INTRODUCTION ISAIAH RON THOMAS

Transcription

1 1 INTRODUCTION TO ISAIAH BY RON THOMAS

2 2 Introduction to Isaiah by Ron Thomas History I. Isaiah was a prophet contemporary with Amos and Hosea; he prophesied to the political leaders and to the common folk in Israel. A. While most of his preaching was to Judah, Israel was included; both he and Micah preached to Judah. Isaiah became a prophet in the year Uzziah (also known as Azariah) died (Isaiah 6:1), about B.C. 1. Isaiah 6:1, In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted, and the train of his robe filled the temple. (NIV) II. Events in the Palestinian world were changing. A. After David s death, Solomon assumed the throne and experienced a peaceful rule, but near the end of his reign, Solomon was unable to prevent the disintegration of the empire (Pfeiffer, p. 149). 1. Those who were contributors of taxes (this was, essentially, a payment to let the conquered nation or people continue to govern themselves) to Solomon s

3 3 empire began to assert themselves and broke from his authority. B. Shortly after Solomon died, with his son on the throne, Israel split into two kingdoms (I Kings 11-12) Kings 11:41-43, As for the other events of Solomon's reign all he did and the wisdom he displayed are they not written in the book of the annals of Solomon? Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel forty years. Then he rested with his fathers and was buried in the city of David his father. And Rehoboam his son succeeded him as king. (NIV) 2. 1 Kings 12:1-33, Rehoboam went to Shechem, for all the Israelites had gone there to make him king. When Jeroboam son of Nebat heard this (he was still in Egypt, where he had fled from King Solomon), he returned from Egypt. So they sent for Jeroboam, and he and the whole assembly of Israel went to Rehoboam and said to him: "Your father put a heavy yoke on us, but now lighten the harsh labor and the heavy yoke he put on us, and we will serve you." Rehoboam answered, "Go away for three days and then come back to me." So the people went away. Then King Rehoboam consulted the elders who had served his father Solomon during his lifetime. "How would you advise me to answer these people?" he asked. They replied, "If today you will be a servant to these people and serve them and give them a favorable answer, they will always be your servants." But Rehoboam rejected the advice the

4 4 elders gave him and consulted the young men who had grown up with him and were serving him. He asked them, "What is your advice? How should we answer these people who say to me, 'Lighten the yoke your father put on us'?" The young men who had grown up with him replied, "Tell these people who have said to you, 'Your father put a heavy yoke on us, but make our yoke lighter'-tell them, 'My little finger is thicker than my father's waist. My father laid on you a heavy yoke; I will make it even heavier. My father scourged you with whips; I will scourge you with scorpions.' " Three days later Jeroboam and all the people returned to Rehoboam, as the king had said, "Come back to me in three days." The king answered the people harshly. Rejecting the advice given him by the elders, he followed the advice of the young men and said, "My father made your yoke heavy; I will make it even heavier. My father scourged you with whips; I will scourge you with scorpions." So the king did not listen to the people, for this turn of events was from the LORD, to fulfill the word the LORD had spoken to Jeroboam son of Nebat through Ahijah the Shilonite. When all Israel saw that the king refused to listen to them, they answered the king: "What share do we have in David, what part in Jesse's son? To your tents, O Israel! Look after your own house, O David!" So the Israelites went home. But as for the Israelites who were living in the towns of Judah, Rehoboam still ruled over them. King Rehoboam sent out Adoniram, who was in charge of forced labor, but all Israel stoned him to death. King Rehoboam, however, managed to get into his chariot

5 5 and escape to Jerusalem. So Israel has been in rebellion against the house of David to this day. When all the Israelites heard that Jeroboam had returned, they sent and called him to the assembly and made him king over all Israel. Only the tribe of Judah remained loyal to the house of David. When Rehoboam arrived in Jerusalem, he mustered the whole house of Judah and the tribe of Benjamin a hundred and eighty thousand fighting men to make war against the house of Israel and to regain the kingdom for Rehoboam son of Solomon. But this word of God came to Shemaiah the man of God: "Say to Rehoboam son of Solomon king of Judah, to the whole house of Judah and Benjamin, and to the rest of the people, 'This is what the LORD says: Do not go up to fight against your brothers, the Israelites. Go home, every one of you, for this is my doing.' " So they obeyed the word of the LORD and went home again, as the LORD had ordered. Then Jeroboam fortified Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim and lived there. From there he went out and built up Peniel. Jeroboam thought to himself, "The kingdom will now likely revert to the house of David. If these people go up to offer sacrifices at the temple of the LORD in Jerusalem, they will again give their allegiance to their lord, Rehoboam king of Judah. They will kill me and return to King Rehoboam." After seeking advice, the king made two golden calves. He said to the people, "It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem. Here are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt." One he set up in Bethel, and the other in Dan. And this thing became a sin; the people went even as far

6 6 as Dan to worship the one there. Jeroboam built shrines on high places and appointed priests from all sorts of people, even though they were not Levites. He instituted a festival on the fifteenth day of the eighth month, like the festival held in Judah, and offered sacrifices on the altar. This he did in Bethel, sacrificing to the calves he had made. And at Bethel he also installed priests at the high places he had made. On the fifteenth day of the eighth month, a month of his own choosing, he offered sacrifices on the altar he had built at Bethel. So he instituted the festival for the Israelites and went up to the altar to make offerings. (NIV) C. The northern tribes (ten tribes of Israel) were continually led by wicked kings. 1. On the other hand, Judah (consisting of Simeon and a portion of Benjamin), had kings both good and wicked on various occasions. 2. The years progressed and, as Assyria asserted itself, Israel and Aram (Syria) hoped to recruit Judah as an ally against this new threat from the east. 3. Because Judah refused the alliance, Syria and Israel made it hard on Judah. 4. Judah could not allow this to go unchecked and, having lost much to them already, decided to place himself under the protection of the Assyrian monarch, who was all too willing to come in to help

7 7 near to the beginning of the last quarter of the 8th century B.C. (Rawlinson, p. vii). III. The world events had Egypt wield influence in the Palestinian area as Assyria was beginning its expansion to the west. A. During this time there was regional jockeying for political positions among kings. 1. In the early to middle portion of the 8th century B.C., Assyria had a king named Tiglath-pileser III (named Pul in the Bible). a. He sought to secure his borders to the north, west, and south by developing an efficient army with equipment, techniques, and tactics superior to those of his foes. In dealing with states on the fringes of his empire, he was content to receive a declaration of loyalty from their kings and the annual payment of tribute. Those who rebelled were treated harshly (Shackelford, p.3). 2. Uzziah, as king of Judah, actually brought pride back to Jerusalem and Judah. a. Israel had defeated Judah s previous king (Amaziah) and plundered Jerusalem. b. Uzziah, now on the throne, raised a formidable army and provided for Jerusalem s defense (Pfeiffer, p. 154).

8 8 3. Pride now having been restored to Judah, Isaiah preached against materialism and the subjugation of the poor by the wealthy. 4. Jotham became king and reigned solely for about six (6) to seven (7) years; Ahaz (this name is also spelled Jehoahaz), son of Jotham, became king at the death of Jotham (ca B.C.; it is interesting to note that Tiglath-pileser III has Judah s king inscribed on an Assyrian monument: The name is the same as Jehoahaz; hence appears on Tiglath-pileser s Assyrian inscription of 732 B.C. as Ia-u-ha-zi (ISBE, E-Sword). 5. It was during the time of Ahaz s reign (Judah) that Israel was taken into captivity (2 Kings 17). a. 2 Kings 17:1-41, In the twelfth year of Ahaz king of Judah, Hoshea son of Elah became king of Israel in Samaria, and he reigned nine years. He did evil in the eyes of the LORD, but not like the kings of Israel who preceded him. Shalmaneser king of Assyria came up to attack Hoshea, who had been Shalmaneser's vassal and had paid him tribute. But the king of Assyria discovered that Hoshea was a traitor, for he had sent envoys to So king of Egypt, and he no longer paid tribute to the king of Assyria, as he had done year by year. Therefore Shalmaneser seized him and put him in prison. The king of Assyria invaded the entire land, marched against Samaria and laid siege to it for three years. In the ninth year of Hoshea, the king of Assyria captured Samaria and

9 9 deported the Israelites to Assyria. He settled them in Halah, in Gozan on the Habor River and in the towns of the Medes. All this took place because the Israelites had sinned against the LORD their God, who had brought them up out of Egypt from under the power of Pharaoh king of Egypt. They worshiped other gods and followed the practices of the nations the LORD had driven out before them, as well as the practices that the kings of Israel had introduced. The Israelites secretly did things against the LORD their God that were not right. From watchtower to fortified city they built themselves high places in all their towns. They set up sacred stones and Asherah poles on every high hill and under every spreading tree. At every high place they burned incense, as the nations whom the LORD had driven out before them had done. They did wicked things that provoked the LORD to anger. They worshiped idols, though the LORD had said, "You shall not do this." The LORD warned Israel and Judah through all his prophets and seers: "Turn from your evil ways. Observe my commands and decrees, in accordance with the entire Law that I commanded your fathers to obey and that I delivered to you through my servants the prophets." But they would not listen and were as stiff-necked as their fathers, who did not trust in the LORD their God. They rejected his decrees and the covenant he had made with their fathers and the warnings he had given them. They followed worthless

10 10 idols and themselves became worthless. They imitated the nations around them although the LORD had ordered them, "Do not do as they do," and they did the things the LORD had forbidden them to do. They forsook all the commands of the LORD their God and made for themselves two idols cast in the shape of calves, and an Asherah pole. They bowed down to all the starry hosts, and they worshiped Baal. They sacrificed their sons and daughters in the fire. They practiced divination and sorcery and sold themselves to do evil in the eyes of the LORD, provoking him to anger. So the LORD was very angry with Israel and removed them from his presence. Only the tribe of Judah was left, and even Judah did not keep the commands of the LORD their God. They followed the practices Israel had introduced. Therefore the LORD rejected all the people of Israel; he afflicted them and gave them into the hands of plunderers, until he thrust them from his presence. When he tore Israel away from the house of David, they made Jeroboam son of Nebat their king. Jeroboam enticed Israel away from following the LORD and caused them to commit a great sin. The Israelites persisted in all the sins of Jeroboam and did not turn away from them until the LORD removed them from his presence, as he had warned through all his servants the prophets. So the people of Israel were taken from their homeland into exile in Assyria, and they are still there. The king of

11 11 Assyria brought people from Babylon, Cuthah, Avva, Hamath and Sepharvaim and settled them in the towns of Samaria to replace the Israelites. They took over Samaria and lived in its towns. When they first lived there, they did not worship the LORD; so he sent lions among them and they killed some of the people. It was reported to the king of Assyria: "The people you deported and resettled in the towns of Samaria do not know what the god of that country requires. He has sent lions among them, which are killing them off, because the people do not know what he requires." Then the king of Assyria gave this order: "Have one of the priests you took captive from Samaria go back to live there and teach the people what the god of the land requires." So one of the priests who had been exiled from Samaria came to live in Bethel and taught them how to worship the LORD. Nevertheless, each national group made its own gods in the several towns where they settled, and set them up in the shrines the people of Samaria had made at the high places. The men from Babylon made Succoth Benoth, the men from Cuthah made Nergal, and the men from Hamath made Ashima; the Avvites made Nibhaz and Tartak, and the Sepharvites burned their children in the fire as sacrifices to Adrammelech and Anammelech, the gods of Sepharvaim. They worshiped the LORD, but they also appointed all sorts of their own people to officiate for them as priests in the

12 12 shrines at the high places. They worshiped the LORD, but they also served their own gods in accordance with the customs of the nations from which they had been brought. To this day they persist in their former practices. They neither worship the LORD nor adhere to the decrees and ordinances, the laws and commands that the LORD gave the descendants of Jacob, whom he named Israel. When the LORD made a covenant with the Israelites, he commanded them: "Do not worship any other gods or bow down to them, serve them or sacrifice to them. But the LORD, who brought you up out of Egypt with mighty power and outstretched arm, is the one you must worship. To him you shall bow down and to him offer sacrifices. You must always be careful to keep the decrees and ordinances, the laws and commands he wrote for you. Do not worship other gods. Do not forget the covenant I have made with you, and do not worship other gods. Rather, worship the LORD your God; it is he who will deliver you from the hand of all your enemies." They would not listen, however, but persisted in their former practices. Even while these people were worshiping the LORD, they were serving their idols. To this day their children and grandchildren continue to do as their fathers did. (NIV) b. Because of the Lord s being displeased with the Israelite kings (northern tribes), the Assyrian

13 13 kings, Shalmaneser and Sargon, besieged Samaria and took over twenty-seven thousand (27,000) captives to the northern parts of the Assyrian empire (Grogan, p. 5). 6. Assyria was a continuing threat during the whole time Isaiah preached to Israel and Judah. a. But it was during Isaiah s time that he spoke of a new threat on the horizon. b. Near the end of the 8th century (B.C.) Babylon posed a significant threat to Assyria; the ruler of Babylon, Merodach-Baladan, desired to have Hezekiah align himself with him to defeat Assyria. c. Assyria was able to thwart this threat and now posed an even greater threat to Jerusalem. (Isaiah 37). i. Isaiah 37:1-38, When King Hezekiah heard this, he tore his clothes and put on sackcloth and went into the temple of the LORD. He sent Eliakim the palace administrator, Shebna the secretary, and the leading priests, all wearing sackcloth, to the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz. They told him, "This is what Hezekiah says: This day is a day of distress and rebuke and disgrace, as when children come to the point of birth and there is no strength to deliver them. It may be that the LORD

14 14 your God will hear the words of the field commander, whom his master, the king of Assyria, has sent to ridicule the living God, and that he will rebuke him for the words the LORD your God has heard. Therefore pray for the remnant that still survives." When King Hezekiah's officials came to Isaiah, Isaiah said to them, "Tell your master, 'This is what the LORD says: Do not be afraid of what you have heard those words with which the underlings of the king of Assyria have blasphemed me. Listen! I am going to put a spirit in him so that when he hears a certain report, he will return to his own country, and there I will have him cut down with the sword.' " When the field commander heard that the king of Assyria had left Lachish, he withdrew and found the king fighting against Libnah. Now Sennacherib received a report that Tirhakah, the Cushite king of Egypt, was marching out to fight against him. When he heard it, he sent messengers to Hezekiah with this word: "Say to Hezekiah king of Judah: Do not let the god you depend on deceive you when he says, 'Jerusalem will not be handed over to the king of Assyria.' Surely you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all the countries, destroying them completely. And will you be delivered? Did the gods of the nations

15 15 that were destroyed by my forefathers deliver them the gods of Gozan, Haran, Rezeph and the people of Eden who were in Tel Assar? Where is the king of Hamath, the king of Arpad, the king of the city of Sepharvaim, or of Hena or Ivvah?" Hezekiah received the letter from the messengers and read it. Then he went up to the temple of the LORD and spread it out before the LORD. And Hezekiah prayed to the LORD: "O LORD Almighty, God of Israel, enthroned between the cherubim, you alone are God over all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth. Give ear, O LORD, and hear; open your eyes, O LORD, and see; listen to all the words Sennacherib has sent to insult the living God. "It is true, O LORD, that the Assyrian kings have laid waste all these peoples and their lands. They have thrown their gods into the fire and destroyed them, for they were not gods but only wood and stone, fashioned by human hands. Now, O LORD our God, deliver us from his hand, so that all kingdoms on earth may know that you alone, O LORD, are God." Then Isaiah son of Amoz sent a message to Hezekiah: "This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: Because you have prayed to me concerning Sennacherib king of Assyria, this is the word the LORD has

16 16 spoken against him: The Virgin Daughter of Zion despises and mocks you. The Daughter of Jerusalem tosses her head as you flee. Who is it you have insulted and blasphemed? Against whom have you raised your voice and lifted your eyes in pride? Against the Holy One of Israel! By your messengers you have heaped insults on the Lord. And you have said, 'With my many chariots I have ascended the heights of the mountains, the utmost heights of Lebanon. I have cut down its tallest cedars, the choicest of its pines. I have reached its remotest heights, the finest of its forests. I have dug wells in foreign lands and drunk the water there. With the soles of my feet I have dried up all the streams of Egypt.' "Have you not heard? Long ago I ordained it. In days of old I planned it; now I have brought it to pass, that you have turned fortified cities into piles of stone. Their people, drained of power, are dismayed and put to shame. They are like plants in the field, like tender green shoots, like grass sprouting on the roof, scorched before it grows up. "But I know where you stay and when you come and go and how you rage against me. Because you rage against me and because your insolence has reached my ears, I will put my hook in your nose and my bit in your mouth, and I will make you return by the way you came.

17 17 "This will be the sign for you, O Hezekiah: "This year you will eat what grows by itself, and the second year what springs from that. But in the third year sow and reap, plant vineyards and eat their fruit. Once more a remnant of the house of Judah will take root below and bear fruit above. For out of Jerusalem will come a remnant, and out of Mount Zion a band of survivors. The zeal of the LORD Almighty will accomplish this. "Therefore this is what the LORD says concerning the king of Assyria: "He will not enter this city or shoot an arrow here. He will not come before it with shield or build a siege ramp against it. By the way that he came he will return; he will not enter this city," declares the LORD. "I will defend this city and save it, for my sake and for the sake of David my servant!" Then the angel of the LORD went out and put to death a hundred and eighty-five thousand men in the Assyrian camp. When the people got up the next morning there were all the dead bodies! So Sennacherib king of Assyria broke camp and withdrew. He returned to Nineveh and stayed there. One day, while he was worshiping in the temple of his god Nisroch, his sons Adrammelech and Sharezer cut him down with the sword, and they escaped to the land of Ararat.

18 18 And Esarhaddon his son succeeded him as king. (NIV) IV. When Hezekiah was on the throne, a bolder line of policy had been adopted by the Jewish state (Rawlinson, p. vii). A. Isaiah encouraged Hezekiah to put his trust in the Lord, while some of Hezekiah s counselors thought this was mere wishful thinking. 1. The stress of this situation for Judah was tremendous, and many usurped Hezekiah s authority and made an alliance with Egypt who had an organized monarchy, with a considerable population, long trained to arms, and especially strong where Judea was most defectivethat is, in horses and chariots (ibid, p. viii). a. Egypt was a great threat to Assyria. 2. Whatever help Judah hoped to receive from Egypt never came; Assyria had attacked and laid siege to Jerusalem. 3. The Assyrian king, having received a large sum of money from Hezekiah, returned home with the knowledge that Hezekiah would not be in rebellion to the Assyrian monarch. 4. Whatever agreement there was between the two monarchs did not last long; Assyria came to Jerusalem again and laid siege; Sennacherib, king of Assyria at this time, was rebuffed by Hezekiah, after Isaiah had encouraged the Judean king to resist (Isaiah 37:1-7).

19 19 a. Isaiah 37:1-7, When King Hezekiah heard this, he tore his clothes and put on sackcloth and went into the temple of the LORD. He sent Eliakim the palace administrator, Shebna the secretary, and the leading priests, all wearing sackcloth, to the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz. They told him, "This is what Hezekiah says: This day is a day of distress and rebuke and disgrace, as when children come to the point of birth and there is no strength to deliver them. It may be that the LORD your God will hear the words of the field commander, whom his master, the king of Assyria, has sent to ridicule the living God, and that he will rebuke him for the words the LORD your God has heard. Therefore pray for the remnant that still survives." When King Hezekiah's officials came to Isaiah, Isaiah said to them, "Tell your master, 'This is what the LORD says: Do not be afraid of what you have heard those words with which the underlings of the king of Assyria have blasphemed me. Listen! I am going to put a spirit in him so that when he hears a certain report, he will return to his own country, and there I will have him cut down with the sword.' " (NIV) b. Shortly thereafter, Assyria returned home defeated. Note: Isaiah prophesied in Judah during the reigns of kings Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah. (NIV, Introduction)

20 20 Author I. Those who study (or even read) Isaiah can t help but note the tone variation between chapters 1-39 and then chapters A. While the tone is noted, the unity of Isaiah was not questioned until about 1837 (Coffman, p.2). 1. With respect to the critics, part of the higher criticism ideology, Coffman has no use for those who call into question the integrity of Scripture. a. We do not hesitate to classify all unbelievers as servants of Satan, and all contradictions and denials of the Bible as having originated in the mind of Satan, and as currently advocated only by the servants of Satan. 2. Coffman set forth a defense of Isaiah s integrity by stating: a. twenty-five (25) centuries are behind its acceptance, b. there is no acceptable standard of authority for the critic. c. Jesus and the apostles accepted Isaiah as authentic. d. just who are the critics who place themselves in a position of authority anyway?

21 21 e. the theory of multiple authors has failed to be accepted, f. the unity of style and vocabulary point to a single author, and... g. the critics are too late in their criticisms (pp. 3-5). 3. Willis addresses the multiple authorship of Isaiah. a. Most contemporary scholars, he said, accept the theory, and some will even include at least three authors. b. He sets out the arguments for multiple authors and he sets out the arguments for a single author. c. The multiple authors case is very well done, but Willis, in the end,...affirms the fundamental Isaiahic authorship of the whole prophetic book while acknowledging the possibility of contributions by others (pp ). 4. To help us understand why the criticism (questioning) of Isaiah s unity, George Robinson says that the fundamental axiom of criticism is the dictum that a prophet always spoke out of a definite historical situation to the present needs of the people among whom he lived, and that a definite historical situation shall be pointed out for each prophecy (Fundamentals, p. 245).

22 22 a. Robinson noted the soundness of this axiom, but said it can be overworked, as when there is a failure to understand a particular historical situation. 5. Rawlinson says the result (of pressing this axiom in rigid form) has resulted in some affirming that the Book of Isaiah, as it has come down to us, is a mosaic, or patchwork, the production of no one knows how many authors, brought gradually into its present condition (p. xix). a. Of course, this invites many to wonder, question, and then rethink their position regarding this question regarding the authorship of Isaiah. b. In other words, if a historical situation can t be determined, some think it proper to find an historical situation where it can fit in a particular context. c. This patchwork historical approach to interpreting Isaiah has some saying that even the language of Isaiah can t be applied to those of his day because it does not comport with their preconceived bias that Isaiah would not have used universal language when speaking to particular people. d. Of course, this fails to take note that Isaiah was not the author of the words he spoke, but that God was the ultimate author.

23 23 Author s note: Attempting to outline Isaiah is difficult. The Bible version used (NKJV) in this study has subdivisions in each chapter. They will be used in this work. Mostly, each chapter will be outlined on its own. Homer Hailey identifies Isaiah chapters 1 through 39 as the Assyrian period of conflict and victory, whereas Shackelford calls it (chapters 1-35) the prophecies of condemnation.

24 24 Questions Introduction to Isaiah by John C. Sewell (Biblical quotations are based on NIV). 1. Isaiah was a contemporary of the prophets and, the kings of Israel; namely, and the kings of Judah; namely, 2. Isaiah preached both to and to. Isaiah preached both to and. Most of his preaching was to. 3. From the glory enjoyed by Solomon at the peak of his success, Israel and Judah descended into moral and spiritual decay that led to Assyrian and Babylonian captivity. List the international, political and historical events that led to captivity.

25 25 4. Give details of the taking of Israel into Assyrian captivity. (See 2 Kings 17:1-41). 5. Explain how Tiglath-pileser III (Pul), Shalmaneser and Sargan interacted with Israel. 6. was king of Judah when was taken into. Israel s king at the time of the Assyrian Captivity was. 7. How did Uzziah, king of Judah, return pride to Judah and Jerusalem?

26 26 8. was a during the preached to and. 9. What was the international political situation during Hezekiah s reign over Judah? 10. What was Isaiah s advice to Hezekiah? What were the results of Hezekiah s following this advice? 11. What differences are there between Isaiah 1-39 and Isaiah which have led some to conclude that more than one person wrote the book of Isaiah?

27 Give reasons for believing the entire book of Isaiah was written by one person. 13. Give reasons for believing more than one person was involved in writing the book of Isaiah? 14. Was Isaiah, in your view, written by one or more than one person? What crucial facts led you to this conclusion? 15. Beginning with Jeroboam, list in order the Kings of Israel. Beginning with Rehoboam, list the Kings of Judah to the death of Isaiah.

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