38:18–20 For Sheol cannot praise you, nor Death glorify you; those who go down into the Pit have no [further] hope of your faithfulness. But the living, only they bring you praise, as I do this day; from father to sons they pass on the knowledge of your faithfulness. O Jehovah, [may it please you] to save me, and we will perform music all the days of our lives in the house of Jehovah.
The synonymous parallelism of “Sheol” and “Death,” and the pairing of these terms with “the Pit,” likens all three to a state not just of physical death but of non-ascent as signified by the verb “go down.” What praises and glorifies God is his people’s experiencing spiritual rebirth and ascent in the land of the living after the pattern of King Hezekiah. Spiritual as well as physical “fathers”—proxy saviors under the terms of the Davidic Covenant (Isaiah 22:21; 49:22)—pass the knowledge of Jehovah’s “faithfulness” or “truth” (’emet) to their “sons”—their spiritual vassals—as did the prophet Isaiah to Hezekiah.
Exemplifying faithfulness is Jehovah, the God of Israel (cf. Revelation 19:11), who at all times sustains and comforts those who wait for him and who trust in his deliverance (Isaiah 12:2; 25:9; 26:3–4; 30:18; 40:31; 49:23; 64:4). The antithesis of Israel’s God as the source of eternal life and regeneration to his people (v 16; Isaiah 42:5) is Death, as typified by the king of Assyria/Babylon. Leaving his followers comfortless in their hour of need (Isaiah 14:20–22), the archtyrant ends up in the “Pit of Dissolution” (v 17), there to endure spiritual as well as physical death, or de-creation (Isaiah 14:15).
See more here and here
Buy the book
No comments:
Post a Comment
Please post a comment!