SUMMARY
One of the most disturbing texts in the entire Book of IsaiahIsaiah, son of Amoz, who prophesied in Jerusalem, is included among the prophets of the eighth century BCE (along with Amos, Hosea, and Micah)--preachers who boldly proclaimed God's word of judgment against the economic, social, and religious disorders of their time. More, this text is short on hope and long on despair. It imagines cosmic devastation—a kind of undoing of the entire created order. The glimmer of hope resides in the fact that YHWH, the God of Israel, presides over all of it.
ANALYSIS
This poem imagines the desolation of the earth (v. 1). No one will be spared the doom—from maid to mistress, creditor to debtor (v. 2). Wealth and status will not be effective buffers against this doom. This poem describes a vision of equity imposed through disaster.
But the poem quickly broadens the scope of the disaster and the reader realizes that it is not only the “earth” that is at stake but also the entire cosmos: “the heavens” themselves will languish alongside the earth (v. 4).
This disaster, however, is not arbitrarily enacted. According to the poem, judgment is happening because of “transgressed laws,” “guilt,” and the breaking of the “everlasting covenantA covenant is a promise or agreement. In the Bible the promises made between God and God's people are known as covenants; they state or imply a relationship of commitment and obedience. More” (vv. 5-6). Sin itself is the cause, but God is the mediator, bringing to fruition what sin originally started.
This new chapter of doom also hails the end of joy, celebration, and mirth (vv. 7-11). There are songs of praise to YHWH from some corners (vv. 14-16), but they are muted and dulled by the sorrow of the author himself (v. 16).
The only glimmer of hope emerges at the poem’s end in verse 23—though even this hope is tinged with sorrow and shame. Amidst the devastation, YHWH will be enthroned in Jerusalem, on Mount ZionZion originally referred to a mountain near Jerusalem where David conquered a Jebusite stronghold. Later the term came to mean a number of other things like the Temple, Jerusalem, and even the Promised Land. More. The implication is that God’s holyHoly is a term that originally meant set apart for the worship or service of God. While the term may refer to people, objects, time, or places, holiness in Judaism and Christianity primarily denotes the realm of the divine More city will endure, though it remains uncertain who among its inhabitants will survive the devastation.
