Bob and Isaiah

A friend of mine and I were reading a segment of Isaiah, Chapter 60, comparing it to the coming of three wise men to Jesus:

"And all of from Sheba will come, bearing gold and incense and proclaiming the praise of the Lord...all Kedar's flocks will be gathered to you, the rams of Nabaioth will serve you...bringing your sons from afar with their silver and gold, to the honor of the Lord, your God the Holy One of Israel, for he has endowed you with splendor..."  Isaiah 60:7-9

We wrestled through the third person pronouns - there's the "praise of the Lord," and "flocks gathered to you" and "your sons from afar" and  "your God the Holy One of Israel" who has "endowed you with splendor..."

Whew.  The Lord, you, your sons...and all from Isaiah, the prophet. Is the you, the "you" of Isaiah's time? Or maybe the prophetic "you" of Jesus' time...? Or both ?

Well, that's what Bible studies and pastor's are for, so I'll leave that to you for additional study and prayer.

I looked at my friend and said, "you know, Isaiah is like the Bob Dylan of the Old Testament," and he laughed. But it was just like Bob to mix his use of "I" and "me" and "you" to mean the same, or different people in his lyrics:

"And every one of those words rang true, they glowed like burning coals,

pouring off of every page like it was written in my soul, from me - to you...

Tangled up in blue."  Bob Dylan, Blood on the Tracks.

Bob's content isn't quite as lofty as that of Isaiah...but sometimes you wonder if he's gotten more attention than his predecessor, at least in our lifetime. It is a catchy tune.

In the end, maybe it's that one wrote to share his inspiration, and one wrote of what he was inspired to share.

What do you believe?