The Book Of Isaiah. Day 30, Isaiah's Sons

We first learned in Chapter 7 that Isaiah has a young son named Shear-Jashub, a name that means "A Remnant Shall Return". His name was intended as a sign that although the Lord was going to allow a majority of the citizens of Judah to go into captivity later on (due to their sin and idolatry), He was not going to make an end of the nation. We know from our study of the kings that it will be the Neo-Babylonian Empire that conquers Judah but we also know that, after the Medo-Persian Empire rises to power and conquers Babylon, the people will be given permission to return and rebuild Jerusalem and Judah. That will fulfill the prophecy made when the Lord commanded Isaiah to name his firstborn son Shear-Jashub.

As we begin Chapter 8 we find Isaiah fathering a second son whose name is also intended to be a sign to the people. "The Lord said to me: "Take a large scroll and write on it with an ordinary pen: Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz." (Isaiah 8:1) The meaning of this is: "Quick To The Plunder". Isaiah doesn't yet know it, but this is the name the Lord will command him to give to a child he will soon have. The symbolism is that Judah will be plundered, though not by the nations it currently fears, but by a nation it considers a friend at this time.

Many scholars think that when the Lord tells Isaiah to write this phrase with an "ordinary pen", He means for him to write it in a plain, easily-readable script so that everyone who sees it will have no trouble deciphering it. The message is for all the citizens of Judah, not just the most highly-educated ones.

When the Lord tells Isaiah to write the phrase on a large scroll, Isaiah knows the message is intended for public consumption; it's not something he's to write down privately for his own use. He calls in two witnesses because a public notice is a legal document. "So I called in Uriah the priest and Zechariah son of Jeberekiah as reliable witnesses for me." (Isaiah 8:2) 

These are two men whose testimony can be trusted. Although in the study of the kings we found Uriah humoring King Ahaz's request to place a heathen altar in the temple, at this time the priest's character is still a good example of godliness---or at least of truthfulness. We probably all know people who don't have much of a relationship with the Lord but who would never dream of lying under oath. This may have been the case with Uriah as well; he was willing to compromise spiritually but he was not willing to commit perjury if anyone ever asked him whether he witnessed Isaiah signing the scroll. 

I was unable in my background research to determine exactly who the other witness was. There are several Zechariahs in the Bible but this is the only time one with a father called "Jeberekiah" is named. He cannot be the prophet Zechariah, son of "Berekiah", because that prophet's ministry took place after the people's release from Babylon. Whoever he was, his reputation for being truthful must have been well known. 

After these men witness Isaiah writing down the phrase "Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz", the prophet goes home. We don't know whether he fathered his second son on the same day or if that took place shortly thereafter, but Isaiah is a married man and he has relations with his wife, resulting in the conception of another child. "Then I made love to the prophetess, and she conceived and gave birth to a son." (Isaiah 8:3a) 

We are never told the name of Isaiah's wife; he simply refers to her as "the prophetess". The majority of the Bible scholars whose works I regularly consult feel that she was one of several named and unnamed female prophets in the Bible. Some scholars, however, believe the term was being used for her because she was the wife of a prophet. In other words, it was a way of referring to her as "Mrs. Isaiah". But I like to think she was one of the female prophets of the Bible and that she and her husband had that in common---that the Lord put the two of them together because He had called each of them to the same type of ministry. If so, I can imagine that having a prophetess for a wife was a great source of encouragement for Isaiah as he carried out the very public and the oftentimes very dangerous duties of a prophet whom the Lord called to speak to kings and priests.

Now the reason for writing the phrase on the scroll becomes clear. "And the Lord said to me, 'Name him Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz. For before the boy knows how to say 'My father' or 'My mother', the wealth of Damascus and the plunder of Samaria will be carried off by the king of Assyria.'" (Isaiah 8:3b-4) Isaiah has witnesses that he wrote this name on a scroll before he ever fathered and named his son. When the prophecy comes to pass very soon after his son is born, the witnesses can attest to the fact that he predicted the fall of Damascus and Samaria. This was proof that he was speaking for the Lord and it should have been all the proof they needed to trust all the other prophecies he would make. 

At this point in the book of Isaiah, the combined forces of Israel and Aram are planning to come up and take Jerusalem and wrest the crown away from Ahaz to give it to a man of their choosing. This man is known only as "the son of Tabeel" in the Bible. Nothing else is known about him but it is safe to assume that he will do anything and everything the kings of Israel and Aram say. They will not be successful in taking hold of Jerusalem because the Lord has already determined to allow Samaria, the capitol of Israel, to fall to Assyria. Damascus, the capitol of Aram (Syria), will meet the same fate. This will happen before Isaiah's son is old enough to say "mama" and "dada". 

If only King Ahaz had listened to these words of Isaiah! But instead of trusting the Lord, he will take matters into his own hands and give a fortune in gold and silver to the king of Assyria to come to his aid---gold and silver which he will take from the temple and from his own palace. He need not have done that; Assyria has its sights set on Israel and Aram already. Assyria would have attacked their capitols soon without Ahaz's request for help.

Besides that, Ahaz's alliance with King Tiglath-Pileser of Assyria will tempt him to commit more idolatrous acts than he's already committed, because when he goes up to Damascus to thank Tiglath-Pileser after he has seized control of that city, he will see a pagan altar there that he likes. The Bible doesn't provide us with any details about the altar, such as its appearance or size or even which god it represented, but it seems reasonable to assume it was an altar to a god that Tiglath-Pileser worshiped and that he brought it to Damascus with him so he could worship his god while there. I can hardly imagine that, after thanking Tiglath-Pileser for taking the city of Damascus, Ahaz would erect an altar to a god of the Arameans, considering the Arameans had been defeated. I think it was an altar to an Assyrian god and that the reason he will have it set up in the very temple of God at Jerusalem is to show his appreciation for Assyrian aid and to give thanks to the god he thinks turned the forces of Israel and Aram away from him. 

The next segment we study from Chapter 8 will deal with the judgment that is going to fall on Judah because of trusting in other gods and other nations. The very nation Judah thinks is its friend will almost destroy it. 

The Book Of Isaiah. Day 29, Enemies As The Lord's Instrument

The remainder of Chapter 7 deals with the Lord's intention to use the enemies of Judah as an instrument of discipline for the people's waywardness.

In yesterday's study we talked about how King Ahaz is relying on King Tiglath-Pileser of Assyria for help against the combined military forces of King Pekah of Israel and King Rezin of Aram. He should be trusting in the Lord but instead, as we learned from our study of the kings, he will take the gold and silver from the temple and from his palace to send it to Tiglath-Pileser to ensure his aid. As thanks for the Assyrian king's help, he will go up to Damascus to visit him after the Assyrian forces capture Damascus of Aram (Syria in today's world) and will see there a heathen altar he wants copied for the temple complex at Jerusalem.

Ahaz's alliance with Assyria will drive him even further into idolatry and will drive the people even further into idolatry when he commands all their offerings and sacrifices to be made on the heathen altar instead of on the Lord's altar. Because of his refusal to serve the Lord, and because so many people are refusing to serve the Lord, the very nation they are trusting in will plague them, along with other enemy nations. This is the Lord's doing, which He makes plain.

He says, "The Lord will bring on you and on your people and on the house of your father a time unlike any since Ephraim broke away from Judah---He will bring the king of Assyria. In that day the Lord will whistle for flies from the Nile delta in Egypt and for bees from the land of Assyria." (Isaiah 7:17-18) The Lord is probably not referring to literal flies and bees but is calling the invading forces flies and bees because they will swarm in and cover the land. The Assyrians, who will conquer the northern kingdom of Israel, will set their sights on Judah too. Not only that, but the Egyptians will make incursions and raids upon Judah. We will be taking a look at these various troubles as we move on through the book of Isaiah. 

These attacking and scavenging enemy soldiers will be as bad as any insect plague, which is why the Lord depicts them as devouring the land. "They will all come and settle in the steep ravines and in the crevices of the rocks, on all the thornbushes and at all the water holes." (Isaiah 7:19)

The Lord now refers to Assyria as a "razor" for several reasons. The first is that it was a common tactic of the Assyrians to shave all the hair off their captives. The second is that it was a shame and disgrace to have one's hair and beard shaved off. The third is that shaving symbolizes nothing being left; it symbolizes how desolate the land will become. Because King Ahaz and so many citizens have placed their trust in heathen kings and in pagan gods instead of the Lord God, they will be shamed and disgraced for trusting in what is untrustworthy. They will also be stripped bare of the abundance of the land, the land which the Lord vowed to make unfruitful if they forsook Him, the land from which He vowed to remove them if they forsook them. "In that day the Lord will use a razor hired from beyond the Euphrates River---the king of Assyria---to shave your head and private parts, and to cut off your beard also." (Isaiah 7:20)

The land of milk and honey will become to them a land where they must get by on very little. They must scavenge for food in the wild or hide what few animals they have in order to keep them. The enemy won't allow planting and harvesting because they will destroy the crops every chance they get. "In that day, a person will keep alive a young cow and two goats. And because of the abundance of the milk that they give, there will be curds to eat. All who remain in the land will eat curds and honey." (Isaiah 7:21-22) The Lord is still merciful in spite of their sin. He's not going to allow them to starve to death. But they will have to do without meat from domestic animals, wine from the vineyards, and crops from the fields. 

"In that day, in every place where there were a thousand vines worth a thousand silver shekels, there will be only briers and thorns. Hunters will go there with bow and arrow, for the land will be covered with briers and thorns. As for all the hills once cultivated by the hoe, you will no longer go there for fear of the briers and thorns; they will become places where cattle are turned loose and where sheep run." (Isaiah 7:23-25) Assyria will make waste of many parts of the land. It will only be by the divine providence of the Lord that Jerusalem is spared from falling later in the book of Isaiah. We know that it's the Neo-Babylonian Empire to which Judah and the nation will actually fall but that doesn't mean that Assyria won't be a continual threat from now until then.

This is happening because so many have forsaken the Lord. As we talked about yesterday, the one who bows before the Lord can stand before anyone, and this is what He promised them before He ever brought them into the land. As long as they served Him, He would protect them. Even now, as Isaiah talks with the king, this situation could still be turned around if the king and the people who are like the king would repent.

The Book Of Isaiah. Day 28, A Friend Turned Foe

At this time in the book of Isaiah, King Ahaz is depending on help from Assyria to thwart the military invasion of the combined forces of King Pekah of Israel and King Rezin of Aram (Aram being what we know today as Syria). 

We studied this episode of history during our study of the kings, in which Ahaz appealed to the king of Assyria for help: "Ahaz sent messengers to say to Tiglath-Pileser king of Assyria, 'I am your servant and vassal. Come up and save me out of the hand of the king of Aram and of the king of Israel, who are attacking me.' And Ahaz took the silver and gold found in the temple of the Lord and in the treasuries of the royal palace and sent it as a gift to the king of Assyria. The king of Assyria complied by attacking Damascus and capturing it. He deported its inhabitants to Kir and put Rezin to death." (2 Kings 16:7-9)

You may be familiar with the expression, "They who kneel before God can stand before anyone". If the idolatrous Ahaz had been willing to kneel before God and say to Him, "I submit myself to You and I trust You to protect the nation of Judah," he would not have had to say to the heathen king of Assyria, "I submit myself to you and I trust you to protect the nation of Judah". He should have placed his faith in God rather than in man, for the nation he believes is his friend will soon become his foe.

Here in Chapter 7 the king of Assyria has not yet come to Ahaz's aid, but when he does Ahaz will go up to meet him in person to thank him, at which point he will see an altar in Damascus that he wants copied for Jerusalem. In 2 Kings 16 we learned that after the idolatrous altar was erected he commanded that all of his own offerings and all of the people's offerings be made to it. He also removed the Lord's bronze altar from in front of the temple and relegated it to an out-of-the-way place. This has not happened yet but the Lord knows it will happen. He knows Ahaz will continue falling deeper into idolatry and that he will influence countless others to engage in it with him, so He sends a very serious warning to him from the prophet Isaiah that the nation of Assyria will be no help to him; rather, they will be a hardship to him.

"The Lord will bring on you and on your people and on the house of your father a time unlike any since Ephraim broke away from Judah---He will bring the king of Assyria." (Isaiah 7:17) The Lord will allow Assyria to plague Judah as a method of discipline for the way the king and so many citizens have turned away from Him. Ahaz is making a huge mistake placing his trust in Assyria. If he had placed his trust in the Lord, no nation could have stood against Judah, for the Lord promised this if they would be faithful to Him: "No one will be able to stand against you. The Lord your God, as He promised you, will put the terror and fear of you on the whole land, wherever you go." (Deuteronomy 11:25) 

Why aren't King Pekah and King Rezin terrified to attack Judah and Jerusalem? Why won't King Tiglath-Pileser and his successors be afraid to attack Judah and Jerusalem? Because the king and so many of the people haven't remained faithful to the Lord. Instead of Judah's enemies being afraid of her, Judah is afraid of her enemies. This is because she stopped fearing (having a reverent respect for) the Lord. This is because she stopped kneeling before the Lord and began bowing to false gods and to the temporary things of this world. 

If we are willing to kneel before God we can stand before anyone because He will enable us to stand. Then we can say, as David said, "The Lord is my light and my salvation---whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life---of whom shall I be afraid?" (Psalm 27:1)

The Book Of Isaiah. Day 27, A Twofold Prophecy

In our last study session before the Christmas break we studied the passage from Isaiah that predicts the birth of the Messiah, who was called by the title of "Immanuel: God With Us". This is part of a twofold prophecy and we will be looking at the second part of it today.

We will begin by looking at the two parts as a whole, while keeping in mind that many prophecies of the Bible are twofold and that they are often run together in one sentence or in one paragraph. "Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel. He will be eating curds and honey when he knows enough to reject the wrong and choose the right, for before the boy knows enough to reject the wrong and choose the right, the land of the two kings you dread will be laid waste." (Isaiah 7:14-16)

Some critics throughout the ages have claimed that the verses above have nothing to do with Christ by saying that the verse translated as "virgin" should be translated as "young woman", for that is the literal meaning of the word "almah" in the original Hebrew. However, anywhere this word is used in the Scriptures it is used to indicate a young unmarried woman. It is never used for a single woman who is single because she has been divorced or widowed, no matter how young she may be at the time of her divorce or widowhood. It is never used for an immoral woman either. The word is clearly intended to be understood here in Isaiah, and in other passages of the Bible, to denote a young unmarried woman still living under the protection of her parents---a young unmarried woman whose virtue is unquestionable. 

The reason so many critics find fault with the verses above is because the two parts of the prophecy do not concern the same child. The child who will be born of a virgin, and the child during whose lifetime the northern kingdom of Israel and the kingdom of Aram will become a non-threat to Judah, are not one and the same. 

I agree with the opinion of a number of Bible scholars who say that the child during whose lifetime Israel and Aram will fall is the child in Isaiah's arms: his son Shear-Jashub. At the beginning of our chapter the Lord told Isaiah to go down to meet King Ahaz at the end of the aqueduct to deliver a message to him. The Lord instructed Isaiah to take his son, Shear-Jashub, with him. Shear-Jashub is presumably still a babe in arms at this time. This is the child to whom the Lord refers when He says through the prophet, "Before the boy knows enough to reject the wrong and choose the right, the land of the two kings you dread will be laid to waste."

Right now King Ahaz is shaking with terror because he's heard that the combined forces of King Pekah of Israel and King Rezin of Aram are coming against him, intending to overthrow Judah to make it a vassal state, intending to remove him from the throne to place a man the Bible calls "the son of Tabeel" in his place. But the Lord is saying that before Isaiah's son Shear-Jashub is old enough to discern right from wrong, those forces will be unable to lift a finger against Judah. This prophecy will come true within a period of three years, for King Pekah will be assassinated by a man named Hoshea, who was one of the top men in his administration, and Assyria will attack Aram and the king of Assyria will put Rezin to death.

As we've discussed before in our Bible studies, a prophet was not to be considered a prophet unless he could accurately foretell an event that would happen during the lifetime of his listeners. If that prophecy did not come true, and if it did not come true when and where and how he predicted, no prophecy he made regarding the far off future was to be trusted. So we often find twofold prophecies in the Bible: one for the near future and one for the far future. Usually we find the prophecy for the near future mentioned first but here in Isaiah 7 we find the prophecy for the far off future (the advent of the Messiah) predicted before the prophecy of the fall of Ahaz's enemies. I can't say for certain why the prophecies are presented in this order but I like to think it's because the prophecy of the Messiah is the greater of the two; therefore, it is mentioned first. It is given the preeminence because the Messiah is preeminent over everyone and everything. 

If the prophecy regarding King Pekah and King Rezin does not come true, then no one should place any trust in Isaiah's prophecy of the virgin birth of the Messiah. But the prophecy regarding King Pekah and King Rezin will come true---and indeed very soon after the prophecy was made. Therefore, Isaiah's prediction regarding the virgin birth of the Messiah can be trusted---and King Ahaz and all the people should trust it.

The Book Of Isaiah. Day 26, The Sign Of Immanuel

In yesterday's study session we found the Lord inviting King Ahaz of Judah to ask Him for a sign that the combined forces of Israel and Aram wouldn't be successful in breaking through the walls of Jerusalem and removing him from the throne. Word had come to Ahaz that King Pekah of Israel and King Rezin of Aram had conspired together like this: "Let us invade Judah; let us tear it apart and divide it among ourselves, and make the son of Tabeel king over it." (Isaiah 7:6) They intended to invade the land, looting everything of value that they could, before laying siege to Jerusalem and breaking through its walls, then deposing Ahaz as king and putting a man of their choosing on the throne.

The Bible doesn't tell us who the son of Tabeel was or who Tabeel himself was. It's clear that he was a man whom Pekah and Rezin expected to be able to control. Judah would have been a vassal state for them and the king on its throne would have been a puppet king. Scholars are divided in their opinion as to whether this man was an Israelite or an Aramean but his father's name, Tabeel, appears to be a Hebrew name that means "God is good". Tabeel and his son were probably from one of the tribes of the northern kingdom, perhaps the tribe of Ephraim since the Lord keeps referring to Israel by the name of Ephraim in Chapter 7. However, some scholars propose that Tabeel and his son were of the tribe of Judah and that they were related somehow to the royal family, though not in direct line for the throne, and that this son of Tabeel was willing to submit to the kings of Israel and Aram in exchange for being placed on the throne of Judah.

Whoever he was, he did not have the right to wear the crown, and the royal line of succession is going to continue straight down from King David just as the Lord always said it would. That's how Ahaz can rest assured that the Lord is not going to allow Pekah and Rezin to place their man on the throne. The Lord then invited Ahaz to ask for a sign---a sign of whatever magnitude he chose because the Lord can do anything---but Ahaz hypocritically refused, claiming this would be "testing the Lord". The reason this was hypocritical was because Ahaz had bowed his knees and asked for things from many pagan gods but he was pretending to respect the Lord too much to ask something from the one true God. 

Isaiah informs the king that a sign will be given even though he was too faithless to ask for it: "Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel." (Isaiah 7:14) This is a Messianic prophecy that won't be fulfilled until five hundred years later. But it's a promise that the house of David (by which term the Lord has already referred to Ahaz's household twice) will endure until the Promised One comes to reign forever. The Lord could not make or keep such a promise if He intended for Ahaz to be deposed from the throne, for in those times deposing a king meant killing him and all of his sons and grandsons and any other close male relatives that might try to lay claim to the throne. This would have cut off the royal line descending from David, preventing the Promised One from being born of David's line. But the Lord never makes a promise He doesn't intend to keep and the Lord never fails to keep a promise.

Immanuel was indeed born, just as the Lord said He would be. In Matthew's gospel account he provides us with the genealogy of Jesus Christ, clearly showing us that He was a direct descendant of the royal line of David, and Matthew tells us that the Holy Spirit caused a virgin to conceive the Promised One, wrapping up by quoting from the book of Isaiah, saying, "All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: 'The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel.' (Which means 'God with us'.)" (Matthew 1:22-23)

Immanuel is being used as a title rather than a proper name. Jesus' earthly parents were instructed to name Him "Jesus" but one of the many beautiful titles He holds is "God With Us". In the incarnation, He literally became "God With Us". We will close today's study with the words of the Apostle John who so wonderfully described how Jesus came to live among us, and here John is using another of the beautiful titles of our Lord: "The Word Of God". John says, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through Him all things were made; without Him nothing was made that has been made...The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. We have seen His glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth." (John 1:1-3, 14) 

We will be resuming our study of the book of Isaiah on Wednesday, December 27th, in order for all of us to attend to the things of the Christmas season for the next few days. I have some family things, church things, and food-preparation things to do and I know many of you are probably doing the same or perhaps even traveling out of town. I would like to wish each of you all the blessings of Christmas, all the peace and joy of knowing that Immanuel---God With Us---has come!

The Book Of Isaiah. Day 25, King Ahaz Refuses A Generous Offer From The Lord

In yesterday's study we were told that Pekah, the king of the northern kingdom of Israel, had allied himself with King Rezin of Aram to come up against Jerusalem to attack it. Upon hearing this news, King Ahaz of Judah shook with fear. But the Lord sent Isaiah to reassure Ahaz that Jerusalem will not fall to the enemy.

Ahaz was a wicked king. The book of 2 Kings informed us that he bowed to many pagan gods and made offerings and sacrifices to them. He even committed the most abominable heathen sin of all when he sacrificed one of his sons to the Canaanite god Molek. The Lord is going to give Ahaz an opportunity to renounce idolatry and place his faith in Almighty God.

Isaiah met with Ahaz at the end of the aqueduct of the Upper Pool, as the Lord instructed him, and he told Ahaz not to fear the army coming against him. Ahaz need not shake at the thought of two mere men; he needs to bow in reverent fear before the living God. In order to prove to Ahaz that Jerusalem will be delivered from the enemy, in today's text the Lord invites Ahaz to ask for a sign so he can trust that the Lord's words will come true. This is very gracious of the Lord, that He would be so merciful to a man who has rejected Him in so many ways. I believe the Lord is trying to help Ahaz not only for the man's own sake but for the sake of the entire nation. As we noted during our study of the kings, whenever a godly king was on the throne, the people followed his example. And whenever a wicked king was on the throne, he was a bad influence on the people. 

Through the prophet Isaiah the Lord offers a sign to the king. "Again the Lord spoke to Ahaz, 'Ask the Lord your God for a sign, whether in the deepest depths or in the highest heights.'" (Isaiah 7:10-11) Nothing is too hard for the Lord. It would be impossible for King Ahaz to ask anything of the Lord that He could not do. You may recall from our study of the kings that Ahaz's son, King Hezekiah, asked for a great sign from the Lord. The Lord promised him he would not die from an illness that had come upon him and the Lord promised him that Jerusalem would not fall to the enemy that was plaguing Judah in Hezekiah's day. Hezekiah asked the Lord to make the sun go ten degrees backwards. The Lord obliged him. The sundial which Hezekiah could see from the window by his sickbed was, ironically, built by his faithless father. The sun went backward ten steps (ten degrees) on the sundial just as Hezekiah had asked. 

Hezekiah demonstrated a faith that his father does not have. When offered a magnificent opportunity of a sign from the Lord, Ahaz declines it. "But Ahaz said, 'I will not ask; I will not put the Lord to the test.'" (Isaiah 7:12) The Lord instructed the people in Deuteronomy 6:16 not to put Him to the test. This is the verse Ahaz is quoting but he is using it out of context. The remainder of that passage of Scripture makes it clear that the Lord is talking about the type of testing the people put Him through at Massah, where they grumbled against Moses and the Lord, claiming that the Lord and Moses led them into the wilderness to cause them to die. They demanded a sign, saying, "Is the Lord among us or not?" (Exodus 17:7) 

The Lord had already performed many great signs and wonders for them, including parting the Red Sea, and He had provided for them in the wilderness up to that point. Their "testing" of Him was actually a statement of faithlessness. It displayed an attitude of disrespect toward Him and an attitude of suspicion regarding His character. That incident in no way compares to what is happening in Isaiah 7. The Lord Himself invites Ahaz to ask a sign of Him but Ahaz hypocritically sticks his nose in the air and states in a pious tone: "I will not test the Lord!" He's putting on a front of respecting the Lord when the events of his life so far have proven that he does not respect the Lord.

The Lord is displeased with Ahaz's reply. This was a generous offer on the Lord's part, considering how wicked Ahaz was, and Ahaz has refused a marvelous display of the power of the living God. The Lord is angry on behalf of Ahaz and on behalf of the people; the king and all the people could benefit from a magnificent display of the glory and power of the Lord. "Then Isaiah said, 'Hear now, you house of David! Is it not enough to try the patience of humans? Will you try the patience of my God also?'" (Isaiah 7:13)

The king refuses to ask for a sign from the Lord but the Lord is going to provide a sign anyway. In our next study session we are going to take a look at this sign. It's a fitting sign to be studying at the Christmas season, for it involves the birth of the Son of God: this will be the sign of Immanuel.

The Book Of Isaiah. Day 24, A Coalition Of Armies Against Judah

The events in today's passage occurred during the reign of King Ahaz of Judah, who was the grandson of King Uzziah. A period of time has occurred between Chapter 6, when Isaiah was in the temple just after Uzziah passed away, and Chapter 7 when Uzziah's successor, Jotham, has been succeeded by his son, Ahaz.

King Pekah of the northern kingdom of Israel has allied himself with King Rezin of Aram to come against the nation of Judah in battle. We previously studied this event during our study of the kings, but not from Isaiah's viewpoint. In 2 Kings 16 we learned that Ahaz, son of Jotham, succeeded to the throne of Judah in the seventeenth year of King Pekah of Israel. We also learned that Ahaz was not a godly man: "He did not do what was right in the eyes of the Lord his God. He followed the ways of the kings of Israel and even sacrificed his son in the fire, engaging in the detestable practices of the nations the Lord had driven out before the Israelites. He offered sacrifices and burned incense at the high places, on the hilltops and under every spreading tree." (2 Kings 16:2b-4) He followed the ways of the kings of Israel (worshiping other gods) and even sacrificed his son to that abominable Canaanite deity, Molek. Immediately after providing us this horrifying information, the author of 2 Kings says: "Then Rezin king of Aram and Pekah son of Remaliah king of Israel marched up to fight against Jerusalem and besieged Ahaz." There is a clear connection between the terrible sins of Ahaz and the predicament in which he finds himself.

Chapter 7 of the book of Isaiah begins like this: "When Ahaz son of Jotham, the son of Uzziah, was king of Judah, King Rezin of Aram and Pekah son of Remaliah king of Israel marched up to fight against Jerusalem, but they could not overpower it." (Isaiah 7:1) Ahaz and does not yet know that these kings, who have conspired against him, will not be able to overpower the capitol city. The author is writing in the past tense about something that has already happened when he says that the enemies could not overpower Jerusalem. When King Ahaz hears about the combined army coming against him, he shakes with fear. "Now the house of David was told, 'Aram has allied itself with Ephraim'; so the hearts of Ahaz and his people were shaken, as the trees of the forest are shaken by the wind." (Isaiah 7:2)

When the news of the approaching army reaches the palace, the royal residence and its occupants are referred to as "the house of David" because Ahaz is a direct descendant of David. However, he doesn't have a heart like David's. This is why he is so shaken. In contrast to the faithless Ahaz, David said, "I keep my eyes always on the Lord. With Him at my right hand, I will not be shaken." (Psalm 16:8) And David also said, "The Lord is my light and my salvation---whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life---of whom shall I be afraid?...Though an army besiege me, my heart will not fear; though war break out against me, even then I will be confident." (Psalm 27:1,3)

The threat of Israel and Aram is an opportunity for Ahaz to forsake his idols and turn to the Lord, as we will learn later this week. The Lord is not going to allow Jerusalem to fall to these enemy kings and He sends Isaiah to reassure Ahaz. "Then the Lord said to Isaiah, 'Go out, you and your son Shear-Jashub, to meet Ahaz at the end of the aqueduct of the Upper Pool, on the road to the Launderer's Field. Say to him, 'Be careful, keep calm and don't be afraid. Do not lose heart because of these two smoldering stubs of firewood---because of the fierce anger of Rezin and Aram and the son of Remaliah. Aram, Ephraim and Remaliah's son have plotted your ruin, saying, 'Let us invade Judah; let us tear it apart and divide it among ourselves, and make the son of Tabeel king over it.'" (Isaiah 7:3-6) At this time it may be that only the members of the royal household know of the threat. Isaiah's detailed knowledge of it is likely intended as a sign to King Ahaz that Isaiah's message is from the Lord. Isaiah knows things that nobody but the Lord told him.

Because Isaiah knows about the news that reached the royal household, without having been told anything by the royal household, the remainder of his message can be trusted. The king should take the words of Isaiah as the words of the Lord Himself, for that is what they are. "Yet this is what the Sovereign Lord says: 'It will not take place, it will not happen, for the head of Aram is Damascus, and the head of Damascus is only Rezin. Within sixty-five years, Ephraim will be too shattered to be a people. The head of Ephraim is Samaria, and the head of Samaria is only Remaliah's son. If you do not stand firm in your faith, you will not stand at all.'" (Isaiah 7:7-9)

Those who are threatening Judah are mere men. They cannot stand against Almighty God who intends (at this time) to protect Jerusalem from falling. In our next study session we will study the verses above more in-depth and will take a look at the wonderful opportunity the Lord offers to Ahaz.

The Book Of Isaiah. Day 23, The Lord Calls Isaiah To Be A Prophet, Part Four

Today we are concluding Chapter 6 and Isaiah's account of how he was called to be a prophet of the Lord. As we closed yesterday's study we found the Lord asking who would go to the people with His message. Isaiah replied, "Here I am! Send me!" 

After Isaiah accepts the Lord's invitation to be His prophet, the Lord provides instructions. "He said, 'Go and tell this people: 'Be ever hearing, but never understanding; be ever seeing, but never perceiving.' Make the heart of this people calloused; make their ears dull and close their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed.'" (Isaiah 6:9-10)

What is the Lord saying? Does He want the people to be lost? No, because the Bible clearly tells us from start to finish that the Lord's desire is for everyone to be saved. When He tells Isaiah to make the people's hearts calloused, what He is saying is that the people will see Isaiah acting as a prophet and they will hear his words but will deny what they see and hear. In denying over and over what they see and hear, their hearts (which are already hard) will grow harder and harder. Every time a person hears the truth of God's word and rejects it, his or her heart grows harder. This makes it more and more difficult for them to "turn and be healed" as the Lord phrases it. A heart can become impenetrable once the shell around it has grown thick enough. At that point the only way a person can be saved is if the Lord forces them to be saved---and that He will not do, for He is a gentleman who does not force Himself upon anyone. As we discussed yesterday, He respects human dignity and the free will He instilled in mankind. 

The Lord is informing Isaiah that his commission as a prophet will be largely fruitless. Doubtless, some people accepted his words, but the vast majority of them did not. They will hear Isaiah's words but won't understand them because they don't want to understand them. In our own day, there are people sitting in church on a regular basis, listening to the word of God being preached while at the same time rejecting the word. They don't want to understand what they are hearing because if they understand it they will have to do something about it. 

People go to church for reasons other than to worship the Lord, just as in Isaiah's day they went up to the temple with offerings and sacrifices for reasons other than loving the Lord. People may go to church in our times because it's expected of them by their family or because they like the effect it has on their reputation or because it gives them a sense of belonging to a group. They may attend church because they feel lonely or because it's the main social event in their small rural town. There are many reasons why a person attends services and why a person volunteers their time for church projects, and those reasons may have nothing to do with having a relationship with the Lord. There are lost people in our churches. The longer they listen to the word of God but don't repent, and the longer they observe the godly lives of others and don't repent, the more difficult it will be to ever come to the point of repentance. Their hearts grow more "calloused", as the Lord says, as time goes on.

The Lord is telling Isaiah to be prepared for his message to fall upon deaf ears. He is telling Isaiah that he will be scoffed at and ignored. The Lord is fair in His dealings with mankind and doesn't want us accepting a commission from Him blindly. As the Lord Jesus said, we are to "count the cost" of taking up our cross and following Him. (Luke 14:25-33) Jesus warned His disciples that their message about Him would be rejected by many. He warned them that they would be ridiculed and, in some cases, would be beaten or imprisoned or even put to death. Were they willing to go this far or not? When the Lord tells Isaiah his message is going to fall mostly on deaf ears, He's asking him, "Are you willing to preach My message anyway?"

Isaiah is willing. The only question he asks is how long this hard-heartedness of the people will last. "Then I said, 'For how long, Lord?'" (Isaiah 6:11a) Will their hearts be calloused forever? Will they be willfully blind and deliberately deaf forever? Isaiah hopes not. He loves his people and his nation. He doesn't want the people to be lost or the nation to fall never to rise again. He wants some good news to make the bad news easier to bear.

"And He answered: 'Until the cities lie ruined and without inhabitant, until the houses are left deserted and the fields ruined and ravaged, until the Lord has sent everyone far away and the land is utterly forsaken. And though a tenth remains in the land, it will again be laid waste. But as the terebinth and oak leave stumps when they are cut down, so the holy seed will be the stump in the land.'" (Isaiah 6:11b-13) Just as the Lord already stated earlier in the book of Isaiah, the nation will be attacked and conquered. The people will be taken captive and dispersed to foreign soil. But that is not the end! The good news Isaiah was hoping for is in this message.

Judgment would not have come if most of the people had repented at the words of Isaiah and the other prophets. The Lord lets Isaiah know that they will not repent and that the judgment He has pronounced is really going to happen. But He will not make an end of Isaiah's people and He will not make an end of the nation. 

The Book Of Isaiah. Day 22, The Lord Calls Isaiah To Be A Prophet, Part Three

Isaiah has been describing for us the day that the Lord called him to be a prophet. He told us that he went up to the temple when King Uzziah died and that while he was in the temple he saw a vision of the Lord seated on the throne over the whole creation. He saw seraphim surrounding the throne and he heard their voices calling, "Holy, holy, holy!" Upon beholding this glorious revelation of the Lord, Isaiah was stricken with the knowledge of his own frailty, inadequacy, and sinfulness. But the Lord imputed righteousness to him or, as we said yesterday, the Lord qualified him to do a work that no man (or woman) can do without the Lord's strength.

The Lord heard Isaiah's cry for forgiveness for all of his faults and granted him mercy. He sanctified him to do a great mission. Now He issues the invitation to this mission: "Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, 'Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?'" (Isaiah 6:8a) In order to do the work of the Lord, we must be sanctified by the Lord, which is what happened in yesterday's study. The Lord did for Isaiah what Isaiah could not do for himself. Now Isaiah is qualified by the Lord and not by human will to do the Lord's work. But the Lord does not force anyone to do anything. He created mankind with free will, so He gives Isaiah a choice. Isaiah can accept the invitation or he can reject the invitation.

Before we study Isaiah's reply, we need to pause and consider who the Lord means when He uses the word "us". He asks, "Who will go for us?" To whom is He referring? I believe this is a reference to the Holy Trinity, for He also used the word "us" when He created the human race, saying, "Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness." (Genesis 1:26a) It seems clear He wasn't speaking to the angels when He said this; nowhere in the Bible does it say that human beings were made in the image of angels or that angels were made in the image of God. Rather, the Bible says, "God created mankind in His own image, in the image of God He created them; male and female He created them." (Genesis 1:27) The angels were not created in man's image, nor was man created in the angels' image; man was created in God's image. Therefore, when the Lord said, "Let us make mankind in our image," He was speaking to the other members of the Holy Trinity: God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. So when the Lord issues His invitation to Isaiah by asking, "Who will go for us?", He is speaking to the other members of the Holy Trinity: God the Son and God the Holy Spirit.

This is Isaiah's response: "And I said, 'Here I am! Send me!'" (Isaiah 6:8b) Of course the Lord already knew that Isaiah would accept His invitation but in respect for the free will He instilled in mankind He gives Isaiah a choice. No one can ever say that the Lord does not respect human dignity. No one can ever say He forced Isaiah or any other prophet to proclaim His message and to endure the hardships that confronted the prophets. A wicked generation does not want to hear the Lord's message and a wicked generation heaps verbal abuse (and sometimes physical abuse) on the messenger. The Lord doesn't make anyone step into the role of His messenger but asks the person whether he or she wants to step into that role.

Did Isaiah ever have any ambition to be a prophet before the Lord appeared to him in the temple? I can't say for sure but I have a feeling that he did not seek such an office. I believe he loved the Lord. I believe the studied the Lord's word and meditated on it. I believe he spent time in prayer with the Lord. But I have a feeling that he didn't grow up saying to himself, "I want to chastise the people for their sins! I want to warn them that catastrophe is coming if they don't repent!" I think it's likely he wanted to do something for the Lord; his heart for the Lord would naturally have given him a desire serve the Lord. His heart for the Lord would naturally have given him a love for the people God created; he would have wanted to see them repent instead of seeing them destroyed. But did he have any idea he would become one of the most well known (if not the most well known) prophet of the Lord? I doubt it. But he doesn't hesitate to accept the invitation. He doesn't take time to think about whether to do what the Lord is asking him to do, no matter what the cost might be to himself. 

I didn't want to close today's study session without honoring Isaiah's bold faith. It takes bold faith to step out on such a mission. May we all have such a faith that, no matter what the Lord asks of us, we will say, "Here I am! Send me!"

The Book Of Isaiah. Day 21, The Lord Calls Isaiah To Be A Prophet, Part Two

In the first segment of Chapter 6 we found Isaiah in the temple. We discussed how he was likely feeling worried and discouraged because King Uzziah had died, and because King Uzziah's reign ended on a spiritually sad note, and because things in the nation were going down a wrong spiritual path. The Lord appeared to Isaiah in the temple, seated on a throne, and we talked about how this reminded Isaiah that even though the long and mostly beneficial reign of Uzziah was finished and Uzziah was no longer on the throne of Judah, the Lord is still on the throne ruling over all creation.

When Isaiah saw the Lord and when he heard the voices of the seraphim surrounding the throne, he was completely overwhelmed. He thinks he is doomed because he has has a powerful vision of the Lord in all of his glory. "'Woe to me!' I cried. 'I am ruined, for I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty.'" (Isaiah 6:5) 

What does he mean by "unclean lips"? Some scholars believe that although Isaiah loved and worshiped the Lord before he was called to be a prophet, he struggled with the temptation to allow wrong things to come out of his mouth. Wrong things coming out of one's mouth might be curse words or some form of blasphemy but that isn't necessarily what Isaiah is referring to. The Apostle Peter, for example, said a number of wrong things in the gospels (things for which Jesus often had to correct him) but those wrong things were due to his impetuous nature and his tendency to speak before thinking. Peter's heart was usually in the right place but he sometimes spoke without using spiritual discernment. Another thing Isaiah could be referring to is that he didn't consider himself qualified to speak to the nation. You'll recall Moses bringing up just such an objection about himself when the Lord called him to speak to Pharaoh on behalf of the Israelites. Moses' words indicate he had a speech impediment, which he felt disqualified him to speak God's word to the Egyptian king. Although Moses had wanted to be the deliverer of the Israelites, he had hoped in his youth to do it through force rather than through words. When that didn't work out for him, he grew older and put that dream aside, and when the Lord called him to speak he doubted that he would be able to properly speak the holy words of God. 

But the truth is that nobody really knows what Isaiah means when he says that he has unclean lips and that the people have unclean lips. Isaiah is not a sinless man and if he did sin with words then that is not the only manner in which he sinned. That is not the only manner in which the people sinned either. But for some reason the term "unclean lips" comes to the forefront of his mind when he sees the Lord and it could be that he considers himself unqualified to preach the word of God because of things he has said in the past. As we said in our last study session, getting a glimpse of who God is will reveal to us who we are---and who we are isn't pretty, is it? When we see His holiness, we see our sin, and it's natural that the thing we consider to be our worst fault would be the first thing to come to mind.

You may be familiar with the saying, "God doesn't call the qualified. He qualifies the called." That's just what He does next. He fixes the thing that Isaiah believes stands between him and a career as a prophet. "Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. With it he touched my mouth and said, 'See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for.'" (Isaiah 6:6-7)

The seraphim takes a live coal from the altar of burnt offerings at the temple---the altar where sacrifices are made---and touches Isaiah's mouth with it. Presumably the hot coal miraculously does not burn Isaiah, because in our next study session we find Isaiah speaking right after this occurrence. I don't believe he was burned or maimed by the coal. What I think is happening here is that the coal from the altar where sacrifices is made is a symbol of the fact that only the Lord can cleanse us from our sins. Isaiah felt he was a man of unclean lips. Isaiah knew that he was incapable of curing himself of that sin or of any other sin. An imperfect human cannot make himself perfect but a perfect God can impute righteousness to an imperfect man. And that is exactly what the Lord does for Isaiah in today's text. And that is what the Lord does for us through the sacrifice of Christ, which is a perfect sacrifice unlike those that were made before His advent. The only cure for sin is the Lord! There is nothing you or I can do to be regarded by God as holy and perfect and righteous except to place our faith in the One who actually is holy and perfect and righteous.

The Book Of Isaiah. Day 20, The Lord Calls Isaiah To Be A Prophet, Part One

The first five chapters of the book of Isaiah are about the message of the Lord. Chapter 6 is about the messenger: Isaiah. In this multi-part study session Isaiah describes for us the way the Lord called him to be a prophet.

"In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord, high and exalted, seated on a throne; and the train of His robe filled the temple." (Isaiah 6:6) King Uzziah (referred to as Azariah by the author of 2 Kings) ruled over the nation of Judah for fifty-two years and the majority of his reign was prosperous and successful. He was a good king for Judah, although he stumbled spiritually near the end of his life and pridefully attempted to offer incense to the Lord in the temple, which was a duty assigned by the Lord only to the priests. Because of Uzziah's presumptuousness and contempt for the Lord's commandment regarding this matter, the Lord struck the king with leprosy while Uzziah was still standing in the temple, rendering the king incapable of dealing with public matters of state. Uzziah's son and appointed heir to the throne, Jotham, became co-regent and was the public face of the royal family during the remaining few years of Uzziah's life.

Isaiah must have mourned the king who had done a great deal of good for the nation of Judah. He must also have mourned the fact that the king didn't finish strong for the Lord. I believe Isaiah was distressed in spirit when he went into the temple to commune with the Lord. I believe it was probably Isaiah's habit to pray and seek the Lord in His temple. But today is not going to be like any day before. Today the Lord is going to commission Isaiah to be a prophet to the nation of Judah. 

Uzziah, who was beloved by the people, is no longer on the throne at Jerusalem. But the Lord---the King of kings---is still seated on the throne in heaven, reigning over all creation. Isaiah may have felt like things were spinning out of control but what he sees in the temple reminds him that God is always in control. Nothing ever takes the Lord by surprise. Nothing ever happens that He can't handle.

Isaiah now describes a scene similar to that which will be seen by the prophet Ezekiel (in the book of Ezekiel) and the Apostle John (in the book of Revelation). "Above Him were seraphim, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. And they were calling to one another: 'Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty; the whole earth is full of His glory.'" (Isaiah 6:2-3)

A number of Bible scholars have offered their opinions on why these seraphim cover their faces and their feet. What I feel is the best explanation is that even these angelic beings have to shield their faces from the Lord in all of His glory and that they shield their feet because this is the most humble and ordinary part of the body (the feet of humans, for example, are what they walk through this world with, which is why the Lord Jesus washed the dust of the road from the feet of His disciples). The covering of their faces and feet symbolizes their humility and symbolizes their respect for the Lord. 

Whenever these creatures are mentioned in the Bible we find them crying, "Holy, holy, holy!" Scholars are divided on their opinions as to why the creatures repeat the word "holy" three times. Some believe it's a reference to the Holy Trinity and that what the creatures mean is: "Holy is God the Father, Holy is God the Son, Holy is God the Holy Spirit." Some believe that repeating the word "holy" three times symbolizes the ultimate perfection of praise that is always around the throne of God. They point to the fact that the outer room of the temple on earth was referred to as the "holy" or "The Holy Place" and that the inner room which housed the ark of the covenant was referred to as the "Holy Holy". (This is the literal translation of what is usually rendered as "The Most Holy Place" or the "Holy Of Holies" in the temple.) Since the space around the Lord's throne is the holiest space in existence, these scholars say that it is the "Holy Holy Holy". 

Whatever these creatures mean by their gestures and their words, Isaiah is awestruck by the sight of the Lord seated on His throne and by the creatures surrounding His throne. He is affected internally, in his heart and mind and spirit. He is also affected externally when the mighty sound of the creatures' voices causes an earthquake effect on the temple. "At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke." (Isaiah 6:4) This is not the only time in the Old Testament when the glory of the Lord caused the earth to quake and smoke to appear. He did this at Mount Sinai in the book of Exodus and He did this when the ark of the covenant was placed in Solomon's temple when it had been completed in the book of 1 Kings. 

Isaiah is completely overwhelmed. "'Woe to Me!' I cried. 'I am ruined!'" (Isaiah 6:5a) Why does Isaiah say this? When we pick up here in our next study session we will learn that Isaiah believes he is undone because when he sees the Lord he sees himself as he is. When he sees the Lord in as much glory as the Lord can reveal to a human being, he sees his own fallen and sinful state. He sees how utterly alien---how different, how "other"---the Lord is from mankind. Whenever we get a glimpse of who the Lord is, we can't help seeing ourselves as we are, and that is when repentance can take place and salvation can be attained. It wasn't until I came to somewhat of an understanding of how holy the Lord is that I saw how broken and lost I was. Isaiah thinks he is doomed because he has seen the Lord. I think also he believes he is doomed because the Lord has seen him. Oh, but this is only the beginning! The Lord does indeed see all the way to the bottom of our hearts. He knows every deed we ever have committed or ever will commit. He knows every thought we have ever thought or ever will think. And yet He appears to us not to ruin us but to save us! 

The Book Of Isaiah. Day 19, The Invading Army

After pronouncing a series of woes upon the people for their sins, the Lord now predicts the coming invasion of an enemy army. He makes it clear that this is His doing as judgment for their sins. No enemy could stand against the nation if the people had remained faithful to the Lord.

"Therefore the Lord's anger burns against His people; His hand is raised and He strikes them down. The mountains shake, and the dead bodies are like refuse in the street. Yet for all this, His anger is not turned away, His hand is still upraised." (Isaiah 5:25) This conflict will not be a short one. It won't be a matter of one defeat in in one short battle. Invasion, siege, and war are coming. Captivity and deportation are coming. As the Lord will tell the prophet Jeremiah, the captivity in a foreign land will last approximately seventy years.

"He lifts up a banner for the distant nations, He whistles for those at the ends of the earth. Here they come, swiftly and speedily!" (Isaiah 5:26) The nation of Judah, before it finally fell to the Neo-Babylonian Empire, was troubled by various other nations during the years of its spiritual decline. We will study some of these events as we proceed through the book of Isaiah. The northern kingdom of Israel conspired with neighbors to attack Judah. The Assyrians were a continual threat. Even after the people are allowed to return to the land, they will be plagued over and over by enemies as they rebuild, as we will see later in the Old Testament. 

Judah's enemies are powerful and well-equipped to withstand a long war or a long siege. "Not one of them grows tired or stumbles, not one slumbers or sleeps; not a belt is loosened at the waist, not a sandal strap is broken. Their arrows are sharp, all their bows are strung; their horses' hooves seem like flint, their chariot wheels like a whirlwind. Their roar is like that of the lion, they roar like young lions; they growl as they seize their prey and carry it off with no one to rescue. In that day they will roar over it like the roaring of the sea. And if one looks at the land, there is only darkness and distress; even the sun will be darkened by clouds." (Isaiah 5:27-30)

The enemy will sweep in like floodwaters covering the ground. The enemy will be like a swarm of locusts darkening the skies above. The enemy will be like a lion that stalks its prey, snatches it, carries it off to its lair, then roars over it in triumph.

Although a human army will be the instrument of the Lord's discipline, we must keep in mind that He is the true enemy. We don't often think of the Lord as an enemy but that is what He will be to us if we reject Him. If we love and serve the Lord, He is the best friend we could ever have. But if we refuse to recognize Him as Lord, we are in essence declaring war against Him. He is holy and righteous; He cannot bless sin and He cannot reward sin. He can only judge sin, and that is exactly what He will do. It is our choice: will we be the friend or the enemy of God?

The Book Of Isaiah. Day 18, Woes, Part Four: The Love Of Worldly Wisdom And Injustice

We are continuing on with the list of woes in Chapter 5. Today the Lord pronounces woes against those who are wise in their own eyes (who think they are clever, according to the world's standards) and against those who pervert justice in the land.

"Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes and clever in their own sight. Woe to those who are champions at drinking wine and champions at mixing drinks." (Isaiah 5:21-22) This is the second time the Lord has brought up excessive drinking in the list of woes. The people are partying like there is no tomorrow---like there will never be a day of reckoning---because they are using worldly wisdom. 

As we learned earlier in the chapter, the worldly wisdom they were using caused them to say things like this to Isaiah (and I am paraphrasing): "Where is the Lord's judgment? If it's coming it sure has been a long time in coming! Things go along the same way day after day. We've been living our lives this way for decades and nothing has happened yet. The Lord isn't going to let anything happen to us. We are the people He called out of Egypt. We are the people He displaced the tribes of Canaan for. His temple is here. He's not going to let another nation conquer the land where His temple is."

But the Lord has seen the sins of the people. He's seen the greed and debauchery. He's seen the injustice too, for He pronounces a woe against those who, "Acquit the guilty for a bribe but deny justice to the innocent." (Isaiah 5:23) The Lord hates injustice! He hates seeing people disenfranchised. He hates seeing the poor, the foreigners, and the widows and orphans cheated out of what is theirs. He hates unrighteous rulings in the courts where the guilty go free and the innocent are charged the penalties.

Because He hates these things, and because the people have not changed their ways at the preaching of His prophets, He is going to take away all the worldly goods they are trusting in to keep them safe. "Therefore, as tongues of straw lick up straw and as dry grass sinks down in the flames, so their roots will decay and their flowers blow away like dust; for they have rejected the law of the Lord Almighty and spurned the word of the Holy One of Israel." (Isaiah 5:24)

The Lord made His laws clear to the people. Before bringing them into the promised land, He explained to them what was expected of them: how they were to relate to Him and how they were to relate to their fellow man. If they kept His laws, He listed all the blessings He would pour out on them. But if they forsook His laws, He listed all the curses they would bring upon themselves. 

When we study the remainder of Chapter 5 we find the Lord moving on from describing the sins of the people. He will speak instead of the judgment that is swiftly coming for those sins of which they have not repented. 

The Book Of Isaiah. Day 17, Woes, Part Three: The Love Of Living In Darkness

As we study the series of woes pronounced in Isaiah 5, we come today to the woe of the love of living in spiritual darkness. Of all the people on earth at that time, Isaiah's nation had the most light, spiritually speaking. They had the most knowledge about the Lord. In order to live in spiritual darkness, a person had to choose to live that way. 

The same can be said of most developed nations in the world today. For example, I'm a citizen of the United States where we are free to own a Bible, attend worship services, and study about the Lord by internet or television or radio. In order to walk in darkness, we have to choose to walk in darkness, because even a person who has no interest in hearing about the Lord has heard about Him. 

"Woe to those who draw sin along with cords of deceit, and wickedness as with cart ropes, to those who say, 'Let God hurry; let Him hasten His work so we may see it. The plan of the Holy One of Israel---let it approach, let it come into view, so we may know it.'" (Isaiah 5:18-19) Evil goes with them wherever they go. They commit sins in their homes. They commit sins in public. They aren't ashamed to live wickedly in front of anyone. They also don't believe the Lord is going to judge them. Arrogantly they say, "Where is this judgment you keep warning us about, Isaiah? Things have been going along the same way, day after day, for a long time. Wouldn't the Lord have already punished us by now? He's not going to do a thing!"

Ah, but it is only because of the Lord's mercy that they haven't already been judged for their sins! As the prophet Jeremiah will later say, "It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not." (Lamentations 3:22) The Lord would be within His rights to destroy the nation. However, He will not go that far. Honestly, the Lord would be within His rights to destroy my own nation for the things that have taken place here and are still taking place; it's only because He is merciful that He has not done so. As the Apostle Peter said, the Lord is patient and longsuffering with us because He does not want anyone to perish but wants everyone to be saved. (2 Peter 3:9) He wants everyone to hear the gospel message. No one who has heard the word of God can stand before His judgment seat someday and claim He never gave them an opportunity to repent and be saved.

"Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter. Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes and clever in their own sight." (Isaiah 5:20-21) This speaks of twisted values. This is talking about throwing aside godly principles and eschewing the morals of the elders and replacing those things with the attitude of "anything goes". Or, to use a very modern term with which you are probably familiar, "You only live once." Or, "YOLO", as it's often called. 

While it's true that we only live once in these mortal bodies, the life we live in these mortal bodies is not the end. We have a soul---an eternal soul---and everything we do in our life on earth matters because of that soul. Our brief life on earth is as short as the blink of an eye when compared to eternity. So what matters most, living it up or living for the Lord? What is the real truth, that serving the carnal flesh brings real satisfaction or that serving the Lord brings real satisfaction? Is there no joy in serving the Lord? Is there happiness only in serving the flesh? Satan, the enemy of our souls, would have us think that serving the Lord is a boring and restrictive life. He wants us to believe that the Lord doesn't let us have any fun and that we have to sit around with solemn expressions on our faces and our hands clasped in prayer at all times. Nothing could be further from the truth! Nothing is as exciting as a personal relationship with the Almighty God who created us. Nothing brings more joy and satisfaction. Nothing provides as much peace and comfort. Nothing makes our daily lives more meaningful and fulfilling.

Our generation, like the generation of Isaiah's day and Jeremiah's day, needs to do this: "Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls." (Jeremiah 6:16a) The word of God is not outdated. It is relevant in every generation. It applies to every situation we will ever encounter. It guides us not only into a joyful and satisfying life now but also guides us to salvation and an eternity spent in the wonderful presence of our loving Creator.

The Book Of Isaiah. Day 16, Woes, Part Two: The Love Of Debauchery

The remainder of Chapter 5 contains a list of woes involving things the people love more than God. In our last study session the woe was about the love of money and worldly possessions. Today's study session is about the love of unwholesome partying. 

"Woe to those who rise early in the morning to run after their drinks, who stay up late at night until they are inflamed with wine." (Isaiah 5:11) This verse may be painting a portrait of addiction, saying that many of the people are so addicted to alcohol that they start drinking as soon as they wake up in the morning. I know someone whose breakfast is the first drink of the day and you may know one or more people like that too.

Verse 11 may also be a picture of idleness. Many of the people are so wealthy that their servants or employees do everything for them. They wake up in the morning with very little to do and, to fill their time and to dull their awareness of the emptiness of their souls, they start partying early and continue partying until bedtime. Another form of idleness is laziness, in which some of the people probably need to be making a living but don't want to or can't anymore due to their inability to stay sober during the workday.

This next segment is a reference to excess and debauchery at drinking parties. "They have harps and lyres at their banquets, pipes and timbrels and wine, but they have no regard for the deeds of the Lord, no respect for the work of His hands." (Isaiah 5:12) In other words, they are living like there is no tomorrow. Or rather, as if tomorrow and every day after that will be just like today. They are living as if there is no Sovereign Lord whose laws they have disobeyed. They are living like the heathen nations around them. They are living like people who don't know anything about the Lord.

Because they show no regard for Him, this is what is going to happen: "Therefore My people will go into exile for lack of understanding; those of high rank will die of hunger and the common people will be parched with thirst." (Isaiah 5:13) It's not just the wealthy people who are living lives of pleasure while ignoring the Lord. Even the middle income and lower income people have forsaken Him.

"Therefore Death expands its jaws, opening wide its mouth; into it will descend their nobles and masses with all their brawlers and revelers. So people will be brought low and everyone humbled, the eyes of the arrogant humbled. But the Lord Almighty will be exalted by His justice, and the holy God will be proved holy by His righteous acts." (Isaiah 5:14-16) The Lord wouldn't be righteous and holy if He didn't judge sin. He must judge sin, or else He isn't who He says He is. He must judge sin, or else He isn't a deity worth trusting or worshiping.

The nation will fall and all but the poorest and least educated of the people will be taken captive and deported to a foreign land, leaving the fine mansions and lavish palaces desolate, leaving the fields of once-prosperous estates abandoned. Flocks and herds will graze peacefully there with no one to shoo them away. "Then sheep will graze as in their own pasture; lambs will feed among the ruins of the rich." (Isaiah 5:17) The innocent flocks will have more than they can eat. By contrast, the land's former sinful inhabitants will be slaves of the heathen, not free to come and go as they wish, dependent on the mercy of their captors.

The Book Of Isaiah. Day 15, Woes, Part One: The Love Of Money And Possessions

The remainder of Chapter 5 contains a list of "woes". It will take us several days to go through this segment of Scripture.

Our passage begins like this: "Woe to you who add house to house and join field to field till no space is left and you live alone in the land." (Isaiah 5:8) Verse 8 is a reference to greed and excess. It indicates an inability to be satisfied. It indicates a constant yearning for more. The people to whom this is referring do not have the Lord at the center of their lives; therefore, they have an emptiness in their soul that no worldly possessions or achievements can ever fill. 

The Apostle Paul, who experienced the loss of his wealth and status when he accepted Christ as his Savior, said, "Godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that." (1 Timothy 6:6-8) It's not that Paul wouldn't have liked to have had more worldly comforts from time to time, but he considered his relationship with Christ to be far more satisfying than anything this world could ever offer, so he said that with Christ he was happy even if he had nothing more than a set of clothes on his back and something to eat.

This isn't to say it's sinful to have more than the basic necessities of life. Many godly people work hard to provide for their families and to purchase a comfortable home, pay for a good education for their children, save money for retirement, and even own a successful business that employs a lot of people. Owning things in this world isn't a sin in itself. But valuing those things above God is a sin. And of course it goes without saying that obtaining things dishonestly is a sin.

Because the people have forsaken the Lord in favor of the things this world offers, He will remove those things. It's important for us to keep in mind that the Lord has the right to remove idols from our lives. As a responsible and loving Father, He has a duty to remove idols from our lives because anything we put in place of Him is going to cause harm to us and to those around us. In today's passage the focus is on possessions and money, so to quote the Apostle Paul again: "Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs." (1 Timothy 6:9-10) 

Having money in the bank is not a sin as long as money is not an idol to us and as long as the money was obtained through honest hard work that's done in an attitude of glorifying God with our talents and education. It's the love of money---putting the pursuit of money above the pursuit of a relationship with the Almighty Creator---that is a sin. When a person puts money ahead of God, they fall into temptation to obtain money any way they can. They forsake time with the Lord in pursuit of money. They forsake time with their families in pursuit of money. If money itself provided satisfaction, there wouldn't be so many rich people who are miserable, who are addicted to drugs and alcohol, who have been through many marriages and divorces, who have little to no relationship with their children, and who have even committed suicide.

The Lord, like any good Father, has a responsibility to give us what we need and He enjoys giving us more than we need. I think most of us have more than the bare necessities. It's not a sin to have more than we need, under the right conditions, and it's certainly not a sin to be grateful for the things our loving Father has given us. But money and possessions can become a snare if we are not careful to keep the Lord at the center of our lives. Only when He is in His proper place in our lives can we fully enjoy the blessings that exist in this world. Marriage, children, a home, a car, a job, some extra money left over at the end of the month---all those things are so much more enjoyable when our lives revolve around the Lord! This is what Jesus Christ meant when He said: "But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well." (Matthew 6:33) We are to seek the Lord first, not the things of this world, and if we put Him first, we don't have to worry about having what we need. In addition to giving us what we need, our Father enjoys giving us a lot of the things we want, but none of those things will ever satisfy us if He is not first in our lives.

The Book Of Isaiah. Day 14, The Song Of The Vineyard

The first half of Chapter 5 contains a song that is a parable. In this song Israel (Israel and Judah combined, since they were two separate nations in Isaiah's day) is the vineyard and the Lord is the owner of the vineyard. Just as every song in our own day is not about pleasant circumstances, the song contained in Chapter 5 is not about pleasant circumstances. The vineyard in this song is unfruitful, despite everything the Lord has done to make it prosper and grow.

Isaiah, not the Lord, appears to be the composer of this song, for he speaks of the Lord as "the one I love". But although these are Isaiah's words, they have been given to him by the Lord; therefore they are inspired by the Holy Spirit and are regarded as Scripture just as David's songs are regarded as Scripture.

"I will sing for the one I love a song about His vineyard: My loved one had a vineyard on a fertile hillside. He dug it up and cleared it of stones and planted it with the choicest vines." (Isaiah 5:1-2a) The Lord, like a man clearing a field to make it usable for planting, cleared the land of Canaan of the idolatrous tribes living there and planted Israel in their place. He planted them in fertile ground, with plenty of room to grow. They were good seedlings at first; Isaiah refers to them as "the choicest vines". There was no reason for them not to grow and bear fruit.

In addition to preparing the ground for them and giving them plenty of room to spread out, the Lord protected them from the enemies all around them. "He built a watchtower in it and cut out a winepress as well. Then He looked for a crop of good grapes, but it yielded only bad fruit." (Isaiah 5:2b) He watched over the nation so no one could come in and destroy her. He also cut out a winepress, as a man would do when planting a vineyard, because anyone who plants a vineyard must plan for a harvest. Instead of a fine grape harvest, only bad fruit emerged. The bad fruit is a symbol of the sin and idolatry the people had fallen into by the time of Isaiah.

This isn't a new situation, for the northern kingdom of Israel has been on a spiritual downturn for centuries now. Judah has not yet drifted as far from the Lord, since the temple is in her midst, but she will have reached the same level of apostasy as Israel within about 130 years after the fall of the northern kingdom. We might expect the citizens of Judah to take the fall of Israel to heart and refrain from falling into the same spiritual condition, but the majority of the people will listen to the false prophets who assure them that the Lord will never allow Jerusalem and His temple to fall to an enemy.

He will allow this though. He gives a very clear warning about that by saying, "Now you dwellers in Jerusalem and the people of Judah, judge between Me and My vineyard. What more could have been done for My vineyard than I have done for it? When I looked for good grapes, why did it yield only bad? Now I will tell you what I am going to do to My vineyard: I will take away its hedge, and it will be destroyed; I will break down its wall, and it will be trampled. I will make it a wasteland, neither pruned nor cultivated, and briers and thorns will grow there. I will command the clouds not to rain on it." (Isaiah 5:3-6)

In case any of his listeners do not understand the proverb, Isaiah explains it to them. "The vineyard of the Lord Almighty is the nation of Israel, and the people of Judah are the vines He delighted in. And He looked for justice, but saw bloodshed; for righteousness, but He heard cries of distress." (Isaiah 5:7) The vineyard is comprised of all twelve tribes---Israel and Judah collectively. As we know from our study of the kings, Israel will be invaded and defeated by the Assyrian Empire and Judah will be invaded and defeated by the Neo-Babylonian Empire. If the people had not turned from the Lord, these calamities would have been impossible. The Lord promised the people before ever bringing them into the promised land that no enemy could ever stand against them if they would remain faithful to Him.

No nation is too powerful to fall. Israel and Judah both enjoyed an era of great prosperity right before everything began falling apart. Economically they looked strong right before their decline but a strong economy is useless when a nation is spiritually ill. We should take a lesson from the passages we are studying because even though the United States of America is a strong and prosperous nation, the Lord may allow our nation to fall if our spiritual condition reaches a tipping point of sin and lawlessness. Just as Judah should have taken to heart what happened to Israel, we should take to heart what happened to both of those nations. It's time to double down on praying for our people and on monitoring the condition of our own hearts. 

The Book Of Isaiah. Day 13, The Glory Of Zion, Part Two

Today we are looking at the second half of the very short Chapter 4. The preceding verses of this chapter and of the chapters before it regarded the waywardness of the people. The following verses regard the holiness of the people when the Messiah and King reigns over them. This passage is about the future glory of Zion and that glory is the Lord Himself, in the person of God the Son, who will be seated on the throne of David to rule over the world in righteousness forever. 

We have no glory apart from the Lord. All we have to do is look at the condition of the world around us to see that we have not been able to attain a glorious state of righteousness on our own. We have not been able to keep ourselves from sinning. We have not been able to eradicate wickedness and inhumanity from the earth. We have not been able to solve the problems of poverty, disease, or death. The Lord alone can rid the earth of sin and of the effects that sin has had on the world.

"In that day the Branch of the Lord will be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the land will be the pride and glory of the survivors in Israel." (Isaiah 4:2) This "Branch" is the Promised One, the Messiah, the King of kings and Lord of lords. Isaiah will refer to Him again as the Branch in Chapter 11:1, "A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit." We know that Jesse was the father of King David and we know that the Messiah was to be a direct descendant of David. Isaiah is saying that the eternal King will be of the family tree of David, referring to Him as a "Branch" of that family tree. Again in Isaiah 11:10 the Lord makes it clear that the Messiah will be of the line of David. "In that day the Root of Jesse will stand as a banner for the peoples; the nations will rally to Him, and His resting place will be glorious." 

The Lord spoke of the Messiah as a "Branch" to the prophet Jeremiah. "'The days are coming,' declares the Lord, 'when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, a King who will reign wisely, and do what is right and just in the land.'" (Jeremiah 23:5) "In those days and at that time I will make a righteous Branch spring from David's line; He will do what is right and just in the land." (Jeremiah 33:15) The Lord used the same term for the Messiah in the book of Zechariah saying, "I am going to bring My servant, the Branch." (Zechariah 3:8b) 

The reason Zion will be beautiful and glorious is because the Lord Himself is beautiful and glorious. We know that He will reign over the whole earth (including the Gentiles who put their faith in Him) but in Chapter 4 the prophet concentrates only on what the Lord will do for Isaiah's own nation. The Lord has been bringing His charges against the nation but a better day is in the future when there will be no charges to bring against them. "Those who are left in Zion, who remain in Jerusalem, will be called holy, all who are recorded among the living in Jerusalem." (Isaiah 4:3) They will be called holy not because they have attained any righteousness on their own but because the Lord has imputed His righteousness upon them for their faith in Him.

At the end of Chapter 3 and at the beginning of Chapter 4 we learned of the moral decay of the women of Judah in Isaiah's day. They had become materialistic, promiscuous, and hard-hearted. We also learned, earlier in Chapter 3, that the men of Isaiah's day had become greedy, dishonest, and violent. Nothing like that can be said of the women or men of Zion when their hearts have been changed by the One who makes all things new. "The Lord will wash away the filth of the women of Zion; He will cleanse the bloodstains of Jerusalem by a spirit of judgment and a spirit of fire." (Isaiah 4:4)

"Then the Lord will create over all of Mount Zion and over those who assemble there a cloud of smoke by day and a glow of flaming fire by night; over everything the glory will be a canopy. It will be a shelter and shade from the heat of the day, and a refuge and hiding place from the storm and rain." (Isaiah 4:5-6) When the Lord led the children of Israel across the wilderness, He guided them in the form of a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. The use of that symbolism here indicates the Lord's continual eternal presence with His people. He is their shelter and their protector. He is also their glory and righteousness.

The Book Of Isaiah. Day 12, The Glory Of Zion, Part One

Chapter 4 is very short---only six verses---but it will take us two days to study all of it. The chapter begins as a continuation of Chapter 3 (a judgment against the haughty, materialistic, cold-hearted women of Isaiah's day) and ends with a glorious prophecy regarding the future state of the nation.

You'll recall that the verses we studied yesterday spoke of the way the women were concerned only with their outward appearance. They had neglected what was on the inside: their spiritual and moral condition. They were living in luxury, for yesterday's passage included a list of all the fancy items that they were going to lose when the nation is defeated and its people taken captive. They were doing everything possible to look sexually alluring; the verses talked about how they swayed their hips and flirted with their eyes. Yesterday's passage painted a portrait of excess, of moral decay, of a lack of concern for those less fortunate, and of a lack of a relationship with the Lord. The Lord warned them that because they had spent their time and energy on all the wrong things, a day was coming when they would no longer possess those things. He warned them that many of their able-bodied men would be killed in battle and that the women would suffer from a lack of provision and protection as a result. Chapter 4 begins on that same note.

"In that day seven women will take hold of one man and say, 'We will eat our own food and provide our own clothes; only let us be called by your name. Take away our disgrace!'" (Isaiah 4:1) Young unmarried women will outnumber young unmarried men seven to one. The only way these women can have a husband and bear children is if they are willing to be in a plural marriage. And the only way they can even do that is if they work and support themselves. Times will be so tough that a man will have difficulty supporting only one wife and the children he has with that wife; he will not be able to support multiple wives and the children from those marriages.

These tough times will be a result of the sins of the nation, which are reaching a tipping point. As we've already learned in our study of the prophets and in our study of the kings, idolatry was abounding more and more, as well as lawlessness and a general disregard for their fellow man. The Lord is going to bring about the judgment of the nation through a rising world power: the Neo-Babylonian Empire. War, siege, deprivation, capture, and deportation will occur in those days.

But there is another day coming---a better day. The Lord is providing some bad news for the people (and if the majority of them had heeded this news they would have repented, averting the coming tragedy) but He is also providing good news. All is not lost, not when the northern kingdom of Israel falls to Assyria and not when the southern kingdom of Judah falls to Babylon. The descendants of Jacob will not be wiped from the face of the earth. Israel as a sovereign nation will not cease to exist forever. And most importantly of all, the Redeemer is still coming from the line of David! We will study the verses concerning Him when we look at the second half of Chapter 4 in tomorrow's study.

I want to close today by acknowledging the integrity of the Lord. He promised Abraham long ago that He would make a great nation of his descendants. He alluded to the coming Redeemer when He told Abraham that all the nations of the world would be blessed by his offspring. He promised David that a descendant of his would someday sit on his throne and reign from it eternally. In today's study we find Him assuring the people that those promises are still true. 

The Lord never breaks a promise. The people probably had a great deal of difficulty, while sitting in captivity with their nation plundered and taken over by foreigners, in imagining how the Lord could possibly turn things around enough to keep the promises He's made. If He had not given assurances to them through the prophets that He would never cast them off forever, they might have doubted His integrity. But through the messages given to His prophets, the Lord made it clear that He is not a promise breaker. Though they didn't know when or how He was going to accomplish the glorious things He'd promised them, they had His solemn word that He would accomplish those things.

The Book Of Isaiah. Day 11, The Lord's Courtroom, Part Two

The Lord has metaphorically called the people of Judah and Jerusalem into His courtroom to hear His charges against them. In our last study session He spoke of the way many of them were oppressing and taking advantage of the poor and needy. He talked about how prideful they were and about how they felt no shame for their sins. He chastised them for putting ungodly, inexperienced leaders in charge instead of the elders "manning up" to speak out for what was right. 

The previous charges mainly involved the men doing wrong things. In today's text the Lord says the women have lost their care and concern for the people around them. As we stated in Friday's study session, historians have often said that women tend to have a civilizing effect on the people around them. For example, when our nation was new and the western territories were being settled and the era of the gold rush was going on, it wasn't until women began moving to the towns that an actual society began to form. Men married the women and settled down and raised families. The women were instrumental in setting up churches and schools so their children could receive religious instruction and educational instruction. The women had a calming effect on the area once known as "the wild west". 

The fact that the women of Judah and Jerusalem have become vain and prideful and hardhearted proves to us just how much the nation has fallen from the principles with which it was founded. It's not that women were created morally superior to men or that we should expect a different standard of living from women, but traditionally it has been women who have been tasked with looking out for the young, for the elderly, and for the infirm. A majority of the women of Hosea's day have begun looking out only for themselves.

"The Lord says, 'The women of Zion are haughty, walking along with outstretched necks, flirting with their eyes, strutting along with swaying hips, with ornaments jingling on their ankles.'" (Isaiah 3:16) Walking along with "outstretched necks" sounds like another way of saying they are walking along "with their noses in the air". He says they are "haughty" and the synonyms for that word include things such as "vain, snooty, conceited, superior, callous, arrogant, self-important" and so on. No synonym for the word "haughty" is a good thing. 

The Lord's description of the way these women comport themselves suggests they are making a great deal of effort to look sexually alluring. They flirt with their eyes. They sway their hips. They wear charm bracelets on their ankles so people will hear them coming and turn to look at them. I want to point out that I don't think the Lord has anything against a person taking care of themselves with good hygiene and grooming. I don't think there's anything sinful about a person putting themselves together neatly and modestly and respectfully when going out in public. We wear clothing appropriate for work or for church services, for example, and it would actually be disrespectful not to look presentable when going to those places. Being well-groomed is not the type of thing the Bible is condemning when it talks about the way these women have made themselves up. What's happening here is that they've concentrated only on what's on the outside (and in some cases have gone to extremes with that) while completely neglecting what's on the inside. They have no relationship with the Lord and have little concern for their fellow man. They have a superficial beauty on the outside but on the inside their hearts are withered and ugly.

Because they care only about what's on the outside, the Lord is going to allow the outside to look as bad as their hearts look on the inside. "Therefore the Lord will bring sores on the heads of the women of Zion; the Lord will make their scalps bald. In that day the Lord will snatch away their finery: the bangles and headbands and crescent necklaces, the earrings and bracelets and veils, the headdresses and anklets and sashes, the perfume bottles and charms, the signet rings and nose rings, the fine robes and the capes and cloaks, the purses and mirrors, and the linen garments and tiaras and shawls. Instead of fragrance there will be a stench; instead of a sash, a rope; instead of well-dressed hair, baldness; instead of fine clothing, sackcloth; instead of beauty, branding. Your men will fall by the sword, your warriors in battle. The gates of Zion will lament and mourn; destitute, she will sit on the ground." (Isaiah 3:17-26)

Defeat and captivity are coming. Enemy armies often shaved the heads of their captives and even branded captives. They took away all their worldly goods and divided the spoils, either for resale or to give as gifts to their family members and friends back home. A soldier, for example, might take a beautiful cloak or fine perfume back to his wife. But the point that is being made here at the end of Chapter 3 is that if the people had cared about the condition of their hearts rather than about their outward appearance, their social status, their financial status, and the state of the economy and the military, the nation would not be on the verge of falling. If their spiritual condition had been right, the Lord would have protected their nation, for that is exactly what He promised prior to giving them the land centuries earlier.

The Book Of Isaiah. Day 10, The Lord's Courtroom, Part One

In today's segment of Chapter 3 the Lord metaphorically calls the people into His courtroom to bring charges against them. Not everyone in the nation has turned away from Him, but the majority have or will by the time He allows the nation to fall to the Babylonian army. 

As we concluded Thursday's study we found Him comparing the people's spiritual waywardness to someone who stumbles around drunkenly and aimlessly. He said, "Jerusalem staggers, Judah is falling; their words and deeds are against the Lord, defying His glorious presence." (Isaiah 3:8) Nothing we do in this life is of any eternal significance except what we do out of love for the Lord. Without a relationship with Him, we stumble through life following our own human inclinations, doing the things the world says matters, following ungodly advice from people who are just as lost and aimless as we are. But when we have a relationship with the Lord, we have His glorious presence with us at all times. We have His guidance, His comfort, His provision, and His strength. This doesn't mean we will never face hardships while we live on the earth, for even the perfect and sinless Lord Jesus faced hardships on this earth, but we won't be facing them alone! In addition, we will avoid many of the hardships that arise as a result of disobedience. The trouble that has already come and will continue to come upon the people of Isaiah's day was a result of their disobedience, as the Lord points out below.

"The look on their faces testifies against them; they parade their sin like Sodom; they do not hide it. Woe to them! They have brought disaster upon themselves." (Isaiah 3:9) The disaster is one which they have brought upon themselves with their sin. They are even prideful about their sin! We see this same attitude in the world today, as in: "Nobody has the right to tell me what to do. Nobody has the right to judge me. I'm going to live my life the way I want to live it. I'm going to follow my heart. I'm going to do anything and everything my heart desires and I dare anyone to say anything about it!" The trouble is, the human heart is filled with many wrong desires, as the Lord says in Jeremiah 17:9: "The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?" Our hearts will deceive us. We won't always know why we are motivated to want certain things and, because those things appeal to our human natures, we will rationalize those things and talk ourselves into them. The only way we can have hearts that desire godly things is if we give our hearts to God and put Him first in our lives and allow Him to direct our paths. David recognized his need for the Lord to constantly set his heart straight, so he prayed to Him: "Create in me a pure heart, O God." (Psalm 51:10a)

Those who have not forsaken the Lord are given a word of reassurance here. "Tell the righteous it will be well with them, for they will enjoy the fruit of their deeds." (Isaiah 3:10) Life isn't always a bed of roses for the righteous but, as we said earlier, those who love the Lord have the comfort of His presence at all times. They also will have the joy of an eternity with Him. The wicked, however, bring many troubles upon themselves with their sinful deeds and (if they do not repent and make God the Lord of their lives) will spend eternity separated from the loving presence of the Lord. "Woe to the wicked! Disaster is upon them! They will be paid back for what their hands have done." (Isaiah 3:11) 

In yesterday's study session we talked about how the leadership of the nation had become ineffective. Ungodly, unwise, inexperienced people were in power. Lawlessness was abounding. The young and strong were taking advantage of the elderly and weak. Those who had a great deal of worldly goods were oppressing the poor. The Lord touches on that same theme again now. "Youths oppress My people, women rule over them. My people, your guides lead you astray; they turn you from the path." (Isaiah 3:12) The Lord isn't saying that young adults or women can't be good leaders. I don't believe He's displaying prejudice against youths or females. I believe the point here is that no wise and experienced men are making a stand for the Lord and speaking up for what is right.

Not many godly men are denouncing the sins of the nation. Not many godly men are crying out for the people to repent and turn back to God. This is why young and impetuous men are in charge. This is why women, who in those days did not have much education or life experience outside the home, are telling people what to do. Any men who are encouraging the people to repent are in the minority and are being treated badly---men like Isaiah about whom ancient tradition says was sawn in two during the reign of the evil King Manasseh. Men like Hosea, whose book we just finished, were scoffed at and called madmen. A plot was afoot to murder the prophet Jeremiah, whose book we will study soon. The Lord Jesus referred to the city of Jerusalem as a place where prophets were murdered and where godly messengers were stoned to death. (Matthew 23:37) And speaking of the Lord Jesus, plots were continually being hatched against Him to take His life and take Him out of the picture, though He spoke the very words of God to the people. 

Because so few people are standing up for what is right, and because even the elders have gone astray and are taking advantage of their fellow man, the Lord brings charges against them. "The Lord takes His place in court; He rises to judge the people. The Lord enters into judgment against the elders and leaders of His people. 'It is you who have ruined My vineyard; the plunder of the poor is in your houses. What do you mean by crushing My people and grinding the faces of the poor?' declares the Lord, the Lord Almighty." (Hosea 3:13-15)

This segment is too lengthy to study all of it today, so we will resume this passage during our next study session. Today's text closes with the Lord asking the elders and leaders why they are taking advantage of the poor. He asks them why they are greedy and have unlawfully seized the possessions of others. As Chapter 3 continues on we will find Him pointing out that even the women, who typically have a civilizing effect on any society, have lost their care and concern for those around them and have become obsessed only with what they can have for themselves.