Prophetic Utterance. This Is Appendix 82 From The Companion Bible. It is clear that there was an appropriate and
recognized style of prophetic address, and of the introduction to special
prophetic utterances.
By attending to this we shall read the prophetic
books to an advantage that cannot be realized by submitting, without
thought, to the superficial guidance of chapter-beginning and
chapter-ending. These will be found of little use in helping us to
distinguish separate and distinct prophecies.
In J In E In the Minor (or Shorter) Prophets, it is "The
word of the L In I An illustrative example of the usefulness of noting
these formulę is furnished by Isaiah 34 and 35. Most
Commentators make chapter 35 commence a new prophecy, and thus entirely
obscure the great issue of the prophecy, which begins in chapter
34: The Call is to witness Jehovah's J Thus the prophecy is seen to have no break, but forms
one complete and comprehensive whole, embracing these two great parts of
one subject.
In chapter 34 we have the desolation of Edom : wild
beasts celebrate the discomfiture of its inhabitants : then, in chapter
35, the wilderness and solitary place are seen to be glad; and, as it
were, in sympathy with Divine judgment, the desert rejoices and blossoms
as the rose (35: In the result, chapter 35 shows that the People of
Jehovah enjoy the inheritance of the Edomites. Not only are their enemies
gone, but so are the wild beasts which were at once the evidences and
tokens of their judgment. It will have become the way of holiness; the
unclean shall not pass over it; no lion shall be there, but the redeemed
shall walk there (35: But all the beauty of this wonderful transition is
lost, when chapter 35 is made the beginning of a new and distinct
prophecy; and, more than this, the difficulty is created by the Hebrew
suffix "for them", in 35: The two chapters (34 and 35) form a comprehensive
message, a matter of world concern : for it combined an implied
vindication of the righteousness of God, and a confirmation of His promise
to save His People Israel with an everlasting salvation.
A failure to recognize the formula of
Isaiah's prophetic utterances led, first, to a misapplication of the
chapter, and then to an unjustifiable disregard of the pronominal suffix.
This typical case of confusion, resulting primarily
from an unfortunate arrangement in chapter-division, suggests the great
importance of care being exercised in a correct individualizing of the
prophecies of Holy Scripture. 1 Without the article. For the expression "THE Son of Man" belongs only to Him Who was "the second man", "the last Adam", the successor or superseder of "the first man Adam" to Whom dominion in the earth is now committed. Compare Genesis 1:26, Psalm 8:1, 9; and verses 4-6, Hebrews 2:8 "not yet". See Appendix 98. |