One great benefit of worshiping according to the annual liturgical calendar is that we set aside intentional moments of each year to celebrate the pinnacles of the biblical storyline, and to look at the same old, beautiful stories from different angles and using different lenses.
And ever since the preeminent soundtrack of biblical theology (Handel’s Messiah) took its rightful place as the musical theme of Christmas, the holiday season has been a good time to reflect on the full redemptive storyline of Scripture. And Advent has notoriously been targeted by publishers of devotionals and seasonal books for good reason (see new ones by Tim Keller and Tim Chester). But as I’ve said over the years on this blog, I’m not much of a devotional reader. I much prefer to find my way directly to the Bible, simply because any time I can intentionally focus my attention on a section of Scripture for a seasonal purpose, I take advantage of the opportunity. This Christmas, I plan to invest extra time in the prophetic book of Isaiah.
Isaiah is a book specifically dedicated to Israel’s history — their past redemption, their present disobedience, and the future promises of God’s deliverance. Isaiah is not only a beautifully written book, it is also a historically magnificent work to help return our redemptive gaze back to the highlights of God’s activity among his people. But it’s not an abstracted involvement. It gets very personal, as we’ll see in a moment.
Immediately obvious are the important prophecies for the Christmas season — passages like Isaiah 7:14 and Isaiah 9:6 stand out for obvious reasons. But the entire book offers key background that frames the majesty of Bethlehem. That’s why for the month leading up to Christmas I’m dedicating my devotional readings exclusively to the book of Isaiah.
Isaiah separates into three sections, and each section develops around one particular character whom God promises to send. In the first thirty-nine chapters, God promises that a Davidic Ruler will emerge. In the next sixteen chapters, he promises a Servant. In the final eleven chapters, he promises a Messenger.
Breaking Isaiah into three sections is not unique; students of the Bible have been making these breaks for a long time. What’s unique is that the trio of sections is here studied with particular emphasis on the central character in each of the section breaks, making the overall reading experience more personal (literally).
The threefold distinction of these characters is illustrated in one handy chart from a new book:
I pulled this helpful chart from the new book by Andrew Abernethy, The Book of Isaiah and God’s Kingdom: A Thematic-Theological Approach. It’s not only one of the better books of 2016, it’s also one of the most relevant texts for this Christmas season. After reading it in the spring, I realized that the holiday season is a unique opportunity to read the book of Isaiah in search for these three figures. To this end I want to use the month leading up to Christmas to read through Isaiah, look for these three characters, and recognize all along that these three characters are not three people, but rather one Messiah — God’s incarnate Son.
I’ll give you the specifics of my reading schedule in just a moment, but first here are two important paragraphs from Abernathy’s book that will help set the stage for how Isaiah develops these three characters. Abernathy also provides a caution about what not to do in our reading, and instead what we should be looking for as we read Isaiah.
Here’s the first important excerpt.
“Isaiah does not envision only one lead agent; instead, there are at least three distinct lead agents whom God will use in each of the major sections of the book: (1) the Davidic ruler (1–39), (2) the servant of the Lord (40–55), and (3) God’s messenger (56–66). While Christians profess that Jesus ultimately embodies what the book of Isaiah envisions for these lead agents, I am not certain that these agents are necessarily understood to be the same individual throughout Isaiah. The book of Isaiah contains a range of expectations pertaining to the various roles God would need his lead agents to fulfill in the course of time. Instead of forcing all of these lead agents into one mold, it is better to allow the uniqueness of each figure to emerge. The common denominator, however, between these lead agents is that they are the divine king’s agents and feature into his plans within his kingdom. In fact, God’s Spirit empowers all three of these agents for the task assigned to them. These agents, then, are distinct, but are also united under God as king and overlap to some extent due to shared participation in God’s mission” (120).
The royal, the prophetic, and the priestly — three characters in three persons in the Isaianic storyline. Before we run them together, based upon what we know from later revelation, we should first let the book of Isaiah develop the three characters individually in the full richness of the expectations of God’s people.
Here’s the second paragraph from the book I want you to see.
“The Davidic ruler, the servant, and the anointed messenger are distinct figures in the outlook of the book of Isaiah, for they have fairly distinct purposes and operate in differing contexts. The Davidic ruler will be God’s agent in maintaining justice within Israel in the aftermath of deliverance from their oppressors. The servant will be God’s instrument among the nations in reconciling Israel and the nations to God through his suffering so that they may dwell with God, the holy king, in his holy city. The anointed messenger will emerge on the brink of the eschatological in-breaking of God’s coming as the warrior king who will reign in Zion to declare the gospel to the disheartened faithful. It is not unexpected for Isaiah to envision multiple lead agents in the light of other prophetic literature. As Boda [another scholar] argues, Haggai, Zechariah and Malachi envision royal, prophetic and priestly figures who will all play an important role in the establishment of God’s kingdom. The claim here also does not undermine the New Testament’s application of all three of Isaiah’s figures to Jesus; instead, it displays the grandeur of Jesus and the surprise of recognizing how one person, Jesus Christ, can take on the role of all three figures, while also being the very God of these agent figures” (169).
As we work through the three figures in Isaiah, and as we approach Christmas, the connections between them in Christ should become clearer and clearer. As we work from the details of our personal reading, and as we come together in Christmas worship, we will see all three strands, all three characters, come together in our magnificent Prophet-Priest-King born in Bethlehem.
Finally, the schedule, which you are free to print out and slide into your Bible. Using the Logos 6 Bible software reading schedule module (a great little tool I use to architect my own customized Bible reading plans throughout the year), I computed the reading schedule and divvied up the book into a calendar (limited to weekdays, and running from Monday, November 28 to Friday, December 23). Here’s the schedule.
I would love for you to join me this year as we prepare for the birth of our Savior. May we together worship him in the full majesty of what his coming means for the world, and may we together praise him for his fulfillment of the multifaceted expectations of the prophetic anticipation.
------------------------------- EXPECTING A DAVIDIC RULER (ISAIAH 1–39) ------------------------------- ☐ Nov 28 Isa 1–2 ☐ Nov 29 Isa 3–6 ☐ Nov 30 Isa 7:1–10:4 ☐ Dec 1 Isa 10:5–13:22 ☐ Dec 2 Isa 14–16 ☐ Dec 5 Isa 17–21 ☐ Dec 6 Isa 22–24 ☐ Dec 7 Isa 25–28 ☐ Dec 8 Isa 29–30 ☐ Dec 9 Isa 31–33 ☐ Dec 12 Isa 34–36 ☐ Dec 13 Isa 37–39 ------------------------------- EXPECTING A SERVANT (ISAIAH 40–55) ------------------------------- ☐ Dec 14 Isa 40–41 ☐ Dec 15 Isa 42–43 ☐ Dec 16 Isa 44–47 ☐ Dec 19 Isa 48–50 ☐ Dec 20 Isa 51–55 ------------------------------- EXPECTING A MESSENGER (ISAIAH 56–66) ------------------------------- ☐ Dec 21 Isa 56–58 ☐ Dec 22 Isa 59–62 ☐ Dec 23 Isa 63–66
Tony Reinke 