Isaiah 38 & 39

Isaiah Chapter 38

Hezekiah is Afflicted

Verse 1 In those days Hezekiah became mortally ill. And Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz came to him and said to him, “Thus says the Lord, ‘Set your house in order, for you shall die and not live.’” 2 Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord, 3 and said, “Remember now, O Lord, I beseech You, how I have walked before You in truth and with a whole heart, and have done what is good in Your sight.” And Hezekiah wept bitterly.

How would you feel if you received news that your number was up?   And that news being delivered by a confirmed prophet of God no less; there was no questioning, well maybe it’s not true?    What do you think Isaiah is saying when he says “set your house in order”?   If the Grim Reaper was at our door, what are some things we might want to do to “set our house in order”?  None of us knows the day of our death, but we ought to keep our house in order, and be ready at any time.

Then Hezekiah’s first response is prayer, that’s good, right?  I don’t want to read anything into the scripture, but I found myself a little uncomfortable with Hezekiah’s prayer.  The more I thought about it and read it, the more disturbed I got. He starts claiming favor with God because of his deeds; the way he’s lived; “I walked before you in truth, and a whole heart, and I’ve done good and right…”   Hezekiah did weep bitterly, was he sad for his sins, or was he sad he was dying?

Verse 4 Then the word of the Lord came to Isaiah, saying, 5 “Go and say to Hezekiah, ‘Thus says the Lord, the God of your father David, “I have heard your prayer, I have seen your tears; behold, I will add fifteen years to your life. 6 I will deliver you and this city from the hand of the king of Assyria; and I will defend this city.”’

So, the LORD sends Isaiah to tell Hezekiah, “just kidding, I didn’t mean it, I changed my mind”.   NO. God doesn’t kid around.   God means what He says.   God does not change His mind.   And God certainly does not lie.

Numbers 23:19 says “God is not a man, that He should lie, Nor a son of man, that He should repent; Has He said, and will He not do it? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?

God knew how Hezekiah would respond, Isaiah 46:10 Declaring the end from the beginning, And from ancient times things which have not been done, Saying, ‘My purpose will be established, And I will accomplish all My good pleasure’

We see in verse six that this chapter is actually looking forward to the Assyrian invasion, which actually happened in the prior two chapters, so this chapter is out of order.   Have you seen movies or read books where they use this method of storytelling?   It is a kind of a dramatic parenthesis; it is a type of literary device.   It kind of forces the reader to have to reconstruct the story in their mind to be able to track along.

Verse 7 “This shall be the sign to you from the Lord, that the Lord will do this thing that He has spoken: 8 Behold, I will cause the shadow on the stairway, which has gone down with the sun on the stairway of Ahaz, to go back ten steps.” So the sun’s shadow went back ten steps on the stairway on which it had gone down.

The sun went backward… pretty spectacular.  God had done a similar miracle in Joshua 10:7 So Joshua went up from Gilgal, he and all the people of war with him and all the valiant warriors. 8 The Lord said to Joshua, “Do not fear them, for I have given them into your hands; not one of them shall stand before you.” 9 So Joshua came upon them suddenly by marching all night from Gilgal. 10 And the Lord confounded them before Israel, and He slew them with a great slaughter at Gibeon, and pursued them by the way of the ascent of Beth-horon and struck them as far as Azekah and Makkedah. 11 As they fled from before Israel, while they were at the descent of Beth-horon, the Lord threw large stones from heaven on them as far as Azekah, and they died; there were more who died from the hailstones than those whom the sons of Israel killed with the sword. 12 Then Joshua spoke to the Lord in the day when the Lord delivered up the Amorites before the sons of Israel, and he said in the sight of Israel,

“O sun, stand still at Gibeon,
And O moon in the valley of Aijalon.”
13 So the sun stood still, and the moon stopped,
Until the nation avenged themselves of their enemies.

Is it not written in the book of Jashar? And the sun stopped in the middle of the sky and did not hasten to go down for about a whole day. 14 There was no day like that before it or after it, when the Lord listened to the voice of a man; for the Lord fought for Israel.

Signs in the heavens will also precede Christ’s we’re told, in Luke 21:25 “There will be signs in sun and moon and stars, and on the earth dismay among nations, in perplexity at the roaring of the sea and the waves, 26 men fainting from fear and the expectation of the things which are coming upon the world; for the powers of the heavens will be shaken. 27 Then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. 28 But when these things begin to take place, straighten up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.” 

Now, back to Isaiah 38, verse 9, it says, A writing of Hezekiah king of Judah after his illness and recovery:

10 I said, “In the middle of my life
I am to enter the gates of Sheol;
I am to be deprived of the rest of my years.”
11 I said, “I will not see the Lord,
The Lord in the land of the living;
I will look on man no more among the inhabitants of the world.
12 “Like a shepherd’s tent my dwelling is pulled up and removed from me;
As a weaver I rolled up my life.
He cuts me off from the loom;
From day until night You make an end of me.
13 “I composed my soul until morning.
Like a lion—so He breaks all my bones,
From day until night You make an end of me.
14 “Like a swallow, like a crane, so I twitter;
I moan like a dove;
My eyes look wistfully to the heights;
O Lord, I am oppressed, be my security.

15 “What shall I say?
For He has spoken to me, and He Himself has done it;
I will wander about all my years because of the bitterness of my soul.
16 “O Lord, by these things men live,
And in all these is the life of my spirit;
O restore me to health and let me live!
17 “Lo, for my own welfare I had great bitterness;
It is You who has kept my soul from the pit of nothingness,
For You have cast all my sins behind Your back.
18 “For Sheol cannot thank You,
Death cannot praise You;
Those who go down to the pit cannot hope for Your faithfulness.
19 “It is the living who give thanks to You, as I do today;
A father tells his sons about Your faithfulness.
20 “The Lord will surely save me;
So we will play my songs on stringed instruments
All the days of our life at the house of the Lord.”

First of all, let's just go through this section and talk about what it means…

1. He feels like he is being cut off in the prime of life (he’s 39 years old).
2. He feels like he won’t see the LORD wherever he’s going.
3. He definitely won’t see his fellow man anymore
4. He’s very sad and woeful. Have you ever heard a dove’s call?
5. He feels crushed as if a lion is chewing his bones.
6. Verse 17, he understood that it was for his good that this experience was coming upon him.
7. Encouragingly, he is kept from the pit of nothingness and he felt his sins had been cast behind him.
8. He really turns a corner, and understands he is going to be delivered and he will be able to praise the LORD on his guitar.

There’s a concept called ‘progressive revelation’ that we apply to the Bible.   In other words, God doesn’t give us all information about every subject in the bible.   When Hezekiah mentions Sheol, that just means the grave, in Hebrew.   So this teaching about death (why we die, and what happens after death), is something that we have a New Testament perspective on.  I want to talk a little about the doctrine of death.   Do you realize we humans were not created to die.   Genesis 2:16 The LORD God commanded the man, saying, “From any tree of the garden you may eat freely; 17 but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die.” Then in Genesis 3:6 When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate; and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate. 7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loin coverings.       8 They heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden

What I want you to notice here is that Adam and Eve didn’t keel over and die when they disobeyed and ate of the fruit.  They did experience death though, what happened was that their relationship with God was severed.  This rift in their relationship with God was death; spiritual death John 1:4 In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men. So to be separated from God is to be dead spiritually.   The countdown clock toward physical death started at that moment.  That was an expression of God’s grace and mercy, in that His plan of redemption would be worked out.

All that to say that death was not God’s original purpose.   Although death is natural, it was not originally part of nature.   People often can have a little bit of a glib attitude toward death.   We don’t want to think about it, we don’t like thinking about it, so many often put it out of their mind, since it’s inevitable.   Hebrews 2:15 talks about how people actually “fear death…all their lives.”

What happens after we die?   Before Christ died on the cross, people went to a holding compartment when they died.   Those who died in faith in God, went to a place Jesus called Abraham’s bosom. Luke 16:19-30 “Now there was a rich man, and he habitually dressed in purple and fine linen, joyously living in splendor every day. 20 And a poor man named Lazarus was laid at his gate, covered with sores, 21 and longing to be fed with the crumbs which were falling from the rich man’s table; besides, even the dogs were coming and licking his sores. 22 Now the poor man died and was carried away by the angels to Abraham’s bosom; and the rich man also died and was buried. 23 In Hades he lifted up his eyes, being in torment, and *saw Abraham far away and Lazarus in his bosom. 24 And he cried out and said, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus so that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool off my tongue, for I am in agony in this flame.’ 25 But Abraham said, ‘Child, remember that during your life you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus bad things; but now he is being comforted here, and you are in agony. 26 And besides all this, between us and you there is a great chasm fixed, so that those who wish to come over from here to you will not be able, and that none may cross over from there to us.’ 27 And he said, ‘Then I beg you, father, that you send him to my father’s house— 28 for I have five brothers—in order that he may warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.’ 29 But Abraham *said, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them.’ 30 But he said, ‘No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent!’ 31 But he said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be persuaded even if someone rises from the dead.’”

Those who died in their sin went to a compartment Jesus called Hades.  That is a temporary hell that will eventually be cast into eternal hell called the Lake of Fire in Revelation 20:11 Then I saw a great white throne and the One seated on it. Earth and heaven fled from His presence, and no place was found for them. 12 And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne.

And there were open books, and one of them was the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their deeds, as recorded in the books. 13 The sea gave up its dead, and Death and Hades gave up their dead, and each one was judged according to his deeds. 14 Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death—the lake of fire. 15 And if anyone was found whose name was not written in the Book of Life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.

Since Christ died for our sins and rose from the dead for our justification, and we’ve repented and placed our faith and trust and hope in Christ alone, when we die, we go immediately to be with the LORD; 2 Corinthians 5:8 we are of good courage, I say, and prefer rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord.

Hezekiah is Healed

Verse 21 Now Isaiah had said, “Let them take a cake of figs and apply it to the boil, that he may recover.” 22 Then Hezekiah had said, “What is the sign that I shall go up to the house of the Lord?”

God uses a cake of figs to effect the healing.   Point, God heals in whatever way he wants.   The prayer offered in faith.   A cake of figs.   Mud in the eye.  Medical doctors.   Medicine.

Now, chapter 39

Hezekiah Shows His Treasures

Chapter 39 verse 1 At that time Merodach-baladan son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and a present to Hezekiah, for he heard that he had been sick and had recovered. 2 Hezekiah was pleased, and showed them all his treasure house, the silver and the gold and the spices and the precious oil and his whole armory and all that was found in his treasuries. There was nothing in his house nor in all his dominion that Hezekiah did not show them. 3 Then Isaiah the prophet came to King Hezekiah and said to him, “What did these men say, and from where have they come to you?” And Hezekiah said, “They have come to me from a far country, from Babylon.” 4 He said, “What have they seen in your house?” So Hezekiah answered, “They have seen all that is in my house; there is nothing among my treasuries that I have not shown them.”

I guess all I can say here is oops.   That was an error in judgement.   Isaiah is always right there to shed light on the situation. He starts out by just asking questions.   Who are these guys, what did they say?   Hezekiah didn’t realize his blunder.

Let me ask you.   Why do you think it would be wrong for Hezekiah to show the Babylonians his treasures and his armory?

Verse 5 Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, “Hear the word of the Lord of hosts, 6 ‘Behold, the days are coming when all that is in your house and all that your fathers have laid up in store to this day will be carried to Babylon; nothing will be left,’ says the Lord. 7 ‘And some of your sons who will issue from you, whom you will beget, will be taken away, and they will become officials in the palace of the king of Babylon.’” 8 Then Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “The word of the Lord which you have spoken is good.” For he thought, “For there will be peace and truth in my days.”

This prophecy was fulfilled in 2 Kings 24:1 In his days Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up, and Jehoiakim became his servant for three years; then he turned and rebelled against him. 2 The LORD sent against him bands of Chaldeans, bands of Arameans, bands of Moabites, and bands of Ammonites. So He sent them against Judah to destroy it, according to the word of the LORD which He had spoken through His servants the prophets. 3 Surely at the command of the LORD it came upon Judah, to remove them from His sight because of the sins of Manasseh, according to all that he had done, 4 and also for the innocent blood which he shed, for he filled Jerusalem with innocent blood; and the LORD would not forgive. 5 Now the rest of the acts of Jehoiakim and all that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah?

The fulfillment Nebuchadnezzar Besieges Jerusalem

2 Kings 25:1 Now in the ninth year of his reign, on the tenth day of the tenth month, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came, he and all his army, against Jerusalem, camped against it and built a siege wall all around it. 2 So the city was under siege until the eleventh year of King Zedekiah. 3 On the ninth day of the fourth month the famine was so severe in the city that there was no food for the people of the land. 4 Then the city was broken into, and all the men of war fled by night by way of the gate between the two walls beside the king’s garden, though the Chaldeans were all around the city. And they went by way of the Arabah. 5 But the army of the Chaldeans pursued the king and overtook him in the plains of Jericho and all his army was scattered from him. 6 Then they captured the king and brought him to the king of Babylon at Riblah, and he passed sentence on him. 7 They slaughtered the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes, then put out the eyes of Zedekiah and bound him with bronze fetters and brought him to Babylon.

Jerusalem Burned and Plundered

      8 Now on the seventh day of the fifth month, which was the nineteenth year of King Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard, a servant of the king of Babylon, came to Jerusalem. 9 He burned the house of the LORD, the king’s house, and all the houses of Jerusalem; even every great house he burned with fire. 10 So all the army of the Chaldeans who were with the captain of the guard broke down the walls around Jerusalem. 11 Then the rest of the people who were left in the city and the deserters who had deserted to the king of Babylon and the rest of the people, Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard carried away into exile. 12 But the captain of the guard left some of the poorest of the land to be vinedressers and plowmen.

      13 Now the bronze pillars which were in the house of the LORD, and the stands and the bronze sea which were in the house of the LORD, the Chaldeans broke in pieces and carried the bronze to Babylon. 14 They took away the pots, the shovels, the snuffers, the spoons, and all the bronze vessels which were used in temple service. 15 The captain of the guard also took away the firepans and the basins, what was fine gold and what was fine silver. 16 The two pillars, the one sea, and the stands which Solomon had made for the house of the LORD—the bronze of all these vessels was beyond weight. 17 The height of the one pillar was eighteen cubits, and a bronze capital was on it; the height of the capital was three cubits, with a network and pomegranates on the capital all around, all of bronze. And the second pillar was like these with network.

      18 Then the captain of the guard took Seraiah the chief priest and Zephaniah the second priest, with the three officers of the temple. 19 From the city he took one official who was overseer of the men of war, and five of the king’s advisers who were found in the city; and the scribe of the captain of the army who mustered the people of the land; and sixty men of the people of the land who were found in the city. 20 Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard took them and brought them to the king of Babylon at Riblah. 21 Then the king of Babylon struck them down and put them to death at Riblah in the land of Hamath. So Judah was led away into exile from its land.

Jeremiah’s Prophecy to the Exiles

Jeremiah 29:10 “For thus says the LORD, ‘When seventy years have been completed for Babylon, I will visit you and fulfill My good word to you, to bring you back to this place. 11 ‘For I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the LORD, ‘plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope. 12 ‘Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. 13 ‘You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart. 14 ‘I will be found by you,’ declares the LORD, ‘and I will restore your fortunes and will gather you from all the nations and from all the places where I have driven you,’ declares the LORD, ‘and I will bring you back to the place from where I sent you into exile.’

Isaiah 30 - 33

 

Isaiah chapters 30 through 33

Isaiah 30

Judah the southern kingdom is Warned against Egyptian Alliance

1“Woe to the rebellious children,” declares the Lord,
“Who execute a plan, but not Mine,
And make an alliance, but not of My Spirit,
In order to add sin to sin;
2 Who proceed down to Egypt
Without consulting Me,
To take refuge in the safety of Pharaoh
And to seek shelter in the shadow of Egypt!

Judah receives a rebuke from the LORD for looking to Egypt for deliverance from Assyria.   Assyria (the nation) was a great conquering empire at the time, so you could excuse the Israelites from being afraid.  Except, if you don’t have a high enough view of the LORD, (if you don’t fear the LORD) you will fear men.   Who does Jesus tell us to fear? Matt 10:28 “Do not fear those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul; but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.

For us proverbs 16:6 says by the fear of the Lord men depart from evil.

The context here is that this prophecy was given while Assyria was either already attacking or on its way to attack Israel and Judah.

To break this down; two things stood out to me:

1. “execute a plan” – I know I have been guilty of a “ready-fire-aim” mentality.   Going off half-cocked so-to-speak.   What if, instead, I ask God first.   I keep asking Him until I get an answer, and I listen for and am sensitive to His answer and I obey what He says.   Matthew 7:7 “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.

2. “Make an alliance” - I know I have been too friendly with worldly alliances.  2 Corintians 6:14 Do not be bound together with unbelievers; for what partnership have righteousness and lawlessness, or what fellowship has light with darkness?

What are some ways God answers prayers:

1. Directly though His Word.   He will never contradict that.

2. Through others speaking godly wisdom.

3. Through circumstances since He is completely sovereign.

Proverbs 16:9 The mind of man plans his way, but the LORD directs his steps.

3 “Therefore the safety of Pharaoh will be your shame
And the shelter in the shadow of Egypt, your humiliation.
4 “For their princes are at Zoan
And their ambassadors arrive at Hanes.
5 “Everyone will be ashamed because of a people who cannot profit them,
Who are not for help or profit, but for shame and also for reproach.”

From a heavenly perspective, Pharaoh was powerless and Egypt as it were would be of no help, just like your shadow can’t help you.  The ambassadors came from Egypt to see what Judah could give them in return for their promise of protection.   Judah had nothing to give and in reality what Egypt was offering they couldn’t fulfill anyways.

6 The oracle concerning the beasts of the Negev.

Through a land of distress and anguish,
From where come lioness and lion, viper and flying serpent,
They carry their riches on the backs of young donkeys
And their treasures on camels’ humps,
To a people who cannot profit them;
7 Even Egypt, whose help is vain and empty.
Therefore, I have called her
“Rahab who has been exterminated.”

From verse 6, who or what is this oracle about?   The beasts of the Negev.  In other words, this prophecy is about the pack animals carrying the riches and treasures of Judah down to Egypt.   You know, Judah thought they could help things along by greasing the palms of the Egyptians.   The Egyptians would be of no help to Judah, so Isaiah seems sympathetic towards the donkeys and camels carrying the treasure.   Despite Judah thinking Egypt would be some help to them, Egypt would be none, that’s why God calls Egypt “Rahab who has been exterminated”.   The New King James just transliterates that name “Rahab Hem Shebeth”, which literally means “Pride which sits still” or “Rahab the do nothing”.   In Psalm 87:4 Egypt is referred to as Rahab there as well.

8 Now go, write it on a tablet before them
And inscribe it on a scroll,
That it may serve in the time to come As a witness forever.
9 For this is a rebellious people, false sons,
Sons who refuse to listen
To the instruction of the Lord;
10 Who say to the seers, “You must not see visions”;
And to the prophets, “You must not prophesy to us what is right,
Speak to us pleasant words,
Prophesy illusions.
11 “Get out of the way, turn aside from the path,
Let us hear no more about the Holy One of Israel.”

The LORD, through Isaiah, documents Judah’s rejection of His message.   I guess what this says to me is that there is a point to writing things down.   For me, it starts with pen and paper, then I transcribe it to a Google document.   It helps me to learn and remember.   But, also it makes a permanent record that I can go back later and refer to.   Similarly, God was telling Judah, before it happened, that judgment was coming, and when it happened they’d know it was just as it was foretold.

When they say “Let us hear no more about the Holy One of Israel”, wow what a place to be.   There are none so blind as those who won’t see and none so deaf as those who won’t hear.

To us, Paul says in 2 Timothy 4:3-4 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths.

12 Therefore thus says the Holy One of Israel,

“Since you have rejected this word
And have put your trust in oppression and guile, and have relied on them,
13 Therefore this iniquity will be to you
Like a breach about to fall,
A bulge in a high wall,
Whose collapse comes suddenly in an instant,
14 Whose collapse is like the smashing of a potter’s jar,
So ruthlessly shattered
That a sherd will not be found among its pieces
To take fire from a hearth
Or to scoop water from a cistern.”

God describes the judgment that’s coming to Judah, for their misplaced trust in Egypt and rejection of God’s message.

We can allow things into our lives that cause a breach in the wall that would allow the enemy access into our lives.   If we reject even some inconvenient or difficult aspect of the Word, we create a breach in the wall.

God’s promise to Judah is that because they trusted in Egypt instead of Him, they would fall, their cities would fall and the destruction would be so complete, there wouldn’t even be a shard of pottery left big enough to use as a fireplace shovel or a ladle for a drink of water.

15 For thus the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel, has said,

“In repentance and rest you will be saved,
In quietness and trust is your strength.”
But you were not willing,
16 And you said, “No, for we will flee on horses,”
Therefore you shall flee!
“And we will ride on swift horses,”
Therefore those who pursue you shall be swift.
17 One thousand will flee at the threat of one man;
You will flee at the threat of five,
Until you are left as a flag on a mountain top
And as a signal on a hill.

The words that flashed a red warning light to me were, “but you were not willing”.   Direct, willful rebellion.   I always wanted to do things my way.   I was selfish, self-centered, self-reliant.   Like Judah, I rejected God’s message of “repentance” (or returning in the KJV) and “rest”.

REPENTANCE – God’s way, not mine

FAITH – God’s work, not mine.

QUIETNESS – I stop justifying or excusing myself.

CONFIDENCE – when we transfer our trust from ourselves and our way, we can have complete confidence in our salvation because we’re relying on God’s goodness and His mercy.

Then related to verse 17 I see Proverbs 28:1 The wicked flee when no one pursues, but the righteous are as bold as a lion.   This is a promise we ought to quote to ourselves.

God Is Gracious and Just

18 Therefore the Lord longs to be gracious to you,
And therefore He waits on high to have compassion on you.
For the Lord is a God of justice;
How blessed are all those who long for Him.

God promises restoration to His people.   But, God sometimes waits (or seems to wait) to perform His will.  We’re stuck in time, so we see everything from this restricted perspective.  Our understanding is limited as well, but when God waits to perform his will, we learn patience.   God is gracious and His timing of things shows grace, even when it isn’t according to our time schedule.

Mercy or compassion is a character trait of God’s that exalts Him when He shows it.  His Mercy lifts Him up and shows Him to be higher and greater than us.   It is a good thing when we show mercy, but it doesn’t come naturally.   The big rub though is that justice or fairness is also a trait of God’s nature.  Justice or righteousness (think of those scales that Lady Justice holds) mean that outside of God’s righteousness if we were to get what we deserved, it wouldn’t be good.   It seems like mercy and justice are contrary to each other, but God is able to show mercy because He is love and yet satisfies justice by paying the penalty that we owed.  Romans 3:25-26 God displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith. This was to demonstrate His righteousness, because in the forbearance of God He passed over the sins previously committed; for the demonstration, I say, of His righteousness at the present time, so that He would be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

The encouragement to us is that even though this whole prophecy is a literal event, when we rest quietly and turn and wait for the Lord in confident faith, He will always come through for us, no matter what comes our way, we can be victorious.

19 O people in Zion, inhabitant in Jerusalem, you will weep no longer. He will surely be gracious to you at the sound of your cry; when He hears it, He will answer you. 20 Although the Lord has given you bread of privation and water of oppression, He, your Teacher will no longer hide Himself, but your eyes will behold your Teacher. 21 Your ears will hear a word behind you, “This is the way, walk in it,” whenever you turn to the right or to the left. 22 And you will defile your graven images overlaid with silver, and your molten images plated with gold. You will scatter them as an impure thing, and say to them, “Be gone!”

God promises to bless His people by responding to their cry.  There are times we are broken; either by sin or disappointment that we cry (literally weep to God).  I used to have a really long commute to work, and so I’d spend time praying about loved ones who were not near to the LORD.   I cried more than once.   In fact when I first came to the LORD, I was so broken over my own sin, I cried a lot.    I’ve learned to be vulnerable and cry with someone who’s suffering.

This terminology, “the bread of privation (or adversity) and the water of oppression (affliction) is really interesting.   It’s saying, when things are good and you’re comfortable, you might be less likely to listen to God. Guzik says, “it is always better to be uncomfortable and in tune with the LORD than comfortable and out of step with Him.”

God promises to bless His people with guidance.   Looking for direction?   Need guidance?   Call 1-800-GOD.   Priority #1. Seek the LORD’s input, not as an afterthought.   He can and does speak a word in your ear and tell you this is the way to go, walk in it.   Remember, if what you hear or think you hear is out of alignment with God’s Word, it isn’t from Him.

God promises to bless His people with the desire for purity.   If we have things in our lives that are leftover from our BC (before Christ) days, then we defile them.   Not respect them any more.   Definitely, if you had things in your life that were spiritually dark, idols of a sort, then throw them away.   Any involvement in the occult must be repudiated (rejected and no longer have anything to do with it.)   I had a record collection I had built up before I committed my life to Christ, that I got rid of.   It was some pretty dark music.

23 Then He will give you rain for the seed which you will sow in the ground, and bread from the yield of the ground, and it will be rich and plenteous; on that day your livestock will graze in a roomy pasture. 24 Also the oxen and the donkeys which work the ground will eat salted fodder, which has been winnowed with shovel and fork. 25 On every lofty mountain and on every high hill there will be streams running with water on the day of the great slaughter, when the towers fall. 26 The light of the moon will be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun will be seven times brighter, like the light of seven days, on the day the Lord binds up the fracture of His people and heals the bruise He has inflicted.

God promises to bless nature with abundance.   Let’s talk about gardening in the North West.   You know there are quite a few here who I would consider master gardeners.   Since we have no shortage of rain here in the NW, stuff grows.   Israel was probably more lush back in Isaiah’s time than now, but even then it was probably a fairly dry climate.

One of the subjects that I don’t know how I got interested in within the past few years is horses.   When I say interested in, I mean I watch YouTube videos on it, which leads to related videos, like this guy who rides pack mules and tracks mountain lions with his hound dogs in New Mexico and Texas.   From that, I learned about this idea of “cured fodder”.   Apparently, when you feed crops that are just harvested and they’re a little green, they might make your livestock a little out-of-sorts; whether that be tummy issues or even a little loopy or high. 

The LORD is in the business of binding up the fracture of His people and healing the bruise he has inflicted.

27 Behold, the name of the Lord comes from a remote place;
Burning is His anger and dense is His smoke;
His lips are filled with indignation
And His tongue is like a consuming fire;
28 His breath is like an overflowing torrent,
Which reaches to the neck,
To shake the nations back and forth in a sieve,
And to put in the jaws of the peoples the bridle which leads to ruin.
29 You will have songs as in the night when you keep the festival,
And gladness of heart as when one marches to the sound of the flute,
To go to the mountain of the Lord, to the Rock of Israel.

God promises His people gladness in the day of Judgment.   1 John 4:17 In this way, love has been perfected among us, so that we may have confidence on the day of judgment; for in this world we are just like Him. 

30 And the Lord will cause His voice of authority to be heard,
And the descending of His arm to be seen in fierce anger,
And in the flame of a consuming fire
In cloudburst, downpour and hailstones.
31 For at the voice of the Lord Assyria will be terrified,
When He strikes with the rod.
32 And every blow of the rod of punishment,
Which the Lord will lay on him,
Will be with the music of tambourines and lyres;
And in battles, brandishing weapons, He will fight them.
33 For Topheth has long been ready,
Indeed, it has been prepared for the king.
He has made it deep and large,
A pyre of fire with plenty of wood;
The breath of the Lord, like a torrent of brimstone, sets it afire.

Here we see the glory of the LORD in His judgment.   The imagery of fire being associated with the judgment of God to me, seems to convey the thought that judgment is destruction.   Fire can also have a purifying effect.

Another thing I found interesting was the reference to the place named Topheth.   This is another name for the valley of Hinnom, which is outside of Jerusalem.  The valley of Hinnom served as Jerusalem’s garbage dump.   Rotting, burning trash made it a picture of hell.   In the new testament, the word is Gehenna… named after this valley of Hinnom.   God is saying He has a special place in hell reserved for the king of Assyria.   Horrible practices were performed there says  Jeremiah 7:31 “They have built the high places of Topheth, which is in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire, which I did not command, and it did not come into My mind.

Isaiah 31

Help Not in Egypt but in God

1 Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help
And rely on horses,
And trust in chariots because they are many
And in horsemen because they are very strong,
But they do not look to the Holy One of Israel, nor seek the Lord!

Woe in Hebrew is Oy.   You will hear it even in modern Hebrew, people will say Oy Vey.   Old English would say Alas.   How sad or disappointed will be those who go down to Egypt for help and rely on earthly strength.   I want this verse to be imprinted on your minds.   Though there be many chariots, and strong horses and horsemen, but no turn to the Holy One of Israel no seek the LORD.

2 Yet He also is wise and will bring disaster
And does not retract His words,
But will arise against the house of evildoers
And against the help of the workers of iniquity.
3 Now the Egyptians are men and not God,
And their horses are flesh and not spirit;
So the Lord will stretch out His hand,
And he who helps will stumble
And he who is helped will fall,
And all of them will come to an end together.

Trusting in anything (but the LORD) brings disappointment and failure and even calamity, not only to those seeking help but to those from whom we’re seeking help.  I will just say this, in  2 Corinthians 5:7 For we walk by faith, not by sight.  Sometimes by all appearances something ought to succeed, but if God is not in it it will fail.   Conversely, if something is God’s will, nothing can keep it from succeeding.

4 For thus says the Lord to me,

“As the lion or the young lion growls over his prey,
Against which a band of shepherds is called out,
And he will not be terrified at their voice nor disturbed at their noise,
So will the Lord of hosts come down to wage war on Mount Zion and on its hill.”
5 Like flying birds so the Lord of hosts will protect Jerusalem.
He will protect and deliver it;
He will pass over and rescue it.

The LORD will defend Judah and Jerusalem.   That was then, but even to this day, I wouldn’t want to find myself against Israel or Jerusalem.

6 Return to Him from whom you have deeply defected, O sons of Israel. 7 For in that day every man will cast away his silver idols and his gold idols, which your sinful hands have made for you as a sin.

8 And the Assyrian will fall by a sword not of man,
And a sword not of man will devour him.
So he will not escape the sword,
And his young men will become forced laborers.
9 “His rock will pass away because of panic,
And his princes will be terrified at the standard,”
Declares the Lord, whose fire is in Zion and whose furnace is in Jerusalem.

God invites repentance.  God will turn these situations of attack from Assyria back on themselves.   Interestingly, it says they will fall by a sword, not of a man.   Who is it that has a two-edged sword coming out of their mouth?   When you let the LORD fight your battles for you, one thing you’ll be able to do when the dust settles is give testimony.   You’ll be able to give the glory to God, and say how it wasn’t by your shrewdness or by your capabilities that the battle was won.  I’ve seen throughout my walk with God, how maybe the world would say why don’t you stand up for yourself, and I’ve come through multiple attacks by God’s gracious doing.

Isaiah 32

The Glorious Future

1 Behold, a king will reign righteously
And princes will rule justly.

In the aftermath of the Assyrians being judged, Israel and the whole world will be blessed by a king who rules in righteousness.   Hezekiah fulfilled this in part, but ultimately, this is looking forward to the reign of Jesus Christ beginning at His 2nd coming.

2 Each will be like a refuge from the wind
And a shelter from the storm,
Like streams of water in a dry country,
Like the shade of a huge rock in a parched land.
3 Then the eyes of those who see will not be blinded,
And the ears of those who hear will listen.
4 The mind of the hasty will discern the truth,
And the tongue of the stammerers will hasten to speak clearly.

In His first coming, Jesus is our refuge from the wind of God’s judgment and the penalty of sin.   Jesus is a shelter from the storm of God’s punishment for our rebellion.   Jesus offers streams of living water of His Spirit to refresh our soul.   Jesus is like shade from the beating down of the sun on a bald head.

The rest of these verses prophecy of the miracles that Jesus would perform during his earthly ministry.   He made the blind to see. He made the deaf to hear.   He made the mute to talk.   One particular miracle I want to highlight is in Mark chapter 7:33-37 it says So Jesus took him aside privately, away from the crowd, and put His fingers into the man’s ears. Then He spit and touched the man’s tongue. 34 And looking up to heaven, He sighed deeply and said to him, “Ephphatha!” (which means, “Be opened!”). 35 Immediately the man’s ears were opened and his tongue was released, and he began to speak plainly.

36 Jesus ordered them not to tell anyone. But the more He ordered them, the more widely they proclaimed it. 37 The people were utterly astonished and said, “He has done all things well! He makes even the deaf hear and the mute speak!”.   In the KJV it says “his ears were opened and the string of his tongue was loosed and he spoke plain.”   This person had some sort of a defect of the frenulum, that’s the skin that attaches the tongue to the tissue under the tongue.    I just thought I’d give a little anatomy lesson.   But this miracle was foretold here in Isaiah 31.

5 No longer will the fool be called noble,
Or the rogue be spoken of as generous.
6 For a fool speaks nonsense,
And his heart inclines toward wickedness:
To practice ungodliness and to speak error against the Lord,
To keep the hungry person unsatisfied
And to withhold drink from the thirsty.
7 As for a rogue, his weapons are evil;
He devises wicked schemes
To destroy the afflicted with slander,
Even though the needy one speaks what is right.
8 But the noble man devises noble plans;
And by noble plans he stands.

This is prophesying a day when there will be no more pretending.   What you see will be what you get.   No more self-righteous hypocrisy.

9 Rise up, you women who are at ease,
And hear my voice;
Give ear to my word,
You complacent daughters.
10 Within a year and a few days
You will be troubled, O complacent daughters;
For the vintage is ended,
And the fruit gathering will not come.
11 Tremble, you women who are at ease;
Be troubled, you complacent daughters;
Strip, undress and put sackcloth on your waist,

1. Rise up, you women who are at ease:  in other words, get up, get ready for the king. Matthew 24:42-43
   “Therefore be on the alert, for you do not know which day your Lord is coming. But be sure of this, that if the head of the house had known at what time of the night the thief was coming, he would have been on the alert and would not have allowed his house to be broken into.

2. Tremble, you women who are at ease: is telling us that instead of an indulgent, self-focused life, we should be humble, and repentant in readiness for our righteous king’s return.

12 Beat your breasts for the pleasant fields, for the fruitful vine,
13 For the land of my people in which thorns and briars shall come up;
Yea, for all the joyful houses and for the jubilant city.
14 Because the palace has been abandoned, the populated city forsaken.
Hill and watch-tower have become caves forever,
A delight for wild donkeys, a pasture for flocks;

The land itself mourns.   This reminds me of Romans 8:22 We know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until the present time. 23 Not only that, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. 24 For in this hope we were saved; but hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he can already see? 25 But if we hope for what we do not yet see, we wait for it patiently. 

15 Until the Spirit is poured out upon us from on high,
And the wilderness becomes a fertile field,
And the fertile field is considered as a forest.
16 Then justice will dwell in the wilderness
And righteousness will abide in the fertile field.
17 And the work of righteousness will be peace,
And the service of righteousness, quietness and confidence forever.
18 Then my people will live in a peaceful habitation,
And in secure dwellings and in undisturbed resting places;
19 And it will hail when the forest comes down,
And the city will be utterly laid low.
20 How blessed will you be, you who sow beside all waters,
Who let out freely the ox and the donkey.

God promises to pour out His Spirit upon us.   God’s Spirit changes everything.   If you are in Christ, you have been born again by God’s Spirit and His Spirit has become one with your spirit.   Now that we are indwelt by God’s Spirit, let’s submit every aspect of our life to Him.   Romans 8:14 For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. As we grow in the grace of God and live in freedom, we yield our lives to God’s Spirit. John 8:36 says “So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed.

Isaiah 33

The Judgment of God And God’s Grace

This chapter relates to the same events as the foregoing chapter, the distress of Judah and Jerusalem by Sennacherib's invasion and their deliverance out of that distress by the destruction of the Assyrian army.  These are intermixed in the prophecy.

33 Woe to you, O destroyer,
While you were not destroyed;
And he who is treacherous, while others did not deal treacherously with him.
As soon as you finish destroying, you will be destroyed;
As soon as you cease to deal treacherously, others will deal treacherously with you.

This prophecy, spoken before the Assyrian invasion, shows that this seemingly unstoppable army will in fact be stopped. Those who did the plundering will be plundered and will be dealt with treacherously by others.

2 O Lord, be gracious to us; we have waited for You.
Be their strength every morning,
Our salvation also in the time of distress.
3 At the sound of the tumult peoples flee;
At the lifting up of Yourself nations disperse.
4 Your spoil is gathered as the caterpillar gathers;
As locusts rushing about men rush about on it.

I hear a change of attitude here.   This prayer seems to evidence a turn around in the hearts of God’s people.   Seems like there’s a realization that Egypt isn’t as great or powerful as they thought. So much of this book of Isaiah is very picturesque.  Here the booty or spoils are gathered by Judah who were as weak as the caterpillar and as disorderly as a swarm locusts.

5 The Lord is exalted, for He dwells on high;
He has filled Zion with justice and righteousness.
6 And He will be the stability of your times,
A wealth of salvation, wisdom and knowledge;
The fear of the Lord is his treasure.

I can give the LORD great praise for His justice and righteousness.   What are some of the unstable conditions in the times in which we live?   Financial/Economic volatility.   Illness/disease (that goes for mental health as well). Social instability (drug addiction, crime, theft, violence).   Even planet earth reels to and fro with earthquakes and hurricanes, volcanoes, etc.   So, even in the midst of all this instability, we can have stable times because our lives are founded on the Rock (Jesus Christ himself.)

Do you count the “fear of the Lord as his treasure” for you?   I would say, fear is your friend.   I can honestly say, before I committed my life to the LORD I had a lot of fear.   Fear of death, and a lot of other things.   Now, I fear the LORD and I no longer fear death.

7 Behold, their brave men cry in the streets,
The ambassadors of peace weep bitterly.
8 The highways are desolate, the traveler has ceased,
He has broken the covenant, he has despised the cities,
He has no regard for man.
9 The land mourns and pines away,
Lebanon is shamed and withers;
Sharon is like a desert plain,
And Bashan and Carmel lose their foliage.

The brave men (the “valiant ones” in other translations) will cry.   The high and mighty of the earth will be brought low if they face the judgment of the Almighty without the advocacy of Christ on their side.   The names of these places here are Lebanon, Sharon, Bashan, and Carmel (I couldn’t really find a lot on why these are mentioned other than they suffered too under the Assyrian invasion).

10 “Now I will arise,” says the Lord,
“Now I will be exalted, now I will be lifted up.
11 “You have conceived chaff, you will give birth to stubble;
My breath will consume you like a fire.
12 “The peoples will be burned to lime,
Like cut thorns which are burned in the fire.

13 “You who are far away, hear what I have done;
And you who are near, acknowledge My might.”

Here again, the imagery of fire is associated with God’s judgment.   Word of God’s judgment goes out to those who are far away.   Nobody will be able to give an excuse that didn’t know they were accountable to God.  Romans 1:18-20 The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness. 19 For what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. 20 For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood from His workmanship, so that men are without excuse. 

14 Sinners in Zion are terrified;
Trembling has seized the godless.
“Who among us can live with the consuming fire?
Who among us can live with continual burning?”
15 He who walks righteously and speaks with sincerity,
He who rejects unjust gain
And shakes his hands so that they hold no bribe;
He who stops his ears from hearing about bloodshed
And shuts his eyes from looking upon evil;
16 He will dwell on the heights,
His refuge will be the impregnable rock;
His bread will be given him,
His water will be sure.

17 Your eyes will see the King in His beauty;
They will behold a far-distant land.
18 Your heart will meditate on terror:
“Where is he who counts?
Where is he who weighs?
Where is he who counts the towers?”
19 You will no longer see a fierce people,
A people of unintelligible speech which no one comprehends,
Of a stammering tongue which no one understands.

There are two categories of people pictured in this section of the chapter:

1. Sinners are fearful

2. Saints who know the fear of the LORD, and yet walk confidently before Him.

We (saints) see the King (Jesus) in his beauty, and we’re able to worship Him – “Worship” is a contraction “worth” and the suffix “ship”.   When we worship the LORD, we show Him how much He’s worth to us.   We show the LORD how we value Him.   When we honor Him and glorify Him, we proclaim the greatness of His beauty.   Even though we don’t have a perfect view of His beauty yet, 1 Corinthians 13:12 Now we see in a mirror dimly, but then (heaven) face to face.   Now I know in part, but then I shall know Him even as I am known.

What is it saying, when it says, “Where is he who counts? Where is he who weighs? Where is he who counts the towers?” People who don't trust they have to deal with the constant issues of well we got to pay the king of Assyria so ok let's get the money together because he's gonna want his silver and gold and God is saying for those who trust they're gonna ask the question where is he who counted out the tribute again we don't have to deal with that because we've put our trust in God.

The people of the King, the ones who trust Him no longer have to deal with these enemies (unintelligible speech and stammering tongue).

20 Look upon Zion, the city of our appointed feasts;
Your eyes will see Jerusalem, an undisturbed habitation,
A tent which will not be folded;
Its stakes will never be pulled up,
Nor any of its cords be torn apart.

Jerusalem isn’t an undisturbed habitation at the moment.

It’s stakes will never be pulled up, in other words, all this effort to give away parts of Israel for peace, it hasn’t worked, it won’t work and it’ll never work.   There’ll come a time when it’ll just be left alone, no one will try to change its borders or divide the land.

21 But there the majestic One, the Lord, will be for us
A place of rivers and wide canals
On which no boat with oars will go,
And on which no mighty ship will pass—
22 For the Lord is our judge,
The Lord is our lawgiver,
The Lord is our king;
He will save us—
23 Your tackle hangs slack;
It cannot hold the base of its mast firmly,
Nor spread out the sail.
Then the prey of an abundant spoil will be divided;

23 is difficult to understand, but I believe it is talking to Judah, and saying you’re not going anywhere.   Your sailing ships aren’t going anywhere.  You’ll be planted firmly in your land.

The lame will take the plunder.
24 And no resident will say, “I am sick”;
The people who dwell there will be forgiven their iniquity.

Then when it says the lame will take the plunder, it seems to me it’s saying the LORD doesn’t always work things out the way we expect.  You wouldn’t expect the lame to take the plunder.   In human terms, we don’t deserve forgiveness, so you might not expect it, but he offers it nonetheless.