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Agape Bible Study
Isaiah 41- 42
Isaiah 41:1-7 ~ The Unnamed Instrument of Yahweh Justice
Through the poetic message of His prophet, Yahweh explains how He will redeem His people from their exile and return them to their homeland.
In verse 1 Isaiah calls upon all the Gentile peoples of the coastlands and the islands to stand in reverent silence before the God of Israel. The Hebrew word translated "coasts/coastlands" is repeated in 41:5 where it parallels the phrase "ends of the earth." We are usually called to be silent in prayerful worship or when facing divine judgment, but in this case the Gentile nations are called to witness God's mighty works as He leads His people home, just as the Gentile nations witnessed the journey of the Exodus out of Egypt to the Promised Land of Canaan.
Question: What do we learn about this unnamed man?
Answer:
- He will be summoned by God and will come from the east (verse 2).
- His strength will be so great that nations will fall before him (verse 2).
- He will come swiftly with his army (verse 3).
Question: How will this "man from the east" be unlike the Assyrian kings like Sennacherib, or the Babylonian Nebuchadnezzar who will come from the east a little more than a century after this prophecy when the Babylonian conquer Assyria?
Answer: Those men were sent to chastise a rebellious covenant people, but this man from the east will fulfill God's plan to return His people to their homeland.
The question God asks is what god has the power to raise up such a world leader and bless him with such victories? God answers His own question: only Yahweh, God of Israel can do this! He has used Assyria and will use Babylon (Is 13) as His instruments of justice, and now He will use another Gentile king as His instrument of blessing.
God calls every generation of mankind to both salvation and judgment. The expressions "I AM" or "I" and "the First and the Last" are found several times in the literal Hebrew text of Isaiah chapters 40-48. "I AM" suggests the meaning of the divine name, Yahweh, as explained to Moses in Exodus 3:15; in the Book of Isaiah for example see "I AM" in 41:4, 10; 43:10, 11, 12, and 13 (some translation do not have I AM in verse 12 but in 13 twice); 46:4; 48:12 (twice). See "the First and the Last" in 41:1; 43:10 = concept; 44:6; 48:12. The same expressions also appear in the Book of Revelation:
- The terms occur together as "I AM the Alpha and Omega (first and last letters in the Greek alphabet which express the idea of "the First and the Last" in Revelation 1:8.
- In Revelation 2:8 the expression "the First and the Last" is used in the letter to the Christians of Smyrna and is linked to the death and resurrection of Jesus, which suggests that the impact of Jesus' death and resurrection spans all human history.
- In Revelation 22:13 the three parallel expressions, "the Alpha and Omega," "the first and the last," and "the Beginning and the End," summarize St. John's description of history's climactic conclusion with the Second Advent of Christ, the Last Judgment and the ushering in of God's eternal Kingdom.
In the Gospel of John, Jesus will use the words "I AM" 26 times. He will use it as an expression of Jesus' divinity in 7 different metaphors, each used with a predicate nominative, and also in 4 statements without a predicate nominative. And in the Gospel of St. Mark, He will use the words "I AM" at His trial before the Sanhedrin when the high priest demands for Jesus to say if He is the Messiah. After Jesus makes the "I AM" statement, He is condemned to death:
| "I AM" with predicate nominative | "I AM" without predicate nominative | ||
| 1. Jn 6:35 | "I AM the bread of life" | 1. Jn 8:24 | "..if you do not believe that I AM, you will die in your sins. |
| 2. Jn 8:12 | "I AM the light of the world" | 2. Jn 8:28 | "When you have lifted up the Son of man, then you will know that I AM (He)*" |
| 3. Jn 10:7 | "I AM the gate for the sheep" | 3. Jn 8:58 | "In all truth (Amen, amen) I tell you, before Abraham ever was, I AM." |
| 4. Jn 10:11 | "I AM the good shepherd" | 4. Jn 13:19 | "I tell you this now, before it happens, so that when it does happen you may believe that I AM (He).*" |
| 5. Jn 11:25 | "I AM the resurrection and the life" | 5. Mk 14:61b-62a | The high priest put a second question to him saying, "Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed One?" "I AM," said Jesus ... |
| 6. Jn 14:6 | "I AM the way and the truth and the life" | ||
| 7. Jn 15:1 | "I AM the true vine" | ||
| * the pronoun "He" is not in the Greek text | |||
Isaiah 41:8-20 ~ Israel is God's Chosen Servant
In verse 8 Isaiah turns to what is an important concept in Part III of the Book of Isaiah: "servanthood." Sometimes the reference is to Israel God's servant as in verse 8, at other times to the servanthood of God's people in general, and at other times to God's chosen servant the Redeemer-Messiah. The words: Israel, Jacob, and Abraham clearly reveal the reference in verse 8 is to Israel. The words "my servant," "whom I have chosen," and "my friend" are words that emphasize Israel's special relationship with God.
The people need not be afraid because the Lord will strengthen them and hold them up. Their enemies will feel shame as God's intervention ends their oppression of God's people and their opposition to God's divine plan (verses 11-12). The assurance that "I am with you..." recalls Jesus promise to His disciples after His resurrection in Matthew 28:19 when He said: "And look, I am with you always; yes, to the end of time."
11 Look, all those who rage against [riv = who have a case against] you will be put to shame and humiliated; those who picked quarrels with you will be reduced to nothing and will perish.
Those who think they have a legal case against Israel/Judah do not matter. Only God has the authority to judge His covenant people.
Calling Israel a "worm" and a "little handful" is to convey the weak and powerless state of the people of Israel who need God to strengthen them. "Holy One of Israel," as you will recall is one of the sub-themes of the Book of Isaiah. Not only will Yahweh strengthen Israel but He will use her as His "threshing sledge" of judgment against the Gentile nations to separate the righteous from the wicked. It is the righteous Gentile nations who will befriend Israel and will be blessed because of it.
The poetic imagery in verses 17-20 describes the land of the Judean wilderness; rivers do not flow on barren heights (verse 18), but God will rejuvenation the rugged land of the Judean wilderness through His works on behalf of His people.
Isaiah 41:21-29 ~ Yahweh's case against False gods
Question: Why is Israel's God and divine King calling the false gods into court?
Answer: Yahweh is calling upon the false gods to challenge them to give evidence of any power they might have for good or for bad.
Chapter 42: The First Song of the Servant
Chapter 42:1-7 (5-12) is the first of Isaiah's four "Servant Songs." The others are Isaiah 49:1-6; 50:4-9 (10-11); and 52:13-53:12. The first Servant's Song can be divided into two parts:
- First, Isaiah describes the ministry of the Servant anointed with God's Spirit (verses 1-7).
- Second, Isaiah describes the Servant's Lord who empowers him in his mission (verses 8-9).
In verses 1-7 the Servant is presented as:
- A gentle prophet of God with a divine mission and a divine destiny (verses 4 and 6).
- He is anointed with the Spirit of God (verse 1).
- His mission is to reach the entire world in spite of opposition (verses 1-4).
- His mission transcends that of other prophets since he is both covenant and light as he performs a mission of liberation and salvation (verses 6-7).
Isaiah 42:1-9 ~ Yahweh's Chosen Servant
The choosing of the Servant is accompanied by an outpouring of the Holy Spirit; this special outpouring of the Spirit is not mentioned in 41:8 for Israel, God's servant. But for this Servant, he will be anointed with God's Spirit like God's prophets, priests and kings (Ex 29:7; Lev 8:12; 1 Sam 9:16; 10:1; 11:6; 16:1, 12-13; 1 Kng 1:39; 19:16; 2 Chr 20:14).
The question is who is the Servant? Is he Israel collectively, as in Isaiah 41:8, or is he a single individual? In 42:1 the Servant is identified as God's "chosen one." This is what God will say of Jesus at the Transfiguration event in Luke 9:23, And a voice came from the cloud saying, "This is my Son, the Chosen One. Listen to Him." St. Matthew identifies Jesus of Nazareth as the "chosen Servant," quoting Isaiah 42:1-4 and applying it as a prophecy fulfilled in Jesus in Matthew 12:17-21. And when St. John the Baptist's disciples came to Jesus asking if He was really the promised Messiah, Jesus alluded to the passage from Isaiah 42:7 and applied it to Himself and His mission, saying, "Go back and tell John what you have seen and heard: the blind see again, the lame walk, those suffering from virulent skin-diseases are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised to life, the good news is proclaimed to the poor; and blessed is anyone who does not find me a cause of falling" (Lk 7:22-23).
The description and prophecies associated with the Servant in chapter 42 cannot be applied to, nor is there evidence that they have been fulfilled by Israel as a whole, but can be applied to a single individual, Jesus of Nazareth. He is be a "covenant" to the people, having brought forth a New and eternal Covenant to replace the old Sinai covenant that was incapable of offering eternal salvation or the indwelling of the Holy Spirit (Lk 22:20; Heb 9:15; 10:4-10). And the Israelites had failed as a "light" to the Gentile nations, but Jesus' New Covenant converted the Gentiles and brought them into the covenant established in the blood of the Savior to be full and equal partners in the Kingdom of Jesus Christ with Jewish Christians (Rom 1:16; 9:24; 1 Cor 1:24). The other three Servant Songs are also perfectly fulfilled in Jesus of Nazareth.
Concerning Isaiah 42:1-9, the Catechism teaches: "The Messiah's characteristics are revealed above all in the "Servant songs." These songs proclaim the meaning of Jesus' Passion and show how he will pour out the Holy Spirit to give life to the many: not as an outsider, but by embracing our form as slave.' Taking our death upon himself, he can communicate to us his own Spirit of life" (CCC 713).
Isaiah 42:10-13 ~ The Song of Victory
Typically a "new song" is a song of praise for Yahweh's victories and mighty works in which the whole world is invited to take part. A new song is declared in Psalm 96:1; 98:1; 149:1 and also in Revelation 5:9. The good news in Isaiah 42:1-9 has led to Isaiah announcing God's command for the singing of a "new song" of glory and praise for Yahweh's victory over His foes.
Isaiah 42:14-17 ~ Judgment for the Idolaters of the Covenant People
Yahweh has been patient for a long time in withholding His divine judgment against His covenant people.
Question: Why has He withheld His judgment for such a long time?
Answer: He cannot be accused of being an uncaring God because He gave His people many opportunities to repent and return to them, even though their sins were painful to behold. When they did, He withheld judgment but, like a woman who was in labor but is about to give birth, the time has come when their sins have become so great and repentance so forgotten that He will no longer withhold His judgment on an unrepentant people.
Isaiah 42:18-25 ~ The Covenant People's Blindness
The "servant" in 42:18 is the same "servant" as in Isaiah 41:8, designated as "Israel," but it is not the same "servant" so glowingly described in 42:1-8, the anointed individual in whom God delights. The flow of the three "servant" passages expresses God's message in this way: "Israel, you are my chosen servant collectively as one people. Don't be afraid because I am with you. I know you feel helpless like a worm, but my grace and power will give you all the strength you will need to accomplish my will (Is 41:8-14). But consider my ideal servant who will come in the future (42:1-9). He will be anointed with My Spirit to guide him, and in obedience to Me he will bring about your deliverance according to my will. You, however, are still spiritually blind and deaf to the plan I have for you (42:18-20)."
Ezekiel 2-3
Chapters 2:1-3:15 ~ Ezekiel's Commission and the Vision of the Scroll
The radiance of the encircling light was like the radiance of the bow in the clouds on rainy days. The sight was like the glory of Yahweh. I looked and fell to the ground, and I heard the voice of someone speaking to me.
Ezekiel 1:28
Ezekiel 2:1-15 ~ Yahweh Commissions Ezekiel and Presents a Scroll
The events in Chapters 1-7 take place in July of 593 BC. The "someone" speaking to Ezekiel in 1:28 is Yahweh who tells Ezekiel to get to his feet.
Question: For what two possible reasons does the Spirit of God intervene to raise the kneeling Ezekiel to his feet in verse 1? See Dt 10:8; Jer 35:19; Dan 1:5 Hebrew = "that they might stand before the king"; Rev 20:12.
Answer: It is possible, after his overwhelming experience of the Divine, that Ezekiel is physically unable to rise to a standing position. But it is necessary to stand before the Lord God to receive His instructions and judgments in the same way humans, after first kneeling or laying prostrate, rise to stand ready for service before earthly kings.
A similar episode took place when the prophet Daniel, a contemporary of Ezekiel serving in the royal court of the King of Babylon, falls to the ground in terror after a divine vision. God also raises Daniel to his feet as God reveals His Divine Plan (Dan 8:15-18). God's agents must be in possession of their faculties to receive and understand the divine word. Their rational state is in contrast to the loss of rational thought in the ecstasy of pagan prophets in which consciousness was obliterated (as in the priestesses receiving the oracles at Delphi).
In the same way Yahweh warned Isaiah and Jeremiah, He warns Ezekiel not to be surprised or discouraged if the people reject his message and threaten him.
What Ezekiel receives from the hand of Yahweh is probably a papyrus scroll.
The document Ezekiel receives was full of "lamentations, dirges and cries of grief," all expressions of mourning. The scroll is a covenant lawsuit. It lists the judgments against the covenant people for breaking the covenant God made with them at Mt. Sinai and bringing upon them all the covenant curse-judgments listed in Leviticus 26:14-46. Part of those judgments predicted: You will be powerless to stand up to your enemies; you will perish among the nations, and the land of your enemies will swallow you up. Those of you who survive will pine away in their guilt in the countries of their enemies and, bearing the guilt of their ancestors too, will pine away like them (Lev 26:37b-39). Like the prophet Jeremiah, Ezekiel serves as Yahweh's prosecuting attorney against a rebellious people who failed to keep their covenant oath of obedience to the commandments of Yahweh their God and must now suffer the consequences (Ex 24:3-8).
Ezekiel 3:1-11 ~ Yahweh Commands Ezekiel to Eat the Scroll
In his commissioning, Yahweh warns Ezekiel that his mission will result in a life of hardship and persecution. Yahweh delivers His message in the form of a scroll, which God commands him to eat in a test of obedience. In his mouth the scroll was sweet, which seems to suggest, despite the fact that the message was one of woe, that he found joy in being the messenger of God's word like Jeremiah: When your words came, I devoured them: your word was my delight and the joy of my heart; for I was called by your name, Yahweh, God Sabaoth (Jer 15:16).
Eating the scroll, either literally or only figuratively in the vision, signified thoroughly digesting its contents to the point that God's words and its message became part of Ezekiel body and spirit. Yahweh also put His words into Jeremiah's mouth at his commissioning: Then Yahweh stretched out his hand and touched my mouth, and Yahweh said to me: "There! I have put my words into your mouth" (Jer 1:9).
In the Book of Revelation, St. John has a similar experience. St. John sees a scroll sealed with seven seals, but only Jesus, the Lamb, can break the seals that keep it closed (Rev Chapters 6-8 and 20:12; 21:2). The opening of the seven seals brings Divine Judgment upon the earth and all its inhabitants with the seventh and last seal unleashing the destruction of the earth and the people without God's seal on their foreheads.
7 but the House of Israel will not listen to you because it will not listen to me. The whole House of Israel is defiant [hard-faced] and obstinate [tough-hearted].
Their hard faces and their hard hearts express a moral fault that is both an exterior and interior condition. Their hard-hearted condition recalls the Egyptian Pharaoh's obstinacy in his failure to listen to Moses (Ex 7:3 and 13).
The second commissioning speech calls for preparation in 3:7-9:
- God warns His prophet that if the people reject Ezekiel, they are also rejecting God (3:7a).
- God assures Ezekiel that He will receive the emotional resources he needs for the challenge: 8 But now, I am making you as defiant as they are, and as obstinate as they are; 9 I am making your resolution as hard as a diamond, harder than flint. So do not be afraid of them, do not be overawed by them, for they are a tribe of rebels." Yahweh promises to give Ezekiel the strength he needs to fulfill his mission, giving him what his name means, "God strengthens."
God concludes Ezekiel's commissioning with a final speech with many of the same points He raised earlier and repeated in verses 10-11. However, God adds two additional points:
- The exiles are the focus of the prophet's message (3:11a).
- He is to announce Yahweh's message verbatim, and he is to be unaffected by their reaction (3:11b).
The eating of the scroll was significant for several reasons:
- First, the command to eat the scroll comes immediately after the warning not to be rebellious like his countrymen. The eating of the scroll represents the prophet's readiness to obey and serve. Ezekiel passed the test without hesitation.
- Second, the combination of the commands to "eat" or digest God's word and "go and speak" define the action of his mission.
- Third, the event illustrates the nature of the prophetic office. Ezekiel is filled, nourished, and empowered by the divine word that he carries in his body. It is a divine word that is written down first and then delivered, unlike the messages of other prophets that are delivered in oracles and written down afterward.
Ezekiel 3:12-15 ~ Ezekiel's Return to the Exiled Community in Preparation to Begin His Service
The ruah/Spirit of God that propelled the chariot-throne (1:20) and then set Ezekiel on his feet (2:2), now picks him up and carries him to the settlement of the exiles. As the Spirit of God carries him away, he hears the rumbling of an earthquake that is the rising of the glory of God on the chariot-throne and the chanting of the living creatures declaring the glory of God.
Ezekiel 3:16-21 ~ The Prophet's Mission as Watchman
17 Son of man, I have appointed you as watchman for the House of Israel.'
In verse 17, Yahweh defines the prophet's task as a "watchman" to warn the people of the danger threatening them. It was a watchman's duty to stand in a tower or another high point to watch for approaching danger and warn the people. God appointed His prophets as "watchmen" over Israel (Jer 6:17. Jeremiah was Jerusalem's "watchman" to warn the people of that their failure to repent was bringing the danger of the advancing Babylonian army.
Question: However, in Ezekiel's case, what is the "danger" they should fear?
Answer: Yahweh is the danger, and they should fear His divine judgment.
Question: In verses 17-21, what responsibility does God lay upon Ezekiel and what is Ezekiel's punishment if he does not fulfill his duty?
Answer: In verses 17-21, Yahweh lays upon Ezekiel the responsibility for preaching the judgment of doom against the nation of Israel. He can only escape divine judgment himself by a faithful declaration of God's message by warning the people of the penalty for their sins.
Question: In verses 18-21, God details Ezekiel's responsibilities toward what two endangered groups of exiles?
Answer: The doomed wicked and the righteous who are sliding into sin.
In Ezekiel's responsibility toward the doomed wicked in verses 18-19, Yahweh uses three verbal commands: Ezekiel must "warn," "speak to warn," to "save his life."
Question: God lists Ezekiel's responsibility to sinners in two steps in verses 18-19. If Ezekiel fails in his responsibility to the sinner, what consequence will Ezekiel face? If Ezekiel fulfills his responsibility to the sinner, what is the consequence?
Answer:
- If Ezekiel fails to warn the sinner and the sinner forfeits his life because of his sins, Yahweh will hold Ezekiel responsible.
- However, if Ezekiel fulfills his duty to the sinner by warning him of the consequence of his sins, Ezekiel saves his life even if the sinner fails to repent and forfeits his life.
Question: In verses 20-21, God lists Ezekiel's responsibility toward the backsliding righteous in what three steps?
Answer:
- If Ezekiel fails to warn the backslider and he dies in his sins, God will hold Ezekiel responsible for the person's death.
- If Ezekiel warns the backslider and calls him to repentance, he saves the backslider life and his own.
- If Ezekiel warns the backslider, and the person fails to repent and dies in his sins, God will not hold Ezekiel responsible.
Ezekiel 3:22-27 ~ Yahweh Strikes Ezekiel with Silence (the first symbolic act)
God tells Ezekiel in an oracle to meet Him in the valley. For a second time Ezekiel as a vision of the glory of Yahweh. Both times God comes to him when he is alone and away from the other exiles. Like the first time, Ezekiel falls to the ground, and God's spirit pulls him up to his feet.
Yahweh tells Ezekiel that he is to shut himself away in his house. He is going to be "tied and bound," perhaps more figuratively than literally, and God warns Ezekiel that He will, at times, impose silence upon His prophet (3:26; also see 24:27 and 33:22).
Striking Ezekiel dumb was perhaps a warning for him not to speak his own words or ideas; he must only speak as God commands him. However, limiting his speech and interaction with the community could be because God knows the exiles will not listen to him and his seclusion will raise their curiosity and raise their interest in his symbolic acts. They will also begin to recognize that his symbolic acts are like those of the prophet Jeremiah, whose object lessons they witnessed for 24 years before their exile. And, 5 Whether they listen or not, this tribe of rebels will know there is a prophet among them (Ex 2:5).
At this same time in Jerusalem, "in the fifth month of the fourth year" of the reign of Zedekiah (July 593 BC), the false prophet Hananiah confronted Jeremiah in the Temple in the presence of the priests and the people saying, "Yahweh Sabaoth, the God of Israel, says this, I have broken the yoke of the king of Babylon. In exactly two years' time I shall bring back all the vessels of the Temple of Yahweh which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon took away from here and carried off to Babylon. And I shall also bring back Jeconiah* son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah and all the exiles of Judah who have gone to Babylon, Yahweh declares, for I shall break the yoke of the king of Babylon" (Jer 28:2-4). With this positive prophecy, the people will not listen to Ezekiel's prophecies of doom. *Also called Jehoiachin; he is the man Ezekiel considers the true Davidic king (2 Kng 23:8-17).
From this point forward, Ezekiel's mission is the driving force in his life. God still expects him to teach the coming destruction to the exiles, but he will do it from his silence through a series of symbolic acts. His speech will not return until news of the fall of Jerusalem reaches the exiles, and they know that his symbolic acts were from God. God will inform Ezekiel of the fall of Jerusalem in 24:2, but his speech isn't restored until 33:21-22, as God promised in 24:25-27.
CHALLENGE: “Why can’t we explain the Resurrection appearances by saying Jesus had a twin who was crucified, making the disciples innocently think Jesus was raised? An early Christian text called the Acts of Thomas says Thomas was Jesus’ twin brother (Acts of Thomas 11).”
DEFENSE: The Acts of Thomas is a Gnostic document from the third century. It has no historical value for learning about Jesus’ life. It also does not claim Thomas was crucified in Jesus’ place.
The Acts of Thomas claimed Thomas was Jesus’ twin because certain Gnostics venerated Thomas. They thus seized on the fact that, in Aramaic, Thomas means “twin” and claimed he was Jesus’ own twin.
Thomas probably did have a twin, leading him to be called “the Twin” (John 11:16, 20:24, 21:2), but it was someone other than Jesus.
Only about 3 in 1,000 births involves identical twins, so it is antecedently very unlikely that Jesus had a twin. When we look at the biblical evidence, this is confirmed. Scripture records Jesus’ birth (Matt. 2:1; Luke 2:7), but makes no mention of a twin, as it does on occasions when twins were born (Gen. 25:24–26, 38:27–30). Having a twin—especially an identical twin—is highly unusual and noteworthy, and we would expect it to be mentioned in the accounts of Jesus’ birth and infancy.
Further, Thomas was one of the apostles during Jesus’ ministry, but if he were Jesus’ twin, he would have been his brother, and John makes it clear that “even his brethren did not believe in him” during his ministry (John 7:5).
Also, if Jesus and Thomas were twins, the other apostles would have known it, and the question of who was crucified would have immediately arisen.
While the idea that Thomas was crucified could explain how Jesus appeared alive after the Crucifixion, it would not explain how the two could appear alive together (John 20:24–29), or why the Jerusalem authorities didn’t go to the tomb and produce Thomas’s corpse.
Finally, the twin hypothesis would not explain how the apostles saw Jesus ascend to heaven (Luke 24:51; Acts 1:9–11). Having a twin does not enable you to fly. The twin hypothesis thus does not explain how the apostles could have innocently thought they saw Jesus alive after the Crucifixion.
Jimmy Akin, A Daily Defense: 365 Days (Plus One) to Becoming a Better Apologist
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