Memory is supposed to encourage and ignite hope. In Isaiah 63, however, the people of Israel remember the old days of Moses and despair: \u201cWhere is he?\u201d they ask \u2013 the one who brought His people through the sea, put His Spirit in their midst, divided the waters and led them through the depths (63:11). Memory reminds them that this God of wonders is now absent.<\/p>\n
What they remember is the exodus, and Isaiah describes the exodus in a peculiar way: Where is he who from the sea caused-to-ascend shepherds and flocks. The verb is \u2018alah<\/em>, to go up. Isaiah highlights the fact that the waters are down and Yahweh\u2019s rescue of Israel from the waters was the beginning of Israel\u2019s ascent, which eventually led them to a high place at Sinai.<\/p>\n That suggests several thoughts. First, it links the event of the exodus to the \u201cascension\u201d offering (Leviticus 1; \u2018olah<\/em>). Leviticus 1 prescribes that the entrails and legs of an ascension be washed before they are placed on the altar: The parts of the animal \u201cascend\u201d through the water to the fiery mountaintop of the altar.<\/p>\n And that, second, hints at allegories and tropologies. Jesus is the shepherd who ascends from the water of His baptism to endure temptations in the wilderness; in His resurrection, He ascends through the watery sea of the firmament into the presence of the Father, as the Great Shepherd of the sheep. Baptism is also an ascent, a descent under the water and an ascent as a member of the flock.<\/p>\n And all that, finally, may help to justify the traditional interpretation of Song of Songs 4:2 and 6:6 (\u201cyour teeth are like a flock of ewes come up from their washing\u201d; the verb \u201ccome up\u201d translates \u2018alah<\/em>). Yahweh causes Israel to ascend from the sea as a Bride washed and spotless, gleaming white, a Bride prepared for her husband. And that ascent was reenacted at each sacrifice, re-performed at each baptism.<\/p>\n \u201cWhere is he?\u201d who made Israel to ascend. Check the font. He\u2019s probably there.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Memory is supposed to encourage and ignite hope. In Isaiah 63, however, the people of Israel remember the old days of Moses and despair: \u201cWhere is he?\u201d they ask \u2013 the one who brought His people through the sea, put His Spirit in their midst, divided the waters and led them through the depths (63:11). […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3021,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[46,57],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16213","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bible-ot-isaiah","category-bible-ot-leviticus"],"yoast_head":"\n