Jesus Christ, God’s Servant (Isaiah 52:13), burst into history with great glory. The immediate aftermath fulfills Isaiah’s prophecies in Septuagint Isaiah 66:1-20 (verse 16 appears to be as yet unfulfilled). …
Switchbacks and Hermeneutics: Devotional 2.99
Much of Volume 2 of Isaiah involves switchbacks within the text that alternate between two groups. Both groups belong to national biblical Israel. But God abundantly blesses only one of the two groups. One group obeys God; the other group disobeys. Eventually, Isaiah’s use of the names Sion and Jerusalem lands firmly upon the obedient. Again, it is important to realize that both groups ethnically belong to national biblical Israel. This explains why God no longer addresses “Israel” as a whole. The text has reached a point of final sifting. God addresses his obedient children as Sion and Jerusalem. The disobedient he addresses as transgressors (Septuagint Isaiah 66:3 and Isaiah 66:24). …
Switchbacks and Seismic Shifts: Devotional 2.98
When both ethnicity and religious ceremonial observance are eliminated as necessary factors in pleasing God, faith stands alone. Isaiah does not use the word “faith.” Rather, his vocabulary specifies the “humble and meek” (verse 2) and the one who “trembles at my word”(also verse 2). The concept of trembling at God’s word includes obedience to it. People obey whom they fear. Therefore, the essence of faith (belief and trust in God) is obedience to God and his word. Those who obey God give him their highest regard through obedience to him. Another way to say this is that faith (belief and trust in God) leads a person to choose to obey God and his word despite all contrary consequences. …