DAY 287

A SOUND PLAN OF ACTION

Isaiah 40, 41 & 42 and 1 Thessalonians 1

Yesterday I tried to sketch out the shape of the Book of Isaiah, and as we turn to the second half of it, a few things have historically changed. The first is the king; the king of Judah has changed. Hezekiah has died and one of his sons, Manasseh, has ascended—and it could not be worse. As much as we read about Hezekiah struggling to serve God—he at least tried. His son Manasseh actively sought to oppose all that the Lord God stood for—this will be the environment Isaiah will now have to deal with.

Scholars who cross reference Isaiah’s words, with the history we find in Kings and Chronicles, and with the history of the world believe the following:

·         We interacted with Isaiah and Hezekiah at the time of Sennacherib’s invasion at 701 BC. Isaiah would have been 69 years old, and three years later when Hezekiah dies, Isaiah would be 72 when Manasseh ascends to the throne.

·         Some believe Isaiah did not write the later part of the book that bears his name; that he died and the writers wrote, not looking forward, but looking over their shoulders. Others believe he wrote the entire book. I tend to be in the later camp. In writing the later parts of the book during Manasseh’s reign Isaiah would have to pick his points for public ministry.

·         How serious was Manasseh? Tradition has it that he had Isaiah sawn in two by the king.

·         And yet even before Manasseh, Isaiah could see the Babylonian storm rising, we read of it in 39:5-7 which is some twenty years before his death. For fifteen of those years Assyria had been on the front page, but now it is Babylon.

In the past Isaiah’s role was to advise, even confront the king, when he was departing from God’s way. In doing so he would help keep the nation on track. What then is Isaiah’s role now as the king does not desire such counsel? What is his role as he can already see the utter destruction of his nation approaching? To preach comfort and salvation! This comfort is not cheap comfort and this salvation comes through the work of the suffering servant who will be introduced – and this salvation comes only through atonement.

And so Isaiah is summoned, just as he was in chapter 6, he is now told in chapter 40 to “speak tenderly to Jerusalem” to speak “comfort” to his people. In chapter 41 he invites people to imagine God summoning the nations, the nations who are but a “drop in the bucket.” As threatened as the people of Judah feel, as much of a pawn as they are in rise of fall of empires, what is Isaiah’s, in fact God’s message – fear not for I am with you. Why should they not fear, because God’s chosen Servant is coming to bring justice.

The message of Isaiah to the world of his day is a message to us and our world. Isaiah saw both the real and present danger of Assyria and Babylon. Yes those oppressors are long gone. We have new ones. The question remains will God ultimately and completely prevail? The Book of Isaiah not only says “yes.” But also reveals God’s plan of salvation.

I say that Isaiah reveals God’s plan of salvation. He did not do so as a well ordered ten step process which he saw in his mind’s eye. The plan “bobs and weaves” through his Spirit inspired prophetic writing. I doubt he would have understood how many years it would take. I doubt he would have understood that the servant, the suffering-servant, would be the same person as the Messiah. In reality it didn’t matter that he did not have it all figured out, what mattered is that he had faith in God and constantly pointed people to Him…seems like a sound plan amidst all the things I do not understand.