The 2nd and 3rd Books of Isaiah
Fall 2004 Bible Study

Second Isaiah 43, 44, 45

"St. Joan of Arc Bible Study is an open and growing group that meets for fellowship and to discuss the Bible and other faith-centered literature. Our informal study group draws from biblical scholarship, historical perspectives, current events and personal reflections. We welcome honor and respect the personal ideas and spiritual journeys of all who join us."

Greetings from Reeko and Bob here.

Take it away Bob....

The crowd was small, about 10, due to multiple competing events: the VP debate, the Springsteen Vote for Change concert in St. Paul, and the first Twins - Yankees playoff game (and some of us had to work and then baby-sit for those couples that were attending the Vote for Change Concert!). But it only takes two or three for the Spirit to move among us, and we were inspired.

Amen! Thanks Bob.

The overview was humorous, challenging and insightful and I am wagering we came away more enlightened than we were and also with many more questions. Here is the overview...

ST. JOAN OF ARC SCRIPTURE STUDY - Isaiah chapters 43, 44, and 45
October 5, 2004

Reading and trying to understand the commentators can be as daunting as reading the scriptural text itself. Example: "Viewing the material through the rigid dichotomy of independent unit/long compositional whole, for example, can set up an artificial dichotomy that obscures paradoxes essential to Second Isaiah's theology. The literary technique of enveloping a sublime hymnic celebration of divine grace within disquieting descriptions of a loved one who spurns a divine lover and nevertheless is called upon to witness to divine grace, rather than being dismissed as inept editorializing by a dull disciple of the great prophet, is more appropriately understood as a skillful means of expressing the tragedy and hope that coexist in the divine-human relationship. The poetically beautiful and theologically complex writings of Second Isaiah therefore call for a literary sensitivity that simultaneously recognizes the structural integrity of short units and the overarching themes that often weave these units together into longer compositions." Interpretation, Isaiah 40 - 66, Paul D. Hanson, p. 60.

43:1-7 is another "comfort hymn"; let us read it slowly and meditatively.

43:8-13 is a trial to establish who among the rival deities could be declared the true God. The evidence Yahweh summons to support his case is not revelation or authoritative statements from the holy and the powerful; rather it is the testimony of the blind and the deaf (the faithless Israel). These are the people who actually experienced as humans God's mercy and justice. Why would God call on such unlikely witnesses? "Because it is the likes of Israel that God uses as agents of healing and justice on earth! ... the essential theological point emerges from the biblical text only when the interplay of audacious divine love and infuriating human obstinacy is allowed to work itself out in the humanly impossible phenomenon of faithful testimony coming precisely from the blind and deaf servant." Hanson p. 67. Discussion: Do we tend to ignore the truth about God when it comes from an unlikely witness? Do we refuse to testify ourselves, because we feel we are too blind or deaf to make a credible witness?

God then states the resolution of the issue: "Before me no god was formed, nor will there be one after me. I, I am the lord, and apart from me there is no savior. I have revealed and saved and proclaimed - I, and not some foreign god among you." Jumping ahead, 44:8 says "Is there any god besides me? No, there is no other Rock; I know not one."

This is one of the earliest outright statements of monotheism that we have seen. Previously, Yahweh is held out as Israel's tribal god, but other gods rule over other lands and nations. Up to now the story has been "our god is better than your god". Now the message is "there is no god but our God." What a paradigm shift! In the past, bad events could be blamed on Yahweh's withdrawal and the temporary power of some evil god. In the past, neighboring gods of weather and fertility could be called upon to help out during drought. In the past, when Israel was captive, the gods of the conqueror could be served to assure security. Now how do we explain evil? How do we stay faithful when we are persecuted by conquerors? Who do we call on when God does not answer our pleas?

Then God promises liberation from Babylon, 43:14-21. The image is of a new Exodus through the desert, but this is even better. "Forget the old Exodus", God says. In that one, he gave water from the rock and manna from the sky; here he will transform the desert itself . "The question arises as to how the prophet conceived of these wonders, and how the modern reader is to conceive them. If we think of them as entirely literal, it is evident that they had no fulfillment; and thus it would appear that the arm of Yahweh was shorter than the prophet thought. In an artist of such craftsmanship and a prophet of more than the usual subtlety such a simplistic solution seems unlikely. Whether the desert actually bloomed with roses or not would, in his mind, neither add to the wonder of the restoration nor detract from it. The saving acts of Yahweh were described in the terms of Israelite tradition, terms which themselves did not rigorously conform to the course of events. If we think of the wonders in these terms, then they were fulfilled. Yahweh overcame the desert, that great barrier of travel on the ancient Near East; he did it once in Israel's origins, and he would do it again in Israel's restoration." Second Isaiah, John L. McKenzie, p. 57.

In 43:22-28, God puts Israel on trial. Their prayer is insincere; they haven't put much effort into worship - "you have not wearied yourselves for me", God says sarcastically. God says he hasn't made a lot of demands on them for various sacrifices, "but you have burdened me with your sins and wearied me with your offenses". God, nonetheless, is merciful: "I am he who blots out your transgression for my own sake and remembers your sins no more."

44:1-5 is another comfort hymn, emphasizing that God has chosen Israel.

At 44:9-20 is a satire on idol making (which some commentators think is by another author, being not as poetic and subtle as most of Second Isaiah). Out of the same chunk of wood to which the idol maker prays for salvation, he warms his house and cooks his food. The prophet is not telling us that the idolators worshipped the wood; the idols are representational and perhaps were blessed in a ritual to ask or even force the god to become present in the idol. The Israelites honored the command to make no graven images of God because God cannot be reduced to our image; God is not be controlled or manipulated. Question for discussion: where do we draw the line between sacrament and superstition?

Another hymn of comfort and promise follows in verses 21 through 28.

Cyrus, the anointed one (messiah)