Temple Motifs in Isaiah 1

I've decided to post parts of an ongoing study of temple motifs in the Old Testament, beginning with Isaiah.  Here's the first.  

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Temple Motifs in Isaiah 1

The book of Isaiah begins with a horrific description of the devastation of the kingdom of Judea, probably alluding to the invasion of the Assyrians in 701 BCE (1:1-9).  Because the people have “forsaken Yahweh” (1:4), Yahweh has rejected his temple (1:10-20).  The description of this rejection includes a fairly detailed list of some of the major activities that took place in the temple seeking blessings from the Yahweh, and Isaiah’s explanation of why these have failed.  

Yahweh proclaims that he has had enough of blood and sacrifice (1:11; cf. 1 Sam 15:22; Ps 50:7-15; Hos 6:6).  He no longer wants the people to appear before him and “trample the courts” of his temple (1: 12).  Incense has become an “abomination” (1:13), and Yahweh will no longer attend the temple assemblies on the holy days (1: 14).  Most importantly, when the people “lift up their hands” to heaven in prayer, Yahweh turns his face away and will not listen, because their uplifted hands are “full of blood” of wickedness (1: 14).  The paradox here is that the sacrificial blood required on the Day of Atonement (Lev 16:14) has been replaced with the blood of murder and oppression which are instead surreptitiously offered by wicked Israel.  Thus, all the standard activities of the temple--sacrifice, incense in the Holy Place, assemblies and prayer--have been rejected by Yahweh.  

But, as always, Isaiah, Yahweh offers hope.  To be acceptable, however, Israel must undergo both a ritual washing (1: 16a) along with a moral rebirth (1: 16b-17).  Alluding to the Day of Atonement Yahweh proclaims “thought your sins are like scarlet, they shall become like snow” (1: 18b).  There is still hope for Israel, but only if they return to Yahweh: “If you are willing and obedient, you shall each the good [things] of the land; but if you refuse and rebel, you will be eaten by the sword [of the invading Assyrians]” (1:19-20).   Isaiah thus insists that the outward performance the temple rituals will avail Israel nothing without repentance and righteousness which will allow Jerusalem and the temple again become “the city of righteousness, the faithful city” (1: 26b).  As we shall see (e.g. 2:2-5, 4:2-6), Isaiah is not here rejecting the temple and its rites as the proscribed means to approach Yahweh, but vacuous temple rites of hypocritical outward performances masking wickedness and rebellion.  

New novel I coauthored available

Neil Newell, with William Hamblin, The Book of Malchus
http://deseretbook.com/Book-Malchus-Neil-Newell/i/5046910

New Video on my trip to Karakorum mountains

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0I7tgSubcbk

I'm back!

I'm back in the USA after a year in Jerusalem (and two weeks in Central Asia).  I'll start blogging again soon, using all the materials I've been gathering over the past year.

On a value of prayer

So I was kicked out of another church today.  This time, Russian Orthodox church of Alexander Nevsky.  (What has Alexander Nevsky to do with Jerusalem, you might ask.  Don't.)  

The church has "judgement gate" an old Roman/Herodian gate, onto which the gate of the Holy Sepulcher was built, so it has the largest archaeological remains of Constantine's original church.  There was a nun praying there, intensely chanting and occasionally bowing.  So I set up my tripod and camera and went to work.  I took two 360 panoramas, and several dozen other pictures of everything of interest, all the time taking care not to disturb the nun in her prayers.  After about a half an hour of photography, the nun stopped her prayers, looked and me, and said, in Russian, "you can't take pictures here."  Considering I was actually done photographing, I didn't object, but was quietly expelled.  I don't know if the nun was so intense in prayer that she hadn't noticed me, or if she was annoyed for a half an hour, but refused to stop her prayers to throw me out.  At any rate, because of her intense devotion, I got to take all the pictures I wanted before being expelled.  

The outer wall of Constantin'e Church

Herodian stones = stones with Herodian bosses reused in the Holy Sepulcher, quite possibly from the Temple Mount.

The inner wall of the main gate to Constantine's Holy Sepulcher

The nun at prayer before the stone where Russian  tradition holds Christ fell while on the way to Golgotha.

I'm an anti-Semite?

So, I'm walking down the street minding my own business, and American-Israeli walks up to me and says, "will you sign a petition to Pres. Obama calling for an undivided Jerusalem?” I said no thanks and continued on my way. On the way back I saw this guy again and he asked the same question I said no thanks. Couple days later, I'm walking through the same place, the Mamila mall, and the same guy is there asking the same question. So I said to him, “sorry, you asked the same question yesterday.” And he says, “did you sign the petition then?” I said no, and he said, “why not?” So I said, “do you really want to get into a political discussion?” And his reply was, “anyone who does not support an undivided Jerusalem with Israeli control of the Temple Mount is an anti-Semite.” I started laughing and walked away. 

Nice evocative video on Heavenly Ascent

by David Larsen

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0bSjS1DphbA