Isaiah 47
OGCEXAMINATION Chapter S FORTY-FOUR THROUGH FORTY-EIGHT
DEFINITION
(Define the following words or phrases as they were discussed in the comments.)
Jeshurun
hidest thyself
graven image
Nebo
delight
show yourselves men
shut their eyes
virgin
seen the fire
mistress
liars
tender, delicate
anointed
profit
MEMORIZATION
I am Jehovah, and there is _____ else; besides me there is no _____. I will gird thee, though thou hast not known me; that they may know from the _____ of the sun, and from the west, that there is _____ besides me; I am Jehovah, and there is none else. I _____ light, and _____ darkness; I make _____, and create _____; I am Jehovah that _____ all these things. (Isaiah 45:5-7)
For my _____ sake I will defer mine anger, and for my _____ will I refrain for thee, that I cut thee not _____. Behold, I have _____ thee, but not as silver; I have chosen thee in the furnace of _____. For mine _____ sake, for _____ own _____, will I do it; for how should my _____ be profaned? and my _____ I will not give to another. (Isaiah 48:9-11)
EXPLANATION
Explain the stupidity of idol making.
Explain how God shuts the eyes of idolaters.
Explain how Cyrus could be used of God in redemption.
Explain how God proves that idols are not gods.
Explain what was new about some of Jehovah’s predictions.
Explain why Jehovah always acts primarily for His own name’s sake.
APPLICATION
(In its context every scripture has one meaningthe author’s intended meaning. How may the following be applied in the believer’s life?)
Would man in our enlightened age be stupid enough to call a thing God?
Does God’s statement that He creates both goodness and calamities apply to modern history?
What application may we make of God taking an oath on His own name?
Of what value is biblical typology today?
Why is the teaching about idolatry so continually relevant to every age of civilization?
Is the teaching about listening to false prophets relevant for today?
Is there an application concerning the practice of astrology today from the teachings of Isaiah concerning Babylon’s astrology?
SPECIAL STUDY THE TRANSCENDENT GOD REVEALED HIMSELF
by Paul T. Butler INTRODUCTION
I.
THE POSSIBILITY OF GOD REVEALING HIMSELF
A.
Once established from Theism (natural revelation) that God exists and that He is the Uncaused, First Cause, with eternal power and deity (Romans 1:20), the Purposing Designer of the universe
then unless that which He created is greater than He. and
unless the laws He created are greater than the Lawgiver.
There is no escaping the conclusion that He can, if He wishes, intervene in the universe to reveal Himself, to accomplish His omnipotent will and purpose.
B.
Uniformitarianism (dogma of the so-called immutable laws of nature) does not preclude the possibility of supernatural intervention
The uniformity of nature is not a force, it is a mere abstract designation of the force that is observed to be working.
Both Heisenberg’s principle of indeterminacy and Einstein’s principle of relativity show that natural law is not immutable.
The absolute uniformity of nature depends upon human observation of all time and all experiencehuman observation has not been long enough into the past to say that these laws have always acted uniformitynor can human observation say with any absoluteness what these laws will do in the immediate future!
The question whether God has revealed Himself or not must be decided on the basis of evidence. Is there any evidence of supernatural intervention or revelation?
II.
THE PROBABILITY OF GOD REVEALING HIMSELF
A.
Would God create man and leave him all alone? All reason cries NO!
A man given a free will might do things contrary to the will of his Creator and be in danger, so the Creator would want to warn the creature.
The Creator is a Being of Purpose. There must be some purpose for man. There is no way for man to find the Purposer’s purpose for him unless the Purposer tells it!
B.
All religions, however pagan, have some form of revelation from their gods. Where did this idea of the higher being revealing himself come from if God did not put it there and if such a revelation had not, in fact, occurred?
III.
THE PROGRAM OF GOD’S REVELATION OF HIMSELF
A.
In History (events and deeds)
B.
In Words (directly and through human agents in human language)
C.
In Person (Jesus Christ)
DISCUSSION
I.
GOD REVEALED HIMSELF IN HISTORYIN EVENTS, DEEDS OR IN NATURE
A.
In Acts 14:15-18, Paul told the citizens of pagan Lystra that the Creator-God did not leave himself without witness, for he did good and gave you from heaven rains and fruitful seasons.
B.
In Acts 17:22-30, Paul told the Athenian philosophers that what they and their poets had been led (by a revelation they had of God through nature and reason) to worship was a Person, not a thing of stone or wood. The Athenians should have known this and deduced it from the nature of their own being!
C.
In Romans 1:19-20, Paul writes that the Gentiles had a revelation of the wrath, the eternal power and deity of God in that which had been created (nature); cf. Psalms 19:1-4.
D.
God has revealed Himself through supernatural events (we call them miracles) which have taken place historically. Such events cannot be explained as natural phenomena (parting of the Red Sea; Noachian Flood, etc.) except by men who choose to deliberately ignore the facts (cf. 2 Peter 3:5).
As a result of such supernatural events, having been empirically demonstrated, God expects man to reason to the Uncaused Cause (cf. Exodus 14:10-18; Psalms 44:1-3; Psalms 67:7-7; Psalms 78:1-72; Psalms 105:1 ff; Psalms 106:1 ff; Psalms 136:1 ff).
Compare these references also: Daniel 4:34-37; Hebrews 2:2-4; John 5:19-23; John 10:31-39; John 14:8-11.
E.
Some still refuse to admit, even in the face of demonstrable, historical evidence, that miracles have occurred. C. S. Lewis puts it this way in Miracles. Because such an admission would force them to admit there is a living God! Men exclude miracles from the realm of possibility today because in so doing they fashion for themselves a God who would not do miracles, or indeed anything else. Men are reluctant to pass over from the notion of an abstract and negative deity to the living God. An abstract and negative deity does nothing, demands nothing. He is there if you wish for Him, like a book on a shelf. He will not pursue you. It is with a shock that we discover a living God. You have had a shock like that before, in connection with smaller matterswhen the line pulls at your hand, when something breathes beside you in the darkness. So here; the shock comes at the precise moment when the thrill of life is communicated to us along the clue we have been following. It is always shocking to meet life where we thought we were alone. -Look out,-’ we cry, -it’s alive!-’ An impersonal Godwell and good. A subjective God of beauty, truth and goodness, inside our own headsbetter still. A formless life-force surging through us, a vast power which we can tapbest of all. BUT GOD HIMSELF, ALIVE, PULLING AT THE OTHER END OF THE CORD, PERHAPS APPROACHING AT AN INFINITE SPEED, THE HUNTER, KING, HUSBAND, THAT IS QUITE ANOTHER MATTER! There comes a moment when the children who have been playing cops and robbers hush suddenly: was that a real footstep in the hall? There comes a moment when people who have been dabbling in religion (-Man’s search for God-’) suddenly draw back. Supposing we really found Him? We never meant it to come to that! Worse still, supposing He had found us?
THIS IS WHY PEOPLE DENY THAT GOD HAS REVEALED HIMSELF HISTORICALLY IN EMPIRICALLY WITNESSED DEEDS. OR PERSONALLY IN JESUS CHRIST. HE IS, THEN, THE LIVING GOD!
II.
GOD REVEALED HIMSELF IN WORDSIN HUMAN LANGUAGE
A.
A verbal revelation is necessary
Some historical events lend themselves to interpretation by the innate capabilities of the mind of man alone (Romans 1, etc.)
Most events, however, must be interpreted by God to man in a verbal communication if man is to understand their revelatory nature.
Revelation then consists of event and interpretation. God acts in history and discloses by words the meaning of His acts.
The interpretation of the prophets, of Jesus Christ and of the apostles of what God has done in History is itself a part of the revelatory situation.
God communicated in words to Adam even before Eve was created (Genesis 2:15-17)God gave Adam the ability to use language and name the animals before Eve was created (Genesis 2:20).
B.
The nature of language as a medium of revelation
Written words have the same validity as the actual words of the speaker and this is shown by the fact that written words are admissible as evidence in a court of law, carrying the same weight as those of a living and present witness.
Speech, as defined by Wm. J. Martin, is the act by which the speaker provides with perceptible garments the invisible offspring (thoughts) of his mind.
Language makes the communication of thoughts possible by providing verbal deputies for the ingredients of many situations.
By language it is possible also for a speaker to superimpose his will on another, and thus it becomes possible for the Holy Spirit to superimpose His will upon us and within us through a verbal revelation.
Language makes possible even the communication of inaccessible matter (the supernatural wisdom and plan of God, which would be inaccessible if He did not speak it to us in language).
Language is necessary even for the mind of man to communicate with itself, for the mind is never completely happy until it has reduced its problems to linguistic terms.
C.
Existential theology denies that God can or will reveal Himself propositionally (that is, they affirm that God does not reveal Himself verbally, through words, but by direct confrontation, subjectively)BUT
We cannot have the knowledge of God without the knowledge about God!! anymore than we can have a knowledge of our wives or children without a knowledge about them!
We cannot claim the transcendent experience, the oneness of the soul with God, without the truth that God gives of Himself in the saving events of history, the truth of which comes to us by historical media.
Christian faith is not hung on a sky-hook but is founded securely in fact. One senses that the writers of the N.T. were terribly empirically minded. The fact-basis of faith is everywhere apparent in Scripture.
Faith without truth is impossible! and that truth is not some ether that haunts the atmosphere or the brain but something that is the function of statements and that grasps us when there is conveyed that which is actually the case.
To be personal means to be a self, a rational self, a moral self, and a purposing self. Man is both intellectual and moral. The one cannot be separated from the other. Response to the truth is moral as well as intellectual. Therefore there must be propositional truth in verbal form before there can be either an intellectual or moral confrontation with God!!
Confrontation involves the meeting of minds, of common response to one anotherin the truth. The confrontation of persons involves the communication of truth. Truth is a function of language!
D.
Language and Personal Encounter
Events (nature, history) cannot bring about the personal encounter which the genius of language alone can accomplish.
By means of the sense of hearing, as the receiver of verbal communication, one mind can make contact with the mental world of another mind and can influence that inaccessible and mysterious realm of thought.
Further, with the voluntary cooperation of the recipient, one may learn in turn something about the contents of that other mind.
Without such voluntary cooperation and without communication THERE IS AN IMPENETRABLE BOUNDARY TO PERSONAL ENCOUNTER. this is exactly what Paul says in 1 Corinthians 2:11. For what person knows a man’s thought except the spirit of the man which is in him? The mind of the man sitting next to you may be quite inaccessible to you, while at that very moment a friend a 1000 miles away may be allowing you, by means of a letter, to learn something of what is beyond this boundary. the act of crossing this boundary is one of the most remarkable phenomena of our experience.
If God willed to cross this boundary, He could surely do so by the existing means so extensively used between man andman. This is what the Psalmist infers in Psalms 94:8 ff. If God made the eye, He can see. AND IF GOD MADE THE TONGUE, HE CAN TALK!
E.
The Bible leaves us in no doubt whatever that the vehicle of revelation is language (words).
Language is versatile: it is unique in the reception and transmission of knowledge; it is the only means which possesses such potentiality.
Mystical communication, in which the intellect is in abeyance and the object of the participant is to merge himself by a non-verbal process in the Godhead, is excluded by a word often on the lips of the writers of the O.T. The word is translated to hear, and signifies not only to hear, but to understand and even to respond to what is said.
There are literally thousands of references in both O.T. and N.T. representing God as speaking words (cf. Exodus 20:1; Deuteronomy 1:6; Psalms 33:9; Jeremiah 7:13; Jeremiah 14:14; John 6:63; Matthew 24:35; John 17:14; John 17:17).
Language is the only conceivable means of communicating non-empirical places, things or concepts (heaven, hell, remission of sins). It has the ability to cross dimensional limits of time, space, etc., and communicate by verbal deputies (figures of speech, analogies, etc.) the non-experienceable. It has the ability to bring about PERSONAL ENCOUNTER, 1 Corinthians 2:13.
Yet language is inadequate to describe the ultimate realities of such things as heaven, hell, etc. ON THE OTHER HAND, INADEQUACY DOES NOT MEAN ERRONEOUSNESS. Paul was caught up into the third heaven and heard things it was impossible for him to utter. (2 Corinthians 12:1-4) We do not believe the book of Revelation’s description of heaven is in any ultimate sense, adequate, yet it is adequate enough in its relative sense to engender love, faith and purpose in the believer’s heart.
III.
GOD REVEALED HIMSELF IN A PERSON, HIS UNIQUE SON, JESUS CHRIST
A.
Because God is personal, the final revelation of Himself was a Person.
Hebrews 1:1-4, In times past God revealed Himself in many ways, and through many servants (prophets), but in the last dispensation He has revealed Himself in the Son, This Son is: Heir, Co-Creator, Glory of God, Express Image of His Person, Sustainer, Majesty on High.
John 1:1-18, The Third Person of the God-head became Incarnate and tabernacled among men. Men beheld His glory as of the only unique Son from the face-to-face presence with the Father. No man has seen God at any time, but the Son has declared Him (exegesatos) exegeted Him.
Philippians 2:5-10, God took upon Himself the form of a man and suffered the death of the cross, revealing the love of God.
2 Corinthians 5:19, God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself.
Hebrews 10:4-10, He came in a body prepared for Him to do the will of God willingly, and by that will we are sanctified.
His name is Immanuel (God with us), Matthew 1:23.
B.
The Son of God became Incarnate and acted in history and spoke exactly and exclusively the very words God willed Him to speak!! Luke says his gospel document is a treatise. of all that Jesus began both to do and teach. Acts 1:1.
Jesus lived and taught the love of God perfectly.
Jesus lived and taught the compassion of God perfectly.
Jesus lived and taught the righteousness of God perfectly.
C.
The most important statement of Jesus concerning His personal revelation of the Father is found in John 14:7-11.
If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also: and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him. Philip saith unto him, Lord, show us the Father, and it sufficeth us. Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Show us the Father? Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works. Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me: or else believe me for the very works-’ sake.
CONCLUSION
I.
PERSONAL REVELATION INVOLVES DECISION, RESPONSE TO THE PERSONAL GOD
A.
God meets man in the act of revelation not as an Idea, an Unmoved Mover, but as a PERSON who speaks to man and requires a response from man.
B.
To say that revelation is historical, verbal and personal means, in brief, that God has come into our midst and because He has so come, we can never remain the same as we were before.
II.
JESUS CHRIST IS GOD IN THE FLESH, HEAR YE HIM!
A.
In Him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. Colossians 2:9
B.
Do you want to know what God thinks? Read the words of Jesus and the apostles.
C.
Do you want to know how God acts? Look at the life Jesus lived.
D.
Do you want to know what God thinks of man? Read the Bible.
E.
Do you want to know what God promises to men of faith and obedience? Read the New Testament!
F.
Do you want to know what God commands man to do? Read the New Testament!
III.
AT THE END OF THIS AGE GOD IS GOING TO REVEAL HIMSELF ONCE AGAIN
A.
Historically, Verbally, Personally
B.
1 Thessalonians 4:16 ff; 2 Thessalonians 1:7-10; Titus 2:13; 1 John 3:1-3; John 14:1-6; Acts 1:9-11
IV.
WHAT IS YOUR DECISION? GOD HAS REVEALED HIMSELF TO YOU PERSONALLY, VERBALLY, YOU HAVE HAD A PERSONAL ENCOUNTER WITH GOD HERE, NOW!
HIS PERSONAL INVITATION TO YOU IS COME, RECEIVE, OBEY, TRUST. THE BIBLE IS HIS LOVE LETTER TO YOU.
SPECIAL STUDY TYPOLOGY
Definition:
From tupos meaning literally to strike; the mark or impression of something; stamp; impressed sign; emblem. Romans 5:14; 1 Corinthians 10:6; 1 Corinthians 10:11; John 20:25 Print of nail (lit. usage) Webster: A figure or representation of something to come; a token; a sign; a symbol; correlative to antitype.
Synonyms:
skia (shadow), Colossians 2:17; Hebrews 8:5; Hebrews 10:1
hypodeigma (copy), Hebrews 8:5; Hebrews 9:23
semeion (sign), Matthew 12:39
parabole (parable), or (figure), Hebrews 9:9; Hebrews 11:19
antitypos (antitype), Hebrews 9:24; 1 Peter 3:21
Characteristics of types:
They are thoroughly rooted in history. They are not myths or allegories. This is where they differ from symbols. Symbols do not necessarily have to be historical realities (such as the dreams and visions of Daniel and John in Revelation). Types are actual, historical persons, events, institutions.
They are prophetic in nature. Again they differ from symbols in this aspect. Symbols may or may not be figurative of future things. Types must always predict.
They are definite, integral par of redemptive history. They were intended to be part of God’s plan of redemption. They are not afterthoughts read back into the O.T. story. They retain their typical significance even after the antitype has appeared (1 Corinthians 10:1-11) (Romans 15:4).
They are Christocentric. They all point to Christ in one way or another (Luke 24:24-44; Acts 3:32ff).
They are edificatory. They have spiritual meaning for God’s people in both dispensations. The OT saint was undoubtedly edified by the typical significance of such things as circumcision (Deuteronomy 30:6), the sacrifices (Hosea 14:2) and the coronation of Joshua (Zechariah 6:9-15); also the tabernacle, etc.
We must be careful not to think the OT saints perfectly understood all the type taught about Christ (1 Peter 1:10-12). If they understood all, it would take away the type’s prophetic nature.
They are in variety. There was a necessity for a great variety of types to give anything like a correct idea of the Messiah. Just as a single letter, or a very few letters from the alphabet could not express the full ideas of authors, so no type could fully exhibit the promised Savior in the dignity of his person, the mystery of his incarnation, excellency of character, union of offices, depth of humiliation, etc. Moses was an eminent type as a prophet, but he was no priest; Aaron was a chosen priest, but no prophet; David was a king and prophet, but no priest. While one goat slain was a type of the death of Christ, another must be sent away alive to typify his resurrection.
Importance of Studying Types: 1.
Absolutely necessary if we are rightly to understand the revelation of God.
Types and their antitypes are like a book with a large number of pictures of things, institutions, events followed by words of descriptions and explanations. It is difficult to conceive of any one trying to understand the descriptions and explanations without referring to the pictures themselves. Yet this is how the Bible is often treated. Many people are satisfied to read the N.T. without any reference to the types of the O.T.
The typology of the O.T. is the very alphabet of the language in which the doctrine of the N.T. is written.
It is very clear that God himself sets great value upon types. In Hebrews we learn that in the construction of the Tabernacle every detail was planned by Him. And He warned Moses to follow those details! For example: The veil in the Tabernacle was not merely a curtain to divide rooms. there was great meaning. a great lesson conveyed in that vail.
God Himself rent that veil from top to bottom. He added the finishing touches to that picture! Doesn-’t this show the great importance God puts upon the types!?
Jesus set great value upon types. Again and again He referred to them and showed how they pointed to Himself (Manna from heaven; Jonah’s death and resurrection from the whale; Light of World; etc.)
The very high place that is accorded types by the writers of the N.T. show their importance (Hebrews, Romans, Gospel of John, Revelation). The Epistle to the Hebrews is almost entirely made up of references to the O.T. The O.T. is the shadowsChrist is the substance.
We sometimes forget that the writers of the N.T. were students of the O.T.; that it was their Bible, and that they would naturally allude again and again to the types and shadows, expecting their readers also to be familiar with them. If we fail to see these allusions, we lose much of the beauty of the passage, and cannot rightly understand it.
We fit the type to the antitype as a glove to the hand. as we prove a criminal’s steps by fitting his boot into the tracks, so are we enabled, by a comparison of these types, to declare to the world that we have not followed any cunningly devised fables when we made known the power and coming of our Lord Jesus. He alone answers to the typical photographs. Such is the unity of the Divine purpose, that, look at what portion of it we will, there meets us some allusion to or emblem of our common salvation. The Scheme of Redemption is one gorgeous array of picture-lessons. The nation who typified it was a rotating black-board, going to and fro, and unfolding in their career the Will of the Eternal. Let us not despise the day of small things.
Some Rules for Interpreting Types:
The literal meaning of the word (strike) is not that which is generally found in the Scriptures.
We must never expect the type and the antitype to be the same. It is therefore utterly impossible to find something in the antitype that is analogous to every feature of the typeor that the type has perfectly prefigured the antitype.
For one purpose, generally, the type has been selected. Always rememberone point, or, at most, for but a very few features of similarity only.
It must predict something.
It must have been intended to represent something. Types are not coincidental.
The Scriptures should be allowed to interpret them, as far as possible.
We are always safe in calling anything a type that is so named in the word of God. But it is not necessary to suppose that we are limited to these named ones only.
Just like in the interpretation of symbols, the similarity between type and antitype will lead, in most cases, to the true meaning. (Lamb, Laver, Priest, etc.).
Anything, to be a type, must have been a real person, thing, event, or office.
The antitype is always superior to the type. The type is always visible at the time it is given, because it is material; but the antitype contains divine or spiritual thought.
Sometimes figurative language is employed in giving a typical event.
The rules for the interpretation of symbols apply as well as to types.
a.
Many of the symbols have been interpreted in whole or in part by their authors. Let them interpret, first.
b.
Other symbols have been interpreted by other inspired authors. Second choice of interpretation.
c.
Other scripture illustrations help where authors have not interpreted. Third choice of interpretation.
d.
Names of symbols are to be understood literally.
e.
There must be found a resemblance, more or less clear, between the symbol and the thing signified.
f.
The condition of those to whom the symbol was given must be known, if possible. to get the meaning the author intended for his primary audience.
Why types:
I.
There was something ultimately greater and more perfect than the OT.
A.
The Gospel age is the end of the ages (1 Corinthians 10:11; Hebrews 11:40; etc.)
B.
The Gospel age is called the dispensation of the fulness of time (Ephesians 1:10).
C.
In the Gospel dispensation only is the great mystery of God in connection with man’s salvation disclosed (Luke 1:78; 1 John 2:8; Romans 16:25-26; Colossians 1:27; 1 Corinthians 2:7-10).
D.
In the NT are the realities which were before in the OT mere shadow and partial revelations (Colossians 2:17; Hebrews 8:5).
E.
Even the most eminent of people in the OT (John the Baptist) were said to be inferior to the least in the Messiah’s kingdom (Matthew 11:11).
F.
The OT predicts its own fulfillment by something ultimate (Jeremiah 3:15-18; Jeremiah 31:31-34, etc.).
II.
To prepare the way for the introduction of these ultimate objects, He placed His chosen people under a course of training which included instruction by types (designed resemblances) of what was to come.
A.
There must have been in the Old the same great elements of truth as in the antitypes of the New.
Spiritual necessities of men have been the same in every age. So the truth revealed to meet these necessities, however basic or progressive, must have been fundamentally the same or essentially one in every age.
Primary elements of truth embodied in Gospel (atonement, sacrifice, purification, etc.) had their origin as primary elements of truth even in the types.
B.
Presented more simply and palpably in the OT types.
In a shape or form the human mind could easily grasp.
From type to antitype involves a stretch of the mental faculties.
THIS IS REALLY THE FOUNDATION OF THE WHOLE IDEA OF TYPOLOGY: One truth in both type and antitype, but that truth existing first in a lower, then in a higher stage of development. III.
Something more was needed than mere prophecy.
A.
Training (experiential) of a very peculiar kind was needed.
B.
Touching, seeing, tasting the spiritual realities which could not be seen and touched was needed.
C.
The Jew had constantly presented to his sight and touch, in the outward and earthly things, the fundamental truths and principles of eternal-spiritual relationships which cannot be seen and touched.
Several kinds of types: (not exhaustive)
Typical persons
a.
Adam (type of Christ in that he was opposite from Him, Romans 5:12-19; 1 Corinthians 15:22; 1 Corinthians 15:45).
b.
Moses (type of Christ as leader, prophet and mediator, Deuteronomy 18:15-18; Acts 3:22-24)
c.
Joshua (leader)
d.
Melchizadek (priest and king togethernot from Levitical genealogy, Genesis 14:18-20; Psalms 110:4; Hebrews 5:5-10; Hebrews 6:20; Hebrews 7:1-17).
e.
David (king after God’s heart, Acts 13:33-35; Isaiah 9:6-7).
f.
Solomon (2 Samuel 7:13-15; 1 Kings 8:18-20; Romans 1:1-4)
g.
Zerubbabel (Haggai 1:1-12; Zechariah 4:1-10; Zechariah 6:12-14).
h. Cyrus (a type of Christ as deliverer and anointed of God, Isaiah 44:27-28; Isaiah 45:1-4); as Servant of God also.
i. Ahithophel (type of Judas, 2 Samuel 15:30-35; Psalms 41:9; Psalms 55:12-20; Acts 1:16-20).
j. Elijah (type of John the Baptist, Malachi 3:1; Malachi 4:5-6; Isaiah 40:3-4; Matthew 3:1-3; Luke 1:17; Matthew 11:7-15; Matthew 17:9-13).
Typical things
a.
Tabernacle (Hebrews 9:9-10)
b.
Temple (John 2:13-22; Ephesians 2:19-22; 1 Corinthians 3:16-17)
c.
Serpent in the wilderness (John 3:14; Numbers 21:9)
d.
Lambs slain by priests (John 1:35; Revelation 5:6; Revelation 5:12).
e.
Laver before the tabernacle (Titus 3:5-7; Hebrews 10:22).
Typical institutions
a.
Sacrifices and offerings of patriarchs and Law (Hebrews 10:1 f)
b.
Day of Atonement; Jubilee (Hebrews 9:25; Luke 4:18-21).
c.
Sabbath (Hebrews 4:1-10; Matthew 11:28-30)
d.
Cities of refuge (Numbers 35:9-34; Hebrews 6:18-20).
e.
Passover, Pentecost, Tabernacles (1 Corinthians 5:7; 1 Corinthians 15:20; John 7:37-39; John 8:12)
f.
Ablutions, laying on hands, etc. (Hebrews 6:1-8)
Typical offices
a.
Prophet
b.
Priest
c.
King
Typical conduct
a.
Abraham’s faith, type of Christian response (Romans 4:1-25; James 2:18-26; Hebrews 11:8-12).
b.
Many of the prophets performed deeds that were typical (Jeremiah, Hosea, etc.)
Typical events
a.
Passage through the Red Sea (1 Corinthians 10:1-10).
b.
The Flood (1 Peter 3)
c.
The Manna in the Wilderness (John 6)
d.
The deliverance from Egypt (Hosea 11:1)
e.
Wilderness Journey (Hebrews 3)
Typical places
a.
Egypt (Bondage and sin)
b.
Jordan (death)
c.
Canaan (heaven)
d.
Babylon (proud paganism opposing God’s people)
THE TABERNACLE
I. The earthly tabernacle was a parabole of the Christian age (Hebrews 9:9)
A.
It is said to be a shadow of the heavenly, Hebrews 8:5
All the law of Moses was a shadow of the good things to come, Hebrews 10:1
Thousands of years before the N.T. church was instituted it was typified, and prefigured in the Tabernacle, built according to the pattern.
(The pattern was for the tabernacle, not the N.T. church)
B.
The Altar of Burnt Offering
Sacrifices twice daily, besides all the feasts
For atonement of sins; offerer must lay hands on head of sacrifice (doctrine of laying on hands, Hebrews 6), to signify substitutionary nature, Leviticus 1:3-4
Christ is our Lamb; He was a willing sacrifice (Hebrews 10), not the blood of dumb animals
We lay hold of our sacrifice by faith and obedience to the initiatory commands of the Gospel, demonstrating that He died for us and we accept His death in our place.
C.
The Laver
Priests must wash hands and feet (complete cleanness and sanctification) before entering Holy Place; on penalty of death, Exodus 30:17-21
Laver is certainly figure of our cleansing and separation from world unto God; would then be typical of baptism
a.
b.
c.
We have two things to do before entering God’s new Holy Place (the church); accepting in faith the substitutionary death of Jesus; cleansing in the laver of regeneration, 1 Peter 3:21
D.
The Lampstand
It was for a light in the Holy Place, Exodus 25:37
It was to be made of pure gold and burn pure oil
It was to burn continually, night and day; no other light was to shine in the Holy Place
It typifies the Word of God in the church
a.
Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my pathway
b.
We have been delivered from the power of darkness into the light of his kingdom by the word of God
c.
The church is to continue stedfastly in the apostles doctrine
d.
The word is sufficient light (2 Timothy 3:16-17; 2 Peter 1:2-4)
e.
The church is the pillar of truth, 1 Timothy 3:15 Christ symbolized the church with seven lampstands in Revelation 2, 3 as pillars of truth in Asia Minor
E.
The Table of Shewbread (Presence)
Twelve loaves renewed each week (Leviticus 24:5-7)
Eaten as memorial each week to deliverance from Egypt and as a memorial to their being set apart to good works
Priests had to partake each week
Apparently typifies the Lord’s Supper, a memorial of our deliverance, Christ’s presence, our sanctification to good works.
F.
Altar of Incense
Just before the veil and smoke and scent of incense permeated the whole tent (drifting even into the Holy of Holies)
Was to be made according to the will of God and to be pure (Nadab and Abihu were slain for offering incense contrary to God’s will)
Burned at times of prayer
A figure of prayer in the N.T. church
a.
Psalms 141:2 Let my prayer be set forth as incense before thee.
b.
Revelation 5:8; Revelation 8:3-4, prayers of saints going up as incense before throne
c.
Our prayers must be according to God’s will (1 John 5:14-15)
G.
Ark of the Covenant
God’s presence was there in the Shekinah glory (Spirit)
It was the place of mercy
The people were separated from it by a veil, signifying that an open and free access to mercy and glory had not yet been made
The High Priest entered once a year to atone for sins
The veil in the temple was rent from top to bottom when Christ was crucified, signifying that the way into mercy and glory had been made and we may now enjoy (every one, not just High Priest) the presence of God in the Spiritthe church is the habitation of God in the Spirit (Ephesians 2)
BIBLIOGRAPHY
The Typology of Scripture, Fairbairn, Baker
Hermeneutics, D. R. Dungan, Standard Publishing Co.
Baker’s Dictionary of Theology, Baker, pg. 533-534
Principles of Interpretation, Clinton Lockhart, Central Seminary Press
Types and Metaphors of The Bible, J. W. Monser, John Burns Book Co.
Shadow and Substance, Victor E. Hoven, Northwest Christian College Press
The Study of The Types, A. R. Habershon, Kregel
Christ: The Fulfillment of the Law and the Prophets, James D. Bales, Lambert Book House
Things Old and New In Religion, Hoyt Bailey, C.E.I. Pub. Co.
Survey Course In Christian Doctrine, Vol. II and IV, C. C. Crawford, College Press, Pg. 256f
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, Vol. V, art. Types Eerdmans
The Theology of the Older Testament, Payne, Zondervan
Class notes from Hebrew Epistle, Butler, unpublished.
Bible Types and Shadows, John W. Wade, Standard Pub. Co.
Isaiah 47:1-15
b. CONQUERING THEIR GOVERNMENTS
TEXT: Isaiah 47:1-15
1
Come down, and sit in the dust, O virgin daughter of Babylon; sit on the ground without a throne, O daughter of the Chaldeans: for thou shalt no more be called tender and delicate.
2
Take the millstones, and grind meal; remove thy veil, strip off the train, uncover the leg, pass through the rivers.
3
Thy nakedness shall be uncovered, yea, thy shame shall be seen: I will take vengeance, and will spare no man.
4
Our Redeemer, Jehovah of hosts is his name, the Holy One of Israel.
5
Sit thou silent, and get thee into darkness, O daughter of the Chaldeans; for thou shalt no more be called The mistress of kingdoms.
6
I was wroth with my people, I profaned mine inheritance, and gave them into thy hand: thou didst show them no mercy; upon the aged hast thou very heavily laid thy yoke.
7
And thou saidst, I shall be mistress for ever; so that thou didst not lay these things to thy heart, neither didst remember the latter and thereof.
8
Now therefore hear this, thou that art given to pleasures, that sittest securely, that sayest in thy heart, I am, and there is none else besides me; I shall not sit as a widow, neither shall I know the loss of children:
9
but these two things shall come to thee in a moment in one day, the loss of children, and widowhood; in their full measure shall they come upon thee, in the multitude of thy sorceries, and the great abundance of thine enchantments.
10
For thou hast trusted in thy wickedness; thou hast said, None seeth me; thy wisdom and thy knowledge, it hath perverted thee; and thou hast said in thy heart, I am and there is none else besides me.
11
Therefore shall evil come upon thee; thou shalt not know the dawning thereof; and mischief shall fall upon thee; and thou shalt not be able to put it away: and desolation shall come upon thee suddenly, which thou knowest not.
12
Stand now with thine enchantments, and with the multitudes of thy sorceries, wherein thou hast labored from thy youth; if so be thou shalt be able to profit, if so be thou mayest prevail.
13
Thou art wearied in the multitude of thy counsels: let now the astrologers, the star-gazers, the monthly prognosticators, stand up, and save thee from the things that shall come upon thee.
14
Behold, they shall be as stubble; the fire shall burn them; they shall not deliver themselves from the power of the flame: it shall not be a coal to warm at, nor a fire to sit before.
15
Thus shall the things be unto thee wherein thou hast labored: they that have trafficked with thee from thy youth shall wander every one to his quarter; there shall be none to save thee.
QUERIES
a.
How did God profane His inheritance? (Isaiah 47:6)
b.
Why did Babylon say, I will not sit as a widow. ?
c.
Who are the monthly prognosticators?
PARAPHRASE
Babylon, you may be a virgin in respect to foreign invasion, but you will come down from your delicate luxury and your face will be rubbed in the dirt. From haughtiness to humiliation you will come because Jehovah has commanded it. No longer will you sit upon the throne of the world like a queen. You, O Chaldea, will be forced into a humiliation like the lowliest slave-girl. You will be subjected to the worst degradation, shame and toil. You are going to be exposed for what you really are, Babylon, a shameful, wicked nation. I, Jehovah, will see that vengeance is done upon you and no man will stop Me. Yes, Babylon, our Redeemer is Jehovah of hosts, the Holy One of Israel and He is sovereign. Jehovah says to Babylon, You will be dumbfounded with grief and anguish when I judge you. No more will you be the center of world attentionthe darling of the nations. I was angry with My people, says the Lord, so I allowed My possession to be captured by this pagan, wicked Babylon. But you, Babylon, did not show them any mercy or kindness; even the elderly you despised and persecuted. In addition, O Babylon, you have said, I shall be the darling of the world forever. You have not given heed to the warnings of history or conscience and therefore you do not recognize that you are headed for destruction. So now pay attention to this you sensuous city, secure in your wicked wealth and power. You may say to yourself that you are sovereign of the universe and there is no other people or nation that will ever bring you down; you may think you will never know the bereavement of a widow or of a mother having lost her children. However, this is exactly the kind of fate you will suffer. In spite of all the hocus pocus of your magicians and soothsayers you will become as destitute and bereaved as a widow and a mother who has lost all her children. This will come upon you because you have trusted in your apparent ability to do as evilly as you please and get away with it. You have said, There is no power higher than I, to whom I must give account. You have become too sophisticated and wise for your own good. Your wisdom has led you to an arrogant self-delusion and to believe you are sovereign ruler of all creation. Because of this attempted usurpation of Jehovah’s sovereignty, judgment shall come upon you which you will not, with all your magicians, be able to charm away. Destruction is going to come upon you and you cannot pay the price to take it away. You are going to be a wasted, desolate place with such suddenness it will be beyond human understanding or explanation. Go on using your hocus pocus magic charms by the thousands, like you have since your nation’s beginning, if it is the only thing you have to ward off the destruction that is sure to come. You have had so many magicians and such a complex system of magic that most of your people have grown tired of it all. But go ahead, let the astrologers, (those who study the stars) and horoscope-casters arise and save you from the judgments predicted upon you if they are able to do so! Soon it will be apparent to all that they are powerless as stubble which is so easily and quickly consumed by fire. They will, like straw in a fire, be gone almost instantly. They will not even be around long enough to provide an afterglow like the coals of a wood fire. How quickly shall all that disappear for which your generations have expended their energy and wages. In the end all those upon whom you relied for military and financial assistance since your beginning shall desert you. Your allies will not help you; they will not want to have anything to do with you lest they suffer the same destruction. There is not anyone who can save you!
COMMENTS
Isaiah 47:1-6 ABASED: Babylon is going to come down from its pinnacle of world rulership. In fact, she is going to lose her identity as a nation altogether. The Hebew word bethulath is translated virgin. It probably refers to the idea that Babylon (from her conquest of Nineveh about 612 B.C. until being conquered by Cyrus 539 B.C.) never suffered foreign invasion. She was untouched until Cyrus spoiled her.
The words raccah and -anuggah, translated tender and delicate probably emphasize the luxuriousness of Babylonian life; raccah literally means effeminancy and -anuggah means pleasure, luxury, sport. They are descriptive of the indulgent, immoral wickedness of Babylon. From her position as pampered, indulged, haughty queen of the world she would be dethroned and abased. She would become like the lowliest servant-girl doing the most humiliating tasks. Grinding meal is the hardest, most menial task for women slaves. Removal of the veil and stripping off the train means to take off the clothing of a lady of leisure and put on the clothing of a common slave. Uncovering the leg and passing through the rivers probably pictures a slave-girl rolling up her garments to walk across streams and rivers bearing burdens for her master. Slaves were simply the property of their owners and could be treated anyway the owner desired. Most of them, especially women, were treated shamefully. When sold in the slave market they were undressed and their bodies exposed, more to humiliate them than anything else. Jehovah is going to expose Babylon for what it really is. The whole world will see Babylon naked, without all the false luxury and haughtiness she arrogated to herself. God will spare no manno human being on the face of the earth will deter Jehovah from His humiliation of Babylon.
Verse four is a pause of praise on the part of the prophet. It is like those digressions of the apostle Paul in Ephesians and Romans. The sovereign program of God’s redemption for Israel elicits spontaneous testimony from Isaiah to Babylon that the Redeemer of Israel is Jehovah (Covenant-God) of hosts, the Holy One of Israel. The testimony also serves to show the contrast between Israel’s God and the gods of Babylon. Israel’s God would raise her out of humiliation to glory (through the Servant-Messiah to come), while Babylon’s gods would be impotent to save them from going from glory to humiliation. When Babylon’s degradation comes at the hand of Jehovah she will sit silently dumbfounded. Her shameful humiliation by the conquering Medes and Persians was totally unexpected and incomprehensible from a human point of view. She was the one upon whom the spotlight of the world was focused; but her prominence will soon be goneall will be darkness for her. She shall no longer be the queen of the world. The Hebrew word gevereth is translated mistress but it does not mean mistress in the sense of a kept woman or a fornicator. Gevereth means mistress in the sense of royalty, hence, a queen. The proper name Gabriel comes from the same root. The wealth and luxury and power of Babylon was almost unbelievable. No other empire before had exerted such influence on the world. But it would all disappear suddenly because she opposed and humiliated the covenant people of Jehovah.
God has been talking of mighty Babylon, but suddenly the little nation of Judah moves into the center of the picture. The center of history is God’s covenant people not the mighty empires which seem to dominate the world. God’s people strayed from their messianic destiny and incurred the holy wrath of God. He allowed profane Babylon to swallow up Judah for a proper period of chastening. But even profane and pagan people are subject to certain moral standards before the Absolute God (cf. our comments in Minor Prophets, Amos ch. 1-2, pub. College Press). The obvious standards of humane treatment were not observed toward the Jews, especially toward older people. Babylon apparently ignored the commonest laws of reasonableness and mercifulness (cf. Romans 1:18 f) written on the consciences of most human beings (cf. comments on verse ten below). Therefore Jehovah will judge her. One should read Isaiah ch. 13-14; Jeremiah 50-51; Daniel 1-5 in connection with these verses.
Isaiah 47:7-11 ABUSED: Babylon boasted that she would be gevereth (mistress) or queen forever. She never gave a thought to the warnings of conscience or the lessons of history. Those who will not learn from history are doomed to repeat it! She seemed unaware of the natural law all around that whatever is sown is eventually reaped. She did not seem to consider where such haughty disregard for humaneness and mercy might lead. The failure of tyrants and dictators to learn where cruelty and immorality ends is almost incredible! It was difficult for most of the world of the 1940’S to believe Adolph Hitler was ignorant that the atrocities of the Third Reich would lead to self-destruction. But Hitler did not remember the latter end thereof and slaughtered over six million people in his concentration camps which eventuated in degradation and partitioning of Germany which it had never known before.
-Aediynah is from the Hebrew root -adan and means voluptuousness, pleasurable, luxurious, sensuous. It is the same root from which we get Eden (Genesis 2:8, etc.). One only has to read Daniel ch. 5 to understand that Babylon was characterized by its bent to pleasure. The kings of Babylon apparently had as their goal the satisfaction of their every pleasure. Wealth, wine and women gave them security. They used their wealth to build gold-plated gods and temples; a massive city with huge, thick walls; hanging gardens and banquet halls; then retired to admire the work of their hands and revel in the sensuous luxury of it all. They told themselves this is great Babylon… (cf. Daniel 4:28-30). All the world, even the majority of the Jewish people, stood in awe of mighty Babylon. The world expected Babylon to exist forever. Certainly Babylon herself never expected to mourn like a widow or a mother who has lost her children. She anticipated eternal reveling and gaiety and luxury. Apparently the emperors of Babylon decreed themselves to be gods (cf. Isaiah 14:12-14), and believed themselves to be invincible (much like Adolph Hitler, centuries later). But the real Sovereign of the world, Jehovah, predicts that exactly what Babylon said could never happen would happen suddenly and fully. The haughty and satiated Babylonians would one day mourn and grieve like a woman who has lost her husband and a young mother whose children have died tragic deaths. Their affliction would be without warning and in full measure. One day on top of the world; the next day devastated and conquered by the Persians. Babylon fell in one night! (cf. Dan. ch. 5). Babylon was noted for its multitude of astrologers and sorcerers. She was famous for her magic. No other nation since has been as prolific or elaborate in its cultivation of such sorcery. Babylon’s whole culture, political, economic and religious was built around its astrologers and enchanters and wise-men. In spite of this elaborate and long established system of pseudo-science and religion, Babylon would fall. Her star-gazers would not be able to work magic or charm away the judgment of Jehovah.
Babylon trusted in its wickedness. There is a false sense of autonomy and sovereignty that comes as a result of deliberately practiced wickedness. That is what the devil promised Eve in the Garden of Eden (… in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.). Professing to be wise, they became fools. They exchanged the truth of God for a lie. They refused to have God in their knowledge (cf. Romans 1:22-32). Babylon trusted in her cruelty and cunning and decided she could do as she pleased and no one could stop her. She believed she was sovereign. There was no One to whom she could be held accountable (None seeth me.). This wicked exercise of power seared Babylon’s conscienceit perverted her reason. She went against the most fundamental revelation of nature itself (that there is a divine power higher than man to whom man is morally responsiblecf. Romans 1:18-21) and denied the existence of God.
But judgment (evil) will surely come upon haughty Babylon. She will now know the shakherah (dawning) of it. This probably means (in keeping with the context) she will not be able to conjure away or able to keep it from coming by all her incantations and sorceries. There are three different Hebrew words used to describe the judgment: ra-ah (break in pieces, calamity, evil); hovah (mischief, or, literally, yawningutter destruction); sho-‘ah (deserted, wasted, desolation). These words give a graphic description of the process of Babylon’s judgment. It will come suddenly. Daniel; ch. 5, records that Babylon’s overthrow came in one night! It was completely unexpected! First she was broken, then came the destruction and to this day there is only a deserted waste place where once mighty Babylon stood. The fall of Babylon is inexplicable except as one understands the prophecy of God by Isaiah!
Isaiah 47:12-15 ANNIHILATED: Jehovah now challenges Babylon to call upon the full force of its massive and complex system of sorcery, astrology and magic to save it. The ancient peoples not only worshiped the stars, but many of them built their political and economic structures on a science of star-gazing and horoscope casting. These pseudo-sciences were elaborately constructed and Babylon was more prolific than all the ancients. Determining things from the motions of the stars was not something Babylon merely toyed with. She had built her whole national identity on this from her very beginning. She went to war or sued for peace on the basis of what the stars said. She crowned emperors or deposed them only after casting a horoscope. She conducted business and built buildings and practiced the healing arts by interpreting dreams, saying incantations and practicing sorcery. So, if Babylon had any resource greater than any other empire of the past (Egypt, Assyria, etc.) it would be her star-gazing. If she was to prevail against the God of Israel her elaborate system of astrology would have to stand up. The many hours of study devoted to astrology, the voluminous writings of the wisemen and the staggering (and sometimes repulsive) amount of time consumed to practice all the hocus pocus involved wearied the general populace. There is evidence that even emperors became exasperated at the sham of it all (cf. Daniel 2:1-12). The Hebrew word modiy-iym (prognosticators) is from yada-’ (to know, perceive, discern) and the word khadashim means, new moons or months. The position of the moon was a determining factor in the Babylonian system of astrology.
But none of this shall save Babylon! Even this great, elaborate pervasive system of astrology shall be as vulnerable as dry wheat stubble thrown on a fire. It will go up in smoke, suddenly. Nothing will be left of it. Wood thrown on a fire leaves coals and lasts long enough to provide warmth. But poof, like stubble, Babylon and all her star-gazers will be gone! So much for all the years of toil and energy invested in Babylon’s elaborate system of astrology! All those sokherayik (traveling merchants) who trafficked with Babylon were interested only in financial gain. As long as they were making profit from trading with Babylon they were her friends. But when she needed assistance against her enemies they wandered to their own quarters, not wishing to suffer the judgments coming upon her. They have merely taken advantage of Babylon and have no genuine concern for her no matter how glibly they may have dealt with her when she was alive and prosperous. It was predicted that the magnificent Roman empire of the apostle John’s day would come to the same despicable ruin (cf. Revelation 17, 18). Rome would say in her heart she was a queen and not a widow. Rome would be burned with fire. The merchants of the earth would mourn Rome’s demise because it would mean financial loss for them (not that anyone was genuinely concerned for Rome’s fall). Thus Babylon is used as a symbol, a type, of the Roman empire (Revelation 14:8; Revelation 17:5; Revelation 18:2; Revelation 18:10; Revelation 18:21, etc.).
Babylon fell! Great and sudden was her fall! It was totally unexpected! During a night of drunken revelry and carousing by the emperor (Belshazzar), his noblemen and concubines, Cyrus the Persian marched in on a dry river bed (whose waters had been diverted by Cyrus) and Belshazzar was slain. For further details see Daniel, by Butler, pub. College Press, pg. 200-208. Rome’s fall was not quite so sudden, but it fulfilled the predictions of John just as certainly as Babylon’s fall fulfilled the predictions of Isaiah and Jeremiah. And just as certainly, all human governments must ultimately fall and give way to the kingdom of God for whom the new heavens and the new earth are to be created.
QUIZ
Why is Babylon called a virgin?
What is meant by calling Babylon the mistress of kingdoms?
Why may Babylon be judged accountable for knowing that she was headed for judgment by her actions?
In what did Babylon place her trust?
Describe the fall of Babylon?
How did those who had traded with Babylon react to her downfall?