Isaiah 1-5

Isaiah lived in Jerusalem, capital of the Kingdom of Judah, in the latter years of the 8th century BCE.  His prophetic career spanned the reigns of the Judean kings Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah.  The book of Isaiah is the first of the "major prophets" and includes 66 chapters, though it is commonly divided into three parts.  "First Isaiah" consists of chapters 1-39 and mostly contains material from the prophet himself, though it does include some later insertions and oracles of questionable authorship.  We will begin with First Isaiah, then return to Second and Third Isaiah later.

Oracles Against a Sinful People

The first prophesies presented in the book of Isaiah relate a similar message to that of Amos before him.  In chapters 1-5 Isaiah echoes Amos in condemning the Israelites for their corruption and mistreatment of the poor and misfortuned (1:16-17), as well as their infidelity (2:6-22), greed (5:8-10), pride (3:16-24), and hedonism (5:11-13).  As in Amos, Yahweh rejects the ritual practices of hypocrites:

What to me is the multitude of your sacrifices? says Yahweh; I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams and the fat of fed beasts; I do not delight in the blood of bulls, or of lambs, or of goats.  When you come to appear before me, who asked this from your hand?  Trample my courts no more; bringing offerings is futile; incense is an abomination to me.  New moon and sabbath and calling of convocation - I cannot endure solemn assemblies with iniquity.  Your new moons and your appointed festivals my soul hates; they have become a burden to me, I am weary of bearing them.  When you stretch out your hands, I will hide my eyes from you; even though you make many prayers, I will not listen; your hands are full of blood.- Isaiah 1:11-15 

In parallel to Amos' promise of "the Day of Yahweh", Isaiah also foretells of a coming day of judgment and reckoning.  However, unlike Amos' message of hopeless despair, Isaiah appears to frequently sprinkle promises of a glorious future for the righteous few who remain after the wicked have been purged from the promised land (4:4-6).

Much of Isaiah's message is similar to that of Amos.  It is clear that an important role of prophets in Ancient Judah and Israel was to remind the populace of the right way to treat one another.  Greed, corruption, and mistreatment of the poor will inevitably destabilize society.  When the elites abuse their power to extract wealth from the poor, Yahweh will pour out his wrath upon them.

Yahweh rises to argue his case; he stands to judge the peoples.  Yahweh enters into judgment with the elders and princes of his people; "It is you who have devoured the vineyard; the spoil of the poor is in your houses.  What do you mean by crushing my people, by grinding the face of the poor?" says the Lord Yahweh Sabaoth. - Isaiah 3:13-15

A Wicked Vineyard

Chapter 5 begins with a parable in song (5:1-7).  Isaiah regales his audience with the story of his friend and the vineyard which he planted.  The vintner planted his vineyard in hopes of yielding fine grapes, but instead it grew nothing but useless wild fruit.  Though he tended to it diligently, it bore nothing useful.  What else is to be done with this vineyard but to leave it to ruin and begin again with a new vineyard?  In the last verse of the song, the singer reveals that the vintner is Yahweh, and the House of Israel is his vineyard.  The people of Judah are the vines which he has planted.  He expected his people to produce the fruits of justice and righteousness, but they have produced only bloodshed, injustice, and the cries of the oppressed.

An Inhuman Army

One of the most intriguing sections of Chapters 1-5 is a striking vision of an impending invasion (5:24-30).  Yahweh has stretched out his hand in anger, and a foreign power will be the instrument of his wrath.  This likely refers to the Assyrian Empire which was gaining power at the time of Isaiah's prophetic career.  Eventually the Assyrians would conquer and destroy the northern Kingdom of Israel, leaving only Judah as a sovereign Hebrew state in the Ancient Near East.  What is especially interesting about this vision in Isaiah 5 is the superhuman nature of the coming army.

None of them is weary, none stumbles, none slumbers or sleeps, not a loincloth is loose, not a sandal-thong broken; their arrows are sharp, all their bows bent, their horses' hoofs seem like flint, and their wheels like the whirlwind. - Isaiah 5:27-28

In various places in the Hebrew Bible Yahweh is depicted as the divine leader of the armies of Israel.  His title "Sabaoth" likely means "of hosts", referring to his role as commander of the heavenly armies.  Here the Assyrian army is depicted as more than that of a mere human nation.  They do not tire, they do not sleep, they do not stumble.  I believe Isaiah is reversing a belief common to the Ancient Israelites to emphasize his point.  Israelites would have believed Yahweh fought with their armies as he did for Joshua in the days of the (ahistorical) conquest of Canaan.  But because the chosen people have betrayed him, Yahweh now imbues their enemies the Assyrians with his divine strength.

Assyrian chariot by Angus McBride

Psalm 2

In this psalm, the Israelite king delights in his position as the anointed one of Yahweh.  Though the nations plot to conquer the Israelites, Yahweh promises to protect his chosen people.  It's possible this psalm was used during coronation ceremonies as it tells of how Yahweh has anointed his king, adopted him as his son, and set him upon the holy mountain Zion.  Here we have the term "messiah" - meaning "anointed" - which would come to represent the vision of an ideal future king in addition to the literal term.  When the Israelites and later Jews were conquered and stripped of their monarchy in later years, the promise of a coming ideal king who would once again rule from Jerusalem became a very important concept, particularly in the development of Christianity.

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Okay that does it for this post - next time we'll look at Isaiah 6-12 and the third psalm.  Thanks for reading!