The Scroll of Yeshayahu: The Unfolding Reflections of the Ancient and Coming Worlds — Judah, Jerusalem, and the Ends of the Earth

Copyright © 2020 Xavier Montañez.

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ISBN: 978-1-6642-0192-7 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-6642-0194-1 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-6642-0193-4 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2020914947

WestBow Press rev. date: 08/26/2020

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture taken from the New King James Version®.

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To my father,

who first allowed me to ask questions.

CONTENTS

Preface

Introduction

PART 1: HOMOLOGOUSLY ENCRYPTED

1. A Mile-High Synopsis

2. Structural Similarities

3. Old Testament Parallels

4. New Testament Parallels

PART 2: PANORAMIC PERSPECTIVES

5. Bucket A: Historical Predictions (800 BC–1 BC)

6. Identifying the Lord’s Servant

7. Bucket B: Messianic Predictions

8. Bucket C: Eschatological Predictions

PART 3: VISIONS OF DIVINE PERSONALITY

9. Logical Blunders

10. Eschatological Mix-Ups

11. New Testament Allusions

APPENDIX

A Question of Authorship: Did More Than One Person Write Isaiah?

References

TABLE OF FIGURES

0.1 Book of Isaiah, Dead Sea Scrolls

2.1 Old Testament Organization Schemes

4.1 Overview of Homologous Structures

5.1 Isaiah’s Prophetic Timeline and Designation of Buckets

5.2 Isaiah’s Prophetic Timeline and Designation of Buckets

5.3 Assyrian Invasion of Israeli-Syrian Alliance

5.4 Assyria’s failed invasion of Judah

5.5 Babylonian Invasion of Assyria

5.6 Egyptian cities with Jewish Quarters

6.1 Uses of the word Servant from Ch. 40–53

6.2 References to Jacob and Israel from Ch. 40–53

8.1 Summarizing Isaiah’s Prophecies

9.1 The Root and the Shoot of Jesse

11.1 Summary of Divine Attributes and Personalities in Isaiah

A.1 Similar Uses of Language in Both Halve s of Isaiah

PREFACE

T he impetus for the present work is, with all sincerity, to be found at the feet of Mr. David Pawson, British international Bible expositor.

It was during one of his seminars in May of 2011, while I attended the Forerunner School of Ministry in Kansas City, Missouri, that the seeds that later became this volume were planted.

During the course of his lecture entitled How to Study the Bible, many of my previously held perspectives on the scriptures were absolutely shattered—perspectives which were formed over the course of twenty years of one who had grown up in the church, a convinced believer in Jesus and avid reader of the Bible.

For decades I had read and even memorized scriptures devoid of their true context. Personally, I was convicted of this practice and felt the need to rectify the situation.

I proposed to reread all the scriptures starting from Genesis, however, my zeal was quickly exhausted somewhere between Leviticus and Numbers. Perhaps my goal was too ambitious, so instead, I simplified the task, aiming to fully comprehend just one single book.

And so in the summer of 2011 I began to study the prophet Isaiah, only to be surprised by the richness and depth of his writings. Initially, I had no intentions of producing any sort of written volume; my main objective was simply to study the scriptures and rectify this decades-long disinformation and biblical deficiency. However, along the journey of attempting to understand this one book, oftentimes I was asked questions about faith and scripture, for which, surprisingly, it seemed that material from Isaiah could provide an adequate answer.

When certain questions (or problems) arose more than once, I decided proper documentation was needed, particularly because of my terrible memory, thus enabling me to reference the content more efficiently. The answers to such questions are in essence what this work is composed of. These were questions that cover topics on faith and reason; questions like Do we have adequate grounds for believing the scriptures to be true?; questions on hermeneutics, Bible study, and the deity of Jesus.

Thus, my hope is not only that this work will serve as a launching pad into the study of the scriptures, much as Mr. Pawson’s lecture did for me, but also as we examine the contents of the prophet Isaiah, building on a foundation of the certainty of the Holy Scriptures, that they would come alive personally and you would be filled with a greater passion for the written word and ultimately the word made flesh, even Jesus Christ.

Xavier Montañez

Colorado Springs, Colorado

Spring 2020

INTRODUCTION

P enned in just forty years, the writings of Yeshayahu in the Great Isaiah Scroll entertain the subject matter of the past, present, and future with a divine and panoramic perspective.

Should the Egyptian pyramids or the edifices of Stonehenge be of human interest, the writings of Isaiah outshine them as more than a quaint reminder of bewildering achievements in civilizations past—indeed; a living document of the human story traced through the Hebraic nation.

Preserved in the caves of Qumran, the Great Isaiah Scroll is perhaps one of the most well-documented and complete ancient writings we have in our possession. ¹ Today it lives in the collection of the Jewish and Christian Scriptures and is a remarkable document on many accounts.

In it we are presented with a myriad of astounding predictions: historical events spanning over a thousand years, specifics on the character of Israel’s messiah, and accounts of the end of human history.

Yet, despite Isaiah’s popularity among many, in modern times his writings have been largely misunderstood, neglected, and increasingly decontextualized; consequently, the richness of his prophecies has been lost.

In this compilation of reflections we will examine some of the most significant patterns, predictions, and theological messages in the document.

In Part 1, Homologously Encrypted, we examine the structure of Isaiah’s document, making the startling discovery that the document as a whole appears to foreshadow the collection it is a part of—the canon of scriptures. We will get a grasp for the flow of the book in juxtaposition to the biblical scriptures in the Jewish Tanakh and New Testament writings.

In Part 2, Panoramic Perspectives, we will examine much of the text’s predictive contents, tracing their fulfillment through historical documents or, where yet unfulfilled, expand on these futuristic predictions with the aid of complementary eschatological texts. In chapter 6, Identifying the Lord’s Servant, we also explore the Servant Songs in Isaiah, a collection of four poems found in chapters 40–55.

Finally, in Part 3, Visions of Divine Personality, we will lay a defense for the deity of Messiah. No other prophet establishes the oneness of the creator as does Isaiah, ² yet albeit somewhat paradoxically, numerous characters and personalities presented in the text appear to possess his divine attributes and responsibilities.

Each section includes a series of supplemental charts and visualizations to help summarize the content matter therein presented.

In the process, the reader will not only gain a deeper understanding of the book of Isaiah but will become better acquainted with the books of the Bible as a whole. These are great exercises for gaining familiarity with the scriptures and can be applied to the study of other biblical texts.

Finally, in the Appendix, we have also included considerations for questions on the authenticity and authorship of the text. Is Isaiah the work of a single author?

The study of Isaiah has inspired many throughout the ages, from Messiah, Handel’s epic oratorio, to inscriptions on monuments at the United Nations headquarters.

I invite you on this journey in discovering the remarkable writings of Isaiah, I trust it will be nothing short of transformative.

Fig. 0.1: Book of Isaiah, Dead Sea Scrolls. In 1948 an entire copy of the book was unearthed in the caves of Qumran. Using carbon-14 dating methods, the age of the scrolls have been estimated to 335–324 BC. ³ The copy of the original scroll is now housed at the Shrine of the Book in