Isaiah 7–39 (Part 1)

Richard Belcher provides an in-depth analysis of Isaiah chapters 7 through 39. He focuses on the historical context, theological themes, and their implications for both ancient and contemporary believers.

The following unedited transcript is provided by Beluga AI.

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Alright, lecture eight: we are going to cover chapters seven through 39. Chapter six predicts unbelief and a hardening of God’s people against the word of God.

Chapter seven shows a historical example of that very thing, as we will see when we get specifically through chapter seven. If you look at all of chapters seven through twelve, you see alternating sections of judgment and hope here as well. Remember, in chapters one through five, you sort of had alternating sections of the present sinful condition of God’s people contrasted with what God intended them to be. Well, in seven through twelve, you have alternating sections of judgment and hope. 7:13-22, judgment because Ahaz does not trust in God.

Now there is some hope mixed into chapters seven and eight. We have the sign of Emmanuel. We’ll talk about, but then specifically hope through the royal child. Chapter 9:1-7, judgment. In 9:8 through 10:34, Israel and Assyria’s pride. And in chapters 11 and 12, hope again through the branch concept again comes into play here. The judgment sections expose the false views of Ahaz, Israel, Assyria, their false perspectives on life. Because Israel and Ahaz are not trusting God, the hope sections unfold messianic promises, promises related to a future ruler.

Now we come to chapter seven and the crisis that Judah is facing in chapter seven. The first two verses set the stage for that crisis.

Mister Westmoreland, would you read 7:1-2 just to sort of get those two verses out in front of us? We’ll describe what’s going on in the days of Ahaz, the son of Jotham, son of Uzziah, king of Judah. Razan, the king of Syria, and Pekah, the son of Remariah, the king of Israel, came up to Jerusalem to wage war against it, but could not yet mount an attack against it.

¹ In the days of Ahaz the son of Jotham, son of Uzziah, king of Judah, Rezin the king of Syria and Pekah the son of Remaliah the king of Israel came up to Jerusalem to wage war against it, but could not yet mount an attack against it. ² When the house of David was told, “Syria is in league with Ephraim,” the heart of Ahaz and the heart of his people shook as the trees of the forest shake before the wind. (Isaiah 7:1-2, ESV)

All right, what’s going on here? Yeah, that’s not the right way to draw it. I’ll just do this straight one. Now you have Judah, Israel, Aram or Syria, and then Assyria over here; those are the major players. Assyria is the major power of this day.

And the king of Israel, Pekka, and the king of Syria, Raisin, they come together and form a coalition in order to do battle or stand against Assyria, because Assyria is the major power of the day. Now, the more people you get join your coalition, the stronger you will be. So they want Ahaz. Ahaz is king of Judah. They want Ahaz to join them. In fact, they’re going to force him to join them.

And if he is not willing to join them, they are going to place on the throne another king, which verse six mentions set up the son of Tabeel as king in the midst of it. So Ahaz is being forced, pressured to join this coalition, and he’s not going along with it. So they come up to the city of Jerusalem, and they are going to wage war and put a siege on the city of Jerusalem to force him, Ahaz, to join their coalition. And chapter 7:1 is sort of a summary statement.

They could not prevail against Ahaz. And so they are making preparations to lay siege against Jerusalem. And you see the reaction of the people in verse two. The heart of Ahaz and the heart of his people shook as the trees of the forest shake before the wind. They’re scared. They’re fearful. This is the context that Isaiah is sent by God to Ahaz. Verse four.

⁴ And say to him, ‘Be careful, be quiet, do not fear, and do not let your heart be faint because of these two smoldering stumps of firebrands, at the fierce anger of Rezin and Syria and the son of Remaliah. (Isaiah 7:4, ESV)

Don’t be afraid. Don’t be fearful. These are just two smoldering stumps of firebrands, which tells you what they’re going to fizzle out. In a short period of time, they’ll be gone. Verses seven through nine, actually. Yeah, verse seven.

⁷ thus says the Lord God : “‘It shall not stand, and it shall not come to pass. ⁸ For the head of Syria is Damascus, and the head of Damascus is Rezin. And within sixty-five years Ephraim will be shattered from being a people. ⁹ And the head of Ephraim is Samaria, and the head of Samaria is the son of Remaliah. If you are not firm in faith, you will not be firm at all.'” (Isaiah 7:7-9, ESV)

That’s the issue, Ahaz, who are you going to trust? Where are you going to put your faith in this crisis situation? Don’t do anything, Ahaz. Be careful. Be quiet. Don’t fear. Have faith in Yahweh, and this thing will pass. Try to sell that to your military advisors. Don’t do anything. That’s his dilemma now, perhaps. And we’ll set this up before we have to break for Chaplin. Come back and look closer at this. Perhaps they are having trouble deciding. Let me think about it a minute. What are your options?

You can trust in Yahweh and do nothing and believe the word of the prophet that these two smoking firebrands will come to nothing very quickly. There’s another option: Assyria can help me. Syria has all the power. These guys are wanting me to join a coalition against Assyria. Why don’t I just call for Assyria for help? A powerful nation. They’ll come down to take care of these guys like nothing.

Well, either Ahaz is having trouble deciding, or he’s hiding his true intent because he’s already made up his decision. But God comes to Ahaz in this context and says in chapter seven, verse eleven.

¹¹ “Ask a sign of the Lord your God; let it be deep as Sheol or high as heaven.” (Isaiah 7:11, ESV)

The Lord is willing. He has to give you a sign as deep as Sheol, as high as heaven, which gives you the impression, “Wow, this could be quite a sign. Miraculous sign.” God is giving you the opportunity. He has to ask for a sign to confirm that he will do what he said. Miraculous sign. Ahaz gives some pious answer here. “I’ll not ask.” I’ll not put the Lord to the test. Doesn’t Deuteronomy somewhere say, “you shall not put the Lord to the test”?

¹⁶ “You shall not put the Lord your God to the test, as you tested him at Massah. (Deuteronomy 6:16, ESV)

I don’t want to put the Lord to the test. Appreciate the offer, but I don’t want to put the Lord to the test. And it’s in response to his rejection of the sign. And it’s, I really think, in response to his unbelief that God then goes ahead and gives a sign. Anyway, we are in Isaiah 7, and we’re talking about the interpretation of the sign that was given to King Ahaz.

There are several things related to the interpretation, a sign that we need to talk about. One is related to the meaning of the word alma. It’s the word translated as “virgin.” In most English translations, especially conservative translations, it’s translated as “young woman” in the RSV. Part of the problem is that this word is ambiguous, as the Hebrew word alma is ambiguous.

Some point out that Isaiah could have used the term betulah, which is another hebrew word that means virgin, although that word is a little disputed as to whether or not it refers to a married woman in a couple of places. Alma is understood by many and has the meaning a young woman of marriageable age. And any young woman of marriageable age certainly carries with it the idea of virginity. Sometimes it’s translated maiden in some parts of the Old Testament.

So the idea of virginity is a part of the meaning of Alma, a young woman of marriageable age. Brevard Childs, who certainly is not on the conservative side of many of these issues, says it’s very unlikely that a married woman would be referred to as an alma. The RSV translation of young woman is too broad. So young woman doesn’t give you the correct nuance of this particular word. So virgin is a good translation of this word. You also have the question of the identity of this child.

In Isaiah 7:14-17, some connect this child with the Messiah.

¹⁴ Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. ¹⁵ He shall eat curds and honey when he knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good. ¹⁶ For before the boy knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good, the land whose two kings you dread will be deserted. ¹⁷ The Lord will bring upon you and upon your people and upon your father’s house such days as have not come since the day that Ephraim departed from Judah—the king of Assyria!” (Isaiah 7:14-17, ESV)

Calvin and other scholars argue that this is a direct prediction of the Messiah. However, a question arises if that is affirmed. If this is a direct prediction of the Messiah, what relevance does this sign then have to Ahaz?

Well, this has led to the question of trying to identify who this child might be, and some have tried to identify this child with someone in the historical context of Isaiah. One option is the child talked about in Isaiah 8. Maher Shalal Hashbaz, that child of Isaiah, is mentioned in chapter 8. Oswalt, in his commentary on Isaiah in the NICOT series, sort of holds on to two things. On the one hand, he stresses the uniqueness and the mystery of the birth of the child.

This child is named Emmanuel, and certainly that would set this child apart. Emmanuel, God with us. And he says, it’s extremely difficult to identify the child of Isaiah 7 with anybody in Isaiah’s time period. However, he then turns around and says that the most attractive suggestion is that the child Emmanuel is Maher of Isaiah 8. And he argues this because of the parallels between the child in Isaiah 7:14-17 and Maher in Isaiah 8. There are some parallels listed in your notes. She shall conceive and bear a son.

As stated in both chapters, the significance of these two children are very similar. In Isaiah 7:16, it says,

¹⁶ For before the boy knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good, the land whose two kings you dread will be deserted. (Isaiah 7:16, ESV)

In Isaiah 8, related to Maher, it says in verse 4,

⁴ for before the boy knows how to cry ‘My father’ or ‘My mother,’ the wealth of Damascus and the spoil of Samaria will be carried away before the king of Assyria.” (Isaiah 8:4, ESV)

So, the significant time period related to each child between birth and a particular time in that child’s life is significantly the problem with identifying the child of chapter seven with Maher is that there are some differences between the two. In chapter seven, the Immanuel child, the mother names a child. In chapter eight, Maher, the father, names a child. In chapter seven, the mother of the child is alma. In chapter eight, the mother of Maher is Isaiah’s own wife. So, there are problems in identifying the child of chapter seven with Maher.

If you want to argue that there’s some. That if you want to argue that Maher is some interim historical example, then I don’t have a problem with that because there are parallels. But I would not want to identify Maher with the child of Isaiah chapter seven. So, interim historical example because of the parallels, yes. But Maher is not the child of Isaiah chapter seven.

Another attempt to identify the child in Isaiah chapter seven with a historical person is to identify the child with Hezekiah, King Hezekiah. This is argued by Christopher Seitz.

S. E. I. T. Z. Now, the major problem of this view is that Hezekiah is supposedly already born by the time that this sign is given. Now Seitz gets around this problem by emphasizing the differences between the accounts in Kings and Isaiah 7, and he thinks there’s enough wiggle room to get around this particular problem. Seitz argues that the contrast, and there will be a contrast, we’ll see a contrast between Ahaz, King Ahaz and King Hezekiah.

He says that the contrast between Ahaz and Hezekiah isn’t just between Isaiah chapter seven and Isaiah 36-39, where Ahaz and Hezekiah both face a similar situation. But he thinks that contrast encompasses all of Isaiah chapter seven through twelve. So Seitz argues that the references to Emmanuel in chapter seven and the references to the son who will be born and the government will be on his shoulders in Isaiah 9:6-7. Seitz argues that these passages, key passages in Isaiah chapter seven through twelve, all refer to King Hezekiah.

Well, I still think the chronological problems are very significant, hard to get around. Plus, Hezekiah, as Maher does not exhaust what is said about the child either in chapter seven or in chapter nine. So, we come back to the possibility that the child should be identified with the messiah. If the child of chapter seven is the Messiah, then what about the question? How does this passage in Isaiah chapter seven, how does this sign relate to Ahaz? How is it relevant to him? Well, a couple of approaches to this question.

Calvin argues that Isaiah 7:14-17 is describing the messiah in the future, that God will send a messiah in the future to deliver his people, Ahaz. King Ahaz should recognize that the sign is referring to the messiah who will come in the future to deliver his people, knowing that God will one day send the messiah to deliver his people in the future.

Knowing that Ahaz should right now trust in God’s deliverance from this coalition at the beginning of chapter seven, so the messiah is placed before the eyes of King Ahaz as hope of deliverance. God will deliver his people through the messiah in the future. You should trust God to deliver his people. Now, in this crisis situation, that’s one response. How is this sign relevant to Ahaz? Another response is by Motir in his commentary on Isaiah, where he argues the sign is no longer a matter of invitation to Ahaz, but it’s a matter of prediction.

Ahaz has rejected a sign. Ahaz has not believed God. The unbelief is expressed. Chapter 7:11, “Ask a sign for yourself,” talking to Ahaz. “Ask a sign for yourself from the Lord your God, the Lord your God.” Talking to Ahaz, “Ask a sign from the Lord your God, Ahaz.” Well, he rejects a sign with some pious response. And then Isaiah says in verse 13, “Is it a small thing for you to weary men, but will you weary my God also?”

¹¹ “Ask a sign of the Lord your God; let it be deep as Sheol or high as heaven.” ¹² But Ahaz said, “I will not ask, and I will not put the Lord to the test.” ¹³ And he said, “Hear then, O house of David! Is it too little for you to weary men, that you weary my God also? (Isaiah 7:11-13, ESV)

A move from your God to my God. A clear case that Ahaz has not believed and not taken advantage of this sign. So the sign, since Ahaz has rejected the sign, the sign is not necessarily for King Ahaz. So we don’t need to talk about how the sign is relevant to Ahaz. However, what is said about the child does have significance for Ahaz. E.J. young argues this. The only thing Ahaz needs to know is in verse 16 of chapter seven,

¹⁶ For before the boy knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good, the land whose two kings you dread will be deserted. (Isaiah 7:16, ESV)

The land that you dread will be forsaken by both of her kings. you’re facing this coalition, Ahaz, and in this period of time, between birth and the time that the child knows to refuse the evil and choose the good, that short period of time is the significant time period for you, Ahaz. In that short period of time, this coalition will be history, just as God said it would. If you would trust him, that would have been better for you and for Judah.

So what’s significant about the sign is just that particular time period mentioned there in verse 16. That’s all Ahaz needs to know that in a short time, this coalition will be gone. Defeated, smoking firebrands. They’ll fizzle out. So I do. My own position is that this sign is a direct prediction of the messiah and that we don’t have to necessarily make it relevant to Ahaz since he’s rejected the sign. But I do believe that this period of time and some 716 is significant for Ahaz. And that parallels the child in chapter eight.

The child Maher at Proverbs 8:4, same, similar time period, not exactly the same. Before the child shall have knowledge to cry, my father, my mother, this coalition will be gone. So that Maher child reinforces that similar period of time.

Now, the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Old Testament, translates Alma with Parthenos, virgin. And Matthew uses that to support the virgin birth of Christ. And the way Matthew presents it in his gospels, it’s clear that Mary conceives before she has relationships with Joseph.

So now Ahaz’s decision, and partly the reason why he rejects the sign, is to appeal to Assyria for help. He’s facing this coalition of two kings against him. They want him to join the coalition. He sees the fire power of Assyria and he appeals to Assyria for help. And that will be problematic for Judah because Assyria will not stop with just those two kings, the king of Syria and the king of Israel. Assyria will not stop there. Assyria will be like the waters of a river that floods.

You can’t stop them like the levees in New Orleans once they broke. You just can’t get that water back behind them. Assyria is like a river overflowing its bounds. That will flood Judah eventually as well. We’ll see that later.

Now, it’s also interesting in this context that Isaiah presents his message through children. And there is an emphasis on children in these chapters. Chapter 7:3. When Isaiah goes to first meet with Ahaz, he takes with him one of his children called Shaar Yashuv, which means a remnant will return.

Now, that might be an indication of judgment. Only a remnant will return, or it might be an indication of hope. A remnant will return. Part of it may depend on how Ahaz responds. But that is the name of one of Isaiah’s children. Chapter 7:3. We have the child in 7:14; we talked about that child, Emmanuel, God with us, God’s presence with his people. The child in Chapter 8:3, Mahershalal hashbaz.

And the name of that child is quick to the plunder, speedy to the spoil again, which reinforces the idea that this coalition is going to be short-lived. Isaiah 8:18 says, here am I and the children whom the Lord has given me; we are for signs and wonders in Israel.

¹⁸ Behold, I and the children whom the Lord has given me are signs and portents in Israel from the Lord of hosts, who dwells on Mount Zion. (Isaiah 8:18, ESV)

So Isaiah identifies his children as signs and wonders in Israel, symbols of meaning that are significant for what’s going on within that context. And then you have in Isaiah 9:6-7, the royal child described in these very familiar verses.

⁶ For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. ⁷ Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this. (Isaiah 9:6-7, ESV)

Here, the names do not center on some event as the names of the other children, but the names center on the character of the child. The child brings an end to war. The child establishes an eternal kingdom based on justice and righteousness. The child is mighty God, a term that’s used of Yahweh in Isaiah 10:20-21. So that’s an extremely important passage in the book of Isaiah and in our Christian tradition as well. Now, the emphasis on children in these chapters may highlight the dilemma that Ahaz faces. Ahaz was told by Isaiah to trust in God, to be quiet, to do nothing, and this coalition would be gone.

That’s kind of a weak response, especially when you look at Assyria and you see all the firepower of Assyria and what Assyria can do and how Assyria can come down and take care of this coalition. The emphasis on children in these chapters reinforces Ahaz’s response of trusting in God. Ahaz should trust in God. The children that are here, children are weak. We don’t consider children to be of much help, and that reinforces the response that Ahaz should make to trust in God. That looks like the weak response.

It looks like the way of weakness to not do anything, to do nothing and be quiet. To trust in the Lord. To call on Assyria looks like the way of power. But God thwarts Ahaz’s wisdom by using children as object lessons and the establishment of God’s kingdom in chapter nine, verses seven through a child. So I think there’s significance in these chapters on the emphasis of children, reinforcing the dilemma that Ahaz faces. Do nothing, trust God. That seems to be the way of weakness, or call on the power of Assyria.

The children emphasize what appears to be the way of weakness is really the way God is going to work to accomplish his purposes. And Ahaz needs to trust in God rather than Assyria, which he doesn’t. That’s part of the problem. Ahaz does not trust in God. He trusts in Assyria.

So the rest of these chapters, we laid them out at the beginning or earlier in lectures. The rest of these chapters deal with how trusting Assyria will fail, judgment on Israel or Judah, judgment on Assyria’s pride.

This would be chapter nine, verses eight through 10:34. Ultimately, it’s not Assyria that Israel has to deal with, but it’s God. Not Assyria’s wrath, if you will, but God’s wrath. And so you have the refrain scattered throughout this section: 9:12, 9:17, 9:21, 10:4. The refrain, “For all this, his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still,” throughout these chapters, Assyria is only an instrument in God’s hands.

⁴ Nothing remains but to crouch among the prisoners or fall among the slain. For all this his anger has not turned away, and his hand is stretched out still. (Isaiah 10:4, ESV)

²¹ Manasseh devours Ephraim, and Ephraim devours Manasseh; together they are against Judah. For all this his anger has not turned away, and his hand is stretched out still. (Isaiah 9:21, ESV)

¹⁷ Therefore the Lord does not rejoice over their young men, and has no compassion on their fatherless and widows; for everyone is godless and an evildoer, and every mouth speaks folly. For all this his anger has not turned away, and his hand is stretched out still. (Isaiah 9:17, ESV)

¹² The Syrians on the east and the Philistines on the west devour Israel with open mouth. For all this his anger has not turned away, and his hand is stretched out still. (Isaiah 9:12, ESV)

Assyria will be judged. Assyria is compared to a mighty cedar of Lebanon that has been cut down. And so Assyria, although Assyria looks powerful, Assyria will be taken care of by God. That’s mainly chapter ten, how God will take care of Assyria. Then you have in chapter eleven a beautiful passage describing the messianic hope of the reign of the Messiah. In contrast to the mighty trees of Lebanon, the Davidic king will come from a stump, a branch.

There shall come forth a rod from the stem of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his fruits, a tree cut down, but life in the stump, and from that life will come a branch, a king. And this king is described in chapter eleven as being full of the Spirit of the lord, as judging with justice.

His reign is manifested in nature, verses six through nine, where the wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and his victory is described in ways that pick up other concepts in the Old Testament, especially verse eight, the nursing child shall play by the Cobra’s hole, a child playing over the hole of a snake, sort of the concept of dominion, the victory in connection with the reign of this king. So this is a beautiful passage laying out the reign of the messiah, the root stem of Jesse, the branch that will grow up.

Now, it’s interesting that there is a progression in these chapters, sort of a movement in these chapters related to these messianic texts. In Isaiah 7:14, you start in historical reality with Ahaz. Isaiah 9:6, you have the character of this child, and this child is more than just a human, mighty God. And then Isaiah 11, the reign of the Messiah, described this, something that may go beyond history, the restoration of paradise, the ultimate end result of when the Messiah establishes his reign. So you may see some progression there.

Now, this section, chapters seven through twelve, ends with a hymn of praise, a song of praise, which chapter twelve is a hymn of praise, and the theme and the focus of this chapter is what we’ve seen all through Isaiah up to this point, especially chapters seven through twelve, trusting in God. And so, this hymn, or prayer, if you will, focuses again on that same theme, a song of praise exalting God for what He’s accomplished, with an emphasis on trust. So, you see in verse two,

² “Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and will not be afraid; for the Lord God is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation.” (Isaiah 12:2, ESV)

This is a major theme of all of Isaiah, but it’s been actually the first 39 chapters, the issue of who are you going to trust? And the necessity of trusting in God. So this major section, seven through twelve, ends with this hymn of praise, encouraging God’s people to praise the Lord and to trust in His name. Now the next section, chapters 13 through 27, are God’s prophecies of judgments against the nations.

Every prophetic book except Hosea contains prophecies against the nations many times. They’re not meant to be read by the nations, but they are meant to be read by God’s people. Now, the perspectives in these chapters are significant. The worldwide dimension of the kingdom through the coming king, Isaiah 7-12, now becomes the center of the section on the nations. So the kingdom that we’ve been talking about in 7-12 now takes center stage in verses 13-27.

The history that’s talked about here is oriented around the people of God, but the geographical boundaries are greater than larger than Judah because now gentiles become incorporated into the people of God. And there is an extremely interesting chapter, chapter 19, that talks about this in relationship to Egypt and Assyria that you can see there in 19:19.

¹⁹ In that day there will be an altar to the Lord in the midst of the land of Egypt, and a pillar to the Lord at its border. (Isaiah 19:19, ESV)

In that day, there will be an altar to the Lord in the midst of the land of Egypt and a pillar to the Lord at its borders, an altar in Egypt, and goes on to talk about a highway, verse 23 from Egypt to Assyria.

²³ In that day there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria, and Assyria will come into Egypt, and Egypt into Assyria, and the Egyptians will worship with the Assyrians. (Isaiah 19:23, ESV)

And in verse 24,

²⁴ In that day Israel will be the third with Egypt and Assyria, a blessing in the midst of the earth, ²⁵ whom the Lord of hosts has blessed, saying, “Blessed be Egypt my people, and Assyria the work of my hands, and Israel my inheritance.” (Isaiah 19:24-25, ESV)

So here you have Egypt, Assyria, and Israel, all on the same plane, all a part of God’s people, a glorious picture of the inclusion of the gentiles. So that is a part of chapters 13 through 27. And then again, the issue of trust is at the heart of these chapters. Now, I’m not sure exactly how far I need to go, but I’ll bring it to a close here by focusing on the three sections. I wasn’t sure exactly where to stop. This section on the nations you can divide into three parts.

You have oracles in chapters 13 through 20, and these oracles have precise historical headings. For example, 13:1 the burden against Babylon, 14:28. This is the burden which came in the year that King Ahaz died. And verse 29 mentions Philistia. 15:1, the burden against Moab. So the oracles in chapters 13 through 20 have precise historical headings. you’re rooted in history. You know who these oracles are against, then? The oracles in Isaiah 21 through 30. I’m sorry, 21 through 23 the headings. Most of the headings in 21 through 23 are more enigmatic.

They’re not clear, they’re ambiguous. Isaiah 21:1, the burden against the wilderness of the sea. Now it’s Babylon that’s in view there. Just about everybody agrees with that.

¹ The oracle concerning the wilderness of the sea. As whirlwinds in the Negeb sweep on, it comes from the wilderness, from a terrible land. (Isaiah 21:1, ESV)

But the title is not as specific. Isaiah 21:11, the burden against Duma. Well, that’s clearly Edom because Seir is mentioned. And so these titles are not as rooted in history, except for the one title, I think. Isaiah 23:1, Tyre is specifically mentioned, but the other titles are not.

So you’ve moved from oracles in chapters 13 through 20 that are clearly rooted in history, relate to a nation, to oracles in 21 through 23 that are more ambiguous, although we have a good sense of who these oracles are against. And then you come to chapters 24 through 27, and you have everything changing in 24-27. There are no overt headings; there are no plain pointers to history. Redemption comes on a worldwide basis.

This section 24:27 talks about judgment that is universal, judgment against sin, and it emphasizes a salvation that encompasses all of the world. And so there’s a movement in these oracles against the nations rooted in history. The second section, not as tied to history, and the third section, 24 through 27, is really eschatological. you’ve moved then to eschatological type emphasis with judgment, including all creation. Now, it is interesting that this section ends in chapter 27 with a song of the protected vineyard, a song of restoration, which is the opposite of chapter five.

Chapter five was the song of the abandoned vineyard. And now, here at the end, the promises and the salvation and the restoration of Israel are described in opposite terms: a protected vineyard, not the abandoned vineyard.

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