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The first, and perhaps the most valuable, of the major Prophets is Isaiah. The earlier part can be identified as having been written at a very turbulent time in the histories of Judah and Israel (Ephraim), during the reigns of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah. Israel, sometimes allied to Syria, and Judah, warred with each other, and it was feared that in time Assyria, and Assyria's vassal state of Babylon, would try to annex both Israel and Judah. Egypt was an occasional but unreliable ally and the Philistine cities of the coast were a constant problem. Towards the end of this period Assyria did in fact destroy Israel and carry off a large part of its people, replacing them with groups from other conquered nations.Isaiah seems to have had four main aims: to condemn corruption, to condemn the failure of the Jews to maintain the Law of Moses, to condemn her many enemies, to rally and encourage the people in difficult times. The assurance of God's ultimate justice on his enemies seems to have been the intent of his prophesy rather than any deliberate futurism. The first part of Isaiah seems to end at Ch 35. Chapters 36 - 39, a straightforward narrative concerning King Hezekiah, have been taken practically word for word from 2 Kings 18:13-20:18, and clearly do not belong. At the end of this period Isaiah would have been some 80 years old. After the fine poetry of Ch 40 we seem to enter a new period altogether. The main enemy is now Babylon (Chaldea), feared but never a serious problem in the time of the earlier historical Isaiah, except as a vassal state of Assyria. Jerusalem has been destroyed, Assyria has long completed the destruction of Ephraim. New ideas are introduced, God as the Redeemer of Israel, the concept of the Servant, and the old targets dropped. There is an entirely new attitude to Gentiles. Textual critics find substantial differences in the underlying language and conclude that Isaiah 40 to 55 was written by a second and much later individual whom they call Isaiah II, and 56 on by an Isaiah III. It may be noted that the existence of Isaiah II, dated around 550 BC is recognised by some Jewish biblical authorities. After Ch 56 the themes change again - there is no more 'Servant' and the writer draws a picture of a glorious future for Israel as a leader of all nations. There are many references, such as Isaiah 64:10-11, which confirm that it was written after the Exile to Babylon. The verses on 'Immanuel' (God with us) in Isaiah 7:13-17 are traditionally supposed to refer to Christ, but surely 7:16 refers to Ephraim and Syria and fixes the Immanuel period firmly in the current time-frame.
Jeremiah is a figure well attested to in the Bible, and there is little or no controversy about the period of his life or of the authorship of the contents of the Book of Jeremiah. The word 'contents' is used deliberately since it is evident that the book has been compiled by a later authority, who has collected and roughly sorted the material. The version of Jeremiah in the Septuagint orders the text differently and is substantially different in length, but is close to a version found with the Dead Sea Scrolls. Jeremiah's initial aim is to reform Judah. Subsequently, after the destruction of Solomon's temple, he teaches that their exile to Babylon is direct punishment for their abandonment of the Law, and that Babylon was acting as the servant of God. Later still he assures the people that the Exile is for a limited time only and that they would eventually be restored. It is significant that when Ezra (in Chronicles) looks for a source of prophesy regarding the end of the exile, he turns to Jeremiah rather than Isaiah.Jeremiah also foresees a new Covenant to replace the old one made with the Patriarchs, which had become too remote and had been broken too many times. The new Covenant would involve and instruct the people as individuals rather than as a race.
Ezekiel prophesied in the period 593-571 BC. He was among the
first group of Judah's leaders to be exiled to Babylon from where he saw the
destruction of the Temple and the further exile of the elite. Most scholars
accept that the main body of the book was written in this 6th century BC, with
the inclusion of some later additions. Stripped of its dramatic literary forms
and devices his message is very similar to that of Jeremiah. The belief of
Ezekiel and Jeremiah in the ultimate establishment of a new covenant between God
and the people of Israel is likely to have provided support and justification
for the postexilic reconstruction and reorganisation of Judaism by Ezra and
Nehemiah. Chapters 40 to 48 contain a description of a new temple, certain
rites, and a new division of the land of Israel between the tribes. These do not
appear to have been adopted and the section is considered to be a later addition
to the book and not attributable to Ezekiel.Ezekiel initiated the literary form
known as apocalypticism - the view that in time of disaster God would intervene
to save the faithful remnant and that this intervention would be accompanied by
dramatic, cataclysmic events.
The prophets were not afraid to challenge
existing doctrine. Both Ezekiel and, less positively, Jeremiah, challenged the
words of Ex 20:5, which says that God visits the iniquity of one generation upon
succeeding ones. Ezekiel teaches that this is false doctrine - a man should not
carry any responsibility for the sins of his father.
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