Journal: Southeastern Theological Review
Volume: STR 12:1 (Spring 2021)
Article: What Isaiah Knew: The Lord Is God And There Is No Other
Author: Catherine McDowell

STR 12:1 (Spring 2021) p. 3

What Isaiah Knew: The Lord Is God And There Is No Other

Catherine McDowell

Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, Charlotte, NC

Despite being God’s covenant people, ancient Israel was deeply entrenched in idolatry for most of its pre-exilic history. In response, the prophets spoke sharply, often using startling imagery, sarcasm, and creative rhetorical strategies in an effort to seize Israel’s attention. Isaiah’s idol parodies, specifically Isa 40:18–20 and Isa 44:9–20, showcase his use of emphatic syntax, sarcasm, literary devices, foreign vocabulary, and interaction with idol-making rituals, perhaps the Mesopotamian Washing and Opening of the Mouth, by which gods were thought to become manifest in their statues. The result was not only an effective rhetorical strategy but one that highlights in a creative and convincing way Isaiah’s emphasis that Yahweh alone is God and there is no other.

Key Words: aniconism, idol making, idol parodies, idolatry, image, Isaiah, Monotheism, Washing and Opening of the Mouth, mīs pȋ pīt pȋ

Isaiah’s emphasis on “God alone” is a hallmark of the book that bears his name. To be sure, this is a biblical theme, but it is particularly prominent among the prophets who call Israel back to their exclusive covenant with Yahweh. The covenant demanded Israel’s full allegiance: “You shall have no other gods before me” (Exod 20:3). It also required Israel to abstain from fashioning idols: “You shall not make for yourself a carved image or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth” (Exod 20:4). Fidelity proved difficult for Israel to maintain. At Sinai, they created and then worshipped a golden calf (Exod 32), and later, at Shittim, they sacrificed to the Moabite god, Baal of Peor (Num 25:1–3; Deut 4:3). After settling in the promised land, they adopted Phoenician, Ammonite, Moabite, and Canaanite gods as their own, creating carved images of Baal and Asherah and worshipping them in shrines and temples they built in Samaria, Bethel, and Jerusalem (1 Kgs 11:15, 33; 2 Kgs 21; 23:13). In the Solomonic temple courts, Israel worshipped the hosts of heaven. During the reign of Manasseh, they sacr...