Reading: Isaiah 58-60, Psalm 119:153-176
The downslope of the book of Isaiah turns again to the bad behavior of the descendants of Jacob. In chapter 58, Isaiah attacks the religious formalism of those who keep all the practices of the books of Moses, but do not surrender their hearts to God’s cause. He blasts their sacrifices and fasting, because they are doing them only for their own gain. They are keeping the Sabbath rules, but ignoring the day’s purpose. God has no use for the formalities of religious practice done for selfish reasons, because he looks on the heart. Their lack of heart change has made all their efforts worthless, and cut them off from God. They are not who they think they are.
But Isaiah sees hope. The last bit of chapter 59 is a declaration of God’s personal action to redeem the repentant. This will be a theme in the last few chapters of Isaiah. They people are sinful, and even those who want to repent see no way forward to do so. Their temple is destroyed by Babylon, but even were it intact, where are the faithful priests? How are they to recompense God for all their disobedience? Building on the suffering Servant song in Isaiah 53, Isaiah tells them the great secret: God will do it himself. As in Genesis 6 before the flood, God looks and sees there is no justice. He sees that there is no one to intercede, and so he does it himself. In Genesis 6 God resets creation and starts over with Noah, then promises to never do so again. But the human problem has persisted, and because God makes all things new he acts in a different way to reset the creation. Rather than destroy it in a flood, he creates something more. Looking back, we know that this something more is God creating himself in the Incarnation. But that’s getting way ahead of things.
After all that was said of the Servant in Isaiah 40-55, one would think everyone gets that God and the Servant are the only salvation available- the religious structures set up in the book of Moses to let the people approach God are to be overtaken by God’s personal action as redeemer. Still, the books of Moses matter. Isaiah proclaims the purpose of the covenant: that the words of God would not leave the mouths of the descendants of Jacob forever. They will be witnesses to who their God is, whether they like it or not.
Isaiah calls them to like it. Chapters 60-62 are a song of celebration. It is one of those parts of the Scripture that defies time- when it was written it was a song of hope predicted. Then it was a song of prophecy unfolding in front of their eyes in the New Testament. Then it was (and is) a song of celebration of hope fulfilled. Finally, we have come to understand it as a song of yet more hope predicted, and a call to live in a new kind of world, to bring good news to the poor, to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, to comfort those who mourn… but I’m jumping ahead again. In chapter 60 Isaiah foresees a day when his vision of the throne of God from chapter 6 comes to Earth and inhabits Jerusalem. The light of God’s glory outshines the sun, the people shall all be righteous, Jerusalem will be brought the wealth of the nations. The lesser glories of bronze, stone, and wood will all get an upgrade. It is God making everything new. It is Jerusalem as it should have been.
The book of Isaiah is drawing to a close, though we still have some of the most dramatic writing ahead of us. As we get to the last few chapters, recall the scope of Isaiah’s life and vision. He was witness to the best and worst kings in Judah’s history. Half of his book of prophecies are a warning based on the fate of the northern kingdom of Israel, and a hope built on the rule of Hezekiah. When that hope fails, and Isaiah is witness to the horrendous reign of Manasseh, God gives him a future vision of how this was supposed to be. What Israel was supposed to be, what humanity was supposed to be. These closing chapters are both a prediction of God’s action and a reminder of how life was designed. I think they were given to the faithful prophet for hope, and they have come down to us for the same hope. Everything is never lost. Despite the worst disappointments, the promises of God never fail, and in the end their fulfillment will be a story that is better than we could every imagine.