Winter programme 2002/3 in preparation:

 

Studies in Isaiah

 

Advance Information

 

The Division and Scope of Isaiah

 

The book is an organic whole which proves that it can never be the piecemeal work of a number of men who assumed the name of Isaiah, much debated among Bible scholars today. In one camp are those who generally belief and insist the entire book being written by the prophet  Isaiah, the son of Amoz,  who ministered in the southern kingdom of Judah for 40 years from about 740-700 B.C. But other scholars are just as insistent that the entire work was not written by the prophet only. They agree that chapters 1 to 39 of the book belong to Isaiah, but they refer to chapters 40-66 as “Second Isaiah,” insisting that it was written by an unknown author after the ministry of the famous prophet Isaiah.

 

Those who assign chapters 40 to 66 to a “Second Isaiah” point out that the two major sections of the book seem to be set in different times. The first 39 chapters clearly belong to the eighth century B.C., a confused period in the history of Judah. But Isaiah 40 – 66 according to these scholars seems to be addressed to the citizens of Judah who were being held as captives in Babylon about 550 B.C. This was two centuries after Isaiah lived and prophesied. In addition, these scholars point to the differences in tone, language, and style between these two major sections as proof that the book was written by two different authors. That the language of the second part differs so much from the style of the first is no argument against the unity of the book at all. The style changes according to the character of the prophecy. “His style is suited to the subject and changes with it. In his denunciations and threatenings, he is earnest and vehement; in his consolations, he is mild and insinuating. He so lives in the events he describes that the future becomes to him as the past and present” (Hengstenberg). If we believe that Isaiah was but the mouthpiece of Jehovah, that he wrote under the guidance and direction of the Holy Spirit, as He moved him and put the words into his pen, all difficulties disappear. But as we have at the beginning above stated, the scope of the book is conclusive evidence of both, the inspiration of the book and its Isaiahic authorship. The book is an organic whole.

 

As we already know, there are two great sections first of all. The one, chapters 1 – 35, contains the early prophecies. Chapter 40 – 66 the later prophecies. Between these two portions is a historical parenthesis contained in chapters 36 – 39.  In the early prophecies judgments are announced upon Jerusalem, Judah and upon nations, while blessings of the future are also given, but they take a secondary place. In the later prophecies we likewise read of judgments but the major portion reveals the glories and blessings of the future.

 

In the early prophesies the Assyrian invasion as it took place is announced, giving at the same time a prophetic forecast of a future invasion from the north in the time of the end. In the later prophecies the Assyrian is no longer mentioned. The Babylonian captivity announced in the thirty-ninth chapter is seen by the prophet as past and he predicts the return and beyond that return of the remnant from the greater dispersion and the final glory of the kingdom with the coming of the King.

 

We shall now give the scope and division of Isaiah’s book.

 

Part One: Prophecies of Condemnation ( 1: 1 – 35: 10)

I.

Prophecies Against Judah

1:1-12:6

II.

Prophesies Against Other Nations

13: 1-23:18

III.

Prophesies of the Day of the Lord

24: 1-27:13

IV.

Prophesies of Judgment and Blessing

28:1-35:10

Part Two: Historical Material (36: 1 – 39: 8)

I.

Hezekiah’s Liberation from Assyria

36: 1-37:38

II.

Hezekiah’s Deliverance from Sickness

38: 1-22

III.

Hezekiah’s Sin

39: 1-8

Part Three: Prophecies of Consolation (40:1 – 66: 24)

I.

Prophecies of Israel’s Liberation

40:1-48:22

II.

Prophecy of Israel’s Deliverer

49:1-57:21

III.

Prophecies of Israel’s Glorious Future

58: 1-66:24

 

Parallels between Isaiah chapters 1-39 and chapters 40-66

1: 2

66: 24

1: 5-6

53: 4-5

5: 27

40: 30

6: 1

52: 13

6: 11-12

62: 4

11: 11

53: 2

11: 6-9

65: 25

11: 12

49: 22

12: 6

54: 1

35: 10

51: 11

 

 

Great Prophetic Themes of Isaiah Still Unfulfilled

The Day of the Lord

Some 45 times Isaiah uses the term ‘in that day’ to describe this period of apocalyptic judgment 2: 10-22; 4:01; 13: 09-13; 24: 01-23; 32: 01-20; 63: 01-06

Jerusalem as capital of the earth

1: 26; 2: 03; 4: 02-06; 12: 06; 24: 23; 26: 01; 40: 02; 52: 01-12; 60: 01-22; 62: 01-07

 

Blessing upon restored Israel

2: 01-05; 4: 02-06; 9: 07; 11: 04-16; 12: 01-06; 14: 01-03; 25: 01-12; 32: 15-20; 35: 01-10; 52: 01-12; 59: 20-21; 60: 01-12; 61: 03-62; 65: 17-66: 24

Blessing upon the remnant

12: 01-06; 25: 01-12; 26: 01-19; 33: 24; 35: 10; 43: 25; 44: 22; 46: 13; 54: 06-10; 61: 06; 62: 12; 66: 08

 

Restoration of Israel to Palestine

11: 10-12; 14: 01-02; 27: 12-13; 35: 10; 43: 05-06; 49: 10-12; 66: 20

Blessing upon the nations

2: 01-04; 11: 03-04, 09-10; 25: 06-09; 60: 01-12

 

Restoration of Palestine itself

30: 23-26; 35: 01-10; 49: 19; 60: 13; 61: 04; 62: 04-05; 65: 21-25

Blessing to entire creation

Isaiah had a fleeting glimpse beyond the Kingdom Age to the new heaven and earth of the eternal state (65: 17; 66: 22). But like John in Revelation (Rev 21-22) he saw a blended view of millennial and eternal conditions (compare 11: 06-08 with 65: 25; 66: 22)

 

 

 

Recommended Reading on Old Testament History:

The History and Religion of Israel, by GW Anderson, M.A., D.D., FBA. Professor of Hebrew

And Old Testament Studies – University of Edinburgh (Oxford University Press)

 

To be continued Winter 2002/3

 

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