INTRODUCTION From the beginning of Isaiah, the immediate political threat to Judah has been the anti-Assyrian alliance of Israel and Aram (cf. Isaiah 7-8). In the burden concerning Damascus, Isaiah prophesies the collapse of that alliance and judgment on Ephraim who has “forgotten the God of your salvation” (7:10). THE TEXT “The burden against Damascus. Behold, Damascus will cease from being a city, and it will be a ruinous heap. The cities of Aroer are forsaken; they will be for... Read more
Imagine my surprise, paging through the photos in my fresh new copy of John Thorn’s Baseball in the Garden of Eden: The Secret History of the Early Game , to find two familiar faces staring at me: Helena Blavatsky, theosophist, and Henry Steel Olcott, lapsed Presbyterian and “white Buddhist.” The caption notes that the two founded the Theosophical Society in 1875, and in 1878 “handed the reins to Abner Doubleday” – the man who, according to Thorn’s revisionist account, did... Read more
How are the three commendations in the first part of Revelation 2:2 (works, toil, perseverance) related to the rest of the commendations that Jesus talks about? There are several ways to look at this, and they all might be intentional. John writes in double entendres in his gospel, and frequently has multiple structures going on in his letters. One possibility is that the three words in verse 2a match directly the three activities of verses 2b-3. Works are matched with... Read more
Three cheers, and more, for John Bolt, who’s been working for several years to get Bavinck’s Dogmatics into English. He caps off his work with a one-volume abridgment ( Reformed Dogmatics: Abridged in One Volume ). Need a reason to choose Bavinck? Go no further than these criticisms of the nature/supernature scheme. Commenting specifically on the dogma issued at Vatican I, he writes “The sharpness of this contrast between natural and supernatural runs the grave risk of dualistically separating (supernatural)... Read more
What must we do to be saved, asks Westminster Shorter Catechism 85 – saved from the wrath and curse of God due to sin. The answer is noteworthy: We must have “faith in Jesus Christ.” Of course. It happens to be a Protestant Catechism. But the answer does not stop there. It goes on to say that escape from wrath and curse “requires” also “repentance unto life,” later defined as turning to God “with full purpose of , and endeavor... Read more
The oracles in Isaiah 13-19 are geographically organized. The fist is Babylon, sometimes conceived as a “northern” nation (cf. Jeremiah 1). Philistia (14:28-32) is to the West, between Israel and the sea, and Moab and Syria (chs. 15-17) are on the east. Then Isaiah turns attention to the south, to Cush (ch, 18) and Egypt (chs. 19). North, west, east, south is the movement (compare Zephaniah 2). The second collection of five oracles begins again with Babylon (21:9), moves east... Read more
The oracle against Moab is organized in a fairly neat chiastic structure: A. Oracle against Moab – wailing and lamentation, 15:1-4 B. “My heart cries,” 15:5 C. Green things wither, 15:6 D. Riches of Moab taken away, 15:7-9 E. Refuge for outcasts in tent of David, 16:1-5 D’. Pride of Moab, 16:6 C’. Fields and vines struck, 16:7-8 B’. “I weep bitterly,” 16:9-12 A’. Word that Yahweh spoke, 16:13-14. One of the points this structure clarifies is the identity o... Read more
INTRODUCTION Last time, we reviewed the structure of this passage, and noted that it is an acrostic poem, describing the excellent wife from A to Z. This passage fits into the larger structure of Proverbs by picking up on the descriptions of Lady Wisdom from the opening chapters of the book. The book begins with the king instructing his son the prince to choose wisely between the women who vie for his attention. His father warns him about Lady Folly... Read more
When the Lord devastates Moab, the fugitives from Moab will flee to Zoar (Isaiah 14:5). It’s a meaningful flight, for Zoar is a city near Sodom, toward which Lot fled when the Lord destroyed the cities of the plain. Now the cities of the plain of Moab are being destroyed, and people flee along the pathway of Lot. And, of course, the flight to Zoar is Moab’s flight back to her origins, for above the city of Zoar was a... Read more
The last two lines of Isaiah 14:29 create a dense web of allusiosn. This burden is delivered “in the year king Ahaz died,” which links the prophecy back to the call of Isaiah in the year Uzziah died (6:1). Seraphs appear in both chapters (“flying serpent” in 14:29 is saraph me’opheph , “flying fiery one”). In the context of a reference to “rod,” the appearance of a “serpent” coming up reminds us of Moses (Exodus 7:8-13). The fact that the... Read more
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