Isaiah (NIV Application Commentary | NIVAC)

by John Oswalt

Publisher:

Zondervan

, 2003

Overview

Isaiah wrestles with the realities of people who aren’t convicted by the truth but actually hardened by it, as well as with a God whose actions sometimes seem unintelligible, or even worse, absent. Yet Isaiah penetrates beyond these experiences to an even greater reality. Isaiah sees God’s rule over history and his capacity to take the worst of human actions and use it for good. He declares the truth that, even in the darkest hours, the Holy One of Israel is infinitely trustworthy.

Key Features

• Treats all the elements of traditional exegesis
• Compares the original context and the contemporary context
• Engages contemporary life and culture

Contents

Top Highlights

“I believe that the sign as originally given had a single meaning but a double significance. Its meaning is that God is with us and we need not fear what other human beings may do to us. The first significance is for Ahaz’s own day. He need not go to Assyria because God is with Judah.” (Page 140)

“Isaiah makes it explicit that this Servant is ‘the arm of the Lord’ that had been promised (53:1). But that report is clearly disbelieved. Why? Three reasons are given. (1) He comes onto the scene in a quiet and unassuming way (53:2). (2) He has no extraordinary beauty or attractiveness to draw people to him; his ‘appearance’ was quite ordinary. (3) Finally, he is rejected because he takes on himself the pain and ‘suffering’ of the world (53:3).” (Page 584)

“Seeing God and serving God. It is foolish for us to think that we can somehow serve God until we have come to the end of ourselves. As long as we think there is some hope of a human solution to our problems, there is little chance of our genuinely seeing God. Nor is there hope for any of us becoming servants of the living God without there first being an adequate understanding of who he is. As long as I think that I can solve my problems (with a little help from God, of course), then I am the sovereign and he is the servant.” (Page 130)

“The question of the Lord’s trustworthiness has been thoroughly answered. But the question remains: What will motivate the people of God to actually trust him and become the servants that they are called to be? Furthermore, how will it be possible for sinful Israel to become God’s servants at all? What is to be done about the sin that has alienated them from God?” (Page 442)

Praise for the Print Edition

This is the pulpit commentary for the twenty-first century.

—George K. Brushaber, president, Bethel College and Seminary

The NIV Application Commentary meets the urgent need for an exhaustive and authoritative commentary based on the New International Version. This series will soon be found in libraries and studies throughout the evangelical community.

—James Kennedy, Senior Minister, Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church

It is encouraging to find a commentary that is not only biblically trustworthy but also contemporary in its application. The NIV Application Commentary will prove to be a helpful tool in the pastor’s sermon preparation. I use it and recommend it.

—Charles F. Stanley, pastor, First Baptist Church of Atlanta

Product Details

• Title: Isaiah
• Author: John Oswalt
• Series: NIV Application Commentary
• Publisher: Zondervan
• Print Publication Date: 2003
• Logos Release Date: 2010
• Pages: 736
• Era: era:contemporary
• Language: English
• Resources: 1
• Format: Digital › Logos Research Edition
• Subject: Bible. O.T. Isaiah › Commentaries
• ISBNs: 9780310283447, 9780310206132, 0310283442, 0310206138
• Resource ID: LLS:NIVAC23IS
• Resource Type: Bible Commentary
• Metadata Last Updated: 2022-09-30T01:50:35Z

About John Oswalt

Dr. John Oswalt returned to the Asbury Theological Seminary faculty in 2009 as visiting distinguished professor of Old Testament. He served as research professor of Old Testament at Wesley Biblical Theological Seminary in Jackson, Miss., since 1999. Prior to that, he was professor of Old Testament and Semitic Languages at Asbury Seminary from 1989 to 1999. This was his second term on Asbury Seminary’s faculty, having first served from 1970 to 1982. In the interim, he was president of Asbury College from 1983 to 1986 and a member of the faculty of Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Deerfield, Ill., from 1986 to 1989. Oswalt received a B.A. from Taylor University; a B.D. and Th.M. from Asbury Seminary; and a M.A. and Ph.D. from Brandeis University. His writings have appeared in Bible encyclopedias, scholarly journals and popular religious periodicals. Many of his these articles have dealt with the application of Biblical teachings to modern ethical questions. He has written eight books. His most recent book is a study of I John, entitled On Being a Christian (Francis Asbury Press, 2008). He was the Old Testament editor of the Wesley Bible, a study Bible from the Wesleyan perspective published by Thomas Nelson Publishers in 1990. He also served as consulting editor for the New International Dictionary of Old Testament Theology and Exegesis (Zondervan, 1997). He was a member of the New International Version translation team, and is currently one of a six-member editorial team that has revised the Living Bible (New Living Translation, 1996), and is continuing the revision process with Tyndale House Publishers. Oswalt is an ordained minister in the United Methodist Church, with membership in the Kentucky Annual Conference. He has served as a part-time pastor to congregations in New England and Kentucky, and is a frequent speaker in conferences, camps and local churches. He is married to the former Karen Kennedy, and they have three children and two grandchildren.