Transcript Isaiah

“Shocked into silence”
(52:15)
Judah
931 BC
Prophets
Israel
Rehoboam
Jeroboam
Abijah
Nadab
900 BC
Asa*
Baasha
850 BC
Jehoshaphat*
800 BC
Jehoram*, Ahaziah,
Queen Athaliah,
Joash*
Elisha Jehoahaz,
Jehoash,
Jonah
Amos Jeroboam II
750 BC
Amaziah
Uzziah
Ahaz
Hosea Zechariah,
Shallum,
Micah
Menahem,
Isaiah
Pekahiah
722 BC
Hezekiah*
Isaiah
Elijah Zimri, Omri, Ahab,
Ahaziah, Joram
Pekah, Hoshea
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Take the Old Testament references
seriously
There is more than one acting subject

“People will hide in caves in the rocky hills or
dig holes in the ground to try to escape from
the LORD’s anger and to hide from his power
and glory, when he comes to shake the earth.
When that day comes, they will throw away
the gold and silver idols they have made, and
abandon them to the moles and the bats. When
the LORD comes to shake the earth, people
will hide in holes and caves in the rocky hills
to try to escape from his anger and to hide
from his power and glory.” (Isaiah 2:19-21)
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“In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw
the Lord. He was sitting on his throne,
high and exalted, and his robe filled the
whole Temple. Around him flaming
creatures were standing, each of which
had six wings. Each creature covered its
face with two wings, and its body with
two, and used the other two for flying.
They were calling out to each other: ‘Holy,
holy, holy! The LORD Almighty is holy!
His glory fills the world.’ (Isaiah 6:1-3)
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“In the beginning the Word already existed;
the Word was with God, and the Word was
God.” (John 1:1)
“The Word became a human being and, full
of grace and truth, lived among us. We saw
his glory, the glory which he received as the
Father's only Son…No one has ever seen
God. But the unique One, who is Himself
God, is near to the Father's heart. He has
revealed God to us.” (John 1:14, 18)
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“And eternal life means to know you, the
only true God, and to know Jesus Christ,
whom you sent. I have shown your glory
on earth; I have finished the work you
gave me to do.” (John 17:3-4)
“I made your name known…”(John 17:6)
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“In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw
the Lord. He was sitting on his throne,
high and exalted, and his robe filled the
whole Temple. Around him flaming
creatures were standing, each of which
had six wings. Each creature covered its
face with two wings, and its body with
two, and used the other two for flying.
They were calling out to each other: ‘Holy,
holy, holy! The LORD Almighty is holy!
His glory fills the world.’ (Isaiah 6:1-3)
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“At this point I had another vision and
saw an open door in heaven. And the
voice that sounded like a trumpet, which I
had heard speaking to me before, said,
‘Come up here…’ There in heaven was a
throne with someone sitting on it. His face
gleamed like such precious stones as
jasper and carnelian, and all around the
throne there was a rainbow the color of an
emerald.” (Revelation 4:2-3)
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“Each one of the four living creatures
had six wings, and they were covered
with eyes, inside and out. Day and night
they never stop singing: ‘Holy, holy,
holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who
was, who is, and who is to come.’”
(Revelation 4:8)
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“The four living creatures sing songs of glory
and honor and thanks to the one who sits on
the throne, who lives forever and ever. When
they do so, the twenty-four elders fall down
before the one who sits on the throne, and
worship him who lives forever and ever.
They throw their crowns down in front of the
throne and say, ‘Our Lord and God! You are
worthy to receive glory, honor, and power.
For you created all things, and by your will
they were given existence and life.’”
(Revelation 4:9-11)
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“Then I saw a scroll in the right hand of
the One who was sitting on the throne.
There was writing on the inside and the
outside of the scroll, and it was sealed with
seven seals. And I saw a strong angel, who
shouted with a loud voice: ‘Who is worthy
to break the seals on this scroll and open
it?’” (Revelation 5:1-2)
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“No one in heaven or on earth or under
the earth was able to open the scroll and
read it. Then I began to weep bitterly
because no one was found worthy to open
the scroll and read it.” (Revelation 5:3-4)
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“But one of the twenty-four elders said to
me, ‘Stop weeping! Look, the Lion of the
tribe of Judah, the heir to David’s throne,
has won the victory. He is worthy to open
the scroll and its seven seals.’ Then I saw a
Lamb that looked as if it had been
slaughtered, but it was now standing
between the throne and the four living
beings and among the twenty-four
elders…He stepped forward and took the
scroll from the right hand of the One sitting
on the throne.” (Revelation 5:5-7)
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“They sang a new song: ‘You are worthy to take the
scroll and to break open its seals. For you were
killed, and by your sacrificial death you bought for
God people from every tribe, language, nation, and
race...’ Again I looked, and I heard angels, thousands
and millions of them! They stood around the throne,
the four living creatures, and the elders, and sang in
a loud voice: ‘The Lamb who was killed is worthy to
receive power, wealth, wisdom, and strength, honor,
glory, and praise!’ And I heard every creature in
heaven, on earth, in the world below, and in the sea--all living beings in the universe---and they were
singing: ‘To him who sits on the throne and to the
Lamb, be praise and honor, glory and might, forever
and ever!’” (Revelation 5:9-13)
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God on the throne holds a scroll. Surrounded by:
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4 living creatures
24 elders
No one is worthy to open the scroll
The violently slaughtered Lamb on the throne is
worthy
A “new song”: “Again I looked, and I heard angels,
thousands and millions of them! They stood around
the throne, the four living creatures, and the elders,
and sang in a loud voice…And I heard every creature
in heaven, on earth, in the world below, and in the sea--all living beings in the universe---and they were
singing…”
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“In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw
the Lord. He was sitting on his throne,
high and exalted, and his robe filled the
whole Temple. Around him flaming
creatures were standing, each of which
had six wings. Each creature covered its
face with two wings, and its body with
two, and used the other two for flying.
They were calling out to each other: ‘Holy,
holy, holy! The LORD Almighty is holy!
His glory fills the world.’ (Isaiah 6:1-3)
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“This is the revelation of Jesus Christ…Jesus
Christ, the faithful witness, the first to be raised
from death and who is also the ruler of the kings
of the world. He loves us, and by his sacrificial
death he has freed us from our sins and made us a
kingdom of priests to serve his God and Father. To
Jesus Christ be the glory and power forever and
ever! Amen. Look, he is coming on the clouds!
Everyone will see him, including those who
pierced him. All peoples on earth will mourn over
him. So shall it be! ‘I am the Alpha and the
Omega,’ says the Lord God Almighty, who is, who
was, and who is to come.” (Revelation 1:1,5-8)
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A
B
B¹
A¹
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1:8
1:17
21:6
22:13
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end prologue
begin. vision
end vision
begin. epilogue
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God
Christ
God
Christ
A& Omega
A& Omega
first and last
begin. and end
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A& Omega
first and last
begin. and end
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“Listen!’ said Jesus…‘I am the Alpha and
the Omega, the First and the Last, the
Beginning and the End.” (Revelation
22:12-13)
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“the Alpha and the Omega,” “the beginning and
the end,” “the first and the last.” - seven times
“The LORD God Almighty” - seven times
“The One who sits on the throne” - seven times
“Christ” (or Messiah) - seven times
“God and the Lamb” – seven times
Four is the number of the world (with its four
corners (7:1; 20:8) or four divisions (5:13; 14:7)
“Lamb” occurs 28 times (7 x 4)
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The 7 x 4 occurrences of the ‘Lamb’ therefore indicate
the worldwide scope of his complete victory.
7 Seals
7
Trumpets
7 Bowls
7
1-6
7
1-6
1-6
7
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“There was a violent earthquake, and the sun
became black like coarse black cloth, and the moon
turned completely red like blood. The stars fell down
to the earth, like unripe figs falling from the tree
when a strong wind shakes it. The sky disappeared
like a scroll being rolled up, and every mountain and
island was moved from its place. Then the kings of
the earth, the rulers and the military chiefs, the rich
and the powerful, and all other people, slave and
free, hid themselves in caves and under rocks on the
mountains. They called out to the mountains and to
the rocks, ‘Fall on us and hide us from the eyes of the
one who sits on the throne and from the anger of the
Lamb! The terrible day of their anger is here, and
who can stand up against it?’”
(Revelation 6:12-17)
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“God will wipe away every tear from their
eyes.” (Revelation 7:16-17)
7 Seals
7
Trumpets
7 Bowls
7
1-6
7
1-6
1-6
7
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The seventh seal ends with a scene at “the
golden altar of incense” (Revelation 8:3) and
with “…rumblings and peals of thunder, flashes
of lightning, and an earthquake.” (Revelation
8:5)
The seventh trumpet ends with a scene at “the
Covenant Box” and with “flashes of lightning,
rumblings and peals of thunder, an earthquake,
and heavy hail.” (Revelation 11:19)
The seventh plague ends with “A loud voice
from the throne in the temple” and with “flashes
of lightning, rumblings and peals of thunder,
and a terrible earthquake.”(Revelation 16:17-18)
7 Seals
7
Trumpets
7 Bowls
7
1-6
7
1-6
1-6
7
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“This is a message about Babylon…” (Isaiah
13:1)
“King of Babylon, bright morning star, you
have fallen from heaven! In the past you
conquered nations, but now you have been
thrown to the ground.” (Isaiah 14:12)
“How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer,
son of the morning! How you are cut down
to the ground, You who weakened the
nations!” (Isaiah 14:12 - NKJV)
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Hebrew: helel - “shining one,” “brilliant
one,”
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LXX: renders helel as heōsphoros, “morning
star,” literally, “bringer of the dawn,”
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commonly applied to the planet Venus as a
morning star
the common Greek designation for Venus
when it appeared in the morning sky.
The name Lucifer comes from the Latin
Vulgate, and means “light bearer.”
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“How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer,
son of the morning! How you are cut down
to the ground, You who weakened the
nations! For you have said in your heart: ‘I
will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my
throne above the stars of God; I will also sit
on the mount of the congregation On the
farthest sides of the north; I will ascend
above the heights of the clouds, I will be like
the Most High.’ But instead, you have been
brought down to the deepest part of the
world of the dead. (Isaiah 14:12-15)
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“Then war broke out in heaven. Michael
and his angels fought against the dragon,
who fought back with his angels; but the
dragon was defeated, and he and his
angels were not allowed to stay in heaven
any longer. The huge dragon was thrown
out---that ancient serpent, named the
Devil, or Satan, that deceived the whole
world. He was thrown down to earth, and
all his angels with him.”(Revelation 12:710)
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“Then I saw an angel coming down from
heaven, holding in his hand the key of
the abyss and a heavy chain. He seized
the dragon, that ancient serpent---that is,
the Devil, or Satan---and chained him up
for a thousand years. The angel threw
him into the abyss…” (Revelation 20:1-3)
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“Everyone there will stare at you and ask,
'Can this be the one who shook the earth
and made the kingdoms of the world
tremble? Is this the one who destroyed the
world and made it into a wasteland? Is
this the king who demolished the world's
greatest cities and had no mercy on his
prisoners?” (Isaiah 14:16-17)
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"the prince of this world." (John 12:31,
14:30)
"the god of this age", and "the ruler of the
kingdom of the air" (2 Corinthians 4:4;
Ephesians 2:2).
"the whole world is under the control of
the evil one" (1 John 5:19)
7 Seals
7
Trumpets
7 Bowls
7*
1-6
7
1-6
1-6
7
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“When the Lamb broke open the seventh
seal, there was silence in heaven for
about half an hour.” (Revelation 8:1)
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“Just watch my servant blossom! Exalted, tall, head
and shoulders above the crowd! But he didn’t
begin that way. At first everyone was appalled. He
didn’t even look human-- a ruined face, disfigured
past recognition. Nations all over the world will be
in awe, taken aback, kings shocked into silence
when they see him. For what was unheard of
they’ll see with their own eyes, what was
unthinkable they’ll have right before them.” (Isaiah
52:13-15)
“kings will be speechless with amazement. They
will see and understand something they had never
known.”
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“Who believes what we've heard and seen? Who
would have thought that God’s saving power
would look like this? The servant grew up before
God--a scrawny seedling, a scrubby plant in a
parched field. There was nothing attractive about
him, nothing to cause us to take a second look.
He was looked down on and passed over, a man
who suffered, who knew pain firsthand. One
look at him and people turned away. We looked
down on him, thought he was scum. But the fact
is, it was our pains he carried-- our
disfigurements, all the things wrong with us. We
thought he brought it on himself, that God was
punishing him for his own failures.
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But it was our sins that did that to him, that
ripped and tore and crushed him--our sins! He
took the punishment, and that made us whole.
Through his bruises we get healed. We’re all like
sheep who’ve wandered off and gotten lost.
We’ve all done our own thing, gone our own
way. And GOD has piled all our sins, everything
we’ve done wrong, on him, on him. He was
beaten, he was tortured, but he didn't say a
word. Like a lamb taken to be slaughtered and
like a sheep being sheared, he took it all in
silence.
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Justice miscarried, and he was led off-and did anyone really know what was
happening? He died without a thought
for his own welfare, beaten bloody for
the sins of my people. They buried him
with the wicked, threw him in a grave
with a rich man, Even though he’d never
hurt a soul or said one word that wasn’t
true.” (Isaiah 53:1-9)
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“The scroll confronts the council with a
seemingly insoluble predicament, a veritable
crisis in the divine government, highlighted by
the tears of the Seer (5:4) and by the silence of
everyone else (5:3). The breaking of the seals
signifies that this predicament has been fully
worked out, and with the breaking of the
seventh seal comes a sense of closure to the
heavenly council…Only when the Lamb in its
slaughtered state is allowed to exert a
commanding influence on the entire scene will
the representative biblical imagery for the
silence in heaven receive its due
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…[The text in Isaiah] is about silence – the silence of
shock and awe in the face of an entirely unexpected
manifestation. Revelation presents an analogous
situation when the heavenly council confronts a
disclosure that defies expectations, but the
relationship between these texts consists of more
than an analogy. The startling nature of what is
disclosed, causing kings to ‘shut their mouths
because of him’ according to Isaiah (52:15), belongs
organically to the vision of the ‘lamb that is led to
the slaughter’ in the original Old Testament context
(Isaiah 53:7). Moreover, both texts describe the fate
of the Lamb, one anticipating it, the other one after
the fact…
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What leads to silence in the fourth Servant Song in
Isaiah is precisely that the Servant has been violently
abused – ‘so marred was his appearance, beyond
human semblance, and his form beyond that of
mortals.’ (Isaiah 52:14), and this reality lies behind
the description of ‘a lamb that is led to the slaughter’
(Isaiah 53:7). In the heavenly council there is silence,
too, and the silence comes about when the council is
brought face to face with the slaughtered Lamb,
presented and acknowledged as the victor and
revealer in the cosmic conflict…All the seals are
broken, signifying that the issue confronting the
heavenly council has been resolved by the Lamb.
Silence in this context serves as the reflective
corollary of praise, and in this sense the proposed
idea of ‘rapturous amaze’ is not far off the mark.” (1)