INTRODUCTION Isaiah 8 ends with Judah stumbling into the darkness of exile. But Isaiah and his “children” have been delivered from the “way of the people” (8:11, 18). For them, light dawns. THE TEXT “Nevertheless the gloom will not be upon her who is distressed, as . . . . Continue Reading »
Commenting on Isaiah 60:17, Cyril of Alexandria describes the alchemical transformation that Christ brings: “all things are to be transformed to something better in order to distinguish the first [dispensation] from the second. The paideia of the law will certainly end with the paideia of . . . . Continue Reading »
Isaiah 8:21-22: They will pass through it hard-pressed and hungry; and it shall happen, when they are hungry, that they will be enraged and curse their king and their God, and look upward. Then they will look to the earth, and see trouble and darkness, gloom of anguish; and they will be driven into . . . . Continue Reading »
Isaiah 8:6-8: Inasmuch as these people refused the waters of Shiloah that flow softly, and rejoice in Rezin and in Remaliah’s son; now therefore, behold, the Lord brings up over them the waters of the River, strong and mighty— the king of Assyria and all his glory . . . He will pass . . . . Continue Reading »
Christmas is unique. Ancient gods appeared in human form, but no other religion, ancient or modern, teaches that the Creator of heaven and earth was born of a woman, grew as an infant and toddler, and reached manhood. No other religion teaches that because no other religion wants the eternal God of . . . . Continue Reading »
Isaiah 8 gives Israel a choice of water. If they don’t want teh gentle waters of Shiloah, He’ll provide other water. Shiloah is the water source for Jerusalem. It was a stream running from outside the city into the city, and it was the source that kept Jerusalem fruitful and alive. . . . . Continue Reading »
Isaiah is not supposed to walk in the way of the people (8:11), and the specific difference between the people’s way and Yahweh’s has to do with fear. The people live in “fear and dread” of the turmoil and conspiracies of the nations (v. 12), but Isaiah is instead of make . . . . Continue Reading »
Yahweh speaks to Isaiah “with a strong hand,” and the force of the instruction is to refuse to walk in the way of the people. “Strong hand” is an exodus image, the strong hand by which Yahweh yanked Israel from Egypt. Now, His words to Isaiah are the strong hand yanking him . . . . Continue Reading »
Isaiah 8:9-10 is a complex, intricate passage. Verse 9 repeats two different verbs two three times (“gird” 2x, and “be shattered” 3x). The verbs “give ear” ( azan ) and “gird” ( azar ) form a pun. Verse 10 uses the repetitive phrases “counsel . . . . Continue Reading »
Because Israel rejects the gentle river of Shiloah, which supplies water to Jerusalem and makes Jerusalem the garden-city of Yahweh, Yahweh threatens to bring another river, the River, a personification of the King of Assyria, flowing through Judah with all his glorious chariots and armor and . . . . Continue Reading »
Subscribe
Latest Issue
Support First Things
