If we’re going to be looking at the prophets for 8 weeks, it was inevitable that we’d eventually bump into Isaiah. Thinking of the others who are considered “great prophets,” Isaiah certainly wasn’t Moses, and neither was he Elijah. But if he wasn’t “the greatest” of prophets (or even close to “the greatest,” he nevertheless is an important prophet. The sheer size of the book named for him makes that inevitable. Isaiah’s prophecy has 66 chapters, making it the second longest book in the Bible, after the Psalms. And from a Christian perspective, even if Isaiah wasn’t the greatest of the prophets he may be the most important and the most familiar of the prophets, and so in 3 of our last 5 sessions we’re going to be looking at passages from Isaiah. Christians love Isaiah’s prophecy because it contains so many passages that appear to speak about Jesus. Whether they do speak of Jesus or not is an open question, of course. I think the most we can say is that they seem to speak of Jesus when the prophecy is viewed through an explicitly Christian lens, and the authors of the New Testament certainly weren’t shy to make the connection. Neither was Jesus - who chose, as you might remember, a passage from Isaiah’s prophecy to reveal himself as the promised Messiah while he was speaking at a synagogue in Nazareth. So Isaiah has a central role to play in Christian understanding.
So, who was Isaiah? Even though we feel as if we’re very familiar with the Book of Isaiah, like many of the prophets we actually know very little about the prophet Isaiah, aside from what he says about himself in the very beginning of Chapter 1: that he is Isaiah, son of Amoz. Also like many of the prophets, he dates himself by mentioning the four kings under whom he prophesied: Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah, which means that we can date Isaiah to the 8th century BC, and possibly into the 7th. That list of kings is important, because it tells us that Isaiah was from the Kingdom of Judah and not the Kingdom of Israel. The relationship between Judah and Israel has some importance to prophecy. The House of David (under David, Solomon and Rehoboam) reigned over a united kingdom until around the late 10th century BC, when there was a civil war and the kingdom split into Israel and Judah. The House of David continued to reign over Judah, and a new line of kings took over Israel. There was constant conflict between the two kingdoms, which weakened both of them, and neither was ever a major power in the region - some, in fact, believe that even the united kingdom was never actually as powerful or as rich as it’s described in the Old Testament. Judah generally was the stronger of the two, and was also seen as the most legitimate. They still had the House of David, most of the priests were from Judah, Jerusalem was its capital and the temple was located there. Israel was seen as a kind of upstart kingdom, whose royal family and religion were illegitimate. In the shifting empires of the day Israel was always more vulnerable to outsiders. They were exposed on the north and the east to Assyria (and, later, Babylon) and on the south to Judah. Judah on the other hand was somewhat more sheltered - the weak kingdom of Israel was a buffer to their north and they had a huge desert to their south, meaning they were less exposed to foreign powers - but, once Israel fell to Babylon and that buffer was removed, Judah was as doomed as Israel had been. But for the most part, Judah was more confident and more comfortable than Israel.
For many centuries the entire prophecy was believed to have been written by Isaiah, but it’s generally accepted now that this isn’t the case. As long ago as the 18th century, scholars came to the conclusion that there was a break at the end of Chapter 39, so that everything from Chapter 39 on was written by a different prophet. In the early 20th century it was proposed that there was another division at the end of Chapter 55, so that everything from Chapter 56 to the end was written by yet another author. So usually we speak of 1st, 2nd and 3rd Isaiah. To simplify it, generally 1st Isaiah seems to have been written prior to Judah being conquered by Babylon, 2nd Isaiah during the exile in Babylon, and 3rd Isaiah as the exile was ending, or perhaps after it had ended. So there’s a different tone to the three parts of the book.
Although he’s from Judah, Isaiah seems in Chapter 1 to be prophesying against Israel - which isn’t surprising, given the relationship between the two kingdoms. So he says in verses 2-3 “Hear, O heavens, and listen, O earth; for the Lord has spoken: I reared children and brought them up, but they have rebelled against me. The ox knows its owner, and the donkey its master’s crib; but Israel does not know, my people do not understand.” He dismisses Israel as rebellious - not so much against Judah but against God (the real kingdom is Judah’s, remember, because it was God who placed the House of David on the throne, and the House of David still reigned in Judah.) What you might call “dumb animals” (oxen and donkeys) understand better than Israel who they belong to. He then refers to them in this way: “Ah, sinful nation, people laden with iniquity, offspring who do evil, children who deal corruptly, who have forsaken the Lord, who have despised the Holy One of Israel, who are utterly estranged!” There’s a bitterness in Isaish’s prophecy toward Israel, as probably can only be imagined after you have a civil war which pitted friends and loved ones against each other. When Isaiah asks “Why do you seek further beatings? Why do you continue to rebel?” it’s almost as if he’s saying that if Israel would only return to the fold, so to speak, all would be well. And Isaiah lets us know that all is not well for Israel: “Your country lies desolate, your cities are burned with fire; in your very presence aliens devour your land; it is desolate, as overthrown by foreigners.” In other words: “what have you accomplished?”
The reference in verse 8 to “daughter Zion” is a reference to Jerusalem - “daughter Zion” was another name for Jerusalem. Isaiah seems to be saying that Israel’s rebelliousness leaves Jerusalem vulnerable. Israel is under constant attack and even in Isaiah’s day the Assyrians were causing trouble for Judah because Israel wasn’t a very effective buffer. The good news was that the constant attacks on Israel meant that refugees from Israel flooded into Judah, which is what Isaiah meant when he said that God has left “a few survivors.” They came to Judah, and their numbers helped strengthen Judah, so that Jerusalem wouldn’t become “like Sodom and Gomorrah” - not so much wicked and sinful, as we often think of when those cities are mentioned, but simply utterly destroyed. God sending those “few survivors” to Judah saved Judah. Isaiah attacks Israel’s religious practices, many of which were adapted from the pagan nations around them, and says that God hates them: “When you come to appear before me, who asked this from your hand? Trample my courts no more; bringing offerings is futile; incense is an abomination to me. New moon and sabbath and calling of convocation I cannot endure solemn assemblies with iniquity. Your new moons and your appointed festivals my soul hates; they have become a burden to me, I am weary of bearing them. When you stretch out your hands, I will hide my eyes from you; even though you make many prayers, I will not listen; your hands are full of blood.” Then, Isaiah - having said that the influx of refugees from Israel strengthened Judah and saved Jerusalem - notes the cost involved: “How the faithful city has become a whore! She that was full of justice,
righteousness lodged in her - but now murderers!” Jerusalem welcomed the refugees from Israel - even needed them - but they never truly returned to God, and their presence was portrayed as pulling the whole city away from God, and making them unfaithful to God.
The opening Chapter of Isaiah is a harsh chapter - mostly against Israel, but as we’ve just seen, even Judah comes in for criticism for having allowed the refugees from Israel to influence them. There is, though, a single ray of hope in the chapter: “Zion shall be redeemed by justice, and those in her who repent” (whether of Israel or Judah) “by righteousness.” Even in the gloomiest of prophecies, there is hope; even as the people deal with the consequences of their unfaithfulness, there is a cure - justice and repentance.
I’m going to spend less time discussing the Hosea passage because there are a lot of similarities between the two, but there are a number of points that I think are worth mentioning. It’s difficult to say whether Hosea was from Israel or Judah since at the beginning of the book the kings of Judah are mentioned, but the opening of the Book speaks of King Jeroboam of Israel as well. So Hosea is put in the context of both kingdoms. Hosea is most famous for having been instructed by God to take the prostitute Gomer as his wife and having children with her, but Gomer is later unfaithful to him, although Hosea takes her back, and the marriage is seen as a depiction of the unfaithfulness of God’s people to God and of the love that God holds for the poeple in spite of their sin. All of Chapters 1-3 set up the story by giving a lot of details of Hosea’s personal and family life, and Chapter 4 introduces the judgement on Israel with a long recital of Israel’s sins against God. Hosea does prophesy against both Israel and Judah, but most of his words are directed against Israel. In Chapter 5, which we’re looking at, particular emphasis is placed on prophesies against Ephraim. Ephraim was the territory in southern Israel that bordered directly on Judah. The emphasis on Ephraim suggests that Hosea might have been from that area, on one side of the border or the other.
Israel’s primary sin is seen as one of pride, but while Israel is the focus, Judah doesn’t get let off the hook. So verses 5&6 says that “Israel’s pride testifies against him; Ephraim stumbles in his guilt; Judah also stumbles with them. With their flocks and herds they shall go to seek the Lord, but they will not find him; he has withdrawn from them.” So even if most of the prophecy is directed against Israel, Judah is equally guilty. But it’s Ephraim - specifically Ephraim - that Hosea speak of most often in this chapter of his prophecy. Ephraim is described as having the “spirit of whoredom … within them.” In other words, they’re particularly unfaithful, particularly influenced by foreign gods. And eventually “Ephraim shall become a desolation in the day of punishment.” Ephraim (as a border territory between Israel and Judah) will be a major battleground when Babylon crushes Israel and turns on Judah, and will be left in ruins. There’s a very brief transition to a judgement on Judah in verse 10: “The princes of Judah have become like those who remove the landmark; on them I will pour out my wrath like water.” That seems to be a reference to Deuteronomy 19:14, which says “You must not move your neighbor’s boundary marker, which was set up by your ancestors to mark the inheritance you shall receive in the land that the Lord your God is giving you to possess.” Remember that there’s constant hostility between Israel and Judah, so this might be a judgement on Judah for changing the boundaries of Ephraim through invasion? The prophecy then turns back toward Ephraim, but Chapter 5 ends on a somewhat hopeful note, as God says through the prophet, “I will return to my place until they acknowledge their guilt and seek my face. In their distress they will beg my favour.”
God understands human nature. It’s in troubled times that we seek God most earnestly, and Hosea seems to suggest that both Israel and Judah will have to hit rock bottom before they’re prepared to repent and turn back toward their God.
Hosea is sometimes referred to as the “prophet of doom.” The book is 14 Chapters long, and from Chapter 4 on it’s largely a series of judgements and threats. It’s not a particularly pleasant book. But if you had read to the end, you would find God saying in Hosea 14:4, “I will heal their disloyalty; I will love them freely, for my anger has turned from them.” Even with chapter after chapter after chapter of terrible judgements and pronouncements against both Israel and Judah, God still promises them love. Again, even the most negative prophecy has an element of hopefulness in it.
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