Faithful Leadership: Isaiah 9:6 and the Task of Christian Proclamation

Leaven Volume 24 Issue 2 Leading by Example: Paul and Kay Article 7 Watson 1-1-2016 Faithful Leadership: Isaiah 9:6 and the Task of Christian Proclamation John R. Jackson [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.pepperdine.edu/leaven Recommended Citation Jackson, John R. (2016) "Faithful Leadership: Isaiah 9:6 and the Task of Christian Proclamation," Leaven: Vol. 24 : Iss. 2 , Article 7. Available at: https://digitalcommons.pepperdine.edu/leaven/vol24/iss2/7 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Religion at Pepperdine Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Leaven by an authorized editor of Pepperdine Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected], [email protected], [email protected]. Jackson: Faithful Leadership: Isaiah 9:6 and the Task of Christian Proclam Faithful Leadership: Isaiah 9.6 and the Task of Christian Proclamation John R. Jackson For a child has been born for us, a son given to us; authority rests upon his shoulders; and he is named Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. (Isa 9.6)1 ne surprise about this great passage from Isaiah 9 is that no New Testament author directly cites or alludes to these words that, to many of our ears, sound more Jesus-like than any other passage in the OOld Testament. For ten years, I listened to the faithful preaching of Paul Watson and observed the wisdom of his pastoral leadership. In this essay, I imagine how Paul, an Old Testament scholar and Christian minister, might preach Isaiah 9.6. I also imagine how a New Testament author, say Matthew, might have spoken of the fulfillment of these words in the life and ministry of Jesus. Isaiah 9.6 and the Eighth Century BC Isaiah 1–6 Isaiah 1–5 includes God’s indictment against Judah and Jerusalem in the eighth century BC—beginning around 740 BC—for their failure to live up to their covenant with God. God is the aggrieved parent of Israel who cries out, “I reared children and brought them up, but they have rebelled against me” (1.2b). Offenses that are singled out include violence used to enforce injustice against the vulnerable (1.15, 21, 23; 3.14–15), including the seizure of their land (5.8); bribery (1.23; 5.23); failure to protect the vulnerable, like the oppressed, widows, and orphans (1.17, 23); idolatry (1.29–30; 2.8, 13, 18, 20); and syncretistic religious practices (2.6). All of this is summed up as a failure to practice justice and righteousness (1.21, 27; 5.7, 16). In the Old Testament, “justice” includes “fairness” (cf. Lev 19.15, 35), but it is more than that. Clint McCann defines justice as “the systemic creation of conditions that make life possible for all, especially for the ones whose lives may be the most threatened and vulnerable.”2 Justice is ensuring that all can provide for the needs of their families and every person can have the resources to be a full participant in Israel’s communal and religious life (cf. Amos 5.7, 15; 6.12; Isa 1.17, 21–23; 5.7–8). “Righteousness” is carrying out one’s responsibilities in a relationship, actions that reflect one’s faithfulness to a covenant partner, whether to God or to human beings. Ezekiel expresses the pairing of justice and righteousness well: “If a person is righteous and practices justice and righteousness,”3 that person will not worship idols, will not break God’s 1. Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version, unless otherwise noted. 2. J. Clinton McCann Jr., “The Single Most Important Text in the Entire Bible: Toward a Theology of the Psalms,” in Soundings in the Theology of Psalms, ed. Rolf A. Jacobson (Minneapolis: Fortress, 2011), 69. 3. My translation. Published by Pepperdine Digital Commons, 2016 1 Leaven, Vol. 24 [2016], Iss. 2, Art. 7 84 LEAVEN Second Quarter 2016 covenant law, and will not only refrain from oppressing the weak but will be generous and help them (Ezek 18.5–9). The person who practices justice and righteousness fulfills her relational responsibilities toward God and toward others in the community, attending especially to those whose existence is most precarious. Isaiah lays responsibility for the failures of justice and righteousness in Judah at the feet of Judah’s leaders. The prophet calls them “rulers of Sodom” (1.10; cf. 3.9). Judah’s princes are “companions of thieves” (1.23). The description of the failure of Judah in 2.7 is drawn from the “law of the king” in Deuteronomy 17.16–18: their leaders have accumulated wealth, horses, and chariots as objects of trust. The prophet condemns the opulence of the powerful (2.7; 3.18–24; 5.1–12) and their reliance on military power (2.7, 15). Repeatedly, the prophet singles out the arrogance of the powerful (2.11, 12, 17; 3.16; 5.15), who even dare God to act against them (5.19). So it follows that those who are singled out for judgment will be Judah’s leaders (3.12, 14). When God acts to restore justice, Judah will be without leaders (3.1–5); they will look for anyone to lead them (3.6–7). Then the prophet makes two significant moves. First, he announces that God is bringing upon Judah (and Israel) a fearsome nation that will inflict this social upheaval (5.26–30; a foe later identified as Assyria, 7.17– 20; 8.4, 7; 10.5–7, 12). And second, the prophet recounts his initial vision of God, the vision that leads to his call to the prophetic ministry—a vision of God as king (6.1–5). In contrast with the leaders of Judah whose covenant failures are precipitating a national crisis, God shows himself to be Israel’s true leader, the Holy One of Israel whose reign is exemplified by the justice and righteousness that Judah’s leaders have trampled. God’s actions of judgment will restore the equity in society that is summed up in the pairing of “justice” and “righteousness” (1.27; 5.16). Isaiah 7–9: Four Children, Four Names Isaiah then turns to narratives regarding one specific king of Judah, Ahaz, who exemplifies the failed leadership of Judah (Isaiah 7–8). Early in Ahaz’s reign, he is threatened by Rezin and Pekah, the kings of Aram (Syria) and Israel (the northern kingdom), in their bid to replace Ahaz with a more compliant ruler who will join their anti-Assyrian alliance (2 Kgs 16.5; Isa 7.1, 5–6). Ahaz reacts with great fear (7.2). He has three options: he can give in to the threats and join Aram and Israel in their battle against Assyria; he can seek an alliance with the Assyrians (or Egypt), subjugating Judah to a foreign power in exchange for security; or he can trust that God will fight for Judah against any foe that comes. Isaiah, prophet to the royal court of Jerusalem, appears to encourage the king to trust that YHWH will protect Judah—and Ahaz—from these threats. Ahaz simply needs to trust God (7.4, 9) rather than give in to fear or put his trust in the king of Assyria. Isaiah’s message to Ahaz revolves around three children whose names communicate Isaiah’s call to trust. First, Isaiah takes his son Shear-jashub, “A remnant shall return,” to meet the king as he inspects Jerusalem’s water supply (7.3). Every time Ahaz sees little Shear-jashub running around Jerusalem with Isaiah, he is being reminded that even though his enemies Aram and Israel may attack, only a remnant of their forces will return home. Shear-jashub is a sign that they will be defeated—and soon (7.4, 7–9). Isaiah then offers a second child to Ahaz as a sign: a young woman is pregnant and will soon give birth to a son to be named Immanu-el, “God is with us.” And before little Immanu-el is weaned4 (so within a couple of years), Aram and Israel will be defeated (7.14–16). Thus, the Immanu-el sign serves two purposes. Like the Shear-jashub sign, it communicates a message through the name—God is with us (so there is no need to fear)! And it establishes a time frame—your enemies will soon be overthrown. Sometime later, a third child is introduced, a child of Isaiah and his wife, whom Isaiah is to name Maher- shalal-hash-baz, “Spoil-speeds, prey-hastens” (8.1, 3). Once again, the name communicates the prophetic message. And once again, there is an announcement of a time frame—Aram and Israel will be plundered by the Assyrian army before little Maher-shalal-hash-baz can say “mommy” and “daddy” (8.4). So, the prophetic 4. The reference to “refuse the evil and choose the good” (7.15) in the context of the birth of a child and the food he will eat refers not to moral discernment but to the child choosing the foods he likes. https://digitalcommons.pepperdine.edu/leaven/vol24/iss2/7 2 Jackson: Faithful Leadership: Isaiah 9:6 and the Task of Christian Proclam LEADING BY EXAMPLE: PAUL AND KAY WATSON LEAVEN 85 signs implore Ahaz, trust God! Don’t give in to fear by putting your faith and the fate of the nation in the hands of the king of Assyria. Yet be warned—even though Judah is the home of Immanu-el (God is with us), if Ahaz persists in his intentions, then Judah too will become the spoil of Assyria (8.5–8).

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