The
Sealed Scroll
In verses 11 and 12 of this
week's segment, we read: "For you the revelation of all this
has become like the words of a sealed scroll. When it is handed
to one who can read, with the request, "Read this," he
replies, "I cannot; it is sealed." When it is handed
to one who cannot read, with the request, 'Read this,' he replies,
'I cannot read.'" In these verses, Isaiah uses
two words that are of interest to us: "scroll" and "sealed."
The Hebrew word for scroll is "sep er" and the
word for "sealed" is "hehatum."
This article will take a closer look at these terms and their meaning
as used in the Bible.
Isaiah had previously
given instruction: "The record is to be folded and the sealed
instruction kept among my disciples. . . . Then this document
will furnish its instruction" (8:16,20). As God's Word
began to be written down, they used the medium of the day, scrolls.
In pre-Christian times,
the scroll was a sheet of papyrus, parchment, or leather, about
9 inches wide and 35 feet long. After the 1st century AD,
the "codex" was invented, the precursor of our modern
book. The papyrus roll was cut into pages, which were sometimes
folded, laid on a pile and then bound together on the left hand
side.
Our review of the use of
"scroll" will focus on it's use to record God's word.
We begin with Nehemiah 8:5,8 where there is a solemn reading
of the Law of Moses: "Esra opened the scroll so that all the
people might see it. . . . And, as he opened it, all the people
rose. . . . Ezra read plainly from the book of the law of
God, interpreting it so that all could understand what was read."
Psalm 40:8-9 not
only links the scroll to God's Word, but expresses the proper attitude
toward this Word: "In the written scroll it is prescribed for
me. To do your will, Oh my God, is my delight, and your law
is within my heart."
In Ezekiel we are
told that the words in the scroll are not only wonderful to receive
within ourselves, but are given to be shared with others: "It
was then I saw a hand stretched out to me, in which was a written
scroll which he unrolled before me. It was covered with writing
front and back, and written on it was: 'Lamentation and wailing
and woe!'" (2:9-10). "He said to me: 'Son of man,
eat what is before you; eat this scroll, then go, speak to the house
of Israel.' So I opened my mouth and he gave me the scroll
to eat. 'Son of man,' he then said to me, 'feed your belly
and fill your stomach with this scroll I am giving you.' I
ate it, and it was as sweet as honey in my mouth. He said:
'Son of man, go now to the house of Israel, and speak my words to
them'" (3:1-4).
The plot thickens further
in a reading from Jeremiah. While continuing the
above theme of the scroll containing the word and commands of God,
rejection and sin enter the drama: "Baruch said: 'Jeremiah
dictated all these words to me, and I wrote them down with ink in
the scroll. . . . Leaving the scroll in safekeeping they entered
the room where the king was . . . . and read it to the king and
to all the princes. . . . Each time Jehudi finished reading
three or four columns, the king would cut off the piece with a scribe's
knife and cast it into the fire until the entire roll was consumed
in the fire. . . . The Lord now says of Jehoaiakim, King of
Judah. . . . I will punish him and his descendants and his ministers
for their wickedness'" (36:18-21; 23; 30-31).
The prophet Daniel introduces
the word, "sealed," and speaks of "scroll" in
an apocalyptic way: "At that time, there shall arise Michael,
the great prince, guardian of your people. . . . At that time
your people shall escape, everyone who is found written in the book.
. . . As for you, Daniel, keep secret the message and seal
the book until the end time; many shall fall away and evil shall
increase. . . . Go, Daniel, because the words are to be kept
secret and sealed until the end time" (Dan 12:1,4,9).
We find two meaningful examples
in the NT. In Luke we hear of the scroll
as containing an OT prophesy which is to be fulfilled in Christ:
"Jesus stood up to read and was handed a scroll of the prophet
Isaiah. He unrolled the scroll and found the passage where
it was written: 'The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has
anointed me to bring glad tidings to the poor. . . .' Rolling
up the scroll, he handed it back to the attendant and sat down,
and the eyes of all in the synagogue looked intently at him.
He said to them: 'Today this scripture passage is fulfilled in your
hearing'" (Lk 4:16-18, 20-21).
The other NT text
is the Book of Revelation where the sealed scroll contains
words of revelation which only Jesus Christ can open. Here
are highlights: "I saw a scroll in the right hand of the one
who sat on the throne. It was sealed with seven seals.
Then I saw a mighty angel who proclaimed, 'who is worthy to open
the scroll and break its seals?' But no one was able to open
the scroll or to examine it. I shed many tears because no one was
found worthy to open the scroll or examine it. One of the
elders said to me, 'Do not weep. The lion of the tribe of
Judah, the root of David, has triumphed, enabling him to open the
scroll with its seven seals.' Then I saw. . . a lamb that
seemed to have been slain. . . . He came and received the
scroll from the right hand of the one who sat on the throne.
They sang a new hymn: 'Worthy are you to receive the scroll and
to break open its seals, for you were slain and with your blood
you purchased for God those from every tribe and tongue, people
and nation'" (5:1-9).
In Isaiah 29:11-12,
the focus is on who would open the seal so that God's word through
the prophet would be heard. No one will. The educated
were unwilling; the uneducated were unable. These are the
people Isaiah is dealing with. In being closed to his prophetic
message, they are closed to the Word of God. In the following
verse, Isaiah uses another image, "heart," to explain.
"This people draws near with words only and honors me with
their lips alone, but their hearts are far from me" (13).
God's Word written on a
scroll is not complete until it enters into our hearts and we respond
with devotion and fidelity. This is the message of the prophets!
"Hear me, you who know justice, you people who have my teaching
at heart" (Is 51:7). "But this is the covenant which
I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the
Lord. I will place my law within them, and write it upon their
hearts; I will be their God and they shall be my people" (Jer
31:33).
|
| Text:
Isaiah 29:1-12
1 Woe to Ariel, Ariel, the city where
David encamped! Add year to year, let the feasts come round.
2 But I will bring distress upon Ariel,
with mourning and grief. You shall be to me like Ariel,
3 I will encamp like
David against you; I will encircle you with outposts and set up
siege works against you.
4 Prostrate you shall speak from the
earth, and from the base dust your words shall come. Your voice
shall be like a ghost's from the earth, and your words like chirping
from the dust.
5 The horde of your arrogant shall
be like fine dust, the horde of the tyrants like flying chaff.
Then suddenly, in an instant,
6 you shall be visited by the LORD
of hosts, With thunder, earthquake, and great noise, whirlwind,
storm, and the flame of consuming fire.
7 Then like a dream, a vision in the
night, Shall be the horde of all the nations who war against Ariel
with all the earthworks of her besiegers.
8 As when a hungry man dreams he is
eating and awakens with an empty stomach, Or when a thirsty man
dreams he is drinking and awakens faint and dry, So shall the horde
of all the nations be, who make war against Zion.
9 Be irresolute, stupefied; blind
yourselves and stay blind! Be drunk, but not from wine, stagger,
but not from strong drink!
10 For the LORD has poured out on
you a spirit of deep sleep. He has shut your eyes (the prophets)
and covered your heads (the seers).
11 For you the revelation of all this
has become like the words of a sealed scroll. When it is handed
to one who can read, with the request, "Read this," he
replies, "I cannot; it is sealed."
12 When it is handed to one
who cannot read, with the request, "Read this" he replies,
"I cannot read."
|