Isaiah 40 – Diatribe can be a good thing!

In popular conversation a “diatribe” is when someone really goes off on another person, with ranting, raving and condemnations.  It is not done in polite company.  So when you hear that Isaiah 40, or any other passage, is a diatribe, take a breath.  In literature “diatribe” refers to a type of discourse.  It involves an intense “dialogue” between the speaker and a real or imagined opponent. 

the term “diatribe” means something like “wearing away”.  So with questions and argument, a series of arguments are brought to bear on the topic in rapid succession.

Isaiah 40:12-31 has by my count 15 questions (this will depend on how the translator will divide sentences).  They break out into 5 main questions.  Which look something like this:

1.  Who made Heaven & Earth, Justice & Knowledge?  v. 12-17

2.  What is God like?  v. 18-20

3. Haven’t you been paying attention? v. 21-24

4.  Again, what is God like?  v. 25-26

5.  Why do you despair?  v. 27-31

Alec Motyer in his commentary (The Prophecy of Isaiah, IVP) says that v. 27’s complaint is the centerpiece.  In a time of national calamity the faithful are asking if they are hidden from or forgotten by God.  The “diatribe” form is a sort of shock therapy – reviewing what they ought to know and applying it to their situation.

FR

Isaiah 40 – Crisis Counseling

Isaiah 40, perhaps remembered best as the passage that Eric Liddel read from the pulpit in “Chariots of Fire”.  It represents the turning point from judgment (the primary theme of Chapters 1-39) to hope.

In Chapter 40 the doctrine of Creation is utilized by the Prophet to show the grandeur of God over against the nations that have harrassed and oppressed the nation of Israel.  In a time of national crisis – the danger of exile to a foreigh power – the prophet does not issue a call to arms, but a call to theology!

In my notes, I preached this passage on Septermber 9, 2001.  Two days before “911″.  Since that time we have had the crises of 911, and the two wars that followed, and for the last 18 months or so we have had a financial crisis worse than any since the Great Depression.  Major banks and financial firms have fallen.  General Motors is owned, for now, by we the people.  Now that the flu season is here, we await 190,000,000 F1N1 flu shots to become available.

Israel’s crisis was greater than ours – we are not on the brink of being conquered, nor will any of us be hauled off across the border to another country far from home.  Yet, can theology be our counselor?

Isaiah 40:12-17   ESV
    Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand
        and marked off the heavens with a span,
    enclosed the dust of the earth in a measure
        and weighed the mountains in scales
        and the hills in a balance?
    [13] Who has measured the Spirit of the Lord,
        or what man shows him his counsel?
    [14] Whom did he consult,
        and who made him understand?
    Who taught him the path of justice,
        and taught him knowledge,
        and showed him the way of understanding?
    [15] Behold, the nations are like a drop from a bucket,
        and are accounted as the dust on the scales;
        behold, he takes up the coastlands like fine dust.
    [16] Lebanon would not suffice for fuel,
        nor are its beasts enough for a burnt offering.
    [17] All the nations are as nothing before him,
        they are accounted by him as less than nothing and emptiness.

FR

Prophet meets Sage

In our congregation’s reading schedule we have been in Isaiah.  Now Isaiah contains some of the most elevated language of the bible – not just well known passages such as chapters 44, 53 and 55 and to think of it 2, 7, 9 and 11 regarding the Messiah and peace and justice.  It is a diamond field of great passages such as this.

Isaiah 33:5-6 ESV
    The Lord is exalted, for he dwells on high;
        he will fill Zion with justice and righteousness,
    [6] and he will be the stability of your times,
        abundance of salvation, wisdom, and knowledge;
        the fear of the Lord is Zion’s treasure.

In the New International Version that last phrase is:  “the fear of the Lord is the key to this treasure.”  So we have a good prophetic sounding affirmation of the majesty of God – a concern with his justice and righteousness – concepts that we tend to separate more than the biblical authors.  The last phrase is reminiscent of the prominent theme of wisdom literature – the Fear of the Lord.  This attitude of respectful awe and willingness to follow is seen in Wisdom Literature as an opening to Wisdom.  “the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge” is a well known statement from the opening chapter of Proverbs.

I have seen a few scholars suggest that the prophets and the sages (wisdom teachers) were in conflict – but this one suggests a harmony of purpose.

Hey, look what we found on Google images:

Isaiah 33:6

FR