Introduction to Second Isaiah
Isaiah came down to us as a scroll. The first part of the scroll names Isaiah of Jerusalem sixteen times, all within chapters 1-39. The later two parts of the Isaiah collection never mention him even once. The subject matter…
Last Day Resurrection, a Jewish Concept
Some Greeks and Romans believed in the underworld, a place where people continue after death as shades or ghosts, like Patrocles in the Iliad who was mourned by Achilles in the central tragedy of the book. The Jewish prophets passed…
Messianic Gentiles: Tent of David #2
. . . the apostle Paul staunchly fought for the right of Gentile believers to remain Gentiles. -Boaz Michael, Tent of David. The discovery by tens or even hundreds of thousands of people from a Christian background that common teachings…
Joseph, Prophecy, the Invisible Presence
It may not be obvious on first reading, since the Joseph story has such a complete plot. It is a well filled-out story, but there is more to this novella of suffering and redemption than story. Joseph is, in a…
Christians Ask: Is There Grace in Ezekiel?
So, a church here in the Atlanta area has me come and speak two or even three times a year. They are a great congregation of about 800 people. And this year they are reading through the Bible in a…
Beleaguering God for the Promise, Without Relenting
It is a principle you learn over time. The great promises are delayed. We live in the frustration of that delay. Yet we are to remind God continually and keep after him to do what he says. He calls us…
Studying Isaiah
Sometimes the benefits of taking time to slowly consider and investigate a passage produces surprising results. This morning I woke to the task of writing my “Daily Isaiah” notes on a few verses that seemed rather uninspiring. I have been…
The Heschel Files, #5
This series is and has been about faith, the act of believing. I have made no secret of the fact that two of my great lights on this matter are Abraham Joshua Heschel and C.S. Lewis (who, in some ways,…
Seal It Among My Disciples
The human condition is despair, facing the seeming absence of the Presence of God. Isaiah is sensitized to this disheartenment: Hashem, who is hiding his face from the house of Jacob (8:17). Evil things happen, even to the chosen nation:…
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The Great Ingathering in Isaiah
Bring us home in peace from the four corners of the earth, and lead us upright into our land, for you are the God who brings salvation. -Siddur (Jewish Prayer Book), from the Ahavah Rabbah (a blessing before the Shema)….