Learning to Love Isaiah Flashcards
The Abrahamic Covenant
Because the Abrahamic covenant was so central to Israelite religious thought, and because Isaiah referred to it so often, we will find ourselves better able to understand Isaiah if we recap the essential elements of that covenant. Certain promises and obligations that are part of the Abrahamic covenant provide real keys to understanding Isaiah.
1) Developing a special relationship with God as a people.
2) 2) The promise of innumerable posterity.
3) 3) The promise of inheriting a land.
4) 4) The promise of divine protection.
5) 5) The promise of prosperity.
6) 6) The promise of the rights to self-governance and rulership.
7) 7) The right to the gospel and its ordinances.
8) 8) The promise that God would always help Israel return to Him when they had strayed.
9) 9) The obligation to love God.
10) 10) The obligation to keep the commandments.
Muhlestein, Kerry. Learning to Love Isaiah (pp. 11-12). Covenant Communications, Inc.. Kindle Edition.
When did Isaiah prophesy? Isaiah had a long ministry. He prophesied from the time of King Uzziah through King Hezekiah, and probably a little into Manasseh’s reign. This would date his ministry from around 740 or 750 BC until around 695 BC, a long ministry indeed. He overlapped with the ministries of Hosea and Micah, and perhaps even Jonah, Amos, and Joel at the end of their ministries and the beginning of his own.
Muhlestein, Kerry. Learning to Love Isaiah (p. 10). Covenant Communications, Inc.. Kindle Edition.
Isaiah does not usually refer to the covenant by name. Instead, he refers to the covenant elements listed above. When he speaks of having so many children that the tent must be made bigger (see Isaiah 54:2), he is referring to the fulfillment of the blessing of innumerable posterity. When he speaks of houses being desolate (see Isaiah 6:11; 13:22), he is referring to the dwindling that accompanies breaking the covenant.
Muhlestein, Kerry. Learning to Love Isaiah (p. 12). Covenant Communications, Inc.. Kindle Edition.
Symbols are powerful because they stand out in our minds; symbols can create visual mental images that are emotionally moving; they can explain things that words alone often can’t; and they can carry several layers of meaning all at once. Additionally, because symbols require effort to understand, we can remember them better and get more out of them.
Muhlestein, Kerry. Learning to Love Isaiah (p. 14). Covenant Communications, Inc.. Kindle Edition.
A student of Isaiah should also look for other poetic devices. Look for metonymy, where an attribute represents the person (calling a businessman a “suit”). Look for synecdoche, where a part stands for the whole (“all hands on deck”). Look for personification (“mother earth”) as well as hyperbole (exaggeration), metaphors (equating one thing with another), and similes (comparing one thing with another). Isaiah masterfully uses all these devices, just as English poets do.
Muhlestein, Kerry. Learning to Love Isaiah (pp. 14-15). Covenant Communications, Inc.. Kindle Edition.
Muhlestein, Kerry. Learning to Love Isaiah (pp. 14-15). Covenant Communications, Inc.. Kindle Edition.
outlines a major theme in Isaiah—when God’s covenant people break the covenant, He will humble them to get them to return to Him. When they return, He will take care of them and bless them beyond measure.
Muhlestein, Kerry. Learning to Love Isaiah (p. 23). Covenant Communications, Inc.. Kindle Edition.
The overarching theme of these chapters is that covenant Israel will continually stray from God, yet God will never stop working with His people and will eventually bring them all back to Him and bestow all His covenant blessings. This message is powerful and applicable in our day. Further, it is in our day that the gathering of Israel is happening in its largest measure, which adds significant emphasis to these chapters.
Muhlestein, Kerry. Learning to Love Isaiah (p. 35). Covenant Communications, Inc.. Kindle Edition.
1 Here we find the original beginning of Isaiah’s prophecies. The scripture says that he “saw” the “word.” The word translated as “saw” really does mean to see but is not the word most commonly used to describe looking and seeing something. Instead, this word is often associated with seeing something in a visionary state. It is the same word that is used for seeing a vision, and it literally means to see or view something, or to be a “see-er.” Thus, we know that Isaiah truly saw something, but it strongly suggests that he saw something revealed to him by God.
Muhlestein, Kerry. Learning to Love Isaiah (p. 35). Covenant Communications, Inc.. Kindle Edition.
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