BibleProject | One Story That Leads to Jesusಮಾದರಿ

Hezekiah had such a strong start, but his story ends with broken faith and suffering.

When a delegation from Babylon shows up with a get-well-soon card, Hezekiah gives them a tour of the royal treasury. He’s using wealth to woo them into a military alliance. He’d rather hedge his bets with Babylonian warriors than spend another enemy-invasion crisis on his knees in prayer.

When Isaiah warns that the alliance will fail and Babylon will one day betray and destroy Jerusalem, Hezekiah shrugs. From his perspective, the impending catastrophe shouldn’t be too bad if he’s played the game well. Especially if he doesn’t have to live through it.

As we know from the book of Kings, Isaiah’s tragic prediction about Babylon proves true about 100 years later, during 586 B.C.E. The Babylonians burn down Jerusalem and carry its inhabitants into exile. But that’s not the end of the story … or the end of the book of Isaiah.

As you’ll see in the video, the second half of Isaiah (chs. 40-66) starts during the 530s B.C.E., well after the Babylonian exile ended. Whether these words were from Isaiah himself or a later prophet remains a subject of debate. From either angle, they carry a message of hope. The suffering will not only end but will also, eventually, lead to the end of all suffering, everywhere.

At this place in the story, cynicism grips the community, likely related to the intense trauma everyone went through. Seeing their cities crushed, their families dragged off in chains, and their magnificent temple reduced to rubble and ash convinces the Israelites that their God has abandoned them.

Chapters 41-48 imagine a courtroom scene, with God as the defendant answering their accusations. Starting today and continuing through the next two days of reading, listen closely to the way God responds and explains why the exile happened. Will God’s judicial response convince a jury of his Israelites?

Reflection Questions

• The people could see their bad situation as the consequence of blatant injustice and idolatry, which God warned them against for many years. Instead, they see their suffering as God’s fault, the result of his neglect and abandonment. Why do you think they see things this way?
• Back at Mount Sinai, Yahweh invited Israel into a covenant partnership with this reminder: “You have seen what I did to the Egyptians and how I carried you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself” (Exod. 19:4). How does this image help you understand what it means that “those who wait for Yahweh will rise up on wings as eagles” (Isa. 40:31)?