The Glory of Kings: A Festschrift for James B. Jordan

Fyodor Dostoevsky
(Christian Encounters Series)

Athanasius
(Foundations of Theological Exegesis and Christian Spirituality)

The Four: A Survey of the Gospels

Defending Constantine: The Twilight of an Empire and the Dawn of Christendom

From Behind the Veil: The Epistles of John

Deep Exegesis:The Mystery of Reading Scripture

Jane Austen
(A Biography)

Solomon Among the Postmoderns

The Baptized Body

1 & 2 Kings
Brazos Theological Commentary

The Promise Of His Appearing: An Exposition Of Second Peter

A Great Mystery: Fourteen Wedding Sermons

Deep Comedy: Trinity, Tragedy, And Hope In Western Literature

Miniatures & Morals: The Christian Novels of Jane Austen

The Priesthood of the Plebs: A Theology of Baptism

A Son To Me: An Exposition of 1 & 2 Samuel

Against Christianity

From Silence to Song: The Davidic Liturgical Revolution

Ascent to Love: A Guide to Dante's Divine Comedy

Blessed Are the Hungry: Meditations on the Lord's Supper

A House For My Name: A Survey of the Old Testament

Heroes of the City of Man: A Christian Guide to Select Ancient Literature

Brightest Heaven of Invention: A Christian Guide To Six Shakespeare Plays

Wise Words: Family Stories That Bring the Proverbs to Life

The Kingdom and the Power: Rediscovering the Centrality of the Church

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Bible - OT - Isaiah: Ahaz’s water

Isaiah 8 gives Israel a choice of water.  If they don’t want teh gentle waters of Shiloah, He’ll provide other water.

Shiloah is the water source for Jerusalem.  It was a stream running from outside the city into the city, and it was the source that kept Jerusalem fruitful and alive.  Isaiah uses that water source as an image of Yahweh’s provision, of Yahweh Himself.  He is the gently flowing waters of Judah, the source that turns Jerusalem into a garden city. There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God – that river is Yahweh Himself.  But Judah has rejected that stream, and at least some in Judah are ready to put in their lot with Rezin and Pekah.  They don’t rejoice in Yahweh and His water, but rejoice instead in the political alliance that will project them against the Assyrians.  What will keep Judah alive is not the spring that is Yahweh, but an alliance that will protect Jerusalem’s water source.

Ahaz himself, as we see in 2 Kings, is relying on Assyria.  He makes an alliance with Assyria rather than rely on Yahweh.  He is afraid that if he doesn’t ally with Assyria, the Assyrian king will come down and cut off the stream of Shiloah, interrupted Judah’s water supply.  If he doesn’t rely on the waters of the Euphrates, he may end up with no water at all.   “You want Assyrian water, you get Assyrian water,” Yahweh says.  More than ever you wanted, more than you can use, water from the Euphrates so abundant that it will overflow everything and wash away everything in its path.  The wings of the Assyrians will spread out over Judah and Jerusalem, covering the whole breadth of Abraham’s land.