Bible In One Year Day 197 (Isaiah 11-13, Tobit 13-14 , Proverbs 10:13-16)

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Day 197:  Woe and Consolation 

Agape Bible Study 
Isaiah 11 -13 

Summary of Chapters 9-11

In Chapter 9:7-10:19, Isaiah recounted in detail how Yahweh will punish the people Northern Kingdom of Israel who have, in their pride and arrogance, abandoned God to rely on their own strength and wisdom. He will use the Assyrian Empire as His instrument of judgment. And then, in 10:5-19, Isaiah revealed how God will punish Assyria for going beyond the purpose which God had intended in their cruelty and in their arrogance by not recognizing their part in His divine plan. After the prophecies of devastation, Isaiah returns again to the sub-theme of the preservation of the "faithful remnant" gathered back from the nations of the Gentiles in 10:20-22, together with assurances of God's protection for the Southern Kingdom Judah from the Assyrian enemy, even though the Assyrian army advances to the very gates of Jerusalem in 10:23-34.

In Isaiah 11:1-16, Isaiah gave God's third prophecy of the coming of the Davidic Messiah to redeem God's people and to usher in an eschatological kingdom that returns mankind and all creation to the ideal unity with God that was enjoyed before the Fall of Adam (also see Is 7:14 and 8:23/9:1-6/7 for the first two prophecies). The "Book of Emmanuel" section of the Book of Isaiah, which began in Chapter 6, is concluded in Chapter 12 with a psalm of thanksgiving to God for turning from anger, when He stretched out His hand to punish the covenant people for their infidelities (see 5:26; 9:12, 17, 21; 10:4), to mercy in extending His hand once more to rescue His people, and His invitation to return to the protection of the Almighty God (Is 11:11-12).

Chapter 11: The Promised Davidic Savior

Isaiah 11:1-5 ~ The Branch

Isaiah will return to the topic of Assyria's defeat later, but in continuing the themes of justice and redemption, he now turns from the just judgment of Israel and Assyria to the theme of redemption through the Redeemer-Messiah who he introduced in 7:14 and 9:1-6 "the "holy seed" of Israel.

This is the beginning of a messianic poem that describes the characteristics of the coming Messiah who is a descendant of Jesse.

Jesse was a descendant of Ruth and Boaz. He was born into the tribe of Judah, and he was the father of King David and the ancestor of all the kings of Judah. He was also the ancestor of the Messiah, Jesus of Nazareth.

But why from the "stock" or "root" of Jesse instead of from David; could it be that it is because the Messiah is more than a Davidic heir? Is it because he will be a new David, as Ezekiel will characterize him more than a hundred years later in Ezekiel 34:23 ~ I shall raise up one shepherd, my servant David, and put him in charge of them to pasture them; he will pasture them and be their shepherd. Also see other prophetic passages that support this concept in Jeremiah 30:9 and Hosea 3:5.

Isaiah's prophecy is that when the line of the Davidic kings seems to be destroyed, a shoot or branch will grow from the roots "the remnant of the House of David. 

2 On him will rest the spirit of Yahweh ...
translated as "spirit", "breath", or "wind". The "Spirit of Yahweh" or the "Holy Spirit of Yahweh" (Is 42:1; 61:1ff; 63:10-13; Ps 51:12; Wis 1:5; 9:17) was not understood to be the third person of the Most Holy Trinity in the Old Testament. The Spirit of God is, however, found to be active throughout salvation history. For example:

• Before creation the Spirit hovered above the waters of creation (Gen 1:2).
• The Spirit breathed life into Adam and all creatures (Gen 2:7; Ps 33:6; 104:29-30; Ez 37:5-6, 9-10).
• The Spirit gave Joseph son of Israel his wisdom (Gen 41:38).
• The Spirit of God gave skill to the craftsmen who constructed the desert Sanctuary (Ex 31:3; 35:31).
• The Spirit gave the men God appointed to judge the covenant people their discretion and inspired them (Num 11:17; Judg 3:10; 6:34; 11:29).
• The Spirit inspired God's prophets (Num 11:17; 24:2; 1 Sam 10:6, 10; 19:20; 2 Sam 23:2; 23:2; 2 Kng 2:9; 2 Chr 15:1; 20:14; 24:20; Mic 3:8; Ez 13:3; etc.).
• God's Spirit fell upon David when Samuel anointed him (1 Sam 16:13).
• The Holy Spirit came upon Jesus at His baptism by St. John (Mt 3:16).
• God's Spirit came upon the assembly of Jesus' disciples on the Feast of Pentecost (Acts 2:1-11).
• The Holy Spirit fills and indwells every baptized Christian, giving a new, spiritual life (Jn 3:3, 5).

From the earliest years of the Church, the Church Fathers have taught that Jesus is the promised Davidic Messiah Isaiah wrote about in this passage. God the Holy Spirit descended upon Jesus at His baptism (Mt 3:16). The "gifts of the spirit" that are His are transferred to baptized and confirmed Christians as His heirs. St. Paul wrote: For all who are let by the Spirit of God are sons of God...if children, then heirs, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ (Rom 8:14, 17). And the Catechism teaches: "The seven gifts of the Holy Spirit are wisdom, understand, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety, and fear of the Lord. They belong in their fullness to Christ, Son of David. They complete and perfect the virtues of those who receive them. They make the faithful docile in readily obeying divine inspirations" (CCC 1831). The Catechism goes on to teach that "The fruits of the Spirit are perfections that the Holy Spirit forms in us as the first fruits of eternal glory. The tradition of the Church lists twelve of them: charity, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, generosity, gentleness, faithfulness, modesty, self-control, chastity'" (CCC 1832; quoting Gal 5:22-23). 

Isaiah 11:6-9 ~ The Eschatological Kingdom of the Davidic Heir

Adam and Eve's rebellion against the sovereignty of God (Gen 3) resulted in destroying the harmony between humanity and nature (Gen 3:17-19), and between one human being and another (Gen 4). Animals did not kill each other and mankind did not have permission to kill animals and eat their meat until after the Great Flood. In the reign of the Messiah, with sin forgiven and with man's full and complete reconciliation with God, lasting peace will be the result and justice will be established (Is 9:6; 32:17; 60:17-18; Joel 4:17; Zeph 3:13; Zec 3:10). This peace will even extend to the animals.

Question: The promise of peace and harmony between all living creatures is a return to what period in salvation history?
Answer: It is the return to conditions on the earth as God intended and which existed in Eden before the Fall of Adam.

Question: When can we expect the return of these ideal conditions? See Is 65:17-25; 1 Thes 4:16-18; Rev 21:1-7.
Answer: After Jesus' Second Advent, the Last Judgment, and the creation of the new heavens and the new earth.

Christ the True Vine

Isaiah 11:10-16 ~ The Promise of the Ingathering of the Nations

On that glorious day, the "root of Jesse", the promised Redeemer-Messiah, will become a signal and a rallying point for all nations in the gift of universal salvation "people from every land, every ethnic origin. People of every nation will seek out the Messiah for counsel and instruction. 

Chapter 12: A Psalms of Thanksgiving

Isaiah 12:1-6 ~ Extolling God's Mercy and His Glory

 "And, that day..." in 12:1 refers to "that day" in 11:10-12 when the prophet promised the coming of the Davidic heir, the Redeemer-Messiah: That day, the root of Jesse, standing as a signal for the peoples, will be sought out by the nations and its home will be glorious. 11 When that day comes, the Lord will raise his hand a second time to ransom the remnant of his people, those still left, from Assyria, from Egypt, from Pathros, Cush and Elam, from Shinar, Hamath and the islands of the Sea. 12 He will hoist a signal for the nations and assemble the outcasts of Israel; he will gather the scattered people of Judah from the four corners of the earth.

Question: What is the "home" that will be "glorious" in the end of Isaiah 11:10?
Answer: The Kingdom of the new David, the "root of Jesse", that is the Church of Jesus Christ into which He will "gather the scattered people" from "the four corners of the earth."

The Church sees herself as this "holy remnant" of mankind that has experienced God's salvation in the work of Jesus Christ, and, as in Isaiah's prophecy in chapter 12, she feels called to give witness to her joy before all mankind. 

In verses 1-2 Isaiah describes the joy the redeemed sinner knows because of God's great work on his behalf that inspires both trust and gratitude. God was angry (verse 1), but how His anger is spent and He comforts His people. Because God is the source of salvation, each individual of the covenant people knows he can trust God and not fear Him. 

In verses 3-5, Isaiah changes the focus to the entire covenant community who praises God for bringing them "water from the springs of salvation" and "Praise Yahweh, invoke his name. Proclaim his deeds to the people" is from Psalm 105:1, a psalm that recounts the wonderful history of Israel. 

Question: When did Jesus use the same imagery for salvation with a woman who was drawing water from a well? See Jn 4:4-14.
Answer: He offered the Samaritan woman "living water" and whoever drank of this water would never thirst again because the "water" Jesus gives is the water that "will become in him a spring of water, welling up for eternal life."

Question: In verses 4-5 the people are grateful for God's works on their behalf; what do they do to show their gratitude?
Answer: They proclaim His marvelous deeds to their own people and to the nations of the world.

Isaiah Chapters 1-12 contain truths that are valuable and which we should apply to our lives today. The Book of Isaiah has much to tell us about who God is, who we are in our relationship with God, and what God expects of us as His covenant people.

Chapters 13

Up to this point, the attention has been focused on the Israelites of the Northern and the Southern Kingdoms of Judah who have abandoned God and His covenant, unleashing the judgment sanctions of the covenant treaty Israel made with Yahweh at Mt. Sinai. A secondary focus has been on the Assyrians as the instrument of God's justice and prophecies of the Davidic Messiah. But, in the next eleven chapters, the focus is on God's work in other nations of the region. There are two reasons for this shift:

1. These pagan nations represent a challenge to God's divine plan for the Messianic Kingdom and the preservation of His people Israel from which the Davidic virgin and her son must come.
2. These nations, like all pagan nations, represent a challenge to God's sovereignty and the preservation of His name among His covenant people.

Chapters 13-23 answer these challenges to God's divine plan in Isaiah's oracles against the nations by announcing that Yahweh is sovereign over all the nations of the earth whether or not they recognize Him as the One True God. Assyria's capital city Nineveh came to recognize God's sovereignty when He sent the prophet Jonah to call them to repentance (Book of Jonah) in c. 759 BC, but soon thereafter they returned to their pagan gods. And Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, will come to recognize the sovereignty of Yahweh over all other gods through the ministry of the prophet Daniel, but his revelation will not convert his people (Dan 2:46-47; 4:33-34). The day, however, will come when God will call all these nations and all the nations of the earth to have a covenant relationship with Him through the divine Messiah, the branch of Jesse, the greater than David who is Jesus of Nazareth.

The 6 nations and one alliance are condemned to judgment in the oracle of chapters 13-19: Babylon, Assyria, Philistia, Moab, the Damascus-Israel alliance, Cush, and Egypt.

Isaiah 13:1-9 ~ The Day of Yahweh's Judgment Concerning Babylon

Jeremiah also prophesies a divine day of vengeance against Babylon in Jeremiah 51:47-58. Yahweh's Day of Judgment (referred to as "The Day of Yahweh" in verses 6 and 9) against Babylon is foretold in 13:1-14:23. 

Question: How will God bring about the defeat of the Babylonians? See verse 4-5.
Answer: Their defeat will not come about through the efforts of a single nation but from many kingdoms banning together to wage war against Babylon.

In verses 7-8 fear grips the Babylonian people. They have no chance of escape, like a woman in labor cannot escape the inevitability of childbirth. 

Isaiah 13:10-14 ~ The End of Time for Babylon and the Return of the Refugees

Verses 10-14, in the hyperbole of poetic language, express the end of Babylon as an influential regional power. The Babylonians were famous for their astrologers, their star charts and prophecies associated with the heavens. In modern parlance, God was going to "stop the clock" of the proud and arrogant Babylonians and humble their leaders. 

Isaiah 13:15-22 ~ Utter Destruction for the City of Babylon and her Citizens

The Babylonians, without protection or leadership, will suffer the same atrocities that they inflicted on others (see Ps 137:9; Hos 13:16; Zec 14:2).
Question: Who will God use as His primary instrument of judgment?
Answer: God will use the Medes.

The Medes were a people who lived in the region south of the Caspian Sea, north of the Zagros Mountains and the Kingdom of Elam, and east of Assyria. They formed an alliance with Babylon and other nations to defeat the Assyrians and conquer the Assyrian capital city of Nineveh in 612 BC. King Cyrus of Persia will conquer the Medes in 550 BC and merge them into the Persian Empire.

Question: To whom does Isaiah compare Babylon's final destruction?
Answer: He compares their destruction to the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah.

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A Daily Defense 

DAY 197 The Bible and Pi

CHALLENGE: “Solomon’s temple held a metal basin or ‘sea’ used for ceremonial washings. According to Scripture, it was ten cubits across and ‘a line of thirty cubits measured its circumference’ (1 Kings 7:23; 2 Chron. 4:2). This implies that the value of π (pi) is 3,but that is incorrect. We know that π is an irrational number slightly greater than 3.14159.”

DEFENSE ;Thank you, Mr. Spock. This confuses an approximation with an error.

If the sea was exactly ten cubits across then it would have a radius (r) of 5 cubits, and if it were perfectly circular then its circumference (C) would be just over 31.4159 cubits, according to the formula for the circumference of a circle, C=2πr. 

How are we to account for the difference of just over 1.4 cubits between the biblical and predicted values?

Some note that the Bible says the sea had a curved rim (1 Kings 7:26; 2 Chron. 4:5). Second century mathematician Rabbi Nehemiah proposed the difference is because the sea’s circumference was measured around the inside of the rim while the diameter was measured from the outside of the rim (see Petr Beckmann, A History of Pi, chapter 7).

This is possible, but there is a simpler solution: We are dealing with approximations.

The cubit (the length from a man’s elbow to middle fingertip) is itself an approximation. So were most ancient measurements. If the circumference of the sea were exactly 30 cubits and its diameter thus turned out to be 9.5493 cubits, the ancient writer would have simply rounded to 10. Most likely, both the diameter and circumference are rounded, approximate values.

Then there is the problem of doing the measurement. The reference to a measuring line suggests someone measured it using a line, but did they get the line to fit the rim exactly? If they had men holding the line at points around the rim, it likely would not have fit exactly, resulting in an approximate measurement. Further, we’re assuming the sea was perfectly circular, which it may not have been.

Ultimately, since π is an irrational number, everything using it must involve an approximation. The biblical author has simply chosen a different level of approximation than the modern critic. The fact that the biblical author’s math works within the level of approximation he selects shows he is giving an honest and accurate report.

Jimmy Akin, A Daily Defense: 365 Days (Plus One) to Becoming a Better Apologist

Bible In One Year Day 196 (Isaiah 9 - 10, Tobit 10 - 12 , Proverbs 10:9-12)

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Day 196: Destruction of Israel

Agape Bible Study 
Isaiah 9 - 10 

Isaiah 9:1-6 (8:23-9:7) ~ The Promise of Deliverance and Restoration

This vision is so vivid that Isaiah speaks of these events as having already happened. The tribal territories of Zebulun and Naphtali were located north and west of the Sea of Galilee. The "Way of the Sea" was the great trade route that began in Egypt, passed along the coast of the Mediterranean northward with several roads crisscrossing the Galilee, and extending into Mesopotamia and Asia Minor. The well-traveled trade routes brought Gentile influence as well as goods into the region

The major themes of Isaiah's book are repeated again where the justice of God's judgment is followed by the promise of mercy and restoration. The judgment that befell the tribal lands of Zebulun and Naphtali in the region of the Galilee was the invasion of the Assyrians and the exile of the people into Assyrians lands to the east: In the days of Pekah king of Israel, Tiglath-Pileser king of Assyria came and captured Ijon, Abel-beth-Maacah, Janoah, Kedesh, Hazor, Gilead and Galilee "the whole territory of Naphtali and deported the population to Assyria (2 Kng 15:29).

The towns mentioned (all belonging to the tribe of Naphtali) were taken in Tiglath-Pileser III's advance in his campaign against Philistia in in 734 BC. Gilead (east side of the Jordan River) and the Galilee were conquered in the campaign of 733-732 BC, and the inhabitants of the entire region were exiled into Assyrians lands to the east; it was the first major Israelite deportation and Gentile peoples were brought in to settle the region making the Galilee, as Isaiah says, a territory of the goyim, the Gentile nations. Isaiah foretells that this humiliation will be followed by a glorious future in a "Day of Yahweh." To the region of the Galilee that experienced the darkness of exile and repopulation by Gentile foreigner armies, the prophet promises deliverance and the "light" of restoration. This "light" will come from the "dominion" of the peaceful reign of a royal son of the House of David, the "God-with-us/Immanuel" of 7:14.

Question: How many adjectives are used to describe the "name" of this future Davidic deliverer as a "light" to the people?
Answer:

1. Wonder-Counsellor
2. Mighty-God
3. Eternal-Father
4. Prince-of-Peace

Each of the names/titles refer to the child's divine nature. The first name/title indicates the divine nature of his wisdom. The same Hebrew word for "wonder" (pele') appears in Judges 13:18 when the Angel of the Lord appeared to Manoah and his wife and announced Samson's birth, using this word for the couple to recognize the divine will in their son's birth. The word pele' and other derivations often designate God's mighty works.

Isaiah 9:7-10:34 ~ The Coming Judgment in the Fall of the Northern Kingdom

As the voice of Yahweh, Isaiah recounts a series of divine judgments that will begin take place against the Northern Kingdom of Israel in 9:7-10:4 (in some translations these verses are numbered 9:8-10:4). In these judgments, he is describing God's continuing anger with Israel's people because of their pride and arrogance. He has sent His prophets to call His people to repentance, but they ignored the prophets' warnings. Each section is divided by the key statement that occurs four times: "Yet for all this, his anger is not spent. No, his hand is still raised!" (see 9:11/12, 16/17, 20/21; 10:4). The people of the whole of Israel (Jacob) had failed to repent, so as an example God's judgment will fall first upon the Northern Kingdom with whom His judgment will be taken to the next level. It is a concept of increasing degrees of punishments in the attempt to call a people to repentance that was introduced in the covenant judgment sanctions in Leviticus 26:14-39 and Deuteronomy 28:15-68 where Moses described the awful progression of the consequences that would befall the covenant people if they were unwilling to repent and return to their covenant obligations and their faithful relationship with Yahweh. 

Question: Why did God warn that He would use degrees of punishment?
Answer: The reason for judgments was always as a means to lead to repentance and restoration. Therefore, in the different levels of judgment, God gave the people opportunities to turn back to Him, to repent, and to be restored to His divine favor.

Judgments in Isaiah 9:7/8-10:4

1. Judgment of Israel through other nations (9:7/8-11/12)
2. Judgment against Israel's leaders (9:12/13-16/17)
3. Judgment by famine and natural disasters (9:17/18-20/21)
4. Judgment against the unjust who oppress the humble (10:1-4)

This section answers the theological question posed by God's assurance to King Ahaz of Judah in 7:4-9 and 8:4 that the alliance of Israel and Damascus will not be a threat. That question is: "how exactly will God insure that the Northern Kingdom's (Ephraim's) plans against Judah come to nothing?" The answer is that it will not be because of the intervention of Assyria but because of the intervention of God in bringing about the following events.

Isaiah 9:7-11 ~ Judgment by other Nations

God has sent his "word" to all the children of Israel (the descendants of Jacob) in both nations, and now the first of the judgments will fall upon the Northern Kingdom (Ephraim) and their capital city of Samaria. The "word" in verse 7/8 is not just an element of speech in Hebrew as it is in English. God's word brings about that which is spoken by Him (see Gen 1:3). When God has made a pronouncement, in a real sense, that event comes to pass (Ps 107:20; 147:15, 18, 19; Is 55:10; Heb 4:12; 6:5). Jesus is the "Living Word" who brings to fulfillment the will of God in creation and in salvation history (Jn 1:1-5).

God sent the prophets Amos and Hosea to the Northern Kingdom and Micah, like Isaiah, prophesied to both the Northern and Southern kingdoms. Their missions were to warn the people and their kings to repent before they were then overtaking by God's judgments.

Question: Despite the warnings of God's prophets and the evidence of those warnings that they have experienced through natural and political events, what do the people of the Northern Kingdom in their pride and arrogance claim?
Answer: They claim that the warnings of God's prophets are not relevant. They boast in their arrogance that they will not only rebuild but they will rebuild better than before using the finer materials of dressed stone instead of bricks and costly cedar instead of the more common sycamores.

The Archangel Raphael Leaving Tobias' Family (Rembrandt)

Isaiah 9:12-16 ~ Judgment against Israel's Leaders

Question: In response to Israel's continued rejection of Yahweh, what is the next judgment that God sends, using the metaphors of the tall palm leaf and the lowly reed?
Answer: He will cut off the "top" (the leaders) and the "tail" (the false prophets) of Israelite society who mislead the people.

Sadly the whole of the Northern Kingdom's society is corrupt and godless, from the leaders to the lowly widows and orphans. They all reject God's outstretched hand with promised blessings; therefore, God's outstretched hand will still be raised in judgment.

Isffcc; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; margin-left: 0.25in; margin-right: 0.25in;">God has removed His restraining hand of grace, and wickedness has burst forth unchecked, devouring like a fire everything it touches. In the Bible, "fire" is both a symbol of judgment and purification (verse 18).
Question: In verse 17 the condition of the people in the Northern Kingdom recalls what earlier period of intense wickedness that required God's judgment to set society aright again? See Gen 6:5.
Answer: It recalls the period of wickedness prior to the Flood judgment.

Isaiah 10:1-4 ~ Judgment against the Unjust who oppress the Humble

The final indictment against human pride is in depriving the helpless of their rights in order to oppress them. Later the prophet Malachi, speaking as the voice of God, will write this condemnation: I am coming to put you on trial and I shall be a ready witness against sorcerers, adulterers, perjurers, and against those who oppress the wage-earner, the widow and the orphan, and who rob the foreigner of his rights and do not respect me, says Yahweh Sabaoth (Mal 3:5).

Isaiah 10:5-11 ~ Assyria the Unconscious Instrument of God's Judgment

At this point Isaiah's discourse changes. The focus is no longer the Northern Kingdom of Israel but Assyria, the instrument of divine judgment "the "rod of my anger, the club in their hands is my fury!" It is "woe" for Assyrians because they did not recognize their part in God's divine plan. Instead, they glorified themselves and boasted of their greatness as they delivered destruction and plundered other kingdoms and their cities. 

Isaiah 10:12-19 ~ Assyria's Future Judgment

Assyria has a part in God's divine plan or punish His covenant people for abandoning Him, however, when God's plan using Assyria is completed, He will deal with Assyrian's pride (10:12, 16-19). Once again Isaiah interprets the words and thoughts of the Assyrian king in verses 13-14, which is answered by Isaiah in verse 15.

Question: What is the meaning of Isaiah's rhetorical question in 10:15?
Answer: Assyria has not accomplished all the things she boasts about. Assyria was only the weapon God used; she was the "axe" in God's hands and the "spear" or "club" He raised in battle.

Question: When God has finished His work for the present with His unfaithful people, what will happen to the Assyrians and why? Hint: the "light of Israel" is a reference to Yahweh. See verses 16-19.
Answer: God will bring judgment against the Assyrians who, in their pride and arrogance, think they have accomplished the defeat of neighboring nations all on their own.

• All the treasures they took will disappear like burning thorn bushes in a single day (verse 17).
• He will burn down their forests and crops; so few trees will be left that a child will be able to count the few trees that are left (verses 18a, 19b).
• He will bring destruction to the arrogant Assyrian population (verse 19b).

Assyria came against the Northern Kingdom as God's instrument of justice, but because Assyria did not bow to the same natural moral laws that God has infused in the spirit of all humanity, she also faced judgment (10:5-34).

 In c. 627 BC, the Neo-Assyrian Empire began to fall apart due to a series of civil wars. In 616 BC, Assyria was attacked by an alliance of its former vassals: the Babylonians, Chaldeans, Medes, Persians, Scythians and Cimmerians. After a siege and bitter house-to house fighting, Nineveh was sacked in 612 BC and the city was razed to the ground. Most of the citizens of the city were either massacred or deported. Many unburied skeletons were found by the archaeologists at the site. The Assyrian empire finally came to an end by 605 BC with the Medes and Babylonians dividing its vassal states between them.⁽¹⁾

Isaiah 10:20-23 ~ The Little Remnant will Return

The theology of the "faithful remnant" is dear to Isaiah and he returns to it time after time. God will use the Assyrians to bring judgment on Israel, but He will protect Israel from complete destruction and He will preserve a remnant "of the House of Jacob.""Jacob" is, of course, a reference to Jacob son of Isaac who God renamed "Israel" (Gen 32:28; 35:10), the physical "father" of the "children of Israel". 

Isaiah now turns to giving assurance again to the citizens of Judah that they have nothing to fear from Assyria.
Question: Who is Oreb and what is Oreb's Rock? See Judg 6:1-6; 7:5; 8:3 and Ps 83:11.
Answer: Oreb was a prince/chieftain of Midian who was one of the leaders of a Midianite army that invaded and pillaged Israel for seven years in the era of the Judges (Judg 6:1-6). He was slain by Gideon's soldiers on Oreb's Rock, a site on the east side of the Jordan River in Midianite territory.

In verse 26 Yahweh reminds the people of Judah of how He delivered them from the Midianite invaders and then reminds them of His protection when He parted the Red Sea for the Israelites to escape from the advancing Egyptian army (Ex 14:16). The nation of Judah will be threatened by the Assyrians, but Yahweh will protect them and will destroy the Assyrians, laying aside the Assyrian's "yoke" of oppression.

Isaiah 10:28-34 ~ The Invasion

Isaiah describes the Assyrian invasion against Judah and Jerusalem in verses 28-32. All will appear lost for Judah as the Assyrians march through the territory of Benjamin, conquering all the Benjaminite cities in their path: Aiath, Migron, Michmash, Geba, Gibeah (the city of King Saul), Bath-Gallim, Laish, Anathoth, Madmenah, Gebim and finally Nob, a city just a few miles east of Jerusalem.

In verse 33 Isaiah compares Yahweh's destruction of the Assyrian army with the clearing of a forest. First He will remove their leaders, "the ones standing highest". It is Yahweh who will defend Jerusalem and will cut down the Assyrians. This prophecy is fulfilled in the days of Ahaz's son, good King Hezekiah (Is chapters 36-37).

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A Daily Defense 
DAY 196 The Book of Tobit and History

CHALLENGE: “The book of Tobit contains numerous implausibilities—for example, a woman being married seven times yet each husband dropping dead on the wedding night, how Tobit is presented as the uncle of the legendary figure of Ahiqar, and the phenomenally long life spans of Tobit and his son.”

DEFENSE: The alleged errors are clues to the audience telling them what kind of book they are reading.

Like Judith (see Day 181), Tobit is a literary work that functions as an extended parable rather than a historical account, and various aspects of the text signal the audience that this is the case.

For example, the Pontifical Biblical Commission notes: “The death of the seven husbands of the same woman before the consummation of the marriage ([Tob.] 3:8–17) is a fact so unlikely that, this, by itself, suggests that the narrative is a literary fiction. . . . We have here, then, a popular religious fable with a didactic and edifying purpose which, by its nature, places it in the sphere of the wisdom tradition” (The Inspiration and Truth of Sacred Scripture 109).

Similarly, in the book’s first chapter, the text describes Tobit as the uncle of Ahiqar (Tob. 1:21), a legendary Middle-Eastern sage. Ahiqar then helps Tobit (Tob. 1:22, 2:10), and he attends Tobias’s wedding (Tob. 11:18). This is the ancient equivalent of a modern book whose first chapter establishes that the main character is the uncle of a legendary figure like Paul Bunyan, who then goes on to appear in the story.

Thus when the text says that Tobit lived to be 112 (Tob. 14:1) and Tobias to be 117 (Tob. 14:14 —and some manuscripts list higher ages—in a world where most adults died at half of those figures, it is another clue to the literary nature of the text.

This does not mean that Tobit cannot contain a historical nucleus that has been elaborated in literary style, but its primary character is literary rather than historical, as different aspects of the text make clear.

In view of considerations like these, John Paul II concluded: “The Books of Tobit, Judith, and Esther, although dealing with the history of the Chosen People, have the character of allegorical and moral narrative rather than history properly so called” (General Audience, May 8, 1985).

Jimmy Akin, A Daily Defense: 365 Days (Plus One) to Becoming a Better Apologist

Bible In One Year Day 195 (Isaiah 7-8, Tobit 7-9 , Proverbs 10:5-8)

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Day 195: Tobias and Sarah Pray 

Agape Bible Study 
Isaiah 7 - 8 

Chapter 7:1-16 ~ Isaiah and King Ahaz

Historical Background: When the Assyrians invaded the Northern Kingdom in 737 BC, King Menahem of Israel (743-738 BC) submitted and become a vassal of the Assyrians. He made two tribute payments to Assyrian King Tiglath-Pileser III (according to Assyrian annals), purchasing the political support of Assyria to continue to rule with "a thousand talents of silver" (2 Kng 15:19-20). He was succeeded by his son Pekahiah (2 Kng 15:23-26) who was assassinated by his equerry Pekah son of Remaliah (737 BC). Pekah decided to resist the Assyrians and made an alliance with Razon, the king of Damascus. They then joined forces in attacking the Southern Kingdom of Judah in what modern historians call the Syro-Ephraimite War.

The Syro-Ephraimite War

Date	735-734 BC
Key players:	Tiglath-Pileser III, king of Assyria Razon, Aramaean king of Damascus (Syria) Pekah, king of the Northern Kingdom of Israel Ahaz, king of the Southern Kingdom of Judah
The issue:	The rise of Assyria forced smaller kingdoms to choose between joining forces to resist Assyria or submitting to Assyria and becoming vassal states.
The conflict:	Israel and Damascus formed an alliance against the Assyrians. King Ahaz of Judah did not join the alliance, and therefore the Israelites and Aramaeans went to war against the Southern Kingdom of Judah.

When Ahaz was 20 years old, he succeeded his father Jotham in c. 735 BC. Isaiah had the difficult mission of serving as a prophet-advisor to the king. King Ahaz and his kingdom were threatened by the Syro-Ephraimite coalition (Arameans of Damascus and the Northern Kingdom of Israel). Rejecting Isaiah's advice to have faith in Yahweh and courage to oppose his enemies by trusting in Yahweh's protection, the weak Ahaz turned to the fierce Assyrians for help.

Isaiah 7:1-9 ~ Isaiah Intervenes with King Ahaz

Razon is the king of the Aramaean kingdom of Damascus. His name is written "Razon" in Greek and Assyrian inscriptions and "Razon" in Hebrew. His ally is Pekah son of Remaliah, a king of Israel who ruled from 737-32 BC (2 Kng 15:27-3; 16:1), and together they launched a campaign against Judah that is known as the Syro-Ephraimite War (the Northern Kingdom is often referred to by the name of its largest tribe). Tebeel (name means "god is good") in verse 5 is an unknown person but was probably an Aramaean prince they intent to install as king of Judah after Ahaz is deposed. They did besiege Jerusalem but could not conquer it in c. 734 BC (2 Kng 16:5-9). It is at this critical time that God commands Isaiah to take his young son with him to meet King Ahaz. Isaiah's son's name is Shear-Jashub, which means "a remnant will return." The boy is a visual reminder of God's mercy in His promise of the preservation of a faithful remnant of Judah (Is 2:4 and 6:13). Keep in mind that the entire time Isaiah is having his discourse with King Ahaz in verses 7-23 that Isaiah's little son is standing with him.

Question: What is Isaiah's warning to Ahaz in verse 9b?
Answer: If he will not listen to Isaiah's advice he will not survive.

In Isaiah 7:1-9, King Ahaz and his people are fearful of the Syro-Ephraimite alliance. The alliance causes the heart of the king and his people to tremble "like forest trees shaking in the wind" (verse 2). But Isaiah tells him Do not be frightened or demoralized by these two smoldering sticks of firewood ... His enemies are as ineffective as smoking pieces of firewood that have lost the power of the fire and are powerless to harm him because God will be on his side.

However, Ahaz and his people lack faith in God's power to protect them despite Isaiah's assurance that in "another sixty-five years, and Ephraim will cease to be a people. 9 The head of Ephraim is Samaria, and the head of Samaria is the son of Remaliah. If you will not take your stand on me you will not stand firm." A little more than a generation after the exile of the Northern Kingdom, the Northern Kingdom's largest and most powerful tribe, the tribe of Ephraim, will cease to exist. Isaiah urges the king "If you will not take your stand on me you will not stand firm!" But these encouraging words also contain a warning: if Ahaz and Judah refuse to take their stand on God and His prophet, they will not stand firm. This verse is a play on the words, using two forms of the same verb, aman, which means "to be firm."

Isaiah 7:10-16 ~ Isaiah Intervenes with Ahaz a Second Time

Question: Why does Isaiah urge Ahaz to accept God's invitation to ask for a sign? Are there limits to what he might ask?
Answer: Isaiah urges Ahaz to ask God for a sign that the prophecy of Judah's rescue from the Syro-Ephraimite alliance will take place and God's protection over Judah is secure. He tells the king the "sign" he asks for has no limits, either in the depths of Sheol or in the heights above.

You will recall from the previous lesson that Sheol was the abode of all the dead from the Fall of Adam until the coming of Christ. The wicked were punished for their sins and the righteous awaited the coming of the Redeemer-Messiah (CCC 536, 633; Lk 16:19-31).

God sometimes provided His people and His agents with signs and wonders to demonstrate His power and the truth of what He said (Ex 3:1-4; 4:1-9; Lk 1:18-20; 2:12). St. John calls each of Jesus' miracles in his Gospel "signs" that point to Jesus' authority from God and His true identity.

Question: What should Ahaz, a descendant of King David, have remembered concerning God's covenant with the House of David? See 2 Sam 7:14-11b-17; 25-29; 23:5; Sir 45:25; 47:11/13.
Answer: Ahaz should have remembered that God's eternal covenant with David included the protection of his kingdom so long as his heirs remain faithful (2 Sam 7:12-29). Ahaz is a descendant of David and, as his heir, is the heir to this covenant promise.

12 But Ahaz said, "I will not ask. I will not put Yahweh to the test."
Ahaz is using an excuse that is an allusion to Deuteronomy 6:16 where Moses warned the people: Do not put Yahweh your God to the test as you tested him at Massah. Massah means "testing" and recalls the incident when the Israelites were on their journey out of Egypt in Exodus 17:1-7. Instead of trust in God's promise to take care of them, the people demanded that Moses give them water to drink, challenging God to prove that He was with them.

Question: Is this situation the same as that at Massah or is it different?
Answer: The situation with Ahaz is entirely different. He would not be putting God to the test in an improper way because God Himself graciously gave Ahaz the authority to name the sign.

Later Isaiah will offer Ahaz's good son, King Hezekiah, the chance to choose between one of two signs, and he does not repeat his father's mistake. But Isaiah 7:10 records the only time in the Bible where a prophet offered someone the opportunity to name the sign. God in His mercy reached out in a special way to David's heir who was struggling to believe that Judah would experience God's deliverance. However, Ahaz refused to name a sign, trying to hide behind false piety. Either he did not want to risk his kingdom on Yahweh's promise of help or he had already made up his mind and preferred to put his trust in an alliance with Assyria and her king.

13 He then said: "Listen now, House of David: are you not satisfied with trying human patience that you should try my God's patience too?
Notice the shift between verses 11 and 13 from Isaiah's words "your God" in verse 11 when he urges Ahaz to ask for a sign and "my God" in verse 13 after Ahaz refuses and Isaiah is angry and finds Ahaz unfit to claim Yahweh as his God. Ahaz's refusal is a sign of his unbelief and the House of David has demonstrated that it is unfit for a relationship with the Living God.

Isaiah is persistent and tells Ahaz: The Lord will give you a sign in any case. It is this: the young woman [literal ha almah = the virgin] is with child and will give birth to a son whom she will call Immanuel [immau = "with us" + El = God = "God-with-us"]. For a sign to be from God, it has to be an event that defies the natural order. For a woman in Ahaz's court or one of his wives to give birth to a son happened all the time and could not be taken as a divine sign. But for a virgin to give birth without having had relations with a man is indeed a miracle. And notice that Isaiah does not say "a virgin", but he says "the virgin" "a specific virgin chosen by God to be a "sign" of His divine intervention in the history of mankind. That the child is given a title that contains the word "God" in the singular ("El"), a word used again in 9:6, demonstrates that Isaiah is referring to a child with words that signify deity. His birth will be surrounded with the mysterious and the supernatural. When the child is born, God will be seen to be present with His people.

In the promised sign, Isaiah is telling King Ahaz, "Ahaz, you don't want to pick a sign and you don't believe God is with us, but He is and He will prove it through this amazing sign." The prophet will not be fulfilled for over seven hundred years!

Question: How is the title for the child to be born of a virgin, "God-with-us," fulfilled in Jesus of Nazareth, Son of Man and Son of God? See the promise in Matthew 28:20 and Revelation 21:3. How then is Isaiah's Immanuel prophecy fulfilled?
Answer: Prior to His Ascension Jesus promise that He will be with us until the end of time, and in Revelation 21:3, after the creation of the new heaven and earth (Rev 21:1-2), St. John hears a voice from the throne of God telling him: "Look, here God lives among human beings. He will make his home among them; they will be his people, and he will be their God, God-with-them."

In 1779, Pope Pius VI, in his encyclical "Divina," officially condemned any interpretation denying the messianic sense of Isaiah 7:14.

Isaiah 7:14 is the first of ten Old Testament fulfillment statements found in St. Matthew's Gospel. Fulfillment statements:

• Jesus childhood: 1:23; 2:15, 17-18, 23
• Galilean ministry: 4:14-16; 8:17; 12:17-21; 13:35
• Jesus' last week in Jerusalem: 21:4-5; 27:9-10

Question: Isaiah gives a time frame when the destruction of the two kingdoms that oppose Judah will take place; what is that time frame in 7:15-16?

Answer: The destruction will take place before the child reaches the age of reason.

The child he refers to has been weened but is still not eating table-food, and has not yet reached the age of reason in determining the distinction/nuances between is good and what is bad behavior. Under common law, seven years of age is defined as the "age of reason" for a child. Children under the age of 7 years old are conclusively presumed to be incapable of committing a crime because they do not possess the reasoning ability to understand that their conduct violates the standards of acceptable community behavior. In ancient times, and in underdeveloped countries today, a child is commonly breast-fed until 3 years old. Isaiah's son who is not yet eating table food but is eating soft food is probably 3 years old. If the date is 735 BC, three years later in 732 BC, before the child is 7 years old, the threat will be removed. Ahaz will acknowledge himself a vassal of Assyrian King Tiglath Pileser III in c. 734 (see 2 Kng 15:29; 16:5-9). Tiglath Pileser III's campaign against the Northern Kingdom of Israel and Damascus will begin in 733 BC and both kingdoms will be conquered by the Assyrians in 732 BC. Damascus will be destroyed by the Assyrians, the northern territory of Israel will be conquered and its population exiled into Assyrian lands. King Pekah of Israel will be reduced to a vassal of Assyria in the same year, removing the threat of both Damascus and Israel to Judah.

The Wedding Night of Tobias and Sarah  (Jan Steen) 

Isaiah 7:17-9:6/7 ~ Isaiah's Prophecies of an Assyrian Invasion and a Future Deliverance

In this next section, Isaiah's message focuses on four topics:

1. The prophecy of a foreign invasion (7:17-25)
2. The birth of his son Maher-Shalal-Hash-Bas (8:1-4)
3. The judgment of the people (8:5-23)
4. The promise of a future deliverance (9:1-6/7)

The prophetic names of Isaiah's sons:

1. Shear-Jashub means "a remnant will return" and foretells a return from exile.
2. Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz means "speedy-spoil-quick-booty" and foretells the sack of Samaria, the capital of the Northern Kingdom, and Damascus by the Assyrians.

Isaiah 7:17-25 ~ Devastation of a Foreign Invasion

Verse 17 begins with the prediction that the very nation Ahaz sought as an ally will become Judah's greatest adversary, and Judah and the House of David will face the same kind of turmoil and threat to its very existence as it did when the United Kingdom of Israel broke into the two nations of the Northern Kingdom of Israel and the Southern Kingdom of Judah (verse 17; see 1 Kng chapter 12).

Question: What two nations are named as invading armies?
Answer: Egypt and Assyria.

Question: What metaphors from nature does Isaiah use to highlight the magnitude of the coming destruction from Egypt and Assyria in verses 18-19?
Answer: Swarms of stinging insects and bees symbolize the onslaught of the armies of the foreigners, and sea waves crashing on the shore symbolize their relentless assault.

This passage is a prediction of the devastation of the land by the Assyrians. Shaving the hair off one's body probably describes the humiliation of the Assyrian oppression as they stripped the conquered people bare of both their possessions and their dignity (see 2 Sam 10:4-5; cf. Is 50:6). The size of the herds of cattle and flocks of sheep will drop significantly as food sources for the animals became scarce and there will only be brambles and thorn bushes to feed them. 

Isaiah 8:1-4 ~ The birth of another son
Question: Isaiah had already predicted the coming of the Assyrians and the overthrow of Israel, but now God tells him to again foretell the coming destruction in what two ways? See verses 1 and 3. The words Isaiah is told to write on the tablet means "speedy spoil, quick booty."

Answer:

1. He is to write the words "speedy spoil quick booty" on a large tablet, presumably to make the prophecy of the coming destruction public for everyone in Jerusalem to read.
2. He is to use these same words in the naming of his son who will be a living symbol of the prophecy.

By means of the symbolic name God gave his son, he repeats his message. What was prophesied in 7:15-16 in Isaiah's elder son is now confirmed "the future is determined: there will be devastation but a "faithful remnant" will survive.

Question: Why is Isaiah told to take two reliable witnesses with him when he writes upon the large tablet?
Answer: Isaiah is told to take two witnesses with him when he displays the tablet so that God's prophecy, uttered through His prophet, may be verified and the honor of His truthfulness and the mercy of His warning will be upheld.

Question: Why is the condemnation of Judah just? Give two reasons.
Answer:

1. Judah and her king have despised the Lord God and refused His help.
2. Judah and her king have contributed to bring about the destruction of their brethren in the Northern Kingdom by making an alliance with Assyria.

Within two years of the prophecy, in 732 BC, the wealth of Damascus will be plundered by the army of Tiglath-Pileser and the Northern Kingdom's tribal lands in the Galilee and on the east side of the Jordan River will be taken. Without their Aramean ally, the Northern Kingdom submitted as a vassal to the Assyrians, but 12 years later the Assyrians destroyed Samaria (capital of the Northern Kingdom) and took all the citizens of the Northern Kingdom into exile in 722 BC.

Isaiah 8:5-10 ~ Shiloah and the Euphrates

Shiloah is the reservoir in Jerusalem that was mentioned as the "upper pool" where Isaiah was told to meet Ahaz in 7:3. It was a ritual purification pool where religious Jews ritually immersed as a sign of repentant and purified souls before attending Temple worship. St. John translates the name of the pool in the Greek as the Siloam Pool, which he says means "one who has been sent" in John 9:7.
Question: What miracle did Jesus perform at the Pool of Shiloah/Siloam in John 9:1-7?
Answer: Jesus healed a man who had been blind from birth and used the waters of the pool in His healing process.

Here the waters of Shiloah symbolize God's desire to purify the people's sins, an offer the people of Jerusalem and their king have rejected in favor of the salvation in the form of the Assyrians. The contrast God makes in verse 6 is that the Judahites and their king have rejected the gently flowing waters of Shiloah in favor of the flood of Assyrians who will cross the Euphrates River to engulf everyone in their path.

Question: Isaiah ends this prediction with the two times cry: "Immanuel!" (in verses 8 and 10). This time it is not a symbolic name/title of a future child; what is it?
Answer: In verse 8 it is literally a plea for God's help; in verse 10 it is a pronouncement that what God wills for them will happen and the punishments that are foretold are preparing the way for the fulfillment of the promises.

Isaiah 8:11-23 ~ Isaiah's advice to his Disciples
In this passage, Isaiah explains to his disciples (verse 16) the reason for the stand he has taken in declaring the destruction of Judah. It is God Himself who has instructed Isaiah to oppose the king and the people and to put his trust in no one but God. He instructs his disciples not to listen to the people when they accuse Isaiah of conspiracy (verse 12).

Question: What contrast does Isaiah make in verse 14?
Answer: God will be a sanctuary for Isaiah and his disciples, but He will also be a stumbling stone and a trap for those who reject Isaiah's prophecies that will cause them to "fall, be broken, be ensnared and made captive."

Isaiah and his sons with prophetic names are "signs and portents in Israel" of the messages of the One, True God who dwells with His people on Mt. Zion.

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A Daily Defense 

DAY 195 Jesus as “Firstborn”

CHALLENGE:“Luke 2:7 says Mary ‘gave birth to her firstborn son.’ This implies that Joseph and Mary had other sons; therefore she didn’t remain a virgin.”

DEFENSE: In ancient Jewish culture, the term “firstborn son” did not imply that other sons came later.

The first male child to be born to a woman was regarded as her firstborn, regardless of whether she had other children. The firstborn son had a special role that applied as soon as he was born. It was not a role he assumed when later children were born.

All life was seen as a gift from God. This applied to human children, the offspring of animals, and crops of fruit and grain. To honor God for these gifts, people would offer him the first of each in recognition of him as their source. Thus, after every harvest, the children of Israel offered to God the “firstfruits” of their crops (Exod. 23:19).

The firstborn of men and animals were consecrated to God (Exod. 13:1–2). In the case of firstborn male animals, they were either sacrificed to God or—in some cases—redeemed by paying a special price (Exod. 13:12–13a). God rejected child sacrifice, however. For firstborn humans, fathers had to redeem them. The rule was: “Every firstborn of man among your sons you shall redeem” (Ex. 13:13b; cf. vv. 14–15).

After Jesus’ birth, Joseph redeemed Jesus as Mary’s firstborn (Luke 2:22–23). This was mandatory for every woman that had just had her first male child, even though she had not yet had a “second born” child and might never have one. 

Jesus’ status as a firstborn thus does not say anything about Mary and Joseph having additional children or Mary’s perpetual virginity.

Jimmy Akin, A Daily Defense: 365 Days (Plus One) to Becoming a Better Apologist

Bible In One Year Day 194 (Isaiah 5-6, Tobit 5-6 , Proverbs 10:1-4)

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Day 194: Holy Is The Lord

Agape Bible Study 
Isaiah 5 - 6 

Chapter 5:1-7 ~ Yahweh's Vineyard

Isaiah 5:1-7 ~ The Song of the Vineyard

The theme of this parable is Israel symbolized as God's cherished vine that was chosen but because of its failure to produce acceptable fruit is now rejected. It is a theme that had also been introduced by Isaiah's contemporary, the prophet Hosea (Hos 10:1), and it was one of the reoccurring symbolic images of the Old Testament prophets. Notice that it is Isaiah speaking in verses 1-2 and then God speaking in verses 3-7.

In the symbolic imagery of Israel as God's vineyard, the prophets presented four different stages of Israel's relationship with God. Notice that Isaiah presents the three parts of Israel's relationship with Yahweh in his parable of the vineyard: Part I, covenant unity; Part II, rebellion; and Part III, redemptive judgment.

Image Group	Part I Covenant relationship	Part II Rebellion	Part III Redemptive Judgment	Part IV Restoration Fulfilled
tVineyard or Fig tree [examples in Scripture]	Well-tended vineyard/fruitful fig tree Isaiah 5:1-4a; Ezekiel 19:10-11; Jeremiah 24:4-7	Vines grow wild/failure to produce fruit Isaiah 5:4b; Jeremiah 2:21; Hosea 2:14; Micah 7:1-4; Joel 1:7, 11-12	Weeds overgrow vineyard/ ruin and destruction Isaiah 5:3-6; Ezekiel 19:12-14; Jeremiah 8:13; 24:1-10; Nahum 3:12-15	Vines are replanted/fruitfulness restored Promise: Hosea 14:2-9 John 15:1-2, 4-6

Isaiah begins by speaking about his "friend" who is the owner of the vineyard.
Question: Who is Isaiah's "friend", what does the "vineyard" symbolize? See verse 7. What has been done for the vineyard?
Answer: Isaiah's "friend" is Yahweh who has done everything possible to prepare Israel to be His fruitful vineyard.

Tobias and the Angel (Lippi)

Question: In the parable, what has the owner of the vineyard done to prepare his vineyard? See verses 1-2.
Answer:

1. He has planted in a fertile hillside that will get full sun.
2. He spaded the ground and cleared it of stones.
3. He planted the best vines.
4. He built a watchtower so servants can protect the vineyard.
5. He dug out an in ground winepress to prepare for the fruitful harvest.

In the Bible the "winepress" is frequently used as a symbol of obedience or judgment (Is 63:3-6; Jer 48:33; Lam 1:15; Hos 9:2; Joel 4:13; Rev 14:19-20; 19:15). The "harvest" is frequently used as a symbol of judgment and the ingathering of souls into God's heavenly storehouse (Is 17:11; Jer 50:16; Joel 4:13; Mt 13:39).

The people of Israel were chosen out of all the peoples of the earth to be God's choicest vines producing "red grapes." The Hebrew word for "red grapes" in verse 2 is soreq; it is the name of a high quality plant designated by the blood-red color of its fruit (also see Gen 49:11; Is 16:8 and Jer 2:21). It was wine from these grapes that was used in liturgical worship at the Temple in the wine libation ritual at God's holy altar, and because of its color the wine was called the "blood of the grape" (see Sir 50:15). In our liturgical worship, it is the "blood of the grape" that becomes the "Blood of Christ."

Tobit and Anna, (Abraham De Pape)

In verses 5-7 God gives the terms of the covenant lawsuit and the redemptive judgments that will be inflicted upon an unrepentant people. These judgments are all the opposite of the covenant blessings God promised for obedience in Leviticus 26:1-13 and Deuteronomy 28:1-14. Instead, they recall the covenant judgments for disobedience promised in Leviticus 26:14-46 and Deuteronomy 28:15-69, including the judgment of invasion by foreign armies and exile (see Lev 26:32-35; Dt 28:49-52, 63-65). The words "thorns and briers" recall the covenant judgment against Adam for his sin in Genesis 3:18.

Isaiah 5:8-24 ~ The Six Judgments of the Covenant Lawsuit Against a Rebellious People
In this part of the indictment, Isaiah calls down 6 curse judgment against 6 different groups of people in Israel/Judah. A curse judgment is one of the literary forms of prophetic preaching (see Amos 6:1-7 Jer 22:13-19; Ez 7:5-26; Mic 2:1-5; Hab 2:6-20; Mt 23 and Lk 6:24-26). Isaiah's cures judgments are:

1. Against a covetous people (verses 8-10)
2. Against a debauching people (verses 11-17)
3. Against a vain and unbelieving people (verses 18-19)
4. Against a people who pervert the truth (verse 20)
5. Against an arrogant people who are wise in their own eyes (verse 21)
6. Against a people who pervert justice (verses 22-23)

Isaiah 5:25 ~ Yahweh's Anger

Verse 25 is a summing up of the judgments. These sins of the covenant people in the woe judgments are the reasons God's anger has "blazed out" against Israel and Judea like an all-consuming fire. In response to His anger, even the mountains have shuddered and His anger is the reason why death is all around them. But divine judgment is only beginning. The image of fire in Scripture can be a symbol of purification and of judgment (Is 6:6-7; Jer 6:29; Ez 22:18-22; Mal 3:2-3; Mt 3:11; Acts 2:3). In this case, it is the fire of divine judgment that will purify the covenant people of their sins to prefect the faithful remnant who will continue Israel's mission to bring forth the Redeemer-Messiah.

Isaiah 5:26-30 ~ Yahweh summons the Invaders

Sometimes God uses pagan armies as His instruments of judgment. The first set of invaders Yahweh has summoned is the Assyrians. Their highly trained, professional army is equipped and ready.
Question: What two metaphors does Isaiah use to describe the fierceness and unyielding advance of the invaders?
Answer: Isaiah uses the metaphors of a lioness and the roaring sound of the waves of a stormy sea breaking on the shore to describe the fierceness, strength and determination of the enemy. Even nature in the darkness of the sky signals the doom that is coming to the kingdoms of Israel and Judah.

Chapter 6: The Call of Isaiah to His Prophetic Ministry in c. 740 BC

 

 

Having delivered the first part of his covenant lawsuit indictment against Israel and Judah, the prophet now tells of his experience in his call to prophetic servanthood. It is from Isaiah chapters 6 - 12 that come the majority of the messianic oracles that earn the title for this part of Isaiah's work, "the Book of Immanuel" ("immanuel" is a Hebrew word meaning "God with us" from the Hebrew words immau = with us" and el = God; see CCC 612).

Isaiah 6:1-7 ~ Isaiah's Vision of the Heavenly Court

Isaiah received a theophany of God and experienced his prophetic call in c. 740 BC (some sources list the date as 742 BC), the year of King Uzziah's death. It was the year that Uzziah's son, Jotham, succeeded him as king of the Southern Kingdom of Judah and Menahem was king of the Northern Kingdom of Israel (reigned 743-738).

I saw the Lord seated on a high and lofty throne; his train filled the Sanctuary [Hekal].
In his vision, Isaiah is taken up into the heavenly Temple. He saw God sitting on His throne like an earthly king, but Yahweh is the sovereign King over all humanity. 

2 Above him stood seraphs, each one with six wings: two to cover its face, two to cover its feet and two for flying... The seraphs (seraphim is the plural in Hebrew) were a class of angels. The word seraph means "fiery ones" or "burning ones." They are the attendants or guardians who stand before the divine throne who have human shape and are equipped with six wings: two of which cover their face to shield their eyes from the magnificence of the Almighty, two to cover their bodies in modesty, and two wings for flying. They are believed to be the same supernatural beings that carry Yahweh's chariot-throne in Ezekiel chapters 1 and 10. Later tradition gave the names seraphim and cherubim to two classes of angels. Cherubim guarded the entrance to Eden after Adam and Eve were exiled (Gen 3:24), and two statues of cherubim adorned the lid of the Mercy-seat of the Ark of the Covenant (Ex 25:22; 33:7-11). The seraphim are also described by St. John in Revelation 4:6b-9.

Question: When had men been privileged in the past to be the first to view the heavenly throne room and what did they see? See Ex 24:9-11.
Answer: At the covenant ratification ceremony, Moses, Aaron, two of Aaron's sons and the seventy elders of the tribes of Israel viewed the heavenly throne room from below (looking up through the sapphire pavement) and ate a sacred meal in the presence of Yahweh.

Question: Is the hymn the heavenly beings sing at the throne of God in the presence of the heavenly assembly familiar to you? Why?

Answer: It is similar to the hymn of praise we sing in the Liturgy of the Mass. We sing the same hymn because in the Mass, Heaven and earth are joined in liturgical worship in praise of the Most Holy Trinity.

4 The door-posts shook at the sound of their shouting, and the Temple was full of smoke.
The smoke that filled the heavenly Temple reminds us of the manifestation of God's divine Presence in the Glory Cloud (leading the children of Israel in the Exodus in Ex 13:21-22; at Sinai in the Theophany of Ex 19:16-19 and recalled in Dt 4:11-12; the desert Sanctuary in Ex 40:34-35; and the Jerusalem Temple in 1 Kng 8:10-12 and Ez 10:4). 

Question: What was done to purify Isaiah of his sins?
Answer: A seraph touched his lips with a burning coal from the heavenly altar.

Imagine Isaiah's relief. Crushed by self-despair brought on by the weight of his sin in God's presence and fearing his immediate destruction, he has received a complete and unmerited cleansing and is ready for the next step in his journey. Notice how each event leads to the next:

• The king's death prepares the way for the vision of God.
• The vision of God leads to self-despair and self-despair opens the door to spiritual cleansing.
• Spiritual cleansing makes it possible to enter into God's service.

Isaiah 6:8-13 ~ The Commissioning
For the first time it is God who speaks: Who will go for us? The same plural form in relation to the Godhead is found in Geneses 3:22. Isaiah's immediate response is that he is prepared to go, even before he knows what that mission will be. All baptized and confirmed Christians are called to provide the same willing response. None of us can know the mission until we first say "yes' to God.

Isaiah 6:9-10 is somewhat difficult to comprehend. Does God intend that the people not repent; does He want them to be destroyed? No, because we know that God destined every man and woman to come to eternal salvation; it is only their exercise of free-will to reject God that causes their downfall (1 Tim 2:3-4; 2 Pt 3:9). The fact is that the more the people who are deeply persistent in their sin hear the prophetic word of God's prophet, the angrier and harder their hearts become, and their judgment is part of God's divine plan that will teach its climax in the Resurrection of the Messiah. Therefore, the command to Isaiah is to continue relentlessly to preach God's word, even though it only causes the sinners to more tightly close their eyes and ears to the truth, contributing to their ultimate downfall.

The remnant will be the people who survive the destruction of Judah and Jerusalem who will be sent into exile. In Isaiah 4:2 Yahweh promised that "seedling/branch or shoot [tsemach] will flourish among Israel's survivors. The "holy seed" will the remnant of their descendants who will return to the Promised Land after the 70 year exile (2 Chr 36:17-23). But it is also a promise that more perfectly fulfilled in the "holy seed" of David +++

A Daily Defense

DAY 194 The Divinity of the Holy Spirit

CHALLENGE:“The Bible does not teach that the Holy Spirit is God.” 

DEFENSE The Bible may not contain the words “The Holy Spirit is God,” but various passages in Scripture do imply this truth.

One of the most important passages in Scripture concerning the doctrine of the Trinity contains the formula that Jesus indicates is to be used in baptism: “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” (Matt. 28:19). This passage places the Holy Spirit alongside the Father and the Son.

Other passages also associate the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit (Matt. 3:16–17; John 14:16–17, 25–26; 2 Cor. 13:14; 1 Pet. 1:2), but the trinitarian formula used in baptism is particularly clear, as it speaks of them directly, in sequence, in a simple formula.

Such passages indicate that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit have something in common. The question is what.

It is universally acknowledged that the Father is God. Elsewhere we cover the fact that Jesus, the Son, also is God (see Day 137). But if the first two persons in the trinitarian formula are God then this strongly suggests that the Holy Spirit is God. 

Further, as we observe elsewhere (see Day 28), the Holy Spirit is not an energy or force but a

Person. The trinitarian formula thus indicates that, like the Father and the Son, he is a divine Person and thus God. This is what all three have in common.

The deity of the Holy Spirit is also indicated by the passage in Acts in which Ananias and Sapphira present a partial offering to the apostles and lie about it. Peter first asks Ananias, “Why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back part of the proceeds of the land?” (Acts 5:3). He then tells him, “You have not lied to men but to God” (Acts 5:4). The two statements, made in parallel, identify the Holy Spirit with God.

The divinity of the Holy Spirit is also indicated by the fact that he is said to be “the Spirit of God” (1 Cor. 2:11) and the fact that he is eternal (Heb. 9:14). God’s spirit can only be God, and only God is eternal.

Jimmy Akin, A Daily Defense: 365 Days (Plus One) to Becoming a Better Apologist