My Cover to Cover book has a page called Prophecies Concerning Gentile Nations in Isaiah and a map showing ten countries about whom Isaiah has something to say. This demonstrates very clearly the new view of God as Lord of all the world.
Cyrus, a chosen vessel
Isaiah 45:1-8
The Lord of Creation and history
Isaiah 45:9-17,19
Lord of all
Isaiah 45:20-15
Judgement on Babylon
Isaiah 47: 1-15
God is the Lord of the future
Isaiah 48:1-11
Cyrus, the Lord’s chosen leader
Isaiah 48:12-16
The Lord’s plan for his people
Isaiah 48:17-22
Cyrus was the emperor of Persia, the empire that would follow Babylon. God promises to use him to restore Israel. But this is far in the future, in Hezekiah's time, when we last tuned in to history, the Assyrians were the world power. They will be conquered by Babylon, who in turn will be conquered by Persia. So the name Cyrus would mean nothing to people at that time. Now maybe people didn’t understand what on earth Isaiah was on about until generations after he uttered these words. Or maybe the book we call Isaiah contains prophecies of several individuals from different times, all collected and published together. It’s not clear, because this book is not just a mish-mash of “Prophets’ greatest hits.” It hangs together, it sounds like the same voice speaking all the way through, it has a unity of its own. How do we square this circle? The way I do it is to remember that there is one voice speaking through it all God’s voice, and this prophetic tour de force is God moving his people on from one understanding of who he is to another deeper one. That’s a process that took generations, and no mistake.
Isaiah 48:17-19 sums it up ver well: “I am the LORD your God, who teaches you what is best for you, who directs you in the way you should go. If only you had paid attention to my commands, your peace would have been like a river, your well-being like the waves of the sea. Your descendants would have been like the sand, your children like its numberless grains.”
Cyrus, a chosen vessel
Isaiah 45:1-8
The Lord of Creation and history
Isaiah 45:9-17,19
Lord of all
Isaiah 45:20-15
Judgement on Babylon
Isaiah 47: 1-15
God is the Lord of the future
Isaiah 48:1-11
Cyrus, the Lord’s chosen leader
Isaiah 48:12-16
The Lord’s plan for his people
Isaiah 48:17-22
Cyrus was the emperor of Persia, the empire that would follow Babylon. God promises to use him to restore Israel. But this is far in the future, in Hezekiah's time, when we last tuned in to history, the Assyrians were the world power. They will be conquered by Babylon, who in turn will be conquered by Persia. So the name Cyrus would mean nothing to people at that time. Now maybe people didn’t understand what on earth Isaiah was on about until generations after he uttered these words. Or maybe the book we call Isaiah contains prophecies of several individuals from different times, all collected and published together. It’s not clear, because this book is not just a mish-mash of “Prophets’ greatest hits.” It hangs together, it sounds like the same voice speaking all the way through, it has a unity of its own. How do we square this circle? The way I do it is to remember that there is one voice speaking through it all God’s voice, and this prophetic tour de force is God moving his people on from one understanding of who he is to another deeper one. That’s a process that took generations, and no mistake.
Isaiah 48:17-19 sums it up ver well: “I am the LORD your God, who teaches you what is best for you, who directs you in the way you should go. If only you had paid attention to my commands, your peace would have been like a river, your well-being like the waves of the sea. Your descendants would have been like the sand, your children like its numberless grains.”
No comments:
Post a Comment