Isaiah
Introduction
Israel’s period of glory and prosperity was very short indeed. The kingdom of David, the kingdom of God among the people of Israel, had become a very small nation, no different from the rest of the small nations that were trying to survive in the midst of powerful neighbors. The Israelites believed in their mission as long as good fortune was on their side. When it became obvious that they could no longer maintain their privileged situation, the Israelites lost the sense of their own destiny and began to live like the rest.
Israel knew that the Lord, their God, is the “God of gods” because of their books and because the old people told their children; the Israelites go up to Jerusalem to offer sacrifices and follow the religious customs of their elders. But, as Isaiah will reproach them, all of this is nothing more than human laws, a religion that is learned and does not spring from the heart. The processions are well attended, the clergy is powerful, but behind this façade, life is absent and a godless king is able to destroy everything (2 K 21).
Actually, faith is without power unless it relies on an “experience” of God. If we have not had that experience, if the faithful as a whole have not had it, if they are taught only the religious experience of their forebears, all will die little by little. Isaiah is the man who at this time lived this experience and encountered the living God. This young man, of noble birth “had seen the Lord” (Chap. 6) and never ceased to speak in the name of God present in Israel, but whom Israel did not know.
What do we find in the following poems?
– Echoes of days of anguish. Judah, quite small, is squeezed in between two great nations, Ashur (Assyria) and Egypt, and the politicians wonder which of the two they must allow to swallow them up. Isaiah responds: “Seek first the kingdom of God and see to it that you practice justice among yourselves. God will make you stronger than the powerful.”
– A persevering struggle to arouse faith in those deprived of vision. The externals of religion abound, but there is very little sense of responsibility, not much love for God, and little concern about doing his will. Isaiah will repeat: “Believe in him, he is among you, and if you do not become strong by relying on him, he will crush you.”
– God’s promises to David’s descendants. Whether the rulers are good like Hezekiah or estranged like Ahaz, they are mediocre men not to be trusted with such great promises. Yet, in the darkest hours, Isaiah will declare that the Lord has chosen Jerusalem and David, his king. From David’s line, Christ, the king of Peace, will be born.
Some Facts About Isaiah’s Time
Beginning in the year 740 B.C., the northern nation of Ashur rises up and begins its conquests. All the peoples of the Middle East are afraid and try to resist, with the encouragement of Egypt, another great power. In this conflict the northern nation of Israel disappears; Samaria, its capital, is captured and its residents deported in the year 720 B.C.
In the year 736 B.C., northern Israel and their neighbors from Aram try to force the kingdom of Judah to join them against Ashur. Then Ahaz, the king of Jerusalem, calls for the help of the Assyrian armies, in spite of Isaiah’s warnings. The Assyrians destroy both Israel and Aram, and plunder the land of Judah.
In the years 701–691 B.C., Sennacherib, king of Assyria, comes to subdue Judah. King Hezekiah, encouraged by Isaiah, resists the enemy, and the famous liberation of Jerusalem takes place.
The Book of Isaiah
The Book of Isaiah and his disciples is the most important of the prophetic books. Jesus and his apostles will often quote it. Isaiah’s words are found in Chapters 1–39 of the book bearing his name. The second and the third parts of the book, namely, Chapters 40–66, bring together the words of other prophets who wrote a century and a half later.
For the second part of the Book of Isaiah and the poems of the Servant of the Lord (Chaps. 40–55), see Introduction on pages 820-821.
For the third part of the Book of Isaiah (Chaps. 56–66), see Introduction on page 849.
1.1 Verse 1 introduces the prophecies of the first twelve chapters. We find messages proclaimed on different occasions over a long period, but they are not arranged according to the time they were spoken.
I raised children… but they have risen against me (v. 2). We often think that God demands what is due him, but it is not so: the Lord is a Father, a neglected Father. His love is wounded, not because of any particular sin, but because his children are irresponsible: my people do not understand (v. 3).
Perverted children (v. 4). People must hear the prophets’ harsh words. The power of their interests, their passions and propaganda are such that they are accustomed to accepting everything, except the truth and their vocation as sons and daughters of God.
The Holy One of Israel (v. 4). In Chapter 6, God will reveal himself as the Holy One, that is to say, God whose mystery is inaccessible and whose brilliance causes the death of any creature blemished by sin. Isaiah will be the prophet of the Holy God.
Shall I strike you again and again? (v. 5). Scarcity, bad laws, defeat are not in themselves punishment from God; we cause them ourselves. If those who are suffering are God’s children, God is committed to them, yet he does not spare them because only suffering can teach them. So, in another sense, it is true that God is the one striking them.
Here we have several expressions which are repeated in the following pages:
The Daughter of Zion (v. 8) means the city of Zion or Jerusalem. Zion was the area of Jerusalem where David had established his residence.
The Lord Sabaoth or the Lord of Hosts (v. 9): it is an ancient title for the Lord. It means both the God who leads Israel’s armies to victory and the God who rules the heavenly hosts, the angels, the stars and the forces of the universe.
11. What do I care for your endless sacrifices? It is characteristic of the prophets to condemn external worship that does not express a true surrender to God. The sacrifices and the festivals in question here were required by the law of God, yet God says that he detests them because, when done without proper dispositions, they are a lie (see Ps 40:7 and 50:16, also, Mt 5:23).
Give the fatherless their rights (v. 17). The Mosaic commandments condemned theft (Ex 20:14). The prophets denounce a social system which crushes the lowly.
Some people are fond of great ceremonies, others of their own devotions and prayers, and still others, of doing generous and philanthropic works. When doing this, we may be covering up the injustice we do every day.
21. Jerusalem is the city chosen by God. As the groom chooses his bride, so did the Lord choose his people. Now, they are a harlot, because with their crimes, their trampling on the poor, they are unfaithful to the Lord. Those who forget God and run after their own interests, without caring for their brothers and sisters, are adulterers.
It is a question of justice. Justice is one of the words most often used by the prophets. In Scripture, the “just one” is the one who lives according to the truth, that is, who remains faithful to the Covenant with God. What the prophets ask with such insistence is that justice be a profound righteousness and not just an external observance of the laws. Finally, with Jesus, we come to the “justice” of the Holy Spirit, meaning the holiness of God deep in the human heart.
The deliverance of Zion will be like a judgment (v. 27). Israel, plundered and ruined, prays for salvation. God says, “My salvation means punishing what you are doing.”
Here we have something very new. Up to this time people always prayed for the salvation of Israel, and if they were faithful God promised them prosperity in the Promised Land. Here Isaiah opens up other perspectives. God comes to judge his people and it is the just who will be saved (cf. v. 27). A new world is beginning, and Isaiah understands that this future will be beyond the present world where violence prevails. A new age is foreseen.
We must also note that Israel’s opposition to the “nations,” that is to the rest of humanity, has disappeared: different peoples come to Jerusalem to find there a light that God has simply put into the hands of his people.
Without saying it, Isaiah questions Jewish nationalism and in the poems that follow (7:10; 9:1; 11:1), he will show the figure of a Savior who in a certain way will be a son of David, but certainly not the heir of corrupt kings and judges who reign and govern in the Name of the Lord.
Jesus and the Apostles will in their turn, speak of a judgment. God prepares something new, and he cannot but condemn and destroy a world that has grown old in evil to which we become too easily accustomed. Certain liberation in history bring to mind the coming of a kingdom (as in Exodus, Isaiah 37, in Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem…). More often moments of anguish prepare for it, less through the good they bring than because they destroy ancient structures in which sin was embedded (Lk 21, 28 and Rev).
29. This passage deals with the pagan cults which were practiced in groves and woods where they used to sleep with the prostitutes consecrated to the Baals.
2.1 This is apparently an unreal vision and yet it is being fulfilled and will be fulfilled.
The small hill overlooking the city of David and on which Solomon’s temple is built has become in this vision the center of the universe. All the nations are going there. Why are they going there? Because they know they need the word of God. After having exhausted the resources of science, economy, and politics, they realize they need a teaching, that is to say, a Revelation from God. The word “Torah,” which in later days will mean the “Law,” originally means the instruction given by God as we translate it here.
The law of God teaches us the meaning of human life and the mission of humankind. The answer to such questions is finally found in the person of Christ, Son of God become human, the model for his brothers and sisters. Recall how Jesus also went up a mountain to be transfigured before his apostles. It is there that they were given the law and the teaching: “Listen to him.”
Let us go to the house of the God of Jacob (v. 3). The kingdom of God will be formed around the people of Jacob-Israel and their kings, the descendants of David. Throughout the ages, God preserves a Center in the world, the visible focus of the invisible kingdom: first, Israel, then the remnant of Israel which is in the Church. Today, the Church reveals itself as a sign upon a mountain, open to the contemplation of both believing and unbelieving people.
The Church indeed has many unattractive aspects: her institutions, her hierarchy; her paralyzing traditions are no more exempt from error and scandals than were those of the Jewish community. Perhaps we fail to discern the profound riches which the Church develops in sincere believers. In the world, they are those who keep the fire that Christ lit burning, and who create a network of more human relationships and more authentic life around them.
In the final analysis, this is what prepares for the coming of the “new creature.” Isaiah alone has done more for human progress than all the kings of Assyria with their armies, their victories, and their laws. This leaven of authentic civilization is what, one day, will be placed “on the high mountains”, or “on a lampstand” to enlighten the world. (See Mt 5:15.)
6. This text is not addressed to Jerusalem (capital of Judah), but to the northern kingdom (Samaria is the capital) which bears the name of their ancestor Jacob-Israel.
At the time, the northern kingdom had enjoyed years of prosperity. It followed that idols multiplied. In those days, those who became rich did not know what to do with their gold other than to make statues and ornaments which they dedicated to some god from whom they expected security and protection. Isaiah foresaw the disaster which was approaching for those unconcerned people.
Isaiah considers war as disasters and the terror of the defeated as an encounter of materialistic-minded people with their God who comes to judge them.
Their land is full of idols (v. 8). An idol in our life is like a cancer in the body; it is something overly important which consumes our real life. This is what science, progress, conveniences, a house, a car or money do when they are no longer a means of fulfilling God’s plans but instead we devote to them all our energy and hope.
Note the refrain in 11 and 17: the pride of mortal will be brought low. Pride of the great, of the wise, pride of the mediocre and of the falsely humble. The pride of the religious person who believes he knows God because he knows how to speak about him. Pride of the mortal creature coming to the end of his days without having encountered the living God. More than folly, pride is an insult to the Holy God and it demands amendment: the more divine love is, the more demanding and jealous it is.
3.9 The prophets do not speak of poverty because it would hide historic reality. In Isaiah’s view, the poor are poor because others are oppressors. The sin is in the laws and in those who have forgotten God to the point of taking power into their own hands. Isaiah denounces the sin of the leaders to save the entire people from God’s judgment.
16. Isaiah castigates the wealthy women of Jerusalem, all equipped to seduce like the idols whose jewels have been paid for with the blood of the poor. We have the same maledictions in Amos 4:1. Maledictions that the poor of today could legitimately call down on our materialist countries: we think of the astronomic sums dispensed for dogs, drugs, and pornography, not to mention the remedies for those who have over-eaten.
The remainder of the discourse is in 4:1: the imminent disaster will account for the many widows; cost what it may, they will search for a husband who will give them legal protection at least.
4.2 In the turbulent history of nations, God allows small and insignificant people to take shape. From among them a chosen group called “Remnant” appears and takes root. As a pyramid is gradually reduced to a point, so is this remnant reduced, until it becomes only one man, the Savior. Here, he is called the fruit of the earth (v. 2). He is also called Shoot because he will be the sprout for the new humanity.
Notice here, as in 1:27, that the kingdom of God begins with a “judgment.” This means that human beings alone cannot build a lasting city. Isaiah denounces at the same time the sin of individuals and the sin of the nation. No nation can present itself as the kingdom of God on earth. The Jewish people directed by the law of Moses, and the kingdom of David consecrated by God, only represented the first phase of sacred history. They would have to give up their ambitions and their human limitations (a kingdom of God in Palestine!) to receive from God a new covenant: see Jeremiah 31:31. It is Christ who judges the world (Jn 12:31) and who pardons its sins (Jn 20:22).
Also, as in 2:2, the kingdom of God is a place where God becomes present to his people: see the Cloud and the pillar of fire in Exodus 13:21.
Above Mount Zion, which symbolizes the Church, God will be a shade from the scorching heat by day (v. 6).
– He will provide rest for the weary: “Come to me and I will refresh you” (Mt 11:28).
– The new trends in the world can harm the unwary and the isolated but not those who live in the church community.
It seems, however, that only a small remnant is assembled there on Mt. Zion. Let us not say that only a small number of the elect (in which we number of course), will be saved for eternity. It is better to say that the Church in this world will always seem to be a small remnant; likewise in what is called the Church or people of God, only a small number will live the promises of God (Lk 12:32).
5.1 Song of the “love” of God who, at the end, threatens to destroy those who despise him. Isaiah knows this well because he encountered God whose love is tender and terrible.
The prophets readily exchange the language of religion for the language of passionate love. Friend, Lover, Husband: The Lord does not resemble God as depicted by the Jews.
The vineyard is the people whom the Lord nurtured over the centuries of their history and among whom so many prophets worked, watering it with their sweat, if not with their blood. Perhaps we should not look for a specific meaning in every detail of the parable: the tower, the winepress. In a somewhat similar text, in Micah 6:1-5, God reminds us of all he has done for his people.
After seeing how considerate the Lord has been, Isaiah denounces the injustice and oppression which rule daily life in Jerusalem. In that, he sees proof that the law, the miracles and the blessings of the Lord have been in vain. Their history shows that the kingdom of David is already a failure and Judah will be destroyed.
The same image of the vineyard appears in Isaiah 27:2 and in Jeremiah 2:21. Jesus will recall it in John 15.
8. God does not tolerate that some occupy all the land when many are without a plot to live (see Lev 25:8). There is no justification either for a society leaving all the capital in the hands of owners so that most of the workers cannot benefit from the riches of their own country. Isaiah’s words also condemn those who take over all the real power in a society, preventing others from exercising their human responsibilities.
The six woes point to the same people: to the rich and the noble who are unwilling to shoulder their responsibilities towards their people and who squander money. Their own judgment has become corrupt.
When false values are imposed on a society it culminates in evil. This is the social scandal which Jesus addressed in Matthew 18:7.
Isaiah predicts the exile without hesitation. It would have been wiser to understand the will of God and how he rules over events. The people, unfortunately, make use of their intelligence only to advance their own interests or to excel in the empty games of the rich. They allow their own people to sink into poverty.
6.1 On that day, in the year 740 B.C., Isaiah is in the temple, or rather, he sees himself in the temple, in spirit. In the innermost room, where the Ark is kept, there is only the divine presence: the Lord seated as king, the train of his cloak filling the anteroom as if to express the overflow of holiness and the power of God over the holy place and the city of Jerusalem.
During this brief moment, Isaiah encounters God in an intimate, authentic way, and this encounter will mark him for his entire life. This cannot be expressed, nor can he try to describe the Lord who communicated with him spiritually. The vision he has, the images he sees and the words that he hears are like flashes emerging from this mysterious and unspeakable encounter.
Isaiah speaks of the holy God, that is to say, totally other, infinitely different from any creature. At the very moment of becoming present, he is out of our reach. Holy God is a way of saying that God is mystery. Isaiah continues to hold on to the presence of God and at the same time, he is invaded by a fear which is not frightening. In the presence of the Holy One, we experience ourselves as sinners, not because of a particular sin, but because of our very nature; we feel incapable of placing ourselves in the hands of God who surrounds us with his presence.
Poor me! I am doomed! (v. 5) because God has said, “No one can see me and live” (Ex 33:20). God makes the first move and the Seraph purifies Isaiah through divine fire. Isaiah is forgiven in the very instant he responds by an act of faith and completely accepts his mission. From then on, Isaiah will know and will say that it is necessary to choose: either believe in the Lord or else be destroyed by contact with the Holy One.
Seraphim, that is, the burning ones (cf. v. 6). The Israelites always believed in good and evil spirits. From their time in the desert, they attribute to some of these spirits the form of burning serpents; read Numbers 21:4-9; 2 Kings 18:4 on the subject. These texts help us to understand why the Lord appears surrounded by fantastic Seraphim with human faces. Being superior to humans, these beings can live close to God, but they must shield themselves from the splendor of his glory.
The glory of God is the radiance coming from God, who is present in the Jerusalem temple, as in the center of the world, radiating his power from one end of the earth to the other.
Isaiah receives his mission:
– He will be God’s spokesperson.
– Instead of believing, the people will harden their hearts.
– This will be the cause of Judah’s ruin. All that will remain will be the root from which something new will spring forth.
Much as you hear… (v. 9) Here God speaks ironically. In vain will they listen to the message of the prophet. In vain will they see the events of which they are witnesses and through which God speaks to them. Many times Isaiah will denounce this double voluntary blindness (1:12; 28:9-12). The tense of the Hebrew verb could be translated in the present or the future: it is already true and yet will be worse.
Make their ears deaf (v. 10). The text here uses a form that is difficult to translate and means: you are going to make them, or you will the occasion of their hardening… The end of the phrase shows clearly that God speaks ironically. What a misfortune for them should they be converted! It is only in this way that God will heal all the wounds of his people (1:5,26-28).
It is evident that if this irony is not seen—it will be found in numerous texts of the prophets—or if the special mood of the Hebrew verb is not noted, a person could be scandalized in thinking that God sends the prophet for the sole purpose of not being listened to and consequently for the people to be lost.
These verses apply not only to Isaiah’s mission but to Jesus himself (Mt 13:14) and after him, to the apostles (Acts 28:26 and Jn 12:40). They will use these words to express the result of their own mission. Challenged by the word of God, many people and social groups close themselves and reject the message which might have saved them. The word of God is for our rising or our downfall, depending on how we welcome it (Lk 2:34).
7.1 The passage 7:1-9 summarizes the situation which developed in 736 when the people of Aram and Israel (the northern kingdom with its capital, Samaria) invaded the kingdom of Judah and Jerusalem (the southern kingdom). Several names may make this text difficult to understand: Rezin, king of Aram and Pekah, Remaliah’s son, king of Israel (also called Ephraim: v. 9), are the enemies.
King Ahaz thinks of everything except the help of God who committed himself to David’s heirs as long as they would trust him and seek justice.
Isaiah opposes the king: if the Assyrians intervene, there will be as much destruction in Judah as in Israel and Aram, even if Ahaz is the ally of the Assyrians. The king must rely on the Covenant and the Lord’s protection.
10. The prophecy about the Virgin giving birth is one of the most important in the Scriptures even though it leaves some questions unanswered.
To support his warnings already expressed in verses 4-9, Isaiah offers a miraculous sign to the king: Ask the Lord… (v. 11). Ahaz piously refuses to hide his determination not to turn back (cf. v. 12). Then, the prophet explodes in anger: these descendants of David whom God has always protected are useless: a descendant of David of another kind will be able to bring salvation to God’s people. The Lord is preparing to send him. His mother (called here the Virgin: see what follows) gives him the name he will deserve (cf. v. 14). Before this future king may bring peace, he will be raised humbly (v. 15). Before that Ahaz’s and his followers’ absurd politics would certainly bring total ruin to the country.
Now a few points need to be clarified.
Immanuel means God-with-us (v. 14). This child not only gives us God’s blessings, or miraculous and divine liberation, but through him, God becomes present among humankind and the promises heard so many times come true: I will be their God and they will be my people (Hos 2:25; Ezk 37:27; Rev 21:3).
Why does the Gospel use the word “Virgin” (Mt 1:23) where Isaiah speaks in verse 14 of the young (mother)?
The term used by Isaiah signifies in the biblical texts, at times a young girl, at times a young woman: it is a question of a young person. It was used like that without anything added to denote the young queen. On the other hand, the prophets used to say the Virgin of Israel or the Virgin Daughter of Zion to refer to the people and to the Holy City (Is 37:22). And so to them, the verse, the Virgin will give birth, could also mean: the believing community will give birth to the Messiah.
Since God is giving a sign to all the people, the question of time must be exact, otherwise, how could it be a sign? The young (mother) was perhaps Ahaz’s wife whose motherhood would have anticipated salvation. However, Ahaz’s son and successor Ezekiah whom Scripture considers as a good king was already born at that time. Moreover, how is it possible that Isaiah spoke about him in such an extraordinary manner (see 9:1-6).
It is also possible that this young mother was the one referred to by the prophet Micah when he spoke with enigmatic words of “the one who is to give birth” (5:2). These words seem to allude to the believers’ community from which the Messiah will be born.
The prophecy of Isaiah was actually understood as an announcement of the Messiah, which is why they kept it for future times. In that case, how can we understand Isaiah’s announcement of such birth as a close event that would be a sign for his listeners?
We cannot answer these questions because we do not know the exact words of Isaiah. Remember that his prophecy came to us as it was written by his disciples. However, by comparing these lines with those in Micah 5:2, we can at least approximate the message. Isaiah speaks as did the prophets: they see and gather together in one vision events which are perhaps far removed in time but follow the same line and set a direction in history.
Isaiah is giving a sign to King Ahaz, to his heirs, David’s descendants (v. 13), and to all who live in a world devastated by sin, and this sign points to Christ. Just as in the lost earthly Paradise, we have the image of a woman, or of the son of a woman, who will crush the serpent’s head, here we have another image, that of the virgin with her son, God-with-us. Immanuel suffers for his brothers’ and sisters’ sins, and that is why he can reconcile us with God.
Many believing Jews suspected that the Messiah’s origin would be extraordinary; before Jesus, the Greek translation of the Scriptures had already substituted the word “virgin” for the original term young girl.
So the evangelists would easily have recognized the fulfillment of that prophecy in the virginal birth of Jesus.
8.1 Prophets teach through their words and their actions. Here, the strange name that Isaiah gives his son serves as a warning for everyone. Such a name, along with Immanuel form a pair in this chapter and complement each other in pointing both to the invasion caused by Ahaz and to the liberation which will come later.
The waters of Shiloah (v. 6) are the only source of water supply for Jerusalem, located on a plateau. They symbolize the secret protection of the Lord, present in the midst of his people and in whom all should place their faith. Whereas the king of Assyria whom Ahaz called for help, would be like the river whose raging waters will flood everything. He will destroy Judah’s enemies, but will also leave Judah in ruins. In this, we also have the prophecy about the destiny of modern nations that believe they will solve their internal problems by jumping on the bandwagon of more powerful nations.
11. When his hand grasped me. Isaiah is referring to one of those decisive encounters when God made him his prophet and he was under the wing of God’s Spirit.
Do not speak of conspiracy! (v. 12). God acts in his prophets and frees them from fear. They are no longer paralyzed by the fears of the society in which they live. They are able to see and to show new ways.
Only the Lord Sabaoth is holy, only him must you fear (v. 13). For Jerusalem, it is a privilege to have God in its midst. Rather than being frightened by human dangers, the Jews should look to God and obey him. In their midst, God is like the stone which hardly emerges from the ground but causes a fall for those who do not see it. Jesus will appear as a stumbling stone (Mt 21:44).
God hides his face from the people of Jacob (v. 17). Humanly speaking, the people of Jerusalem have good reasons for not following the Lord’s command given through Isaiah, and God does not work a miracle to persuade them at that time. God “hides” because faith relies on his word and does not demand miracles.
We are signs in Israel (v. 18). Isaiah has concluded his interventions and they have not listened to him. All he can do now is to wait in silence for the events to occur. His two sons, to whom he gave symbolic names: Quick to plunder—Booty is Close (v. 3) and A-remnant-will-return (7:3) remind everyone of his predictions. The first of these names refers to the near future; the second, to the end of the crisis. (See 10:20.)
19. Israel, who did not listen to the word of the living God, is left with one recourse: to consult the dead through the fortune-tellers and the mediums: Isaiah makes fun of them (vv. 19-20).
9.1 This poem may have been composed in the year 732 B.C. when the king of Assyria destroyed Israel, kindred and enemies at the same time. According to their custom, the Assyrians took many of the people to the other end of their empire. They resided in the territory of Zebulun and Naphtali (see the previous paragraph, Is 8:23) which, centuries later, would become Galilee. Dispersed among the pagans, they were coming out of sacred history to enter into darkness.
The liberation promised to them is presented as a crushing victory of the Lord, inaugurating a reign of peace, related to Emmanuel.
The people who walk in darkness… The Gospel (Mt 4:16) sees in that people the crowds whom Jesus addresses:
– a people dominated by every kind of oppressors;
– a people seeking light and without hope.
A child is born (v. 5): in growing up he will lose nothing of his child-like qualities, but will do away with the pride of nations.
Without a doubt, this child is the one named Emmanuel in 7:15. Here again, his name signifies what God will do through him. Through him, God will be revealed as “Wonderful Counselor” which means he whose “counsel,” whose plans are marvelously wise. God “Father” as he was for David, “Mighty God” as he was for Jacob. The “Prince of Peace,” he is still God but he will be so in giving the victory to his king, his “messiah,” as he did for David.
As was already the case for Emmanuel, God-with-us, these appellations which seem at first said for God could be equally applied to the future king who will be “his” king, which is usually expressed with the word Messiah. In any case, it prophetically announces what in fact would happen: God himself will come in the person of Jesus.
WE DO NOT ABANDON HOPE
In the Scriptures, many promises appear as if they would happen immediately.
Abraham is promised a son and Isaac is born, but the true heir is Christ. Abraham is promised a land for his children who will, in fact, occupy Canaan; but the true land is the kingdom of God. David is promised an heir and a lasting kingdom, but Christ is the definitive king, not Solomon.
7. The poem beginning here and ending in 10:4 was written years before the one we just read. It is addressed to the people of Israel who, although weakened by their defeats, remain unconcerned and indifferent to God.
What the prophet condemns on God’s behalf is their social injustice.
10:2, “the widows, the orphans:” which means those who have no protection.
Scripture often calls our attention to them; it also mentions “the foreigner,” meaning the immigrant.
10.5 This poem addresses the Assyrians when they were still a threat, perhaps in the campaign of 701 (see the commentary on Chap. 31).
20. In 8:3 we already mentioned Isaiah’s son whom he called “Quick to plunder-Booty is Close.” Here, his other son’s name, mentioned in 7:3, A-remnant-will-return, is explained. Several times in the Scriptures we find Remnant which refers to the Remnant of Israel, namely, the small group who will remain after God punishes Israel for their infidelity (see Am 5:15).
From the time God spoke to Elijah of the “seven thousand Israelites” (1 K 19:18), the prophets are constantly repeating that the sins of Israel will not cancel God’s plans. A remnant will remain when Israel is destroyed, and they will return. This has a double meaning:
– they will return from the countries where they were deported;
– they will return to their God interiorly: they will be converted to the Lord in their hearts.
11.1 Those who have read the New Testament know that the Jews of Jesus’ time were expecting a Messiah. This, however, was not always the case. From Abraham to David, the Israelites were looking for the land promised by God and they conquered it. After David, they thought that a better king could not be found and, during the two and a half centuries that followed, they hoped only that their present and future kings would resemble David. The very promise that God made to David about his descendants (2 S 7:14) was not understood as the announcement of a future Messiah.
Isaiah is the first to announce the Messiah, namely, a king like David but better. Here he is presented as a shoot coming from the stump, once the tree has been felled. Thus, he suggests that the present kings, who are sinners and without much faith, will disappear. More than a descendant of David, Emmanuel will be a new David (he is called son of Jesse like David).
The spirit of the Lord will rest on him as it did on the prophets and more so. The prophets were inspired by a mysterious power called “Spirit of God,” but not at all times. In him, the Spirit would dwell always:
– a spirit of wisdom and intelligence, as Solomon had;
– a spirit of prudence and strength, like David’s;
– a spirit of knowledge and respect for the Lord, as Moses and the Patriarchs had.
To do justice for the meek (v. 4) was and continues to be the first function of sovereigns. The Messiah-King would be God’s deputy, attentive to the poor, and he must receive the Spirit, or Breath of God for this endeavor. We must not see material liberation as opposed to spiritual liberation as if believers were to let others build a more just world. God’s work that saves persons, can never be separated from educating people: it demands the repression of the oppressors and ruling in the fear of the Lord.
It would be wrong to think that, with Christ, this longing for justice was finished. The love and forgiveness that Jesus proclaims bring about the salvation of humankind through truth, justice, and shared food. Should we forget these requirements, “spiritual” and naive love would be nothing but an illusion.
The renewal of God’s people will be manifested in nature: the lion will eat hay. To put this in modern terms: thanks to technology and a greater cooperation between people, nature’s hostile forces will be placed at the service of humankind.
Beginning with Isaiah, the prophets will see the Messiah, or the future king anointed by God, as a man of the Spirit. See the second part of Isaiah 42:1 and the commentary of this text Jesus gave in Nazareth (Lk 4:18). When the spirit of God is conferred on believers through the sacrament of confirmation, the church recalls the spirit of wisdom, intelligence, strength, etc.
10. This poem in verses 10-16 was written at the time of the exile. It was placed here to develop the prophecy concerning the “stump of Jesse.”
In verses 10 and 12 note the theme of the “signal for the nations,” found also in Luke 2:32, though in a different form.
Then we have a song of thanksgiving. About the fountains of salvation, see Isaiah 55:1 and the story of the Samaritan woman in John 4:1.
13.1 Chapters 13 to 33 are a series of oracles against the neighboring people. Scripture calls them the nations, and since the word of God was not addressed to these people, they were pagans. And so, whenever we read “the nations” in the Scriptures, we can translate it as “the pagans” or “the foreigners.”
It must be admitted that these chapters gather together poems that are vastly different regarding date and spirit. Some of them are from Isaiah and are not really “against” neighboring nations: they are warnings to the people of Judah and Jerusalem to rely on the protection of the Lord instead of letting themselves get involved in coalitions against Assyria.
For example, 14:28-32. An embassy of Philistines came to Jerusalem after a number of setbacks at the hands of the Assyrians. Isaiah’s message is: Assyria will recover, Judah will be saved if it remains neutral, trusting in the Lord.
Again in Chapter 16, Moab must have been ravaged by the Assyrian troops and came to ask help from Judah remembering how in the past Moab had been protected by the kings of Jerusalem and paid them a tribute of wool and sheep. Isaiah’s reply: Let them weep.
The poem 13:1-22 has been inserted much later in the Book of Isaiah, certainly well after the end of Babylon which it recounts. It is equally true for 14:1-2 and 22-23. We note in 13:3 the “saints,” (or holy ones) meaning celestial personages also termed “sons of God,” or “angels.” During the last centuries before Christ, it was thought that through their intermediary God directed history (Dn 4:14).
14.3 See verse 2: it is still far from the Gospel and the missionary spirit!
The poem in verses 3-21 was spoken by Isaiah on the occasion of the death of an Assyrian king: here these words are applied much later to the ruin of Babylon which had become the symbol of the fall of God’s enemies.
It is worth noting how those empires of Assyria, Babylon, and Egypt which dominated the world and made the Jews tremble disappeared without leaving a trace.
17.1 Despite its title this poem should not have been placed among the prophecies against the nations. It is a warning to the kingdom of Israel to the north. Verses 10-11 surely allude to the cult of the god Adonis whose death and return to life were symbols of the return of vegetation. It would seem that for his feasts people cultivated earliest and fast-growing plants which appeared and soon withered: in this way people celebrated their mourning for Adonis. The prophet sees there an image of what idols produce in the life of Israel.
18.1 See commentary on 13:1. However, in 18:7 and 19:16-24, note two additions placed there much later. The first mentions a cult which was celebrated in a Jewish temple built in Heliopolis (which means: City of the Sun).
The second is one of the most extraordinary paragraphs of the Old Testament, for it affirms that the day will come in which foreign nations will share all the privileges of Israel.
20.1 We can easily imagine the impact of this symbolic gesture. Egypt was among the powerful nation of that time. Compared with Assyria, an example of military power, Egypt was the richer country, with a more refined civilization. The Jews were counting on Egypt and were asking for help: chariots and horses.
“Alas for those who trust in humans” (Jer 17:5).
22.1 Concerning the Valley of Vision, namely, the cursed valley “Gehenna,” bordering Jerusalem on the south. All the people went up to express their delight. Hezekiah’s military victory or costly surrender to the Assyrians? Isaiah knows that today’s meager success means tomorrow’s defeat and humiliation. If they had listened to him instead of relying on their strength and their diplomacy, the Lord would have saved them.
8. The Jews were dragged into a new coalition against Assyria (years 705–701 B.C.). Hezekiah reinforces Jerusalem’s defenses before Sennacherib’s arrival.
Isaiah looks at the restlessness of those who refused to hear the call of the Lord: he asked them to stay out of fruitless struggles and to dedicate themselves to bringing about justice.
Neither Assyria nor Egypt is the savior that Israel needs. Assyria and Egypt, fighting against each other for predominance, are not preparing a civilization for the future. In the days of Isaiah, no one knew that Assyria and Egypt were about to disappear, or to lose their influence. People could not guess that the following centuries would be dominated by new cultures based on moral values (Buddhism) or a new sense of the creative human personality (Greek culture). Israel would also create one of these cultures through the sense of responsibility, the concern for justice, and the obedience to God’s word: this was Isaiah’s preaching.
Isaiah seemingly forgets what is needed for the security of his country, too small to survive without help, he even indicates the most pressing political needs when he speaks of establishing national life on a just and moral basis. This is the only way to prepare for an unknown future, knowing that God is the one who has planned history long ago.
The people were having a good time in order to forget their tragedy. “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die” (v. 13). Paul recalls these words in 1 Corinthians 15:32.
23.1 The poem against Tyre is perhaps Isaiah’s. Tyre, the great commercial center of Palestine was for them what the great centers of international commerce are for us. The prophet speaks of “prostitution”: one could find there the embryo for which we can reproach the society of consumption. Verses 15-18 were most probably written centuries later when Tyre was for a time in the orbit of the Jewish nation.
24.1 When Isaiah was announcing the coming of Emmanuel and a new “victory of Midian,” he was expecting this to happen soon. He could foresee that events were heading for a crisis in which God would give victory to his people.
However, after the exile, when the Jews had returned to Palestine and nothing was happening, many despaired because history was following its usual course. They lost trust in human power to bring about something really new and placed all their hopes in a divine intervention that would shake the world order.
This expectation is characteristic of the books termed “apocalyptic,” expressed in a part of the poems of Chapters 24–27: they were inserted in the Book of Isaiah a long time after him.
Verses 7-12 should be put in parentheses, as they are of the same spirit as 16:7-12, and break the thread of the poem. This apocalyptic chapter announces a cosmic intervention of the Lord. The earth is ravaged but there are survivors in all the pagan people. These recognize the true God and sing his glory.
In verses 21-23, all nature is judged, the heavenly powers, cosmic spirits charged with the good order of the universe as well as the earthly kings charged with doing justice here below.
25.1 Chapters 25 and 26:1-6: a thanksgiving to the Lord who has done away with the presence of the oppressor. His citadel, installed, it would seem, in Jerusalem itself had been completely destroyed. Stanza 25:6-9 recalls that this victory is only one stage: the great hope is “the banquet of the elect” after the judgment when God will destroy death. John will use these images in Revelations 7:17 and 21:4.
26.7 This psalm of hope was written long after Isaiah. It exemplifies Jewish piety in the centuries after their return home, following the exile.
The people returned from exile, full of hope. The masters to whom they were subjected were perhaps foreigners, possibly their own kings before the exile (vv. 13-14). Now all has changed, now the community wants no other sovereign than God and counts only on the Law (vv. 8 and 16). They hoped for their liberation (v. 17). They believed that upon return, they would build a better world, but this apparently did not happen (v. 18), since the pagans remained in the Holy Land and continued to make the life of believers difficult (vv. 10-12). So, the people pray to God for the time of their restoration. God, being just, will not only grant them the liberation of the living, but will raise the innocent victims who trusted in him, so that they may also know God’s peace (vv. 19-21).
27.2 Verses 2-5: a “song of the vine” in contrast with the threatening song, 5:1-7.
28.1 Chapters 28–35. In these chapters, we find a mixture of many poems from different sources.
Verses 1-6. Oracles against Samaria: pronounced immediately before its destruction (721); see commentary on 2:6-19.
7. In verses 7-22, we find a very important poem. To understand it, let us not forget that Isaiah addresses people steeped in a religious culture. They do nothing without consulting priests and prophets. It is known that these prophets are members of confraternities of some kind charged with the guidance of those who seek counsel from the Lord: but all that is more of self-interest and not a matter of seeking the will of God. In verse 11, the prophet is the one who knows how to read God’s messages and reads for those who do not; but what God has to say is sealed and is not accessible to these kinds of prophets.
The priests and false prophets make fun of Isaiah, saying his words make no sense other than warnings to little children. Isaiah tells them: since you refuse to understand the Lord’s warnings, he will speak to you in a stronger way through events where you will not know what to do and you will have in your homeland strangers whose language you will not understand (the same message in 29:14).
14. Verses 14-15 and 18-19: the king’s counselors enter into political alliances, playing Egypt against Assyria; Isaiah demands that they seek salvation elsewhere than in these games that can only lead to disaster. It is in the midst of these reproaches that we have the word cornerstone (cf. v. 6).
Verses 16-22: See, I lay in Zion a granite stone. The Lord builds the foundation of the new Jerusalem. Regarding the cornerstone, we read: He who relies on it shall not be put to shame (v. 16). God assists at the events where the elite and the politicians bustle about. He begins to create in his own way a new history, and already places in the midst of his people that which or he whom no one will be able to ignore, he on whom a believing person may lean. In Hebrew, the same word denotes “believe” and “lean on.”
The new people of God will be a people of believers and no power will dominate them. Must we understand relies on it to mean a new stage of history where God already counts little on the kings of Jerusalem, or relies on him to mean the savior? Isaiah lets us understand that it is a matter of new history where justice will be the criterion, replacing customs and human prejudice, and of course money, corruption, and the authoritarian caprice of kings.
Already before Christ, the Jews held that this “stone” designated the Messiah (see Ps 118:22). In any case, Isaiah refuses to speak of a “king consecrated by God” (which is what Messiah means), for already it was obvious that kings only deceive. The salvation promised by God would go far beyond what was expected then from a savior.
Jesus will apply this word to himself (see Mt 21:42 and Eph 2:21). Paul also recalls this new foundation in 2 Timothy 2:19. The Christ is there in the midst of his people, and he is there in his Church, even when we believe we are building it ourselves.
23. Several oracles pronounced during the crisis of 701.
It is difficult for us to understand this parable of the farmer unless we remember that all ancient people considered that God, or the gods, taught them the secrets of agriculture. Isaiah says: see how the Lord has taught the secrets of the earth, to plant at the right time so that the harvest will follow in due time. Know then that the Lord’s word is the sure means of sowing in history and guiding politics in such a way that there may be fruit to harvest at a given time.
29.1 29:1-12; 30:27-33 and 33:7-16: against Assyria and its king, Sennacherib. “Ariel” or “Lion of God” denotes Jerusalem.
13. If we cease to be seekers of God, if we have not orientated our life to allow God to enter, our religion quickly becomes a collection of beliefs and practices similar to what all social groups have, which became like elements of a school program. Jesus will recall it in Mark 7:6.
30.1 Poem condemning the alliance with Egypt. The rulers thought that paying services to a rich country would be protection against danger; because of that, they imposed forced taxes (v. 12) in spite of words of God which condemned this policy (v. 9). Compare with Isaiah 8:11-15.
18. God loves us and teaches us. This poem speaks of all the marvels to be discovered when meeting God through tears.
You will see the uncleanliness of your idols (v. 22). People have become aware that they were serving false gods. Idolatry does not only mean keeping carved gods, but more trusting people, serving institutions and envying the things that these images represent (see commentary on Ezk 23).
31.1 This text continues the poem of 30:1 and presents the three protagonists of political power. There are two “great powers” and between them, the small Jewish nation trying to survive. The kings call on Egypt against Assyria and then, on Assyria against Egypt.
Isaiah’s teaching is firm: before getting involved in dangerous political games, the king must be just and the people likewise faithful to the commandments. Then, all may rely on God, their Rock. This word of God continues to be meaningful today:
– for the dominated people of the third world;
– for the Church when it feels threatened.
32.1 Another poem about the hopes placed in the future Prince of Peace (see Is 11).
The just king will give his spirit to the rulers and to the people in charge. Then, the people will be attentive to the word of God.
33.17 This poem, inserted in the Book of Isaiah later, emphasizes the hope for a peaceful time when oppression will only be a memory.
Zion, Jerusalem, is the tent which will never be moved. It enjoys the Lord’s secret protection, already mentioned in 8:1 in the image of the waters of Shiloah. A silent presence, yet more powerful than the presence of the great nations. These nations are on the shores of large rivers (Babylon, Egypt and also Tyre, on the seacoast) and are proud of their large boats. In Zion, the city without power or riches, but under the law of God, believers feel secure in the face of events.
Look to Zion, the city of our festivals; see Jerusalem, a peaceful abode (v. 20). This is the way the believer looks at the Church where Christ is found. Staying on the fringe, without commitment, one can easily criticize. If a person really comes in and shares his or her life in depth, he or she discovers that only the Church can communicate strength, peace and God’s presence to everyone.
34.1 – 34:1. The Lord’s judgment upon Edom. See the introduction to Chapter 24.
– 35:1. Announcement of the return of the exiles and of the Messiah’s coming. See commentary on Isaiah 40-41.
36.1 The next two chapters repeat Chapters 18 and 19 of 2 Kings, that relate the siege of Jerusalem by Sennacherib’s army. The first story was taken up in the commentary on 2 Kings 18:17.
Now, we look at the second event. Isaiah encourages resistance even though there is no human hope of salvation. He promises an intervention from God which occurs in the form of an epidemic—the angel of the Lord wiping out the Assyrian army.
In 22:8 we remarked on Isaiah’s opposition to any compromise with the great powers—a seemingly negative attitude for a small insecure nation. Here he relies solely on the power of faith—as Elijah had done before—and saves his nation.
37.21 It is important to underscore the following in Isaiah’s prophecy:
– God cannot stand the pride of the powerful who, by despising the poor who trust in God, despise God himself.
– The promise of liberation includes the promise of national restoration. After their trial, the survivors will be like a new plant.
If we look carefully at world history we see how God protects defenseless people and the human groups who remain faithful to their mission. More than anyone, the Church experiences this protection when it is reduced to a persecuted minority.
38.1 This incident must have taken place before the 701 siege. Here we see King Hezekiah sick and worried about his health.
Isaiah offers to cure him on God’s behalf and adds the promise to protect and defend the Holy City. The Lord’s perspective is much broader than that of the pious Hezekiah. If God cures him it is with a view to his own plan of salvation for all.
Hezekiah’s canticle is a psalm of thanksgiving like those we find in the Book of Psalms. It expresses the profound feelings of the believers of the Old Testament for whom dying meant losing everything and who tried to convince God that he would gain nothing in letting his faithful disappear forever.
39.1 This final incident related in the Book of Isaiah comes from 2 Kings 20.
It emphasizes the meanness of Isaiah’s own friends.
Isaiah continues to be God’s servant, constant in his faith. As for Hezekiah, in spite of having been favored by God, he remains selfish and irresponsible. One may ask why his son Manasseh (of all the kings of Judah) became most hostile to the faith.
Book of Isaiah Chapters 40–55
The Book of Isaiah ended with the deliverance of Jerusalem. Once more there was a manifestation of God’s Providence: a spectacular miracle. Sennacherib chose to invade the Holy City and flout the God of Israel, but the following day he hastily decamped, returned home and was assassinated by his son.
Yet a century later, Nebuchadnezzar took possession of Jerusalem, left the temple in flames and set off for Babylon, dragging behind him a troop of captives. With everything in shambles, faith was called into question to its very roots, for, if the Lord, the Savior God was powerless, he was but nothing.
The prophet Ezekiel, who was among the deportees, affirms that the captives, converted as a result of their trials, would return to their country and rebuild their nation in justice.
Yet after this exile, should they expect a coming back to the happy times Israelites had known during the reign of David (or rather: as they were imagined with an aureole of times past)? What was it that God, so mysterious, had in store for Israel?
It was then that there arose a prophet who has remained anonymous. He was not one to preach and dispute like the great prophets of the past whose oracles were written later, but a man who wrote his poems and exclamations. His name fell into oblivion and tradition has placed his writings into Isaiah’s book where they form Chapters 40–55.
Four parts of these poems have attracted most attention: 42:1-9; 49:1-7; 50:4-11; 52:13–53:12. They are not detached sections drowned in a body foreign to them. They are highlights of a vision or of a meditation which develops the mystery of God’s relationship with his people throughout the book. The Servant of God is Israel, without doubt, but it is a very poor servant of God: for the most part a people “incapable of seeing and understanding.” Nevertheless, there are among them genuine faithful believers, true disciples; God has “opened their ears,” enabling them to grasp what he wants them to understand. From among them, God chooses his servants, the prophets who are in the vanguard and whose example will benefit the rest. Again and again the prophet spoke of the Servant; in the first time this term was certainly applicable to all Israel but in the end, the prophet is taken over by this image and lets it embodied in the portrait of Christ the Redeemer.
Finished are the images of the divinity that the religious person has sketched from the beginning attributing all that in this world breathes power and greatness: gold, marble, and cedar for temples, bulls and goats consumed on the braziers of altars… embroidered tunics… turbans and tiaras for priestly robes…. In the crucible of the Exile the prophet received a strange revelation from the Spirit: the God who saves is the God who loves, and he loves the humble.
So, the faithful God was present in the midst of the deportees, preparing together with them the salvation of the world. All the suffering of the people of God, all of their humiliations were clearly the price of their sin but much more a way God chose to manifest his loving-kindness and his power. One of the surprising features of this prophecy is that the God of Israel, the Savior of all the nations, made Israel his servant to carry out salvation and take on itself the burden of the world.
This revelation is a contrast to all our natural aspirations. It is not strange that most of the Jews upon their return from Chaldea soon forgot the message and had no other project than the restoration of the bygone kingdom of David. When Jesus came to proclaim the kingdom in the true spirit of the prophet of the Exile, the majority of Jews opposed him with law and ritual of the temple. It is an everlasting temptation to confuse the city of humans with the City of God, and a few centuries later the disciples of Jesus would display the same blindness when they continued to cherish an old dream of Christianity.
However, with the “second Isaiah” as he is usually called, a new way opens that will be followed by the Little Remnant announced by Amos and Isaiah. This way would be that of the “poor of the Lord” who, like Mary, the Apostles and the disciples would recognize in Jesus of Nazareth the One sent by God and promised by the prophets.
40.1 The prophet discretely tells about his being called. Like Isaiah, he is introduced in the Heavenly Council, where God, surrounded by his angels, makes his decisions. There, something mysterious is revealed to him:
Speak to the heart of Jerusalem, proclaim to her… that her guilt has been paid for (v. 2). the Lord has forgiven his people, and because of this, he is about to reestablish them in the Promised Land. They should not be overwhelmed by the prestige of the invincible Babylon where they live as exiles. All flesh (all mortals) is grass: means that the famous city is only a human construction and it would pass like human ambitions (see James 1:10); but God’s promises will always be fulfilled.
Angels are told to prepare for the return of the exiles. The arid and dangerous road of the desert would be leveled for them. And they will have a triumphant return. To all people (all flesh) in the world, the wonders would be so obvious that they would discover the glory of the one God and recognize the Lord.
Then, across time and space, the prophet addresses the new community to be born to announce the Good News to them. This is the first time these words appear in the Scriptures.
Comfort (cf. v. 1) is another new word. In the Scriptures, it does not mean that God brings us to resignation, or passive observance, but rather encourages us to continue our mission. Thus, in the following chapters, the prophet would encourage the Jews to return, in spite of difficulties. In Paul’s letters, we would find the words to comfort and encourage countless times. Like the other authors of the Scriptures, in recalling God’s promises, Paul invites us to struggle against the forces of evil with perseverance.
In the wilderness prepare the way for the Lord (v. 3). The prophet saw the Lord walking ahead of his people to guide them to their definitive homeland. When the exiles returned to Palestine, they realized that they neither found God nor a lasting peace: something was still missing which would only be fulfilled centuries later. In fact, at the appointed time, John the Baptist appeared preaching in the desert, and after him, God “so that every human being would see him,” as the Gospel points out (Lk 3:6).
12. In later chapters, we will read other poems resembling this one, stressing the greatness of the Lord of creation. This insistence should not surprise us. The prophet repeats the same arguments against idols, not so much to convince us, as to delight in repeating the same praise of the one God.
In Babylon without a temple or organized worship, the Jews saw the splendor of pagan worship. The imperial city calmly flaunted the superiority of its secular gods and its famous temples. It was then dispersed among foreign nations, that the Jews discovered that their faith could conquer the world: they alone knew where the world came from and where history was headed.
The Jews had experienced a God who was theirs, who saved them, but who exacted justice from them. In time they understood that the Lord their God was none other than the master of the world, its laws, and all humankind. It was then that they became conscious of their mission to the world.
It could be the same for us. We should be conscious of the extent of our faith and appreciate the “absolute” the person of Christ is. Many are fond of him but without seeking to know who he is. They are not over-interested in knowing him in his concrete life, how he is portrayed in the Gospels: it is enough for them that his personality stands apart from all others. People formed by means of modern science know they are in solidarity with the whole universe. They know that a same power, a same law governs the stars, the atom including even the movements of the heart. Such persons cannot be satisfied with a Christ—“first revolutionary” or superman or a great prophet. They have to see him as greater than the world and one whom they can adore as the Creator-made-human.
Here the prophet begins by evoking the extent and the mystery of creation: the universe we perceive on a starry night. He goes on to say that this God-Creator is active in events and gives life to the one who believes (40:29). It is he who announces his plans for deliverance (41:2).
41.1 The first verses of the poem (vv. 1 to 3) present Cyrus, the conqueror who is progressing in his conquest of the Middle East. In previous times, pagan kings were sent by the Lord to punish people. Now, one is chosen by God to save his people. This is a lesson in humility for believers: God saves them through a non-believer whom he makes his instrument. God does not always pick saints or believers to liberate nations.
Verses 6-7 concerning idolatry, are out of place, just as in 40:19-20.
8. The first verses of the chapter have celebrated the victories of Cyrus. Now God addresses Israel. It will be delivered from exile. A new departure is being prepared, greater than the exodus from Egypt. God will work miracles for those who want to return to their homeland: all he asks of his people is to open their eyes and trust him.
Apparently, an exaggeration! The return from exile would be a matter of small caravans, meeting many difficulties, but it is a fact that the nation was to rise again and salvation history would continue to be written. We have here an example of what God offers to minority groups of believers, the small communities of his Church who cling to the hope given them in the Gospel: we often have the impression of achieving little, yet in reality, the whole venture of the Kingdom is at stake in our will to exist.
21. This passage celebrates Cyrus between two victories. When we read these verses, we understand that the prophet had anticipated the successes of the liberator when no one could have foreseen them. Thus, God revealed future events to his prophets as proof that he himself was the real savior of his people. He had planned that Cyrus should come from afar to restore freedom to the Jews.
42.1 Here is the first of the songs of the Servant of the Lord (see the introduction to this book). The other poems of the Servant are in 49:1; 50:4; 52:13.
The servant is at times Israel, in other passages, it is the minority of the faithful, conscious of their vocation, who try to struggle against the indifference of the majority. It would also signify the prophet (or prophets) who share with the faithful the word of God.
In different passages of the Gospel Jesus assures his disciples that they are the “sons of the prophets,” and the Apostles, in their turn would understand that the Servant after all and before all others, is Jesus (Mt 12:8; Acts 3:13; 4:27). Jesus, Servant of his Father and Son of his maidservant (Ps 116:16 and Lk 1:38).
The prophet had just celebrated the victories of Cyrus. Those victories actually only prepared another victorious step forward, of a people of believers who, freed from captivity in Babylon, would declare to the world their faith and their hope.
This minority is the Covenant of the nation: thanks to these faithful believers God continues to be present among this Jewish people where a majority do not listen to him. It is this same people that will re-establish the Covenant with God. It will then give to the nations (the people of the East), and to the islands (the western world) justice, that is to say, a new order willed by God.
10. Cyrus’ steps are God’s victory. The Lord marches as a warring God (see Jdg 5:4), but inspired by maternal love.
The poem recalls the mission entrusted to Isaiah (6:10): Through you, the hearts of these people will be hardened and their eyes blinded. The Lord has forgiven and wants to heal this people who do not know how to see and who have been called blind in verse 7. After being liberated they will be witnesses to the God who saves.
At times, it seems to us that the prophets were mistaken in announcing so often that God’s coming was near, when they were still at an early stage of their history. In fact, they were not so very different from us, when we believe we have won everything with the victory of one of our own people either in an election or a sports event. We do not abandon Christ, the only savior, and the only hope, when we struggle for very human goals and become excited about human saviors. We walk with them for a time, and then, let go of them to move forward, again to wherever Christ calls us.
18. This passage could be entitled: Exploited People.
43.10 The reliability of the triumphant God is affirmed even more than in previous poems: I, I am… Someone said that this “I” is detestable on human lips, but it does befit God: “I Am” was God’s revelation to Moses in the burning bush (Ex 3). And Jesus will also say many times: “I Am” to reveal who he is (Jn 8:12).
Such is the God who lifts our spirits. When you walk through fire, you will not be burned (v. 2). Everything is possible, including living according to the Gospel in an environment of materialism.
I give people in exchange for you (v. 4). With this figurative expression, the Lord’s unique love for his children is reaffirmed. He is ready to be reconciled at any cost with this people, whom he chose and who were lost through their own fault.
In the end, verses 16-21, we hear this once again: the new Exodus from Babylon will surpass that from Egypt: you have done enough looking at the past; now look to the future.
22. People are ungrateful by nature. They usually maneuver events so that serving God does not deprive them of time nor money. Many people only think about God to complain to him. Yet, the love of God will be stronger than their lack of gratitude: He will pour out his Spirit upon the human race.
Neither have you brought me sheep for burnt offerings (v. 23). The exiled Jews had neither temple nor rituals in Babylon. Based on this, the Lord tells them: “If I come to save, it is not because you have bought my favors with your sacrifices.” God saves them, though they have not sacrificed anything for him, and have not even called on him.
You have burdened me with your sins…I am He who blots out your offenses for my own sake, and remembers your sins no more (vv. 24-25). After what he said through Jeremiah and Ezekiel, God continues declaring his love that is scorned by his people. In spite of their differences, all prophets use the language of passionate love. It allows them to express better what sin is: not just a fault against sacred laws, but rather a rejection of God’s love.
44.9 The passage 9-20, placed here though coming from elsewhere, should be read separately: it ridicules the makers of idols. We will find other similar examples of irony in the Scriptures. They may still be of value today when people who are proud of scientific discoveries maintain superstitions. See the commentary on Isaiah 30:22 and Jeremiah 2:13.
45.1 A new message of the Lord to Cyrus, the conqueror, similar to the one in 41:25.
There is here something unique in the Scriptures: this pagan king is called the anointed one of the Lord (cf. v. 1), like the sons of David, and including Christ, the “Anointed of God.” Incredible thing for the Jews who were accustomed to thinking of the Lord as only their God! History tells us that Cyrus was a “father” to his people, and the Scriptures will remember that his first deed, after the capture of Babylon, was to restore freedom to all those living there in exile (see Ezra 1:1).
Here, however, the prophet gives praise only to God who infallibly orients our history and will never let his promises fail.
8. Here, we have a magnificent expression of the work of God, the savior. As we said in reference to Isaiah 11:1, we must not see the salvation coming from God as opposed to or distinct from that which people can achieve. Rather, God’s work and human cooperation are joined in this unique endeavor of bringing us to the end of our labors.
Justice is a total uprightness. We might express it briefly: a life according to truth and love. Such justice must come from God, the only one who can create a new Man. In fact, it will come in the person of Christ, the Just One (Jn 16:10), the one who is born among us as the first shoot of a renewed humanity. Christ will not break into the world, coming down in glory from heaven, but rather, will be the blossom of our earth, being born a Jew to the Jews, true man, born of a virgin mother. Christ alone will not accomplish the work of our salvation for it must be realized in the course of history: Justice and Salvation will be the fruits of humanity made fertile by divine mercy.
Salvation (v. 8) here means total human liberation.
This text is complemented by Psalm 85 where another image is used: two hands are joined, one coming down from heaven and another lifted up from the earth, to achieve the permanent Covenant of God and his people in Love and Faithfulness (see Jn 1:17).
9. The same themes are continued with different expressions.
Verses 9-13: the Lord, free Creator of all, is also in charge of history. Let us note in Jeremiah 18:1 that the comparison of the potter and his clay is developed with a very different meaning.
14. The prophet looks upon the powerful of yesterday, now conquered by Cyrus. The conquered Egyptians and Ethiopians go back to Palestine in chains along the same road on which they had proudly trod. As they go by Jerusalem, they see it glorious and filled with God’s favors, and falling on their knees facing Jerusalem, they beg God to save them too.
The liberation of Israel is God’s way of revealing himself to the world; they will recognize the Lord by the way he restored a dead people. They will come to adore the Lord of the Universe “hidden” in a people without countenance.
The same thing may be seen in the Church when it is scorned. One day those who mocked it discover God there. Some day, people will see that the Church kept the fire of God in the world.
46.1 The prophet foresees the fall of Babylon. He imagines the Chaldeans carrying their idols in flight. Israel, on the other hand, does not have to carry its gods: the Lord is the one who carries his people (vv. 1-7) and gives them life.
47.1 What we said in Isaiah 13:1 applies here. This is a song of affliction over Babylon which will become the image of an impious city. This is why in the Apocalypse (Chaps. 17–18) St. John calls the Roman empire which persecutes the Christians, Babylon.
Virgin daughter of Babylon is Babel (or Babylon) according to the Hebrew way of designating capitals. Babylon says: I will never be a widow (v. 8): this might mean: I will never be without my gods; or I will never be without my famous kings; or I will never know defeat. Babylon thought it would have a secure future because of its magicians, famous in Eastern countries. They pretended to know the future through their horoscopes.
Throughout the centuries the same confidence has inspired those who feel they have mastered progress.
You laid a heavy yoke on the aged (v. 6). Prophets are always using this type of criterion to judge the value of civilization.
48.1 In verses 12-15, note that Cyrus is praised again. The beloved of the Lord will do what pleases him; I myself called him (vv. 14-15). As we remarked on 42:10, the prophet always goes beyond present reality. The conqueror Cyrus is a savior and thus, his mission and his person are in some way joined with that of the only Savior, Christ.
In verses 17-22 the prophet looks at Israel’s past, reminding us of what we read about the lost Paradise. If they had obeyed, God’s desire to lavish his blessings upon them would have been fulfilled, as well as God’s promises to Abraham.
But God will intervene again as the Redeemer of his people.
49.1 Here we find the second Song of God’s servant: see the Introduction to Chapters 40–55.
Who is speaking in these verses? They are the Judean exiles at Babylon (some years later they will be called the Jews). And it is not a lamentation but rather a thanksgiving to God who has chosen them in a very special way for a unique mission.
The hope and the future of Israel have been entrusted to them, not to those remaining in the motherland. Soon they will return and gather the remnant of the tribes of Jacob, which means not only their kin in the ex-kingdom of Judah, but also the other in the northern kingdom.
From that moment on, the dream of a final gathering of the whole people of God enters the Scriptures, and the Gospel will announce that this goal will be achieved through and in Christ: John 11:52.
But there is more, for God wants this small group of exiles to bring to the nations the light of salvation. This marks the opening of the times of mission. The Jews will be the messengers of the only God and of his law in the world. Those who welcome Christ will call on the pagans to the faith and Spirit will be bestowed to them (Gal 3;14). A humiliated people will be the Lord’s hidden arrow, his definitive weapon: through them, God will hide his madness which is wiser than human wisdom (1 Cor 1:21).
The Lord called me from my mother’s womb. These were Jeremiah’s words (1:5). All that follows can be interpreted both of the believing minority and of the one who fully lives a prophetic vocation. Is the servant a single person, or is he a people of prophets? The apostles of Jesus quickly understood that the present text applied first to him. He is the Word and the two-edged sword (Heb 4:12; Rev 19:15).
Paul, in turn, will take for himself these verses: Galatians 1:15; Acts 13:47; 2 Corinthians 10:4, 12:8. This double interpretation, personal and collective, should not surprise us for the unique Savior is never a lonely savior. Jesus wanted to be identified with those who believe, who suffer and persevere to prepare for the salvation of the world.
13. The Lord’s maternal love for his people.
He saves them from despair and from being despised, rebuilding Jerusalem and gathering those who were dispersed. He invites all the nations to come and recognize the true city.
Here God again addresses the more conscious minorities of Israel, those who held onto their hope at a time they seemed to be lost amidst the pagan inhabitants of the materialistic Babylon. They would lift up their nation and become the light of the world.
These promises started to be fulfilled when, having returned to their land, the Jews became missionaries of the One God to all the countries of the Greek and Syrian world. Later, these promises would take on a new meaning for the Church which Christ established as the New Jerusalem. At times, this new Jerusalem seems downhearted and lifeless, and even disappears in some parts of the world. Yet, God brings in new children from other continents. He invites us to look beyond our communities to those who have not yet received the Kingdom.
50.4 “Who is the prophet talking about, himself or another?” (Acts 8:34). Actually, the servant could be as in 49:1, the faithful minority, but it could also be, perhaps, the prophet himself, or who knows, a “Prophet” who is to come? The author refuses to choose between servant and servants.
Former prophets met with the same opposition. Moses had to endure a rebellious people; Jeremiah had been persecuted and imprisoned (see Jer 20:7 and 37). Based on these examples, we see a profile and mission of the perfect servant of the Lord. This will be Jesus, but every one of his prophets can apply all these words to himself or herself.
Note the beginning of the poem. The Servant will be able to transmit the word and to encourage on behalf of God because he himself listens every morning and keeps his ears open. To sustain those who are tired, we must be taught by God: the true prophet is a person of prayer, open to the spirit of God. “No one but the spirit of God knows the secrets of God… and through him, we understand what God in his goodness has given us” (1 Cor 2:11-12).
51.9 This poem is a double call to the Lord and to Jerusalem that they may awaken. The Lord is described as a hero asleep and Jerusalem as a humiliated and discouraged woman. The two must work together for the restoration of Jerusalem:
– The Lord is the one to indicate the timing, preparing the historical conditions to make it feasible, and infusing hope in their hearts.
– First, the children of Jerusalem must want their own liberation and then they must go to rebuild the city.
God seems absent from the world where people follow their own fancies and seems asleep until his hour comes. We should not be fatalistic because of that, believing that problems will be resolved when God decides. To call God and wake him means to go ahead and advance before the fog has lifted. Who is it that God encourages? The defeated who pay the price of their errors. He does not only speak to saints but to sinners: in pardoning their past sins he gives them the strength to rebuild the Holy City.
It is easy to criticize these realistic and primitive biblical expressions concerning the Lord of Hosts. We should not replace the image of the Conqueror with that of a calm and unruffled God more in keeping with a conservative mentality. The events, which were announced here, were about to overturn the course of history.
Note the expressions redeemed and sold (52:3) which were already used in 50:1. Each person belongs to God and finds freedom in obeying him. If we reject this dependence, we fall into another since we have been created for this kind of freedom which develops in mutual relationship and dependence of another one. Christ “purchases” us, or rescues us from every slavery as it is written in Isaiah 53:10 (Rom 6:15), to make us sons and daughters.
52.7 The prophets, messengers of a victorious God: that is the meaning of the good news. See Romans 1:1; 2 Corinthians 2:14.
13. It is the fourth and last song of the Servant of the Lord; it is here that the prophet, known as the “second Isaiah,” proclaims his whole message, and it is perhaps the last word of the Old Testament referring to Redemption. The prophet delivers to Israel the meaning of trials and shows what will be its mission. Israel has been placed at the center of world history. It will have no rest until the other nations have discovered through its sufferings the only true God. The only title of Israel is to be God’s servant, and it will not reach glory nor be saved before its mission has brought death.
Israel then, would necessarily be the victim, and, if God were to send a Savior, he too would be a victim.
For thousands of years, people used to sacrifice animals—and at times human beings—thinking they could unload their sins on them, and be rid of them. These sacrifices, or getting rid of those who were considered to be responsible for God’s anger, never interrupted the cycle of violence. Here, however, we see God’s response to our sins: he saves us through the suffering of the innocents and even more, through the willing sacrifice of the one who takes the sin of the world upon himself.
In writing this, the prophet had in mind the small group of faithful Jews exiled in Babylon: they were nothing more than despised people. Yet, they had not deserved such humiliation because of their own sins, rather they were carrying the sorrows (53:4) of the violent, sinful world in which they lived. These believers were punished for the crimes of their people (cf. v. 8), Israel; but God would transform them into the seed of a holy people: he will have a long life and see his descendants (53:10). This wonder of God would surpass all the others and, in seeing it, kings would stand speechless.
This song is for our own wonder as well. The prophet, writing five centuries before Christ, was apparently referring to the humiliation of God’s people who, then as now, are the instrument of salvation; but his poem outlined beforehand the image of God become human, who humbled himself even to death on the cross. When we read the Passion of Christ in the Gospel, we realize that the evangelists themselves were struck by the similarity between Jesus’ trial and death and what was announced by the prophet. Many times, in presenting Jesus, the apostles would refer to this text. See Acts 8:32; 1 Peter 2:24.
Who could believe what we have heard? (53:1). How would the hearers of Peter, Paul or John accept their proclamation of Jesus, the crucified savior? See John 12:38; 1 Corinthians 1:22; Romans 10:16. In our own day, perhaps many Christians do not understand why so many innocent people die as victims of injustice and Christians are especially persecuted.
He makes himself an offering for sin (53:10). In several passages of the Scriptures, we are invited to adopt this same attitude when we suffer unjustly (1 P 1:20; 4:13). Christ alone has perfectly fulfilled this redemptive mission from the beginning to the end of his life (Heb 10; Jn 2:29; Rom 5:6).
My just servant will justify the multitude (53:11): that is to say, he will make them just and holy. The Hebrew text reads “the many”, which means the multitude. Jesus refers to this text at the Last Supper: “my blood poured out for many,” or for everyone (Mk 14:24). There Jesus clearly says that his death is the free and perfect sacrifice foretold in this song.
54.1 This concludes the songs in which Isaiah addressed Jerusalem: 49:14; 51:17.
In a grandiose vision, Jerusalem becomes the people of the future, the people reborn from the ruins who will bring about a kingdom of peace. Jerusalem is the ideal city we have dreamed of at one time or another and which God wishes to give us.
Shout for joy, you who never had children. The Jewish people collapsed as a nation because of their errors and they no longer had a future, humanly speaking. This suits God. If they lack the means to be great, God is going to touch them. He will no longer be the one from whom we expect favors but the one who gives himself: your Maker is to marry you.
For a brief moment I have abandoned you (v. 7). Here we have the story of God’s love for us: the total love of God, our infidelity, our sin. The prophets announce the New Jerusalem, the Lord’s bride which will never again be abandoned.
We know that the Church is the Remnant of Israel, the new People united to God in an eternal covenant. Yet it is also, at the same time, as the ancient Israel was, an unfaithful people whose sins Scripture describes as dull parishes, existing but not really alive; institutions where one might look in vain for the Spirit of Jesus; leaders of the church who are subservient to the powerful…. Somehow the New Jerusalem is in the Church of Christ, but it is also true that we need to continually look for it.
All your children will be taught by the Lord (v. 13). It is the same proclamation of a new Covenant that was proclaimed by Jeremiah (Jer 31:31). Believers should always lean on the word of God and be guided by his commandments, but their link with God will be in a deep communication of spirit to spirit, a communion which immerses us in the only truth. It is a kind of knowledge which teaches no particular truth, but enables us to appreciate, judge and coordinate all the fragmentary truths. It is an instinct of God that enables us to discover in depth the person of Christ through the brief testimonies of Scripture. This instinct, in turn, gives us the secrets of the Scriptures (Jn 6:45).
It is by meditating on these poems that we best understand how God makes virginity fruitful. It is not by accident that Jesus was born of a virgin mother; rather his birth came as the culmination of the expectation of “Jerusalem, the bride of God”: see Isaiah 7:14.
55.1 The book ends with a call to hope.
Verses 1-3. Are you not tired of the happiness you thought you would easily get in the place of exile?
God is the one who always gives first. He only hopes that we will open the door for him. Jesus will offer us rest (Mt 11:28); he will give us the bread of life (Jn 6) and will give himself as “the” friend (Rev 3:20).
Verses 4-5. A universal mission awaits Israel in the homeland, after their return.
Verses 6-9. Allow yourselves to be conquered by the love of the Lord who is forming you even more than you can imagine. Paul will use similar language in his letter to the Romans (5:1-11).
Verses 10-11. Here the word of God appears personified. It is already much more than the words spoken by the prophets. This word which comes from the Father and returns to him will be presented by the apostle John in the first page of his Gospel: it is Christ. See also in 45:8.
56.1 The Jewish law—reflecting the thinking of the times—excluded foreigners in certain circumstances, as well as eunuchs, (castrated men) from their religious assemblies.
The prophet reveals that such exclusion is not endorsed by God.
In verses 9-13 we have poems against the leaders of Judah and against idolatry.
58.1 Is it true that they seek me… as a people that does what is right (v. 2)? In spite of having a clear conscience, they are concerned because of God’s silence. They may have committed some sin without knowing it? Perhaps God likes to see humiliated people ask for favors? So, they lie in sackcloth and ashes (v. 5). They resemble many Christians who are satisfied with being “practicing” Christians without understanding that the kind of practice that God seeks is to give peace to all his people.
Why are we fasting and you do not even see it (v. 3)? The people of Judah fast so that God will hear their petitions. These could be public prayers to ask for rain.
Is it perhaps only a matter of bowing the head (v. 5)? God neither wants the death of the sinner nor the humiliation of his creature. God loves people, but he loves them all and not only the little landowners of Judah fearful for their crops; he also loves the laborers and the slaves of these little landholders. God’s demands are clear: do away with unjust chains and share with the rest.
Unfastening the thongs of the yoke (v. 6). Here we have a glimpse of the tremendous effort demanded of all in order to do away with every form of slavery: from the small privileges that working companions compete for, to the laws that keep entire groups marginated. It includes breaking the yoke of husbands’ domination over their wives and the disputes between neighbors when no one dares to take the first step.
Unfastening the thongs of the yoke (v. 6). It is not enough to be converted to God “from the heart,” for conversion comes about by changing both persons and structures. These make us share in the injustices and sins of the society in which we live. An incredible number of sins—corruption, prostitution, violence—are linked to colonialism and the economic and cultural dependence that go with it.
Sharing your food with the hungry (v. 7): and that on a world scale for humankind is one, the only Adam of whom Christ is the head.
Your light will break forth as the dawn (v. 8). We see the leaders of the nations come together, discuss and study to solve the urgent problems of humanity. No light breaks forth. It is a known fact that the research of a scientist does not bring him directly to great discoveries. Rather, he often finds the solution suddenly where he did not expect it. In the same way, human problems resist theoretical solutions, but unexpected ways will be found when every nation and every segment of society willingly shares and no longer oppresses others.
59.15 The Lord appears as a warrior as in 63:1. Here he appears with the weapons proper to his Rule:
– justice: the power of God who comes to bring justice on earth;
– salvation: total human liberation to make us holy;
– zeal: the jealous love of God for his faithful people.
The Book of Wisdom will use these words in 5:17 and so will Paul in Ephesians 6:14.
60.1 As the prophet looks at the humble Jerusalem which is barely rising from its ruins, he suddenly has a vision of the future Jerusalem, filled with the Lord’s riches, the city that will be the bride of the Lord.
There all the aspirations of a humanity purified and gathered in the light of God will be achieved (see Rev 21). There all people will delight in the fullness of everything they ever longed for.
These promises point to the goals on which the Church must focus. It is in the Church that all the real riches of humanity—faith, understanding, community—are and must be gathered.
“Raise your head, O Jerusalem. Contemplate the great multitude who are building and seeking: In laboratories and through studies, in deserts and in factories, in the enormous social melting pot.
“Do you see all these who are working hard? Well then, all that is bubbling in them, in the arts, science and thoughts, all of this is for you! Come now, open your arms and your heart and welcome this surge, this overflowing of human vitality as your Lord Jesus! Welcome this sap because, without its baptism, you will fade without aspirations, like a flower without water; and save it because, without your sun, it will be scattered in sterile branches” (Teilhard de Chardin).
61.1 The prophet recalls the mission he received from God, to announce to the Jewish pioneers who returned to Jerusalem that God would bless their efforts. The ruins would be rebuilt; the people would come back in great numbers from the countries where they were exiled; those who doubt or are discouraged must persevere because, soon, God will come to visit his people.
Speaking in the synagogue of Nazareth, Jesus read this text and said: “Today it is being fulfilled” (Lk 4:21). And the people who heard him were saying: “God has visited his people.”
And yet, we who come after him wonder: If Christ brought God’s salvation twenty centuries ago, why are so many people still waiting for the good news of their liberation?
It is because the Gospel is a seed and the resurrection does not immediately bring about the transformation of the world. If the Jewish people endured fifteen centuries of searching and trials before their Savior came, how will other people obtain the definitive Peace of the kingdom of God without first passing through the great trials preceding Christ’s return? We are already quite blessed to have him in our midst and his spirit upon us.
To heal, to fortify; perfume and garlands (vv. 1-3): the coming of God to his people fills us with happiness; without fear or boredom, so frequently at the heart of religious practices.
62.1 What was said on the subject in Chapter 60 can be applied here. In a new way, this song repeats what was said about the future Jerusalem in 4:2 and in Chapters 40–55.
Jerusalem, the lasting city of the children of God, the bride of the Lord, filled with his riches and the delight of her God. Why does God remind us so many times of those wonders which have yet to happen?
– So that we may keep up our hope in trials and dark times. This is how Paul encourages us in Romans 8:16. Also, when things are going well and we are filled with earthly hopes, the same wisdom must help us to be detached from all this, in the knowledge that something much better still awaits us.
– On the other hand, the heavenly Jerusalem is already present. Those who have come into the church already have the favors promised to David of which we have just spoken; they already enjoy them if they have received the gifts of the Holy Spirit (see Acts 13:34). These pages are an invitation to see God at work in the world through the Church.
63.1 The poem beginning here is wildly beautiful. The neighboring people of Edom took advantage of the ruin of Jerusalem to join its wreckers and take part in the looting. So, the simple mention of it was enough to arouse a desire for revenge in the Jews. The prophets wanted the destruction of a nation in which sin was obvious and which had no mission in God’s plans. This poem imagines God relating his victory over the pagans.
Believers reading this poem in early Christian times understood it in another, figurative sense: in the hero rescuing his people, they saw Christ covered with his own blood (see Rev 19:13). This was God’s real victory and his way of restoring justice.
7. This passage 63:7–64:11 is a psalm asking the forgiveness of the Lord. The wonders of the past are recalled, and an anxious expectation of new blessings is expressed. Note especially 63:19–64:3 which would be understood later as asking for the coming of Christ.
65.1 Chapters 65–66 announce the judgment of the Lord on the earth. He will create a new heaven and a new earth in which his servants will experience happiness. Verses 13-14 are a prelude to the beatitudes and the woes expressed in Luke 6:20-26.
17. No one could imagine the new heaven prepared for us by God (Mk 12:18). Let us rejoice that the prophet has described it in such a concrete way. For us, the happiness of the “beyond” is part of our faith; but at this time it was not yet clear neither for the Jews nor the prophet. God rewarded people while on earth and they preferred not to think about the lot of those already dead, or who would die before the time of happiness had come. God did everything so that his people would not neglect their earthly duties on the pretext of waiting for a “beyond.”
66.18 This announces the day when the Lord will conquer the pagan nations united against him, and that he will then save them by gathering them. Few passages of the Scriptures express such a universal view of God’s salvation given “to all the families of the earth.” He had promised it to Abraham, but people had been so obsessed with resentment and hatred among themselves, among villages and religions, that they hardly paid attention.
Be careful to understand the expression “I am going to gather.” We already saw in Isaiah 6:9 how the Jews spoke about God because they were convinced that God rules everything. When someone undertook something they would say that God had moved him to do it, and when someone was doing something evil that God would later use for his own ends, they would say that God had driven him. Here, “I am going to gather” means “they will gather but I will use this to achieve the salvation of my people.”
The nations unite against Jerusalem as in the days of Sennacherib (see Is 31:4-9) and they are defeated in a miraculous way (?miraculously): but this time, the survivors, witnesses of the miracle, will reveal the true God everywhere. They will be admitted to God’s people and they will share the privileges of the Jews (“from among them I will take priests and Levites”).
The poem concludes with the vision of a world judged by the Lord:
– within the city, those who have dedicated themselves to his service and come to adore him in his temple;
– outside, the corpses of those who were annihilated; they will always remain as the sign of God’s invincible justice.
What a tremendous vision! But it would be vain to seek escape by thinking that God, being so good, will not be able to condemn us definitely. Jesus refers to this text in Mark 9:48.