, the other to his works. The Servant is described as being marred, as having no no form, comeliness, or beauty. I think, by this description, that he would blend into the crowd and never be noticed. But he was noticed, and was despised and rejected by men [53:3]. The Servant suffers for us. He suffers both physically [53:5] and spiritually [53:4].
"Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise Him..." [53:10]. God was pleased with this because he knew that it meant that he would be reunited with his people, and this sacrifice would be so great that it would forever blot out their sins.
And He bore the sin of many,
And made intercession for the transgressors. [53:12]
The Servant's obedience to God and willingness to offer himself as a sacrifice for all of mankind's sins is simply beautiful and awe-inspiring. It is his intercession that saves us, not any work that we accomplish ourselves. We have the benefit of not standing from Isaiah's viewpoint. For us, it is something that has already happened. The world has seen the Servant's arrival, his rejection, his death, and his salvation.
How beautiful upon the mountains
Are the feet of him who brings good news,
Who proclaims peace,
Who brings glad tidings of good things,
Who proclaims salvation,
Who says to Zion,
"Your God reigns!" [52:7]
The end of 52 and all of 53 introduce us again to the Servant. There are two descriptions of the Servant in this section. One refers to his outer form, the other to his works. The Servant is described as being marred, as having no no form, comeliness, or beauty. I think, by this description, that he would blend into the crowd and never be noticed. But he was noticed, and was despised and rejected by men [53:3]. The Servant suffers for us. He suffers both physically [53:5] and spiritually [53:4].
"Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise Him..." [53:10]. God was pleased with this because he knew that it meant that he would be reunited with his people, and this sacrifice would be so great that it would forever blot out their sins.
And He bore the sin of many,
And made intercession for the transgressors. [53:12]
The Servant's obedience to God and willingness to offer himself as a sacrifice for all of mankind's sins is simply beautiful and awe-inspiring. It is his intercession that saves us, not any work that we accomplish ourselves. We have the benefit of not standing from Isaiah's viewpoint. For us, it is something that has already happened. The world has seen the Servant's arrival, his rejection, his death, and his salvation.
How beautiful upon the mountains
Are the feet of him who brings good news,
Who proclaims peace,
Who brings glad tidings of good things,
Who proclaims salvation,
Who says to Zion,
"Your God reigns!" [52:7]
Tuesday 8 January 2008
Hidden in the shadow of his hand. [50-51]
I’m reminded of the beginning of this study, where God is grieving--he does so again, here, because of his wayward children. Isaiah says that there will be comfort for Israel, and a time of renewal and thanksgiving; then the voice shifts mid-chapter to that of God, who begs his people to listen to him, for he will be their salvation. Isaiah calls on the strong arm of the Lord, and he answers. God cries to Jerusalem to be comforted and to be awakened: he is coming, and he will save.
That’s a basic summary, for you. God is coming, and he will lift the hearts of the weary and give us strength to go on: no longer will we bear the weight of our own guilt.
“I have put my words in your mouth,
and hidden you in the shadow of my hand,
stretching out the heavens
and laying out the foundations of the earth,
and saying to Zion, ‘You are my people.’“ (51:16)
Our preacher once tried to explain what it meant to be the chosen people of God the way that Isaiah presents our relationship.
”She is my wife. These are my children. This man is my friend, and this woman is my mother. The two men in the back [he named them] are part of my football team. You are part of my community--you are my church. This is our church. He is our God. He has chosen us. We belong to him.“
It sounds less impressive in print, but we have such a small community and a lot of people have left their families to join this church--our preacher struggles raising teenagers and his wife has health problems--these things we have chosen to lift up to God, and He is the one that creates the bond of love and belonging and loyalty between us. We belong to Him. He hides us in the shadow of His hand, and tells us we belong to Him.
I know I sound a bit preachy and emotional, but I am, tonight. It’ll be okay for one entry:)
That’s a basic summary, for you. God is coming, and he will lift the hearts of the weary and give us strength to go on: no longer will we bear the weight of our own guilt.
“I have put my words in your mouth,
and hidden you in the shadow of my hand,
stretching out the heavens
and laying out the foundations of the earth,
and saying to Zion, ‘You are my people.’“ (51:16)
Our preacher once tried to explain what it meant to be the chosen people of God the way that Isaiah presents our relationship.
”She is my wife. These are my children. This man is my friend, and this woman is my mother. The two men in the back [he named them] are part of my football team. You are part of my community--you are my church. This is our church. He is our God. He has chosen us. We belong to him.“
It sounds less impressive in print, but we have such a small community and a lot of people have left their families to join this church--our preacher struggles raising teenagers and his wife has health problems--these things we have chosen to lift up to God, and He is the one that creates the bond of love and belonging and loyalty between us. We belong to Him. He hides us in the shadow of His hand, and tells us we belong to Him.
I know I sound a bit preachy and emotional, but I am, tonight. It’ll be okay for one entry:)
Sunday 6 January 2008
Orthodox Theophany
No, this is not Isaiah, but it is part of the Christmas season in the Orthodox tradition, so I thought I'd write a small blurb.
Theophany is the celebration of Jesus's baptism in the Jordan. It is important for two main reasons: firstly, Jesus carried out God's will. His baptism was, in a way, his acceptance of God's plan. It was also the first time that the Trinity was explicitly revealed to mankind: the Son in the Jordan, the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove, and the Father in heaven.
I am particularly attached to the story of Jesus's baptism because it was the first story out of the Bible that really struck me. I read it in 3rd grade out of one of those little gold-leafed Gideon New Testaments that I had stolen out of my father's room (it was a shiny book). I hid it in my bedroom, and then actually started to read Matthew one night. The dove descending and the voice from heaven completely awed me, and I still feel awed when I hear about the baptism, esp. now that I know more about it and it's significance.
Anywho, the Orthodox have a "Blessing of the Waters" on Theophany, an indoor and an outdoor one. What I found interesting were the verses that are chosen for this occasion:
Isaiah 35:1-10, 55:1-13, and 12:3-6
I Corinthians 10:1-4
Mark 1:9-11
These verses are read out loud to the congregation, the priest(s) bless a giant bowl of water, and then use the water to bless the whole church and the people. They use a very strong-smelling branch of something (it looked like part of a Christmas tree, but smelled nuclear strength), they dip the branch in the blessed water, and then proceed to fling it everywhere while singing about Jesus's baptism in the Jordan. It was quite exciting.
Theophany is the celebration of Jesus's baptism in the Jordan. It is important for two main reasons: firstly, Jesus carried out God's will. His baptism was, in a way, his acceptance of God's plan. It was also the first time that the Trinity was explicitly revealed to mankind: the Son in the Jordan, the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove, and the Father in heaven.
I am particularly attached to the story of Jesus's baptism because it was the first story out of the Bible that really struck me. I read it in 3rd grade out of one of those little gold-leafed Gideon New Testaments that I had stolen out of my father's room (it was a shiny book). I hid it in my bedroom, and then actually started to read Matthew one night. The dove descending and the voice from heaven completely awed me, and I still feel awed when I hear about the baptism, esp. now that I know more about it and it's significance.
Anywho, the Orthodox have a "Blessing of the Waters" on Theophany, an indoor and an outdoor one. What I found interesting were the verses that are chosen for this occasion:
Isaiah 35:1-10, 55:1-13, and 12:3-6
I Corinthians 10:1-4
Mark 1:9-11
These verses are read out loud to the congregation, the priest(s) bless a giant bowl of water, and then use the water to bless the whole church and the people. They use a very strong-smelling branch of something (it looked like part of a Christmas tree, but smelled nuclear strength), they dip the branch in the blessed water, and then proceed to fling it everywhere while singing about Jesus's baptism in the Jordan. It was quite exciting.
Saturday 5 January 2008
The Servant [48-49]
HAPPY EPIPHANY/THEOPHANY!
48 presents a little more chastisement to us: God quickly goes over Israel's sins. This time, however, chastisement does not end in promises of exile or hardship, but of redemption. God never leaves His people in ignorance, and does not want them to attribute their redemption to some other god. 48:16 explicitly mentions that "Me" who will be sent from God to redeem the people, and, even more exciting, is spoken by this "Me:" Jesus!
Go forth from Babylon!
Flee from the Chaldeans!
With a voice of singing,
Declare, proclaim this,
Utter it to the end of the earth;
Say, "The Lord has redeemed
His servant Jacob!"
And they did not thirst
When he led them through the deserts;
He caused the waters to flow from the rock for them;
He also split the rock, and the waters gushed out. [48:20-21]
Moreover brethren, I do not want you to be unaware that all our fathers were under the cloud, all passed through the sea, all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, all ate the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them, and that Rock was Christ. [1 Corinthians 10:1-4]
49:1-4 is also from the mouth of the Servant. He describes Himself as being "called from the womb" [49:1], "My mouth like a sharp sword," and as "hidden" [49:2]. (My footnotes tell me that the Servant's mission was hidden until He was sent in order to be more effective. Everyone loves surprises, right?) Verses 5 and 6 tell us that the goal is to bring Jacob back to the Lord, and to be a light to the Gentiles that He "shall be My salvation to the ends of the earth."
God reassures Israel that He will save them. He will not forget them, He will not give them up to Babylon or any other captor. I am particularly fond of these verses:
Shall the prey be taken from the mighty,
Or the captives of the righteous be delivered?
But thus says the Lord:
"Even the captives of the mighty shall be taken away,
And the prey of the terrible be delivered;
For I will contend with him who contends with you,
And I will save your children. [49:24-25]
The Lord will contend with him who contends with us...
Our job is to love and to accept God's redemption, and God's is to judge and redeem. I find ch. 49 to be another "tough cookie," as certain people's grandmothers would say, but a promising, comforting cookie as well.
48 presents a little more chastisement to us: God quickly goes over Israel's sins. This time, however, chastisement does not end in promises of exile or hardship, but of redemption. God never leaves His people in ignorance, and does not want them to attribute their redemption to some other god. 48:16 explicitly mentions that "Me" who will be sent from God to redeem the people, and, even more exciting, is spoken by this "Me:" Jesus!
Go forth from Babylon!
Flee from the Chaldeans!
With a voice of singing,
Declare, proclaim this,
Utter it to the end of the earth;
Say, "The Lord has redeemed
His servant Jacob!"
And they did not thirst
When he led them through the deserts;
He caused the waters to flow from the rock for them;
He also split the rock, and the waters gushed out. [48:20-21]
Moreover brethren, I do not want you to be unaware that all our fathers were under the cloud, all passed through the sea, all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, all ate the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them, and that Rock was Christ. [1 Corinthians 10:1-4]
49:1-4 is also from the mouth of the Servant. He describes Himself as being "called from the womb" [49:1], "My mouth like a sharp sword," and as "hidden" [49:2]. (My footnotes tell me that the Servant's mission was hidden until He was sent in order to be more effective. Everyone loves surprises, right?) Verses 5 and 6 tell us that the goal is to bring Jacob back to the Lord, and to be a light to the Gentiles that He "shall be My salvation to the ends of the earth."
God reassures Israel that He will save them. He will not forget them, He will not give them up to Babylon or any other captor. I am particularly fond of these verses:
Shall the prey be taken from the mighty,
Or the captives of the righteous be delivered?
But thus says the Lord:
"Even the captives of the mighty shall be taken away,
And the prey of the terrible be delivered;
For I will contend with him who contends with you,
And I will save your children. [49:24-25]
The Lord will contend with him who contends with us...
Our job is to love and to accept God's redemption, and God's is to judge and redeem. I find ch. 49 to be another "tough cookie," as certain people's grandmothers would say, but a promising, comforting cookie as well.
Thursday 3 January 2008
Even when you turn grey I will carry you. [46-47]
Just as in the previous chapters a man makes an idol out of wood (alas, the ironworker got too hungry to continue), in 46 an idol of gold is made. The statues of the patron gods of Babylon must be carried away on the backs of beasts and cattle when the city is threatened, but to this God says:
“Listen to me, O house of Jacob,
all the remnant of the house of Israel,
who have been borne by me from your birth,
carried from the womb;
even to your old age I am he,
even when you turn grey I will carry you.
I have made, and I will bear;
I will carry and will save.” [46:3-4]
I am completely taken by this contrast; God turns the hurried and stumbling, leaderless cowards whose escape is thwarted and puts it across from a personal, intimate relationship that is timeless and faithful.
Chapter 47 (and this continues into 48, as well) is against Babylon, predicting her downfall and her pride. Babylon is personified as a young woman, a prisoner of war whose friends have left her and whose constructed protection of magic and science has crumbled.
In all this, God’s message to the reader is that he is one, that there is no other god beside him. This has been a struggle for man as long as we have existed--Adam and Eve were tempted by the idea that they could be like God; this should be nothing new to us.
“Listen to me, O house of Jacob,
all the remnant of the house of Israel,
who have been borne by me from your birth,
carried from the womb;
even to your old age I am he,
even when you turn grey I will carry you.
I have made, and I will bear;
I will carry and will save.” [46:3-4]
I am completely taken by this contrast; God turns the hurried and stumbling, leaderless cowards whose escape is thwarted and puts it across from a personal, intimate relationship that is timeless and faithful.
Chapter 47 (and this continues into 48, as well) is against Babylon, predicting her downfall and her pride. Babylon is personified as a young woman, a prisoner of war whose friends have left her and whose constructed protection of magic and science has crumbled.
In all this, God’s message to the reader is that he is one, that there is no other god beside him. This has been a struggle for man as long as we have existed--Adam and Eve were tempted by the idea that they could be like God; this should be nothing new to us.
Wednesday 2 January 2008
The Light Ahead [44-45]
Here we read God's reassurance to Israel in exile. Most importantly, we read God's promise to pour His Spirit on their descendants [44:3], which is fulfilled in the New Testament. Israel is reassured that God will care for His people, and will completely forgive and forget all their sins.
We also get numerous attributes of God, all of which portray God as the ultimate. He is the First and the Last [44:6], and the one who drives diviners mad [44:25] (my personal favorite...God will tell us what we need to know. We do not need to seek answers elsewhere).
We are also introduced to Cyrus, who allowed Israel to return from. What I think is most interesting about Cyrus is that he is aware that the Lord is the God of Israel, that he has been chosen by God, named by God, but still does not know God [45:3-4]. In this instance, God did not choose someone of His own people to lead Israel out of exile. He chose (if you'll excuse the expression) a heathen. God can use any tool He likes to carry out His will. This reminds me a bit of the Silmarillion, where the creator-god Eru/Iluvatar incorporates the song of the evil one, Melkor, into his own song and uses it in a good way. Cyrus is not one of the chosen people, but is valuable nevertheless as a tool for carrying out the return of Israel to the Promised Land.
I have raised him up in righteousness,
And I will direct all his ways;
He shall build my city
And let My exiles go free,
Not for price nor reward.
[45:13]
Cyrus does receive a ransom for Israel, the idolaters of Egypt, Cush, and the Sabeans, but it is not for this that Cyrus releases the people of Israel. Cyrus does it because God willed it.
Importantly, God says "I have not spoken in secret, in a dark place of the earth; I did not say to the seed of Jacob 'seek Me in vain.'" God has no mysteries for His people. The Lord speaks, and whoever is willing to listen gets to hear it. I point this out because many of the Gnostic gospels portray God, Jesus, and their religion as being something mysterious that only certain people can know, while others will always seek in vain. As Christians, it is vital to remember that God has revealed Himself to and for everyone. He is not a diviner, revealing only cryptic clues every so often to special people. Through all of Israel's trials and tribulations, God sends His prophets to warn the people, and to let them know that their suffering will not last forever.
We also get numerous attributes of God, all of which portray God as the ultimate. He is the First and the Last [44:6], and the one who drives diviners mad [44:25] (my personal favorite...God will tell us what we need to know. We do not need to seek answers elsewhere).
We are also introduced to Cyrus, who allowed Israel to return from. What I think is most interesting about Cyrus is that he is aware that the Lord is the God of Israel, that he has been chosen by God, named by God, but still does not know God [45:3-4]. In this instance, God did not choose someone of His own people to lead Israel out of exile. He chose (if you'll excuse the expression) a heathen. God can use any tool He likes to carry out His will. This reminds me a bit of the Silmarillion, where the creator-god Eru/Iluvatar incorporates the song of the evil one, Melkor, into his own song and uses it in a good way. Cyrus is not one of the chosen people, but is valuable nevertheless as a tool for carrying out the return of Israel to the Promised Land.
I have raised him up in righteousness,
And I will direct all his ways;
He shall build my city
And let My exiles go free,
Not for price nor reward.
[45:13]
Cyrus does receive a ransom for Israel, the idolaters of Egypt, Cush, and the Sabeans, but it is not for this that Cyrus releases the people of Israel. Cyrus does it because God willed it.
Importantly, God says "I have not spoken in secret, in a dark place of the earth; I did not say to the seed of Jacob 'seek Me in vain.'" God has no mysteries for His people. The Lord speaks, and whoever is willing to listen gets to hear it. I point this out because many of the Gnostic gospels portray God, Jesus, and their religion as being something mysterious that only certain people can know, while others will always seek in vain. As Christians, it is vital to remember that God has revealed Himself to and for everyone. He is not a diviner, revealing only cryptic clues every so often to special people. Through all of Israel's trials and tribulations, God sends His prophets to warn the people, and to let them know that their suffering will not last forever.
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