He Gave Us Prophets: Unfolding EschatologySample

Mosaic Pattern of Judgment and Restoration: Isaiah 44:21-22

Moses presented a pattern of a national judgment leading to exile which would be followed by repentance leading to a great restoration. Old Testament prophets spent much of their time warning of the coming exile. Again, following Moses, the prophets before Daniel never gave up hope that repentance and forgiveness would take place in the exile. In fact, the prophets believed that God would supernaturally renew the remnant of his people in exile and give them forgiveness. As Isaiah puts it in Isaiah 10:20: 

In that day the remnant of Israel, the survivors of the house of Jacob, will no longer rely on him who struck them down but will truly rely on the Lord, the Holy One of Israel.

Jeremiah spoke similarly when he announced that the people who would be taken into exile would receive a new heart of faithfulness and obedience to God’s law. In Jeremiah 31:33 we read these words about the exiles: 

I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people.

The early prophets expected a change of heart in those who were taken into exile. 

But third, early Old Testament prophets also affirmed that the repentant remnant would be gathered back to the land of Israel for a great restoration. The words of Isaiah are to the point once again. In Isaiah 44:21-22 we read these words: 

Remember these things, O Jacob, for you are my servant, O Israel. I have made you, you are my servant; O Israel, I will not forget you. I have swept away your offenses like a cloud, your sins like the morning mist. Return to me, for I have redeemed you.

The early prophets made it very clear that the basic Mosaic eschatology was true. Israel was going into exile and repentance and forgiveness would lead to a restoration to the land. But the early prophets also added some special features to this basic Mosaic pattern.