Isaiah and The Song of Moses and The Lamb

Isaiah means The Lord is salvation And is a major theme of the book

Authorship IntensifiedIsaiah introduces himself and gets out of the way

• Begins identifying the speaker as Isaiah 20 times chapters 1-39 – these are the words of ‘Isaiah, son of Amoz’ 7 times – Also sometimes just “Isaiah” 13 times

• Starts to say ‘Isaiah’ and ‘thus says the Lord’ more often – ‘thus says the Lord’ A few times in first 20 chapters,

more in the nest 20, – Also saying ‘these are the words of Isaiah, son of Amoz’

• Then from chapter 40 says only ‘Thus says the Lord’ – ‘ thus says the Lord’ said about 40 more times

Big picture

Isaiah prequel: Moses calls heaven and earth as witness as warning

The last month of His life as the promised land was about to be entered

Deuteronomy 4:26 I call heaven and earth to witness against you

today, that you will soon utterly perish from the land that you are going over the Jordan to

possess. You will not live long in it, but will be utterly destroyed.

(Also in Deuteronomy 30:19 and Deuteronomy 31:28)

And yet, more than a warning a promise of redemption….

Moses portends falling away Moses also portends redemption

Deut 30 “And when all these things come upon you, the blessing and the curse, which I have set before you, and you call them to mind among all the nations where the Lord your God has driven you, 2 and return to the Lord your God, you and your children, and obey his voice in all that I command you today, with all your heart and with all your soul, 3 then the Lord your God will restore your fortunes and have mercy on you, and he will gather you again from all the peoples where the Lord your God has scattered you. 4 If your outcasts are in the uttermost parts of heaven, from there the Lord your God will gather you, and from there he will take you.

And yet, more than a warning a promise of redemption and a change wrought in God

God promises an inward change where God will circumcise the heart

Deut 30:6  And the Lord your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your offspring, so that you will love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live.

Start and finish

• Isaiah begins like the ‘Song of Moses’ • Isaiah finishes like the ‘Song of Moses’

The ‘song of Moses’ paints a picture of how Israel will move from rebelling and in need of salvation to holiness and sanctification

The songs of Moses refers to all songs of Moses. One sung after crossing the Red Sea and one sung before going into

the promised land.

The hope of peace reaching to the nations is expressed in Isaiah 2:4 is seen in a statue near the Kremlin Depicting the promise fulfilled

“And they shall beat their swords into plowshares…”

Why like the ‘Song of Moses’?

• The Song of Moses is a song of redemption – An Israel that rebels, will be chastised and

eventually produce the fruit of the kingdom of heaven

• Isaiah is like a tale of two cities: – Beginning with a prodigal Jerusalem , rebellious

and not walking with God for His glory – Ending with a holy Jerusalem that nations will

steam to

The high and holy one will act through the whole book, closing mouths, then opening them

• In Isaiah 6 the mouth of the prophet is shut as he sees the king high and lifted up – Isaiah pronounces ‘woe is me’ – A hardening begins where Isaiah will not be listened to

• In Isaiah 52, the mouths of Kings are shut – As they see the king’s sacrificial work as Messiah – A hardening continues

• In Isaiah 57, the mouths of the humble and contrite are opened – the high and holy one will dwell with the lowly and

contrite and open their mouths, now pure.

True righteousness

Isaiah 1:17 learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the

fatherless, plead the widow's cause. ( Isaiah appeals to justice 4 times in the first chapter alone)

Isaiah 32:8 “The noble man makes plans of noble things and on noble things he

stands“

Isaiah 56:8 “Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the straps of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break

every yoke?” – Not merely fasting for hollow piety but out of a hunger for God and

breaking bread with the poor when you fast

Refection of vain worship

Isaiah 1:13 Bring no more vain offerings; incense is an abomination to

me. New moon and Sabbath and the calling of convocations— I cannot endure iniquity and solemn

assembly.

Isaiah 29:13 And the Lord said: “Because this people draw near with their mouth and honor me with their lips, while their

hearts are far from me, and their fear of me is a commandment taught by men,

The book looks forward to a right worship

Slightly more detailthis is a brief into after all

Think of a symphony

• Themes and counter-themes will fade in and out of the book

• Music fades between the present, near future, far future and end of time

• Not always chronological

If Isaiah was a symphony, Movement 1 would be chapters 1-39

An initial indictments and promise

• Drawing from the ‘Song of Moses’ that called heaven and earth to witness, The Lord addresses heaven and earth

• Sons were reared and brought up but the revolted and rebelled

• Promise of a cleansing and redemption is offered

• Jerusalem and the nations are indicted in chapter 1 and 2 but hope is also extended to both

A story of a vineyard

• Much like the parable of the vineyard Jesus gives during the last week of his life

• The vineyard lacks the fruit of the kingdom

• The vineyard is destroyed • Seven woes follow

The issue broadens to the nationsand seven woes

• There are six woes pronounced on the nations • The seventh woe being on Isaiah himself

– As he sees the Lord – Isaiah’s vision will be part of an overarching theme

of redemption and hardening in the entire book • A Stump, a branch, a remnant and the nations

– Israel may be cut to only a stump but ‘the branch’, the Messiah will come from it

– And then, the nations will come and trust in ‘the son of Jesse’

Isaiah is one of three songs about the man called branch

• The top three most quoted prophetic books from the Old Testament in the New Testament all have sections related to a man who is ‘the branch’ - Isaiah, Jeremiah and Zechariah

• Isaiah 11 - The branch is both root and offspring. The root of Jesse and also shoots out of the stump of Israel filled with fruit reflecting the fruit of spirit of God resting on Him. The gentiles will hope in him.

• Jeremiah 23 - 22 chapters of reminders of the sin of Israel and how Jeremiah tasked with finding one righteous man but could not, are followed by song of salvation where the branch is a king who will be like a good shepherd where his name reminds us that ‘the Lord is our righteousness’

• Zechariah 3 and 6 - The visions of Zechariah given in one night have a special emphasis on the man called branch, a priest king . A gentle king rides in Jerusalem on a donkey, the good shepherd is rejected and somehow God is valued at 30 pieces of silver. Sin will be taken away in a day and repentance marked by tears over ‘him who was pierced’

The call of Isaiah

• Isaiah has a vision in the temple and a commissioning, but a strange commissioning for a prophet

• His lips are cleansed by fires from the alter by ‘the burning ones’ (the cherubim who burn for God)

• He will go but not be listened to • There will be a hardening (which

continues till now)

And more on the call of Isaiah

• Isaiah has a vision of the throne room of God • The vision of the holy, holy, holy (3 times

superlative and only attribute of God stressed this way)

• Jonathan Edwards said that the holiness of God touches and infuses all other attributes

• A vision that gives insight into this fallen and broken world as the Angels say ‘heaven and earth’ (tho fallen and corrupt) still are filled (even now) with the glory of God

Promises made, for near future and distant future

• A child will come, a son shall be given – The government could not rest on Solomon as

he had a divided heart – Moses could not enter the promised land

because of his sin – But ‘the child’ will have ‘the government

rest upon his shoulders’ (even Solomon had the Kingdom split… not so ‘the child’)

• A child born relatively soon thereafter confirms the child to come in the future

A ‘strange work’ Is 28:29 All this also comes from the Lord Almighty,

    whose plan is wonderful,    whose wisdom is magnificent.

• Redemption and judgement Is 28:21 The Lord will rise up as he did at Mount Perazim,    he will rouse himself as in the Valley of Gibeon to do his work, his strange work,    and perform his task, his alien task.

• A cornerstone laid with judgement or redemption Is 28: 6 So this is what the Sovereign Lord says:“See, I lay a stone in Zion, a tested stone,    a precious cornerstone for a sure foundation;

• A people of strange tongue Is 28: 11 Very well then, with foreign lips and strange tongues    God will speak to this people,12 to whom he said,    “This is the resting place, let the weary rest”;and, “This is the place of repose”—    but they would not listen.

And sometimes a very far futurethat includes the nations

• In Isaiah 24 the judgment of nations is spoken of 17 times

• And yet a promise of redemption as well – Death, the veil over all people will be

swallowed up – A banquet made

• God will make the Galilee glorious so that – Those who dwell in the darkness will see a

great light

A test of faith follows(on the heals of the promise of the child)

• Israel faces a crisis • Israel puts there trust in Egypt in the

crisis • Israel is judged

There may be nothing wrong with getting help from various sources but ultimately trust should be in God

And after that…A story of salvation from an invasion

• Judah faces a crisis • The King of Judas prays • Judah is saved from Sennacherib of Assyria • History confirms Sennacherib attacked but did

not conquer Jerusalem and his army was decimated by plague.

When history confirms what we can check, we can trust what we cannot check about the Bible

If Isaiah was a symphony, Movement 1 and 2 would share some things

Fruitfulness: A theme through the whole book both parts

Isaiah 4:2 In that day the branch of the Lord shall be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the land shall be the pride and

honor of the survivors of Israel.

Isaiah 27:6 In days to come Jacob shall take root, Israel shall blossom and put forth shoots and fill the whole

world with fruit.Isaiah 11:1

[ The Righteous Reign of the Branch ] There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his

roots shall bear fruit.

Fruitfulness: A theme through the whole book both parts

Isaiah 32:14a For the palace is forsaken,

    the populous city deserted

Isaiah 32:15-16 until the Spirit is poured upon us from on high,     and the wilderness becomes a fruitful field,    and the fruitful field is deemed a forest.

Then justice will dwell in the wilderness,     and righteousness abide in the fruitful field.

Fruitfulness: A theme through the whole book both parts

Isaiah 55:10-11 “For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven

    and do not return there but water the earth,making it bring forth and sprout,

    giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater,so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth;

    it shall not return to me empty,but it shall accomplish that which I purpose,

    and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.

Isaiah 61:11 For as the earth brings forth its sprouts, and as a garden causes what is sown in it to sprout up, so the Lord God will cause righteousness

and praise to sprout up before all the nations.

If Isaiah was a symphony, Movement 2 would be chapters 40-53

The book of consolation opens

Using repeated words Israel in comforted

• comfort comfort by people signifies intensification

• Promises of God to be with them offered

• Reminders to avoid idols given

A song starts preparing the way for the servant songs

• Warfare with God is ended, comfort has come

• Prepare a way in the dessert, lowering mountains, lifting valleys (pride and humility)

• All flesh is like grass that withers but God’s word lasts forever

And just as John the Baptist said: ‘He must increase and I must decrease, Isaiah stops using his own name and only says ‘Thus says the Lord’ for the rest of the book

The book of consolation portends the coming of John the Baptist

• The prepare ye the way of the Lord and voice crying in the dessert passages referred to in all 4 gospels

• In Mark similar prophesies in Isaiah and Malichi combined where the voice crying in the dessert portended comfort in Isaiah and judgment in Malachi

• But as John the Baptist is prelude and forerunner of Jesus, this passage is prelude to the Messiah in terms of the Servant Songs which follow

And… the most often stated command in the Bible

Fear not !

And a first servant song (ch 42)• Previously the reader was told to

‘behold’ the various follies of idolatry

• Now told to ‘behold’ My servant • The servant will come like a warrior

with his reward • The servant will carry his lambs like

a shepherd (this in contrast to the harshness of the King of Babylon)

A first servant songgiven to open blind eyes

The word blind appears in Isaiah 11 times and 5 of them, the greatest concentration is here in Chapters 42 and 43. A few shown here:

Isaiah 42:6,7 “I am the Lord; I have called you in righteousness;  I will take you by the hand and keep you; I will give you as a covenant for the people,  a light for the nations, to open the eyes that are blind, to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon, from the prison those who sit in darkness.

Isaiah 42:16 And I will lead the blind in a way that they do not know, in paths that they have not known I will guide them. I will turn the darkness before them into light, the rough places into level ground. These are the

things I do, and I do not forsake them.

Isaiah 42:18 Hear, you deaf, and look, you blind, that you may see!

King Cyrus is contrasted with the more ultimate ‘Servant’ of the songs

• Both called by God • Both called servant and anointed • Cyrus (by name and not born yet, of Babylon also

not a world power yet) will send the Jews back from captivity

• Cyrus rules by power and the islands fear him • The more ultimate ‘servant’, carries His lambs

and the islands ‘wait for His law’. He is gentle, and both a good listener and listens. An obedient servant of God.

• (Zechariah will also contrast the Messiah with a pagan king: the harshness of Alexander marching in war the great with the Messiah coming on a donkey)

About opening blind eyes….

Saul of Tarsus, aka Paul, was called by Jesus, made blind for a time and told he was to be sent

to the gentiles and ‘open blind eyes’

We can imagine a blind man, Paul, being told he will be sent to open blind eyes

Impossible with man, not impossible with God Paul’s eyes opened

And many eyes opened to Jesus

An invitationIsaiah 44:22

“Turn to me and be saved, all the ends of the earth! For I am God, and there is no

other.

A second servant songlisten near and listen far

• Israel told to listen in Chapter 48 • The far away told to listen in Chapter 49

Isaiah 49 5b,6 … for I am honored in the eyes of the Lord,     and my God has become my strength— he says: “It is too light a thing that you should be my servant     to raise up the tribes of Jacob     and to bring back the preserved of Israel; I will make you as a light for the nations,     that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.”

The servant is given as a covenant to the people

• In both servant song 1 and 2 the servant is given as a covenant

Isaiah 42:6

“I am the Lord; I have called you in righteousness; I will take you by the hand and keep you; I will give you as a covenant for the people, a light for the nations,

Isaiah 49:8

[ The Restoration of Israel ] Thus says the Lord: “In a time of favor I have answered you; in a day of salvation I have helped you; I will keep you and give you as a covenant to

the people, to establish the land, to apportion the desolate heritages,

In the midst of the servant songsprophesy of judgment

• A dirge for Babylon • A song of judgment • Then the servant songs continue…

In the midst of the servant songs A reminder that 1) Abraham became righteous by believing God’s promise – also - 2) Abraham was one and God can call

someone who may be the only believer around

Isaiah 51:1 “Listen to me, you who pursue righteousness,     you who seek the Lord: look to the rock from which you were hewn,     and to the quarry from which you were dug. 2  Look to Abraham your father     and to Sarah who bore you; for he was but one when I called him,     that I might bless him and multiply him.

A third servant songends with the faithful obedience of ‘the servant’

• In contrast ‘the servant’, ‘My servant’ is obedient, even innocent

• Obedient even in His suffering

Isaiah 4a-6 Morning by morning he awakens;

    he awakens my ear     to hear as those who are taught. 5 The Lord God has opened my ear,

    and I was not rebellious;     I turned not backward.

6 I gave my back to those who strike,     and my cheeks to those who pull out the beard;

I hid not my face     from disgrace and spitting.

A third servant songstarts with an admonition to the disobedient

• I did not turn from you • You turned from Me in disobedience

Isaiah 50: 1b, 2 Behold, for your iniquities you were sold,

    and for your transgressions your mother was sent away. 2 Why, when I came, was there no man;

    why, when I called, was there no one to answer? Is my hand shortened, that it cannot redeem?

    Or have I no power to deliver?

A fourth servant song ( chapters 52-53 )

• The servant will be a light to the nations • The servant will be high and lifted up ✓ but will shut the mouth of Kings in his

sacrificial act • The servant will be: (each point made 7x

or more) ✓ rejected ✓ suffer for sins ✓ die ✓ overcome death

If Isaiah was a symphony, Movement 3 would be chapters 54 - 66

Stunning promises for the servantswho are the fruit of the servant’s work follow

Isaiah 55:3 Incline your ear, and come to me; hear, that your

soul may live; and I will make with you an everlasting covenant, my steadfast, sure love for

David.

The servants (plural) songsthe fruit of the servant follows

• The fruit of the servant is servants • True righteousness is discussed • And yet reminders of need of salvation

and promise of provision ✓ The Lord’s hand is not so short that it cannot save

but your sins have made a separation ✓ I will wrap you in a robe of righteousness

• The high and holy one will dwell with the lowly ✓ and open their mouths now made pur in Chapter

57

….About those seraphim from Isaiah 6 and about the fruit of praise in the mouths of

the humbled contrite … • In Isaiah 6 Seraphim faces are covered, they cry

holy, holy, holy • and similar to Revelation the seraphim are

around the throne crying holy, holy, holy • In Rev 5, Seraphim faces not covered and seen

as the face of Lion, Ox, Eagle and Man • faces unveiled in a sense? • the fruit of praise created in the redeemed who

join in the praise now, singing shouting with the angels

A stunning warning against mechanical cold religious form in Isaiah 58

• Your light will go forth when you follow a fast chosen by God: • share your bread with the poor • invite the homeless in your house • Turn your foot from your way to my

ways • Turn from your delights to My delights • Make worship a delight not a chore

And in the midst of the servants songa reminder that the servant made redemption possible

Isaiah 61 The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me,     because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor;[a]

    he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives,

    and the opening of the prison to those who are bound;[b] 2  to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor,     and the day of vengeance of our God;

    to comfort all who mourn; 3 to grant to those who mourn in Zion—

    to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning,

    the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit; that they may be called oaks of righteousness,

    the planting of the Lord, that he may be glorified

- A job description of the Messiah – - Quoted by Jesus in Luke

Wedding language

Like the ending of the book of Revelation there is even some celebration wedding language near the end of Isaiah where God spreads his [wedding] canopy over Israel. There is a wedding of the redeemed.

The high and holy one closing mouths of Isaiah and Kings, then opening humble mouths

• Isaiah sees the high and holy one in chapter 6 and own sin – His mouth figuratively closed till cleansed – Commissioned to people who will not listen – A hardening starts and continues

• The mouths of kings will be shut – because of the sacrificial work of the high and

holy one, the servant in chapter 52 • The high and holy one will dwell with the

contrite in chapter 57 – And open their mouths now made pure

The high and holy one is Jesus

• The man who is the branch in Isaiah is Jesus • The high and holy one is Jesus, who

– sits on the throne and shut the mouth of the prophet (opening it by cleansing)

– shuts the mouths of kings in his sacrifice – Dwells with the, now pure, lowly and contrite

• The one who was rejected, suffered, died and overcame death was Jesus

• The fruit of Jesus as servant is the church, the servants

• Jesus is the bridegroom in the wedding

In Jesus the tale of two cities is complete

• Like Isaiah’s mouth was cleansed, so will Jerusalem in salvation

• As will Nations who will stream to the same salvation

• Jerusalem is moved from tarnished to reflecting on and reflecting the glory of God for the nations to see because of Jesus

• In Jesus, the seed of Abraham, every family on earth will be blessed

Similarities of endings Isaiah and Revelation

• Salvation of the transformed, the redeemed • Judgment of the unrighteous • Marriage supper of the lamb ( marriage

language) • A new Jerusalem where righteousness

dwells • A new heaven and earth (creation language)

Encouragement for those who ‘tremble at God’s word’

Isaiah 66:2 Has not my hand made all these things, and so they came into being?” declares the Lord. “These are the ones I look

on with favor: those who are humble and contrite in spirit, and who tremble at my word.

Isaiah 66:5

Hear the word of the Lord, you who tremble at his word: “Your own people who hate you, and exclude you becaus

of my name, have said, ‘Let the Lord be glorified, that we may see your joy!’ Yet they will be put to shame.

Revelation 15:3 and sang the song of God’s servant Moses

and of the Lamb: “Great and marvelous are your deeds, Lord God Almighty. Just and true are your ways, King of the nations.

Isaiah and the Song of Moses and The Lamb

fin’