Reading: Isaiah 4-8, Psalm 110

Okay, we are getting into Isaiah’s style of weaving together history with prophetic declaration, and I’m going to have a problem: there is a ton going on here. I’m going to do my best to hit the important points in overview, but bear in mind that this kind of literature is dense in a way we rarely think of writing being. It is not exactly poetry, but it is closer to poetry than prose the way we write it today. The first five chapters of Isaiah comprised a prophetic lawsuit, the end of which is not particularly encouraging. The next six or so chapters of the book weave together historical events during the reign of Ahaz, who we may remember from 2 Kings 16 was not a great king, and the prediction of God’s provision for the faithful who remain.

First we wrap up the lawsuit with a song. Building on what we read yesterday, Isaiah makes his great accusation in 5:20-23: the people of God have become upside down, calling evil good and good evil. This is a redress of the human problem. In our independence, we have actually lost to knowledge of good and evil, not gained it. Isaiah declares the judgment for disobedience from Deuteronomy- the people will go into exile. Chapter 5 ends with the image of foreign nations as wild lions coming to devour Israel and Judah. This is basically the sentencing portion of the divine trail in what Isaiah accuses Israel under the covenant. Exile is the proscribed sentence for their actions. It is time.

Chapter 6 is another opening of the book. Following my concert image from yesterday, the artist is coming on stage after the scathing pre-show of chapters 1-5. To set the stage, we are told Uzziah is dying. His son Ahaz, as we already know, is…. less than great. Isaiah receives this wild vision of the throne room of God. This should immediately make us think of the Temple. Here is the throne of God. You know, the place no human can go without extensive purification rituals, sacrifices, and clothes. Isaiah is properly freaked out. But then something crazy happens. God sends a coal from the altar to atone for his sins and take away his guilt. What is that about? Well, the coal comes from the altar- the place of sacrifice. Something was offered on that altar that atoned for Isaiah’s sins. Remember, this book is entirely in the context of the books of Moses. Altars are places of sacrifice. That we are not told what was offered that made this coal effective is significant. It will haunt the rest of the book of Isaiah.

Isaiah, realizing the enormity of what has happened to him, volunteers at God’s call. He is told to go proclaim God’s words, but that he will not be listened to. It will be a hard message that Isaiah brings, and he must be prepared to be ignored and rejected, yet continue to proclaim it.

Isaiah is then sent off to confront Ahaz, who is worried about the alliance of the northern kingdom, here referred to as Ephraim, with Syria. Isaiah tells Ahaz to stand firm in the power of God, because God has already planned to deal with them. He then instructs Ahaz to ask for a sign, any sign, that he speaks truth. Ahaz demurs, and Isaiah proclaims a most unusual sign, though one that fits in the history of Israel. There will be a child born whose name means God with us. In retrospect, we look at this as a prophecy of the birth of Jesus. The virgin will have a son is obviously a reference to Mary and the birth of Christ. However, this was certainly not clear at the time. What is clear at the time is that God is promising deliverance from Syria and the northern kingdom by the time this child is old enough to choose good over evil. Interesting choice of words, that. Anyhow, what we know from reading back in Kings is that Ahaz was in fact delivered, in exactly the way Isaiah predicts, through the king of Assyria, who comes and thrashes Syria. Who then is this child? To Ahaz, the prophecy had to be fulfilled in his time. There is some debate on this, but I think for Ahaz, this was his own son, Hezekiah. One of Ahaz’s “young virgins” would bear him a son, and before his son was old enough to tell good from evil, the threat would be removed. His son would be a sign of deliverance.

Another possibility is another son, this one born to Isaiah himself, with the rather outrageous name that basically means quick to the spoil, haste to the plunder, signifying the oncoming judgment of the northern kingdom and Syria. However, this doesn’t quite tally with Isaiah already having one son, and the name is just a little different from God with us. Also, following the birth of this second son, Isaiah receives another word from God that he and his children are signs and a portents from the God of Israel. Isaiah and his children are not the deliverer, they are a warning. A warning of coming darkness.