Turning Jordan

This week’s study focused on how to read biblical prophecy:

• How do we get from the prophet’s original sermon to the book of the prophet’s sermons? And, what are the implications?
• What are some foundations for reading the Bible?
• What are some questions we can ask as we read a Bible passage?

As in the last post, this one will not go back through this week’s lesson, but will highlight something that I personally took away from it.  We talked about several crucial elements of biblical prophecy this week.  The biggest thing we need to remember is that there is a critical difference between the biblical prophets’ original sermon (e.g. Isaiah’s sermon to Judah in the 8th century BC) and the prophetic authors’ sermon (e.g. the author of the book of Isaiah).  The first half of the lesson focused on this distinction, and the implications which arise from making it.  What we’re after is not Isaiah’s original sermon, but the one presented to us as the book.  In other words, we need to treat the book of Isaiah like the original historical audience treated the prophet Isaiah.  The text “stands before us,” just like a man would, and invites us to dialogue with it and ask it questions.  So, just like Isaiah used Moses’ words in his original sermon to his 8th century audience, the author of the book of Isaiah uses Isaiah’s words to in his book to deliver a message to anyone willing to and able to read his book.  I invite you to be a reader of the book, not a historian trying to reach back to the prophet Isaiah.

Blessings,

Andy