The Major Prophets: Isaiah to Daniel

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INTRODUCTION

As a Bible teacher and college principal, I am regularly asked for advice about which is the best resource for reading and understanding the Bible. Many of us may be familiar with the Gospels, and perhaps Paul’s epistles. But we may become a little more vague when trying to work out what Leviticus or Zephaniah has to do with either Jesus or being a twenty-first-century Christian. Well, here you will find help and guidance from trusted scholars on how to hear and correctly handle the very words of God. The Open Your Bible Commentary has four great strengths:

Accessible. These studies address the average, thoughtful Christian without assuming a great deal of background information, yet they are never superficial. After all, the Lord Jesus commanded his apostles to feed his lambs and sheep and not his giraffes! In other words, this book is an excellent teaching tool.

Digestible. No study section is overly long. The assumption is that we can read through a section or two a day without getting indigestion. However, the little and often approach means we can systematically work our way through a whole book over a number of days or weeks. One writer who worked on a commentary on Isaiah for some thirty years said he felt like a very small mouse trying to digest a very large and extremely succulent cheese. Well, here you can enjoy every mouthful of every Bible book!

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As a very young Christian, I was first introduced to this amazing series through a recommendation from a pastor who simply said that the money he had paid for the study guide on Psalms was the best he had ever spent! How right he was! Come and enjoy!

Dr Steve Brady

Moorlands College

Christchurch, UK

AUTHORS

Arthur E. Cundall, lecturer in Old Testament studies at London Bible College.

J. Stafford Wright, senior tutor at Oak Hill College and principal of Tyndale Hall, Bristol.

CONTENTS

Introduction

Authors

Reviser’s Introduction

Abbreviations

PROPHECY & THE PROPHETIC BOOKS

The Prophets Of Israel And Judah

World of the Old Testament

Isaiah

Commentary

Jeremiah

Dominant Powers of Bible Times

Commentary

Lamentations

Commentary

Ezekiel

Commentary

Daniel

Commentary

Thank You, Scripture Union

Copyright

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REVISER’S INTRODUCTION

These studies are a sensitively edited version of Bible Study books originally published by Scripture Union. The intention of that series was to encourage the daily study of the Bible at greater depth than was possible with Bible Study notes. This allowed fuller discussion of introductory, textual and background material, whilst still aiming at devotional warmth, sound exegesis and relevance to daily life.

The authors of the original studies were given a liberty of approach within the general scope of the series. This provides for a certain variation which it is hoped will prove stimulating rather than disconcerting. All authors are united within the circle of conservative evangelical scholarship.

This text may be used with the New International Version (NIV), the English Standard Version (ESV), or indeed with any version of the Bible.

The principal aim of these studies is to stimulate daily Bible study as an aid to personal devotion and application to life in the firm belief that All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work (2 Timothy 3:16-17, NIV).

Martin H. Manser

In this ebook, which is a section from The Open Your Bible Commentary, we have added book introductions, maps, and other material from The Bible Book by Book.

ABBREVIATIONS

Bible versions referred to in this book

ESV – English Standard Version

GNT – Good News Translation

JBP – J.B. Phillips New Testament in Modern English

KJV – King James Version (Authorized) 1611

NASB – New American Standard Bible

NCV – New Century Version

NEB – New English Bible

NIRV – New International Reader’s Version

NIV – New International Version

NJB – New Jerusalem Bible

NKJV – New King James Version

NLT – New Living Translation

NRSV – New Revised Standard Version

RSV – Revised Standard Version

RV – Revised Version (1885)

TM – The Message

Standard Abbreviations

c. – (circa) about

eg – for example

f. – verse following

ff. – verses following

Gk. – Greek

Heb. – Hebrew

ie – that is

LXX – Septuagint (Greek Version of the O.T.)

p. – page

pp. – pages

INTRODUCTION

PROPHECY & THE PROPHETIC BOOKS

Whilst Abraham is called a prophet (Genesis 20:7) and Moses is the ideal, prototype prophet (Deuteronomy 18:15ff.), the great age of prophecy began in the declining years of the Judges’ period. The prophets occupied a unique place and made an invaluable contribution to the national life, although frequently their influence was greatest long after they themselves had died. They were largely associated with periods of crisis: Samuel was influential in bringing Israel out of the moral and spiritual darkness of the Judges’ period; Elijah and Elisha emerged during the sharp crisis caused by Jezebel’s importation of Baal-worship; Amos and Hosea in Israel, and Micah and Isaiah in Judah, were the great eighth-century prophets who thundered against the declining standards of their age; Jeremiah, Zephaniah, Ezekiel and Obadiah were involved in the final judgments on Judah, whilst Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi and possibly Joel were connected with the re-establishment of a purified temple-cult in Judah.

The greatness of these prophets is enhanced by the gross darkness that surrounded them. They were the radicals of their generation, but they differed from their contemporary counterparts in that their condemnation was based on what they knew of God and his revealed will; they were not innovators but traditionalists in the best sense. To describe them as the great ethical prophets is true, but misleading, for their ethical insistence was itself based on a fundamental, personal experience of God. Knowing God, they spoke, and became the moral, religious and political counselors of their generation. Two main themes dominate in their oracles:

Privilege—Israel was chosen by God to enter into a unique covenantal relationship with him (eg Hosea 11:1-4; Amos 2:9-11; 3:1f.);

Responsibility—Israel was accountable to God and owed him humble, loving allegiance (eg Hosea 6:6; Micah 6:8). Failure in this responsibility involved forfeiting the responsibility.

The six words used to describe them are important; they include man of God (1 Samuel 2:27), watchman (Jeremiah 6:17) and the Lord’s messenger (Haggai 1:13). Two Hebrew words are translated seer, one derived from the verb see (in a unique sense the prophet was the man who saw what was going on) and another from a verb denoting prophetic vision (1 Samuel 9:9; 2 Samuel 24:11). But the normal word translated prophet (Hebrew nabi) is by far the most important. Its meaning in Israel is indicated by the terminology of Exodus 4:16; 7:1. Just as Aaron was a mouth for Moses, the prophet was God’s mouthpiece, ie his spokesman or announcer, broadcasting his will to their contemporaries in terms of divine concern and divine participation in history. There is a sense in which the Christian has precisely this function to fulfill today.

A distinction may be made between the great natural prophets, such as Samuel, Elijah and Elisha, whose utterances have survived in only fragmentary form, and the writing prophets, whose oracles are recorded in the prophetic books. But this distinction must not be pressed too far, for men like Amos, Hosea and Isaiah stood in the same spiritual tradition as their predecessors. Moreover, to describe the later prophets as writing prophets overlooks the fact that in some cases at any rate the prophecies were written down by the disciples of the prophets themselves, possibly posthumously.

A distinction may be generally made between the canonical prophets and the cult-prophets. The latter were attached to the various shrines, and as the quality of religious life declined, so these false prophets became more time-servers, concerned with popular, nationalistic hopes and showing an easygoing, casual attitude towards national and individual sin. It is no wonder, therefore, that they came under such heavy attack from the true prophets (eg Micah 3:5-7; Jeremiah 14:14f.; 23:9-32) and that a prophet like Amos even repudiated the description of prophet, so debased had it become (Amos 7:14).

Post-exilic prophets such as Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi and Joel have frequently been criticized for their apparent lack of stress on moral issues. But this overlooks two facts: first, the blatant moral and religious sins of pre-exilic Israel, judged so severely by God, were no longer prominent; second, it was vital, if Judaism was to survive, that it had a focal point in a temple where a pure worship could be established. Even bricks and mortar acquired a spiritual significance in this period, but moral and religious issues were by no means overlooked.

Finally, no more misleading term has ever been applied than the adjective in the Minor Prophets. Some have understood this to mean unimportant and have neglected these books, to their own incalculable loss. These prophets may be minor, but only in brevity, since all twelve fitted conveniently into one scroll, whereas the prophecies of Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel required a scroll each. But in all other respects the prophets stand together as those who mediated the will of God to their generations.

THE PROPHETS OF ISRAEL AND JUDAH

ISRAEL

(northern kingdom)

Jonah: c. 770 BC

Amos: c. 760

Hosea : c. 750–725

Fall of Samaria 722/721

JUDAH

(southern kingdom)

Isaiah: 742–c. 687 BC

Micah: c. 736–710

Jeremiah: c. 627–582

Zephaniah: c. 625

Nahum: c. 625

Habakkuk: c. 605

Ezekiel: 592–c. 570

Obadiah: c. 587

The Exile 587–538

Haggai: 520–515

Zechariah: 520–515

Malachi: c. 460

Joel: c. 410

(A minority of scholars would date Joel c. 836.)

THE WORLD OF THE OLD TESTAMENT

This map has been placed on two pages for better viewing. Be sure to zoom the map to fill the screen.

Isaiah

PROPHET OF SALVATION

OVERVIEW

Isaiah’s comprehensive message to God’s people addresses them in prosperity, exile and restoration. He brings to them messages of warning, comfort and hope in some of the deepest insights into God’s character and purposes in the Old Testament, insights that proved to be foundational to New Testament thinking about Jesus and the nature of salvation.

Isaiah is the longest of the prophetic books, slightly longer than Jeremiah. It is the prophetic book most quoted in the New Testament. Its poetic language suggests deep revelation and great inspiration of the human spirit

SUMMARY

Part one (chapters 1–39)

The book falls into two parts. The first part (chapters 1–39) covers the time of four major reigns in Judah, the southern kingdom of the divided country of Israel. The opening section (chapters 1–12) includes an account of the prophet’s own calling (chapter 6), probably the most dramatic of all accounts of prophetic calling (see also 1 Samuel 3, Ezekiel 1 and Jeremiah 1).

Interestingly, however, this account is preceded by five chapters that outline many of the main themes of the book: God is the Holy One of Israel. He is deeply offended by the immoral behaviour of his people, for which there will be punishment in terms of invasion and devastation of the now prosperous land. But after punishment will come restoration and good government. The delay in giving an account of Isaiah’s calling has the effect of concentrating our minds on the message and its authenticity, not on the messenger.

Isaiah’s prophecies have a political dimension in warning against any sort of alliances with other countries. Instead they must trust in God alone for political as well as spiritual salvation (chapters 7–11). The section concludes with a psalm (chapter 12).

The second section of the first part is a series of oracles against neighbouring countries (chapters 13–24). This is a common prophetic practice. Parallels can be found, for example, in Jeremiah 46–51 and Ezekiel 25–32. God is Lord of the whole earth and his people’s destiny is not separate from other nations, though different from theirs. In Isaiah’s day, the dominant threat to Judah’s security was Assyria (14:24-27); its false security was Egypt (19:1–20:6).

But the strongest woes and denunciations seem to be against Babylon (13:1–14:23; 21:1-10), which in Isaiah’s time was for some periods an independent but small state (see chapter 39). Only in the following century did Babylon rise to be a devastating force enabling it to destroy Jerusalem. The taunting language used against its pride (14:12-23) reminds us of Ezekiel’s language against Tyre (Ezekiel 28).

In chapter 22, Isaiah turns the denunciations back on his home city, Jerusalem. In the final chapter of the section, there is a concluding apocalyptic description of worldwide destruction, and the restoration of God’s kingly rule from Jerusalem.

The third section (chapters 25–35) elaborates on the preceding themes. Chapters 25–26 form an apocalyptic bridge with the preceding section. The fourth section is a historical one, narrating three interventions into King Hezekiah’s life (chapters 36–39), including a threat to Jerusalem by the Assyrians. Some of this material also occurs in 2 Kings 18:17–20:19.

Part two (chapters 40–66)

The second part of the book can be further divided into two sections. The first section (chapters 40–55) deals with Judah in exile in Babylon and the promise of restoration, not in terms of a great king or future leader, but in terms of Israel as servant. This section includes the famous servant songs that are often related to the ministry of Jesus Christ. The Persian king, Cyrus, is mentioned as deliverer, but only as a minor player in the drama of salvation.

The final section (chapters 56–66) paints a picture of universal deliverance and justice. At the same time it acknowledges that return from exile had not or would not mean perfect spirituality. The same old faults are all too likely to recur. In fact, the final chapter parallels the opening chapter in placing the hope of a new rule of God alongside the destruction on those who had rebelled. We are reminded that holiness is both glory and fire.

Author

Isaiah is mentioned in 2 Kings 19:2-7,20-34 and 20:1-19. These chapters, together with Isaiah 6 and 36–39, give us a picture of a prophet in the mainstream of national life. This has led some scholars to think he was well-born, unlike his village contemporary, Micah. He was married, his wife possibly having a prophetic ministry in her own right. They had two boys, both symbolically named.

The shift of emphasis between the first and second parts has led to the supposition that Isaiah only wrote the first part, and the second part was written by someone living in the exile some 150 years later. Isaiah is not mentioned by name in the second part. However, if this is the case, then someone had obviously immersed himself in the writings of his predecessor. While some of the language and ideas are different, much is similar.

Date

Isaiah lived through the reigns of Uzziah (or Azariah, 792–740 bc), Jotham (740–735 bc), Ahaz (735–715 bc), and Hezekiah (715–687 bc). This is the period of Assyrian domination. For example, Sennacherib reigned 705–681 bc. The northern kingdom fell to the Assyrians in 722 bc and Sennacherib besieged Jerusalem in 701 bc. It is supposed Isaiah died during the reign of Manasseh (687–642 bc). The second part of the book covers the period of the exile in Babylon (from 598 bc), ending when the Persian King Cyrus allowed the Jews to return to Jerusalem in 538 bc after his conquest of Babylon.

OUTLINE

Part one: Isaiah’s ministry in Jerusalem

Isaiah and his message to Judah

1:1-31 The crisis of Judah’s unfaithfulness to the Lord

2:1-5 The Lord’s promise for the future

2:6-22 A warning against the proud

3:1–4:1 The injustice of society will lead to its destruction

4:2-6 A promise of future restoration

5:1-7 Isaiah’s song about the Lord’s vineyard

5:8-30 The certainty of the Lord’s judgement on injustice

6:1-13 The account of Isaiah’s call by the Lord

7:1-25 The Lord’s messages to King Ahaz through Isaiah

8:1-15 The Assyrian army will invade Judah

8:16–9:7 The hope for a new Davidic king

9:8–10:4 The Lord’s anger is about to be demonstrated against Israel

10:5-34 Assyria will not escape judgement, and a remnant of Judah will be saved

11:1–12:6 A vision of life under the new Davidic king

Messages of woe against the nations

13:1–14:23 A message denouncing Babylon

14:24-32 A message of judgement of Assyria and Philistia

15:1–16:14 A message of judgement for Moab

17:1-14 A warning against Israel’s alliance with Syria

18:1–20:6 The Lord’s message for Ethiopia and Egypt

21:1-10 A message of judgement for Babylon

21:11-17 Messages for Edom and Arabia

22:1-25 A warning for Jerusalem

23:1-18 A message of judgement of Tyre

24:1-23 A warning that the Lord will destroy the whole earth

A message of judgement and hope for Judah

25:1-12 A vision of the Lord’s future age

26:1-21 A song of praise for the Lord’s future deliverance

27:1-13 The Lord’s vineyard will flourish again

28:1–29:24 The Lord’s judgement of Israel and Judah and the promise of a new understanding of the Lord

30:1-33 Despite their sin, Israel will know the Lord’s compassion and blessing

31:1-9 Exhortation to trust the Lord, not Egypt

32:1–33:24 The coming righteous king and the future salvation of the Lord’s people

34:1-17 The judgement of Edom

35:1-10 The joyful hope of returning to Jerusalem as the Lord’s redeemed

Isaiah’s ministry to King Hezekiah

36:1-22 King Sennacherib of Assyria besieges Jerusalem

37:1-38 Isaiah brings a message of deliverance to Hezekiah

38:1-22 Isaiah tells Hezekiah he will recover from his sickness

39:1-8 Hezekiah’s foolishness in dealing with the Babylonians

Part two: Isaiah’s messages about the future

Judah’s exile and restoration

40:1-31 The incomparable God of Israel, the creator

41:1-29 Servant Song I: Israel will be released by the Lord

42:1-25 Servant Song II: The servant and the Lord’s righteousness

43:1–44:23 Servant Song III: Promise of deliverance, forgiveness and blessing

44:24–45:25 Cyrus will accomplish the Lord’s purposes

46:1–48:22 The fall of Babylon and the liberation of the Lord’s people

49:1-26 Servant Song IV: the Lord’s servant will be a light to the world

50:1-11 Servant Song V: The obedience of the servant even in suffering

51:1–52:12 A call to trust the Lord and return to Jerusalem

52:13–53:12 Servant Song VI: The suffering of the servant

54:1-17 Jerusalem will be like a wife, brought back to the Lord her husband

55:1-13 An invitation to come to the Lord

Universal salvation

56:1-8 Salvation is available to all who worship the Lord

56:9–57:13 The judgement of evil leaders and of idolatry

57:14-20 The Lord promises peace and restoration

58:1-14 The nature of true worship of the Lord

59:1-21 The Lord will come to save the repentant

60:1–62:12 The glorious future of the new Jerusalem

63:1–65:16 A prayer for mercy and final deliverance

65:17–66:24 The Lord promises judgement, peace and a future

KEY THEMES

The Holy One of Israel

This phrase is distinctive to the book of Isaiah. It forms one of the unifying key phrases of the prophecy, being found in every part (eg 1:4; 5:19,24; 8:13; 10:17,20; 12:6; 17:7; 37:23; 47:4; 57:15; 60:9,14). Most of the prophetic books speak of God’s holiness, but it is Isaiah who perhaps has the deepest sense of it. For modern people, it is a much harder concept to understand than, say, the New Testament teaching God is love and therefore close attention has to be paid to this book in order to understand what the phrase means.

Isaiah’s great vision (6:1-7) is a good starting place. The otherness and transcendence of God is stressed, as it is in 40:12-14. His ways are not our ways (55:8-9), as Job 38 also reminds us. However, that does not prevent him from forming the closest relationships with humans, either as individuals or as a chosen nation.

But holiness is more than otherness: it is also purity and freedom from all sin and imperfection. That is why holiness is typically associated with God’s anger, since that is part of the divine reaction to deliberate sin, especially pride, rebellion and false religion. False religion lowers standards, covers over sin too easily (1:13-17). However, God’s anger does not prevent him from approaching sinful people (1:18-20). Isaiah 53 in fact is a startling revelation of the lengths God will go to deal with people’s sinful behaviour or transgressions.

Holiness is also closely linked to God’s sovereignty, in that there is simply no other god (43:10; 45:5-6; 46:9). This is the offence of idolatry, which claims that there are other gods (40:18-20). Chapter 40 stresses God’s unique creative power and his rule of the cosmos, including the nations of the earth. But it finishes on a profoundly personal note of promise, that his greatness does not prevent his appreciation of human weakness nor his desire to provide help for it (40:28-31).

The Holy City

The concept of holiness is applied to an earthly city, variously called Jerusalem or Zion, the capital of Israel. In the book, we see it actually besieged and then miraculously saved (chapters 36–37). In fact, this becomes a metaphor for the spiritual deliverance from earthly power and pride that God desires. He wants his kingdom to have an earthly basis, but one that shares in his own nature of holiness. This theme again runs through the book (eg 1:26; 2:3; 4:3; 25:6; 52:8; 54:11; 60).

As such, the holy city can become a spiritual centre for the whole world. It is a provision for all who seek God, not just the Jewish people. Its approaches are spoken of as the way of holiness (35:8) which needs preparation (42:16), the turning of spiritual darkness into light. This holy city is the place where the remnant will return from exile (37:32; 51:11). In the New Testament, the book of Revelation speaks of this as the new Jerusalem and sees it as the new paradise of God (Revelation 21–22).

The Servant

The second part of Isaiah contains a group of Servant Songs, the most famous of which is 52:13–53:12, which became central to early Christian formulations of who Jesus Christ was and how his death had been redemptive.

These songs represent one of the most significant shifts between the two parts of the book. In the first part, there are prophecies of a king from the line of David who will become God’s chosen leader or Messiah (meaning, literally, the anointed one) (eg 9:1-7; 11). In the second part, specifically chapters 40–55, these are replaced by this figure of the servant. At first, the servant appears to be the whole nation (41:8-9; 43:1-13), but then becomes an individual (42:1), whose mission is to bring justice and understanding (42:4,7), release from the dungeon. In 49:5-6 and 50:10 he appears to be the prophet himself, as representative of the nation, with a mission of being a light for the Gentiles.

However, in the last servant song, 52:13–53:12, he is portrayed as an individual who can bring actual salvation for the transgression of my people. His suffering leads to an actual death, which becomes a substitute death, allowing comparison with animal sacrifices laid down in the Mosaic rituals of guilt offerings (53:10). The notion of justification is introduced, which became so important for Paul in the New Testament (see Romans 6), as he sees Christ as the embodiment of the suffering servant.

Redemption and salvation

Though other prophets speak of redemption, ransoming and salvation, it is Isaiah who speaks most coherently and fully on these. 43:1-28 is perhaps one of the most poetic expressions of this. The simplest notion is that of deliverance from punishment, as in conquest, captivity and exile. However, the book extends the notion from return from exile to a holy city and fertile land, with a restored covenant with God, to an inner state of salvation. In this inner state there is righteous living, joy (35:10; 52:8-9), peace (57:2), and justice (56:1). God himself takes on the title Saviour (43:3; 60:16) and Redeemer (43:1,14; 44:6), and the terms are human and personal, not legal (46:3-4; 61:10). This is a personal, loving act of God (54:5,8).

RELEVANCE FOR TODAY

A new thing

Like the Psalms, Isaiah speaks to us about a whole range of human experience of God as well as a whole range of God’s attributes. Our spiritual experiences often find themselves defined by the images and expressions to be found among the many prophecies of the book. This is its relevance for today.

One such experience is that of the new birth of salvation and redemption. Isaiah is emphatic in its sense that God wants to do a new thing (43:19, compare 42:9; 48:6). The first part of the book traces the failure of God’s people, despite threats of punishment and promises for reform. The exile becomes a sort of death experience, out of which new hope, a new thing arises. In this new thing, God wants to draw a line under the past. This is expressed in various ways. For example, 43:25 talks of I am he who blots out your transgressions … and remembers your sins no more. The only thing we need to remember is that I am God, and there is no other (46:9). Another way is in terms of healing and peace (57:18-19); another the sense of being born in the new holy city, as part of a redeemed citizenship (66:7-11).

A new spirit

But to be able to live in the light of this we need a new spirit within us. Isaiah prefigures New Testament teaching on the Holy Spirit in various passages. 44:3 promises the outpouring of my Spirit on your offspring and the new covenant is defined in terms of the Spirit being on us in 59:21 (see also 32:15). Both the new Davidic leader and the servant are promised the Spirit (11:1-2; 42:1), the former passage giving a formulation of the Holy Spirit which is still used today as the sevenfold Spirit. The prophet himself senses the Spirit on him to preach the message of deliverance and comfort (61:1-2), quoted by Jesus in Luke 4:18. Ezekiel follows Isaiah in promising a new spirit (Ezekiel 11:19; 18:31; 36:26).

Living waters

In the Gospels, the Holy Spirit is likened to springs of running waters (John 4:10-14; 7:38-39). The imagery comes largely from Isaiah, I will pour water on the thirsty land (44:3). Water imagery is central to all the Old Testament prophets: the land was typically fertile but arid. Water would therefore bring prosperity and fruitfulness, but the failure of rains or irrigation would mean desert-like conditions.

Many people have described times of their life as deserts: a lack of fruitfulness, joy, life even. Conversely, many have described their experience of the Holy Spirit in their lives as being showered, baptised, flooded – all words that refer to water (see also John 7:37-39).

Isaiah speaks to all these conditions. In 55:1-3, the prophet invites the thirsty to drink of the waters, which are then linked to the everlasting covenant and my faithful love promised to David. 35:1-7; 41:18-19 and 44:3-4 describe a new fertility in the desert, an image literally fulfilled in the state of Israel today, but for most people, a metaphor of emotional and spiritual renewal (32:2). 48:21 takes us back to when God led the Israelites out of Egypt and did not allow them to go thirsty. The many images of God as the Rock in the book have a subtext rooted in this time, when Moses struck the rock for water to gush out.

Peace

One of the water images refers to peace: your peace would have been like a river (48:18). Peace is a concept with which we identify readily – both as an inner state and an outer one. Isaiah talks of the covenant of peace (54:10). This implies not just that God will protect his people from wars, but that he is no longer at enmity with them. It is both the peace of God and peace with God that we need, and is here promised (see also 26:12). Elsewhere, the Messiah is called Prince of Peace (9:6-7; see also 32:16-18; 60:17). His reign will be marked by peace when swords shall become ploughshares (2:4) and wolves shall lie down with lambs (11:6; 65:25).

Deep waters

Isaiah also uses the image of water to express our experience of being overwhelmed by circumstances: that is, rivers in flood and waters of affliction (30:20). 43:2 describes passing through the waters in parallel with walking through the fire. Both are images of testing and trial. The promise of God’s presence in such circumstances is one that many Christians have held on to rather like a rescue rope or life belt. The following verses suggest not just a survival by the skin of our teeth, but a divine love that allows these experiences as a ransom. Such verses are a small aspect of the whole theme of deliverance running through the book, expressed