Notes on Isaiah

Lesson # 1

Introduction to Isaiah:

I. Introduction:

A. Being Anointed, (a Messiah) for Leadership

One may ask who the Prophets are. Why are they so important? This is what we wish to answer in this session. First of all the prophets are one part of a group of people who led Israel or the people of God. There were many types of leaders: elders, wise men or wise women, kings, priests and prophets. These last three were called “anointed” leaders (or messiahs). Prophets, priests and kings were anointed with oil.

This oil was poured by another representing the community (much like our laying on of hands in New Testament times). If a leader was self-appointed then it often led to unhealthy leadership and such people were certainly not prophets of God.

These anointed prophets were passionate speakers and teachers but also logical. They were covered by His Spirit (see Isaiah 61:1).

They were empowered to do a task for others.

II. What a Prophet Is:

B. Terms for Prophets

1. One of the most prominent titles for a prophet was “God’s servant” (in Hebrew: `ebed). They belonged to God, and their dignity was to due to their master’s dignity. They were to accomplish the goals of their master not to have a great career or accomplish their own goals.

2. Another title was “man of God” (in Hebrew: is ha`elohim). This was Moses’ title in Deuteronomy 33:4 or Joshua 14:6. The title is used to describe a prophet in I Samuel 2:27 or in I Kings 16:18, 24. Elisha is called a man of God 35 times.

3. Other less frequent titles are “mediator” (Isaiah 43:27), “watchman” (Isaiah 56:10, Ezekiel 33:7f) and “messenger” (Isaiah 44:26, Haggai 1:13).

4. Another title used of prophets was the title of “seer” (in Hebrew: ra’a). This was one who could see secrets or had revelations, or could understand God’s revelations or had insight into God’s will.

5. Finally, there is the actual title of “prophet” (In Hebrew: nabi’ or nebai’a referring to Deborah in Judges 4:4). The etymology or origin of root of this word is uncertain. In addition, 115 times in the Old Testament there is the term prophesy (In Hebrew: nabai’) and this term can mean an ecstatic state or a spoken message. See Deuteronomy 18:18-22.

C. Insights from Abraham Heschel

1. The prophets were some of the most disturbing people who ever lived. They upset their communities and disturbed kings. They “turned the world upside down.”

2. They brought the Bible into being.

3. There were people or persons though, not microphones. They spoke for God but they spoke as people in their own time and from their own historical perspective. They used metaphors that were used in their day and spoke in ways that the people of their time could understand. They had real feelings like we do.

4. To understand what something is, it is important to suspend judgment and think with an open mind before comprehension can properly begin. However, to understand what the prophets mean, it is necessary to suspend indifference and be involved (Volume II of His books The Prophets, pp. xiv, xv). We must think objectively and look at what they were and what they did, but we must also be involved and try to sense what they felt and to attempt to see if we should do the same. Their story will have to become our story if we are really going to understand what they mean.

5. Heschel reminds us that to understand who the prophets were need to see what they did. He gives some examples of what they were like and how they thought.

– They were sensitive to evil (Amos 8:4-6). They knew evil was in the world and was hated by God, and it hurt their fellow man.

– They were more concerned with the plight of human beings than contemplating eternal ideas. They cared about people more than just thinking about theology.

– Thus they were communicators of truth to people in need of hearing what they said. This was their focus. It was not to find self-expression.

– They were attuned to God’s viewpoint, not man’s viewpoint: see Jeremiah 9:23-24 or Zechariah 4:6.

– They were austere, stern, but also compassionate. They hurt with their people as they preached about the judgment to come. As Vernon McGee so wisely said, “We should not preach about Hell without a tear in our eyes”.

– They called men sinners including powerful religious leaders and kings and challenged whole societies as well as individuals. (Hosea 4:1-1).

– They stressed that human beings were responsible for what they did at work as well as at worship. God “has man eyes”, and He sees all of our lives, not just our attendance at church or at the temple.

– They did not stress a theological system of ideas, but rather “the realness of God came first and the task was how to live in a way compatible with His presence. Man’s coexistence with God determined the course of history.” (See, Volume I p. 16.)

– The prophets had a sense of being selected. They knew they were called. They knew they were elected and they sensed they were endowed (gifted) with the ability to accomplish their task.

– They served a personal God, not a denomination or a theological point of view: “the prophet does not judge the people by timeless norms but from the point of view of God.” The God of Israel is never impersonal. They were not preaching doctrine but the very heart of a Person.

– Thus the prophets heard God’s voice and felt His heart and tried to impart that message passionately (because it is so important to obey) and yet logically (because the mind of God is logical). In Heschel’s terms the prophets were in sympathy with the “pathos” of God, or in sympathy with the passion of God.

D. Two Concepts: Election and Covenant.

The prophets understood that they were speaking to Israel, the people elected by God to be in a special relationship to Him. In a sense, they were speaking to the church. They saw being Israel or the church as a privilege but also as an obligation. They tried to take away the false security that the people of God sometimes acquire. They saw Israel’s election as being in a relationship to God, very similar to the relationship of marriage. The word “covenant” is much like our word for “marriage”. To be sure, marriage has its privileges but also its obligations. If one is to maintain a good relationship with one’s spouse both our obligations as well as privileges must be kept in mind. Of course, key in any relationship is loyalty. The prophets called the people of God back to a loyal relationship to God.

E. The Place of the Torah or Law in Prophetic Preaching.

Along with this concept of election and covenant is the aspect of how one defines proper loyalty. Just as our “wedding vows” define what proper our obligations are in marriage, the Torah or Mosaic Law gave Israel her understanding of how to please God. It was through the Torah that they grasped how to be in proper relationship to God or how to co-exist with the God of the Universe. The Torah is summarized in the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20 and Deuteronomy 5) and the Ten Commandments could be summarized (like Jesus did) in two commandments: love God and love your neighbor. Therefore the judgments the prophets announced to Israel or the people of God was based on their failing to met their covenant obligations. Obligations they clearly understood and knew.

F. Forth-tellers more than Fore-tellers.

The prophets did fore-tell the future, especially as it concerned God’s plans for His people or gave credence to their messages. However, the prophets were not mere predictors of events to come, but primarily they were speaking forth God’s will for His people. They were calling the people of that time back to God. To be a prophet today is not focused only on predictions, but on speaking forth the will of the Creator to the people of today in our particular society.

G. Influential but Not Powerful.

The prophets spoke to kings, to national leaders and spoke out God’s will for nations and empires. Their word had power because like all of God’s Word, it brings forth in history what it speaks about. God created the world with speech and His speech still has the power to create reality. The prophets spoke with power. However, they personally had no power. They could not protect themselves from persecution or stop their own murder at the hands of the people who did not like their messages. They were “suffering servants”. They were a foreshadowing of Jesus. Jesus had endless power, but did not stop the people who did like His message from killing Him. Glory was to come, but it came later. Often, it came after their death.

“This is what the LORD says- the Redeemer and Holy One of Israel- to him who was despised and abhorred by the nation, Kings will see you and rise up, princes will see and bow down, because of the LORD, who is faithful, the Holy One of Israel, who has chosen you.” Isaiah 49:7