Free eBook: Isaiah 1–39: A Commentary

Wipf and Stock is offering a free eBook copy of Isaiah 1–39: A Commentary by Michael E. W. Thompson. The offer is valid until December 13. Here are the instructions to get your copy.

1. Click on this link.
2. Click "ADD TO CART" on the eBook option.
3. Use the code "THOMPSON24"
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Walton on Isaiah 61:10–62:5

I wouldn't agree with everything here but Steve Walton has provided slides on his presentation of Isaiah 61:10–62:5 here.

Archaeological Discoveries Related to the Book of Isaiah

Bryan Windle has a helpful discussion of his top ten here.

Isaiah and the Age of Empires

Critical treatments of Isaiah often leave me a bit frustrated but this one seemed to be fairly balanced.

The Fulfillment of Isaiah 7:14

Todd Bolen has written a good defense here of the view that Isaiah 7:14 is strictly fulfilled in Jesus. While I take a somewhat different view of the passage, this article is worth reading.

Visualizing Isaiah

The Israel Museum has created an online presentation of artifacts that help to visualize the book of Isaiah. You can check it out here.

Online Resources on Isaiah

Rob Bradshaw lists 87 of them here.

Isaianic Scholarship in Allegory

Andy Abernethy's article from Didaktikos on Isaianic scholarship is available here. The bulk of the article tells the story through a creative allegory.

Mapping Five Movements in Isaiah

Davy Ellison suggests here that one way to navigate the book of Isaiah is to view the book in five movements. I'm not sure I would agree with every point but I appreciate efforts like this to coherence in the flow of a book.

Posts on Isaiah

Claude Mariottini lists and provides links to his blog posts on the book of Isaiah here. I have found Dr. Mariottini's blog to be helpful.

Free Isaiah Commentary

You can download a free PDF of the Isaiah volume in the Christ-Centered Exposition series by signing up here.

Paul: Converted or Commissioned

Phillip Long has a thoughtful and helpful post here on whether Paul was converted or commissioned. Count me in the conversion camp. But I do think that part of the issue relates to definitions and one must be very carefully not to import our modern conceptions of conversion into Paul's experience. That being said, one issue for me is that I don't see sufficient similarities between Paul's experience in Acts 9, 22, and 26 and Old Testament commissioning types. Four prominent examples illustrate what I mean: Moses, Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel.

Notice that in the case of Moses, Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel, their commissioning was not in the context of rebellion against what the Lord was doing as was the case with Paul.  

Moses, Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel all seem to have their experiences in the context of sacred space. With Moses, the idea is seen in the location Horeb (aka Mt. Sinai) and with the command to Moses, "Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground" (Exod 3:5). Isaiah has his commissioning in the "temple" (Isa 6:1) with interpreters debating as to whether it is the earthly or heavenly one. The location of Jeremiah's calling is unstated but the Lord's touching of Jeremiah's mouth in 1:9 would seem to imply a divine throne room setting. Ezekiel's commissioning might be visionary (Ezek 1:1) but the description of what Ezekiel sees certainly sets the context of his calling in sacred space (Ezek 1:4-28).  In contrast, there is no hint of sacred space in Paul's experience. 

Also, with Moses, Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel, the organ of speech, the mouth, plays an important role (Exod 4:10-11; Isa 6:5-7. Jer 1:6, 9; Ezek 3:1-3). But for Paul it is the organ of sight, his eyes, that plays a prominent role (Acts 9:8-9, 17-18).

One final point, with the commissioning of Moses, Isaiah, and Jeremiah there is a sense of immediacy. That is, the calling happened at a singular moment. In Paul's case there is a three day delay (Acts 9:9). 

Other points of dissimilarity could be raised but these seem sufficient to show that if Paul's experience was a commissioning, that it was substantially different from the examples of commissioning that we have in the Old Testament.   

Seals of Isaiah and Hezekiah Booklet

You can access a free forty-page booklet on the recently discovered and displayed seals related to the prophet Isaiah and King Hezekiah here. I am not sure how long the booklet has been available but it looks fairly well done.The seals are on display until March 31, 2019 at the Armstrong Auditorium in Edmond, Oklahoma.

New Exodus Theme in Isaiah

Peter Gentry identifies the following passages in Isaiah as containing New Exodus themes.

Passages in Isaiah Where New Exodus Is the Theme

 

1.         40:3-5              The Highway in the Wilderness

2.         41:17-20          The Transformation of the Wilderness

3.         42:14-16          Yahweh Leads His People in a way Unknown

4.         43:1-3              Passing through the Waters and the Fire

5.         43:14-21          A Way in the Wilderness

6.         48:20-21          The Exodus from Babylon

7.         49:8-12            The New Entry into the Promised Land

8.         51:9-10            The New Victory at Sea

9.         52:11-12          The New Exodus

10.       55.12-13          Israel Shall Go Out in Joy and Peace

Peter J. Gentry, How to Read and Understand the Biblical Prophets (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2017), 79-80

A Bulla of Isaiah the Prophet

Several news outlets, including this one, are reporting that a "seal" (more technically a bulla) possibly referencing the prophet Isaiah has been found.

 

(Photo Credit: Ouria Tadmor/Eilat Mazar)