WEBVTT 00:00.480 --> 00:02.490 Professor Christine Hayes: We're going to move 00:02.487 --> 00:04.797 on now to our second literary prophet and this is the prophet 00:04.803 --> 00:06.753 Hosea. He was a native of the northern 00:06.747 --> 00:08.527 kingdom. So Amos and Hosea you're going 00:08.529 --> 00:11.229 to associate with the Assyrian crisis and they are prophets of 00:11.233 --> 00:12.743 the northern kingdom of Israel. 00:12.740 --> 00:15.620 He's prophesying in the time of Jeroboam II. 00:15.620 --> 00:18.760 Jeroboam reigned until about 747. 00:18.760 --> 00:22.850 And then he continues to the last king who is, 00:22.853 --> 00:25.313 confusingly, named Hosea. 00:25.310 --> 00:30.940 So he prophesies in the 740s, '30s, '20s, somewhere in there. 00:30.940 --> 00:34.590 He doesn't seem to have seen the fall of Israel though. 00:34.590 --> 00:38.070 Now, Hosea is considered by many to be the most difficult of 00:38.071 --> 00:39.371 the prophetic books. 00:39.370 --> 00:42.430 The Hebrew is very difficult and it sometimes seems rather 00:42.432 --> 00:44.892 garbled. It's very hard to render it 00:44.886 --> 00:46.786 intelligibly. But structurally, 00:46.793 --> 00:49.323 we can divide the book into two main sections. 00:49.320 --> 00:52.390 Chapters 1 to 3 have a certain coherence to them, 00:52.389 --> 00:54.499 and then chapters 4 through 14. 00:54.500 --> 00:59.450 1 to 3 tells of the prophet's marriage to a promiscuous woman 00:59.445 --> 01:02.665 named Gomer. His marriage is a metaphor for 01:02.666 --> 01:04.866 Israel's relationship with God. 01:04.870 --> 01:08.660 And these chapters also contain an indictment or a lawsuit. 01:08.659 --> 01:11.689 Remember this riv form, lawsuit form. 01:11.689 --> 01:15.799 We're going to see it both in Hosea and Isaiah today. 01:15.799 --> 01:19.079 Then chapters 4 through 14 contain oracles primarily, 01:19.083 --> 01:22.753 oracles against the nations but also against the Kingdom of 01:22.745 --> 01:24.945 Israel. We're going to be focusing 01:24.953 --> 01:28.333 primarily on chapters 1 to 3 since these are so distinctive 01:28.328 --> 01:31.298 to Hosea and we'll refer occasionally to some of the 01:31.296 --> 01:34.956 other chapters where they might pronounce an important theme for 01:34.963 --> 01:37.133 Hosea. So again, the historical 01:37.130 --> 01:40.480 background for the Book of Hosea is the Assyrian threat. 01:40.480 --> 01:43.420 The Assyrians are wiping out a number of the smaller states in 01:43.424 --> 01:46.324 the Ancient Near East in the middle of the eighth century. 01:46.319 --> 01:49.329 And Israel obviously could not be far behind. 01:49.330 --> 01:52.320 The line that was taken by Hosea was to condemn the 01:52.324 --> 01:54.904 attempts that were made by various kings, 01:54.900 --> 01:58.580 by Israel's kings, to withstand defeat or to avoid 01:58.575 --> 02:01.045 defeat at the hands of Assyria. 02:01.049 --> 02:04.199 If Assyria was going to conquer Israel, Hosea said, 02:04.201 --> 02:06.471 then it was God's just punishment. 02:06.469 --> 02:09.629 And to fight against it, to fight against the inevitable 02:09.629 --> 02:12.099 was simply another kind of rejection of God, 02:12.099 --> 02:14.799 another rejection of his plans and purpose. 02:14.800 --> 02:18.960 It demonstrated a lack of trust or faith in the power of God. 02:18.960 --> 02:22.700 Hosea 10:13 spells out the disastrous consequences of 02:22.698 --> 02:26.648 trusting in human power or foreign alliances rather than 02:26.652 --> 02:29.472 trusting in God. And this is a theme that we'll 02:29.467 --> 02:30.887 see occurring again and again. 02:30.889 --> 02:33.359 Hosea 10:13, "You have plowed wickedness, 02:33.361 --> 02:36.881 / you have reaped iniquity-- / you shall eat the fruits of 02:36.882 --> 02:39.912 treachery-- / Because you relied on your way, 02:39.910 --> 02:41.450 / On your host of warriors." 02:41.450 --> 02:43.980 He was suggesting inaction. 02:43.979 --> 02:48.379 Now, that surely would have been viewed by the king and the 02:48.376 --> 02:50.646 court as against all reason. 02:50.650 --> 02:52.390 But this was Hosea's insistence. 02:52.390 --> 02:54.550 Israel was faced with a choice. 02:54.550 --> 02:57.400 In whom should she place her trust? 02:57.400 --> 03:02.310 In God, or in human leaders and their armies? 03:02.310 --> 03:05.860 Hosea 1:7 goes so far as to suggest that actually the moment 03:05.861 --> 03:08.751 of decision has past for the northern kingdom. 03:08.750 --> 03:10.610 There's still some hope for the southern kingdom, 03:10.608 --> 03:12.928 but the northern kingdom has obviously made its choice and it 03:12.931 --> 03:13.901 was the wrong choice. 03:13.900 --> 03:17.550 Hosea says that God says, "…I will no longer 03:17.548 --> 03:19.578 accept the house of Israel or pardon them. 03:19.580 --> 03:21.690 (But I will accept the House of Judah. 03:21.689 --> 03:24.009 And I will give them victory through the Lord their God;" 03:24.009 --> 03:25.579 -- a victory through the Lord their God. 03:25.580 --> 03:28.060 "I will not give them victory with bow and sword and battle, 03:28.059 --> 03:30.609 by horses and riders." If you think that's what gives 03:30.611 --> 03:31.861 you victory you're mistaken. 03:31.860 --> 03:34.940 Some see that verse as perhaps a later interpolation into 03:34.940 --> 03:36.550 Hosea; it has such a positive 03:36.548 --> 03:38.458 assessment of the southern kingdom. 03:38.460 --> 03:41.610 But there is this sense of impending disaster that 03:41.612 --> 03:44.252 resonates throughout the Book of Hosea. 03:44.250 --> 03:46.240 Chapter 8:7, "They sow wind, 03:46.239 --> 03:49.919 / And they shall reap whirlwind-- / Standing stalks 03:49.922 --> 03:53.092 devoid of ears / And yielding no flour. 03:53.090 --> 03:55.820 / If they do yield any, Strangers shall devour it. 03:55.820 --> 03:59.550 / Israel is bewildered;" So the catastrophe is 03:59.547 --> 04:04.207 unavoidable, and Hosea's often been described as painting a 04:04.208 --> 04:06.778 portrait of unrelieved gloom. 04:06.780 --> 04:09.550 He's very grim. He seems to hold out no real 04:09.545 --> 04:12.685 hope for Israel. She has to pay the price for 04:12.691 --> 04:14.411 her infidelity to God. 04:14.409 --> 04:17.219 But we need to look a little more closely at some of the 04:17.220 --> 04:20.440 themes of the book before we accept that evaluation entirely. 04:20.439 --> 04:23.299 And I think the one overarching theme that helps us organize 04:23.298 --> 04:25.428 most of the material in the Book of Hosea, 04:25.430 --> 04:27.570 and one that shows its deep indebtedness to or 04:27.571 --> 04:29.951 interconnectedness with the Book of Deuteronomy, 04:29.949 --> 04:32.489 is the theme of covenant, particularly Deuteronomy's 04:32.492 --> 04:33.542 notion of covenant. 04:33.540 --> 04:36.420 So I put covenant at the top there and we see this theme 04:36.416 --> 04:38.766 being played out in several different ways. 04:38.769 --> 04:41.529 The first I've just discussed: as Yahweh's covenant 04:41.527 --> 04:44.227 partner--as the vassal of the covenant partner, 04:44.230 --> 04:47.830 Yahweh, the sovereign--Israel should be placing her confidence 04:47.830 --> 04:49.070 entirely in Yahweh. 04:49.069 --> 04:52.349 Any foreign alliance, any alliance with Egypt against 04:52.346 --> 04:55.366 Assyria for example, is against the terms of that 04:55.370 --> 04:58.030 covenant, that exclusive treaty between 04:58.033 --> 05:00.473 God and Israel. And she should not be relying 05:00.469 --> 05:02.969 on her military might, but relying on the sovereign, 05:02.966 --> 05:05.406 the suzerain. So anything short of complete 05:05.405 --> 05:08.995 trust in Yahweh's power to save the vassal Israel is a violation 05:09.002 --> 05:10.832 of the terms of the covenant. 05:10.829 --> 05:13.149 So we see it in the notion of its confidence, 05:13.151 --> 05:16.001 exclusive confidence and trust in God and his power. 05:16.000 --> 05:19.380 A second way in which the theme of covenant is expressed is 05:19.378 --> 05:22.758 found in Hosea's denunciation of social injustice and moral 05:22.757 --> 05:25.037 decay, and of course this is a theme 05:25.036 --> 05:26.846 that's common to the prophets. 05:26.850 --> 05:29.110 Here he follows Amos. 05:29.110 --> 05:33.550 But he's now the first to couch his charge in the form of this 05:33.545 --> 05:36.725 formal riv, or lawsuit, in which God is 05:36.729 --> 05:40.569 said to bring a charge against Israel for violating the terms 05:40.572 --> 05:43.082 of the covenant, for breach of covenant. 05:43.079 --> 05:45.609 This happens in chapter 4, the first three verses of 05:45.605 --> 05:47.135 chapter 4--Israel is charged. 05:47.139 --> 05:51.419 And Hosea employs language that deliberately invokes the 05:51.418 --> 05:53.708 Decalogue: Hear the word of the Lord, 05:53.710 --> 05:55.010 O people of Israel! 05:55.009 --> 05:57.139 For the Lord has a case [=a lawsuit] 05:57.139 --> 05:58.859 against the inhabitants of this land, 05:58.860 --> 06:01.210 Because there is no honesty and no goodness 06:01.209 --> 06:03.219 And no obedience to God in the land. 06:03.220 --> 06:05.230 [False] swearing, dishonesty, 06:05.234 --> 06:07.814 and murder, And theft and adultery are 06:07.805 --> 06:10.375 rife. Picking out key terms from the 06:10.375 --> 06:13.315 Decalogue: false swearing; murder, theft and adultery, 06:13.323 --> 06:16.003 which of course occur in a threesome in the Decalogue. 06:16.000 --> 06:18.030 These things are rife. 06:18.030 --> 06:20.290 "Crime follows upon crime! 06:20.290 --> 06:23.360 / For that, the earth is withered: / Everything that 06:23.359 --> 06:26.909 dwells on it languishes-- / Beasts of the field and birds of 06:26.910 --> 06:29.860 the sky-- / Even the fish of the sea perish." 06:29.860 --> 06:33.060 Unlike Amos, Hosea also engages in a 06:33.062 --> 06:37.272 prolonged or sustained condemnation of Israel's 06:37.270 --> 06:42.030 religious faithlessness, which is figured in terms of 06:42.027 --> 06:44.847 adultery. And so here again, 06:44.853 --> 06:48.893 the theme of covenant is dominant and organizes the 06:48.890 --> 06:50.990 prophet's presentation. 06:50.990 --> 06:54.630 To represent Israel's faithlessness he invokes other 06:54.629 --> 06:57.909 types of covenantal relationships as metaphors, 06:57.912 --> 07:00.912 most notably the metaphor of marriage. 07:00.910 --> 07:03.010 Marriage can be referred to as a brit, 07:03.007 --> 07:05.627 as a covenant between a husband and wife, and so it's an 07:05.628 --> 07:06.818 appropriate metaphor. 07:06.819 --> 07:10.119 And we see it primarily in chapters 1 through 3. 07:10.120 --> 07:13.580 He addresses the relationship between Yahweh and Israel 07:13.576 --> 07:16.776 through the metaphor of marriage, and Israel is the 07:16.776 --> 07:18.756 unfaithful adulterous wife. 07:18.759 --> 07:21.079 He describes, in lurid terms, 07:21.076 --> 07:24.626 her lecherous addiction to images and idols, 07:24.634 --> 07:27.534 her adulterous worship of Baal. 07:27.529 --> 07:30.469 He points to the nation's leaders and their failures, 07:30.468 --> 07:33.518 the kings and the priests, their failure to prevent the 07:33.520 --> 07:35.950 peoples' waywardness, their debauchery. 07:35.949 --> 07:39.709 The first chapter is reported in the third person. 07:39.709 --> 07:44.329 And this contains God's command to Hosea to marry a promiscuous 07:44.332 --> 07:48.882 woman as a symbol of God's own marriage with a faithless wife, 07:48.879 --> 07:51.349 Israel. "Go, get yourself a wife of 07:51.346 --> 07:53.476 whoredom and children of whoredom; 07:53.480 --> 07:55.870 for the land will stray from following the Lord." 07:55.870 --> 07:59.380 (1:2) So he marries this woman named Gomer and she bears three 07:59.384 --> 08:01.924 children who have very inauspicious names. 08:01.920 --> 08:05.560 These names are symbolic of God's anger over Israel's 08:05.560 --> 08:08.080 religious infidelity: (1) Jezreel. 08:08.079 --> 08:13.509 Jezreel because God plans to punish Jehu for his slaughter of 08:13.509 --> 08:15.319 the house of Ahab. 08:15.319 --> 08:17.199 Even though Ahab was no favorite of God, 08:17.196 --> 08:19.786 you still should not raise your hand against the Lord's 08:19.794 --> 08:22.004 anointed. And so Jehu will have to 08:22.004 --> 08:24.254 be--Ahab will have to be avenged. 08:24.250 --> 08:27.230 Jehu will have to be punished at Jezreel, which is where the 08:27.230 --> 08:29.010 murder happened. (2) Lo-ruhamah, 08:29.010 --> 08:32.140 which means "not loved, not forgiven," because God will 08:32.142 --> 08:35.512 no longer love or forgive or pardon the House of Israel and 08:35.507 --> 08:38.057 (3) the third child's name is Lo-ammi , 08:38.059 --> 08:42.529 "not my people," a sign that God has dissolved the covenant 08:42.530 --> 08:44.990 bond. He's rejected Israel as his 08:44.991 --> 08:46.771 people--divorced Israel. 08:46.769 --> 08:52.339 There really could be no more stark and shocking denial of the 08:52.341 --> 08:54.261 covenant than this. 08:54.259 --> 08:59.199 Chapter 3 contains a first person (Hosea's first-person) 08:59.197 --> 09:02.247 account of God's command to him. 09:02.250 --> 09:06.020 There it's said that God commands him to befriend, 09:06.021 --> 09:10.251 although he seems to hire, a woman on condition that she 09:10.254 --> 09:12.414 not consort with others. 09:12.409 --> 09:14.749 The woman, again, symbolizes Israel, 09:14.748 --> 09:18.828 who's brought into an exclusive relationship that requires her 09:18.825 --> 09:22.765 to remain faithful to one party in contrast to her customary 09:22.767 --> 09:25.377 behavior. And then sandwiched between 09:25.379 --> 09:28.659 chapter 1 and chapter 3, both of which have the accounts 09:28.657 --> 09:32.287 of these relationships that are metaphors for God and Israel's 09:32.292 --> 09:36.112 relationship--sandwiched between them is the almost schizophrenic 09:36.106 --> 09:37.976 chapter 2. It contains, 09:37.984 --> 09:42.094 again, this sustained violent, very violent account of the 09:42.089 --> 09:45.259 faithless wife, of faithless Israel and God's 09:45.259 --> 09:47.779 formal declaration of divorce. 09:47.779 --> 09:50.459 "She is not my wife and I am not her husband." 09:50.460 --> 09:53.350 This would effect a divorce, this statement uttered by a 09:53.345 --> 09:55.995 husband. We have that in verse 4. 09:56.000 --> 10:00.490 And yet, this chapter also contains a very gentle, 10:00.486 --> 10:04.236 very loving portrait of reconciliation. 10:04.240 --> 10:07.740 And it's in that portrait of reconciliation that we see 10:07.744 --> 10:10.864 another aspect of the covenant concept emerge. 10:10.860 --> 10:13.320 An aspect that was, again, most pronounced in the 10:13.321 --> 10:14.451 Book of Deuteronomy. 10:14.450 --> 10:19.800 As Israel's covenant partner God loves Israel and he actually 10:19.796 --> 10:22.376 longs for her faithfulness. 10:22.379 --> 10:25.419 This steadfast covenantal love -- one of the words that's used 10:25.423 --> 10:29.173 repeatedly is hesed, but it refers to a special kind 10:29.170 --> 10:32.660 of steadfast love, loyal love -- this covenantal 10:32.659 --> 10:36.889 love will reconcile God to wayward Israel just as Hosea is 10:36.890 --> 10:40.750 reunited or reconciled with his faithless wife. 10:40.750 --> 10:44.880 And the prophet imagines a return to the wilderness. 10:44.879 --> 10:48.049 God is imagining -- it would be wonderful if we could return to 10:48.049 --> 10:49.889 the wilderness and covenant again, 10:49.889 --> 10:53.279 and this time it would even be a permanent, an eternal 10:53.277 --> 10:55.817 marriage. And the three children who were 10:55.824 --> 10:58.384 cast off at birth, they will be redeemed and 10:58.383 --> 11:00.053 accepted by their father. 11:00.049 --> 11:01.979 Those are some of the ideas contained in this passage. 11:01.980 --> 11:07.500 This is Hosea 2:16-25, the reconciliation: 11:07.500 --> 11:10.580 Assuredly, I will speak coaxingly to her 11:10.580 --> 11:12.240 And lead her through the wilderness 11:12.240 --> 11:14.230 And speak to her tenderly. 11:14.230 --> 11:16.250 I will give her her vineyards from there 11:16.250 --> 11:19.070 And the Valley of Achor as a plowland of hope. 11:19.070 --> 11:21.620 There she shall respond as in the days of her youth, 11:21.620 --> 11:24.100 When she came up from the land of Egypt. 11:24.100 --> 11:26.970 (So the period of the Exodus and wandering is romantically 11:26.974 --> 11:29.394 imagined as, this time, of a very good and 11:29.386 --> 11:32.856 close relationship between God and Israel.) "And in that day 11:32.857 --> 11:36.147 you will call me Ishi and no more will you call me 11:36.152 --> 11:38.402 Baali." (This is a pun. 11:38.399 --> 11:40.959 Both of these words can mean my husband. 11:40.960 --> 11:43.220 Ishi is "my man," a male. 11:43.220 --> 11:45.000 And Baali is "my Lord." 11:45.000 --> 11:46.720 Women would have used both for their husbands. 11:46.720 --> 11:50.190 But Baal, obviously, has connotations with the god 11:50.193 --> 11:52.483 Baal. So instead of calling me Baali, 11:52.476 --> 11:55.816 "my Baal," you will call me Ishi, "my husband" using a word 11:55.819 --> 11:58.009 that's free of Baal connotations.) 11:58.009 --> 12:00.989 "For I will remove the names of the Baalim from her 12:00.985 --> 12:02.655 mouth, And they shall nevermore be 12:02.660 --> 12:03.540 mentioned by name. 12:03.539 --> 12:05.889 In that day I will make a covenant for them with the 12:05.892 --> 12:07.782 beasts of the field, the birds of the air, 12:07.782 --> 12:09.722 and the creeping things of the ground; 12:09.720 --> 12:12.870 I will banish bow, sword, and war from the land. 12:12.870 --> 12:15.290 Thus I will let them lie down in safety. 12:15.290 --> 12:18.680 And I will espouse you forever:" (back to the marriage metaphor.) 12:18.680 --> 12:20.660 … "I will espouse you with 12:20.655 --> 12:23.855 righteousness and justice, And with goodness and mercy, 12:23.860 --> 12:25.760 And I will espouse you with faithfulness; 12:25.759 --> 12:27.589 Then you shall be devoted to the Lord. 12:27.590 --> 12:29.950 In that day, I will respond -- declares the 12:29.945 --> 12:31.705 Lord -- I will respond to the sky, 12:31.710 --> 12:33.080 And it shall respond to the earth; 12:33.080 --> 12:36.630 And the earth shall respond With new grain and wine and oil, 12:36.629 --> 12:39.409 And they shall respond to Jezreel." 12:39.410 --> 12:40.430 [the first of the children]. 12:40.429 --> 12:43.259 "I will sow her in the land as My own;" 12:43.259 --> 12:46.189 (Jezreel was a fertile valley not just a place of war and 12:46.187 --> 12:47.977 death.) "And [I will] 12:47.978 --> 12:50.848 take Lo-ruhamah [not loved] back in favor; 12:50.850 --> 12:53.600 And I will say to Lo-ammi, [not my people], 12:53.603 --> 12:57.073 "You are my people" And he will respond," [You are] 12:57.069 --> 13:00.549 my God." So Hosea isn't unrelievedly 13:00.552 --> 13:04.002 gloomy and grim. It does provide these images, 13:03.997 --> 13:07.447 these very stirring images of hope and consolation and 13:07.448 --> 13:11.268 reconciliation. Amos also held out hope in the 13:11.269 --> 13:15.689 form of a remnant that would survive the inevitable 13:15.685 --> 13:19.045 destruction. So we need to think about the 13:19.048 --> 13:23.188 two traditions that prophets like Amos and Hosea are drawing 13:23.194 --> 13:27.064 on in this combined message of doom on the one hand, 13:27.060 --> 13:28.880 and hope on the other. 13:28.879 --> 13:32.369 Really, what the prophets are doing is drawing on two 13:32.368 --> 13:36.058 conceptions of covenant: the two conceptions that we saw 13:36.058 --> 13:40.418 in our study of the Pentateuchal material and on into Samuel. 13:40.419 --> 13:44.559 On the one hand they recognize the unconditional and eternal, 13:44.558 --> 13:48.698 irrevocable covenant that God established with the patriarchs 13:48.697 --> 13:51.937 as well as the eternal covenant with David, 13:51.940 --> 13:53.190 with the House of David. 13:53.190 --> 13:57.000 Those covenants were the basis for the belief that God would 13:56.997 --> 13:58.737 never forsake his people. 13:58.740 --> 14:01.300 But on the other hand, of course, they place emphasis 14:01.300 --> 14:02.630 on the covenant at Sinai. 14:02.630 --> 14:04.050 It's a conditional covenant. 14:04.049 --> 14:06.809 It requires the people's obedience to moral, 14:06.809 --> 14:09.889 religious and civil laws in the covenant code. 14:09.889 --> 14:13.179 And it threatens punishment for their violation. 14:13.179 --> 14:16.029 So the prophets are playing with both of these themes. 14:16.029 --> 14:19.089 Israel has violated the Sinaitic Covenant and the curses 14:19.085 --> 14:21.695 that are stipulated by the covenant must follow: 14:21.697 --> 14:23.917 national destruction and even exile. 14:23.920 --> 14:26.220 They will follow; they have to. 14:26.220 --> 14:29.340 But alienation from God is not, and never will be, 14:29.344 --> 14:32.664 complete and irreparable because of the unconditional 14:32.660 --> 14:34.360 covenant, the covenant with the 14:34.356 --> 14:36.416 patriarchs, the covenant with the House of David. 14:36.419 --> 14:41.739 So Israel will be God's people forever despite temporary 14:41.742 --> 14:44.852 alienation. The notion of election, 14:44.847 --> 14:49.417 an act of purely undeserved or unmerited favor and love on 14:49.424 --> 14:54.324 God's part not due in any way to a special merit of the people 14:54.323 --> 14:58.583 undergirds the prophetic message of consolation. 14:58.580 --> 15:02.600 And Hosea paints a very poignant and moving portrait of 15:02.604 --> 15:07.304 this special and indissoluble love that God bears for Israel. 15:07.299 --> 15:10.309 And in doing so, he draws on a second metaphor. 15:10.309 --> 15:12.779 So we've had the metaphor of husband and wife, 15:12.784 --> 15:15.264 which is a kind of covenantal relationship. 15:15.259 --> 15:18.609 We also have the metaphor of parent-son, which can also be 15:18.612 --> 15:21.732 understood in terms of a covenant with obligations. 15:21.730 --> 15:27.110 The parent-son relationship entails loyalty and love, 15:27.112 --> 15:29.392 but also obligation. 15:29.389 --> 15:32.859 One of the obligations that is understood to fall on the parent 15:32.859 --> 15:35.539 is the obligation of disciplining a rebellious or 15:35.544 --> 15:38.824 ungrateful child, while never forsaking that 15:38.815 --> 15:40.815 child. So that's a model that works 15:40.822 --> 15:42.782 very well with the prophetic message. 15:42.779 --> 15:47.059 Hosea 11:1-4, and then skipping to verses 8 15:47.063 --> 15:50.373 through 9, I fell in love with Israel 15:50.370 --> 15:53.850 When he was still a child; And I have called [him] My son 15:53.850 --> 15:55.300 Ever since Egypt. 15:55.300 --> 15:58.230 Thus were they called, But they went their own way; 15:58.230 --> 16:01.960 They sacrifice to Baalim And offer to carved images. 16:01.960 --> 16:05.990 I have pampered Ephraim, --another name for Israel, 16:05.988 --> 16:07.488 right? Ephraim-- 16:07.490 --> 16:09.330 Taking them in My arms; But they have ignored 16:09.330 --> 16:12.830 My healing care. I drew them with human ties, 16:12.830 --> 16:15.780 With cords of love; But I seemed to them as one 16:15.779 --> 16:17.479 Who imposed a yoke on their jaws, 16:17.480 --> 16:21.050 Though I was offering them food… How can I give you up, 16:21.054 --> 16:23.504 O Ephraim? How surrender you, O Israel? 16:23.500 --> 16:27.300 How can I make you like Admah, Render you like Zeboiim? 16:27.300 --> 16:29.200 [other foreign places]. 16:29.200 --> 16:32.580 I have had a change of heart, All my tenderness is stirred. 16:32.580 --> 16:35.800 I will not act on My wrath, Will not turn to destroy 16:35.802 --> 16:38.132 Ephraim. For I am God, not man, 16:38.130 --> 16:42.130 The Holy One in your midst: I will not come in fury. 16:42.129 --> 16:47.019 You have these alternating passages of violent rejection 16:47.024 --> 16:51.034 and tender, tender love and reconciliation. 16:51.029 --> 16:55.099 And with these alternating passages, the prophet is able to 16:55.098 --> 16:59.168 capture or convey a passionate struggle taking place in the 16:59.167 --> 17:01.897 heart of God. They're giving us that 17:01.899 --> 17:04.629 passionate, emotional portrait of God. 17:04.630 --> 17:08.360 It's the struggle of a lover who's torn between his jealous 17:08.363 --> 17:10.233 wrath and his undying love. 17:10.230 --> 17:14.210 And it's a struggle that is won ultimately by love because God 17:14.209 --> 17:15.709 cannot let Israel go. 17:15.710 --> 17:19.660 We're going to see that each of the prophets we'll look at holds 17:19.655 --> 17:22.155 these two covenantal ideas in tension, 17:22.160 --> 17:25.680 and they will emphasize one or the other depending on the 17:25.683 --> 17:28.443 particular situation, the particular historical 17:28.442 --> 17:30.852 situation. Sometimes when it's a time of 17:30.846 --> 17:34.366 relative ease or comfort, then the prophet emphasizes the 17:34.373 --> 17:36.833 violations of the Sinaitic covenant, 17:36.829 --> 17:39.659 the punishment that will inevitably come for these 17:39.658 --> 17:43.298 violations, and they'll downplay God's eternal commitment to his 17:43.295 --> 17:45.685 people. But in times of despair and 17:45.689 --> 17:49.599 suffering and destruction then the prophet may point out that 17:49.598 --> 17:53.508 violations of the covenant were the cause of the distress but 17:53.508 --> 17:57.218 they will emphasize God's undying love for Israel and hold 17:57.222 --> 18:00.222 out hope therefore for a better future. 18:00.220 --> 18:03.140 Now, we're going to leave the northern prophets and move to 18:03.142 --> 18:04.152 southern prophets. 18:04.150 --> 18:08.140 Isaiah is the longest prophetic book. 18:08.140 --> 18:12.080 The interpretation of many passages in the book of Isaiah 18:12.078 --> 18:16.368 as symbolic references to Jesus make it one of the most quoted 18:16.367 --> 18:18.967 books of the Bible by Christians. 18:18.970 --> 18:22.040 Isaiah was a contemporary of Amos and Hosea. 18:22.039 --> 18:24.399 Second half of the eighth century. 18:24.400 --> 18:27.310 He was active for a little bit longer period. 18:27.309 --> 18:31.029 He was active into about the 690s, somewhere in there. 18:31.029 --> 18:34.489 But he prophesied in the southern kingdom of Judah when 18:34.489 --> 18:38.079 the Assyrian empire threatened and destroyed the northern 18:38.077 --> 18:41.987 kingdom (the northern kingdom falls in 722) and then of course 18:41.986 --> 18:43.776 was threatening Judah. 18:43.779 --> 18:46.619 So he's active for over 50 years and he counseled Judah's 18:46.623 --> 18:49.063 kings. He counsels them through two 18:49.059 --> 18:51.439 sieges. I've listed these for you: 18:51.439 --> 18:54.549 The siege of 734, where he counsels King Ahaz, 18:54.553 --> 18:59.283 and then the siege of 701, where he counsels his son, 18:59.278 --> 19:02.518 Hezekiah or Hizkiah, Hezekiah. 19:02.519 --> 19:04.799 I'll give you a little bit of historical background to these 19:04.795 --> 19:07.715 sieges so you understand them, but those are the main dates 19:07.717 --> 19:10.487 that can help orient your approach to Isaiah. 19:10.490 --> 19:13.180 We have excellent evidence, by the way, for all of these 19:13.175 --> 19:16.295 events in the Assyrian sources, and also archaeological finds. 19:16.299 --> 19:19.409 The archaeological finds show destruction by the Assyrians at 19:19.412 --> 19:22.162 the places that we believe were destroyed at the times 19:22.161 --> 19:23.771 they were destroyed. 19:23.770 --> 19:25.180 But this is what happened. 19:25.180 --> 19:28.790 In 734, you have the Assyrians, who at this time are under 19:28.791 --> 19:31.521 Tiglath-Pileser, and they're extending their 19:31.515 --> 19:33.475 control through the region. 19:33.480 --> 19:35.610 So they're coming from the northeast. 19:35.609 --> 19:39.529 First they're going to hit Aram in Syria, and then advance on 19:39.532 --> 19:41.692 the northern kingdom of Israel. 19:41.690 --> 19:45.610 So Aram and Israel join together in an alliance. 19:45.609 --> 19:48.479 They were trying to resist the advancing Assyrians. 19:48.480 --> 19:51.490 Judah refused to join the alliance. 19:51.490 --> 19:53.000 The southern kingdom refused. 19:53.000 --> 19:56.040 So in anger, Aram and Israel moved south and 19:56.041 --> 19:57.811 lay siege to Jerusalem. 19:57.809 --> 20:01.029 So the first siege, the siege of 734 was actually a 20:01.030 --> 20:04.510 siege of Jerusalem by the northern kingdom of Israel in 20:04.508 --> 20:06.568 alliance with the Aramaeans. 20:06.569 --> 20:10.329 They were trying to force Judah's cooperation in standing 20:10.331 --> 20:14.661 against Assyria. King Ahaz of Judah decided to 20:14.662 --> 20:20.802 appeal to Assyria for help, to Tiglath-Pileser for help. 20:20.799 --> 20:23.789 He submits to the Assyrians as a vassal. 20:23.790 --> 20:26.580 He pays tribute. We have a record of the tribute 20:26.582 --> 20:29.182 that was paid in the Assyrian records, in 734. 20:29.180 --> 20:31.720 And this action is condemned by the biblical writers. 20:31.720 --> 20:35.250 The Deuteronomistic historian in Second Kings 16 condemns this 20:35.249 --> 20:38.059 action. Isaiah also condemns it. 20:38.059 --> 20:42.559 So, Judah has made itself vassal to Assyria. 20:42.559 --> 20:47.599 And this is the case until Ahaz's son Hezekiah decides that 20:47.601 --> 20:51.341 he will assert the nation's independence. 20:51.339 --> 20:52.999 The Assyrians are angry about this. 20:53.000 --> 20:55.610 This is now after the fall of the northern kingdom of Israel. 20:55.609 --> 21:00.959 The Assyrians are angry and under Sennecharib they attack. 21:00.960 --> 21:04.190 They devastate many of the cities in the countryside (and 21:04.192 --> 21:07.432 again archaeology confirms what we know from the Assyrian 21:07.425 --> 21:10.535 records) and they advance on Jerusalem and lay siege to 21:10.542 --> 21:11.872 Jerusalem in 701. 21:11.869 --> 21:16.159 And just as he had counseled King Ahaz, Isaiah now counsels 21:16.156 --> 21:18.896 Hezekiah. In the end Jerusalem wasn't 21:18.895 --> 21:21.185 destroyed. Heavy tribute was paid to the 21:21.193 --> 21:23.963 Assyrians but eventually the Assyrians did withdraw. 21:23.960 --> 21:26.660 They were overextended to a large degree. 21:26.660 --> 21:28.240 That's the general historic background. 21:28.240 --> 21:30.780 We'll come back to some of the details in a minute. 21:30.779 --> 21:34.329 But let me first give you a sense of the general structure 21:34.330 --> 21:35.950 of this very large book. 21:35.950 --> 21:39.020 The claim that the prophetic books are anthologies, 21:39.021 --> 21:42.521 anthologies of oracles and other materials compiled by the 21:42.523 --> 21:45.553 prophet or by his disciples, that is to say, 21:45.552 --> 21:49.382 schools that kept a set of prophecies and then added to 21:49.375 --> 21:53.475 those core prophecies because of their firm belief in their 21:53.482 --> 21:57.312 continuing relevance--that portrait of the anthological 21:57.306 --> 22:01.476 nature of prophetic books is really demonstrable in the Book 22:01.484 --> 22:04.604 of Isaiah. I've put the basic structure up 22:04.595 --> 22:07.975 there for you. The first 11 chapters contain 22:07.983 --> 22:10.793 memoirs. Chapter 1 sets out some of the 22:10.790 --> 22:14.490 basic themes of Isaiah but we have a lot of first-person 22:14.494 --> 22:17.534 narrative. Then we have various oracles 22:17.533 --> 22:20.883 against Israel. Some of this material refers to 22:20.882 --> 22:24.632 the attacks on Jerusalem, especially the siege of 701. 22:24.630 --> 22:29.220 And there seems to be a kind of concluding hymn in chapter 12. 22:29.220 --> 22:32.750 We then have about 11 chapters of oracles against foreign 22:32.751 --> 22:36.471 nations (that's a form that we also saw in Amos and Hosea -- 22:36.471 --> 22:39.941 denouncing foreign nations) from chapters 13 to 23. 22:39.940 --> 22:43.750 I'm skipping over chapters 24 to 27. 22:43.750 --> 22:46.920 They are a little apocalypse, a sort of mythological vision 22:46.923 --> 22:49.503 of the end of days, and that probably dates to a 22:49.495 --> 22:51.625 much later time, the sixth century. 22:51.630 --> 22:55.520 That was the time in which the apocalyptic genre was really 22:55.518 --> 22:58.238 developing. So we skip over that (we don't 22:58.244 --> 23:02.144 think of that as associated with the historical Isaiah) and move 23:02.140 --> 23:03.810 on to chapters 28 to 33. 23:03.809 --> 23:07.239 Here, we turn from oracles against foreign nations to 23:07.244 --> 23:11.674 oracles against Judah and Israel and the relationship with Egypt. 23:11.670 --> 23:14.450 This is a time when we're caught between these two powers 23:14.448 --> 23:15.588 -- Egypt and Assyria. 23:15.589 --> 23:19.799 Judah is trying to figure out with whom to make alliances. 23:19.799 --> 23:22.719 Should she cast her lot with Egypt, and so on. 23:22.720 --> 23:27.060 And these are from a slightly later period down towards the 23:27.057 --> 23:31.537 siege of 701 and they include accounts of Isaiah's counsel to 23:31.544 --> 23:35.084 Hezekiah in 701. 34 and 35 we'll kind of skip 23:35.076 --> 23:37.906 over for now. These also are post-exilic 23:37.911 --> 23:41.151 insertions. And then chapters 36 to 39 -- 23:41.152 --> 23:45.142 this is third-person, historical narrative and it is, 23:45.137 --> 23:48.047 in fact, 2 Kings chapters 18 to 20. 23:48.049 --> 23:51.239 That material has simply been inserted here. 23:51.240 --> 23:53.990 So, those three chapters appear here in Isaiah. 23:53.990 --> 23:57.560 It's the story of the invasion of Sennecharib and the 23:57.557 --> 24:01.257 interactions of Isaiah and Hezekiah during the siege in 24:01.261 --> 24:03.661 701. So I'm stopping at chapter 39 24:03.659 --> 24:07.099 even though there are 66 chapters in the Book of Isaiah 24:07.103 --> 24:10.943 because most scholars agree, I think this is really a very 24:10.935 --> 24:13.935 strong consensus, that the remaining material is 24:13.943 --> 24:16.443 not the work of Isaiah of Jerusalem. 24:16.440 --> 24:20.630 It dates to a period long after Isaiah's lifetime. 24:20.630 --> 24:22.830 I've already mentioned the apocalypse which we think is 24:22.832 --> 24:24.222 probably from the sixth century. 24:24.220 --> 24:27.480 That's embedded in there, chapters 24 to 27. 24:27.480 --> 24:32.300 But the remaining material we speak of in two main sections. 24:32.299 --> 24:35.809 We refer to these as Second Isaiah and Third Isaiah. 24:35.809 --> 24:40.489 Chapters 40 to 55, which we refer to as Second 24:40.486 --> 24:46.096 Isaiah, assume a historical setting in which Babylon is 24:46.098 --> 24:48.798 dominant, not Assyria. 24:48.799 --> 24:52.689 And so we see that as coming at a much later time. 24:52.690 --> 24:57.230 Chapters 56 to 66, we refer to as Third Isaiah. 24:57.230 --> 25:00.520 This material contains oracles that are spread throughout the 25:00.523 --> 25:02.283 eighth to the fifth centuries. 25:02.279 --> 25:04.679 So we'll consider those on another occasion, 25:04.682 --> 25:06.752 in their proper historical context. 25:06.750 --> 25:10.920 Right now we're looking at the material that is most likely 25:10.917 --> 25:14.867 attributable to First Isaiah, to Isaiah of Jerusalem. 25:14.869 --> 25:19.229 The book also contains material that is a repetition of material 25:19.233 --> 25:23.043 found elsewhere. I've already noted 2 Kings 18 25:23.042 --> 25:24.812 to 20 appears here. 25:24.809 --> 25:26.689 But in addition, you have snatches of verses 25:26.689 --> 25:27.999 that appear in other places. 25:28.000 --> 25:31.450 So Isaiah 2:2-4, are found in Micah, 25:31.448 --> 25:34.008 the Book of Micah 4:1-4. 25:34.009 --> 25:39.229 Jeremiah 48 is essentially equivalent to Isaiah 15 and 16. 25:39.230 --> 25:43.330 So this kind of repetition among or between different books 25:43.326 --> 25:46.966 illustrates, again, the anthological nature of the 25:46.970 --> 25:51.080 prophetic corpus--that these were works that were compiled 25:51.075 --> 25:55.035 from material that sometimes circulated in more than one 25:55.035 --> 25:57.655 school. So if we turn now to the major 25:57.658 --> 26:00.238 themes of Isaiah, let's note first the common 26:00.238 --> 26:03.578 ground between Isaiah and the prophets Amos and Hosea that 26:03.579 --> 26:05.279 we've already discussed. 26:05.279 --> 26:09.889 Isaiah is consistent with Amos and Hosea in denouncing again 26:09.891 --> 26:12.941 the social injustice and moral decay, 26:12.940 --> 26:17.730 which is the cause of God's just and inevitable punishment. 26:17.730 --> 26:22.060 Isaiah 5 extracting from verses 8 through 24: 26:22.060 --> 26:23.500 Ah, Those who add house to house 26:23.500 --> 26:27.370 And join field to field, Till there is room for none but 26:27.373 --> 26:28.623 you To dwell in the land!... 26:28.620 --> 26:30.250 Ah, Those who chase liquor 26:30.250 --> 26:32.560 From early in the morning, And till late in the evening 26:32.560 --> 26:36.190 Are inflamed by wine… Ah, Those who… vindicate him who 26:36.189 --> 26:38.839 is in the wrong In return for a bribe, 26:38.840 --> 26:41.490 And withhold vindication From him who is in the 26:41.488 --> 26:44.918 right. He joins Amos in the assertion 26:44.922 --> 26:50.022 that cultic practice without just behavior is anathema to 26:50.022 --> 26:51.792 God. Isaiah 1:10-17, 26:51.785 --> 26:55.905 "Hear the word of the Lord, / You chieftains of Sodom; 26:55.910 --> 26:58.320 / Give ear to our God's instruction, You folk of 26:58.323 --> 27:00.443 Gomorrah!" (So he's referring to his 27:00.440 --> 27:03.620 fellow countrymen as Sodomites, or people of Sodom and 27:03.619 --> 27:06.319 Gomorrah, who, of course, were the paragons of 27:06.319 --> 27:07.699 immoral behavior). 27:07.700 --> 27:10.200 "What need have I of all your sacrifices?" 27:10.200 --> 27:13.230 Says the Lord. "I am sated with burnt offering 27:13.233 --> 27:15.183 of rams, And suet of fatlings, 27:15.180 --> 27:17.890 And blood of bulls; And I have no delight 27:17.890 --> 27:21.180 In lambs and he-goats… Your new moons and fixed seasons 27:21.180 --> 27:24.110 Fill me with loathing; They are become a burden to Me, 27:24.110 --> 27:25.380 I cannot endure them. 27:25.380 --> 27:28.980 And when you lift up your hands, I will turn My eyes away from 27:28.983 --> 27:30.753 you; Though you pray at length, 27:30.750 --> 27:31.930 I will not listen. 27:31.930 --> 27:33.880 Your hands are stained with crime-- 27:33.880 --> 27:36.430 Wash yourselves clean; Put your evil doings 27:36.430 --> 27:37.710 Away from my sight. 27:37.710 --> 27:40.340 Cease to do evil; Learn to do good. 27:40.340 --> 27:43.200 Devote yourselves to justice; Aid the wronged. 27:43.200 --> 27:46.170 Uphold the rights of the orphan; Defend the cause of the 27:46.171 --> 27:48.421 widow. These are harsh and shocking 27:48.422 --> 27:50.122 words: I'm sick of sacrifices. 27:50.119 --> 27:53.659 I'm sick of your festivals and holidays as long as you are, 27:53.662 --> 27:56.352 of course, committing these terrible acts. 27:56.349 --> 28:00.599 And like Amos and Hosea, Isaiah asserts that morality is 28:00.602 --> 28:04.162 a decisive factor in the fate of the nation. 28:04.160 --> 28:07.330 Again, the passage that begins, Ah, 28:07.330 --> 28:10.650 Those who add house to house And join field to field, 28:10.650 --> 28:13.000 …In my hearing [said] the Lord of hosts; 28:13.000 --> 28:15.710 Surely, great houses Shall lie forlorn, 28:15.710 --> 28:18.110 Spacious and splendid ones Without occupants. 28:18.110 --> 28:20.750 …Assuredly, My people will suffer exile 28:20.750 --> 28:24.410 For not giving heed, Its multitude victims of hunger 28:24.410 --> 28:27.350 And its masses parched with thirst. 28:27.349 --> 28:30.629 So there are, of course, commonalties but 28:30.625 --> 28:34.305 Isaiah differs from Amos and Hosea in this. 28:34.309 --> 28:38.619 He places far greater emphasis on the Davidic Covenant than on 28:38.616 --> 28:40.166 the Mosaic Covenant. 28:40.170 --> 28:42.900 This is a key feature of Isaiah. 28:42.900 --> 28:45.690 The wilderness tradition, the Exodus tradition, 28:45.693 --> 28:48.853 the covenant at Sinai, these are so important to Amos 28:48.851 --> 28:52.011 and Hosea and are referred to by Amos and Hosea, 28:52.009 --> 28:55.429 but they have less of an explicit influence on Isaiah's 28:55.432 --> 28:57.712 prophecy. They're not not there. 28:57.710 --> 28:59.590 But they have less of an explicit influence. 28:59.589 --> 29:03.299 Instead, Isaiah has an overriding interest in Davidic 29:03.302 --> 29:06.802 theology, the royal ideology that centers on Zion, 29:06.801 --> 29:09.801 an ideology that we discussed earlier. 29:09.799 --> 29:12.419 So we see this in his riv, his covenant 29:12.419 --> 29:15.909 lawsuit, which focuses a little less on the violations of the 29:15.911 --> 29:19.061 nation than it does on the failure of the kings and the 29:19.055 --> 29:22.425 leaders who have misled the nation and who will now have to 29:22.431 --> 29:26.041 be punished as was stipulated in the Davidic Covenant. 29:26.039 --> 29:31.549 We also see it in his firm belief in the inviolability of 29:31.551 --> 29:34.181 Zion. This is a clear doctrine with 29:34.183 --> 29:36.533 Isaiah: the inviolability of Zion. 29:36.529 --> 29:40.369 Yahweh has a special relationship with the Davidic 29:40.373 --> 29:44.533 royal line and the Davidic capitol, Jerusalem or Zion, 29:44.529 --> 29:47.509 and he will not let either perish. 29:47.509 --> 29:52.259 And that belief undergirds and informs his consistent advice to 29:52.260 --> 29:53.870 the kings of Judah. 29:53.869 --> 29:57.509 Times of great danger are opportunities to demonstrate 29:57.511 --> 30:01.501 absolute trust in Yahweh's covenant with the line of David, 30:01.496 --> 30:03.416 with the House of David. 30:03.420 --> 30:07.550 The king must rely exclusively on Yahweh and Yahweh's promises 30:07.551 --> 30:10.941 to David and his city, and not on military might or 30:10.938 --> 30:12.698 diplomatic strategies. 30:12.700 --> 30:17.830 So if we look at Isaiah's dealings with King Ahaz -- the 30:17.827 --> 30:22.397 first siege in 734 -- this is described in Isaiah, 30:22.395 --> 30:26.195 chapter 7 and 8. Isaiah, who also has children 30:26.200 --> 30:30.350 with portentous names (this is a fad I guess among the prophets 30:30.350 --> 30:34.500 -- his children's names are: "only a remnant will survive," 30:34.500 --> 30:37.630 and "hasten for spoil, hurry for plunder" which 30:37.627 --> 30:41.637 indicates the destruction and exile) -- he goes to visit the 30:41.638 --> 30:44.458 king. And his advice to the king is: 30:44.461 --> 30:47.411 be quiet and do not fear (chapter 7:4). 30:47.410 --> 30:48.900 The crisis will pass. 30:48.900 --> 30:52.860 7:9: "If you will not believe, surely you shall not be 30:52.859 --> 30:55.989 established." This is an evocation of Zion 30:55.991 --> 30:58.521 theology. God is in the midst of the city. 30:58.519 --> 31:00.659 That means the Lord of Hosts is with the people. 31:00.660 --> 31:06.490 Isaiah then offers Ahaz a sign of the truth of his prophecy. 31:06.490 --> 31:09.160 And that is, namely, that a young woman who 31:09.163 --> 31:12.923 has conceived will bear a son and will call him Immanuel. 31:12.920 --> 31:18.550 31:18.549 --> 31:22.329 It's Hebrew Immanu el, "God is with us." 31:22.330 --> 31:24.710 Immanu = "is with us", El. 31:24.710 --> 31:29.170 So this woman who has conceived will bear a son and will call 31:29.173 --> 31:32.293 him Immanuel. This is in 7:14. 31:32.289 --> 31:36.659 Now, in the New Testament, Matthew, in chapter 1:22-23, 31:36.659 --> 31:41.109 takes this verse as a prophecy of the birth of Jesus. 31:41.109 --> 31:44.279 This is based on a Greek mistranslation of the word 31:44.283 --> 31:46.063 "young woman" as "virgin." 31:46.059 --> 31:49.389 The Hebrew term that's used is not in fact the term for virgin, 31:49.386 --> 31:52.656 but it was translated into the Greek with a term that can mean 31:52.659 --> 31:53.799 virgin. And moreover, 31:53.803 --> 31:56.233 the verb that's used in the Hebrew is in the past tense. 31:56.230 --> 31:58.700 A woman has already conceived. 31:58.700 --> 31:59.900 The birth is pending. 31:59.900 --> 32:01.890 It is imminent. This child will be born. 32:01.890 --> 32:03.370 God will be with us. 32:03.369 --> 32:07.509 The identity of the woman that Isaiah is speaking about is a 32:07.507 --> 32:09.257 matter of some dispute. 32:09.259 --> 32:12.009 So some scholars take the verse as a reference to Isaiah's own 32:12.005 --> 32:13.915 wife. She's already had two children 32:13.924 --> 32:17.084 with portentous names and now she's pregnant with a third. 32:17.079 --> 32:21.999 But the others take the verse as a reference to the king's own 32:21.997 --> 32:26.347 wife, who will bear his son Hezekiah, King Hezekiah. 32:26.349 --> 32:28.619 There are some problems with chronology. 32:28.619 --> 32:30.869 It doesn't quite work out that he would be the right age. 32:30.869 --> 32:34.599 But the fact is Hezekiah was a celebrated king. 32:34.599 --> 32:38.139 He did in fact manage to keep Judah intact against the 32:38.141 --> 32:41.681 Assyrian threat and kept Jerusalem from falling in the 32:41.683 --> 32:43.903 siege of 701. And 2 Kings, 32:43.901 --> 32:46.881 the Book of 2 Kings, chapter 18:7, 32:46.875 --> 32:50.925 says of Hezekiah, "The Lord was with him." 32:50.930 --> 32:52.220 God was with him. 32:52.220 --> 32:55.800 Connecting it to the name Immanuel -- God is with us. 32:55.800 --> 32:57.790 God is with him. Very similar, 32:57.792 --> 32:59.842 very, very similar in the Hebrew. 32:59.840 --> 33:02.300 In fact, sounds the same. 33:02.299 --> 33:07.189 So in keeping with this interpretation -- the idea that 33:07.189 --> 33:10.629 the child (who he says will be able, 33:10.630 --> 33:13.610 in a sense, to save Judah) is the child of the king to be 33:13.614 --> 33:15.804 born, Hezekiah -- in keeping with that, 33:15.799 --> 33:20.919 scholars see the famous verses in Isaiah 9 as praise of King 33:20.916 --> 33:23.426 Hezekiah. These verses are verses that 33:23.427 --> 33:26.377 announce, "for unto us a child is born" -- a wonderful 33:26.376 --> 33:27.906 counselor, a mighty God, 33:27.913 --> 33:30.423 an everlasting father, a prince of peace, 33:30.416 --> 33:34.046 referring then to an unending peace in which David's throne 33:34.046 --> 33:36.546 and kingdom are firmly established. 33:36.549 --> 33:39.609 And again, these verses have also been decontextualized and 33:39.605 --> 33:42.235 are utilized in Christian liturgies to this day, 33:42.240 --> 33:45.790 again, as if they refer to the future birth of Jesus. 33:45.789 --> 33:49.399 In any event, Ahaz doesn't heed Isaiah's call 33:49.399 --> 33:51.589 for inaction. He says he should be doing 33:51.588 --> 33:53.508 nothing. How could any king really 33:53.505 --> 33:56.165 follow such advice, to seek no political or 33:56.168 --> 33:57.498 military solution? 33:57.500 --> 34:01.060 And so he appeals to Assyria for help against Aram and the 34:01.059 --> 34:04.619 northern kingdom of Israel who are laying siege to him. 34:04.619 --> 34:08.099 And this is a disastrous development in Isaiah's eyes. 34:08.099 --> 34:11.299 If we move to the second siege in 701, we see that Isaiah 34:11.300 --> 34:13.130 really takes a similar stance. 34:13.130 --> 34:17.280 Hezekiah tries to form an alliance with Egypt now to stave 34:17.277 --> 34:19.167 off the Assyrian threat. 34:19.170 --> 34:23.320 And Isaiah castigates the king and he castigates the king's men 34:23.321 --> 34:26.871 for abandoning Yahweh and relying on the frail read of 34:26.870 --> 34:29.880 Egypt. And we find here an example of 34:29.876 --> 34:34.156 the bizarre and demonstrative behavior of the prophet. 34:34.159 --> 34:35.609 We'll see this in many of the prophets. 34:35.610 --> 34:37.570 We'll see it particularly in the prophet Ezekiel, 34:37.574 --> 34:40.194 but we see it with others, where they would engage in 34:40.188 --> 34:43.298 these symbolic acts that were meant to shock and attract 34:43.295 --> 34:45.715 attention. Isaiah paraded naked through 34:45.721 --> 34:49.041 the streets of Jerusalem to illustrate the exile and the 34:49.043 --> 34:53.033 slavery that would follow from this mistaken reliance on Egypt. 34:53.030 --> 34:56.450 He denounces the political advisors who counsel the king to 34:56.448 --> 34:59.928 form an alliance with Egypt because they are simply trusting 34:59.925 --> 35:02.455 in horses and chariots rather than God. 35:02.460 --> 35:04.460 And Isaiah counsels differently. 35:04.460 --> 35:07.950 He says, "For the Egyptians are man, not God, 35:07.947 --> 35:11.987 / And their horses are flesh, not spirit" (31:3). 35:11.989 --> 35:15.589 The king should simply trust in God. 35:15.590 --> 35:19.490 In the narrative account that we have of the siege of 701 35:19.489 --> 35:23.809 that's found in chapters 36 and 38 -- it's also duplicated in 2 35:23.806 --> 35:27.286 Kings -- Isaiah counsels Hezekiah when the siege is 35:27.288 --> 35:30.768 underway not to capitulate to the Assyrians. 35:30.769 --> 35:36.229 This might seem to contradict his earlier message that Assyria 35:36.226 --> 35:42.036 was the rod of God's anger and that Hezekiah should not resist. 35:42.039 --> 35:45.119 But in fact, there's a basic consistency to 35:45.117 --> 35:46.507 Isaiah's counsel. 35:46.510 --> 35:50.910 Just as his earlier counsel to trust in God rather than Egypt 35:50.913 --> 35:54.733 was based on his trust in God's promises to David, 35:54.730 --> 35:58.480 and the inviolability of the royal city, so now his counsel 35:58.476 --> 36:02.606 to resist, not to open the doors of the city to the Assyrians, 36:02.610 --> 36:05.700 is based on his belief that Yahweh could not possibility 36:05.702 --> 36:07.672 intend to destroy his royal city. 36:07.670 --> 36:11.860 Isaiah 37:33-35: Assuredly, 36:11.855 --> 36:13.875 thus said the Lord concerning the king of Assyria: 36:13.880 --> 36:17.120 He shall not enter this city; He shall not shoot an arrow at 36:17.118 --> 36:18.638 it, Or advance upon it with a 36:18.643 --> 36:20.583 shield, Or pile up a siege mound 36:20.576 --> 36:22.336 against it. He shall go back 36:22.340 --> 36:24.690 By the way he came, He shall not enter this 36:24.688 --> 36:27.988 city--declares the Lord; I will protect and save the 36:27.988 --> 36:30.398 city for My sake And for the sake of my servant 36:30.404 --> 36:32.454 David. Again, for the sake of the 36:32.448 --> 36:33.518 Davidic Covenant. 36:33.519 --> 36:38.089 And the fact that Jerusalem did in fact escape destruction after 36:38.086 --> 36:41.926 this terrifying siege by the Assyrians only fueled the 36:41.928 --> 36:46.418 belief--fueled the belief in the inviolability of David's city, 36:46.422 --> 36:49.622 Zion. Isaiah 6 contains a striking 36:49.616 --> 36:52.266 account of the call of Isaiah. 36:52.269 --> 36:55.979 Many of the prophetic books will feature some passage which 36:55.983 --> 36:58.483 refers to the prophet's initial call. 36:58.480 --> 37:00.900 And it's something we might expect to find at the beginning 37:00.904 --> 37:02.154 of the book. So obviously, 37:02.146 --> 37:04.816 chronology is not the organizing principle in the Book 37:04.823 --> 37:07.163 of Isaiah. But I want to draw your 37:07.160 --> 37:11.840 attention to God's extraordinary message to Isaiah at the time of 37:11.837 --> 37:16.257 his call or commission: Go, say to that people: 37:16.259 --> 37:19.469 "Hear, indeed, but do not understand; 37:19.470 --> 37:22.320 See, indeed, but do not grasp." 37:22.320 --> 37:25.420 Dull that people's mind, Stop its ears, 37:25.420 --> 37:28.870 And seal its eyes-- Lest, seeing with its eyes 37:28.870 --> 37:32.020 And hearing with its ears, It also grasp with its mind, 37:32.019 --> 37:34.789 And repent and save itself. 37:34.789 --> 37:37.659 Well, there's a nice literary chiasm (before we get to the 37:37.660 --> 37:40.380 substance of it) in the last line: you have "heart," 37:40.380 --> 37:43.340 "ears," and "eyes" and then these are repeated but in 37:43.344 --> 37:45.514 reverse order, eyes, ears and heart. 37:45.510 --> 37:50.330 But in this passage we return to the kind of bleakness that we 37:50.333 --> 37:54.063 saw in Hosea. Destruction is inevitable. 37:54.059 --> 37:58.229 God's message via his prophet will not be understood. 37:58.230 --> 38:01.270 And indeed, God will see to it that the people do not 38:01.268 --> 38:02.728 understand the message. 38:02.730 --> 38:06.770 They do not heed the call to repent, do not save themselves, 38:06.774 --> 38:09.864 and so do not escape God's just punishment. 38:09.860 --> 38:13.120 It's a fascinating, if theologically difficult, 38:13.121 --> 38:15.471 passage. God tells Isaiah to prevent the 38:15.470 --> 38:17.800 people from understanding, lest through their 38:17.798 --> 38:20.918 understanding they turn back to God and save themselves. 38:20.920 --> 38:23.920 And again, we see God, or perhaps his prophet, 38:23.922 --> 38:28.062 caught in the tension between God's justice and God's mercy. 38:28.059 --> 38:31.419 As a God of justice he must punish the sins of Israel with 38:31.423 --> 38:33.583 destruction. He indicated he would do so in 38:33.583 --> 38:35.943 the covenant and he must be faithful to those terms. 38:35.940 --> 38:39.390 But as a God of mercy he wishes to bring his people back. 38:39.389 --> 38:41.809 He wishes to send them a prophet to warn them of the 38:41.810 --> 38:44.660 impending doom and urge them to repent so that he can forgive 38:44.657 --> 38:46.837 them and announce his plan of destruction. 38:46.840 --> 38:50.730 Yet, how can he both punish Israel and so fulfill the 38:50.734 --> 38:54.104 demands of justice, and yet save Israel and so 38:54.104 --> 38:57.254 fulfill the demands of mercy and love? 38:57.250 --> 39:01.420 Verses 12 and 13 in chapter 6 answer this question with an 39:01.415 --> 39:05.065 idea that we've seen a little in Amos and Hosea. 39:05.070 --> 39:09.030 When Isaiah asks how long the people will fail to hear, 39:09.032 --> 39:12.482 fail to understand, to turn back to God and save 39:12.481 --> 39:16.191 themselves, God replies, Till towns lie waste 39:16.192 --> 39:18.922 without inhabitants And houses without people, 39:18.920 --> 39:21.430 And the ground lies waste and desolate-- 39:21.429 --> 39:23.389 For the Lord will banish the population-- 39:23.390 --> 39:26.420 And deserted sites are many In the midst of the land. 39:26.420 --> 39:29.770 But while a tenth part yet remains in it, 39:29.771 --> 39:33.001 it shall repent. It shall be ravaged like the 39:33.003 --> 39:36.143 terebinth and the oak, of which stumps are left even 39:36.143 --> 39:38.983 when they are felled: its stump shall be a holy 39:38.975 --> 39:41.445 seed. So God will punish. 39:41.449 --> 39:44.049 God cannot not punish Israel. 39:44.050 --> 39:47.780 And so the demands of justice will be met, and God will have 39:47.777 --> 39:51.187 upheld the terms of the conditional Mosaic Covenant. 39:51.190 --> 39:53.860 But God will at the same time effect the salvation of his 39:53.862 --> 39:54.962 people in the future. 39:54.960 --> 39:58.880 He has sent a prophet with a call to return and in due time a 39:58.878 --> 40:02.928 remnant of the people -- a tenth Isaiah says -- will understand 40:02.927 --> 40:04.427 and heed that call. 40:04.429 --> 40:07.839 They will receive God's mercy and the covenant will be 40:07.840 --> 40:10.480 reestablished. And in this way the demands of 40:10.479 --> 40:13.589 love and mercy will be met, and God will have been faithful 40:13.591 --> 40:16.921 to his covenantal promise to the patriarchs and the royal House 40:16.918 --> 40:19.268 of David. The people's delayed 40:19.265 --> 40:24.205 comprehension of the prophet's message guarantees the operation 40:24.213 --> 40:29.403 of God's just punishment now and his merciful salvation later. 40:29.400 --> 40:33.860 While the notion of a remnant leads to the idea of a future 40:33.860 --> 40:38.090 hope, it wasn't a very consoling message at the time. 40:38.090 --> 40:41.070 Because the prophets were essentially saying that the 40:41.067 --> 40:43.927 current generation would all but cease to exist. 40:43.930 --> 40:47.680 Isaiah 10:21-23, Only a remnant shall 40:47.681 --> 40:49.551 return, Only a remnant of Jacob, 40:49.550 --> 40:52.290 To Mighty God. Even if your people, O Israel 40:52.289 --> 40:53.849 Should be as the sands of the sea, 40:53.849 --> 40:55.709 Only a remnant of it shall return. 40:55.710 --> 40:58.950 Destruction is decreed; Retribution comes like a flood! 40:58.949 --> 41:01.569 For my Lord God of Hosts is carrying out 41:01.570 --> 41:04.900 A decree of destruction upon all the land. 41:04.900 --> 41:08.590 Well, we've seen that the prophet's message of destruction 41:08.594 --> 41:12.164 and punishment and doom is very often accompanied by, 41:12.159 --> 41:15.559 often alternates with, a message of consolation and a 41:15.556 --> 41:18.796 promise of restoration, restoration of a purged or 41:18.801 --> 41:21.281 purified remnant in the land of Israel. 41:21.280 --> 41:24.060 This is where the prophets differ from the Deuteronomistic 41:24.063 --> 41:26.513 historian. The Deuteronomistic historian 41:26.514 --> 41:30.114 is more concerned with the justification of God's actions 41:30.114 --> 41:33.714 against Israel than with painting a vivid portrait of the 41:33.714 --> 41:35.904 time of a future restoration. 41:35.900 --> 41:39.630 But this period of restoration is elaborately envisioned in 41:39.628 --> 41:41.298 some prophetic writings. 41:41.300 --> 41:43.790 And it even takes on an eschatological tenor. 41:43.789 --> 41:47.129 The word "eschatology" means an account of the end. 41:47.130 --> 41:50.670 So in some of them, this becomes an eschatological 41:50.665 --> 41:55.135 vision: that the restoration will happen at the end of days. 41:55.139 --> 41:59.379 And the restoration will bring about some sort of perfect end 41:59.384 --> 42:01.144 time. So in Isaiah, 42:01.136 --> 42:05.096 for example, the return will be a genuine, 42:05.099 --> 42:09.449 whole-hearted and permanent return to God. 42:09.450 --> 42:10.740 It will be the end of sin. 42:10.740 --> 42:12.420 It will be the end of idolatry. 42:12.420 --> 42:15.500 All the nations of the earth will recognize the Lord of 42:15.499 --> 42:18.619 history. A new epoch will open in world 42:18.623 --> 42:21.013 history. It's an enormous transformation. 42:21.010 --> 42:24.610 And Isaiah is the first to envisage this kind of 42:24.609 --> 42:27.749 transformation, the end of the dominion of 42:27.748 --> 42:29.508 idolatrous nations. 42:29.510 --> 42:33.630 When God comes to Jerusalem to save the remnant of Israel and 42:33.632 --> 42:37.482 gather in the dispersed exiles it will be a theophany, 42:37.480 --> 42:42.090 a self-revelation of God, of worldwide scope. 42:42.090 --> 42:44.230 Isaiah 2:2-4, "In the days to come, 42:44.227 --> 42:47.937 / The Mount of the Lord's House / Shall stand firm above the 42:47.936 --> 42:50.636 mountains / And tower above the hills;" 42:50.639 --> 42:52.739 So this little hill -- if you've ever been there, 42:52.737 --> 42:55.137 it's really not very big -- that the temple stood on, 42:55.139 --> 42:57.719 will tower like some large impregnable mountain, 42:57.722 --> 42:59.812 over all other hills and mountains, 42:59.810 --> 43:02.740 And all the nations Shall gaze on it with joy. 43:02.739 --> 43:04.689 And the many peoples shall go and say: 43:04.690 --> 43:06.070 "Come, Let us go up to the Mount of 43:06.071 --> 43:07.771 the Lord, To the House of the God of 43:07.773 --> 43:09.393 Jacob; That He may instruct us in His 43:09.388 --> 43:11.448 ways, And that we may walk in His 43:11.452 --> 43:12.892 paths." For instruction, 43:12.893 --> 43:14.873 [torah] will come forth from Zion, 43:14.869 --> 43:17.109 The word of the Lord from Jerusalem. 43:17.110 --> 43:19.220 Thus He will judge among the nations 43:19.219 --> 43:20.849 And arbitrate for the many peoples, 43:20.849 --> 43:23.259 And they shall beat their swords into plowshares 43:23.260 --> 43:25.280 And their spears into pruning hooks: 43:25.280 --> 43:28.130 Nation shall not take up Sword against nation; 43:28.130 --> 43:30.800 They shall never again know war. 43:30.800 --> 43:35.290 Note the direction that Israelite thought is taking. 43:35.289 --> 43:40.949 The J source in Genesis assumed that all humans had knowledge of 43:40.947 --> 43:44.087 Yahweh from the time of creation. 43:44.090 --> 43:47.640 And remember that that was one of the distinctive traits of J 43:47.643 --> 43:49.423 as opposed to P for example. 43:49.420 --> 43:52.040 They assume, however, that humans turned 43:52.039 --> 43:54.899 from Yahweh. So Yahweh selected one nation 43:54.901 --> 43:57.221 to know him and covenant with him. 43:57.219 --> 44:00.649 The Book of Deuteronomy accepts that Yahweh is Israel's God. 44:00.650 --> 44:03.430 Other nations have been assigned to the worship of other 44:03.433 --> 44:04.853 gods and that's just fine. 44:04.849 --> 44:08.849 But in classical prophecy, universal claims are made on 44:08.851 --> 44:10.261 behalf of Yahweh. 44:10.260 --> 44:13.500 According to the prophets, God will make himself known to 44:13.496 --> 44:16.036 all the nations, as he once did to Israel, 44:16.039 --> 44:19.079 and the universal worship or recognition of Yahweh will be 44:19.079 --> 44:20.839 established at the end of days. 44:20.840 --> 44:22.610 This is very different idea. 44:22.610 --> 44:26.600 And so as a consequence of this idea, the very notion of 44:26.600 --> 44:30.300 Israel's election is transformed by the prophets. 44:30.300 --> 44:33.940 In the Torah books, the election of Israel means 44:33.938 --> 44:38.658 simply God's undeserved choice of Israel as the nation to know 44:38.661 --> 44:41.991 him and bind itself in covenant to him. 44:41.989 --> 44:46.059 But in the prophetic literature, Israel's election is 44:46.064 --> 44:48.184 an election to a mission. 44:48.179 --> 44:53.219 Israel was chosen so as to be the instrument of universal 44:53.219 --> 44:57.359 redemption, universal recognition of Yahweh. 44:57.360 --> 45:01.300 When God comes finally to rescue the Israelites he will 45:01.297 --> 45:05.087 simultaneously reveal himself to all of humankind. 45:05.090 --> 45:08.030 They'll abandon their idols, they'll return to him. 45:08.030 --> 45:11.290 A messianic period of peace will follow. 45:11.289 --> 45:13.689 And eventually, we're going to see the idea 45:13.691 --> 45:17.011 that the mission for which Israel was elected was to become 45:17.007 --> 45:18.777 a "light unto the nations." 45:18.780 --> 45:22.660 This is a phrase that we're going to see in other parts of 45:22.661 --> 45:25.251 Isaiah, Isaiah 49, Isaiah 51, later. 45:25.250 --> 45:29.090 The royal ideology of Judah plays an important role in the 45:29.088 --> 45:32.858 eschatological vision of Isaiah because this new peaceful 45:32.859 --> 45:36.899 righteous kingdom is going to be restored by a Davidide. 45:36.900 --> 45:40.380 It's going to be restored by a king from the Branch of Jesse. 45:40.380 --> 45:41.970 David's father name was Jesse. 45:41.969 --> 45:44.759 So when you say the branch, or from the stump of Jesse, 45:44.762 --> 45:46.782 then you are referring to a Davidide. 45:46.780 --> 45:49.580 Isaiah 11 refers to the restoration of the Davidic line, 45:49.584 --> 45:52.494 which implies that it had been temporarily interrupted. 45:52.490 --> 45:54.810 So Isaiah 11 may be post-exilic. 45:54.809 --> 45:57.929 It may date from a time when people were hoping for a messiah 45:57.928 --> 46:00.058 to arise and restore the line of David. 46:00.060 --> 46:04.200 Isaiah 11:1-12,16: But a shoot shall grow 46:04.199 --> 46:07.249 out of the stump of Jesse, A twig shall sprout from his 46:07.253 --> 46:09.323 stock. The spirit of the Lord shall 46:09.322 --> 46:11.922 alight upon him: A spirit of wisdom and insight, 46:11.920 --> 46:14.860 A spirit of counsel and valor, A spirit of devotion and 46:14.855 --> 46:16.175 reverence for the Lord. 46:16.179 --> 46:19.269 He shall sense the truth by his reverence for the Lord: 46:19.269 --> 46:21.749 He shall not judge… by what his ears perceive. 46:21.750 --> 46:24.010 Thus he shall judge the poor with equit 46:24.010 --> 46:26.400 And decide with justice for the lowly of the land. 46:26.400 --> 46:29.510 He shall strike down a land with the rod of his mouth 46:29.510 --> 46:31.900 And slay the wicked with the breath of his lips. 46:31.900 --> 46:33.900 Justice shall be the girdle of his loins, 46:33.900 --> 46:35.790 And faithfulness the girdle of his waist. 46:35.789 --> 46:37.999 The wolf shall dwell with the lamb, 46:38.000 --> 46:39.950 The leopard lie down with the kid; 46:39.949 --> 46:42.949 The calf, the beast of prey, and the fatling together, 46:42.950 --> 46:44.290 With a little boy to herd them. 46:44.289 --> 46:46.749 The cow and the bear shall graze. 46:46.750 --> 46:49.330 (I think the bear is vegetarian, not killing the cow 46:49.334 --> 46:51.264 but eating the grass with the cow.) 46:51.260 --> 46:52.940 Their young shall lie down together; 46:52.940 --> 46:54.530 And the lion, like the ox, 46:54.527 --> 46:56.807 shall eat straw. A babe shall play 46:56.810 --> 47:00.660 Over a viper's hole, And an infant pass his hand 47:00.660 --> 47:03.120 Over an adder's den. The hostility, 47:03.119 --> 47:06.969 the animosity between humans and serpents or snakes which was 47:06.972 --> 47:10.252 decreed at the fall, the expulsion from Eden, 47:10.254 --> 47:12.514 is reversed in this end-time. 47:12.510 --> 47:15.430 This is a return to the situation in paradise. 47:15.430 --> 47:18.690 In all of My sacred mount Nothing evil or vile shall be 47:18.694 --> 47:20.174 done; For the land shall be filled 47:20.169 --> 47:22.549 with devotion to the Lord As water covers the sea. 47:22.550 --> 47:24.960 In that day, The stock of Jesse that has 47:24.961 --> 47:27.151 remained standing Shall become a standard to 47:27.151 --> 47:29.711 peoples-- Nations shall seek his counsel 47:29.710 --> 47:31.500 And his abode shall be honored. 47:31.500 --> 47:33.800 In that day, my Lord will apply his hand 47:33.802 --> 47:36.872 again to redeeming the other part of his peoples from 47:36.871 --> 47:38.821 Assyria-- as also from Egypt. 47:38.820 --> 47:40.380 Pathros, Nubia, Elam, Shinar, 47:40.380 --> 47:42.940 Hamath and the coastlands…Thus there shall be 47:42.944 --> 47:46.404 a highway for the other part of his people out of Assyria, 47:46.400 --> 47:48.840 such as there was for Israel when it left the land of 47:48.842 --> 47:51.042 Egypt. So this new ideal Davidic king 47:51.040 --> 47:54.220 will rule by wisdom and insight and the spirit of the Lord will 47:54.224 --> 47:56.494 "alight on him." That's a phrase that we saw 47:56.489 --> 47:59.259 being used in the case of judges and in the case of Saul or 47:59.260 --> 48:01.420 David. It doesn't refer to military 48:01.417 --> 48:02.957 might and strength here. 48:02.960 --> 48:07.060 It refers to counsel and a spirit of devotion to God. 48:07.059 --> 48:10.199 And this king's reign will begin an ingathering of the 48:10.199 --> 48:13.339 exiles of the nation and a transformed world order. 48:13.340 --> 48:16.120 So to conclude: Isaiah is typical of the 48:16.124 --> 48:20.344 prophetic reinterpretation of the ancient covenant promises, 48:20.337 --> 48:24.047 giving Israel a hope for a better, ideal future. 48:24.050 --> 48:26.770 And like the other prophets, he declared that the nation was 48:26.774 --> 48:29.184 in distress not because the promises weren't true but 48:29.175 --> 48:30.925 because they hadn't been believed. 48:30.929 --> 48:33.869 The nation's punishment was just a chastisement. 48:33.869 --> 48:36.029 It wasn't a revocation of the promises. 48:36.030 --> 48:38.900 The prophets pushed the fulfillment of the promises 48:38.903 --> 48:41.033 beyond the existing nation however. 48:41.030 --> 48:44.140 So only after suffering the punishment for the present 48:44.141 --> 48:46.961 failure would a future redemption be possible. 48:46.960 --> 48:49.890 So the national hope was maintained but pushed off to a 48:49.885 --> 48:51.725 future day. Alright, we'll deal with some 48:51.733 --> 48:53.313 more prophetic books when we come back. 48:53.309 --> 48:56.269 Please be sure to take the handouts in the box at the side 48:56.272 --> 48:57.002 of the room.