Summary: How does Isaiah 61 develop the theme of liberation?

Isaiah 61 seems an appropriate passage on which to end this thematic study. It summarises much of what has been developed by previous passages and provides hope for complete liberation in the future.

Isaiah 61 begins with Yahweh sending his anointed one to bring about liberation. This liberation leads to transformation of the people. Then follows transformation by the people of the city. All of this serves as a revelation of Yahweh’s character and a proclamation to other nations. There is also a future hope of full restoration of God’s people.

This reinforces previous studies and leads to the following expansion upon the theme of liberation, creating a model that can be transferred to other, more modern, contexts.

Bearing in mind studies in Exodus, it is important to note that the initial liberation is primarily spiritual although it is worked through and out in physical liberation. This is also a feature of the return to Jerusalem as the purpose was spiritual worship through the building of the temple.

Blog Post #14 Liberation Thematic Study Isaiah 61

Historical Cultural Context

One question that is important to consider in order for developing the theme of liberation is how literally the ancient audience would have taken the actions described in Isaiah. An examination of the literary context has explored the vast array of imagery used by the prophet; does this mean the whole passage would have been taken figuratively? Would the Israelites have expected this liberation as a real, practical freedom? Would they have expected this to lead to a restored city and community? When would they have expected this to happen? A study of the historical context of the passage will perhaps aid modern readers in understanding answers to these questions.

Post-Exile

Most scholars consider the date of Isaiah 61 to be in the post-exile period of around 525BC (Waltke, 845). The return of the Israelites from Babylon and the restoration of their community and city spans a period of about a century (775) with Isaiah 61 being written towards the beginning of this time. The people had experienced extended captivity in Babylon but now, under the rule of a more sympathetic King Cyrus of Persia, were allowed to leave the land and return to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple (Ezra 1) and later reconstruct the community (Ezra 9-10) (775). When they did return to Jerusalem they found a ‘ravaged land’ (Bratcher, para 3) with no city walls, fear of outlaws, discouragement from other nations, little leadership and no central government (para 4).

Second Exodus

There are, throughout the narrative of Ezra 1, echoes of the Exodus liberation events, albeit lacking some of the drama and intensity of the plagues. For example, Yahweh moves Cyrus’ heart (Ezra 1:1) just as Yahweh controls Pharaoh’s heart (Exodus 9:12). The people are freed to worship Yahweh to make freewill offerings (Ezra 1:4) just as the Israelites left Egypt to worship Yahweh and make sacrifices to Him (Exodus 3:18). The neighbours give supplies to the Israelites to aid their return (Ezra 1:6) just as the Egyptians gave the Israelites for their Exodus (Exodus 12:35-36). Waltke confirms this observation as he offers the following suggestion that the returns to Jerusalem were depicted as a ‘second Exodus’ (775).

This is an important observation to make. The people were experiencing liberation in a similar sense to Exodus. As we have already seen, the Exodus liberation served as a revelation of Yahweh and the basis for the covenantal relationship. This in turn led to the motivation of the people to have compassion towards others (Deuteronomy 15) and proclaim Yahweh’s faithfulness (Psalm 146). This could signify that Isaiah 61 will have a similar theme. This could indeed be argued:

The liberation of the people leads to a transformation. This then leads to actions by the transformed people to restore community. This acts as a revelation of God’s character before the nations. Just as previous studies demonstrated, the liberation leads to revelation of Yahweh’s character and serves as a basis for action of the redeemed society. This new society has been transformed from being the oppressed to being victorious and they proclaim this to others.

The Temple

The Israelites were released in order to build a temple in Jerusalem. Although their freedom was also physical (Isaiah 61:1) its primary purpose was the construction of the temple (Ezra 1) and the praise of Yahweh (Isaiah 61:3, 11). In the ancient Near East temples were seen as the earthly dwelling for the divine, making them more than just a place for worship (Walton, 113). For other religions of the time they served as a, “a shadow of the heavenly residence...a portal to the divine.” (114) The Israelites shared some of this concept; the temple was a reflection of the cosmos and a symbol of Yahweh’s presence among them (127, 129) To be deprived of a temple could have been perceived by the Israelites as being cut off from Yahweh, or at least would have been seen as this by other nations. As Walton succinctly puts it, the release from Babylon to build the temple was indicative of, “God again [taking] up His residence among the people” and establishing justice, protecting against enemies and resuming the fulfilment of His long-term plan for His people (129). Thus, though resulting in physical freedom the liberation from exile is focused upon the spiritual relationship with Yahweh.

Near-View

The ancient audience would, it could be stated, have seen this prophecy as coming to fruition in the near future. The description of their position (prisoners being released) matches closely to the situation under the rule of the Babylonians. The need for restoring ruined places (especially the temple) closely mirrors the state of Jerusalem upon their return. It is not difficult to imagine that the Israelites, when hearing this prophecy, felt the encouragement of the certainty of restoration and victory among the nations. The coming years, as they rebuilt the temple and established the community would have been seen, in part, as fulfilment of the prophecy. Brueggemann emphasises this further, “The announcement...is good news-Yahwistically based-about the rehabilitation of life out of impoverishment, powerlessness and despair.” (214)

Now in part; one day in full

However, the ancient audience may well have considered their to be some aspects of distant prophecy in Isaiah 61. The description of a specific anointed one, clothed in salvation and righteousness, would have indicated a special Messiah that initiated liberation and transformation (61: 1, 10-11) . The subtle mention of a new covenant (61:8) following this liberation (again, echoes of the Exodus) offers a suggestion of something more to be gained in the future. The general sweeping tone of perfect glory that pervades the glory also suggests something far more than they received after the Exodus and indeed after the return to Jerusalem. The perfect, flawless restoration was something to be hoped for beyond their present and near-future experiences. These suggestions could have been perceived as ‘now in part; one day in full’. They were experiencing some of the promises of Isaiah now, but not perfectly. They still had opposition and were not yet feeding on the wealth of other nations. This chapter gives hope that, though their current liberation was indeed wonderful, a future full liberation would be even more glorious. (Ezra 3 gives some insight into this simultaneous joy and sorrow.)

Literary Context Isaiah 61

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Literary Context Isaiah 61

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Blog Post #13 Liberation Thematic Study Isaiah 61

Isaiah 61, being prophecy in poetic form, is a difficult passage to interpret. Obvious limitations will probably lead to an inadequate analysis of the passage. Some of the difficulties lie in the nature of the prophetic genre; the modern audience has advantages through further revelation (through both Scripture and time) that were simply not available for the ancient audience. The challenge is to first understand how the audience at the time were impacted by the passage before adding further revelation into the picture.

For the purpose of this thematic study, the main emphasis of the investigation will endeavour to reconstruct this ancient context. It has been stated that, in studying Isaiah, Christians should not, “pre-empt the book of Isaiah...” (Brueggemann, 6) Although we know of Christ’s use of Isaiah 61, and we can see in part how He fulfilled this prophecy, this information was not available to the audience at the time. It is important also to note the difficulty that comes with exploring the near view-far view aspect of prophecy; the passages can seem to slip between and almost merge near-future events and events they prophesied about the very distant future (Duvall & Hayes, 382). This makes it all the more important to grasp the broader truths of a passage rather than hunt for very specific details of future events (383). With this in mind, the following study will not answer all of the questions raised by a study of Isaiah 61 but rather try to maintain a firm focus on how this passage develops the theme of liberation.

Blog Post #13 Liberation Thematic Study Psalm 146

Summary: How does Psalm 146 develop the theme of liberation?

Although Psalm 146 does not explicitly detail specific liberation, its list of vulnerable people of society (which does after all include the oppressed, poor and prisoners) is one that speaks into the concepts of Liberation Theology.

Liberationists argue that God has a bias towards to the poor and oppressed. It could indeed be stated that liberation is action on the behalf of vulnerable in society that betters their situation (thus realms such as education and health care can be seen as working towards liberation).

This Psalm does seem to provide evidence that Yahweh was perceived as being faithful towards and acting on behalf of the vulnerable. This led the Psalmist to exhort His people to praise. In the historical-context this faithfulness was a unique attribute to Yahweh, in contrast to other deities.

This study has already stated that liberation was the means Yahweh used for revelation and this provided the basis for the covenantal relationship with His people and was the motivation Yahweh used to expect compassion from His people and this provided the basis for loving relationships towards others in one’s care.

Psalm 146 reminds its readers that Yahweh is faithful towards the vulnerable and this should lead to praise of Yahweh’s unique promise-keeping nature. More succinctly, it lends us evidence that liberation should lead to proclamation of the faithfulness of Yahweh towards the vulnerable.

 

 

Blog Post #12 Liberation Thematic Study Psalm 146

Historical-Cultural Context

Waltke states that the section of Psalms that Psalm 146 is placed within, was written with the troubles of the exile behind the Israelites (886). Yahweh’s love and faithfulness has been proven among His people (887).

Walton explains that, in the context of the ancient Near East, the attribute of faithfulness was unique to Yahweh (109). Although Yahweh’s faithfulness is ‘frequently affirmed’ throughout the Old Testament, similar affirmations of other gods in the ancient Near East are ‘difficult to find’ (109). The gods of other ancient Near-Eastern communities were, as Walton describes it, under no obligation to be loyal to their people as they have no agreements, promises, obligations or commitments to fulfil. Israel’s covenantal relationship with Yahweh is unique for the historical-cultural context and allows them to rest in the security of His promises. Unlike other nations, they are not simply at the changing whims and needs of the gods, but can trust in the enduring faithfulness of a God that has chosen to enter into a covenantal relationship with them and has proven himself worthy of this throughout His dealings with His people.

In addition to this, the justice described in Yahweh’s dealing with the vulnerable and against the wicked is also arguably unique to His character. The Old Testament cites a God that is inherently just and consistent in His administration of this (Walton, 108). The examples given in Psalm 146 are evidence towards a God that can be trusted because of how He deals with the vulnerable. The gods in other ancient Near-Eastern societies were susceptible to mistakes and to incorrectly administering justice (104, 107).

Furthermore, the contrast clearly made between man and Yahweh in Psalm 146 is not a general contrast made in the ancient Near Eastern world. This is perhaps why the psalmist emphasises this so much. As Walton puts it, “gods were viewed as having all the same qualities as humans, good and bad...they were no better than people, they were simply stronger than people.” (103)

Psalm 146 not only demands praise for a God whose faithfulness is enduring, but whose faithfulness is unique and has been proven through His covenantal relationship with His people.

 

 

Blog Post #11 Liberation Thematic Study Psalm 146

Poetic literature, whilst being a very different genre than narrative and law, can still speak volumes into the development of the theme of liberation. Not only does it give insight into the lives of the ancient author and audience, but also allows modern readers to experience the emotions felt by the author and audience. This is important in order to build up a holistic picture of the past and apply it to the present.

Literary Context

Verse 1

Praise the LORD.

Praise the LORD, O my soul.

Verse 1 begins with a simple repeating synonymous parallelism that states the purpose of the Psalm – praising Yahweh. The extension of the second phrase highlights the personal nature of the Psalm. The Psalmist moves quickly from a general exhortation to praise to a specific command for his own soul to praise Yahweh.

Verse 2

I will praise the LORD all my life; 
      

I will sing praise to my God as long as I live.

Again the Psalmist uses synonymous parallelism to reinforce his reply to the command in verse 1. The firm use of the model verb will expresses determination to praise Yahweh, the use of personal pronouns I and my again reiterate the personal nature of the praise and the qualifiers all my life and as long as I live express the longevity of the praise.

Verse 3

Do not put your trust in princes, 
      

in mortal men, who cannot save.

Verse 3 gives us an example of subordination parallelism. The Psalmist uses qualifying stichs to expand his command. He qualifies in whom we should not trust (mortal men) and why we should not trust them (they cannot save). His use of the second person your signifies a move from personal exhortation to praise to a more general exhortation as to where others should direct their praise.

Verse 4

When their spirit departs, they return to the ground; 
      

on that very day their plans come to nothing.

Here the Psalmist continues to build up the argument for not trusting in men. His parallelism of intensification hammers home his reasoning – men cannot save because they are mortal. His description is graphic-they return to the ground. The use of return would have reminded the reader of creation; men were made from dust by the creator (Genesis 2:7). Not only does this serve to remind readers of the mortality of men but also of their status as created beings. The implication emphasises the foolishness of trusting the created rather than Creator. The phrase in the final phrase, on that very day, and the final word nothing manage to convey the finality and instant nature of their end.

Verse 5

Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob, 
      

whose hope is in the LORD his God

Contrasting with the futility of trusting in men, the Psalmist offers hope by highlighting the blessing gained from trusting Yahweh through the use of synonymous parallelism. The Psalmist has also continued his use of the third person that he began in the previous verse. The whole Psalm seems to be moving. Verse by verse, from the personal to the general. This verse also signifies the change from whom the readers should not trust and why, to whom they should praise and why. The clever use of God of Jacob and the LORD his God demonstrate succinctly the communal heritage of the Israelites as it alludes to the Patriarchs as well as signifying the personal relationship an individual Israelite can have with Yahweh. Referring to Jacob and using Yahweh could also be subtle allusions to the covenantal relationship.

Verse 6

The Maker of heaven and earth, 
      

the sea, and everything in them— 
      

the LORD, who remains faithful forever.

 

In verse 6 the Psalmist makes clear the hint he made in verse 4. The God they are to trust in is the one that made the mortal men, and the whole earth (the use of generalities allows nothing to be outside of Yahweh’s creation). The contrast between men and Yahweh is striking. As he did in verse 4, he is building up the case for trusting in Yahweh. God is given a role (creator) and a name (Yahweh) which, interestingly, are two factors considered essential to existence by the ancient Near East world (Walton, 91). His attribute of enduring faithfulness is pointed out, in contrast perhaps to the ultimate mortality of men and princes.

Verse 7-9

The Psalmist almost seems to change the structure of his poem so far as he launches into a list of examples of Yahweh’s faithfulness. He gives example after example, shooting them out to his readers in quick succession:

What does Yahweh do?	To whom does He do this?
upholds cause	the oppressed
gives food	the hungry
sets free	prisoners
lifts up	the bowed down
loves	the righteous
watches over	the alien
sustains	the fatherless and the widow
frustrates the ways	the wicked

 

It is important to note that this list is not past tense, although there are certainly specific examples of how Yahweh has done these actions throughout the history of the Israelites (namely the events surrounding the Exodus). The Psalmist uses the present tense which allows the list to be perceived as the ongoing actions of Yahweh. This perhaps gives the readers freedom to place within the Psalm their own experiences or examples of Yahweh’s faithfulness and also points towards Waltke’s definition of this Psalm as ‘descriptive praise’. This means that it is not in praise of a specific act of deliverance but a general praise of God’s person and general works (881).

The list focuses on the vulnerable of society and those that perhaps would be cast out, or given lower priority by mankind. The Psalmist is representing Yahweh as the God who is on the side of the vulnerable. His bombardment of examples of the vulnerable and lowly that Yahweh acts on behalf for leaves the reader no doubt as to the favour Yahweh has towards these groups.

In including both the righteous and the wicked in this list the Psalmist not only makes the list all inclusive but stresses the complimentary attributes of Yahweh – to act for those in need Yahweh must also act against those that cause the problems that harm the vulnerable.

The actions listed by the Psalmist are straightforward and are directly linked to the need of the people listed. The list could also be seen as an extended parallelism as it repeats the structure of action and recipient.

The repetition of LORD throughout this section emphasises who it is that carries out this action – it is the God of the covenant, the personal and revealed Yahweh of Israel.

Verse 10

The LORD reigns forever, 
      

your God, O Zion, for all generations. 


Praise the LORD.

The concluding verse returns to an echoing synonymous parallelism, which reinforces the eternity of Yahweh’s reign; succinctly contrasting with the reign of mortal princes of verses 3 and 4. There is also the suggestion of contrast between even the praise of the Psalmist (which lasts for a lifetime) to the reign of Yahweh (which lasts for all generations). Both contrasts promote the enduring reign and majesty of Yahweh compared to mankind. The verse also suggests a chiasmic structure as it compliments the starting verses of the Psalm, for example the last line is a direct repetition of the first. The whole Psalm, beginning with the personal pronouns in verse 1 and 2, moves from the specific to the general as it ends with a communal call for praise. This is emphasised by the words your, Zion and all generations.

In summary, this Psalm appears to be a poem of praise for the enduring faithfulness of Yahweh, particularly shown through his actions towards vulnerable.

Liberation Thematic Study #10 Deuteronomy 15:12-18

Summary: How does Deuteronomy 15:12-18 develop the theme of liberation?

The previous summary from Exodus 6:1-12 was that liberation was the means Yahweh used for revelation and this provided the basis for the covenantal relationship with His people.

The brief foray into Deuteronomy 15:12-18 could lead us to the following conclusion:

Liberation was the motivation Yahweh used to expect compassion from His people and this provided the basis for loving relationships towards others in one’s care.

The covenantal relationship with Yahweh, which had partly been achieved through liberation, led to a caring relationship outward to other people. Redemption through liberation provided motivation for treating others well, a model for how to treat others well and a mirror to the outside world that reflected Yahweh’s blessings on His people.

Liberation Thematic Study #9 Deuteronomy 15:12-18

Historical-cultural Context

Social Order, Uniqueness and Pierced Ears

Those, such as liberationist Pixley, that see the Exodus as ultimately a class struggle and a promotion of a classless society would struggle with passages such as Deuteronomy 15:12-18 (Levenson, 129). As Levenson argues, the Book of the Covenant makes it clear that the Israelite’s freedom from slavery did not result in a society free from social order. Although not at all a basis for enforced slavery and most certainly advocating the protection of the vulnerable, the community described in the Pentateuch was made up of all stations of society, including masters and indentured servants described in the aforementioned passage. Those using the liberation of the Jews from Egypt as a basis for a ‘classless and primitive communism as an...ideal’ must consider the whole of the Hebrew Bible to complete a fuller and arguably more accurate picture of liberation (133).

Waltke argues that the Laws of Worship/Consecration (Deut 12:1-16:17) which promote observing civil and humanitarian commands maintain, “Israel’s integrity and coherence as a national community and keeps them distinct from other nations.” (490) If this were the case with the laws concerning the freedom and generosity towards indentured slaves, then one would expect primary evidence to show that other ancient Near Eastern communities did not treat servants (or indeed slaves) in like manner.

However, it seems that the evidence points towards reasonable treatment of indentured slaves in other non-Israelite nations. Demotic papyri indicates that the practice of debtors selling themselves into slavery was carried out in Ancient Egypt (Dunn, para 11). These slaves were, according to sources, entitled to a certain amount of legal rights such as property owning, protection of slave children and equal standing in court proceedings. (paras 18-20).  Although certainly at the bottom of the social order, reasonable treatment of servants/slaves was expected, as detailed in The Declaration of Innocence from Book of the Dead:

“I have not made it to be the first [consideration daily that unnecessary] work should be done for me... 

I have not domineered over slaves... I have not defrauded the humble man of his property... 
I have not vilified a slave to his master. 
I have not inflicted pain.” (translated by E.A. Wallis Budge)

 

Moreover, in ancient Mesopotamian, debt slavery was also well established and servants also held a certain amount of legal rights (Nemet-Nejat, 118). The Hammurabi law code contains five laws detailing aspects of the practice (Nemet-Nejat, 117). This includes, by contrast the time given in the Mosaic law, freeing debt servants after three years:

“If any one fail to meet a claim for debt, and sell himself, his wife, his son, and daughter for money or give them away to forced labor: they shall work for three years in the house of the man who bought them, or the proprietor, and in the fourth year they shall be set free.” (Hammurabi Codex, Law 117)

 

It seems that caring for one’s servants/slaves was not necessarily unique in the ancient Near Eastern world. This is perhaps not surprising. For example, in our modern society ideas of justice are not limited solely to Christians. Protecting the rights of the poor and caring for the needy in society is considered the normal expectation of human beings, with exceptions commonly causing outrage. It would indeed be surprising if only the ancient Jewish nation showed care towards their workers.

However, it could be argued that the unique factor in the treatment of debt slaves in ancient Israel was the motivation for this care. The command may not be particular to the Israelites, but the reasoning was. In Exodus 15:15, it is made clear that the expectation of obedience comes from the redemption of Israel from their previous slavery. The nation knew extensively of oppressive slavery and had been rescued from this. The understanding and gratitude for this leads to acts of generosity and care. This empathy in action could well be classified as compassion. The Israelites were liberated to have a relationship with Yahweh and this leads to a new consideration of treatment of others. As redeemed people, they could not be excused from acting on behalf of others but rather were now expected, all the more, to model Yahweh’s love and generosity towards others.

It is also interesting to note that, in a similar way that the redemption of Israel led to a long-lasting covenantal relationship, the freeing of a servant could also lead to a similar state. In freely choosing to stay with a beloved family, a servant was, by having their ear pierced, signifying their desire to serve their family for a lifetime. There are interesting parallels of the kindness of the master leading to a service of gratitude from the servant. The ancient audience, living in this type of relationship with Yahweh, would surely not have missed this significance?