Back to Isaiah
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<aside> 📅 This page was originally posted on my Blogger version of the blog on January 16, 2018 The content below has a few minor tweaks for clarity, and additional references, and some updated information.
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Isaiah 1-6 discuses the coming judgment of Israel, but parallels to modern Christianity can be seen in God's rebuke of Israel. Since Isaiah is such a deep book, I've decided to post by chapter instead of by topic to avoid making the posts too long. This post covers Isaiah 1.
Isaiah 1:1 identifies a prophet named Isaiah as the author of the book. Not much is known about Isaiah, but this verse gives us a few tidbits about his life. Isaiah was the son of Amoz; he prophesies for Israel during the reigns of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah.
2 Chronicles 26:22 alludes to Isiah's presence during King Uzziah's reign. 2 Kings 19:20 confirms his reign during King Hezekiah's reign. Given the estimated beginning and end of each ruler's reign, we can estimate that Isaiah wrote the text between 788 BC (when Uzziah took the throne), and 687 BC (when Hezekiah died).[3]
Isaiah's father Amoz isn't mentioned anywhere else in scripture, but there is speculation about who he might have been. Some speculate that he was the godly man spoken of in 2 Chronicles 25:7-10.[1] This seems to give some credibility to the tradition of the Jewish Talmud that when a prophet's father is mention, the father was also a prophet.[2] Other traditions hold that Amoz was the brother of King Amaziah.[1] Although there is no scriptural evidence to back up this idea, a brother of Amaziah being father to Isaiah does fit the timeline since Amaziah reigned just before Uzziah. If Isaiah was truly the nephew of King Amaziah, then he would have been a member of the royal family and a descendant of David. However, the Bible does not give enough information on Isaiah's lineage to substantiate these claims.
The fact that Isaiah lived in Jerusalem means he was likely from the tribe of Judah, Levi, or Benjamin. If you remember from the book of Joshua, when the tribes reached the promised land, they divided the land among themselves and created regions based on tribal lineage. When the kingdom split during the reign of Solomon's son Rehoboam, the southern kingdom was called Judah and was established mainly by the tribe of Judah. The tribes of Benjamin and Levi made up a minority within the kingdom. Thus, Isaiah likely belonged to one of these three tribes.
In the beginning of Isaiah, the southern kingdom of Judah is being put on trial before God. As we've seen in the previous books, the nation of Israel had a tendency to stray away from God and dabble in idolatry instead—we struggle with this same problem today.
For many today, Isaiah's parallel between livestock knowing their master and Israel failing to recognize God as their King may not make much sense. Thankfully, I grew up on a farm and I understand this rationale perfectly. We live across the street from were the animals are kept and depending on which pasture they are grazing in, they can see our house from the field. When my dad pulls out of the yard in his farm truck, they recognize the truck and rush to meet him at the gate. When they are way off in the field and he calls to them, they come. They will accept food and petting from someone like me, who is always around, but they really move for my dad, their master. You can see this behavior replicated in household pets. When I call my cat, she will come to me 9 out of 10 times, but when my parents try to get her to come to them, the success rate drops significantly. The animals know who their master is, and they respond to the will of their master.
Israel, and many of us today, are like a wild stallion, refusing to submit to the will of our rider, who in this case is God. Instead of following Him willingly and enjoying that which He gives us, we break out of our pasture and wander off into trouble and danger. God gives us the perfect ways in food and behavior to keep us safe, happy, and healthy, but we choose to do the opposite.
Last year this time, we adopted a 6 month old bull named Charlie. When we brought him home, he was a bit skittish and not so fond of human contact. Now, when my dad goes to see him, he rushes to the fence, his eyes are bright, and he expresses his happiness to see my dad by attempting to play with him the way cows plays with each other. Similarly, when I get home from work each day, my cat is seated by the door waiting for me to come in. Once I'm in the house, I have her full attention for about 10-20 minutes. She follows me wherever I go, as though she can't wait to hear about my day and what I did. Do we behave this way with God? Are we rushing to see Him and gleefully accepting all that He provides us with? We should be.