After the prediction of judgement against an unfaithful Jerusalem and pleas (beginning with a love song!) for her return to innocence and purity, Isaiah has a vision of the heavenly throneroom.
God's message to the eager Isaiah is the image of a grieving God who wants his children to turn to him for healing. Personally, I am struck with the idea that God is vulnerable to us; that we hurt him more deeply than we could any human parent, lover, or friend. When we set ourselves against God willingly and in full knowledge that this constitutes suicide we ought to know that somebody grieves, collects the good memories, cleans out the things we've left behind. Better that we are physically or mentally crippled, and yet capable of love, than in the fullness of strength and self-righteous.
The next chapter is one from which the much quoted line is taken: "Look, the virgin is with child and shall bear a son, and shall name him Immanuel" (7:14). This is a line that begins the prophecy of political peace and worldly abundance. I won't try and interpret this, but I can see how some would have taken this to mean that the Christ would come to be an earthly King, come to lead the Jews to victory against Rome. Any help on this passage would be appreciated:)
[Edit: Not sure what I was thinking when I wrote that last paragraph; obviously the focus on the nature of the land is because it has been conquered; it is dangerous and has gone wild. I suppose the mention of curds and honey threw me off--I expected them to be a symbol of prosperity as they seemed to be in the previous section. Still not sure how they fit in.]
The version I'm reading from (New Revised Standard Version; The New Oxford Annotated Bible) has a preface to this book and states its dominant themes as God's action behind all historical events and the importance of Jerusalem for Israel; that rightful kingship both politically and personally be held in God's holy city. These chapters together present a picture of God's relationships with individuals and his power to change the world's wars and worldly wealth as from one source, with one goal that has not yet been accomplished.
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4 comments:
I was also curious about the curds and honey you noted in 7:15. My bible says in a footnote that it is "the restricted diet of those who remain after devastation has changed the once fertile fields of Judah into grazing land." Curds and honey seem like luxuries though. The promised land was flowing with milk and honey, after all. Later in verse 21, it says that a man will have a heifer or a couple of sheep and make curds from the abundance of milk. It continues on saying that curds and honey will be the food of everyone remaining on the land. So is it a luxury that's not so luxurious once that's all there is? I'm still not sure what this is predicting about the era of Jesus' birth.
The footnotes from my version are as follows:
7:15 Curds and honey, choice far, difficult to obtain during a siege; by the time time child is weaned (two or three years) the northern allies will have been totally defeated and the land (of milk and honey) will return to the prosperity it enjoyed under David and Solomon.
21-22 A reuse of the curds-and-honey motif signifying that the land will go back to pasture as a result of invasion.
So . . . I am not sure how curds and honey signify that the land will go back to pasture. I thought maybe it would have something to do with a depleted population of warriors and their families, and therefore an abundance of cattle, but there isn't anything to support that.
And regarding the aspect of messianic prophecy, I am at a loss--unless it refers to the sanctuary and stumbling block of the later verses in chapter 8.
choice fare*
Sorry about that.
I suppose it could be saying that they will no longer be in exile or fighting northern nations. This is true of the time Jesus was born I think, though of course there were other troubles, but those came from their own nation - King Herod.
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