Week 36, September 1–7: 2 Corinthians 12–13, Isaiah 1–18

• Sun      9/1       2 Cor 12–13
• Mon     9/2       Isa 1–4
• Tue      9/3       Isa 5–6
• Wed     9/4       Isa 7–9
• Thu      9/5       Isa 10–12
• Fri        9/6       Isa 13–15
• Sat       9/7       Isa 16–18

As we begin reading Isaiah this week, it may be helpful to consider a few general features of the prophetic books in the Bible, and some principles for how to read them as Christian Scripture for us today. Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and the Minor Prophets can be daunting to read. They are written in various literary styles but often the genre is poetry, which contains figures of speech, terse language, complex imagery, and apocalyptic visions with mysterious meaning. The prophetic books can read like sound bites from different points of view, jumping from one speaker to another without signaling the change.

They also contain many links to other parts of the Bible, and it is important to have some familiarity with the broader narrative of the OT to make sense of these connections. When it’s possible, it is helpful to go back to 1–2 Kings and 1–2 Chronicles to learn about the historical context of what is contained in the prophetic books. For example, Isaiah begins by telling us that what follows contains the prophetic vision and words of Isaiah, “which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah. Going back to 2 Kings 15–20 to read about these kings will help us better understand Isaiah’s message.

In spite of the difficulty of these books, there is a lot we can discover that is relevant and beneficial for us today. As we read along through these books, let’s continue to remind ourselves that this is God’s word to us. Even though the prophets whose words are contained in these books were addressing Israel and Judah many centuries ago, their message was about God, his kingdom, and his coming Messiah, all of which are unchanging and just as meaningful to us today as they were to those hearing the prophets speak and to those reading their words for the first time.

When we talk about biblical prophets it can be helpful to distinguish between speaking prophets and writing prophets. The speaking prophets were those whose ministry we read about in the OT historical books, prophets who interacted with others in the narrative, often kings, but whose prophetic words were not recorded at great length. Samuel, Elijah, and Elish are the most familiar examples of what we call speaking prophets. Writing prophets, on the other hand, are those whose writings were recorded and collected into the biblical books by their names, prophets like Isaiah, Jeremiah, Hosea, and Malachi. Really, however, designating these as writing prophets may be somewhat misleading, since we don’t actually know who wrote the books named after the prophets. The book of Jonah, for example, is about the prophet Jonah, but whether he wrote it is not certain. (It would not be a very self-flattering book, if he did write it.)

We often think of prophecy as having to do with the future. A prophet, in common contemporary parlance, is someone who predicts the future. However, biblical prophecy is a bit more nuanced than this. Prophets in the Bible, whether speaking or writing, don’t always prophesy about the future. This is part of what they do, but it’s not all they do, it’s not even primarily what they do. The concept of prophecy in the Bible can be summarized succinctly as speaking for God. Prophets are mouthpieces for God who transfer words between him and his people, sometimes about the future, but also about the past and present. They speak to God’s people on his behalf (e.g. Exod 7:1–2; Jer 1:9; Isa 37:5–7), often introducing their words with the phrase, “Thus says the Lord.” And occasionally they also speak to God on behalf of the people (e.g.  Gen 20:7).

As God’s mouthpieces, one of the main functions of the prophets was to guard the covenant relationship between the Lord and his people. As we’ve seen in the historical books, Israel and Judah consistently turned away from the Lord, turning instead to injustice and idolatry and forsaking God and the instructions of the Torah. The ministry of the prophets was to call the people back to the Torah and to the ways of the Lord, for their own good and for his glory. Often at great cost and grief, they reminded the people of the covenant relationship God had established through Abraham, Moses, and David (2 Kgs 17:13, 23; Jer 9:1–11). Over and over again the prophets point back to the Pentateuch to show God’s people that the suffering and defeat they are experiencing at the hands of their enemies, and eventually the exile out of the Promised Land, is the promised consequence of rejecting the Lord and turning from his ways. This is the theme that runs through the entire corpus of biblical prophetic books, the unifying feature of these books.

We’ll see this right away as we begin reading Isaiah, but the two themes in tension throughout the prophets are judgement and salvation. Trouble is coming, or it has already come, the prophets declare incessantly. And sin and covenant unfaithfulness are the reasons for this trouble. Speaking on God’s behalf, the prophets call the people of Israel and Judah to repent and turn back to the Lord who has been faithful to the covenant even though they have not. This message of judgement and a call to repent is one side of the tension the prophets present.

The other side of the tension is that God will yet still save and redeem his people again. He has remained faithful and will faithfully fulfill all the covenant promises he has made to his people. In the end, he will make a way for them to be restored. He will deliver them and bless them. His word remains true even thought it may look like his promises are failing.

This is where the future, foretelling aspect of biblical prophecy comes in. Even though the situation of their time is bleak because of the people’s sin, there is a future time coming when things will be made right. In theological terms, we refer to this as the eschatological perspective of the prophets, the vantage point that looks ahead to the future, to the last days when the Lord will send his Messiah and establish his kingdom forever.

As you read through the prophetic books, notice the themes of judgement and salvation in tension. The theme of judgement dominates the message of these books most of the time, but it is interrupted by glimpses of future (eschatological) blessing and salvation. It might even be appropriate to say that understanding this tension is the key to understanding these books.