Ensign: HOW Many Isaiahs?

All ye inhabitants of the world, and dwellers on the earth, see ye, when he lifteth up an ensign on the mountains; and when he bloweth a trumpet, hear ye. Isaiah 18:3

AN ENSIGN ON THE MOUNTAINS 9 September 2016


[I learned yesterday that it was also the 50th anniversary of the television premiere of Star Trek. I dithered whether to put together something about it that tied in to Scripture ... but no, it can wait. Now ahead warp one!]

“The vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.” The book of Isaiah wins hands down for most-quoted Old Testament book in the New Testament, and certainly no one – no Jews, anyway – in Jesus' time upon Earth questioned its authorship. Today some people seem to, but is there merit in what they're saying?

In every Bible I've ever read, there's only one book of Isaiah, named for the Judean prophet of the late eighth century B.C. and nestled between the Old Testament books Song of Solomon and Jeremiah. One book, yes, but a competing view since the late eighteenth century has presented the book as being written by two, possibly three authors. But there are a few problems with this.

First (perhaps I should say last, since it's not the most important reason in my eyes), critics cite a difference in writing styles between two sections of the book of Isaiah, going with chapters 1-39 as being written by the man himself and 40-66 (actually, some sources break THIS up into chapters 40-55 and 56-66) from someone else's hand. Even assuming that as true (Isaiah did write over several decades) here's my issue:

12-16-81

Today I had hot lunch. It was beans & franks, corn, cole slaw, rolls, cookie, & milk. We had hamburgers for dinner. See you tomorrow!

I'd like to think my writing has improved or at least changed in the thirty years since I wrote that in a diary. Likewise with Isaiah … or even you if you do a lot of writing. Our time between the ages of ten and forty-four, physically in my case or spiritually in the case of Isaiah and me, can teach us a lot. And we learn to express ourselves better, even on subjects as far apart as Assyria and Babylon.

But hey, maybe they're not that far apart … second, Isaiah from a scholarly standpoint (I'm not trying to be patronizing here, but we're in a society that teaches us to be critical of everyone and everything) wouldn't make sense if more than one author wrote it. A philosophical argument popularly known as Occam's Razor says the idea that makes the fewest new assumptions is most likely true.

I didn't hear of this idea – that is, that Isaiah had more than one author – until university (where you hear a lot of things that just aren't true if you take five minutes to investigate them), it just seemed simpler that the book of Isaiah was written by one person; the same guy wrote down what he said from “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given” (9:6) to “Seek ye the LORD while he may be found” (55:6).

First and as far as I can tell foremost, Jesus and His disciples certainly didn't see a difference among the different parts of Isaiah. In Luke 4 when Jesus is brought to the book of Isaiah in a Nazareth synagogue, “he had opened the book, [and] he found the place where it was written,” what we now know as the sixty-first chapter of Isaiah, where the Spirit of the Lord anointed Him to preach deliverance to the captives among other things.

Jesus cites the prophecies of Isaiah when he explains why He teaches in parables (Isaiah 6:9-10 in Matthew 13:14-15) and the Gospel authors cite Isaiah when they explain Jesus' coming and deeds on Earth as fulfillment of prophecy (especially in John 12:37-40, first “Lord, who hath believed our report?” from Isaiah 53:1 and then “He hath blinded their eyes, and hardened their heart; ...” from Isaiah 6:9,10).

So why don't we want to keep it simple? It really is easy to accept just one Isaiah, the simplest and not the simple-minded path, just as it's easiest for us – when we really want to – to accept one Lord, one faith, and one baptism. Snuck in Ephesians 4:5 just to see if you're paying attention … none of us are so broke we can't do that, especially now.

David

P.S. I write this weekly devotional to keep in touch with all of you in my address book, and I hope to be an encourager to action too! If you find that I'm not or you want me to get lost, just let me know -- thank you!

Thank You, Lord, that we can come to you in prayer and that You provide for all our needs, even when we don't know what they are. We pray for the peace of Jerusalem on both sides of the fence there and around the world.

Thank You, Lord, for everyone in leadership and service, both here and abroad. Thank You for the opportunities we have and the promise of new life through You. I pray that we all seek and have a blessed week! Amen.