DAY 286

IT IS ABOUT MORE THAN KNOWING

Isaiah 39 & 40 and Colossians 4

As you start reading this entry, which is heavy on Isaiah, keep in mind the Colossians 4 reading. Let me put the part that remarkably relates to Isaiah right in front of you.

Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving.  At the same time, pray also for us, that God may open to us a door for the word, to declare the mystery of Christ, on account of which I am in prison— that I may make it clear, which is how I ought to speak.

 Walk in wisdom toward outsiders, making the best use of the time.  Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person.

I am struck by two points: be steadfast in prayer and walk in wisdom with outsiders.

Before I get to those two points, I need to do a little “structural work” for you on Isaiah. Scholars look at texts and they try to figure out and find different patterns. Let me describe one pattern for Isaiah. Here is one thing you most likely noticed: the difference between verse and prose. Verse presents information in “broken lines” in order to present a rhythmic style – even powerful. Prose presents information in a continuous flow. For the first 35 chapters we have been primarily reading verse. Yet in the middle of the Book of Isaiah, chapters 36-39, we read extended prose. Chapters 36-37 deal with and wrap up the Assyria and Sennacherib matter, while chapters 38-39 deal with Hezekiah’s illness and anticipate the foreboding situation with Babylon which the remainder of the Book of Isaiah will deal with. The “structural point” is that 36-39 seem to be a pivot, or hinge, for the Book.

Further “structural analysis” reveals that the first “half” (chapters 1-35) has three major sections. Those are 1-12, 13-27, and 28-35: each of these end with the redeemed singing God’s praises. You may not have noticed that point given all the back and forth combined with the prophecies: the negative ones and the ones looking to Messiah. The structure of this first half of the Book is one that is dealing with all the generations of sinful behavior the nation of Judah has been pursuing; it is coming to a head for Hezekiah/Isaiah with the press of the aggressor Assyria. The first half is about judgment, but beyond judgment is the mercy of God and the promise of Messiah. The second half similarly has three sections. They are 40-51:11, 51:12-55:13, and 56-66. Each of these ends with the redeemed also singing God’s praises.

We read 37 yesterday and 38 today. Yesterday Hezekiah’s nation was in crisis. Today we have a king in crisis. In both cases Hezekiah prays and God answers. In the first case Judah is delivered and in the second Hezekiah is delivered—be steadfast in prayer is the point!

Then of course we read in 39 that that Hezekiah shows the Babylonians the treasures of Jerusalem. At this point you might be scratching your head and saying, “Babylon, really!?” This is during a time when Assyria was the power, the Assyrians had defeated Babylon—a common enemy normally leads to nations becoming allies. But things are shifting for Assyria.  Sennacherib when he returned home was killed by one of his sons (you did not read that in the Bible, that is a world history tidbit). Assyria is still in power, but the aggression has stopped.

Hezekiah has recovered from his illness, and the “world’s anti-Assyrian leader”—one of the few left unconquered—is Hezekiah. Things are going well – Hezekiah is in a good mood—and not thinking. What are you like when things are going well, really well? Do you get carried away and maybe say or do too much? Do you get a little “too full of yourself?” I do it—I really do and I don’t think things through. Neither did Hezekiah. He fails to walk in wisdom to outsiders—and that is the point.

Today in our Old Testament readings we come in contact with a real life example of the practices the New Testament exhorts us to follow – be steadfast in prayer and walk in wisdom to outsiders. I am reminded that reading the Bible is about more than knowing its right answers; it is about incorporating the Bible’s wisdom into our lives.