Looking at the other prophetic books individually doesn’t help much in trying to figure out what we should be doing in the 21st Century.
Jonah is obviously another fictional story like those in Daniel, written to encourage people to obey God even when the situation seems hopeless. We get the point, but are hardly inspired to act or think when a critical part involves living in the belly of a whale.
Ezekiel is a series of visions of the supernatural, also like those in Daniel, used to impress upon believers that God is in charge, even though a foreign empire claims to be. We can admire their beauty and ingenuity but again pictures of other-worldly creatures do not inspire in our scientific age.
Each of the other minor prophets expresses only two or three ideas we have already covered. Isaiah’s long, beautifully written nook delves into them all. It reports the reflections of a school rather than one individual over a period of at least 200 years, enabling us to discern a development taking place.
The later chapters of Isaiah spend much more time promising God’s care than proclaiming his judgment. Joel speaks of this as God sharing his spirit with his followers. Zachariah talks of providing a righteous leader like David who will bring peace, unity, and justice. Isaiah offers a more comprehensive picture of God helping his people overcome the suffering they are experiencing.
I want to see in the next few weeks if Isaiah offers hope for those of us who experience the same kind of despair in our current political situation. I assume he will reinforce the prophetic claim that the problem at the bottom is not political but moral. People are not living by the order built into creation. I want to see if examining how he expresses that will help us find some direction that gets beyond blind faith and theological cliches.
