hdv∂dsj hrcoo (doing a new thing). isaiah 43:18,19 do not remember the earlier things, and the...

hDv∂dSj hRcOo

(doing a new thing)

Isaiah43:18,19

Do not remember the earlier things,And the former things, do not consider them.

Pay Attention! I’m doing a new thing,It’s springing forth, don’t you recognize it?Indeed, I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert

Second Isaiah• Isaiah actually three separate books

Second Isaiah aimed at a Post-Exilic Israel

• Switches from tone of judgement to consolation and hope

Prophesies reversal of fortunes for Israel through a foreign conqueror: Cyrus the “Messiah”

Isaiah 42 & 43

• Commissioning of a servant

Praise of YHWH

• Divine reassurance

• Announcement that God will lead the people back

• Forgiveness of sins

43:18, 19• “Do not remember the earlier things”

release from slavery through the Reed Sea

• God makes/does a new thing

• New things will totally outweigh any glory or punishment of the past

• New order

Second Corinthians

5:17

Thus, if someone in Christ is a new creation, then the old things passed away.

Look! They have already become new!

2 Corinthians 3-5• Emphasizes difference between

message of the world and the gospel

New creation

• Old things pass away

• Reflection on Isaianic passages describing restoration and cosmic renewal

• Ministry of Reconciliation

REVELATION21:5

And the one sitting on the throne said, “Pay attention! I’m making everything

new!” and he says “Write! Because these words are trustworthy and true.”

Revelation

• Description of End of Time (?)

Final tribulations

• New heavens, new earth, new Jerusalem

End of suffering, beginning of reign of God

Revelation 21

• Begins description of new order

First things pass away

• God makes things new

Followed by description of New Jerusalem (paradise)

Common Themes• Isaiah and 2 Corinthians

New creation in God

• Blind servant and walking by faith, not by sight

• Isaiah and Revelation

New Jerusalem and return from exile

• New heavens and new earth (Isa 65:17, 66:22)

Common Themes

• New heavens and new earth (Isa. 65:17, 66:22)

Common Tradition

• God living among people

Grammatical Ties• All three use ka/inh, as opposed

to other words (e.g. ne/oß)

• opposition to ‘old things’

• aÓrcai√a and prw◊ta

• use and tense of poiw◊

• relation to hRcOo

Grammatical Ties

• Verb tense in Corinthians and Revelation

All three use i˙dou\

Conclusions

• Did Paul and John have Isaiah in mind when they wrote?

Common traditions

• Grammatical evidence

Christian appropriation of Isaiah

• Why is Isaiah cited in 2 Corinthians and Revelation?

God’s work

• Theme of newness

Living as a new creation

• What are the theological implications of this connection?

Nature of God

• Work of God

• Renewal

• Creation

kai/nh kti/siß

Sources• Blenkinsopp, Joseph. "Isaiah 40-55" The

Anchor Bible. Doubleday, New York. c. 2002

Childs, Brevard S. "Isaiah." The Old Testament Library. Westminster John Knox Press, Louisville. c. 2001

• Düsterdieck, Friedrich. "Critical and Exegetical Handbook to the Revelation of John." Meyer's Commentary on the New Testament. Funk & Wagnalls, New York. c. 1887

• Harris, Murray J. "The Second Epistle to the Corinthians." The New International Greek Testament Commentary. Eerdmans Publishing, Grand Rapids. c. 2005

• Schramm, Brooks. Class notes. Spring 2007