Godgrown

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  Mark 9:34 am on January 10, 2011 Permalink | Reply  

  …Laughing in Their Face 

  In tracking with the prophet Isaiah, we’ve moved from the feisty and warring Assyrian Empire to grandiose and terrifying Babylon.  Quickly Babylon overtook Assyrian dominance in the region, and its borders expanded to become the largest Empire the world had ever known.  It established itself as “the queen of kingdoms” and reveled in luxury and comfort.

  While the Assyrians backed the tiny Jewish state into a corner, they could not seal the deal – but years later, Babylon would eventually drag off millions into exile.

  But chapter 47 is not a chapter of Babylon’s greatness – it is a classic picture of the fall of Babylon. The intrigue of the prophets like Isaiah is that he is able to aptly name the fear in his heart, the fear in the hearts of every Jew, and then denounce it in faith that God is strong enough, and good enough to save his penitent people once more.

  To participate in the tradition of the prophets, to see what it feels like to live like the spiritual powerhouse of the biblical prophets, start by learning what you are truly afraid of; what those around you fear more than anything else.  Then name it clearly, and expose its nakedness for all the world to see.  Show all of us that we have nothing to fear and that God is in control.  Do that, and we’ll name you among the greatest prophets of our day.  You have given us the courage of God – you have brought the super-powers to their knees.

  But it starts by paying attention to your own fear…and the fears in all of us…

  …and looking your fears straight in the eyes….

  …and laughing in their face.

  
   

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  Mark 12:04 pm on December 22, 2010 Permalink | Reply  

  God’s Department of Transportation and Agriculture 

  One of my favorite things in Isaiah is the unique language and imagery that helps enrich our understanding of God, his world, and ourselves.

  Isaiah 35 is a great picture that the prophet describes as he’s painting what a world run by God himself might look like. Isaiah  has this dynamic picture of both garden and civilization - one where no one, not man or nature, is completely in control – but all the earth submits to God.  In this chapter – it is a desert that transforms into a garden, and a highway (civilization) goes through through this new garden.  But this highway, typically a place where you are vulnerable to attack and exploitation, is now a redeemed space – where there “is no danger” and only “the redeemed travel.”  This highway leads right to Jerusalem, the place where “sorrow and mourning disappear and they will be filled with joy and gladness.”

  So what does a world in God’s image look like?  Its a garden from the desert – and a highway…of peace. This brings under God’s power both the world of nature, and the world of humanity - and helps design a new project, the missio dei - one in which salvation no longer is a personal decision, but is a world-wide event.  Suddenly – its not just about you coming to terms with sin, but its about you gaining citizenship in a holistic world of peace.

  This image has something for the city-slickers and the country-folk.  It is a message of hope, and a message of warning.  This message says – “your world is not under God’s submission, and it must be redeemed.”

  But it also says, “there are parts of what you deeply love that God deeply loves too, and he wants to see it thrive.”

  Does your view of God’s Missio Dei include both personal and social?  Does it include both nature and city?  What would change in how you lived your life if you truly believed that this image was the aim and end goal of God?

  
   
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  Mark 9:14 am on December 21, 2010 Permalink | Reply  

  Multiplying Isaiahs 

  Up until the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls in 1946, the earliest manuscript of Isaiah was from 1000 CE, the Masoretic Text (MT). What a discovery then, to find an intact copy of Isaiah from around 150 BCE!  This scroll contains the entire book of Isaiah, an astounding 24-foot-long leather scroll (that’s a lot of cow!).  This manuscript (1QIsa) is almost identical to the MT in every way, except a few spelling mishaps and minor word variations here and there.

  Most scholars think that Isaiah 34 was written long into the Babylonian captivity – 150 years after the situation of a potential Assyrian invasion had passed – for this unnamed author, the main concern for the Jews is not Assyria, but Babylon and the nation of Edom, who betrayed Judah and helped Babylon capture Jerusalem.  There’s just no way that Isaiah could’ve lived long enough to have written the later parts of Isaiah.

  There is a complication to this theory.  If there was truly two authors (or more) penning the prophet Isaiah, then it must have been assumed as early as 300 years afterward that there was only one author.  The 1QIsa Dead Sea Scroll of Isaiah makes no indication that there should be a new voice in chapter 34, and again in chapter 40.  In fact, the switch from 39-40 is seamless – in the same column – the writer is not skipping a beat.  The same holds true with 34 – there is little indication that there should be a heading or demarkation of a new author for this new topic of Edom, Babylon, and the like.

  Why does this matter?  Well – if Isaiah son of Amoz wrote the entire book in a pre-exilic Jerusalem, it sure says something about Isaiah’s prophetic ability to see the political situation brewing 150 years into the future.

  If he didn’t write the whole book – then we have a fascinating picture of how Jews pictured authorship – fitting 2 or 3 authors together as if they were one.

  What do you think?