God's Problem (11 page)
Authors: Bart D. Ehrman
Second Isaiah agrees with his prophetic forebears in regarding the suffering that has come upon the people of Israel as a punishment for their sins against God. Indeed, Israel has now “received from the L
ORD
’s hand double for all her sins” (40:2). This rule of sin and punishment, however, applies not only to Israel the conquered but also to Babylon the conqueror, as God himself informs the conquering nation:
I was angry with my people,
I profaned my heritage;
I gave them into your hand,
you showed them no mercy….
But evil shall come upon you [as well],
which you cannot charm away;
disaster shall fall upon you,
which you will not be able to
ward off. (Isa. 47:6, 11)
A key teaching of Second Isaiah, unlike that of prophets before the disaster, is that now that Judah has paid for its sins by being punished, God will relent and forgive his people, restoring them to the promised land and starting over in a new relationship with them. And so in the familiar opening words of the prophet’s account:
Comfort, O comfort my people,
says your God.
Speak tenderly to Jerusalem,
and cry to her
that she has served her term,
that her penalty is paid. (Isa. 40:1–2)
Or as he says somewhat later:
For a brief moment I abandoned
you,
but with great compassion I will
gather you.
In overflowing wrath for a
moment
I hid my face from you,
but with everlasting love I will
have compassion on you,
says the L
ORD
, your Redeemer. (Isa. 54:7–8)
Just as God saved Israel from slavery in Egypt so many centuries before, leading it through the wilderness into the promised land, so he will act again, making “in the desert a highway for our God.” This return will be miraculously delivered: “every valley shall be lifted up and every mountain and hill be made low; the uneven ground shall become level and the rough places a plain. Then the glory of the L
ORD
shall be revealed” (Isa. 40:3–5). This glorious return through the wilderness will come to all who throw their trust on the Lord:
He gives power to the faint,
and strengthens the powerless.
Even youths will faint and be
weary,
and the young will fall
exhausted;
but those who wait for the L
ORD
shall renew their strength,
they shall mount up with wings
like eagles,
they shall run and not be weary,
they shall walk and not faint. (Isa. 40:29–31)
In several notable passages of the book, God speaks of Israel as his chosen servant, who has been sent into exile but will now be restored, while its enemies are dispersed:
But you, Israel, my servant,
Jacob, whom I have chosen,
the offspring of Abraham, my
friend;
you whom I took from the ends
of the earth,
and called from its farthest
corners,
saying to you, “You are my
servant,
I have chosen you and not cast
you off”;
do not fear, for I am with you,
do not be afraid, for I am your
God;
I will strengthen you, I will help
you…
Yes, all who are incensed against
you
shall be ashamed and disgraced;
those who strive against you
shall be as nothing and shall
perish. (Isa. 41:8–10)
It is important for the understanding of Second Isaiah to recognize that it is explicitly the people of Israel, evidently those taken into exile, who are called “my servant” (41:8). As the prophet says later, “You are my servant, Israel, in whom I will be glorified” (49:3). The reason this matters is because some of the passages of Second Isaiah were taken by the early Christians to refer to none other than the messiah, Jesus, who was thought to have suffered for the sake of others, bringing redemption. And indeed, it is hard for Christians familiar with the New Testament to read passages like Isaiah 52:13–53:18 without thinking of Jesus:
See, my servant shall prosper;
he shall be exalted and lifted up,
and shall be very high….
He was despised and rejected by
others;
a man of suffering and
acquainted with infirmity;
and as one from whom others
hide their faces
he was despised, and we held
him of no account.
Surely he has borne our infirmities
and carried our diseases;
yet we accounted him stricken,
struck down by God, and
afflicted.
But he was wounded for our
transgressions,
crushed for our iniquities;
upon him was the punishment that
made us whole,
and by his bruises we are
healed.
All we like sheep have gone
astray;
we have all turned to our own
way,
and the L
ORD
has laid on him
the iniquity of us all.
He was oppressed, and he was
afflicted,
yet he did not open his mouth;
like a lamb that is led to the
slaughter,
and like a sheep that before its
shearers is silent,
so he did not open his mouth….
For he was cut off from the land
of the living,
stricken for the transgression of
my people.
For interpreting such a powerful passage, several points are important. The first is the one I stated in an earlier chapter: the prophets of Israel were not crystal-ball gazers looking into the distant future (Jesus would not appear for another five centuries); they were speaking a word of God to people living in their own time. Moreover, there is nothing in the passage to suggest that the author is speaking about a
future messiah.
For one thing, the word
messiah
never occurs in this passage (read the entire book for yourself). Furthermore, the sufferings of this “servant” are said to be in the past, not the future. In light of these points, it is easy to see why, prior to Christianity, no Jewish interpreters thought this passage was indicating what the messiah would be like or do. Ancient Judaism (before Christianity) never did have an idea that the messiah would suffer for others—that’s why the vast majority of Jews rejected the idea that Jesus could be the messiah. The messiah was to be a figure of grandeur and power—for example, someone like the mighty King David—who would rule over God’s people. And who was Jesus? A crucified criminal, just the opposite of what a messiah would be. Finally, it is important to reiterate the key point: the author of Second Isaiah explicitly tells us who the “servant” who has suffered is: it is Israel itself, specifically Israel taken into exile (41:8; 49:3).
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