The Gospel of Isaiah: Highlights of Chapter 29

The Gospel of Isaiah: Highlights of Chapter 29.

WANTED: An imaginative scribe who can write exquisite poetry. A faithful, articulate believer in Yahweh who can switch from one extreme to another at the Lord’s command… from a sublime vision of God’s glory, to a ridiculous demonstration of shameful nakedness; from confronting the people over their sinfulness, to comforting people with hopefulness; from being an outspoken messenger one minute, to a living object lesson the next; from having one foot in the immediate surroundings one minute, to one foot in the future messianic realm the next. Must be adaptable, thick-skinned, and extraordinarily brave. Person who answers, “Here I am. Send me!” will be especially considered. (from The Jerusalem Post, 740 BC).

• “They come near to me with hollow words and honor me superficially with their lips; all the while their hearts run far away from me! Their worship is nothing more than man-made rules. So therefore, I will again jolt this people awake with astonishing wonders upon wonders! And the wisdom of their wise ones will fail, and the intelligent know-it-alls will have no explanations. Woe to you who think you can hide your plan from the Lord Yahweh. Ha! Do you actually think your secret schemes are so hidden that you say, ‘Who sees us doing this? No one knows what we’re doing!’ Oh, how great is your perversion! Who is more intelligent – the potter or the clay? Should a created thing say to its creator, ‘You didn’t make me?’ Should a clay pot say to the potter, ‘You don’t understand?” (29:13-16).

Miraculous Wonders. The Hebrew word used here referring to “wonders” means wondrous; miraculous; unsurpassed; something so wonderful that it is beyond comprehension; remarkable, extraordinary, marvelous; so awesome it cannot be understood by humans; so amazing that it seems impossible or too difficult to accomplish; so uniquely set apart from human understanding that it is God’s secret.

Formed Since the Beginning. Isaiah’s imaginative picture of God as the potter forming the nation of Israel, as well as each of us, hearkens back to the creation story. Creator God took a lump of clay from the ground and formed with His spiritual hands the first human, and then He breathed life into this lump of clay by exhaling His spiritual breath into the person’s nostrils. (Genesis 2:7). The Hebrew word for “formed” in this creation passage is literally the term used for a potter shaping clay into his pots. Just as the Creator fashioned Adam into a special shape uniquely designed just for him, the Creator has continued forming us into life, molding every person in the human family into whatever unique shapes He imagines when the clay is in His hands. Isaiah loved this piece of inspiration so much that he couldn’t let this image go without repeating it three more times…  “Listen, Jacob, to the One who created you, Israel, to the One who shaped who you are. Do not fear, for I, your Kinsman-Redeemer, will rescue you.” (43:1); “Shame on the one who argues with his Creator, like one clay pot among other pots arguing with the potter. Should the clay say to the potter, ‘What in the world are you doing with me? Your hands are clumsy and have no skill!'” (45:9); “Yet still, Lord Yahweh, you are our Father. We are like clay and You are our Potter. Each one of us is the creative, artistic work of Your hands.” (64:8).

Jeremiah’s Reminder. The great prophet Jeremiah brought this picture back to Israel almost a century later… “Here is the word Yahweh spoke to Jeremiah: ‘Arise and go to the potter’s workshop, and I will speak to you there.’ So I went to the potter’s workshop, and there was the potter spinning his wheel. And whenever a piece of pottery turned out flawed, he reworked it into another vessel, as seemed good to the potter. Then Yahweh began to speak to me, ‘Can I not do with the people of Israel just as the potter has done with the clay? declares the Lord. Listen, people of Israel. You are clay in the potter’s hands.” (Jeremiah 18:1-6). Jeremiah completely understood this picture of the potter and the clay, since he was told by the Lord much earlier, “‘I knew you before I formed you in your mother’s womb. Before you were born, I set you apart and appointed you as my prophet to the nations.” (Jer. 1:5). Rev. Eugene Peterson once put it this way… “Being a Christian means being thrown on the Potter’s wheel and shaped into something useful and beautiful. When we aren’t useful or beautiful, we’re reshaped by Him. That process is painful, but the pain is purposeful. And it’s worth it.”