BIBLE STUDY: November 27th

Antiphon:

Cf.
et dabo clavem domus David super úmerum ejus; et apériet, et non erit qui claudat; et claudet, et non erit qui apériat [Isaiah 22:22]
I will place the key of the House of David on his shoulder; and he shall open, no one shall shut; and he shall shut, no one shall open.
and
non auferétur sceptrum de Juda [Genesis 49:10]
The sceptre shall not be taken away from Juda.
and
et edúceres de conclusióne vinctum, de domo cárceris sedéntes in ténebris [Isaiah 42:7]
and that you may bring out prisoners from confinement, and from the dungeon, those who sit in darkness.
and
habitántibus in regióne umbræ mortis lux orta est eis [Isaiah 9:1]
upon those who live in the land of the shadow of death a light has shone.

The Meeting

The meeting opened with prayer.
 

Key of David
'Key' is a symbol of authority. In Isaiah 22:22 the 'Key of David' (i.e. the authority of David) is to be placed on the shoulders of Eliakim, a man loyal to God, at the time when the Assyrians were troubling Judah. However, in Apocalypse 3:7 we find that Christ tells John to begin the letter to the church in Philadelphia, in Asia Minor: "The holy one, the true, who holds the key of David, who opens and no one shall close, who closes and no one shall open, says this". Thus Christ himself says that he holds the 'key of David' and, in fact, quotes from Isaiah.

It was clearly apostolic tradition that Eliakim is a 'type' (or prefiguration) of Jesus, who was fully and perfectly loyal to God, the Messiah, descendant of David, given all authority by his Father. We recalled also that Jesus had conferred the authority of the keys on Peter, saying: "I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven." We believe that this authority was given to Peter and his successors, the Popes.
 

Songs of the Servant of the LORD
We saw that these came in 'deutero-Isaiah', i.e. the prophet who, towards the end of the Babylonian Exile looked forward to the coming time when God would comfort his people and bring them back to Jerusalem. There are four such songs:

• Isaiah 42:1-9 in which the Servant will bring justice to the nations.
• Isaiah 49:1-7 in which the Servant will be a light to the nations.
• Isaiah 50:4-9 in which the Servant does not refuse his divine vocation, but willingly submits to insults and beatings.
• Isaiah 52:13-53:12 in which the sinless Servant, by his voluntary suffering, atones for the sins of his people, and saves them from God's just punishment.

In the earlier songs the servant is the people of Israel, the people chosen to bring God's justice and light to the nations of the world in the person of the Messiah. But also the Messiah himself is meant as the Servant of the LORD and, certainly, the 4th song is perfectly fulfilled only in the person of Jesus Christ.
 

Isaiah, chapters 42 & 43.
We turned our attention to the second part of the Antiphon, "Come to lead the captive from prison; free those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death", which, it is prophesied in the first of the 'Songs of the Servant', that the Servant of the LORD will accomplish. Thus we began our readings from Isaiah with the chapter that opens with the first of these songs.

1. Isaiah 42:1-9
   

   1

   Here is my servant whom I uphold, my chosen one with whom I am pleased, Upon whom I have put my spirit; he shall bring forth justice to the nations,

   2

   Not crying out, not shouting, not making his voice heard in the street.

   3

   A bruised reed he shall not break, and a smoldering wick he shall not quench,

   4

   Until he establishes justice on the earth; the coastlands will wait for his teaching.

   5

   Thus says God, the LORD, who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spreads out the earth with its crops, Who gives breath to its people and spirit to those who walk on it:

   6

   I, the LORD, have called you for the victory of justice, I have grasped you by the hand; I formed you, and set you as a covenant of the people, a light for the nations,

   7

   To open the eyes of the blind, to bring out prisoners from confinement, and from the dungeon, those who live in darkness.

   8

   I am the LORD, this is my name; my glory I give to no other, nor my praise to idols.

   9

   See, the earlier things have come to pass, new ones I now foretell; Before they spring into being, I announce them to you.

   We saw that Israel had been chosen by God to prepare a people for the Messiah who was to bring justice and light to the nations. Even when the remnant of Israel, the Jews, were carried off into captivity, the 'bruised reed' of their trust in God was not crushed nor was the 'smouldering wick' of their faith quenched.

   However, we saw the prophecy to point ahead towards the Messiah and to be perfectly fulfilled in Jesus who will not 'crush the bruised reed' nor 'quench the smouldering flame' but who will show mercy and forgiveness.

   It was explained that 'coastlands' (or 'islands') in verse 4 was a term often used in the Old Testament to mean the lands of the west. This is where in later times Christianity did spread.

   We reflected that not only had Christ literally opened the eyes of blind people, but also he opened (and still opens) the eyes of the spiritually blind. He frees us from the confinement of sin and from the dungeon of selfishness which hides us from the true light. Christ it is who brings justice and is the true light of the nations.

2. Isaiah 42:10-17
   

   10

   Sing to the LORD a new song, his praise from the end of the earth: Let the sea and what fills it resound, the coastlands, and those who dwell in them.

   11

   Let the steppe and its cities cry out, the villages where Kedar dwells; Let the inhabitants of Sela exult, and shout from the top of the mountains.

   12

   Let them give glory to the LORD, and utter his praise in the coastlands.

   13

   The LORD goes forth like a hero, like a warrior he stirs up his ardor; He shouts out his battle cry, against his enemies he shows his might:

   14

   I have looked away, and kept silence, I have said nothing, holding myself in; But now, I cry out as a woman in labor, gasping and panting.

   15

   I will lay waste mountains and hills, all their herbage I will dry up; I will turn the rivers into marshes, and the marshes I will dry up.

   16

   I will lead the blind on their journey; by paths unknown I will guide them. I will turn darkness into light before them, and make crooked ways straight. These things I do for them, and I will not forsake them.

   17

   They shall be turned back in utter shame who trust in idols; Who say to molten images, "You are our gods."

   The 'Song of the Servant' is followed by the hymn of triumph in the verses above. The hymn is obviously intended by the prophet to praise God for the restoration of the Jews to Jerusalem after the Exile; but we saw it also as a hymn of praise for Christ's victory over sin and his deliverance of all peoples from the darkness of false worship to the light of truth.

   We were reminded again that the 'coastlands' signified the peoples of the west; Kedar was a nomadic tribe of Arabia and Sela, the capital of Edom, is the city we know as 'Petra' in modern Jordan. This reminds us that Christ's salvation is universal: "Sing to the LORD ... from the end of the earth." Indeed it affects all creation as: "Let the sea and what fills it resound."

   We saw again how Christ will guide the spiritually blind. He will turn our darkness into light and not forsake us. God will do everything to enable us to be brought to the light of Christ.

   Although we are not tempted, as the Jews were during their exile in Babylon, to worship images of other gods, we were reminded that people still make idols of money, self-promotion, celebrity and so forth. Such people shut out the light of Christ and "shall be turned back in utter shame."

3. Isaiah 42:18-25
   

   18

   You who are deaf, listen, you who are blind, look and see!

   19

   Who is blind but my servant, or deaf like the messenger I send?

   20

   You see many things without taking note; your ears are open, but without hearing.

   21

   Though it pleased the LORD in his justice to make his law great and glorious,

   22

   This is a people despoiled and plundered, all of them trapped in holes, hidden away in prisons. They are taken as booty, with no one to rescue them, as spoil, with no one to demand their return.

   23

   Who of you gives ear to this? Who listens and pays heed for the time to come?

   24

   Who was it that gave Jacob to be plundered, Israel to the despoilers? Was it not the LORD, against whom we have sinned? In his ways they refused to walk, his law they disobeyed.

   25

   So he poured out wrath upon them, his anger, and the fury of battle; It blazed round about them, yet they did not realize, it burned them, but they took it not to heart.

   It was Israel who was blind and deaf; Israel was the blind and deaf servant who wa s told to look and see. In verse 20 God reminds his people that it was Israel who saw many things but remained blind, whose ears were open but did not hear.

   Verse 20 reminded us of Isaiah 6:9 which Jesus quoted in reply to his disciples concerning the Jewish crowds: "Isaiah's prophecy is fulfilled in them, which says: 'You shall indeed hear but not understand you shall indeed look but never see" (Matt. 13:14). So just as the Israelites were blind and deaf to God's truth before their despoilment and exile, so even in our Lord's day, many of the chosen people remained blind and deaf to the full truth of God.

   We were reminded in verse 24 that Jacob, son of Isaac, was named Israel by God, and that in this verse 'Jacob', like 'Israel', refers to the Israelites as a whole. "Jacob to be plundered, Israel to the despoilers" is an example of the parallelism typical of Hebrew poetry.

   We took from this passage a warning for ourselves not to be blind to God's purposes or deaf to his will.

4. Isaiah 43:1-7
   

   1

   But now, thus says the LORD, who created you, O Jacob, and formed you, O Israel: Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name: you are mine.

   2

   When you pass through the water, I will be with you; in the rivers you shall not drown. When you walk through fire, you shall not be burned; the flames shall not consume you.

   3

   For I am the LORD, your God, the Holy One of Israel, your savior. I give Egypt as your ransom, Ethiopia and Seba in return for you.

   4

   Because you are precious in my eyes and glorious, and because I love you, I give men in return for you and peoples in exchange for your life.

   5

   Fear not, for I am with you; from the east I will bring back your descendants, from the west I will gather you.

   6

   I will say to the north: Give them up! and to the south: Hold not back! Bring back my sons from afar, and my daughters from the ends of the earth:

   7

   Everyone who is named as mine, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made.

   We noticed the contrast here as the prophet foretells the liberation of Israel from captivity and exile with the blindness of Israel with which he finished the previous chapter. Verses 3 and 4 refer to the peoples the Persians conquered in return, as it were, for the having allowed the Jews to return to Jerusalem from their captivity in Babylon.

   But on a higher level the words "the LORD, your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Saviour" reminded us of St Paul's words: "our great God and Saviour, Jesus Christ" (Titus 2:13). We recalled how, when we considered the 'O Adonái' Antiphon, Christ is the LORD. This prophecy is only fully realized in Christ who has redeemed us and "knows his own" (John 10:14).

   Indeed, we recalled that not all the Israelites did return from east, north, south and west. The ten tribes of the northern kingdom, taken off by the Assyrians, are simply lost to history. The only return to Jerusalem is that of southern kingdom of Judah, i.e. the Jews from their captivity in Babylonia. The prophecy of verses 5, 6 and 7 is only fully realized in the New Israel, the Church. It is through Christ's redemption all the children of "Abraham, our father in faith" (Eucharistic prayer 1) that God's people are called together from all corners of the earth.

5. Isaiah 43:8-13
   

   8

   Lead out the people who are blind though they have eyes, who are deaf though they have ears.

   9

   Let all the nations gather together, let the peoples assemble! Who among them could have revealed this, or foretold to us the earlier things? Let them produce witnesses to prove themselves right, that one may hear and say, "It is true!"

   10

   You are my witnesses, says the LORD, my servants whom I have chosen To know and believe in me and understand that it is I. Before me no god was formed, and after me there shall be none.

   11

   It is I, I the LORD; there is no savior but me.

   12

   It is I who foretold, I who saved; I made it known, not any strange god among you; You are my witnesses, says the LORD. I am God,

   13

   yes, from eternity I am He; There is none who can deliver from my hand: who can countermand what I do?

   We noticed that this passage began again with the theme of leading the spiritually blind and spiritually deaf and the call for all nations to gather together; once again we see the universality of God's redemption.

   But the main message of this passage is that the LORD alone is God. We noticed in particular verse 11: "It is I, I the LORD; there is no saviour but me" and were reminded again of what St Paul wrote to Titus: "our great God and Saviour, Jesus Christ" (Titus 2:13). St Paul knew the Scriptures well and he must have known these words of Isaiah as he wrote to Titus. The oneness of the LORD is affirmed in this passage, but so, in our opinion, is the divinity of Christ, "true God from true God" (Nicene Creed).

   The opening words of verse 13, "yes, from eternity I am He", recalled to us the words of Christ who answered the Jews: "Before Abraham was, I am" (John 8:53). We find further affirmation that Christ our Saviour is one with God, and is God.
6. Isaiah 43:14-21
   

   14

   Thus says the LORD, your redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: For your sakes I send to Babylon; I will lower all the bars, and the Chaldeans shall cry out in lamentation.

   15

   I am the LORD, your Holy One, the creator of Israel, your King.

   16

   Thus says the LORD, who opens a way in the sea and a path in the mighty waters,

   17

   Who leads out chariots and horsemen, a powerful army, Till they lie prostrate together, never to rise, snuffed out and quenched like a wick.

   18

   Remember not the events of the past, the things of long ago consider not;

   19

   See, I am doing something new! Now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? In the desert I make a way, in the wasteland, rivers.

   20

   Wild beasts honor me, jackals and ostriches, For I put water in the desert and rivers in the wasteland for my chosen people to drink,

   21

   The people whom I formed for myself, that they might announce my praise.

   We noted that verses 14 and 15 referred to the Jews' liberation from Babylon and that verses 16 and 17 referred to the much earlier liberation of the people of Israel from their bondage in Egypt. We recalled that the Jews continue to remember the Exodus from Egypt every year at Passover and that we recall the same incidents in the Easter Vigil, as we see the ancient Exodus as a prefiguration of Christ rescuing us from the bondage of sin and death.

   But we liked particularly verses 18 and 19 where the LORD, Christ our Saviour, tells us not to dwell on the past but to look forward to what he will do. In the case of the returning Jews, it is to reestablish Jerusalem and prepare for the coming of the Messiah; for us it is to prepare and look forward to the return of Christ.

   The Israelites were the people God formed for himself, but we are now part of that people for, as St Paul wrote to Timothy that God "wants everyone to be saved and reach full knowledge of the truth" (1 Timothy 2:4).

7. Isaiah 43:22-28
   

   22

   Yet you did not call upon me, O Jacob, for you grew weary of me, O Israel.

   23

   You did not bring me sheep for your holocausts, nor honor me with your sacrifices. I did not exact from you the service of offerings, nor weary you for frankincense.

   24

   You did not buy me sweet cane for money, nor fill me with the fat of your sacrifices; Instead, you burdened me with your sins, and wearied me with your crimes.

   25

   It is I, I, who wipe out, for my own sake, your offenses; your sins I remember no more.

   26

   Would you have me remember, have us come to trial? Speak up, prove your innocence!

   27

   Your first father sinned; your spokesmen rebelled against me

   28

   Till I repudiated the holy gates, put Jacob under the ban, and exposed Israel to scorn.

   This passage deals mainly with Israel's indifference and ingratitude towards God. Not only had Adam sinned, but past leaders, priests and prophets have rebelled against God. Israel has brought past calamities on itself.

   We saw this as a warning to ourselves not to be indifferent to God and, especially, not to be ungrateful towards God. We took heart, however, in noting that "It is I, I, who wipe out, for my own sake, your offenses; your sins I remember no more."

 
For next week
Those present were reminded that next week shall reading the prophet Malachi as we consider the 'O Óriens' Antiphon. Members were asked in the meantime to see if they could find other scriptural references to Christ bringing light to he world and also to find out what they could about the prophet Malachi (see 'December 4th: O Óriens' in the menu bar).
 

Conclusion
We finished the meeting by praying the 'O Clavis David' Antiphon and calling on the intercession of Our Lady, the Refuge of sinners.

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.