Notes

Isaiah 44 - Idols

Isaiah 44: 24 “This is what the Lord says—
    your Redeemer, who formed you in the womb:
I am the Lord,
    the Maker of all things,
    who stretches out the heavens,
    who spreads out the earth by myself,

This chapter of Isaiah focuses intensely on the Idols of Israel’s neighbors and foes. Other (non-Israelite) cultures in the old testament did not think of the Idols themselves being Gods but believed that the presence or spirit of the deity came to inhabit the Idol which they had made in his/her honor. Also being addressed in this chapter is the popular (at the time) that the gods existed as some sort of consortium or team(s).

by myself (in 44:24). The fact that the Bible portrays Yahweh as having no pantheon means that all divine activity is carried out by him. This is in contrast to many of the traditions of the ancient Near East, where various deities were involved with different aspects of creation. Another common belief in the ancient Near Eastern creation traditions is that cosmic elements came into being through the birth of the gods associated with those elements, rather than by a creative act of a deity. This concept of creation through procreation maintains that cosmogony (the origins of the cosmos) is related to theogony (the origins of the gods). Such a concept is rejected in this text. Yahweh has no consort, and therefore neither he nor the cosmos is the result of pro-creation, nor does he carry out his creative activity by means of procreation. (There have been some inscriptions found in Palestine that imply that some Israelites believed that Yahweh had Asherah, a Canaanite goddess, as his consort. These texts are in direct contradiction to the writings of the Old Testament.)

- IVP Bible Background Commentary, 629

Cyrus

Isaiah 44:28 who says of Cyrus, ‘He is my shepherd
and will accomplish all that I please;
he will say of Jerusalem, “Let it be rebuilt,”
and of the temple, “Let its foundations be laid.”’

Cyrus the Great, also known as Cyrus II, was the founder of the Persian (Achaemenid) Empire, which was one of the most significant empires of the ancient world. Cyrus ruled from 559 BC to 530 BC and is considered one of the most influential figures in the history of Iran. He came from a family of Persian nobles and belonged to the Achaemenid dynasty, which had been established by his grandfather.

here you can see the place of Cyrus in the story of Israel’s exile and return. Isaiah is outside (before) the scope of dates shown in this graphic.

Cyrus doesn’t take power until more than 100 years after Isaiah is prophesying. For more on that discussion, look back to the week

Cyrus was known for his military conquests and his skill in governing. He was a skilled strategist and led his armies to victories against the Medes, Babylonians, and Lydians. One of his most notable achievements was the conquest of Babylon, which he accomplished by diverting the Euphrates River and marching his army into the city on the dry riverbed. After taking Babylon, Cyrus issued the famous Cyrus Cylinder, which is considered the world's first declaration of human rights. The cylinder, which is now housed in the British Museum, declared that Cyrus would respect the customs and religions of the people he conquered and that he would return their artifacts and restore their temples. He even allowed the Jews of Judea to return to their homeland and rebuild their temple in Jerusalem after they had been exiled by the Babylonians (150 years after Isaiah). This first wave of the return of exiles would take place in 536 BC under Zerubbabel and is described in Ezra 1-6)

Isaiah 47 - The Fall of Babylon

The Babylonian Empire fell to the Persians in 539 BC. The Babylonian Empire was ruled by a series of kings who were not always effective in their leadership. The last Babylonian king, Nabonidus, was particularly weak, he neglected the Babylonian gods and instead worshiped the moon god Sin, which caused religious unrest in the empire. Additionally, he spent much of his time in the Arabian desert, leaving his son Belshazzar in charge of the empire. The empire was plagued by political and religious unrest, with different factions vying for power. The Babylonians had a history of rebellion and political instability, and this made it difficult for the empire to maintain its strength and unity.

Finally, the Babylonian Empire faced external pressures from other empires, particularly the Persian Empire. The Persians were a rising power in the region, and they were able to conquer the Babylonians with relative ease. Cyrus the Great, the Persian king, marched his armies into Babylon and conquered the city without much resistance. He diverted the Euphrates River, which flowed through the city, and his troops entered Babylon on the dry riverbed. The Persian Empire became the dominant power in the region, and Babylon lost its status as the center of the Mesopotamian world, just as God says they will, right here in Isaiah 47.

John 11 - Bethany

John 11 begins with Jesus in a very tight spot. Remember that he just recently fled Judea into Perea so that he could escape the Jewish rulers who were trying to stone him for blasphemy. Now he receives word that Lazarus, his dear friend, is sick and in need of his help. The reason this is a tough spot is because of where Lazarus lives, Bethany. Bethany is extremely close to Jerusalem (see v. 18), they are only separated by the Mount (big hill) of Olives and Kidron Valley. This is why the discussion that Jesus has with his disciples in the opening verses is so tense and dramatic. They believe that Jesus will face his death there - - they aren't wrong. Don’t miss Thomas’s commendable bravery in verse 16; it often gets forgotten when we remember him as the “doubter” of the resurrection.

John 11: Jewish Burial practices

11:38. People were often buried in caves. Although some tombs were vertical shafts, as a cave this one probably had the body laying horizontally. The body would be left to decompose for one year, then its bones would be placed in an ossuary (bone box), which in turn would typically be slid into a slot on the wall. Stones (often disk-shaped) covered many tomb openings and would keep out animals, the elements and occasionally robbers.
11:39. The body would be wrapped and left lying on the floor in the tomb’s antechamber; only after a year, when the flesh had fully decomposed, would family members return to collect the bones into a box, which they would then slide into a slot on the wall. After four days (11:17), decomposition was well under way, especially because it was probably no longer winter (11:55). Whatever spices they may have used to delay the stench (see comment on Mk 16:1) would no longer be sufficient. Some scholars note a later rabbinic tradition that the soul left the body only after three days; if the idea is this early, the fourth day could emphasize the miracle’s greatness.
11:43-44. The deceased would be wrapped in long cloth strips, often mentioned in ancient Jewish texts. This wrapping was thorough, binding the limbs to keep them straight and even the cheeks to keep the mouth shut; the facecloth may have been a yard square. John’s ancient audience would recognize that this tight wrapping would have made it hard enough for a living person to walk, not to mention a formerly dead person coming forth from the entrance to the tomb; this difficulty probably further underscores the miraculous nature of this event. Men could not wrap women’s corpses, but women could wrap both men and women, so Lazarus may have been wrapped by his sisters.

Keener, Craig S.. The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament (p. 283). InterVarsity Press.

Week 12 - Isaiah 43-47 & John 11 (March 19-25)