Bible Reading Challenge Blog

This chapter is a bit deceptive because it falls under the previous chapter heading of an oracle concerning Damascus, and yet it seems like it begins an oracle concerning Ethiopia, or as the Scripture calls it, Cush.  It speaks about the rivers beyond Ethiopia and about the messengers who come from up the Nile.  That would definitely not be Damascus which was pretty far North, but rather Ethiopia which was on the other side of Egypt.  

It is interesting how the people of Ethiopia are described, a people who were tall and smooth.  They were also a people who were feared near and far.  Do you notice how in this day and age we describe people many times by the color of their skin.  We don’t read that here in Scripture, even though we know that the people of Ethiopia would have been of darker skin than the people of Israel, or even Isaiah himself, who would have written this passage.  Isaiah himself would have been of darker skin than those of us who are reading this passage.  Yet for some reason we have Isaiah pegged as a white person from European descent speaking to white people of European descent.  That is not at all what it was like.

Isaiah is speaking to the Israelites who were of Middle Eastern descent and so were much darker than we were.  Or as in the words of Isaiah, they would have been much smoother than we would ever hope to be.  You should notice a transition in vs.7 that he states that at one time they will all come to worship the Lord.  They will all come to Mount Zion, even those who are tall and smooth, yes, even those who are feared among all the nations.  What a wonderful image of all people coming to worship the Lord.

It is hard for us to understand what it is like to have an oracle written against a city which has been around for millennia.  Nothing in the Bible was ever written about North America.  Nothing in the Bible was ever written about my European ancestors.  The Bible contains writings that people with Middle Eastern and African descent would be able to understand as addressing them directly.  There is still a city called Damascus and it is still located in the same place where it was located back when Isaiah was writing his prophecy.  Does that ever take your breath away?  If it doesn’t then it should at least humble you to make you realize that our background is so limited compared to that of those in the Middle East.

The passion about the land and the passion about the history is one that we simply cannot understand.  When there is an oracle written about, or against, Damascus, then a Christian living in that land now would be able to understand it at such a different level than we who live in this Western civilization that is so different from what we are reading. 

We begin this chapter with the heading of an oracle concerning Damascus.  If you go back and look at the map you will see that it is north of Israel and in a region that was called Aram.  You see Aram mentioned in vs.3.  You notice in vs.14 that the prophet gives a bit of a vengeful perspective when he describes all the destruction that is to come to Damascus and Aram and gives the reasoning behind it: “This is the fate of those who despoil us, and the lot of those who plunder us.”  I guess Isaiah was not quite into the whole 70×7 thing.  I get it.

This is another oracle against Moab and another (false?) lament for Moab who will be brought into ruin.  Moab is personified as a person who at one time was strong, but now has been brought low along with all of his followers and all of his agricultural yields.  The complete destruction of Moab is described in these verses.  

If you look at the middle of vs.4 through 5 you see the end goal of the writer.  He tells us that “when the oppressor (Moab) is no more and the destruction has ceased, then a throne shall be established in steadfast love in the tent of David, and on it shall sit in faithfulness a ruler who seeks justice and is swift to do what is right.”  He gives a very different juxtaposition between the ruler of Moab, who will be destroyed primarily because he is unjust and not like the ruler who is described, and David.  There can be no greater difference.  

David is describe as a ruler that the Lord would want.  Someone who is established in steadfast love.  This is not normally a description that we might seek after for our ruler.  David as King is described as faithful and whose primary desire is for the good of the nation.  That is an assumption that we make when we think of our ruler, that their primary goal is the good of the nation.  The ruler is someone who is described as seeking justice.  That is definitely an attribute that we would want in our ruler, someone who understood what justice was and would pursue it.  Finally, the ruler is described as someone who is swiftly able to do what is right.  A ruler whose moral compass is not wavering.  A ruler who has all of these attributes is possible, but we sometimes settle for something far less than what is described in these verses.

Once again you can refer to the map in order to understand what is going on.  Moab is that region to the East of the Dead Sea and all of those cities mentioned in this chapter you can see listed in the map.  The beginning inscription to this chapter lets us know that this is an oracle all about Moab.  Moab was not a friend, and yet this sounds like a lament on behalf of Moab.  The Moabites were sworn enemies to both Israel and Judah, and yet here we hear the author say in vs. 5 that their “heart cries out for Moab.”  

It makes me wonder if there is not some sarcasm in this dirge, but I just don’t see it.  It makes we wonder if the author is authentically saddened by the degree of destruction which the Babylonians caused upon Moab.  Is there a certain threshold where even if the nation is our enemy, when they are massacred beyond any kind of humane parameters, does it strike a chord and force us to ask for mercy even for our sworn enemies?

Chapter 16 will continue this oracle.  

We have three nations that are mentioned in this oracle.  Again, this is where you need to look at that map to understand who is involved here.  There was a coordination among the nations which was not to the advantage of Judah and Israel.  Oh, so I say Judah and Israel because it was a divided kingdom, but combined they were still the people of God.  Israel was the northern part of the kingdom and Judah was the southern part of the kingdom.  You can see that on the map.  So both Judah and Israel were considered the good guys.

You see the prophet Isaiah first speaks about a unification in the first verses.  This unification is seen in the Lord having compassion on his people.  This is where it all starts.  Then he begins to speak out against Babylon.  From Babylon in vs.4 he then moves on to speak out against Assyria in vs. 25 who will be  broken.  If you see Assyria on the map it is north of Babylon, so quite some distance from Judah and Israel.  Next we find the Philistines in vs.29.  You can see Philistia was on the shore to the West of Israel and Judah.  

These were all arch-enemies of the people of God and so Isaiah takes pleasure in giving these oracles which inevitably speak of their demise.  There is an underlying current of a desire that the Lord would come quickly to make it happen right away.  Again, this Advent sense of anticipation.  I don’t encourage an anticipation that would forecast the destruction of nations, but I guess we can’t have it all.

Yes, it is blurry, but it is a map that we will need in order to understand the next 15 chapters.   So we begin here in chapter 13 and it takes us through chapter 27.   These are oracles, or statements from the prophet Isaiah, that speak about the future of Israel and the nations that surround it.  This first one speaks about Babylon.  You see Babylonia on the second map to the East of Judah and Israel.  This oracle is against Babylon.  It describes a time when they will get what is due them, primarily because they destroyed Israel and Judah and now their destruction is close at hand.

If you look at vs.16 you can see a scene depicted that is brutal and tragic.  It should remind you of Psalm 137:9 which depicts a similar image of children being dashed against the rocks, but then takes the next step of the plundering of the homes and the ravishing of the wives.  The oracle speaks of Babylon becoming like Sodom and Gomorrah that was overthrown by God.  This oracle is really bad news for Babylon who had taken the Israelites into captivity.  Now they are going to be punished for that, and punished severely.

Interestingly it is thought that the garden of Eden was in that region of the world, around Babylon.  You have the intersection of the rivers which the Scripture describes in Genesis, but if you look at vs.21 to the end you see that the wild animals will inhabit that land.  But these animals are not as peaceful as they were described back in chapter 11 where we found ourselves going back to how God created things.  This, instead, seems to be the antithesis of what we saw in 11.  I know in Eden there were no “goat-demons” that were dancing.  What an image that creates.  

This chapter marks the end of one section of the book of Isaiah, which means the next chapter, 13, will be the beginning of another section.  This chapter is called a concluding song of thanksgiving.  This is a prophetic futuristic appeal since it begins with: “You will say in that day…”  That day has not arrived yet, but the author fully expects it to arrive.  This is again another wonderful reference to Advent where we expect all things to come to completion on that day.  This is the OT rendition of Paul’s Romans 5:8 which tells us that even while we were yet sinners, still Christ died for us.  Isaiah states: “though you were angry with me…you comforted me.”  

The intersection of the image of water and salvation is one that we can understand through baptism.  As a result we are called to give thanks, we are called to sing praises, we are called to let the earth know of the marvelous deeds of the Lord.  

This post is unrelated but I was looking for a different song and this came up.  It works.

I think I already posted Glory Days by Bruce Springsteen in the past, so I’m going to spare you a repeat posting.  But here the prophet changes the tune from one of fear and dread, which the other chapters reflected, to one where he gives us a much rosier scene of what is to come.  This remnant that was discussed in previous chapters is becoming more defined now.  Do you remember when Jesus spoke in his home synagogue in Nazareth in Luke 4 and he begins by saying: The Spirit of the Lord is upon me?  Starting at vs.18 it should sound very similar.  But we see these verses all throughout Isaiah including in 61:1 which is actually the one that Jesus quotes.  We also see them in 58:6 and some more in 61:2.  We cannot overstate how important it was to Jesus, and to Scripture, and so to God as a whole, to take care of the poor.  That has to be our driving motive as a church.

Then in vs. 6 we find this idyllic bucolic scene where all of creation is able to co-exist peacefully.  For many this is a depiction of the garden of Eden where all creatures of our God and King are able to live in harmony.  After this beautiful depiction we then move to the nation of Israel itself which seems to regain its former glory.  It regains it to the point that it is now striking other nations and conquering them.  So much for the peaceful scene.  I guess we left that behind.  

It is clear that the Lord was not happy with the way that the most vulnerable of society were being treated.   The orphan was being trampled, and that was not to God’s liking.  The widow was being taken advantage of, and there was no one to defend her.  I can think of a similar situation today where we have orphans and widows on our borders and our backs are turned for the sake of seeking security.  There is quite a bit in these verses that have to cause us to pause and wonder: what are we doing and are there any similarities to what Isaiah has to say here?  The question is asked by God, should I not treat Israel the same way that I treated other nations that were acting in this way?  Look at vs.11 and you can see the reasoning in the verses leading up to it.

He then continues and gives us some insight into Providence and our inability to see who really is in charge.  We think we are the ax, and maybe we are, but the ax has no ability to dictate its future or its actions without the person who wields it.  The same is true of us.  We are people who are absolutely unable to predict our future and can only be on course as a result of the our Creator who puts us to work and on course.

But this chapter is especially known for vss.20ff.  We read about a remnant that will be preserved even in the midst of all of this disobedience.  A remnant will come out of the nation who is not defiled, but has obeyed.  This remnant will return back to Jerusalem and Zion and reestablish God’s kingdom.  When this happens then God’s anger will be appeased and the burden will be lifted from the shoulders of the people.  Yes, we are looking forward to that day.  Advent is all about the coming of the Lord and an anticipation of when that burden will be lifted.

We know that in the coming of our Savior the burden was lifted, but we still wait for when Jesus comes back again.  Maranatha!

I feel as if this is all that I need to post.  If you have an extra 2+ hours then go ahead and sit back and listen to the complete Handel’s Messiah.  And you thought it was just the Hallelujah Chorus, no there is a complete work.  But it does take a couple hours to get through it all.  

There is a bit of a dichotomy in this chapter between the beginning section and the ending section.  We have the very popular: “the people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who lived in a land of deep darkness- on them light has shined.”  This is what we read every Christmas Eve when we light the Christ candle.  Christ is the light who came into the world.  If you listen at minute 40 on  the above recording you will hear verses 6 and following which is the very encouraging and uplifting “Unto us a child is born, a son is given.”  It is very uplifting because it gives us hope and promise.

But then things change dramatically in vs.8ff.  The people do not turn to the Lord.  As a result they will be conquered and things get really, really bad.  Isn’t that interesting how in the chapter that has one of the most iconic Advent/Christmas verses we find later in that chapter one of the most foreboding gloom and doom Scriptures that you can find.  I guess it is that way, though.  We have the promise and the gift but if we do not believe it or open it, it will be useless for us.