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By Rev. Heather J. Blais, Rector  Today, let us turn our attention to the book of Isaiah. The Revised Common Lectionary, which determines the set of readings churches use for Sunday worship, frequently draws upon the prophet Isaiah.* In fact, over the course of the three year cycle, Isaiah is assigned 51 times. To give this some context, we hear 31 readings from Genesis; 24 readings from Jeremiah; and 22 readings from Exodus. The only text that we hear more from in the Hebrew Scriptures are the Psalms; which are featured nearly every Sunday.
First and foremost, Isaiah is a book of poetry. Poetry that has helped support core beliefs within Judaism, including the belief that a messiah would act to save God’s people; the significance of Jerusalem; and the importance of economic and social justice.* Poetry which early Christians began to interpret as an anticipation of Jesus. While a Christian lens can be a meaningful way to interpret the text, I often find it more helpful to try and understand the text in its original context. Something that is helpful to remember when we are listening to the Hebrew Scriptures is that these texts were originally written for Israel. This is not referencing Israel as a present day nation state. Israel is more than a place, it is a resilient and faithful body that has been in covenant with God for over a millenia.*****Just as God formed another covenant with Gentile Christians, what we think of as the Church, which actually began with Noah following the flood and was expanded through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth. As we sit with these holy scriptures, let us remember there is enough space at God’s table for both interpretations, for both traditions, for God’s covenant with both Israel and the Church. But we’ll hear more about all that on Good Friday - so stay tuned. Isaiah was composed over the course of two centuries.** The first section, referred to as First Isaiah, was written in the 8th century BCE, while the latter additions, referred to as Second and Third Isaiah, were written in the 6th century BCE. Scholars believe Isaiah, son of Amoz, composed most of the first section, while students of Isaiah's school of thought composed the latter sections. Isaiah wrote at a time when ancient Israel had been divided into two kingdoms: the Northern Kingdom of Israel and the Southern Kingdom of Judah. While Isaiah predominately wrote to the people of Judah, where he lived; his text, in many ways, is a message to all the people of ancient Israel. The overall focus of the text is the descent of ancient Israel into exile and death, and then their promised ascent to new life and well-being.** Isaiah chapter 40 is a critical juncture in the book. During the initial 39 chapters, we see that the Assyrian empire is a superpower on the rise.Their increasing presence forced smaller kingdoms like Judah and Israel to either cozy up to Assyria for protection, selling their souls in the process, or risk revolt. The Northern Kingdom of Israel risked such a revolt in 722 BCE and it resulted with their people being deported and dispersed throughout the Assyrian empire.** Isaiah was of the opinion that there was a third and better option - that Judeans should stay free of any political or military alliances, in order to rely on God alone to protect them. This opinion must have been challenging for the people of ancient Israel to hear and accept. After all, they could feel the danger on their heels, and they needed to determine how to act now. Trusting the God of Israel would have been the faithful choice, but it also might have felt too risky with such a real and imminent threat on their horizon. After all - what if the God of Israel didn’t protect them as promised? Or didn’t protect them in the way they wanted to be protected. Maybe it would be better to take matters into their own hands. This dynamic is at the heart of humanity’s relationship with God. God is here, though often not in the ways we anticipate, and we are left with reservations. Having faith that God will be our safety, our protection, and our guide can feel more impossible than trying to simply take matters into our own hands. And so, often we do just that. Even when we have the knowledge and experience that God always shows up for us. It may not be in the way we want or how we expect, but God is always here with us. Loving and protecting us like a mother tends her newborn child. When we arrive at Isaiah chapter 40, the text shifts into Second Isaiah. And at this point, quite a lot of time has gone by. The Judeans are now living in exile, having been forcibly removed from their home. They have lost Jerusalem, and all that it symbolized in their relationship with the God of Israel. They feel defeated, ashamed, and are having a crisis of faith. We sometimes forget that for much of antiquity, deities were generally national or regional entities. They were accessed locally in particular physical locations. If people lost access to that physical place, they lost access to their God. Losing Jerusalem would have compounded the sense of loss and shame they were grappling with. So can you imagine how good Isaiah’s news must have been? Have you not known? Have you not heard? Has it not been told you from the beginning? Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth? It is he who sits above the circle of the earth, and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers; who stretches out the heavens like a curtain, and spreads them like a tent to live in; The God of Israel created the foundations of the earth, and reigns over heaven and earth. We are but grasshoppers, always in God’s view. Have you not known? Have you not heard? It is the God of Israel, who brings princes to naught, and makes the rulers of the earth as nothing. Scarcely are they planted, scarcely sown, scarcely has their stem taken root in the earth, when he blows upon them, and they wither, and the tempest carries them off like stubble. Isaiah is smashing the glass ceiling of humanity’s limited thinking. The God of Israel is more powerful than any prince, ruler, or empire. Isaiah is reminding the people of ancient Israel - You think the Assyrian empire is strong? They’ve got nothing on our God. No ruler - yesterday, today, or tomorrow - will ever be as mighty as our Creator God. Isaiah is practically shouting with a profound sense of urgency. Have you not known? Have you not heard? To whom then will you compare me, or who is my equal? says the Holy One. Lift up your eyes on high and see: Who created these? He who brings out their host and numbers them, calling them all by name; because he is great in strength, mighty in power, not one is missing. Why do you say, O Jacob, and speak, O Israel, "My way is hidden from the Lord, and my right is disregarded by my God"? Have you not known? Have you not heard? Isaiah is breaking everything down with this proclamation. While many ancient deities could only be accessed or felt in specific locations, the God of Israel crafted the whole of creation and is accessible everywhere. It was irrelevant that the people were no longer in Jerusalem, the God of Israel is everywhere, always. For us this is a given, but Isaiah is doing something radical and unheard of at the time. He is introducing monotheism, with the God of Israel reigning over the whole of creation. The people need to know! Have you not known? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the faint, and strengthens the powerless. Even youths will faint and be weary, and the young will fall exhausted; but those who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint. The God of Israel is more powerful than any earthly ruler, and stronger than any local god. More than that, the God of Israel is especially available to those who are weak, weary, and waiting. As ancient Israel lingers in their despair, shame, and hopelessness, the prophet Isaiah is waking them up - God is especially with us. All that is required is for the people to wait upon God by putting their trust in God. To choose hope over despair, day after day after day. And when they do, the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint. Isaiah was pleading with the people of ancient Israel - hold onto hope! Trust in God! Soon, God would use the Persian King Cyrus the Great to defeat the Assyrian empire, and they would be permitted to return home to Jerusalem. A new day, a new hope, with God as their guide. Isaiah’s poetry is beautiful and inspiring, and speaks to us as much now as it did to ancient Israel. As I sat with these readings, I felt a sense that we, too, need to hold onto what Isaiah is offering. We are invited to wait upon God, offering our trust, and hope. We are living in strange times. Even if we work really hard to not take in much news, we cannot escape the weary and constant onslaught altogether. We are reminded each day of:
Yet when we are reminded of the God of Israel, and the same force of love Jesus embodied in his life, death, and resurrection we are reminded to hold onto hope, to choose to wait upon our God. The Creator of the heavens and the earth is bigger than any war, any violence, any politician, any scandal, and is even bigger than the climate crisis. We need not hide under a rock, but wait on our God and be a source of love and goodness. We are to remember we are God’s and we are here to serve God’s dream by working for peace, justice, and mercy with love and kindness. Because when we do the Lord shall renew our strength, we shall mount up with wings like eagles, we shall run and not be weary, we shall walk and not faint. God gives us the strength to be God’s hands and feet in this world, to make a difference, to see a new day, a new hope. As we begin to prepare for the season of Lent, I would invite us to do some reflecting this week:
We walk together, as the body of Christ. We wait together, as the body of Christ. Amen. *www.lectionarypage.net/ReverseLectionary.html **The Jewish Study Bible, p.763 *** This paragraph makes several references to information reflected by Walter Brueggemann and Tod Linafelt in their Introduction to the Old Testament, pgs 191-208. ****www.workingpreacher.org/commentaries/revised-common-lectionary/fifth-sunday-after-epiphany-2/commentary-on-isaiah-4021-31-6 *****Daniel Joslyn-Siemiatkoski, Talking About Jews: Principles, Problems, and Proposals for Prayer Book Revision Comments are closed.
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