Bible in A Year: Episode 16

Intro • 00:00
Welcome to Read the Bible in a Year with Matt and Hannah, a weekly podcast from Fairfax Bible Church where we explore scripture together, uncovering its themes and design patterns. We’re glad you’re here. Now, here are your hosts, Matt and Hannah. Alright, here we are.

Matt • 00:17
Episode 16. Let’s see. Hannah, you know, I always like to find a couple connections here. So my favorite sports people that wore 16. Oh, Joe Montana. Joe Montana were number 16. That’s we can stop right there. That’s the list. Joe Montana.

Hannah • 00:33
One of these days, maybe I’ll know somebody.

Matt • 00:35
Well, you’re not a sports person.

Hannah • 00:38
Uh there’s only one person whose number I know off the top of my head. Oh, who’s that? Michael Jordan.

Matt • 00:44
Ooh, uh, and he wears?

Hannah • 00:46

23. Matt • 00:46
    Oh, that’s so good. So good. So good. I was with somebody last week uh ’cause they had been doing a by the way, this is Matt and Hannah, uh read the Bible. Fairfax Bible Church, thank you. This is also not our podcast about uh drinking bougie coffee. That’s a different podcast. We just recorded that. separately and I was telling Hannah about coffee that I got at the Rwandan embassy uh this weekend. You this is not a video podcast, but if it were you could see me holding it up so that Hannah can congratulate me. Anyway, so I was with some people and Michael J uh Michael Jordan was a topic of discussion. So as a as a daughter of Illinois, I think you would have been happy with that.

Hannah • 01:27
Yep. Yeah.

Matt • 01:29
Yeah. Um all right. Uh not that Michael Jordan’s not fascinated to talk about, but we’re gonna talk about the Bible. Uh so but before we do that, I have a question for you. It’s a a really warm summer day. Maybe you’ve been uh kayaking or uh tubing down the river, it’s really hot and you really, really, really want a refreshing beverage. What uh what are you gonna go for?

Hannah • 01:57
Okay, I could go two routes here. So obviously we just talked about coffee. So I do tend to drink iced coffee a lot in the summer. However, I am kind of a coffee purist and I do think coffee should be warm.

Matt • 02:12
Yes, you and I share that opinion.

Hannah • 02:14
So so as refreshing as an iced coffee is, uh or like an ice latte or something. I do still kind of prefer warm coffee. So my other answer is um I recently have been a little obsessed, and this is not an ad.

Matt • 02:33
But uh have you ever Maybe it should be.

Hannah • 02:36
Maybe it should be. Have you ever heard of Olipop?

Matt • 02:39
Uh I feel like I’ve heard of it, but tell me more.

Hannah • 02:42
Okay. It’s supposed to be like, I don’t know, a healthier soda. It doesn’t have like processed sugars and stuff in it. And um that’s my new recent obsession. So it’s like a it’s like a soda

Matt • 02:54
Is there like a flavor that really works for you?

Hannah • 02:56
I really like the strawberry vanilla or or the peaches. It’s like I don’t know if it’s peaches and cream. I’m actually drinking one right now.

Matt • 03:05
Oh. I’m sure that among the population that love to listen to people talk about a year-long Bible reading project, there’s gotta be Dozens, hundreds of people that would love to buy your product, Olipop. Call us. When wisdom is is okay in this regard, maybe a gen and tonic on a summer day is a nice experience sometimes Um obviously you have need wisdom and uh uh uh discretion for that, but uh I don’t know, old school just a Coca-Cola classic. Okay. I have maybe three of them a year. Because soda’s just really not good for you. But on a really hot day, you’re just a good old-fashioned co-classic. It is so refreshing.

Hannah • 04:00
Yeah. So well, you know, if you’re looking for a healthier soda, maybe you want to try Olipop.

Matt • 04:09
You’re a natural.

Hannah • 04:11
Yeah. All right. Call me up, Ollipop.

Matt • 04:13
I expect free product on our doorstep any day now. I’m not a strawberry guy though, so Ollipop particularly.

Hannah • 04:19
They have endless flavors. They they have like a Coca-Cola like mock flavor. Okay. You like a classic soda flavor. Yeah.

Matt • 04:27
Alright. Well your uh opinion means a lot to me so maybe next time I swing through the grocery store I’ll they are significantly more expensive than g normal soda. Well you know I mean I drink bougie coffee.

Hannah • 04:38
Yeah. You can afford it.

Matt • 04:44
Anyway, I asked this question because for me, I don’t know about your experience, but to me, the passages that we read this week from Isaiah are some of the most refreshing passages in all of Scripture. And for me it is the experience like uh especially coming out of Kings, where it’s dry and tough, uh, and even the first part of Isaiah, where there’s so much conflict and tension and What’s gonna happen with this exile sing th uh to s to get chapter after chapter with this lush garden imagery and rain and refresh it just feels so refreshing to me. Has that been your experience this week too?

Hannah • 05:28
Yeah, the this reading has probably been one of my favorites of this study so far. I do love Genesis. Like I love the stories of Genesis.

Matt • 05:38
You are a Genesis girl, yes.

Hannah • 05:40
Yeah, but these are my second favorite so far of what we’ve read. I really enjoyed reading these chapters.

Matt • 05:48
Yeah. Yeah, and I’ve I’ve Isaiah’s really been popping for me the last couple of years. I’ve wanted to dig into it a little bit more and reading it this time has made me even more curious. Like like I maybe want to find like a good commentary or a good book that sort of goes deep into Isaiah because there’s there’s a lot I’d love to understand and as we’re gonna talk about there’s a lot of connections. um to the rest of scripture that I think we’re gonna explore. So I’m excited to unpack this for for the people. And and hey, some of your comments uh in the chat this week have just been amazing. I I think many of you are having the same experience that we have, just the depth of God’s character and his mercy and his forgiveness and You know, just this idea that we’ve talked about a couple times on the podcast. Like this is his idea. And so he um, you know, for all of our faults and foibles He’s not given up on us. Like he still wants this good thing to keep going. Uh and so it’s been really exciting and refreshing for my heart to to see that in the text. So Yeah, why don’t we get into it? So why don’t you catch us up a little bit? What’s the story so far? Where are we? And then we got a couple threads we want to pull out for the people so they can see some of the cool things that we got to experience this week.

Hannah • 07:02
Yeah, so last week we started the book of Isaiah, and in that beginning half, uh Isaiah was calling out Israel and its leaders for violating the covenant agreements. and calling them to repentance, back into restored relationship with the Lord. But Israel did not heed those warnings, and so they are taken in into exile But Isaiah’s message wasn’t just one of judgment. It was also a message of hope. And so this week’s reading showed us more specifically what or uh rather who that hope is. And so we’re introduced to a figure called God’s servant. who is going to represent Israel and do for them what Israel couldn’t do for themselves, which is to restore their relationship with God. Bring blessing to all nations, announce God’s kingdom, and bring good news to everyone, especially the poor and the oppressed in the vulnerable. But this servant is going to be rejected and killed by his own people before he is exalted again. Um and the book ends with a vision of a new Jerusalem, a new heavens, a new earth, and a choice is set before the readers uh which is very similar to the final speeches of Moses and Joshua and David, which all echo the choice between the two trees in Genesis 3. Mm-hmm. So it’s this choice between life and death, blessing and curse. Will you listen to the voice of God, humble yourself and submit to his kingdom and his wisdom? Or will you reject his invitation to life and do what is good in your own eyes? Yeah.

Matt • 08:49
Very well summarized.

Hannah • 08:51
Thank you. And it was very nice that this week’s reading finished exactly at the end of Isaiah. That was very satisfying to me.

Matt • 08:59
Thank you, organizers of the Bible Project Reading Plan. Yeah, we like a nice clean finish. Uh cool. So before we get into it, I think it’s worth pointing out there is um something, not an issue, but there’s something about sort of the composition and arrangement of the text itself. um that I’m not sure people would catch from just a normal reading. They refer to it in the Bible Projects overview videos, but just to make sure people catch it. So You know, certainly when I was growing up, I would have learned the author of the book of Isaiah was Isaiah, which makes perfect sense. And and he is the author of the book, but there’s Uh very clearly, you know, he much of the first part of the book would have been written by him, but then there’s clearly a divide um at some point in the book because the the events that are talked about in the rest of the book are sort of looking back at the time of exile when Isaiah the the person would have lived quite a bit of time before the exile. So he’s sort of prophesying and speaking to some of those things. But then the the events of the exile are s are treated as sort of a present tense and even past tense. So there is a little bit of uh issue with the issue is overstating. I make it seem like it’s I guess it is controversial. You’re a Bible nerd. You can tell me more about this. But I do think it’s worth highlighting for people that some of the things that they see in the beginning of the book, as they’re getting to the end of the book, there’s a l a little bit of a shift in perspective there that probably is worth just keeping our eyes on. It’s helpful for context.

Hannah • 10:30
Yeah. Yeah, and certainly Isaiah could have written a lot of um, you know, it is prophecy. The Lord can reveal. future plans to a prophet where he may have been able to write um prophecies for much later time periods than he was alive That’s certainly possible. And um there but in general, the whole Old Testament uh has a long tradition of not just Um the original authors that we see named in the books, but also of editors and compilers and scribes. who are very entrenched in the Hebrew scriptures and have brought it to the final form that we see it today. So um Uh like Isaiah maybe didn’t write this entire book cover to cover, but much of the pieces might have been written in fragments and then later scribes would have arranged them into its final form and maybe added a few um, you know, to tie the bow off at the end where from a later perspective where needed. So that’s a very common perspective. From uh Hebrew scholars about the formation of the text. There, if you’re if you’re interested in diving a little bit more into this, um Bible Project does a Podcast series called The Paradigm. I know you’ve listened to this.

Matt • 12:11
Yeah, we I listened to it and then we did it in our small group. So yeah.

Hannah • 12:14
Yeah. So the goal of the podcast is to understand the paradigm. uh with which the biblical authors um had that when they were writing the Bible. So we wanna be in their mindset, their worldview to understand how they were writing. And one uh of the episodes is about uh this editing or compiling process. So I thought they did a really good job of thoroughly explaining that but at a easy to understand level.

Matt • 12:46
Yeah. I did a quick look on Wikipedia just to get a sense of kind of what the opinions of scholar what the where the scholarship falls. And it s sounds like there’s a few different kind of schools of thought about how how Isaiah is written. But it seems like there’s some basic consensus around, you know, Isaiah the person wrote something of the first half and then the s the you know, at some point there’s a divide and it’s probably text that was brought into Isaiah’s original right at some point. So there’s a combination of efforts going on here. So if you really want to nerd about nerd out about that Uh you know, you can read up a little bit. Um Maybe not a Wikipedia. Now well, you know, well click through to the sources

Hannah • 13:26
Don’t you know, Matt, that Wikipedia is not a trustworthy source?

Matt • 13:29
I like it as a starting point though.

Hannah • 13:31
That’s fine.

Matt • 13:32
What’s the flavor? And then if I really want to nerd out, I’m I’m gonna click through to the original links or I’m gonna look at a book or something. something like that. But yeah, just get a flavor of something. I’m not a opposed to Wikipedia. Now, I am the kind of kid like in third grade I would go read the encyclopedia for fun. So of course I’m gonna like Wikipedia because it’s all Oh, we’re back to talking about bougie coffee again. Okay. Anyway, back to I’m easily distracted. All right, well, uh let’s get into some of the cool stuff. Well, we talked last week about how Isaiah is a very messianic book. There’s a lot of reference to this anointed one of sort of carrying on the conversation about how God was going to keep the line of Abraham going, keep the story of Israel going. and keep the promise, especially though the one about who’s gonna um, you know, crush the head of the ser serpent serpent, sorry, that he’s gonna keep that story going. But now we’re starting to get a little bit different picture of him. And so one of the pictures that Isaiah starts to paint for us is this idea of the servant. He really starts to pop on that in chapters like 52, 53. So I know you’ve got some notes for us. Yeah, let me hear it.

Hannah • 14:44
Yeah, so I think one uh significant thing about this servant that introduced in um let’s see chapter 49 we start talking about the servant uh verse six says that the servant will be a light for the nations so that the lord’s salvation will reach the ends of the earth So that’s kind of a unique thing because we’re talking about Israel, like for the most part, and Israel is God’s chosen nation to be the vehicle through which God carries out his purposes in this specific Time and context. But we do remember that God promised to Abraham that his offspring would bring blessing to all nations. And so we’ve been tracing this Promise, this idea throughout this the the history of the nation of Israel that ultimately God’s goal is to restore his relationship Or, you know, have a relationship with all nations and extend his salvation for all. So that is uh an explicit, you know, passage that talks about this. servant messianic figure being connected back to that promise made to Abraham.

Matt • 16:02
You’re like, oh, I feel like I’ve heard this before. Uh if you’re familiar, we probably have heard around Christmas time the story of Simeon. From Luke chapter 2 in the temple where God promised him that he would not actually physically die until he saw the Messiah. And so there’s a story of him holding baby Jesus, eight-day-old Jesus. Uh and he actually goes back to this verse when he says, I’ve seen your salvation, the light of the light of revelation to the Gentiles and the glory of your people, Israel. So clear line between this verse where uh Isaiah is talking about the servant and then how that shows up in the person of Jesus.

Hannah • 16:39
So do you know what’s really cool? The Hebrew word for salvation is Yeshua.

Matt • 16:46
Okay.

Hannah • 16:47
Uh does that sound familiar to you?

Matt • 16:49
That’s Jesus’ name, right? Yeah. Yeah.

Hannah • 16:51
It is.

Matt • 16:52
In Hebrew.

Hannah • 16:54
Yeah.

Matt • 16:54
Hebrew? Okay.

Hannah • 16:55
Yeah.

Matt • 16:56
I’m still catching up on all the languages.

Hannah • 16:58
So like this this verse says that Yahweh’s Yeshua will reach the ends of the earth.

Matt • 17:03
Oh, that’s so good. So good.

Hannah • 17:06
So good.

Matt • 17:07
Yeah, so he’s gonna be a light for the nations, the the Gentiles and his people, Israel. What else?

Hannah • 17:15
Okay, so you know that I have uh been tracing this idea of uh listen through what we’ve been reading so far. So I you know, I maybe I’m a little biased to seeing it now, but I saw it several times in these passages. So um chapter 50, um verse four says that this servant listens to the voice of the Lord. And then verse 10 says that God’s people should listen to the voice of his servant. So I thought that was an interesting thread that um Because the servant is listening to the voice of the Lord, then the servant’s voice is almost equivalent to the Father’s voice. And so people should listen to his voice because it’s like the same as listening to the voice of God.

Matt • 18:17
Okay.

Hannah • 18:18
So God’s voice and his servant’s voice are united because they are one. Yeah.

Matt • 18:24
You know, it’s interesting. We’ve talked about this, so I’m looking at the ESV, and at verse 10, it says, Who among you fears the Lord and obeys the voice of his servant? And so I remember talking about how the word listen and the word obey, that’s the same word. Those concepts are not differentiated um as strongly in the Hebrew as we experience in English.

Hannah • 18:46
Yep. Yeah, it’s the word Shema in both of those verse four and verse ten. Yeah. Yeah. Then um I uh this is tied in the similar to chapter 55, but I know we want to dive into chapter 55 a little bit more in a second. Okay So maybe put a pin in that idea.

Matt • 19:13
Okay. I will.

Hannah • 19:14
Because we want to talk about one other aspect of um the sermon before we dive into some specific. So the other aspect that’s pr Very uh significant in this passage is that he is a suffering servant.

Matt • 19:30
Yes.

Hannah • 19:31
So this is largely in chapter 53, 52, and 53. Mm-hmm. Um so we have uh kind of interesting uh somebody mentioned this in the chat too. That verses two and three say that the servant isn’t particularly impressive in appearance.

Matt • 19:51
Yeah. I think that was uh Uh we have another Hannah.

Hannah • 19:56
Yes, yeah.

Matt • 19:57
Hannah Palmer. Right. Yeah, so Hannah, great job. Gold star for you. I gotta get this printed out. Yeah. So Hannah, gold star for you. Yeah

Hannah • 20:05
Yeah, and this made me remember David, um, the story of David that talks about man looks at the outward appearance, but God looks at the heart. So

Matt • 20:17
And that was contrasted with Saul, who was described as being very tall, very good looking. Yeah. Yeah. And I remember thinking, what’s the problem with being tall and good looking? Your husband is tall and good looking. Yeah. I’m not as tall as your husband, but okay, I’m belaboring all that. But yeah. Uh yeah, so that’s that’s interesting. So it’s uh it’s not uh uh magazine cover contest kind of it’s not a beauty contest.

Hannah • 20:41
Mm-hmm.

Matt • 20:41
Yeah.

Hannah • 20:42
Okay, then go up to verse four says that he bore our griefs and our sorrows. And then verses five through eight are kind of verses that we know really well. He was afflicted, pierced, and crushed for our sin. Um So the uh he took on our sin for us, and it even uses the imagery of sheep to describe both us and the servant. Uh it says that we like sheep have gone astray. But it’s the servant who is like a lamb led to slaughter. Yeah. So I thought that comparison was really demonstrating how this servant is our representative and taking on the punishment that we deserve. So there’s kind of an a an inversion there. And then there’s another inversion about his wounds being the means of our healing.

Matt • 21:38
Yeah. Certainly seems uh, you know, back to the sacrificial system in Leviticus, uh Passover. Think there’s a Passover? Um certainly makes me think of the story of Abraham and Isaac and about how God provide the sacrificial lamb or or goat in that one. Yeah, so that connection makes sense uh to me. I guess I’m curious about one thing though Um, Jesus’ contemporaries didn’t seem to have this view of um of of of Messiah They didn’t seem to have view that Messiah would be somebody who needed to suffer or that, you know, that suffering was connected for them. They would have had that associated with like the sacrificial system. So I I don’t know, I’m just a I’m putting you on the spot a little bit. I don’t expect you to know the answer, but I guess was it would this not have been a sort of a common understanding of this prophecy is that Messiah was gonna need to suffer? Certainly Paul would have understood it. He made those connections for us in much of his letters, including Romans. Um, but it didn’t seem to be an understanding of Jesus’ contemporaries until he explained it to them very plainly.

Hannah • 22:47
I don’t know, maybe it was overlooked by some of the other passages that describe more of his victory. Um and Psalm chapter two it kind of has some of the language about um the anointed one, the Messiah being having this like strong victory over the nations and Um, that psalm played a really significant role in the shape of the s Hebrew scriptures overall. So I don’t know, maybe these couple chapters are kind of overlooked when taken as a whole. There are a lot of uh passages about Messiah’s victory, his kingship, his exaltation.

Matt • 23:29
Yeah. Yeah, I’m gonna and I’m just kidding, I mean it It seems like the puzzle pieces should be there for somebody to see. You know, certainly in the story of Job, which we haven’t gotten to yet in our reading, but when we see that, there’s gonna be this idea. that suffering is a is a qualifier, that when we go through suffering, we’re then in position somehow God through that purpose prepares us to be able to intercede for others. And you know, Dave talked about that this past Sunday when he was preaching through Hebrews. So it seems like the puzzle pieces are there. It just didn’t seem to be so evident among the the contemporaries of Jesus to understand that this is what he’s doing, that yes, he’s a teacher, yes, he’s a um, you know, moral figure, yes, he’s compelling. But to really go into the messianic thing, he’s going to suffer. And the suffering is at least part of what qualifies him to take that mantle

Hannah • 24:24
Yeah, yeah. And that’s uh uh another inversion that his humility and suffering is the very thing that leads to his exaltation. Yeah. Which um just in the chapter before uh chapter 52 verse 13 says behold my servant shall act wisely he shall be high and lifted up and shall be exalted Um, which, you know, in from our perspective, we think of Jesus being lifted up on the cross, which is doesn’t seem really like exaltation to us. But it’s the the his suffering and his death are the very means of his exaltation.

Matt • 25:08
Yeah.

Hannah • 25:09
Um and so there are a lot of inversions in this chapter and That is a huge thing in the kingdom of God, that it’s this upside down kingdom.

Matt • 25:20
Yeah.

Hannah • 25:20
Yeah.

Matt • 25:22
Yeah. And Uh I and I know you uh well actually there’s one more thing I think you want to get to with the suffering servant, maybe back in chapter fifty, before we get to chapter fifty-five. Um, but that in chapter fifty-five, that theme really resonated for me about the upside down that he he shows up in the places where we least expect him. And and frankly for me, I it’s so chapter 55, um I think I was reading on a weekend. I don’t remember if it was Saturday or Sunday. Um but for me I was really glad that I had a chance to just really sit there and soak in it, that I I didn’t have to worry to make my breakfast and get to work. So I probably read chapter fifty-five six times that morning. Just again and again, like, you know, this is not um I have to do the work to sort of deconstruct my own view of Jesus or my own view of God sometimes and to really practice seeing who he is, who he claims to be in scripture. Um and then what he claims about what it means to follow him. Like if I really want to follow him. Well, he hangs out in low places. He hangs out with not fancy, not influential people. You know, you and I live in the shadow of Washington, D. C. Um, we’re not super duper status oriented people, you and I, but you know, we live in a culture that can get into that pretty easy, and you were both familiar with with some of that stuff. Man, it’s just God is not impressed with any of that. I you know, I think if God were here, he would probably spend a lot more time at the Lamb Center than he would at the White House. Um, you know, things like that. And it’s I just had to read and read and read and read and read and read and read that to um to really sink. It was just good for my heart and my soul to just really let that truth sink into me.

Hannah • 27:17
Yeah. Yeah, chapter 55 was one that I spent a lot of time reading and meditating on as well. So Um is that what you were referencing that I wanted to talk more about? Fift chapter 55?

Matt • 27:34
You wanted to riff on the tree of life, right?

Hannah • 27:36
Yes, yeah. So that’s that’s gonna be in chapter 55.

Matt • 27:39
So let’s do it then.

Hannah • 27:40
Great, okay. So um it kind of ties into what I was saying about the listening thing because we do see that come up in 55 again. But chapter 55, I was meditating on this idea that the servant restores access to the tree of life. Because there’s a ton of imagery about the trees.

Matt • 28:05
You really do love a Genesis connection, don’t you?

Hannah • 28:08
I I I do. The thing is I don’t think I’m making it up.

Matt • 28:14
Oh, of course not.

Hannah • 28:15
Or I’m not accusing you of any over highlighting it.

Matt • 28:17
Like I this I love how much you nerd out about Genesis.

Hannah • 28:20
This is ingrained in the biblical author’s paradigm of what the Bible is about. It’s it’s riffing on like I the authors of Isaiah certainly would have had access to Genesis. to the Torah, you know? And so that set up the story and that is um setting up all the imagery. And so these authors are riffing off of these. images to make them more rich. So I don’t think I’m just like, oh I I really love Genesis. Let me see where I can can find make up this imagery. Like I it’s there.

Matt • 29:03
I’m not accusing you of forcing the issue. I’m sorry if that’s how it came across. No of course not. No, I uh I love it. No, well show us what you see.

Hannah • 29:12
Yeah okay so Um our my word listen comes up again in verse two. Okay. Um So you sa ESV says listen diligently, right?

Matt • 29:24
Right.

Hannah • 29:26
The CSV says listen carefully. It’s actually just the word Shema repeated twice. So Shema Shema. Listen, listen.

Matt • 29:35
Listen, listen.

Hannah • 29:36
Like really, really listen.

Matt • 29:38
Yeah.

Hannah • 29:38
You know? So Shema Shema. Listen, listen, and eat what is good.

Matt • 29:43
Ooh. Tove and raw.

Hannah • 29:46
Yeah, yeah, well that’s just Tove. Yeah. But yeah, eat is also a big Genesis 3 word. And um Yeah, both the tree of life, Adam and Eve were invited to eat from the tree of life, as well as all the other trees of the garden. Um, yeah, but to not eat of the tree of knowing good and bad. Verse three again says, Pay attention, come to me, listen, Shema, so that you will live So listening leads to life.

Matt • 30:18
Mm-hmm. Yep.

Hannah • 30:18
Eat eat what is good. That I mean that’s tree of life.

Matt • 30:22
I see it.

Hannah • 30:23
Yes. Yeah.

Matt • 30:24
I’m excited.

Hannah • 30:25
And the the tree of life and the tree of knowing, good and bad, are all about God’s wisdom, trusting God’s wisdom. So listening to his voice is trusting his wisdom, because to take from the tree of knowing good and bad is to choose to define good and bad how I want. to define it. Um, what’s good in my eyes based on my so-called wisdom versus eating from the tree of life is trusting that God knows what’s best in his wisdom. And so This, I think, is an invitation back to the tree of life. Adam and Eve were exiled from the garden. Okay. And access to the tree of life was guarded by a carabin.

Matt • 31:15
Yeah.

Hannah • 31:16
And a flaming sword.

Matt • 31:19
Yeah. Woo Um striking imagery.

Hannah • 31:23
Yeah. And and Israel, um, you know, both Adam and Eve and now Israel as a nation have forfeited access to the tree of life because they chose to eat From the tree of knowing good and evil, metaphorically. Well, you know, Adam and Eve literally, and Israel metaphorically. Um but because servant So then verse 9. If you go down a bit, it says, For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. So this is all about the Lord’s wisdom being greater than ours. So listen to his voice, trust his wisdom instead of taking of your own tree of knowing good and evil. And then it it wraps up uh verses ten and eleven with this like really beautiful poetry. Um for as the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return there, but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth It will not return to me empty, but it will accomplish that which I purpose and succeed for the thing that I sent it. So God’s word always accomplishes its purposes, and his word is obviously connected to listening to his voice. Yes. And his word and his wisdom are all intertwined. And I think that All of this works together to contribute to John’s theology of calling Jesus the Word.

Matt • 33:16
I was gonna say, yeah, we know that New in the New Testament Jesus is referred to as the Word of God. Yes.

Hannah • 33:21
Yeah, yeah, at the beginning of John’s gospel account.

Matt • 33:24
Yeah.

Hannah • 33:26
So everything is connected. Everything is intertwined. I love it. And it’s just such beautiful poetry and imagery. that really enriches these words and the these purposes that are revealed to us.

Matt • 33:42
Yeah. You know, I I have always really appreciated the uh sort of illustration of the rain cycle. I don’t know if you uh probably would have talked about this when you were uh in small group with us, but sometimes I’ll actually draw on the whiteboard, kind of like if you remember back third, fourth grade, maybe it’s a little more sophisticated, maybe eighth grade science. Where water’s kind of in the ocean, it evaporates up, forms clouds, and then it rains down, but it rains into goes into like rivers, but then the rivers all flow back to the ocean. And then once it’s back in the ocean, it you know evaporates. So the whole thing keeps cycling. I’m like really the word of God and knowledge of God, understanding God is a lot like that. It all starts in the ocean with knowing and understanding who God is through his word. that sort of evaporates up, uh and then it it um that you know in my little cycle that that’s obedience. Or no, it’s worship. It’s sort of understanding who he is and giving him his due and that rains down, but then it flows back through obedience and and that flows back to understanding that much more who he is. So it you know, knowledge of God and understanding his word, it it it should express itself as worship. The natural expression of worship or the natural, the next thing out of any proper worship is that much more obedience, that listening. and obeying those are the same word as you taught us uh in hebrew so it’s the same concept um and then that all flows back to understanding who he is that much more like it’s sort of the the reward so to speak of obedience is that much more knowledge and understanding of him. So I always love that. Too bad we’re not a uh video podcast. I could diagram that for everybody on the whiteboard with my fancy new whiteboard markers that I got for Christmas. So

Hannah • 35:23
Yeah. Wow.

Matt • 35:24
I’ll tell you about those some other time, but yeah.

Hannah • 35:27
Yeah. Was there anything else on chapter 55 that you spent some time meditating on?

Matt • 35:31
Uh I think it was really probably uh right about the Top, uh, I think verse two, yeah, where it says, Why do you spend your money on that which is not bread and your labor for that which does not satisfy? And I’ve spent a long time thinking about people in my life that aren’t believers, that don’t really know Jesus. And I was just like, boy, I I see the hunger in that person’s life. I see the thirst in that person’s life. And I see that they just keep trying to satisfy that with things other than Jesus. And uh I’m I’m not gonna lie, it it made me choke up a little bit. I was really weeping and crying for people that I know and I was like Lord please Let them taste and see that you’re good. Let them see that you are the bread of life. Let them see that you are the living water. Um, you know, please, please move them off of, you know, spending money for that which is not bread and laboring in ways that don’t satisfy I am s my own self. Well, you know, am I Am I working for things that don’t really satisfy? Am I chasing hunger and thirst uh for things that can’t really quench it? I probably read versus what two and three. Yeah, I probably read those good six or seven times just praying and meditating for myself in lament and confession and repentance and just thinking of so many people that I know. that that describes uh and I wouldn’t want it to that you know how I long for them to experience um the blessing and and fruit uh of knowing Jesus and being a relationship with him. So it really led me to spend a lot of time in prayer.

Hannah • 37:01
Hmm. Very cool.

Matt • 37:03
Yeah. Yeah. So there’s another theme uh in some of these chapters that I think you wanted to get to, and that is this idea of Good news. I think one of these passages probably popped for some people would be very familiar. It shows up on a couple other places as well. So Uh you were nerding out about this one too when we were getting the rundown ready. So I’m excited for the people to to hear this. Good news. Tell us more.

Hannah • 37:28
Yeah, well I think there was a video this week, if I’m not mistaken, about that term uh gospel or which means good news. Um And how they’re rooted in that word that phrase good news is rooted in a couple of these passages in Isaiah that we read. So chapter 52 and chapter 61. So chapter 52, verses 7 through 10 describes this scene of a watchman who would be sitting in a tower in the city walls, looking out, and they see this messenger. Uh, you know, you can imagine them like running towards the city walls or something. And uh verse seven says, How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of the messenger who brings good news, proclaiming peace and salvation. And specifically, this messenger proclaims that your God reigns. Yeah. Which is really cool. So it’s the the good news of the kingdom of God that he is still king. And so in the context of exile, Israel was in this state of doubt, questioning if God was still with them, and if if he was still powerful, if he forgot about them. And this messenger confirms that Yahweh is still king despite the exile that they’re facing.

Matt • 38:49
Yeah. It’s a banger worship song too. Oh come on, we’re all singing this, right? I think there’s a couple, but how lovely on the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news I should I don’t think I know that. This one might be a little older. Okay. Alright, I’ll tell Hang we gotta get this one in the rotations.

Hannah • 39:15
Yeah, so uh um, you know, obviously Jesus uh rifts on this idea a lot because he’s talking about God’s kingdom all the time. He’s ushering in the kingdom.

Matt • 39:26
Yeah

Hannah • 39:27
Yeah.

Matt • 39:27
And Paul pulls this one out in Romans about how beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news. But how can how can people hear if you don’t go? So yeah, this one shows up in Paul’s writings a lot. Yeah.

Hannah • 39:39
Yeah. Then the other one is en chapter sixty one. Um And this is actually the passage that Jesus reads from in the synagogue when he begins his earthly ministry.

Matt • 39:54
I mean, talk about a mic drop.

Hannah • 39:56
Right, like it you know, t imagine Jesus is trying to decide what passage should I read to start my ministry? Yeah. Isaiah 61

Matt • 40:07
Is the one so and then well yeah, well I mean we could we should read it first, but you’ll you’ll read it and tell us but then Jesus has finishes it by saying the scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.

Hannah • 40:18
Yeah.

Matt • 40:19
I mean talk about a mic drop.

Hannah • 40:21
Yeah. Yeah, well well so this chapter is written from the perspective of the servant.

Matt • 40:28
Yeah

Hannah • 40:29
And um so verse one says, The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, the opening of the prison to those who are bound, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor and the day of vengeance of our God. I could keep going.

Matt • 40:54
I mean a lot of hyperlinks there.

Hannah • 40:55
Oh yeah. Yeah. Exodus. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Yep. Yep. Liberty to the captives. Yeah. Yeah, and uh we’ll we’ll talk about the year of the Lord’s favor. But first, um the Lord has anointed me. So this is the word mashach. which is where we get uh mesh or we say mesiah. Uh you know, if you’ve uh What how do you what is it? Anglicize it if you is that the right word?

Matt • 41:27
I mean that’s how I say it because ’cause I’m American and my language skills are very poor.

Hannah • 41:32
Yeah. Yeah, so uh Messiah means anointed one. Yeah. So um this is making a direct connection between the Lord’s servant in Isaiah and the Messiah, the anointed one.

Matt • 41:47
By the way, a word about anointing. Um, so I just spent some time with Pastor Matthew. He just got back from his trip to Nepal, and uh while he was there he got to be a part of like the anointed new elders. Uh and we don’t We haven’t so far done this with new elders in our church, but they actually uh have anointing oil that they use to anoint and he’s like, you know, if we were doing this, we may like Spring put a couple drops on you. They’re like dumping oil on these people’s heads. They’re like, yeah, they have like they have to go wash out. So I love that idea. I was thinking about that a little bit as I was reading this. It’s like the anointed one, you know, sort of putting oil on them. So and you know, at it at the churches in Nepal that that we are part of, like they go for it with this one. So yeah, they really they take the anointing part pretty seriously.

Hannah • 42:33
Hmm, cool. We should do that.

Matt • 42:34
Yeah, okay.

Hannah • 42:37
Uh we anointed someone who we were praying for uh for like illness. Yeah, we started doing that in the last couple of years.

Matt • 42:45
That’s a really special moment. Yeah.

Hannah • 42:47
Yeah. So that was cool. Uh but yeah, in in uh Jewish uh in the Old Testament times at least, priests and kings were anointed when they at the beginning of their duties, when they were, you know, consecrated or anointed to become king or priest. So um yeah, it’s like setting them apart as a a s with a special role. Um and and the Messiah is both priest and king.

Matt • 43:20
Mm-hmm.

Hannah • 43:20
Yep. Yeah. Yeah. Okay, should we talk about the year of the Lord’s favor?

Matt • 43:25
Oh, I’m so excited to do this. Yes.

Hannah • 43:27
Okay, so This is referring to the Jubilee year, which we talked about a while ago.

Matt • 43:35
Yeah. And I remember thinking, well, it sounds so great, but so far as we understand, Israel never celebrated it

Hannah • 43:42
Yeah.

Matt • 43:43
But it sounds really cool.

Hannah • 43:45
Yeah. Yeah, I mean apparently they didn’t even practice Passover for

Matt • 43:52
What is happening?

Hannah • 43:53
Yeah. And and ju the Jubilee year would have been I mean, it was such a radical practice of releasing uh slaves, forgiving all debts, um, like a really big radical practice. So I I get why they would have been hesitant to actually You know, do this.

Matt • 44:15
I could see it being difficult in the execution.

Hannah • 44:18
Yes, yeah, yeah.

Matt • 44:20
Feels like you would need really good record keeping.

Hannah • 44:23
Right.

Matt • 44:24
If all the property is supposed to go to the original family, well how do we really know who the original family is? Um things. But conceptually it’s fantastic though. Like Debts are you’re forgiven your debts.

Hannah • 44:38
Slaves are set for the city. Sounds so great. For the oppressed and for the poor, it’s fantastic. But if you’re trying to get ahead and you Uh people owe you a lot of money, you have slaves that are working for you and producing profit for you Like from a you know, capitalistic perspective, that’s a bummer.

Matt • 45:00
It’s uh makes some things challenging for sure, yes.

Hannah • 45:03
Yeah, yeah. So Um but anyway, th uh from uh a biblical theological perspective, the Jubilee was always pointing forward to this cosmic Jubilee where uh the Messiah would forgive all debts um our debt to sin and our slavery to sin uh and death So Jesus proclaiming the year of the Lord’s favor is obviously way bigger than just like, oh, we’re going to practice the Jubilee this year. Yeah, but really cool imagery. I think we talked a l a lot about that previously.

Matt • 45:47
Yeah, it’s it’s and it’s really interesting. I mean, I’m sure m most people, uh maybe not well, I shouldn’t say it sounds judgy when I say that, but I’m sure many people who are going through this would have Would be familiar with that that that scene in the New Testament where Jesus is actually saying, Hey, these are the words that I’m gonna use to uh assume this duty, to you know, to show the people that I’m Messiah and this is This is the passage that I’m going to. You know, he’s not going to not even Genesis 3. He’s not saying I’m the one who’s going to strike the serpent’s head, or he’s not. No, he’s like, no, I am bringing the good news. Uh You know, it’s good news for the poor. It’s setting prisoners free. It is um you know, liberation. All it’s Yeah, it’s a bold choice. It’s a bold choice that this is the passage that he uses to announce his his kingdom and announce his his role as Messiah to the world.

Hannah • 46:41
Yeah. Yeah. And it’s all focused on the poor, those who are um captives, those who are in prison, those who are mourning. Um Yeah, it’s all about the upside down kingdom.

Matt • 46:57
Yeah. Yeah, and as people who live in the United States in the twenty-first century Really serves us well to slow down, read these things carefully, reflect, and just think, hey, if if Jesus says the kingdom is for the poor, Look, I don’t have all the money in the bank. Nobody’s gonna confuse me with Jeff Bezos or anything like that, but I’m not poor. Uh I’m not in prison. Uh I have you know, I have a little bit of I have a mortgage and uh uh well I don’t have a car payment anymore. But you know, I it’s not that I’m a hundred percent debt free, but it’s you know, I don’t have uh I don’t have debt that um you know puts me at any risk of anything. Whew, okay. So I need really need to think about how am I experiencing God’s kingdom? Because when Jesus says this is what the kingdom looks like It may or may not look a lot like the life that I lead on a day-to-day basis. And that merits some reflection and maybe some repentance on my part.

Hannah • 47:55
So yeah.

Matt • 47:56
Yeah. All right, well then we come to the end of the book and uh we’re actually getting close on time, so we probably shouldn’t belabor this too much, but a lot of uh similarity between the end of Isaiah and the end of Deuteronomy, and interestingly the end of Revelation

Hannah • 48:12
Mm-hmm.

Matt • 48:13
Yeah. So a lot of this sort of similar kind of bringing the the heaven and earth back together, um, the the two roads, you know, choose you what path you’re gonna take, help help us see something that we need to see here.

Hannah • 48:28
About the two paths.

Matt • 48:29
Yeah, or yeah, the the way that uh the the book of Isaiah closes here.

Hannah • 48:33
Yeah. I mean it explicitly talks about the new heavens and the new earth, which is really cool because yeah, that’s really um fleshed out more in Revelation. Um but yeah uh this is just really similar to the final speeches uh like you were saying at the end of Deuteronomy, Moses’ final speech of choose life, which is going to be blessing for you. Um and this, I mean this is all very similar to what we’re talking about with the restoration of the path back to the tree of life. Like you’re back here. You can take from the tree of life. Just listen to God’s wisdom. Obey him, listen to him, to his voice, and it there will be life and blessing for you and restoration and we’ll see these new heavens and the new earth and you’ll get to be a part of that. You’ll get to join that. Um but if you choose not to If you reject the Lord, you reject his servant too, his Messiah, then you will miss out on those things. And that’s your own choice. You’re choosing to not. be part of those things. You’re choosing not to be in relationship with God. So He’s going to honor your choice.

Matt • 49:52
Yeah.

Hannah • 49:52
Yeah.

Matt • 49:53
Yeah. It’s a beautiful book. I’m so glad we got to spend time in Isaiah. I’m glad we got to do two episodes about Isaiah. Um it’s just a a rich book Um yeah, so I have really, really enjoyed this. Hopefully, those of you listening, hopefully you’ve enjoyed it at least as much as Hannah and I have, and maybe it even merits a reread for you. So as you’re thinking about your Bible reading plan for next year, I don’t know, maybe Just spend the whole year in Isaiah. I don’t know. Maybe. I don’t know. I’ll worry about that when December comes around.

Hannah • 50:21
But yeah.

Matt • 50:22
Um but yeah, it’s such a rich book and one of the things that I really love about it is all the connections to the work of Jesus. There’s so many um passages here that he himself quotes or that the New Testament writers quote about him. So it’s so uh thrilling. to start seeing words in the in the text here that we can make really explicit connections to the work of Jesus and the work that he has done for us. And uh it just makes him that much more um interesting and um and uh worthy of worship uh and it just motivates me so much to to follow him and listen to him and worship him.

Hannah • 50:59
So yeah.

Matt • 51:01
Yeah. Any other thoughts for the people?

Hannah • 51:04
Um we didn’t have time for this, but there is a really cool snake crushing verse.

Matt • 51:11
Yeah. Throw the verse out there and then people can look it up.

Hannah • 51:15
Uh chapter fifty-nine ver uh fifth sorry, fifty-one verse nine.

Matt • 51:19
Okay. Chapter this is your homework people, Isaiah fifty-one, verse nine. See if you can pick up on the snake crushing.

Hannah • 51:27
I mean it’s very explicit.

Matt • 51:29
Okay.

Hannah • 51:30
Yeah, talks about piercing the dragon.

Matt • 51:34
You can find us in the lobby of church and nerd out about this. So all right, well let me pray first.

Hannah • 51:39
Yeah.

Matt • 51:39
Oh Heavenly Father, we’re so grateful for these words that were written thousands of years ago and yet even today they have the power to just light up our soul and refresh us and uh cause us to worship you and praise you and give you devotion and glory, to sing songs and Lord, to pro to pray for others, Lord. I I just see my own story in Isaiah and I see the story of so many around you. us and Lord I see you and your son Jesus in these texts and it makes me so so grateful and it uh causes me to worship and so Lord I I hope that that’s a similar experience that all of us are having together, Lord, that when we read these words, we see you that much more clearly, uh, that our devotion for you increases, that we want to love you more fully uh and fiercely, Lord, and that we want to follow you more nearly and be that much more devoted to you in obedience, Lord, because we live in a world with uh people who are enslaved that are captives of their own sin and and debt and you uh announce good news for the poor. Lord it was good news for me and it would be good news for others. And Lord uh Just like you sent your servant, Lord, you are sending us to be your messengers. And I pray that you’d help us to do that boldly and effectively in your kindness and your mercy. Uh, celebrating what you’ve done through Jesus for us to bring heaven and earth back together that we might know you and experience you more fully. Thank you so much for the blessing of being able to read these words. Uh and Lord, I’m excited uh to turn the corner and talk about Jeremiah. But Lord, I’m just so grateful for Isaiah and how he shows us so much about you and your character. Thank you so much as we ask in Jesus’ name. Amen. Amen. Amen. Thanks, Hannah.

Hannah • 53:19
Thank you.

Matt • 53:20
All right.