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Dr. Manny Arango
Hey, Bible nerds. This is Dr. Manny Arango and I'm your host for the Bible department podcast. Powered by Arma. This podcast follows a Bible reading plan we created to help you read the entire Bible in a year. You can head to the show notes or thebibledepartment.com to download our reading plan and join the journey. Let's be honest, a lot of us are still treating digital ministry like it's a backup plan from 2020. But discipleship isn't just happening on Sundays anymore. People need gospel centered connection every day of the week. And if you're stuck juggling five different platforms, one for giving, another for sermons, something else for events, it's no wonder engagement feels off. That's not ministry. That's a mess. Subsplash changes that one platform. Everything you need, media, giving, events, messaging, your app, your website built specifically for churches. No hacks, no workarounds, just clarity and simplicity. Because every day you wait, families scroll past your sermons, new guests click away from clunky sites, and real people miss real moments with Jesus. Don't waste another summer stuck in digital survival mode. Use it to get ahead, simplify, upgrade, get back to what matters. Head to subsplash.combible-dept and schedule a free no pressure demo. And let this be the summer your church gets focused and fully equipped. Family. Welcome to day 209. It is our last day in the book of Isaiah. Oh, we love you, Isaiah. It's been awesome. Day 209. Today we've got Isaiah, chapter 63 to 66. So just a couple of chapters left in the book of Isaiah and then we say, peace to Isaiah. If you've done the reading for the day, everything I'm gonna say is gonna make perfect sense. If you haven't done the reading, then make sure that you get the reading done. My hunch is that you've read the entire book of Isaiah up until this point. So let's get the last couple chapters done. Chapter 63, 64, 65 and 66 is what's on the docket today. The first thing I wanna do is provide a little bit of context and let you know that this entire last section of the book of Isaiah. Okay, so from chapter 56 all the way to chapter 66 is a chiasm. We don't talk a ton about chiasms here in these episodes, but we talk about chiasms a ton on the like, arma platform. And I've taught about chiasms. If you're not familiar with a chiasm, then it is one of the big differences between Western and Eastern literature. If you Google right now the Western story arc, then you'll realize that there's always an inciting incident and there's a rising action. So anytime I'm at the movies, or let's say, like, I'm. My wife likes to watch this show called the Walking Dead. And it's funny, I can miss a couple episodes, and I'll come back and I can pick up, and I'm not disoriented because the story, like every western story, follows a western story arc. So there's an inciting incident, and there's a falling action, and then there's climax, and then there's a resolution or. And then a falling action. Okay? So that arc is every single Western story. And if stuff's not written that way, then as modern Western people, we're disoriented. Okay? But that's not universal or, like, for all times and all peoples and all cultures. That's not the way that things are written. We put the climax 70, 80%, 90% of the way through something. And typically, the climax is when the tension is resolved. And it's the most important part of a movie or play or drama or a book. But in the Eastern world, the most important thing goes in the middle. All right, so a chiasm is going to. The. The beginning is going to mirror the end, and then the next two things are going to mirror each other, and then the next things are going to mirror each other, and then the middle is all leading you to the middle, because the center of the chiasm is actually where the gold lies. So in eastern worldview, believes in burying the treasure. Okay? So the treasure gets buried in the middle. So the first five books of the Bible operate as a chiasm. Okay? So Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy. So numbers. Sorry, Genesis and Deuteronomy are on the outside. They mirror each other in lots of ways. And then Exodus and numbers mirror each other. They're both narrative. And then Leviticus is in the middle, which means Leviticus is the most important. And then the middle of the book of Leviticus is the day of atonement, which. Which is the most important part of the Torah. So whereas a modern Western person would just not think to look at the center of something, an Eastern person immediately looks at the center. So to provide some helpful context, Today, these last 10 chapters of the book of Isaiah are actually a chiasm. And right in the middle is gonna be Isaiah, chapter 60, 61, and 62. So thus the. The servant announces God's kingdom. Okay, so literally all the stuff that we read yesterday about the future hope of Israel, that's right in the middle of this last section of the book. So if you want to reread that, you want to orient your mind around that, then we're going to get what's on the outsides of that. So on the outsides of that are going to be chapter 59 on this side, and then chapter 63 to 64 on the other side. And those are going to mirror each other, which are going to be prayers of repentance. And then you're going to get the next kind of tier out or the next wing out with chapter 56 to 56B to 58. And then you're going to get chapter 65 to 66A in the next wing. Okay, so we've got the servant announces God's kingdom in 60 to 62. And then we got 59 and 63 and 64 on the outsides. And then you just expand a little bit more. You've got a contrast between the wicked and the servants. So this theme that we've been studying so far, which is the servant of Yahweh, what is he gonna do? He's actually gonna be the true Israel, so he can inspire other people or inspire the nation to be its true self. And so the book is gonna end on hope that not only is there gonna come a future servant of Yahweh, obviously we know that that's Jesus, but that he is going to then inspire other people to be servants of Yahweh, and that servants of Yahweh are going to follow the servant of Yahweh and the servants of Yahweh are going to get contrasted between the wicked and the very last outer ring, is that all the nations are invited to join God's covenant family. Okay? So outside of the chiasm, which is where we actually are today, is twofold, a contrast between wicked, the wicked and the servants of Yahweh. The wicked are gonna meet eternal damnation punishment, okay? They're gonna. They're gonna meet the fires of punishment, okay? So that's where the wicked. That's gonna happen to the wicked. But the servants of Yahweh, servants of Yahweh are not just gonna enjoy Yahweh forever and spend eternity with him, but they are gonna usher the way for the foreigners, for the nations to experience Yahweh. So we'll touch on that a little bit later, but that's our context. Okay, for today, we're in a chiasm and we are in the outer rings of that chiasm. I probably should have introduced this chiasm, I don't know, probably around chapter 56, but here we are. And our last day in Isaiah is a little bit of me tying up some loose strings. So this last 10 chapters is a chiasm. And I always, it's always fun to find all the links between the beginning, you know, the beginning and the end of a chiasm and then to work your way into the middle and find all the good stuff, all the parallels. So that's our context. Let's get into some nerdy nuggets. Probably got two or three nerdy nuggets for you today. One of our nerdy nuggets is literally again, me kind of wrapping up some loose ends. And I want to talk about the voice of Isaiah, like, so let's talk about authorship just a little bit. Okay, so the first part of the book, Isaiah, chapter one all the way to chapter 39, is the setting is the 720s B.C. okay, so we're in the 720s and then we are gonna get teleported into time. The exile is gonna happen. And then the second half of the book is all in the 530s B.C. so obviously we can't have Isaiah living 200 plus years. So, like, what's going on? So I want to kind of point you like to some clues within the text that help us to go, oh, like this is probably what happened. So let's grab three passages of scripture. We're going to grab Isaiah, chapter 8, verse 16. We're going to grab Isaiah or chapter 29, verse 10 to 12. And then we're going to grab Isaiah, chapter 30, verse 8, 9. So I'll grab 8, verse 16 first says this, bind up this testimony of warning and seal up God's instruction among my disciples. So we know that Isaiah's got disciples and what is it that he is binding up? What is this testimony of warning? What is this instruction from God that he's sealing up? It's the words of prophecy, words that he spoke in the 700s BC okay, in the 720s BC. So we know that he's passing his prophetic oracles on to his disciples. Let's continue to kind of put things into perspective. Let's go to Isaiah, chapter 29, verse 10. Isaiah, chapter 29, verse 10 says, the Lord has brought over you a deep sleep. He has sealed your eyes, the prophets, he has covered your heads. The Seers for you. This whole vision is nothing but words sealed in a scroll. And if you give the scroll to someone who can read and say, read this, please, they will answer, I can't, it is sealed. Or if you give the scroll to someone who cannot read and say, read this, please, they will answer, I don't know how to read. So what is this whole obscure little verse talking about? Well, it means that literally Isaiah, like, gets a vision, gets prophetic words, and he seals them in a scroll. So we know that the scroll of Probably Isaiah, chapter one to Isaiah, chapter 39, are sealed. Like, these are actual documents that are treasured, and they're sealed in their scrolls, and they're treasured by his disciples. Okay, last verse. And I just wanna, like, you know, paint this picture. Chapter 30, verse 8 to 9. Chapter 30, verse 8 says this, go now write it on a tablet for them. Inscribe it on a scroll that for the days to come, it may be an everlasting witness. For these are rebellious people, deceitful children, children unwilling to listen to the Lord's instruction. He's literally telling his disciples, hey, like, bind this up, write it on a tablet for them. Inscribe it on a scroll. So what is probably happening is that Isaiah is in the 720s. He's prophesying about things that then happen. And since the things that he prophesies about happen, it establishes his scrolls, his writings as authoritative. And since we know he has disciples, his writings get handed on. So now we're standing in 530 B.C. we're almost 200 years away. The things that Isaiah prophesied about have happened. The exile happened. The people of Israel are on the other side of exile. But Isaiah's disciples have lived on from one generation to the next, to the next, to the next. Isaiah has a group of people who are holding on to the scrolls, holding on to the tablets, holding on to the documents that he sealed. And they're reading them and they're going, isaiah was actually a prophet because that's not proven in his lifetime. Obviously, there are signs that he's a prophet in his lifetime, but it's really proven in the fact that the things that were prophesied from chapters one to 39 actually happened, okay? And they happen somewhere in between chapter 39 and chapter 40. And then this school of disciples, these disciples now start writing in the spirit of Isaiah. And this is where we get Isaiah, chapters 40 to 66, with this group who have the scrolls of Isaiah. And now they are adding more prophecies to the scroll and more writings to the tablets, and they're writing more content, and they're sealing it, and they're actually putting the finished product of Isaiah together. This is actually very, very, very common in the ancient world. This is not plagiarism. Isaiah didn't have to go down to the office in Jerusalem and get his book copyrighted. Like, this is not the world that they live in. And so, again, I just wanted to. That's like a loose end that I wanted to tie up before we wrap up the book. All right, let me give you three nerdy nuggets that I observed. And then I loved studying while I was looking at these handful of chapters. Let's go back to Isaiah, chapter 63. Okay, Isaiah, chapter 63. And we're gonna go to verse 11. This whole section is almost like recounting Israel's history. All right? And so it says, then his people recalled the days of old, the days of Moses and his people. Where is he who brought them through the sea with the shepherd of his flock? Where is he who set his Holy Spirit among them? So right here in the Old Testament, we actually have trinitarian theology. We have the Holy Spirit among God's people. And this is consistent with the New Testament, okay, that the Father is in heaven, but the Spirit of God is actually with the people. So where is he who set his Holy Spirit among them? And that means that the pillar of cloud and the pillar of fire, this is actually the Holy Spirit. That the Holy Spirit wasn't dwelling in them, but the Holy Spirit was indeed with them. Again, I want to reiterate over and over and over again that the entire Hebrew Bible, the entire Tanakh, the entire movement of the Old Testament is not just to get us ready in full anticipation for a Savior, but also to get us ready in full anticipation for the outpouring of the Holy spirit. Last maybe two more verses. Let's go to chapter 65. 65, verse 17 says this. See, I will create new heavens and a new earth. The former things will not be remembered, nor will they come to mind. But be glad and rejoice forever in what I will create. For I will create Jerusalem to be a delight and its people to be a joy. Now, the book of Isaiah starts with the old Jerusalem being burned or being purified by the fire. And Isaiah gives a vision of a new Jerusalem. This is like Isaiah, chapter one and two. So this is a massive resolve, okay, that there will be a new Jerusalem. But the new Jerusalem is not going to be what the people think it's going to be the new Jerusalem is actually going to be a part of the new heavens and the new Earth. And of course, John in the book of Revelation is going to run with this. It's going to say, yes, God is going to recreate everything. He's going to give us a new heavens and a new earth. Some of you may think, well, why do we need a new heavens? It's just the earth that's corrupt. Well, the idea of a new heavens and a new earth is that. Well, and I don't want to complicate this, but the Garden of Eden was a space where heaven and earth overlapped. So the reason that there need to be a new heaven and a new Earth is so that the separation of heaven and earth can get undone and heaven and earth can be one and the same again. So it's not just a new heaven that's heaven and a new earth that's earth, but it's a heaven infused earth. Okay? It's that heaven and earth would become one. That is actually what everything in the cosmos is pointing towards. So the marriage union between a man and a wife is not just looking forward or foreshadowing the marriage union between Jesus and his bride, the church, but it's also looking forward to the marriage union between heaven and earth. So if you're wondering, why do there need to be a new heavens and a new earth? I get why there needs to be a new earth. What's wrong with heaven? There's no sin in heaven. Well, it's because right now heaven is separated from earth. That's not God's original plan. God's original plan is for heaven and earth to coincide, for heaven and earth to be one, for heaven and earth to overlap. And right now, heaven and earth are not overlapping because there is sin here, here on the earth family. The wait is over. My brand new book, Crushing Chaos is out now and available everywhere. Books are sold. Literally. Today I walked into a Barnes and Noble and I signed a bunch of copies at a physical location. So you can grab this book at a physical Barnes and Noble or you can go to a Books a Million or Amazon or anywhere books are sold and grab a copy. If you enjoy reading the Bible from an ancient perspective, if you understand that the beauty of scripture is actually knowing it in context, then you'll love this book. And if there's any chaos in your personal life, I think that reading the Bible from an ancient perspective can actually help to crush the chaos in your life. I think this book is going to be A New York Times bestseller. I really do. 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Our audience here at the Bible Department gets a special discount. Use code DEPARTMENT10 at checkout to get 10% off your entire order. So this idea of a new heavens and a new earth, this is going to get picked up by John in the book of Revelation. But it is not unique to John. It is not John who originates this. John is picking up on a theme that is started here. In the book of Isaiah. It says verse 19, I will rejoice over Jerusalem and take delight in my people. The sound of weeping and of crying will be heard in it no more. Never again will there be in it an infant who lives but a few days, or an old man who does not live out his years. Or one who dies at a hundred will be thought a mere child. The one who fails to reach a hundred will be considered accursed. They will build houses and dwell in them, and they will plant vineyards and eat their fruit. No longer will they build houses and others live in them, or plant and others eat. For as the days of a tree, so will the days of my people. My chosen ones will long enjoy the work of their hands. So I think there's going to be work in heaven. And by heaven I mean a new creation. Okay, verse 23. They will not labor in vain. It doesn't say they won't labor. It says they won't labor in vain. Nor will they bear children doomed to misfortune. For they will be a people blessed by the Lord, they and their descendants with them before they call. I will Answer. Okay, so. Well, let's keep reading. Before they call, I will answer. While they are still speaking, I will hear. The wolf and the lamb will feed together. The lion will eat straw like the ox, and dust will be the serpent's food. They will neither harm nor destroy. On all my holy mountains, says the Lord. So pray this is a future vision of the new creation. And this is not a creation where we are ghosts. This is clearly a physical reality where there is satisfaction and contentment and joy and peace. And there's no violence, there's no sin, there's no threat, there's no death, there's no crime. Okay, so we're talking about something in the future. But I wanna help us kind of reimagine heaven is not just like a 24 hour worship service with you being a spirit. It's a physical embodiment where heaven invades earth and heaven and earth become one, and we walk in the joy of a new creation. But it is a physical reality where there is going to be work. And man, I think that helps us with our theology of work. If there's going to be work in the new creation, then man, the way that we think about work should be influenced by the fact that work is not something that's cursed. Work is actually something that gives us dignity and work is something that humans were created to do. All right, last dirty nugget. Chapter 66, verse 19 to 21. Chapter 66, verse 19. These verses really, really inspired me. This is how the book is gonna end. Says, I will set a sign among them and I will send some of those who survive to the nations, to Tarshish, to the Libyans and Lydians, famous as archers, to Tubal in Greece and to the distant islands that have not heard of my fame or seen my glory, they will proclaim my glory among the nations. And they will bring all your people from all the nations to my holy mountain of Jerusalem as an offering to the Lord on horses and chariots, wagons and on mules and camels, says the Lord. They will bring them as the Israelites bring their grain offerings to the temple of the Lord in ceremonially clean vessels. And I will select some of them also to be priests and Levites, says the Lord. So the servants of Yahweh are going to go out and they are going to proclaim the glory of God. Said they will proclaim my glory among the nations. Here's what I think. I think that when the apostle Paul read these words, he saw himself. I think that when the Apostle Paul read that God had a vision for the Gentiles that didn't just start with the person of Jesus, but that Jesus is actually the fulfillment of the Old Testament Scriptures. I don't think that Paul believes that he is denying the Tanakh or the Hebrew Bible. I think that Paul realized that Jesus is actually the person that Isaiah is talking about. And if Jesus is the true Israel trying to form a true Israel, Paul then decides, I want to be a part of that true Israel. If Jesus is the servant of Yahweh, who's supposed to be the model for servants of Yahweh, Paul decides, I want to be one of these servants of Yahweh and I want to follow the servant of Yahweh. And what do the servants of Yahweh do? The servants of Yahweh proclaim God's glory among the nations. And they will bring all your people from all the nations to my holy mountain in Jerusalem as an offering to the Lord. I think that Paul saw his ministry to the Gentile to the Gentiles as him being able to put all the Gentiles that he led to the Lord on the altar and say, this is my offering to the Lord. Man, if that doesn't make you want to evangelize, I don't know what does. That the people that we bring to God become the offering that we put on the altar of sacrifice to the Lord. And it says here, they will bring them. So the servants of Yahweh will bring them. They'll bring people from all the nations as the Israelites bring their grain offerings to the temple. So instead of bringing grain offerings, instead of bringing bulls and goats and lambs, we'll bring people. They'll bring people. And this is our timeless truth for the day. That is what we should be bringing to the Lord. Look. Look at these people that I found, these people that you created, these people that you love. I've proclaimed your glory. I've proclaimed your goodness. I've proclaimed your grace. And God, I want to offer these people to you, people that are now walking in a renewed relationship with you and God. Thank you for allowing me as your servant, following the servant, to participate in this grand experiment called the rescuing of the human race. And you started with one nation, or you started with a group called the Israelites, but your vision was always that all the nations would get saved. And so listen to this list again, right? To Tarshish, Libyans, Lydians, Tubal and Greece. Like Paul's going all over the Greek world, like preaching the Gospel because he sees his offering to the Lord as the people that he's brought from all the nations to offer to God. And I think Paul is deeply influenced by the book of Isaiah. And not only is this true for Paul, not only is this true for the generation that received these prophetic words in 530 B.C. but this is true for us. What will we offer the Lord? I hope that the thing that we offer the Lord are all of the people that we've led to the Lord. I hope that that is going to be our reasonable act of worship and our reasonable sacrifice on the altar. I sure want my life's work to reflect the fact that I led people to God and that is the thing that I want to put on the altar. And that's our timeless truth for the day. Man. Tomorrow is gonna be a good day. Brand new book of the Bible. You know, let's just see what book we're gonna be in Nahum tomorrow. We're in Nahum. So we got one day in Nahum, one day in Zephaniah, and one day in Habakkuk, and then we hit Jeremiah. So roll up your sleeves. We got a lot of work to do. I'll see you tomorrow for day 210 as we embark upon studying the Book of Nahum together. Love you guys. So proud of you. And especially if you're on a streak, see you right here tomorrow as we look at the Book of Nahum together. Peace. Thanks so much for joining us on the Bible Department podcast. You can find us online and learn more about the show at thebibledepartment.com and on Instagram hebibledepartment. If you enjoyed this episode and want to dive deeper into the Bible, you can get free access to our library of courses@thebibledepartment.com we'll see you back here tomorrow.