Proclaimer Blog
Autumn Ministers Conference: Isaiah (1)
Blogging from our Autumn Ministers Conference with David Jackman on Isaiah. Tonight it's a birds eye view of Isaiah which has already whetted my appetite for going back to Isaiah again:
- "The holiness of God is not just his purity but his overwhelming and absolute otherness from the entirety of the creation he has made. Of course, it includes his righteousness, but it is certainly not limited to this facet."
- "The Holy One of Israel" is Isaiah's favourite title for YHWH. Used 26 times in Isaiah, it only then appears 6 times in the rest of the Old Testament."
- "What the prophets do is to say 'Look out, I've seen what's coming. Act now or this will happen.' If the people listen and the prophetic word is heeded and does not come true, the prophetic word has not failed – rather it has been fulfilled. This is why gospel preaching is always prophetic – turn from the coming wrath, we say!"
- The key idea outlined in chapter 1 is that God laments that righteousness no longer resides in the city (Isaiah 1.21) but he wants to restore it (Isaiah 1.26). Therefore there is a difficult refining and restorative work that needs to be done, painful though it will be.
- The restoration of Zion will not be a gradual process but will require a significant intervention in history, both in judgement, a new exile, return and ultimately the coming of the Servant
- God's people will be redeemed by justice and righteousness. There will be no peace with God except through righteousness. You cannot have peace with God except on this basis.
- Three sections to Isaiah; classically, Isaiah 1-39, Isaiah 40-56 and Isaiah 56-66 (the latter section is the one we will be focusing on over these three days)
- Just had Louis Berkhof's classic three peaks illustration. I still like this one and use it all the time with Philip Project students. "When you start out your walk you see three hills and they all look similar, but as you get close you realise that there are some considerable distances between them."
- The three significant points are: fulfilment in Zion primarily (not exclusively) mentioned in 1-39; the fulfilment in Christ primarily focused in 40-55; final fulfilment primarily addressed in 56-66. Therefore 1-39 primarily prophesies to people in Jerusalem; 40-55 primarily prophesies to those awaiting Christ; 56-66 are especially relevant for the church today.These latter chapters speak to our time with future fulfilment.
- In each case the focus is on a messianic figure though he is called something different in each section. In 1-39 it is Immanuel; in 40-55 it is the suffering servant. In 56-66 it is the anointed and conquering warrior.
- A quick look at the description of Immanuel in Isaiah 9.6 – each of the couplets, says David, has a human element and a divine element – a great Christmas Carol service message!
- Waiting is a key theme of Isaiah. For us, waiting is a very negative experience. For Isaiah, it is a positive experience. Waiting time is when we believe the promises of God and obey his commands as we wait for the final fulfilment of all he has said he will done.56-66 shows how we are to live in the light of the not yet – the waiting time.
A great start! Looking forward to more about the waiting time tomorrow!