Exegesis and Theology

The Blog of Brian Collins

Isaiah Survey: Isaiah 56:9-66:24

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Isaiah 56:9-66:24 forms the last major unit. I am generally unconvinced of chiastic structures on the macro level,[1] but this unit seems to be structured as a chiasm. As Abernethy says, “”While I am typically sceptical of chiastic structures, this one has strong textual merit and explanatory power.”[2]

A. Confronting the faithless insiders with judgment and assuring the faithful with salvation (56:9-59:8)

B. Prayer for forgiveness and restoration (59:9-15a)

C. The warrior king judges the wicked and redeems the repentant (59:15b-21)

D. Zion’s international renown amid King YHWH’s glory and his messenger (60-62)

C’. The warrior king judges and saves the nations (63:1-6)

B’. Prayer for forgiveness and restoration (63:7-64:12)

A’. Confronting the faithless insiders with judgment and assuring the faithful with salvation (65:1-66:24)[3]

Segment A (56:9-59:8) begins by calling for judgment on sinful Israel, and the sin of the people is once again expounded. In the midst of these judgment texts, however, are passages in which God promises redemption for the repentant. However, adhering to religious forms will not please God if it is not accompanied by righteous living.

In segment B (59:9-15a) Israel speaks in first person to confess its sins.

In segment C (59:15-21) Yhwh straps on his armor and comes as a warrior to “repay” sinners “according to their deeds” (59:18). But to those who repent, a “Redeemer will come to Zion,” and Yhwh will make a covenant that conveys the Spirit and the Word to them. Paul quotes this passage in Romans 11:26-27; this passage will find its ultimate fulfillment in the eschatological judgment that is followed by the salvation of all Israel.

Having mentioned the Redeemer who comes to Zion, segment D (chs. 60-62) turn the focus squarely upon Zion. Chapter 60 is a vision of the New Jerusalem (John draws heavily from this passage in Revelation 21-22). Jerusalem shines with the glory of Yhwh, and the nations stream into it with their wealth and worship. Then in chapter 61 the Messiah speaks (“Yhwh has anointed me”) of the Spirit empowering him for ministry. Jesus quoted this passage of himself in Luke 4:18-19 (cf. Matthew 11:5//Luke 7:22). It describes his ministry in both his first and second comings. The passage then speaks of the restoration of Israel in their land. Chapter 62 returns to the theme of Zion and coming of the nations to the city, but this chapter is couched in terms of anticipation of and preparation for that day.

Segment C’ (63:1-6) returns to the theme of the divine warrior. Here is a warrior who is treading down the peoples as if they are grapes in a winepress. It is the “day of vengeance” (63:4), but note that the day of vengeance is part of the “year of redemption” (63:4). The eschatological judgment of the nations prepares the way for the new creation. Revelation alludes to this passage when it speaks of “one like a son of man” who “gathered the grape harvest of the earth and thew it into the great winepress of the wrath of God” (Rev. 14:14, 19) and when it describes the returning Christ coming “clothed in a robe dipped in blood” (Rev. 19:13).

Segment B’ (63:7-64:12) is another prayer. It follows this scene of judgment with praise for God’s steadfast love and compassion for his people. It acknowledges Israel’s rebellion and calls on God to redeem his people. Segment A’ (65:1-66:24) begins with God’s answer to the preceding prayer. His answer is that he is now saving the Gentiles while judging unrepentant Israel (65:1-7). But there will be a time when Israel will be redeemed and restored (65:8-10). He therefore distinguishes, in a series of blessings and curses his servants from those who would reject his call (65:11-16). Then God declares the creation of new heavens and a new earth. Close attention to the details of this text shows that there is combined in this text what Revelation 20 will identify as the Millennium and Revelation 21 identifies as a succeeding new earth.[4] This should not be troublesome. The millennial period is the time in which Christ, as the second Adam leads his people to subdue and rule over the earth as Adam was originally commissioned to do. It is thus the period in which the new creation is being brought about. When God says, “For behold, I am creating a new heavens and a new earth,” a process may be implied. This glorious vision of the future, and the book as a whole, closes on a somber note. All redeemed humanity will worship Yhwh—and they will view the dead bodies of those in hell whose worm will not die. Clearly Isaiah’s is burdened that those who heard (and read) his message avail themselves of the redemption accomplished by the Servant rather than continue in their rebellion and suffer God’s wrath for eternity.

[1] Oswalt captures my sentiments regarding chiastic structures: “I am very skeptical of hypotheses that depend on identifying elaborate structure, such as chiastic parallelism, extending over several chapters or even over the whole book. Not only do all these proposals seem to me to depend on misusing some of the data sooner or later, they also do not seem to take enough account of the way the motifs of the book appear and reappear. Thus, it is possible to create any number of these ‘structures,’ each one plausible and each one differing from the rest.” Oswalt, “Kerygmatic Structure,” in “God to the Land that I Will Show You”: Studies in Honor of Dwright Young, 147, n. 18, as cited in Wagner, 10, n. 20. That said, Oswalt does see a chiastic structure in Isaiah 56-66. NICOT, 2:15-16, 463-65; cf. Tully, Reading the Prophets as Christian Scripture, 155.

[2] Abernethy, NSBT, 22.

[3] This structure adapts the one found in Abernethy, NSBT, 84. The wording is Abernethy’s. However, Abernethy’s A and A’ lines have been dropped. His A line covered 56:10-8, which I have attached to the previous section. His A’ line covered 66:18-24, which I incorporated into his line B’ (65:1-66:17). I relettered the lines according to my adaption. Oswalt and Tully’s chiastic structure (see previous note) is similar to Abernethy’s original structure, the only difference being that they do not separate out the prayers in 59:1-15a and 63:7-64:12 but incorporate them into 56:9-59:15a and 63:7-66:17).

[4] For instance, 65:20 refers to the birth of infants and the death of the aged while Revelation 21:4 indicates that there will be no more death.

Isaiah Survey: Isaiah 54:1-56:8

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“Shout for joy, O barren one … Break forth into joyful shouting” is the exhortation that flows from Isaiah 53 and the atonement provided by the Servant.[1] Though there is a close connection between Isaiah 54:1-56:8 and Isaiah 53, these chapters are a new section. The bookends of Isaiah 401:1-11 and 52:7-12 indicated that that major section was coming to a close. One might then suppose that the final Servant song should begin a new section rather than end this section, but there is a major shift in Isaiah’s servant language after Isaiah 53. In Isaiah 40-53 the servant is always in the singular (whether it refers to the nation or to the Messiah), but after Isaiah 53 the occurrence of servant is always in the plural. Thus, a major break in the book occurs with the climatic 53rd chapter.[2] Notably, just as the text preceding Isaiah 53 captured in one text several of the most important theological themes in Scripture, Isaiah 54-55 brings together all the biblical covenants in a single passage. It opens with an allusion to the Abrahamic covenant (54:1-3). Sarah, the barren one, would become the mother of an innumerable seed. The enlargement of the tent and “spread[ing] abroad to the right and to the left” alludes to Genesis 28:14: “Your offspring shall be like the dust of the earth, and you shall spread abroad to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south, and in you and your offspring shall all the families of the earth be blessed.”[3] In fulfillment of the Abrahamic covenant, Israel will possess the nations. There may also be an allusion to Genesis 9:27, “and let him [Japheth] dwell in the tents of Shem.” In verses 9-10 there is an explicit reference to the Noahic covenant. God says that just as he committed in the Noahic covenant not to flood the earth again, so his new covenant commitments (here identified as the covenant of peace) will be maintained. He then looks forward to the New Jerusalem, filled with the righteous and immune to attack. In chapter 55 Isaiah calls all people to come to Yhwh for satisfaction and to seek Yhwh rather than wickedness or any other thing, since those will not satisfy. In this context Yhwh says that the covenant promises he made with David will be taken up into the new covenant (here called the “everlasting covenant”) and fulfilled among all the nations. In 56:1-8 those who were excluded from temple worship under the Mosaic covenant, the eunuch and the foreigner will keep God’s covenant and worship Yhwh in his house, which is to be “a house of prayer for all peoples” (56:7). When the Lord Yhwh gathers “the outcasts of Israel,” he will also gather “others,” Gentiles (56:8).

[1] Oswalt, NICOT, 2:413-14; Motyer, 444; Williamson, Sealed with an Oath, NSBT, 160-61.

[2] See Daniel L. Wagner, “The Dynamic ‘Structure’ of Isaiah 40-66: An Analysis of Organization Based on Transitions in the Servant and Other Orienting Motifs,” PhD diss. Bob Jones University, 2004.

[3] Motyer, 445.

Isaiah Survey: Isaiah 40-53

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Isaiah 40 marks a major shift in the book of Isaiah. In the closing verses of ch. 39, Hezekiah was told that the people will be sent into exile. Chapter 40 opens with words of comfort. Isaiah also alludes to the covenant formula, “I will be your God, and you will be my people.” Exile will not be the last word. Isaiah 40:1-2 also mentions that Israel’s great problem will be addressed: her iniquity will be removed; she has received the double for all her sins. How this will be effected will be most clearly explained in Isaiah 53, the closing chapter of the major section that runs from Isaiah 40-53.

This major section is comprised of two sub-sections, the first of which is Isaiah 40-48. This section opens with a voice calling. First, it calls for the way to be cleared for the coming of Yhwh (40:3-5). Some interpret this as referring to a second exodus as the exiles return from Babylon, but the text is clearly referring to the return of Yhwh, not the return of the exiles.[1] God’s presence is the most important thing to be restored to the people when the people are restored from their sin. Second, the voice affirms the enduring reliability of God’s Word (40:6-8). What follows is the content of that word from God (40:9), and that content is extols the incomparably unique glory of the sovereign Yhwh. This is a motif that Isaiah will weave throughout this entire section. Alongside this motif is another: the vanity of idols. The chief thing Isaiah highlights in setting Yhwh apart from idols is that he can predict the future, telling the end from the beginning. Only in chapter 41 does Isaiah introduce the theme of Israel’s return from exile, and that obliquely. He introduces “one from the east” (41:2), who will later be identified as Cyrus (45:28, 45:1). The Cyrus prophecy was given to show that “I am Yhwh, and there is no other; besides me there is no God” (45:5) (the first two motifs noted), and it does so through an amazing predictive prophecy (naming Cyrus 150 years before he took these actions). It also promises the rebuilding of Jerusalem, the temple, and the cities of Judah (44:26-28). The theme of return from exile thus runs through this section and is the focus of the final verses of chapter 48. Also introduced in this section is the servant of Yhwh theme. The servant is introduced in 41:8, where the servant is identified as Israel. In chapter 42 the Servant is an individual: Behold my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights; I have put my Spirit upon him” (42:1, emphasis added). Abernethy notes, “A discerning reader should detect similarities between 42:1 and the task of the Davidic ruler as described in Isaiah 1–39. Like the Davidic ruler, the servant is an agent who receives God’s ‘Spirit’ (42:1//11:2) and establishes ‘justice’ (42:1, 3, 4; 9:7[6]; 16:5; 32:1; cf. 11:4).”[2] Since the king represents the nation, it is fitting for the servant to be both the nation and its federal head, the King. Later in the chapter, the focus shifts back to Israel, “Who is blind but my servant” (42:19). The servant for the rest of this section is the nation, though the focus shifts to the servant’s redemption (43:8-13; 44:1-5, 21-45:8; 48:20).

Isaiah 49-53, the second part of the section that runs from chapter 40 through chapter 53, emphasizes how Yhwh will redeem Israel—through his Servant. In this section the Servant is in every instance the individual Servant that chapter 42 introduced and linked with the Davidic Messiah. Chapter 49 begins with the Servant calling out to the nations to listen. This servant, as the king of Israel, can be called Israel and his purpose from the womb has been to redeem Israel. But here it is revealed that this Servant Israel will also redeem the nations along with the nation Israel. Israel is spoken to as exiled for its sin, but just as God redeemed Israel from Egypt, God will redeem Israel from exile and sin (50:1-3). He will do this through the Servant, who (unlike the nation) listened to and obeyed the words of Yhwh. This obedient Servant will be beaten and humiliated, but he will not be disgraced, for Yhwh will vindicate him (50:4-9). Those who fear Yhwh and pursue righteousness are directed back to the promises of the Abrahamic covenant for the promises of God and then forward to the new creation and the new covenant when God’s law will be written on their hearts (50:10-8). The people call on God to redeem them as he did in the exodus (51:9-11), and Yhwh promises redemption and the end of judgment (51:12-52:6). This section begins to draw to a close with 52:7-12, which is full of language drawn first from 40:1-11.[3] These verses also bring together many themes that run right through Scripture from beginning to end. Jonathan Pennington comments, “Here is one of the single most important passages for a whole-Bible theology because in it we see the interconnectedness of multiple lines of overlapping truth: good news/gospel, salvation, God’s reign or kingdom, and peace/shālôm.”[4] This key text is followed by the final Servant song, which makes explicit that the redemption of Israel and the nations will take place through the substitutionary death and resurrection of the Servant.

[1] So Alexander, 2:95-96; Young, 3:28; Oswalt, NICOT, 2:51-52; Motyer, 300; Smith, NAC, 2:95-96; Steveson, 337, n. 9; Abernethy, NSBT, 56-57.

[2] Abernethy, NSBT, 139. Abernethy, however, does not identify the Messiah and the Servant directly. I would identify them.

[3] See Table 2.1 in Abernethy, NSBT, 63.

[4] Jonathan T. Pennington, “A Biblical Theology of Human Flourishing,” (Delivered at the Institute for Faith, Work, and Economics, 2015), 7.

Isaiah Survey: Isaiah 36-39

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The next major section (36-39) is a series of narratives that demonstrate the importance of trusting in Yhwh alone, who again demonstrates that he is king over all the nations.[1] The Rabshakeh taunted Hezekiah and mocked Yhwh. But Hezekiah sent for Isaiah who prophesied that Yhwh would cause the king of Assyria to return to his own land where he would fall by the sword. In this section also Isaiah prays for deliverance, and this prayer draws on the themes of the preceding sections (Yhwh’s sovereignty over the nations) and anticipates the themes of the next section (the gods of the nations are idols, which means they are nothing in comparison to the true God).[2] The next two narratives precede in time Assyria’s siege of Jerusalem. In the first Hezekiah becomes sick and is told by Isaiah that he will die. However, Yhwh hears Hezekiah’s prayer and then sends word to Isaiah that Hezekiah will live another fifteen years. This prompts a psalm of praise from Hezekiah. The final narrative, however, does not put Hezekiah in a good light. He foolishly shows all his wealth to Babylonian envoys, and Isaiah is sent to declare to Hezekiah that one day all that treasure (and even some of his own sons) would be taken to Babylon. In Isaiah 36:2, the Rabshakeh of the king of Assyria came to the “conduit of the upper pool on the highway to the Washer’s Field” to speak to Hezekiah (36:2). This is the same exact location where Isaiah, in chapter 7, met Ahaz declared to him: “If you do not stand firm in your faith, you will not stand at all” (7:9, NIV). Ahaz did not stand firm in his faith; Hezekiah provides a counter-example of one who did trust in God. In between chapters 7 and 36 the oracles and woes emphasize that Judah and Jerusalem cannot trust in the nations or in their own might. These chapters further reveal that the great concern should not be conquest by the nations but the coming day of Yhwh.

[1] For the emphasis on trusting Yhwh, see Tully, Reading the Prophets as Christian Scripture, 161-62. For an emphasis on Yhwh as king, see Abernethy, The Book of Isaiah and God’s Kingdom, NSBT, 47-48.

[2] Wolf, Interpreting Isaiah, 175-76.

Isaiah Survey: Isaiah 28-35

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After the series of oracles against the nations, the next major section (28-35) is comprised of six woes (28:1-29; 29:1-14; 29:15-24; 30:1-33; 31:1-32:20; 33:1-24) followed by an eschatological section that predicts Yhwh’s destruction and restoration of the earth (34-35).[1] The first five of these woes are directed against Israel and Judah. They are primarily historical in focus (from our perspective). However, as they progress, there are increasing references to future deliverance until the final woe oracle, which is directed not at Israel and Judah but at Assyria. Tully notes, “The theme that runs through this section is trust.”[2] God’s people are not to trust Egypt or their own military might. They are to trust the Holy One of Israel alone.

[1] The KJV, NASB, LSB, NIV, CSB all translate הוֹי “woe” while the ESV tends to translate it “ah,” though it does use “woe” on one occasion. The ESV’s inconsistency masks the structure in this section.

[2] Tully, Reading the Prophets as Christian Scripture,

Isaiah Survey: Isaiah 13-27

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The next major section is Isaiah 13-27. This section is a series of oracles against nations. In chapters 13-23 the series of oracles are marked with the phrase “The oracle concerning _______.” Chapters 24-27 are not marked by this formula, but they form the climax to this section by moving from oracles against specific nations to eschatological judgment on the entire world.[1]

Just as the preceding major section both opened and closed with an eschatological vision of the divine Davidic Messiah reigning over all the nations from Jerusalem, so this major section begins with an oracle regarding the judgment of the eschatological day of Yhwh (13:1-14:27) and ends with visions of the same (chs. 24-27). The first oracle concerns Babylon. Since Babel (the same word in Hebrew as Babylon) is the site of the great rebellion of all mankind against God after the Flood, it has served as a fitting exemplar for human rebellion against God down through the ages; the term is still used in Revelation of the human systems and power arrayed against God. While historical Babylon is not absent from consideration (note the reference to the Medes being stirred up against them in 13:17), this historical day of Yhwh judgment is linked with the ultimate, universal day of Yhwh judgment. This pattern is common in the prophets.[2] This prophecy of judgment (13:1-22) is followed within the oracle with a prediction of Israel’s restoration (14:1-2), during which time Israel will take up a taunt against the final king of Babylon, the Antichrist.[3] This being will seek to ascend to heaven, but that will not be not high enough. He will seek to set his throne above the stars of God (the angels, cf. Job 38:7). He will say, “I will sit on the mount of assembly in the far reaches of the north,” or “in the sides of Zaphon.” Mount Zaphon probably refers to a mountain in Syria that was reputed to be the mountain of the gods, as Mount Olympus was to the Greeks.[4] But Psalm 48:2 equates the “sides of Zaphon” with “Mount Zion…the city of the great King.”[5] Thus, he wants the throne of the Messiah. The “Mount of Assembly” sounds like the “Tent of Assembly,” which would locate the throne in the temple.[6] Then, to emphasize the heights he is determined to attain, he will say, “I will go up above the high places of the clouds, I will make myself like the Most High” (pers. trans.). This is what Paul prophesied of the Antichrist in 2 Thessalonians 2:4, “he takes his seat in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God.” Isaiah 14 records the taunt of God’s people after he has been brought down. This first oracle closes by turning from eschatological Babylon to the destruction of historical Assyria (14:24-25). This historical judgment on Assyria is likely given as a sign that the future judgment will come to pass as predicted.[7] That the oracle as a whole is universal is confirmed in the final two verses (14:26-27).

Following this opening oracle are a series of oracles concerning Philistia (14:28-32); Moab (15:1-16:14), Syria (17:1-14),[8] Cush (18:1-7), Egypt (19:1-20:6). A second series of oracles follows: and oracles concerning “the wilderness of the sea” (Babylon, 21:1-10), “Dumah” or “silence” (Edom, 21:11-12), Arabia (21:13-17), the valley of vision (Jerusalem, 22:1-25), Tyre (23:1-18). Most of the oracles concern historical judgments on the nations surrounding Israel. But scattered throughout these prophecies are messianic prophecies and typology (e.g., 16:5; 22:20-25). The lengthiest of these comes in the final oracle of the first cycle, in which a Savior will come to Egypt, where Yhwh will then be worshiped. The Assyrians and the Egyptians will be God’s people along with Israel.

Isaiah 24-27 concludes this major section of Isaiah by turning to the future, universal judgment: “Behold, Yhwh will empty the earth and make it desolate.” Until this time, the Noahic covenant (in 24:5 called the “everlasting covenant”; cf. Gen 9:16), has restrained God’s curse of judgment from destroying the world repeatedly. In this final day of Yhwh, the Noahic covenant will reach its ordained endpoint, and those inhabitants of the earth who have transgressed its laws now come under this final destruction. Those defeated will be held in a pit for many days and then will be punished after the reign of Yhwh on Mount Zion.[9] There are also two cities mentioned in these chapters. One city is destroyed in judgment, but the city of Zion is raised up as a city to which the nations will come to celebrate the defeat of death and the wiping away of all tears (25:6-8). These chapters reveal, “In that day Yhwh with his hard and great and strong sword will punish Levithan the fleeing serpent, Levithan the twisting serpent, and he will slay the dragon that is in the sea” (27:1). That is Yhwh will defeat with finality “the great dragon…, that ancient serpent who is called the devil and Satan” (Rev 12:9).

[1] Oswalt, 440-41; Wolf, 44, Steveson, 194.

[2] “On one pattern, the discourse first envisages judgement on a universal scale then moves to a particular focus. In the other, the discourse first refers to a particular target and then grounds the announcement of local doom in a declaration of universal judgement.” Edward Adams, The Stars Will Fall from Heaven: Cosmic Catastrophe in the New Testament and Its World (LNTS 347; London: T&T Clark, 2007), 43; referencing Paul Raabe, “The Particularizing of Universal Judgment in Prophetic Discourse,” CBQ 64: 652-74.

[3] Though the king of Babylon has often been associated with Satan by interpreters, one of the earliest interpreters identifies him as the Antichrist. Hippolytus of Rome, “Treatise on Christ and Antichrist,” §17.

[4] Oswalt, NICOT, 1:322.

[5] Motyer says, the “implication [is] that if there should be such a place as ‘the apex of Zaphon’ it would be Zion.” Motyer, Isaiah, 145.

[6] Alexander, 296-97.

[7] Little, Israel’s Eschatological Enemy, 42, 59.

[8] Syria is identified by its capital city, Damascus. The northern kingdom of Israel is also included in this oracle because of its alliance with Syria during this time. Wolf, Interpreting Isaiah, 119.

[9] The “many days” likely refer to what Revelation 20 will identify as a 1,000 year period. Culver, Daniel and the Latter Days, 31-32; Blaising & Bock, Progressive Dispensationalism, 274-75; Blaising, “The Kingdom That Comes with Jesus: Premillennialism and the Harmony of Scripture,” Southern Baptist Journal of Theology 14, no. 1 (2010): 6, 11, 33-34.

Isaiah Survey: Isaiah 2:1-12:6

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Isaiah 2 begins with another heading, “The word that Isaiah, the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem, marking the beginning of a major section that runs from 2:1-12:6. This section begins and ends with the eschatological reign of the King over Israel and the nations. In chapter 2 the king is identified as Yhwh; in chapter 11 he is identified as Davidic. In between Isaiah provides evidence that he is both God and man in one person. This major section can be divided into three sub-sections: 2-5, 6, 7-12.

The section (chs. 2-5) comes in four parts.[1] The first part (2:1-4) picks up on the promise given at the end of chapter 1 that “Zion shall be redeemed by justice” (1:27). It looks to this future day when the temple mount is the exalted place where all the nations will come to learn from Yhwh his ways and his law. Yhwh will rule from Zion over a pacified earth and will be the judge over all international disputes. The second part of this section (2:5-4:1) calls on Judah to walk in the light of Yhwh because at present Judah is full of idolatry. The remainder of chapter 2 is then taken up with a description of the eschatological day of Yhwh, which will come upon the proud who exalt themselves against Yhwh. Chapter 3 may shift the focus to the more immediate day of Yhwh in which Jerusalem will fall (or both the near and the far day may be in view). Isaiah 4:2-6 returns to eschatological Zion, thus sandwiching the part on the Day of Yhwh judgment with texts about the restoration of Zion. The Messiah is introduced obliquely here as “the Branch of Yhwh” (cf. 11:1), and Zion is described as the place of Yhwh’s presence, using the pillar of cloud and fire imagery from the exodus. Chapter 5 closes out this section with a song in which Israel is represented as a fruitless vineyard that will be destroyed. Isaiah then pronounces a series of woes on the sinners of Judah for their sins. Many of the same sins mentioned in chapter 1 are here repeated. Further chapter 1 began by noting “they have forsaken Yhwh, they have despised the Holy One of Israel” (1:4), and toward the end of chapter 5 Isaiah reiterates, “they “have despised the word of the Holy One of Israel” (5:24).[2]

Isaiah 6 stands as a hinge chapter between Isaiah 2-5 and Isaiah 7-12. Oswalt observes, “In a real (though brief way) this chapter answers the question posed by chs. 1-4…. How can this Israel become that Israel.”[3] Following the preceding section’s prophecies of Yhwh ruling from the temple in eschatological Jerusalem, Isaiah has a vision of the Lord enthroned as judge in the temple. He has been called the Holy One of Israel three times in the preceding chapters, and now he is hailed as thrice holy by the seraphim (likely a reference to the Trinity). Just as the glory of God filled the tabernacle and temple in the past, so now it is said that his glory fills the whole earth. This scene anticipates the eschatological day in which that will be a manifest reality. Isaiah confesses that he has seen the King, Yhwh of armies, and that he is undone due to his uncleanness. The unclean was not to come into contact with the holy. In response a seraphim touches his lips (which is what Isaiah had specified as unclean) with coal from the altar, signifying that his sin was atoned for. Atonement is the only way an unclean, guilty people can enter the presence of a thrice holy God. The coming of the King in judgment is not good news unless it is preceded by the coming of the Servant to atone. This done, the Lord says, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” (the plurals here also gesturing toward the triune nature of the Lord).[4] Isaiah volunteers, and the Lord commissions him to minister in such a way that Israel’s heart is hardened. Isaiah asked how long he would have this ministry of condemnation, and the Lord told him that it would be until the land was entirely desolate and the people deported. Even the remnant would be consumed. Yet the last words are words of hope: “The holy seed is its stump.”[5]

Isaiah 7-12, the next section in the book, begins with a narrative about king Ahaz, which demonstrates the hardness of heart the previous chapter had predicted.[6] Isaiah 7 also draws a sharp contrast between the Lord as King and the king of Judah, who is fearful of Israel and Syria.[7] The Lord assures Ahaz through Isaiah that Israel and Syria will not succeed against Judah, and Yhwh invites Ahaz to ask for a sign “deep as Sheol or high as heaven (7:10). Ahaz, with false piety declines, and so the Lord gives a sign to the house of David: “a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.” But while Judah will be spared from Syria and Israel, it will not be spared from Assyria. Isaiah is told to name his own son, “The spoil speeds, the prey hastens” (8:1, 3, ESV mg) because Assyria would spoil Syria and Israel before the boy could say “my father” or “my mother.” Assyria would also sweep into Judah, like a river overflowing its banks. Assyria would fill the land of Judah, coming up to the neck (referring to the days of Hezekiah when the whole land save Jerusalem fell to the Assyrians). In this situation Isaiah is warned to fear not what they fear, but to fear the Lord. In the midst of this dire prophecy, God gives hope to the region of Galilee, which would be the first to bear the brunt of invaders from the north. That region would be blessed with a great light, “For unto us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder” (9:6). In chapter 2 Yhwh was said to reign from Zion, in chapter 4 the branch (which 11:1 will link to the house of Jesse) is implied to rule in Zion, in chapter 7 the birth of a child who is named God with us is prophesied, and now a king who is called “Mighty God” is promised, and he is said to be a Davidic king (9:7). Then abruptly Isaiah turns from this good news back to the judgment that Assyria would bring on Israel and Judah (9:8-10:4). However, Assyria itself will not escape God’s judgment (10:5-19). Furthermore, God will preserve a remnant and will permit Assyria to go only so far (10:20-34). Then Isaiah looks ahead to the day when the Spirit-empowered Davidic king rules over all the nations with justice, when the creation itself is restored and enjoys shalom, when Israel is restored to the land, and the nations too will seek the Lord. In that day Israel will praise the Lord for his salvation and will enjoy the presence of the Holy One of Israel in their midst (chs. 11-12).

[1] Here I’m drawing on Wolf, Interpreting Isaiah, 76; Kaiser, Preaching and Teaching the Last Things, 58-59; Tully, Reading the Prophets as Christian Scripture, 156-57.

[2] Abernethy, The Book of Isaiah and God’s Kingdom, NSBT, 24.

[3] Oswalt, NICOT, 55.

[4] Bavinck, RD, 2:264.

[5] Isaiah 11:1 predicts “There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse.” And Isaiah 53:2 says the Servant will be “like a root out of dry ground.” Wolf, Interpreting Isaiah, 88.

[6] Wolf, Interpreting Isaiah, 89.

[7] Abernethy, The Book of Isaiah, NSBT, 27-28, 123-24.

Survey of Isaiah: Isaiah 1

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Isaiah 1 serves as an introduction to the book as a whole. It announces the subject of the prophecy in the opening verse: “which he says concerning Judah and Jerusalem.” Though this may at first seem a narrow focus, the summoned audience is universal: “Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth” (1:2). Echoing the language of Deuteronomy,[1] Isaiah describes the sinfulness of Israel in poetic terms that highlight the depth and destructiveness of their rebellion. Fundamentally, however, “they have despised the Holy One of Israel.” He declares that the nations will overthrow them. He rejects their worship, which is offensive to God since they offer it as unrepentant rebels. The chapter then reaches a climax as Yhwh calls them to repent and promises cleansing and restoration—while threating judgment if they continue to rebel (1:16-20). But Isaiah turns back in verse 21 to describing Judah and Jerusalem’s sinfulness. Once again judgment is declared, but this time it is described as a refining that removes the dross and alloy. God is determined to restore Zion. And yet the contrast between the repentant and the rebel is maintained (1:28). This first chapter, thus sets up the major themes of the book and raises before the reader the question of whether they will be part of the repentant, cleansed, holy people of their holy God or remain rebels who will be consumed by a holy God.

[1] Block, Deuteronomy, NIVAC, 751, n. 22.

P. J. Williams, “Lying Spirits Sent By God: The Case of Micaiah’s Prophecy.”

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The Trustworthiness of God: Perspectives on the Nature of Scripture is a volume of essays edited by Paul Helm and Carl Trueman. I don’t often see this book referenced, but it contains several excellent essays. For instance, Craig Bartholomew’s “A God for Life, and Not Just for Christmas! The Revelation of God in the Old Testament Wisdom Literature” is an excellent introduction to the wisdom literature.

Yesterday I was studying 1 Kings 22, and I found Peter Williams’s essay one of the best treatments of that chapter that I’ve read. And I have read a fair bit of the commentary literature and a handful of journal articles on this chapter and the issues surrounding it.

One of the issues in this chapter is found in verse 15 in which Micaiah, the true prophet, gives the same false prophecy as the false prophets directly after rebuffing a suggestion that he give Ahab a favorable prophecy with the statement that he would speak only what Yhwh told him to speak—and all this in a book which emphasizes that false prophets speak lies while the words of a true prophet always come to pass.

Williams rejects some common solutions.

1. He rejects that idea that there was some kind of gesture or way of speaking that indicated that the words were not true since the text does not indicate these (61-62).

2. He rejects the idea that Micaiah’s speech in v. 15 was an initial personal response before he had received Yhwh’s word since the preceding verses would be in tension with this reading (62).

3. He rejects the view that Micaiah is lying. He grants that the absence of a phrase like “thus says Yhwh” in verse 15 is notable, but he also notes that verse 14 means that Yhwh “is not completely disassociated from the statement” (62-63).

Here is Williams’ solution:

Taking the simplest hypothesis that no nonverbal indication was given to the king that the oracle of verse 15 was not true, we may ask how it was that the king recognized it not to be true. If he did not decide this on the basis of the mode of delivery, he must have realized this on the basis of the message’s content. If the king was capable of recognizing that the oracle was not true merely on the basis of content, he must have been equally capable of recognizing it as untrue when almost the same words as Micaiah pronounces in verse 15 were used by his own prophets (vv. 6, 12). The king, by his response in verse 16, has in fact given away that at some level in his consciousness he was aware all along that what his prophets were telling him was not true. Micaiah’s words in verse 15 have elicited that admission from him in a way that a simple statement of doom could not have done.

Yet we still have to explain how God can be associated with a statement that seems so false as verse 15 does. Part of a solution to this may be found in Tim Ward’s article later in this volume (pp. 192-218), where he illustrates the wrongness of isolating utterances in understanding a work. When Micaiah’s initial statement in verse 15 is separated from its context and set up as an individual proposition, the truth or falseness of which is to be evaluated, the statement is clearly false. However, in its context it neither deceived anyone nor had the intention of deceiving anyone, but was acting as a preface to a full explanation of the truth. The dialogue as a whole is entirely truth-illustrating, somewhat akin to Solomon’s “wise” initial ruling that the baby whose parentage was being debated should be cut in half (1 Kings 3:25). It seems clear that, however God is associated with Micaiah’s statement in verse 15, he cannot be charged with deceit.”

P. J. Williams, “Lying Spirits Sent by God? The Case of Micaiah’s Prophecy,” The Trustworthiness of God, 63.

Williams’s handling of God’s sending a deceiving Spirit is equally compelling. His bottom line is this:

These two themes of the truth of God’s word and his sovereignty over the lying spirit are such prominent themes in the narrative that it is hard to avoid concluding that they are being set in deliberate tension and that the narrator believes that both must be held to firmly. … The assertion then of the narrative of God’s sovereignty over lying spirits is precisely that, an assertion of sovereignty. According to the narrative it does not in any way compromise the utter truthfulness of God’s word, nor is a lie to be associated with God’s spirit.”

P. J. Williams, “Lying Spirits Sent by God? The Case of Micaiah’s Prophecy,” The Trustworthiness of God, 65-66.

R. B. Jamieson, The Paradox of Sonship: Christology in the Epistle to the Hebrews

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Jamieson’s The Paradox of Sonship is one of the best books I read this year. It was also surprisingly fitting as a Christmas read. Jamieson argues that the title Son in Hebrews should not read as a (“less-than-divine”) messianic title, nor should it be read simply as a divine name. Rather, he argues that Son is used to describe Jesus as the eternal (divine) Son and that the title is used to refer to the appointment of Jesus as the reigning messianic Son. In fact, it is the incarnation by which the eternal Son becomes man, suffers, dies, and rises, that the divine Son is able to be the messianic Son. Finally, Jamieson argues that it was necessary for the messianic Son to be divine in order to exercise the rule that God ordained for him.

The basic thesis is something that I had long accepted. I think I first encountered this line of thinking through reading Richard Gaffin, Geerhardus Vos and associated writers. (Interestingly, Vos and Gaffin are not mentioned in this work.) However, Jamieson’s work advanced my thinking in one respect. He demonstrated that the deity of the Messiah was necessary to his rule. God’s plan was for a divine-and-human messiah to reign over all things. The detailed exegetical work in the book is also valuable.

Jamieson’s interaction with patristic sources is also commendable. In his first chapter he lays out what he calls “A Classical Christological Toolkit.” That is, he explains classical Christological categories that can help make sense of Hebrews’s talk about the Son. He argues that even though the NT does not speak in these categories, there are specific pressures that the text of NT creates that resulted in these categories being conceptualized. Thus, they are not categories imposed on the text. They are categories that illumine the text.

Yet, while drawing on the fathers, Jamieson is not enslaved to them. Most of the Father’s understand language about the Jesus being “made” the Son to be language about revealing what the Son already is. Jamieson rightly points to a better interpretation.