Some more terms...

Okay ... please remember that this blog is more for my study purposes than for those of y'all who might be reading it. I have really been taking my time reading several different overviews of the book to get a feel for what's coming. I have stumbled upon several more literary terms that I would like to keep in mind as I'm studying:

*Assonance - (1): resemblance of sound in words or syllables; (2) a: relatively close juxtaposition of similar sounds especially of vowels, b: repetition of vowels without repetition of consonants (as in stony and holy) used as an alternative to rhyme in verse.
 
*Chiasmus - an inverted relationship between the syntactic elements of parallel phrases (as in Goldsmith's to stop too fearful, and too faint to go).  (Lou Ann's note:  this term seems to indicate a crossing over ... I'm going to look into it further.)
 
*Illustration - an example or instance that helps make something clear.
 
*Analogy - (1): inference that if two or more things agree with one another in some respects they will probably agree in others; (2) a: resemblance in some particulars between things otherwise unlike: SIMILARITY;  b: comparison based on such resemblance; (3): correspondence between the members of pairs or sets of linguistic forms that serves as a basis for the creation of another form.
 
*Anthropomorphism - an interpretation of what is not human or personal in terms of human or personal characteristics.
 
I must give credit where credit is due.  I found these definitions on the Mirriam-Webster website, which I use quite frequently in most of my writing/typing, be it personal or professional.

SSSSSllloooowwwwwllllllyyyyy......

Just so that you know that I'm continuing to work on Isaiah ... but don't have much blog-worthy yet. Here's what I'm doing ... I'm re-reading the first chapter and making lists of the things mentioned in the figurative language used by Isaiah. I have looked online to find a list of the types of figurative language (like I learned in High School and then promptly forgot), and they are:

* simile: a comparison of two dissimilar things using "like" or "as", e.g., "my love is like a red, red rose" (Robert Burns).

* metaphor: a comparison of two dissimilar things which does not use "like" or "as," e.g., "my love is a red, red rose" (Lilia Melani).

* personification: treating abstractions or inanimate objects as human, that is, giving them human attributes, powers, or feelings, e.g., "nature wept" or "the wind whispered many truths to me."

* hyperbole: exaggeration, often extravagant; it may be used for serious or for comic effect.

* apostrophe: a direct address to a person, thing, or abstraction, such as "O Western Wind," or "Ah, Sorrow, you consume us." Apostrophes are generally capitalized.

* oxymoron: a statement with two parts which seem contradictory; examples: sad joy, a wise fool, the sound of silence, or Hamlet's saying, "I must be cruel only to be kind"

(I left out onomatopoeia: a word whose sounds seem to duplicate the sounds they describe--hiss, buzz, bang, murmur, meow, growl; because I don't know enough about the language in which Isaiah wrote (Hebrew?) to know if he used this.) These terms and explanations were taken from the web pages of an English professor at the Brooklyn College.

I am also using several different commentaries ... just for an introduction to the book. You see, I read very slowly, and Isaiah has 66 chapters. It's difficult for me to pick up a theme in a long book, and the introductions written by different commentary authors will help me to create a mental structure for use during my study. Once I get myself pretty much in a "structure" and with some themes in mind, I will begin to comment on my own reading/study of the different chapters and verses.

I also am working slowly so as to be careful NOT to get into "application" too quickly, as I firmly believe that the application portion of study needs to be only a small proportion of the study, after LOTS of observation and some interpretation. Thus ... my first observation from Isaiah, chapter 1, is that there is LOTS of figurative language and I need to decide how to look at that.

I'll be back!! :-)

King Hezekiah, Part Two

Okay … I have decided that if I continue to spend the time that I want to reading about … and pondering … King Hezekiah, I’ll never really get to the text of Isaiah. Can you say, "rabbit trail"??!! So, this will be my last post about Hezekiah. But I’m sure I’ll be back to him someday. My next post will (hopefully!) be about the book of Isaiah, chapter 1!!

Although I really didn’t mean to get into the whole works vs. grace … or free will vs. selection argument last time, I did. And, my first point here will probably end up at a similar place. I am fascinated by the thinking in II Kings 18:33ff. One of the officials from Assyria, Rabshakeh, was calling out to the people within Jerusalem, pointing out to them that none of the gods of other countries were able to deliver them from the hand of the king of Assyria. So, why should the Lord deliver Jerusalem from his hand? This theme essential question is presented to Hezekiah and the residents of Jerusalem on other occasions within these passages. Now, I’ve been a believer for much of my life. I am well aware that most believers experience certain doubts. One recurring doubt throughout my whole life has been the fact that many very intelligent people (much more so than I) believe very different things “in faith”. I’m sure that there are many highly intelligent folks out there who believe in other “gods” or follow other religious traditions. What’s to say that MINE is the “true” one? I mean, please know that I do believe that Biblical Christianity is the true faith … but why is it that I believe that? Because it’s logical? Well, even the Bible that I read says that the wisdom of this world is foolishness before God. (I Corinthians 3:19-20) I mean, if I am admittedly not too wise myself, and even the wisest of men are foolish before God, then I can’t say that I am convinced of my faith because it’s logical. Duh, right? So … do I believe that Christianity is the true faith because my heart is convinced it is? There are people out there who follow all kinds of crazy things, convinced in their hearts that what they’re doing is “true”. Imagine those people who, to this day, believe that Charles Manson is Jesus Christ. Am I on their level? The more I ponder this, the more I’m convinced that I just have to trust that Christ has changed my heart, and that I don’t need to understand why. The people of Jerusalem remained silent before the official from Assyria, confident that when King Hezekiah said, “Do not answer him” that this word was sufficient.

In II Kings 19:14-19, Hezekiah’s prayer is recorded. In his hands is a letter from messengers from Assyria, stating the same ideas that I wrote of above. Hezekiah’s first order of business with God, though, is to recognize God as Lord of all nations – even those who don’t worship Him. He then goes on to acknowledge that the Assyrians are truly attacking God and not just the Judeans. He also acknowledges that any other “god” is merely a work of men’s hands. Finally, he pleads with God to deliver Judah from the Assyrians so that “all the kingdoms of the earth may know that [Thou] alone, O Lord, art God.” (II Kings 19:19) What a prayer!! To be primarily concerned with how God’s name is glorified in front of other people or even nations … well, I must admit that prayer like that is not reflective of my prayer life. It’s not all about me…

I also find it interesting, in II Chronicles 30:17-20, we see a clear, Old Testament example of Grace. There were Levites who had not yet purified themselves according to the ceremonial law in order to help with the sacrifices. Hezekiah prays that the Lord would pardon these: “May the good Lord pardon everyone who prepares his heart to seek God, the Lord God of his fathers, though not according to the purification rules of the sanctuary.” And the Lord heard Hezekiah’s prayer and healed the people. AWESOME!!

Finally, I ought to add this to my every growing list of favorite verses: II Chronicles 32: 7-8. Hezekiah was encouraging the people of the land just before the king of Assyria was to send his troops upon Jerusalem. Here is what he tells them: “Be strong and courageous, do not fear or be dismayed because of the king of Assyria, nor because of all the multitude which is with him; for the one with us is greater than the one with him. With him is only an arm of flesh, but with us is the Lord our God to help us and to fight our battles.” And the people relied on the words of Hezekiah king of Judah. Sounds rather New Testament, huh … like I John 4:4.

Now … on to Isaiah, chapter one!! :-)

King Hezekiah, Part One...

King Hezekiah's story is found in II Kings 18-20 and II Chronicles 29-32. As I indicated in my previous post, I have lots of thoughts on King Hezekiah. I think that I'll work through them one by one for this and the next couple of posts so as to allow myself to process.

Last week our church arranged for the movie, _Luther_ to be shown at the Hoffman Center ... two showings, tickets only available through our church. It's a great movie, and I plan to purchase it if it ever comes out on DVD. One of the things that it left me thinking about was the idea of God choosing each of us to do different things within the body. Here was Martin Luther, essentially the father of all Protestant based theology (I might be off there ... I'm not very knowledgeable on church history) ... he was a simple monk, who was having arguments with the devil and seemed almost obsessively driven to seek church reform. And, as a result, many have come to know Christ today as a result of his ministry.

Then there are these four kings in the Old Testament. It's important for me to remind myself that these are not merely four guys who independently ended up as kings. They were great-grandfather, grandfather, father and son. And, if you look at the ages, you will see that both grandfathers were around to see their grandsons born. What I'm thinking here is this: Uzziah saw the birth of his grandson Ahaz. Uzziah died when Ahaz was four years old. Had Ahaz already started to show evil tendencies by the age of four? Did Uzziah mourn the lack of godliness that his son showed? Jotham died when his grandson, Hezekiah, was nine years old. Was Hezekiah already following the Lord by that age? Even though his father, Ahaz, was an evil man? If you look farther into the math, Ahaz was 11 or 12 years old when Hezekiah was born. All of these family connections make the stories more intriguing.

Now, getting back to callings and such ... I keep thinking about the fact that king #1 does good, his son king #2 does good, his son king #3 does very bad, and his son king #4 does very, very good. These four men's lives overlapped. Yet one of them turned out to be incredibly evil and did not at all follow the Lord. And one of them turned out to be very much a man after God's heart, as was King David. How does it happen that God uses one man for very, very good and another man for evil? In fact, how did Ahaz turn out so evil when his father was such a good man? And how did Hezekiah turn out so wonderfully good when his father was so very evil?

And then there's me. Why did God choose me for His kingdom? I know ... He chose to love Israel not because they were large in number (Deuteronomy 7:7) but because He loved them. Really what He was saying was that He loved them because He loved them. Because He wanted to. Why did God choose to love me. Not because I'm bigger or stronger or better or more virtuous or more pure than anyone else ... in fact I'm none of those things. Yet He chose to love me because He loved me.

Now, I'm not one to look a proverbial gift horse in the mouth. My frustration with this idea is for the people who God didn't chose. I know ... I know ... the question of the ages. Free will vs. selection. Works vs. grace. Maybe no human being has ever really had a good handle on answering that question. Doesn't mean that I still don't feel a little bit of "survivor's guilt" because I'm on this side of the line.

But when I get myself really mired in this question, I go even farther. Why did Martin Luther become so important to Christianity that he was tortured by evil spirits? Why was he the one that God used to begin Protestantism? Not that I'm jealous ... please know that I don't want to be kept up at night arguing with the devil!! But there are some God uses one way and some He uses another. And why me ... or why not me? Again ... asked and answered in I Corinthians 12:14ff. God uses each member of the body differently. If the foot decided to be a hand... if the the whole body would be a hand, how would we walk.

So ... I'll let Martin Luther be tortured by the devil ... and I'll let King Ahaz alone with his evil, God-denying reign ... and I'll let Hezekiah keep the credit for ridding Israel of idol worship and turning them back to the One, True God. I don't know if I'm a foot or a hand or an eye or an ear or a mouth (probably the latter, LOL!), but I need to walk through every day allowing the Lord to use me as He will ... and be content in Him.

More Kings....

OK ... don't call me a blog-slacker ... I've updated my other blog several times this week. AND, please don't think that I've been an Isaiah-slacker. I've actually been ruminating about Uzziah and what I wrote in the previous post on this blog. AND, I've been spending some really good time reading about King Hezekiah.

Now, you may be thinking, "But, Lou Ann, you've skipped TWO of the kings." And you're right ... after King Uzziah (see previous post) comes King Jotham (II Kings 15:32-38 and II Chronicles 27) and then King Ahaz (II Kings 16 and II Chronicles 28). I found that I really didn't feel drawn to spend much time contemplating those kings. Yes ... they're important to the story of Isaiah. Yes ... I did read each account of both of them. And, yes ... I even dug into some commentaries about each of them. But, no ... I was not drawn to go further than that. Since this study of these four kings is really just a rabbit trail from my Isaiah study, I figured that it's okay. Here's the short version: King Jotham (son of Uzziah) was a good guy. That's it ... he was basically a good guy and did right in the sight of the Lord. Then there's King Ahaz (son of Jotham). Let's just say that King Ahaz did NOT do right in the sight of the Lord. He worshipped just about everything except the Lord. He even closed the doors to the temple of the Lord.

SO ... what to expect in upcoming posts? Well, I am absolutely fascinated with King Hezekiah (son of Ahaz). He was a man who did right in the sight of the Lord. Even more so than his great grandfather, Uzziah. The II Kings story about Hezekiah tells about him from a different angle from the II Chronicles story. Both stories are wonderful and very interesting and leave LOTS of room for introspection ... and "up"-trospection. (FYI ... in my devotions I am reading the Max Lucado book, _It's Not About Me_, which, if you know me even a little, you know is all about a lesson that I NEED to learn ... so you may be finding little bits and pieces of that thinking as I write in this blog.) So, in the posts in the near future, you can expect to read about King Hezekiah ... opener of temple doors, builder of pools, prayer warrior, consultor of Isaiah, remover of high places, destroyer of idols, and all-around devotee to the Lord!!

The bottom line is, in my own humble opinion, that the Kings of Judah (probably even the kings of both Judah AND the kings of Israel would make great stuff for a study in and of themselves.... Hmmm....

King Uzziah (II Kings 14:17-15:7; II Chronicles 26)

Uzziah became king at the age of 16 years. That’s so young!! Yet, he started strong. He was all about strength (even his name connects him to the might of Yahweh.) He was strong militarily, both domestically and abroad. He set up a port city, Elath, to add to the strength of Judah. He conquered Philistine cities and dominated other nations. He sustained troops at home (over 300,000!!) with armaments for each of them. He built towers around Jerusalem, and created fortresses in the desert for protection. He was also strong in wealth, as he had much livestock throughout the land. The Lord favored him.

But he made a fatal error. It was one of those moments that I would imagine that he spent the rest of his life regretting. I would have.

One day, Uzziah entered the temple with the intention of making an offering of incense to the Lord. But, offering incense was NOT his place. Offering incense was a rite reserved for the priests alone. The priests stood in his way, attempting to persuade him against what he was about to do. While the verbal conflict was taking place, the Lord struck Uzziah with leprosy. LEPROSY!! He remained a leper for the REST of his life. He was forced to separate himself from other people, his son performed the duties of the judge of the people, and he was not buried amongst the other kings, but in a field … all because he was unclean. What a shameful end to his strong years of rule.

We all make choices on a daily basis. We all have to live with the consequences of our choices, whether good or bad. I find that I often create situations for myself, based on my emotions, in which I then have to make a choice. Then, whether I like the consequences or not, I have to live with those consequences. I wonder what Uzziah’s heart was telling him that fateful morning. I wonder what he was thinking as he decided to enter the temple, as he decided to pick up the censer. Did he have that jabbing in his heart, that ache in his stomach, telling him that he was doing the wrong thing? What was it that made him decide to get up from his palace, approach the temple, enter the temple, pick up the censer, and approach the incense? At each step, was the Lord whispering in his ear, “No!” … or had he hardened his heart? Had his pride taken over … throughout the days preceding … throughout the weeks preceding … throughout the months preceding … throughout the years preceding? How long does it take for a pride like this to accumulate? Did it begin the day the sixteen-year-old took the throne? Or did it begin the day of his first military victory? Or did it begin much later, after the strengths began to pile up.

Worship. Wasn’t he merely attempting to worship the Lord? Matthew Henry points out (II Chronicles 26) that some of Uzziah’s predecessors sinned by forsaking the worship of the true God, Yahweh. There is a fine line here, as Uzziah sinned in the opposite direction. He went to worship Yahweh, in the temple of Yahweh, but not on Yahweh’s terms. He took into his own hands a job that was not his. Was he being pretentious? Was he attempting to exercise practices that were too high for him? Clearly there was a pride issue here.

Do I do this? I certainly know that pride is one of my biggest issues. I certainly don’t forsake worship, nor do I worship other gods. I am actively involved in the worship at my church. But is my pride an issue? I have felt that urging in my heart for years now. Have I ignored it? Have I grown at all in that area? My worship is far from pure. I would normally attribute that problem to two things: (1) my pride, in that I love listening to myself produce music … how arrogant; and, (2) my inability to concentrate on any one thing for any length of time.

Pride. The Lord strengthened Uzziah. The Lord gave him his military strength. The Lord gave him a strong rule. The Lord gave him his wealth. The Lord gave him victory after victory. Yet, again, according to Matthew Henry, Uzziah lifted up his own heart instead of lifting up the name of the Lord.

Again, do I do this? Do I truly acknowledge the Lord for the strengths that He has given me? Do I lift up my own heart in lieu of His name?

Leprosy is a very shameful disease to have. Lepers are ugly to look at. Lepers must be separated from the normal population. The disease itself eats away at the body. It is the antithesis of strength. And Uzziah wasn’t merely struck with leprosy for a period of time. It was for the remainder of his life. And he was even dishonored in the burial of his disease-ravaged body, and not buried with his fathers.

So, do I motivate myself to purify my worship and to rid my heart from pride by reminding myself of Uzziah’s shame? Should I avoid sin because of its negative consequences? Or should I see my sin as an offense against the Lord who IS my might. Lord, help me to give you the place you deserve in my heart … rid me of the pride that lifts up myself and purify the worship that I offer you whether at church or outside of that building.

First Post

I am planning to study the book of Isaiah this summer. I want to share some of my thoughts as I continue to study. I figure that if I can keep up a blog on the topic, I will be more accountable to stick-to-it-iveness. :-)

As I begin this study, it is important to me to spend a good amount of time in background work ... for the sake of context. Isaiah prophesied during the reigns of four kings of Judah: Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah. I am currently reading from II Kings and II Chronicles about these four kings. I am also using some commentaries (especially Matthew Henry) to help me understand the significance of these four kings and of the events of the times in relation to the Old Testament history of the Hebrew people.

Look for some devotional thoughts as well as historical and theological philosophizing in this blog. And ... as always ... feel free to comment....