Connectivity and the Mind of God
I am convinced that the Bible is a magnificent, inspired, preplanned whole. But practically, how does one connect the details of one book of Scripture, to the rest of the Bible?
The most recent book ISAIAH REVISITED, A Structural View, is a book on structure. It is a bottom’s up approach, starting with the structural details. That is what structural engineers do, they don’t build on sand, they start with a firm foundation. Then they design and build upwards. Believe me, you would not want to be walking in an elegant skyway of associative logic, with that skyway just sort of “hanging there” unsupported. But the interconnections of associative thinking are very important as well, so again, how do we establish that bridge? An answer to that is in bold face type below.
ISAIAH REVISITED has a quite basic purpose: To help people read Isaiah! The reflective or chiastic poetic structures in the book cannot be easily found, and then read the way they should be read. This book marks the start and end of them. Helping people read Isaiah, without getting in the way of what the author Isaiah wrote, is enough for one book. However, the book lays a foundation for future connection to some larger things:
It provides a start towards connecting the theme of the Isaiah to the rest of the Scriptures including connecting backwards to the Torah, and the use of the words “near” and “far” there, and also the use of these words in later Scripture.
It helps us understand God’s plan of salvation.
It helps us better see the prophecy of the coming of Christ.
Seeing and understanding Isaiah’s inspired and magnificent poetry will help readers to better know the mind of God. Understanding something of the mind of God, and how infinitely higher God is than we are, and this is at least in part what Paul comes to as he quotes from Isaiah at Romans 11:34 and 1 Corinthians 2:9. A key thing to note is that Paul’s references to Isaiah are usually from structurally significant locations, from inclusio, chiastic centers, and such. Paul deeply understood Isaiah, and it is a completely wrong view to imagine that Paul just sort of found verses that agreed with what he was writing.
So you see, the answer to the question of how to establish connectivity of one book to the whole is to see what the Bible says about itself. It is a study which requires time.
The beautiful astounding composition of Isaiah, and the way it is interconnected with all of God’s plan set in eternity is one thing giving us an inkling of the mind of God. Our Christian faith is a profoundly deep and rich heritage. Our salvation was all planned in advance.
God wants us to know His Word, and I mean we should know the details of it (not just like a late-night cram session with an outline version for a semester final). As an educator I would never have pulled this punch in the classroom: We need to know it! Bible study requires a lifetime, and it cannot be understood all at once. Having dedicated a decade to the structural details of Isaiah, I am convinced that this book will help people get about a ten-year head start on the structure of Isaiah. Be deeply rooted. Build on a solid foundation.