The Prophet Isaiah, Benedetto Gennari, 17th century, Burghley collection

FIRST READING
Isaiah 7:10–14
December 22, 2019

Today we return to the 8th century BC with First Isaiah. Indeed, we can date it rather precisely to 735 BC and the Syro-Ephraimite War. Although this is a rather grubby incident in Jewish history, it provided Isaiah with an opportunity to demonstrate artistic craftsmanship, theological profundity, and political acumen.

We must begin with the political realities—indeed with the basic political reality of the day. The two major powers, in what we have now come to call the “Middle East,” were Egypt to the south and a power to the north, usually the Babylonians or Assyrians. Smaller nations and tribal groups had to make their way around them. We have seen that this has been true with the two Hebrew nations of Israel (the north) and Judea (the south). Another political entity, which had to play the same game, was Syria, which constituted the area around Damascus.

The leaders of Israel and Syria thought that Assyria was declining, and they could rebel against it. They pressured King Ahaz of Judea to join them, and when he refused threatened to attack him and place another on his throne. The ensuing war is called the Syro-Ephraimite war, because Ephraim was the most powerful tribe in Israel.

When this news reached Jerusalem, “the heart of the king and heart of the people trembled, as the trees of the forest tremble in the wind.” (Is. 7:2)

All three writers who used the name Isaiah in the Old Testament believed that their God was the Lord of history, and that, having chosen the Jewish people, would never abandon them. This indeed is one of the great kept promises of history. Isaiah 2 and 3 celebrate the miraculous return of the Jewish people to Jerusalem after the exile, and we see the otherwise inexplicable survival of the Jewish people to this very day.

This hope is found not only in Isaiah but throughout the Bible, most clearly in 2 Samuel 7:12–16 when the LORD said to David: Continue reading “Fourth Sunday of Advent – Living Faithfully and Firmly in God’s Favor” →

Saint John the Baptist preaching in the Wilderness, Pier Francesco Mola, c1640, National Gallery (UK)

FIRST READING
Isaiah: 35:1–6a, 10
Dec 15, 2019

We read a section of this passage last year, and we can review the key parts quickly. Although chapters 1–39, were generally written by first Isaiah in the 8th century BC, chapters 34 and 35 were composed by second Isaiah around 520 BC. Chapter 34 describes the destruction of the Edomites. This was a tribe which had land issues with the returning Jews. The imagery is very brutal:

their slain shall be cast out,
their corpses shall send up a stench;
The mountains shall run with their blood,
and all the hills shall rot;
The heavens shall be rolled up like a scroll,
and all their host shall wither away,
As the leaf wilts on the vine,
or as the fig withers on the tree.
(Isaiah 34:3–4)

It is so strongly written to emphasize the fairness and justice of the LORD. He has punished the Jews with exile and the destruction of the temple for their disobedience and he will do the same to their enemies for unjust aggression. He is LORD of all.

The imagery that we find in today’s reading from chapter 35 is intentionally similar and in some cases almost identical with sections of Isaiah 40–55. As we have seen repeatedly, the Jewish leaders in exile in Babylon were given the opportunity to return to the devastated Jerusalem and rebuild the temple. In exchange, they were to administer the area for the Assyrians. Enough went to make it worthwhile. Let us first look at how close the language is in these passages, then why it is placed where it is and finally what this can teach us: Continue reading “Third Sunday of Advent – Loving in Our Communities” →

John the Baptist, Alexandre Cabanel, 1849, Musée Fabre (France – Montpellier)
(click for more information about this painting)

FIRST READING
Isaiah 11:1–10
December 8, 2019

Last week, we examined how (First) Isaiah understood the call of the Jews. He prophesied that they would be the means by which all nations were to know and worship the LORD. Speaking of the Temple on Mt. Zion, he wrote:

All nations shall stream toward it;
many peoples shall come and say:
“Come, let us climb the LORD’S mountain,
to the house of the God of Jacob,
That he may instruct us in his ways.”
(Is. 2:23)

He also had a glimpse of what the effect of the universal worship of the LORD would mean:

They shall beat their swords into plowshares
and their spears into pruning hooks;
One nation shall not raise the sword against another,
nor shall they train for war again.
(Is. 2:4)

This is the text of the Isaiah Wall in front of the United Nations. It is a beautiful statement of a desire for peace and harmony, but forgets that it comes from a specific time and place and must be read accordingly. Today then, we will look at what Isaiah meant by peace and how we can expect it to arrive.

Isaiah reflects the political and social reality of his time: from to c. 740 BC to 700 BC in Jerusalem. The rise of the Assyrian empire was the major political reality of his day and is the key to understanding both the national and international situation. Judah and Israel were in the middle between Assyria to the north and Egypt to the south. The leaders of both sought to play one empire against the other. Eventually though Judah (Jerusalem) became a vassal, client state, of Assyria. This means that a tremendous tribute was levied on the people. As is so often the case, the rich were able to pass these taxes on to the poor. When reading last week’s and this week’s passages, both the international and national causes and effects of injustice need to be remembered.

This is one of those cases when some of the most magnificent poetry and profound theology in the Bible arises from sorted and difficult circumstances. Here, we are basically given a meditation on the meaning of creation and re-creation.

Continue reading “2nd Sunday of Advent – Awaiting Re-Creation and God’s Harmony” →