BIBLE STUDY: December 9th

The meeting opened with prayer

In the Scriptures, by the Spirit,
   May we see the Saviour's face,
Hear His word and heed His calling -
   Know His will and grow in grace.
Amen
 

After briefly recalling what we had done last week, we proceeded to read and reflect on the next two chapters of Isaiah, chapters 8 and 9, and read the opening section of chapter 10.
 

Isaiah 8: 1 to 8

1

The LORD said to me: Take a large cylinder-seal, and inscribe on it in ordinary letters: "Belonging to Maher-shalal-hash-baz."

2

And I took reliable witnesses, Uriah the priest, and Zechariah, son of Jeberechiah.

3

Then I went to the prophetess and she conceived and bore a son. The LORD said to me: Name him Maher-shalal-hash-baz,

4

for before the child knows how to call his father or mother by name, the wealth of Damascus and the spoil of Samaria shall be carried off by the king of Assyria.

5

Again the LORD spoke to me:

6

Because this people has rejected the waters of Shiloah that flow gently, And melts with fear before the loftiness of Rezin and Remaliah's son,

7

Therefore the LORD raises against them the waters of the River, great and mighty (the king of Assyria and all his power). It shall rise above all its channels, and overflow all its banks;

8

It shall pass into Judah, and flood it all throughout: up to the neck it shall reach; It shall spread its wings the full width of your land, Immanuel!

'Maher-shalal-hash-baz' is a symbolic name to be given to another son of Isaiah's. It means "Speedy-spoils-quick-plunder"; the Clementine* edition of the Vulgate gives the name as: "Veociter spolia detrahe, cito praedare." The prophetess is Isaiah's wife. The prophecy in verse 4 is that both Syria (Aram), with its capital Damascus, and the northern kingdom of Israel with its capital at Samaria (i.e. the two countries that we saw in chapter 7 were plotting against Judah in order to depose the Davidic king, Ahaz) will be conquered and their peoples carried off by the Assyrians before the child has uttered his first words.

In verse 4, 'this people' are the inhabitants of Judah. The pool of Shiloah was the main source of water in Jerusalem, fed by a gentle stream that flowed into it; so the people of Judah have rejected the silent and consoling protection of the LORD; instead, they tremble before the threatened attack by Razin, king of Syria, and Remaliah's son, Pekah, king of Ephraim (the norhern kingdom of Israel). But they will be overwhelmed by the Assyrians, symbolized here by "the River [Eurphrates]". indeed, they will devestate Judah also, but not conquer it because it is the land of Immanuel (God-with-us).

* The new (1979) edition of the Vulgate has:"Maher Salal Has Baz (id est Velociter spolia detrahe, cito praedare)."
 

Isaiah 8: 9 to 15

9

Know, O peoples, and be appalled! Give ear, all you distant lands! Arm, but be crushed! Arm, but be crushed!

10

Form a plan, and it shall be thwarted; make a resolve, and it shall not be carried out, for "With us is God!"

11

For thus said the LORD to me, taking hold of me and warning me not to walk in the way of this people:

12

Call not alliance what this people calls alliance, and fear not, nor stand in awe of what they fear.

13

But with the LORD of hosts make your alliance-  for him be your fear and your awe.

14

Yet he shall be a snare, an obstacle and a stumbling stone to both the houses of Israel, A trap and a snare to those who dwell in Jerusalem;

15

And many among them shall stumble and fall, broken, snared, and captured.

Verses 9 and 10 are addressed to the enemies of Judah, the enemies of God's people. They may arm themselves, they may form plans and make resolutions, but it will all come to nothing because God is with his people - "With us is God!", i.e. Immanuel. Isaiah has been warned to turn away from "way of this people" - not to make alliance against the Assyrians - not, indeed, even to fear them because the people of Judah should trust in the LORD, who alone is the one of whom they should be in awe.

But, Isaiah warns, the LORD will be "a snare, an obstacle and a stumbling stone to both the houses of Israel." We were reminded of St Paul's words: "we proclaim Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews" (1 Cor. 1:23), and that Christ said of himself: "The stone which the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. Everyone who falls on that stone will be dashed to pieces" (Luke 20:17-18).

Lack of full commitment to God and His reconciling love will cause us to stumble, just as it caused "both the houses of Israel" to fall (i.e. both the northern kingdom of Ephraim whose people were captured and dispersed by the Assyrians, and the southern kingdom of Judah whose peolple will later be taken into captivity by the Babylonians). If we trust in ourselves and do not commit ourselves to God, sooner or later we will founder: we either trust in God and that we are reconciled with Him through the cross of Christ, or, because we reject hHim, we 'stumbled over Him' and fall.
 

Isaiah 8: 16 to 23

16

The record is to be folded and the sealed instruction kept among my disciples.

17

For I will trust in the LORD, who is hiding his face from the house of Jacob; yes, I will wait for him.

18

Look at me and the children whom the Lord has given me: we are signs and portents in Israel from the LORD of hosts who dwells on Mount Zion.

19

And when they say to you, "Inquire of mediums and fortune-tellers (who chirp and mutter!); should not a people inquire of their gods, apply to the dead on behalf of the living?" - 

20

then this document will furnish its instruction. That kind of thing they will surely say.

21

He shall pass through it hard-pressed and hungry, and in his hunger he shall become enraged, and curse his king and his gods. He shall look upward, but there shall be strict darkness without any dawn;

22

He shall gaze at the earth, but there shall be distress and darkness, with the light blacked out by its clouds.;

23

First he degraded the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali; but in the end he has glorified the seaward road, the land West of the Jordan, the District of the Gentiles. Anguish has taken wing, dispelled is darkness; for there is no gloom where but now there was distress.

Isaiah entrusts his testimony to his disciples and waits with trust for the LORD who "is hiding his face from the house of Jacob" in as much as the people of Israel* had turned from the LORD and were relying upon their own resources. Isaiah sees his people turning to mediums and fortuntellers; we recalled how in our own society where people had largely abandoned their Christian heritage there was a growing interest in mediums, contacting the dead and in other occult practices. But this leads only to disillusionment, cursing everyone (but ourselves) and spiritual darkness with no hope of enlightenment.

In verse 23, which some editions (e.g. the Clementine version of the Vulgate) regard as the first verse of chapter 8, the reference is to Zebulon and Naphtali, two of the northernmost tribes, who will be the first to be attacked by the Assyrians; so it will be from there that redemption will first come, for this is what wil llater be called 'Galilee' (District). The 'seaward road' is from Damacus, across Galilee to the Mediterranean coast. It was in Galilee that Jesus was brought up and where he began his preaching; we read in Matthew's Gospel: "[Jesus] left Nazareth and went to live in Capernaum by the sea, in the region of Zebulun and Naphtali, that what had been said through Isaiah the prophet might be fulfilled: 'Land of Zebulun and land of Naphtali, the way to the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles'" (Matt. 4:13-15).

* Israel was the name given to Jacob after he had "contended with divine and human beings" (Gen. 32:29).
 

Isaiah 9: 1 to 6 [2-7 in some versions]

1

The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; Upon those who dwelt in the land of gloom a light has shone.

2

You have brought them abundant joy and great rejoicing, As they rejoice before you as at the harvest, as men make merry when dividing spoils.

3

For the yoke that burdened them, the pole on their shoulder, And the rod of their taskmaster you have smashed, as on the day of Midian.

4

For every boot that tramped in battle, every cloak rolled in blood, will be burned as fuel for flames.

5

For a child is born to us, a son is given us; upon his shoulder dominion rests. They name him Wonder-Counselor, God-Hero, Father-Forever, Prince of Peace.

6

His dominion is vast and forever peaceful, From David's throne, and over his kingdom, which he confirms and sustains By judgment and justice, both now and forever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will do this!

This passage is familar both because it occurs in Handel's 'Messiah', and because we hear it each year as the first reading at the Christmas Midnight Mass. It is probable that Isaiah himself is looking to the unborn son of Ahaz, the future king Hezekiah. But although Hezekiah did set about abolishing idolatry from his kingdom, and carried out great reformation of Jewish worship, his peace was certainly not endless. As we observed with the 'Imannuel prophecy' of chapter 7, it is probable that Isaiah did not himself realize the full import of all his prophecy. The Church has seen the true fulfilment of this prophecy in the birtn of Jesus who, alone, brings true enlightenment.

The reference is verse 3 is to the occasion when Gideon with just three hundred men defeated the Midianites; the story is told in Judges 7:16-22. So we rejoice that Jesus has defeated the forces of evil by reconciling creation with its Creator on the cross.

We reflected on the names given the child, Immanuel, in verse 5: Wonder-Counselor, wonderful because of the wise and prudent counsel and guidance he gives; God-Hero, God from God who defends his people against all the powers of evil; Father-Forever, who is for ever devoted to his people as a righteous father is devoted to his family - this does not imply a confusion of persons of the Holy Trinity; we remember , however, Jesus' own words: "he Father and I are one" (John 10:30) ; Prince of Peace, a Messianic title current among Jews before the birth of Christ and showing their yearning for peace and an end to war.
 

Isaiah 9: 7 to 20 [8-21]

7

The Lord has sent word against Jacob, it falls upon Israel;

8

And all the people know it, Ephraim and those who dwell in Samaria, those who say in arrogance and pride of heart,

9

"Bricks have fallen, but we will build with cut stone; Sycamores are felled, but we will replace them with cedars."

10

But the LORD raises up their foes against them and stirs up their enemies to action:

11

Aram on the east and the Philistines on the west devour Israel with open mouth. For all this, his wrath is not turned back, and his hand is still outstretched!

12

The people do not turn to him who struck them, nor seek the LORD of hosts.

13

So the LORD severs from Israel head and tail, palm branch and reed in one day.

14

(The elder and the noble are the head, the prophet who teaches falsehood is the tail.)

15

The leaders of this people mislead them and those to be led are engulfed.

16

For this reason, the Lord does not spare their young men, and their orphans and widows he does not pity; They are wholly profaned and sinful, and every mouth gives vent to folly. For all this, his wrath is not turned back, his hand is still outstretched!

17

For wickedness burns like fire, devouring brier and thorn; It kindles the forest thickets, which go up in columns of smoke.

18

At the wrath of the LORD of hosts the land quakes, and the people are like fuel for fire; No man spares his brother, each devours the flesh of his neighbor.

19

Though they hack on the right, they are hungry; though they eat on the left, they are not filled.

20

Manasseh devours Ephraim, and Ephraim Manasseh; together they turn on Judah. For all this, his wrath is not turned back, his hand is still outstretched!

After the majestic Messianic prophecy with which the chapter began, Isaiah turns back to the current situation of his own day. Isaiah sees the Syrians (Aramaeans) and Philistines and other enemies as instruments of God's anger. But we learn from Jesus that God loves his people and St John tells us quite clearly that "God is Love" (1 John 4:8). It is, rather, that by being arrogant and proud, relying on their own abilities to make better what has been destroyed, and not committing themselves to God, that they have brought calamity upon themselves. It was their choice: they did not seek the LORD of hosts

Verses 12 to the end of the chapter describe the complete breakdown of society in the northern kingdom, the result of their abandoning God. The warnings for our own times are, alas, only too apparent.

The reference in verse 8 is probably not to any actual cases of cannibalism but rather to the internecine strife had weakened Israel and made it prey to its enemies. Not only had the ten tribes of the north rebelled against Judah and Benjamin and set up its own king in place of David's grandson, but they had even quarreled among themselves: the tribe of Manasseh had turned on the tribe of Ephraim which, in its turn, fought back, and both had turned against Juda. They are are a people who have neglected God and turned against themselves; they are a house divide and anarchy ensues.
 

Isaiah 10: 1 to 4

1

Woe to those who enact unjust statutes and who write oppressive decrees,

2

Depriving the needy of judgment and robbing my people's poor of their rights, Making widows their plunder, and orphans their prey!

3

What will you do on the day of punishment, when ruin comes from afar? To whom will you flee for help? Where will you leave your wealth,

4

Lest it sink beneath the captive or fall beneath the slain? For all this, his wrath is not turned back, his hand is still outstretched!

Here we have a constant theme of the prophets: a warning to those who use their position and power for their own advantage with no regard to the suffering they cause others. They bring about their own judgment.

 

As next week will be our last meeting before Christmas (we thought that meeting on the 23rd would not be practical as people would be occupied with family visits and preparations for Christmas day itself), we decided that at our last meeting we would quickly dispose of the rest of chapter 10 and concentrate on chapter 11 (the coming of the virtuous king) and chapter 12 (two hymns of thanksgiving) as a suitable preparation for Christmas.
 

The meeting closed with prayer.

---

Most of the scripture texts on this page are taken from the New American Bible with Revised New Testament and Revised Psalms © 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Washington, D.C.