In the tragedy of Israel’s fall, Isaiah declared how God would redeem his world.
[Image: the light at the end of Hezekiah’s Tunnel. Allen Browne, 2014]
Hear the Prophets in their setting, and we see how the promises of God restoring his reign find their Yes in Christ. That’s how they apply to us.
The sheer size of the Major Prophets can feel daunting. This post is a high-level drone shot of the Book of Isaiah. He was called to proclaim God’s throne as the kingdom fell apart.
Isaiah 6 is a great intro on how to read the Prophets. God explains what a prophet is and what a prophet does.
To discover what a prophet is, chat to one. How were they called? What was God calling them to do?
Isaiah gives us that conversation. It all started with the death of the Davidic king who had reigned well for 50 years (2 Chronicles 26). What would happen now?
Isaiah 6:1 (NIV)
In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord, high and exalted, seated on a throne; and the train of his robe filled the temple.
How do kingdom servants handle the dissonance between God’s authority and people’s unresponsiveness? They’re both real, as God showed Isaiah.
“Why speak in parables instead of explaining the kingdom clearly?” Jesus realized people want autonomy rather than authority. It’s why, “they close their eyes, block their ears, and obstruct their hearts so they won’t see, hear, and respond” (Matthew 13:10-17).
In mediating the heavenly king’s message to his earthly kingdom, prophets struggled with the same frustration. Calling Isaiah as his spokesman, God revealed to him both sides of the kingdom relationship:
The second part only makes sense in the context of the first. Only if God is sovereign does it make sense to keep calling people to live as his kingdom. When Jesus quotes Isaiah 6:9-10 in response to a question about the kingdom, the context of seeing God on his throne is assumed.
Jesus and Isaiah were kingdom proclaimers in different contexts. To handle this quotation well, I’d like to devote this post to Isaiah’s proclamation of the kingdom of God established by the Sinai covenant. Then we’ll do a follow up post on Jesus’ proclamation of the kingdom of God as a new covenant that includes Israel and the nations under God’s throne, and how we as kingdom proclaimers handle the same frustration that Jesus and Isaiah faced.
Continue reading “God’s call and the human response (Isaiah 6:1-13)”
Why did the wonderful counsellor begin with the place that went dark first? Can his mediation resolve the violence and oppression to restore peace to God’s world?
From cards to cantatas, Isaiah 9:6 is part of Christmas. The child who is born, the son who is given is recognized with throne-names like Wonderful Counsellor.
What did wonderful counsellor mean in Isaiah’s time? How does it relate to Jesus?
Continue reading “Wonderful Counsellor (podcast) (Isaiah 9:6)”
More and more, I’m noticing how contemporary scholars are discovering the kingdom of God at the centre of the Bible’s books. Even the big books:
Seeking the kingdom 