Having worked through the books of the Torah in their given order, I then decided to jump forward (chronologically and in terms of book order) to the first of the prophets. Even though the words of Isaiah are so central to both the teaching of Jesus and the language of Christian prayer, I didn't want to tackle this book any sooner because it's so long and I knew it would take 2-3 months to get through. I decided that I wanted to wait until my second year of this whole bible reading project before starting another long book (I worked through the 50 chapters of Genesis in the first year). Isaiah is a mixture of prophecy, vision and history, sometimes tumbled together in a complicated way. The vision language is often beautifully poetic and full of Messianic imagery, so it's no wonder that Isaiah's words form the basis of many of the canticles used in Christian worship. Surprisingly, the chapters were quite easy to summarize and I think this is because Isaiah doesn't actually 'say' much - he paints a lot of pretty pictures with his words (to paraphrase Elkie Brooks) but the underlying message is simple - TRUST GOD!
1. The prophet's opening words ring loud with condemnation and warning; the people have betrayed God, and God is on the verge of rejecting them
2. One day the Lord will be exalted, and all people who worship idols will try to hide away in fear of God's glory
3. Jerusalem and Judah have been tested by God and found wanting, God's presence will withdraw from them and false leaders will spring up
4. When God's glory arrives the holy city will be transformed, everyone will want to be there
5. God's people have abandoned true worship and sought human acclaim and comfort, God will abandon them to their approaching doom
6. Isaiah shares the terrifying vision he experienced when he understood that God was calling him to prophecy to the destruction of the nation
7. War is threatening, and Isaiah is sent to comfort king Ahaz of Judah with a message to trust in God, because and that those who seem strong now will not prosper
8. In the time it takes for the prophet's child to be born and grow old enough to speak, the kingdom of Judah will be shattered and scattered, and those who do not trust God will be banished from God's presence forever
9. Remembering how when God's people forgot God and God's promises to them, they turned on one another, tearing the nation apart and becoming prey for other nations
10. A promise from God that the nation which conquers Israel will not prosper long, and that one day the chastened remnant will return to the promised land
11. God will send a man of Jesse's line who will bring peace where there was no hope of peace, and be a signal to gather God's outcast and scattered people
12. When this happens God's people will turn to God, full of praise and singing with joy of all that has happened to them
13. Isaiah predicts the end of Babylon through a mighty battle, ordained by God
14. Reassurance that even the most powerful seeming tyrants will ultimately be brought down by God, and that God's people will rest safely again
15. The lands of Moab and it's it's people will be crushed
16. See the distress of the Moabites and pity them, says God
17. Damascus and Ephraim will also fall, and only a handful will survive
18. Even the fearsome people of Cush will be brought low, and will humbly approach God for mercy
19. Egypt too will tear itself apart and become a barren land, until it belongs to God
20. God calls Isaiah to walk around naked and barefoot for 3 years, as an omen of Egypt and Cush's defeat
21. A mysterious vision about the destruction of a nation by a mounted foe, and the escape of a few refugees
22. Those who were captured and defeated trusted in their own strength and not in God
23. Tyre will become a barren place until the time comes to serve God
24. Everything and everyone that doesn't belong to God will be destroyed, the whole world will tremble
25. Eventually, all of the enemies of God's people will be utterly destroyed by God, their land will be emptied
26. God righteousness will save those who seek God's will, and destroy those who do not
27. Indeed, God's people will be saved and brought back from exile, but those who don't belong to God will perish
28. Some of God's people are like reeling drunks, not knowing which way to turn and trusting in lies rather than in God, but God will deal justly with all peoples
29. Yes, your beloved places will be destroyed, but one day they will be reclaimed and the people will understand why all this has happened
30. Be patient people of God; fleeing to other nations will not save you from the invaders, rest in God
31. Don't trust any other sign of strength, only God can save you
32. A just ruler is like a shelter, but God's people will have no shelter for a while - until the time when God's spirit comes to bring everlasting peace
33. The betrayers will be betrayed, but the righteous who remember God will see the land restored and be healed
34. God's anger will turn against Edom, soaking the land with blood, and it's strong fortresses will become nesting places for vultures
35. People of God don't worry; God will save you and take you home again, on an easy road
36. On the plains outside of Jerusalem, Assyria's king offers Hezekiah's people an opportunity to surrender peaceably
37. As prophesied by Isaiah, Assyria's king is unable to take Jerusalem and has to run home to defend his own borders
38. King Hezekiah celebrates being saved from a fatal illness after praying for God's help
39. Some Babylonian visitors get a guided tour of Hezekiah's treasury, when Isaiah tells him that the Babylonians will one day return and take his sons he seems to see this as a sign of peace and good fortune
40. Make a space for God in your life, remembering that God is everlasting and beyond the scope human comprehension
41. Beloved people of God remember to hold fast to the true God when the conquerors come, don't trust in idols that cannot do anything to help you
42. God is with the people in the good times and the bad - if only they would open their eyes and respond they would be comforted!
43. If the people can only remember and turn to the creator God who loves them, they will be saved again
44. Don't listen to superstition or worship human-created things, trust in the living God and you will see God's promises fulfilled
45. The prophet proclaims that the powerful king who is sweeping aside many nations, is in fact an agent of God's will, and that Cyrus will ultimately bring righteousness to Israel
46. Don't turn to idols who are helpless; speak to God who listens, seek God who acts
47. The seemingly powerful magic of the idolatrous nations will not save them from God's coming justice
48. God's people have had a hard time, but they must keep on trusting in God's saving power as they did in the desert
49. God chose a few people to show God's saving power to all people and (if they can but trust) God will bring them back stronger, even when they seem hopelessly lost and scattered
50. God's people were taken into darkness because they did not listen, but now it is time to light torches
51. God's people will be blessed as Abraham and Sarah were, God's wrath will be turned upon the conquerors of Israel
52. The whole world will see God's people return triumphant to Jerusalem, by God's hand
53. God's chosen one did not appear as people expected; yet he bore the punishment for the sins of all, and if he gives up his life for all it will bring God's plans to fruition
54. God's love for the people is compared to a woman who appears to have been deserted by her husband, but in truth he loves her still and intends to make the relationship right again
55. If you hunger and thirst then seek God, who offers you a free feast from the abundance of the good earth
56. God is preparing a place for the seekers, all who remain loyal will find a place of welcome in the house
57. God's people, who have been crushed will be healed, but the restless wicked people will find no peace in God's day
58. Seek God with integrity and you will find the secret of living well, but don't make religion a show, it will fool other people but not God
59. If God does not seem to hear us, if we are lost, it is because sin has taken is far from God, but even now God has the power to redeem
60. At exactly the right moment God will restore the people to their home that was destroyed, and the nations will witness that Jerusalem will be rebuilt even better than before
61. The prophet bursts with joy at the message God has sent him to proclaim, and looks forward to what is coming
62. God is coming to restore the nation so be prepared - I'm not going to stop telling you this!
63. A call for the divided and scattered people to understand God's power, both to destroy and to save
64. God's people speak of how their faith went astray, even though they had seen God's glory, and now they wonder if they will ever know God with them again
65. God declares that the faithful will live out their days joyfully in a rebuilt city, whereas the idolaters - those who forgot or mocked God - will be destroyed and forgotten
66. From Jerusalem God is sending out a message to the whole world; those who respond will prosper, and those who do not respond will perish
Hurtling through Isaiah's prophecies as I've done here, I was reminded a bit of those kind of self help books that basically only have one thing to say but 'pad it out' with other material. The big difference is that Isaiah's language is beautiful, and powerful. As I mostly come across Isaiah's words in the form of the canticles used in liturgical worship and occasional readings in the Sunday lectionary, I tend to get the very edited highlights suitable for Christian prayer, so it's been nice to see some of the material that 'didn't make the cut'... However, as I came towards the end of the book I began to feel that I going to be almost dragging myself over the finish line - getting tired of the repetition of message and imagery (for goodness sake Israel can't you just listen?!), Then I came to chapter 55 and it was like an oasis of beauty and refreshment. I think that for me Isaiah is a bit like Bob Dylan; I don't think I really get much of what he's trying to say, I really like some of his early and his later work but not really into the 'middle years' stuff. This is probably a reflection of the different source materials and authorship that make up the Book of Isaiah - but as this is not a work of biblical scholarship, I'm just going to ignore that technical detail.
Following my pattern of (almost) daily reading a chapter from Isaiah, as part of morning prayer, meant that for several months I looked at a section of Isaiah followed immediately by recitation of the Benedictus (I use the Society of St Francis Celebrating Common Prayer 1993 edition for my daily offices). I often found this to be a powerful experience - I felt more conscious than ever of how my Christian faith is rooted in the story of Israel, and also of how another charismatic figure like David just could not be the saviour that people needed. Our dependence is only and ever - and CAN only and ever - be founded and sustained in God alone. No mere human could ever be enough. Being able to believe and trust that somehow Jesus is God is incredibly implausible; but somehow when I read these the texts together it all flowed into place and made perfect sense. These moments of blinding clarity don't come often in the life of faith and they are worth noticing and celebrating when they appear! The messianic language in Isaiah is so interesting; the way that Jesus fits this prophecy is (to me) both obvious and unexpected. The vision of Isaiah can be interpreted as being about trusting in the power of God to redeem one group of people and restore the land they cherish. Expanding this vision, or perhaps overlaying it onto the Christian understanding - that Jesus was sent by God to save the whole of humanity and of creation from fallenness - feels at first glance to be a stretch, but the more I read Isaiah's words alongside Zechariah's prophecy over his infant son, the better they seem to fit together. Increasingly it felt to me like a reduction of Isaiah's prophecy to limit it to one nation and one place, making God far too small. I do wonder whether Isaiah was aware of this as he shared his visions with anxious kings, and watched them trying to hold onto position and power
There were also plenty of humorous and unexpected things that jumped out from the text as I read and meditated. The CEV translation of Chapter 20 made it clear that naked really did mean that Isaiah had his buttocks on display - for three years! I kept the vultures in my summary of chapter 34 because I felt glad that the vultures, crows, ravens, screech owls, jackals, ostriches, wildcats, hyenas and snakes will have somewhere to call home in God's plan (but I couldn't reasonably fit them all in the summary!) I couldn't find out much about Lilith and the goat demon, although I seem to remember that was the name C.S. Lewis gave to an ancient evil queen that the children accidently woke in one of the worlds they visited during The Magicians Nephew (the Narnia series prequel). I seem to remember that she was some kind of relative of Jadis, the White Witch. I'm always intrigued by named female characters that pop up in the bible but in this case Lilith - if there ever was an actual Lilith - seems to be lost to the mists of time and become the stuff of legend.
There seem to be so many 'little wars' going on in this book, I just couldn't keep track of which region and which king is fighting what. This desire for fighting and conquering is incomprehensible to me and I don't like reading about it. I try to focus on what God is saying and doing, but even Isaiah seems to sometimes speak words that seem more likely to come from the mouth of a military commander than from God. I couldn't help noticing in chapter 39 that Hezekiah doesn't seem like the sharpest tool in the shed! When Isaiah tells him that some of his descendants will be eunuchs in Babylon, he believes this will be good for them - does he not know what a eunuch is or does he not like his sons?!
It was a long slog working through this long prophecy and I was glad to finish it. All in all, I don't really see any great benefit to reading it the way I have and I will be happy to return to the edited snippets which pop up in the church's lectionary and liturgy, but I did enjoy the 'drama' that seems to be an important element of prophetic writings