You Are An Oak

     We have been studying Isaiah in our Tuesday Night Bible Study. As a quick reminder, Isaiah is one of the Four Major Prophets with Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Daniel. Most likely Isaiah was written in 2 or 3 sections, with Isaiah ben Amoz himself writing the first 39 chapters before his death during Hezekiah’s reign and his disciples adding to it 200 years later at the end of the Exile. This was a normal practice, but that isn’t the point I’m driving at. Rather, I want you to consider the world that the last writers were in when they wrote the last 12 chapters (55-66).
     They are ecstatic! For nearly a century, Judah had been under the rule of Babylon which had regularly deported Judahites into exile. The last and largest happening about 70 years before, when Jerusalem was left in ruins and Solomon’s Temple razed. The religion of the Judahites was not exactly suppressed in captivity, but without the Temple and priestly system, it had to undergo a great deal of transformation. 
A new faith-tradition emerged, one that relied less upon a centralized authority and instead on local groups studying and debating the faith. It is around this time that the Jewish Scriptures began to be organized into the books we recognize today and these were copied and spread around. The works of the prophets and the Law began to plant new seeds in the people. Seeds of hope, for redemption and a Messiah. A hope for a return to the Garden. It also helped the people of Judah to put better understand their history as a whole and galvanized them to deeper faith and a new fortitude to avoid the mistakes of the past. 
     Isaiah 55-66 is written by disciples of the School of Isaiah as they return to a homeland that they didn’t know. They are not just driven to rebuild what was lost, but to build better. To create a city and nation in line with the Torah and the teachings of the prophets. This is what we hear in these chapters, their faith and enthusiasm overflowing. The center of which are chapters 60, 61, and 62, I’m going to focus on 61. Take a moment and read it, I’ll wait…No, seriously! Put the newsletter down and grab your Bible or look it up on your device and read Isaiah 61…Ok, I’m trusting that you have done that now!
     What does 61 describe? (by verse)

1. God has sent me, filled with the Spirit, to proclaim healing and freedom to those that need it.
2. The oppressed will be lifted and the power of the oppressors will be taken away.
3. The faithful will be made into priests, they will be like a glorious oak forest, they are a reflection of God’s glory.
4. They will repair what was broken, they will be restorers of God’s creation.
5. Others will recognize them and will serve them.
6. But the priests are not taking advantage as the oppressors once did, they will act as Servants of God and the People. Just as the priests of old were fed from the offerings of the people. The Servants will be cared for by the People as they serve them and God.
7. The Servants’ sufferings will be reversed, there will now be joy, honor, and plenty.
8. God is a God of justice! And will make all things right. God will make a Perpetual Covenant with the Servant People.
9. This will pass on to their descendants, and they are the seed to God’s new Garden. Others will recognize this blessing.
10. Let us rejoice in this union! Let us celebrate the wedding!
11. God will create a new Garden, a paradise before and for all nations.

     The author thought that this was coming true in that time, that Jerusalem was becoming the center of the world with the revitalized Jews becoming the priest of all nations. Though this is not what happened. We almost immediately see the returnees fall into many of the same traps as their ancestors. Yes it was different, they weren’t worshipping the idols of other nations. But they were worshipping the idols of their identity and their status. Soon, Jerusalem was what it had once been, just like any city with classes and oppression. The visions of Isaiah’s disciples seemingly false.
     However! It is no mistake that Jesus reads aloud from this chapter as he begins his ministry! For in Jesus we find the fulfillment of the Suffering Servant of Isaiah. The Servant who makes a forest of Servants. The Servant who plants the seeds that will grow into the Garden. By reading from this chapter, Jesus is telling us not to give up on God and to have the same enthusiasm as those disciples once did. We need to look at the future with optimism, not pessimism. You, Sibling in Christ, are an oak, planted by Jesus in the Garden of God. Reflect the Glory of God in your living!

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