The Book Of Isaiah. Day 142, Woe To The Destroyer And The Betrayer

The "destroyer" and the "betrayer" referenced in Chapter 33 is believed by most scholars to be a reference to the Assyrian Empire or to its current leader (Sennacherib) at the time this text was written. We know that the Lord supernaturally turned away the Assyrian army during the days of Isaiah's ministry and it is generally thought that the material at the beginning of our chapter has to do with the most imminent threat that was facing the people of Jerusalem in Isaiah's time.

"Woe to you, destroyer, you who have not been destroyed! Woe to you, betrayer, who have not been betrayed! When you stop destroying, you will be destroyed; when you stop betraying, you will be betrayed." (Isaiah 33:1) King Sennacherib of Assyria had already laid waste to a number of cities and villages in that region of the world. He had attacked the northern kingdom of Israel and he had attacked the southern kingdom of Judah, destroying many cities and villages there. He appears unstoppable as he advances toward Jerusalem. He believed he was unstoppable; indeed, he will make the boast that no nation and no nation's god can withstand his assault. 

Not only will the Lord destroy 185,000 of Sennacherib's troops when they encamp around Jerusalem in preparation to lay siege to the city, but this will force Sennacherib to withdraw from where he headquartered himself nearby in order to return to Nineveh to regroup and plan his next attack---and it is in Nineveh that he will be assassinated by two of his own sons. If Sennacherib is primarily the one who is the "destroyer" and "betrayer" of today's text, then it's clear that this destroyer and betrayer was himself betrayed and destroyed just as the Lord told Isaiah. 

I think also that the Assyrian Empire itself is included in the prophecy, for as powerful as it seems in Isaiah's time, it will be destroyed by the rise of the Neo-Babylonian Empire. At one time this appeared impossible to the human way of thinking, since Assyria had so abjectly trodden down the nation of Babylon, but kingdoms have risen and kingdoms have fallen all throughout history---with Assyria being no exception. The only kingdom that will never fall will be the eternal kingdom of Jesus Christ our Lord. The prophet Daniel foresaw kingdom after kingdom rising and falling until the arrival of the eternal one, and of it he said: "The God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, nor will it be left to another people. It will crush all those kingdoms and bring them to an end, but it will itself endure forever." (Daniel 2:44)

The Book Of Isaiah. Day 141, How Blessed You Will Be

The remainder of Chapter 32 concerns future blessings for Isaiah's people. I think this prophecy has been fulfilled in part, in various ways, but I think its complete and eternal fulfillment will take place when the King from David's line sits on the throne and reigns over the world.

We back up to the verse we finished with yesterday and then we go forward from there. The scene opens upon a view that suggest desertion and defeat but it ends with a promise of restoration.

"The fortress will be abandoned, the noisy city deserted; citadel and watchtower will become a wasteland forever, the delight of donkeys, a pasture for flocks, till the Spirit is poured out on us from on high, and the desert becomes a fertile field, and the fertile field seems like a forest. The Lord's justice will dwell in the desert, His righteousness live in the fertile field." (Isaiah 32:14-16) We know that the Lord did deliver Jerusalem from the Assyrian army but we also know that a little over a hundred years later He allowed it to fall to the Babylonian army (because so many of the people fell into idolatry), and also that He made a way for the people to return from captivity to the land. In that sense their fortunes were restored in part but we know that Isaiah's people were troubled and subjugated by several more nations and that Israel ceased to be a sovereign nation in the world for many centuries. The fact that Israel is a sovereign nation in the world today is a fulfillment, in part, of this prophecy. 

Another partial fulfillment is the pouring out of the Spirit on the day of Pentecost in the book of Acts. Since Christ's ascension to heaven, all who place their faith in Him are literally indwelt by the Holy Spirit. In Old Testament times we see in the Scriptures that the Holy Spirit came upon individuals in various times and in various ways but we never find Him being described as continually indwelling a believer. The Lord has kept His promise to pour out His Spirit upon mankind. 

But I believe that the majority of this prophecy will be fulfilled in the eternal kingdom. Only those who belong to the Lord will live on the earth then. No one will ever sin or be tempted to sin. No injustice will ever take place. There will be no corner of the world where anything is wrong. Illness, injuries, and death will cease to exist. Isaiah says of that everlasting era: "The fruit of that righteousness will be peace; its effect will be quietness and confidence forever." (Isaiah 32:17)

No matter how many times in the past enemies came up against Jerusalem, and no matter that its walls were broken through and leveled by those who hated Isaiah's people, the soldier's boot and the clank of the sword will never be heard there again. No matter how many times in the past---because of sin---the Lord had to withhold rain or allow natural disasters to occur, nothing will threaten the peace and prosperity of His children ever again. Sin will no longer exist on the earth and neither will any of the consequences of sin. "My people will live in peaceful dwelling places, in secure homes, in undisturbed places of rest. Though hail flattens the forest and the city is leveled completely, how blessed you will be, sowing your seed by every stream, and letting your cattle and donkeys range free." (Isaiah 32:18-20)

The Book Of Isaiah. Day 140, A Warning Against Complacency

I apologize for there being no Bible study on Tuesday. I was so sick on Tuesday that I didn't even realize we hadn't done the Bible study until late last night. My husband had to have me at my medical group's walk-in clinic as soon as they opened at 7am because my throat was so inflamed and swollen that I couldn't even swallow a sip of water without crying. But thankfully I was prescribed some medicine that already has me on the mend and I'm very grateful for that.

Our next segment is a warning about the complacency of the women of Jerusalem. Although the Lord is not going to allow the city to fall to the Assyrian army, we learned in our study of the kings that the Assyrians made repeated forays into the land of Judah, disrupting the economy by preventing many people from going about their work and by destroying crops so that the people could not harvest them. This took its toll on the financial prosperity of the nation. Jerusalem will be exempt from falling to the enemy but its people will not be exempt from experiencing some of the hardships their fellow citizens are experiencing.

"You women who are so complacent, rise up and listen to me; you daughters who feel secure, hear what I have to say! In little more than a year you who feel secure will tremble; the grape harvest will fail, and the harvest of fruit will not come. Tremble, you complacent women; shudder, you daughters who feel secure! Strip off your fine clothes and wrap yourselves in rags." (Isaiah 32:9-11) 

As the capitol city, Jerusalem was the finest city in the nation and many of its citizens lived in economic comfort. The residences of the people in the king's service were there, as well as the shops and homes of tradespeople. It might have been easy for people living in comfort inside the fortified city walls to think that the troubles of their countrymen would not also come upon them, but what they need to do instead is take heed to the things happening in the various regions of Judah, the things happening in the northern kingdom of Israel, and the things happening in the nations around them. The troubles coming upon others can come against them if they are not careful to be faithful to the Lord.

This is very good, godly advice because whenever trouble begins hitting a nation it behooves the citizens to search their hearts and repent of any personal sins they are committing. It also behooves them to cry out to the Lord about national sins. This is why we find the prophet Isaiah telling the women to clothe themselves in "rags", possibly meaning sackcloth, for this symbolizes humility. This symbolizes an awareness of having sinned against the Lord (for everyone has sinned) and it symbolizes repentance over those sins.

"Beat your breasts for the pleasant fields, for the fruitful vines and for the land of my people, a land overgrown with thorns and briers---yes, mourn for all houses of merriment and for this city of revelry. The fortress will be abandoned, the noisy city deserted; citadel and watchtower will become a wasteland forever, the delight of donkeys, a pasture for flocks, till the Spirit is poured on us from on high, and the desert becomes a fertile field, and the fertile field becomes like a forest." (Isaiah 32:12-15)

Hard times are never pleasant for anyone but there is an appropriate way to respond to them. The first thing we should do is prayerfully search our hearts and allow the Holy Spirit to reveal to us any personal sin that might have caused our troubling circumstances. If we submit ourselves to the Lord in this way, and if He does not point out anything that we specifically did that caused our troubles, the next thing to do is ask Him what He intends to teach us with this hardship. Hardship is not always a result of living in rebellion; it is sometimes used as a training tool. 

I'm reminded of the way David spent many years on the run with his life being threatened by King Saul. This did not happen to David because he was living in rebellion toward the Lord. Although everyone sins and David was not perfect, during that era it appears in the Scriptures as though he was relying on the Lord and being responsive and obedient to the Lord's instructions for his life. The hardships David went through were training for his future position as king of Israel. If David had not gone through those years, I don't think he would have developed the spiritual muscle or the leadership skills he would need in order to lead the nation in a way that would be far different from the disappointing way Saul led it. Saul was a pretty effective military strategist but he was quite spiritually wayward. Israel did not need another king like Saul; Israel needed a king whose faith would be tested and tried and found to be unshakable. 

The Book Of Isaiah. Day 139, Righteousness And A Refuge From The Storm

Chapter 32 begins with a prophecy about a king who will rule rightly and officials who will conduct the government according to godly principles.

Scholars are in disagreement over which king is in view here. Some believe Isaiah's words are a reference to King Hezekiah, who reigned over the nation of Judah during much of Isaiah's ministry. Hezekiah rejected the idolatry of his father and instituted religious reforms throughout the kingdom, serving the Lord alone and not idols. Scholars point out that we don't know at what point during Isaiah's ministry this prophecy was given and many of them think it was given either before Hezekiah ascended to the throne or that it was given before the Lord miraculously saved Jerusalem from the Assyrian army, which was a subject we discussed in the preceding chapter. 

Others feel that these verses indicate a future king, not Hezekiah, and state that this may be King Josiah who was the great-grandson of Hezekiah. The Bible says of Josiah that he did what was right in the sight of the Lord and that he walked after the ways of his ancestor David. He was responsible for major religious reforms during his reign, so this may be a reference to him, although I am doubtful of it since the material we have been studying in Isaiah regards the imminent threat of Assyria during Hezekiah's reign. It seems odd to me that Isaiah would suddenly jump ahead to several generations down the line. 

The third opinion is that the king in view here is Christ and that the eternal kingdom is being spoken about in our passage today. While Christ is the only King who will truly reign "in righteousness", as verse 1 will state about this king, this verse does not necessarily have to mean perfect righteousness. The word "righteous" or "righteousness" is often used in the Bible to denote those whose hearts are committed to the Lord. This is the righteousness that is by faith, such as when the Bible told us that Abraham's faith was accounted to him as righteousness. This is an imputed righteousness, not one gained by perfectly keeping the commandments and the law. 

So although we can certainly say that the King of kings will reign in righteousness, I am not certain that the Messiah is who Isaiah has in mind. At this point in time I am leaning toward the opinion of the scholars who think that Isaiah is talking about events taking place in his own lifetime and that it is likely Hezekiah he is speaking of, especially since the miraculous deliverance of Jerusalem took place during his reign. This doesn't mean that the conduct of Hezekiah and other godly kings doesn't point toward the perfect King though; I think we could call them a "type" of Christ, in a sense, because they give us an idea of what it would be like to live under the reign of a king who always rules according to the will of God.

"See, a king will reign in righteousness and rulers will rule with justice. Each one will be like a shelter from the wind and a refuge from the storm, like streams of water from the desert and the shadow of a great rock in a thirsty land." (Isaiah 32:1-2) Here we see a king who wants to live according to the laws of a holy God. He will be a godly example to all the officials under him, so that people can safely and confidently come to them for help and to have their cases heard.

When a godly king is on the throne, the people don't live in the "dark ages" where they don't hear the word of God. Some of the kings either blended idolatry with their worship of the Lord or forsook the Lord in favor of pagan gods. During those times the people could not properly hear the word of God and did not have easy access to wise advice. But when a king who loves the Lord is on the throne, everyone has free access to the house of God and everyone is welcome to hear the word of God read aloud and everyone is welcome to consult the priests and elders about godly living. Injustice will no longer be tolerated. We take a look at examples of this below.

"Then the eyes of those who see will no longer be closed, and the ears of those who hear will listen. The fearful heart will know and understand, and the stammering tongue will be fluent and clear. No longer will the fool be called noble nor the scoundrel be highly respected. For fools speak folly, their hearts are bent on evil: They practice ungodliness and spread error concerning the Lord; the hungry they leave empty and from the thirsty they withhold water. Scoundrels use wicked methods, they make up evil schemes to destroy the poor with lies, even when the plea of the needy is just. But the noble make noble plans, and by noble deeds they stand." (Isaiah 32:3-8)

Although there will be perfect justice in the eternal reign of the Messiah, and although our text today may point forward toward His kingdom, I still believe that it primarily speaks of events of Isaiah's day. The text we just quoted above mentions fools and scoundrels, the hungry and the thirsty and the poor, which we will not find on earth during the reign of the Messiah. There will be no fools or scoundrels on earth in the eternal kingdom. No one will be hungry or poor or thirsty. When Christ comes to reign He will make all things new, eradicating all the problems the human race has experienced ever since mankind first fell from grace.

The Book Of Isaiah. Day 138, A Supernatural Sword

The Lord gives Isaiah the message that the Assyrian army will be unsuccessful in laying siege to Jerusalem. The Lord promises that Assyria will fall---but not by human hands

We move back one verse to pick up where we left off on Friday. "Return, you Israelites, to the One you have so greatly revolted against. For in that day every one of you will reject the idols of silver and gold your sinful hands have made." (Isaiah 31:6-7) 

We studied this event in 2 Kings 19 when the Lord promised King Hezekiah through the prophet Isaiah: "This is what the Lord says concerning the king of Assyria: 'He will not enter this city or shoot an arrow here. He will not come before it with shield or build a siege ramp against it. By the way that he came he will return; he will not enter this city, declares the Lord. I will defend this city and save it, for My sake and for the sake of My servant David.' That night the angel of the Lord went out and put to death a hundred and eighty-five thousand in the Assyrian camp. When the people got up the next morning---there were all the dead bodies! So Sennacherib king of Assyria broke camp and withdrew. He returned to Nineveh and stayed there." (2 Kings 19:32-36)

The Lord fought this battle alone on behalf of the citizens of Jerusalem and Judah. None of Isaiah's people had to even lift a finger; they simply lifted prayers to the Lord and the Lord came through for them. No idol fought for them. No idol ever answered them. In the day when the Lord supernaturally struck dead 185,000 Assyrian soldiers, the people gave Him the praise, so Isaiah says in verse 7 above, "In that day every one of you will reject the idols of silver and gold your sinful hands have made."

Before this miraculous defeat of the enemy comes to pass, the Lord foretells it, saying, "Assyria will fall by no human sword; a sword, not of mortals, will devour them. They will flee before the sword and their young men will be put to forced labor. Their stronghold will fall because of terror; at the sight of the battle standard their commanders will panic,' declares the Lord, whose fire is in Zion, whose furnace is in Jerusalem." (Isaiah 31:8-9) The reference to the Lord's fire may be a reference to the altar at the temple where burnt offerings were made. I believe He is saying something like, "I will defend the place of My name. I will defend My house. I will defend My people. Then the Assyrians will know that there is a God in Jerusalem and that He fights for the city."

When we studied the supernatural death of those soldiers we also learned that sometime after returning to Nineveh the king of Assyria was assassinated. "One day, while he was worshiping in the temple of his god Nisrok, his sons Adrammelek and Sharezer killed him with the sword, and they escaped to the land of Ararat. And Esarhaddon his son succeeded him as king." (2 Kings 19:37) Before breaking camp and returning to Nineveh, King Sennacherib had threatened the king of Judah that he would be back. But he did not go back. His successor Esarhaddon was plagued with intense paranoia and mental illness for the entirety of his rather short reign, although he did manage to subjugate Egypt, which is another reason we find the Lord in the book of Isaiah warning the people of Judah not to place their trust in Egypt. Egypt will be of no help to Judah and will be unable to prevent its own self from being conquered.

Eventually, as we learned from our study of the kings, the Assyrian Empire will be conquered by the Neo-Babylonian Empire and will cease to be a threat. However, by that time a large portion of the people of Judah will have slipped into idolatry and, as a result, the Lord will allow the nation to fall to Babylon. But if they had stood firm in faith in the Lord, this could never have happened. You and I can learn a lot from what happened to ancient Judah and ancient Israel, for our trust is primarily to be in the Lord. That doesn't mean we aren't to use common sense and take reasonable precautions as we go through our daily lives but it means understanding that ultimately our lives are in His hands and that, as the Apostle Paul so confidently stated, "If God is for us, who can be against us?" (Romans 8:31)

The Book Of Isaiah. Day 137, The Lord Will Do Battle

In today's text we find the people being urged to turn back to the Lord. He is their source of security, not Egypt or any other nation or any other god. If they will place their faith in the Lord, He will do battle for them.

Isaiah relays the words of God: "This is what the Lord says to me: 'As a lion growls, a great lion over its prey---and though a whole band of shepherds is called together against it, it is not frightened by their shouts or disturbed by their clamor---so the Lord Almighty will come down to do battle on Mount Zion and on its heights.'" (Isaiah 31:4) The Lord has been promising the people of Jerusalem that He will protect them from the threat of Assyria. The Assyrian army is going to come right up to the gates but the people inside will not have to fight for their city; the Lord will supernaturally defend it.

Just as a lion growls fiercely over a lamb it has captured from the herd, no matter how much the shepherds might shout at it and try to drive it away from its kill, the Lord will not be driven away from His intention to defeat the plans of the Assyrian army. He is not at all alarmed by how many soldiers are going to come and encamp around Jerusalem. With one "growl", so to speak, He is going to strike dead 185,000 enemy soldiers in the middle of the night. He will not need any help from anyone. The God who spoke the universe into existence can easily defeat any enemy that comes against His people.

Isaiah's fellow citizens are to place their trust in the Lord alone. They have heard what Assyria has done to the northern kingdom of Israel and to many other nations but there is no reason for them to be shaking in their shoes at the news that this army is advancing toward them. The Lord will protect them. "Like birds hovering overhead, the Lord Almighty will shield Jerusalem; He will shield it and deliver it, He will 'pass over' it and will rescue it." (Isaiah 31:5) Like a bird scaring predators away from the nest, the Lord will scare Assyria away from Jerusalem. When the plague strikes the enemy army in the night, the king of Assyria (who is not encamped with his army) will have to call a halt to his plans and retreat to his own country, intending to call up and train more soldiers and plan another siege, but this will never come to pass because he will be assassinated while making an offering to one of his heathen idols.

The nation of Egypt will be no help to Judah. They are wasting time and resources making an alliance with Pharaoh. All of their prayers need to be directed to the God who made them into a nation in the first place. "Return, you Israelites, to the One you have so greatly revolted against." (Isaiah 31:6) A fair number of the people of Judah---including some of the kings---have practiced idolatry. Some practiced it alongside their worship of the Lord and some forsook the Lord entirely in favor of pagan gods. But at this time in history the people of Judah have not forsaken Him to the extent that the people of Israel have. If the northern kingdom had not fallen so far from Him, their nation would not have fallen to Assyria. The people of Isaiah's nation of Judah need to take to heart what is happening to Israel and to so many other countries at the hands of the Assyrian army. They need to turn back wholeheartedly to the Lord. The Lord allowed Israel to fall because of idolatry. He allowed many other idolatrous nations to fall. With this in mind, every person in Judah should be calling out to the Lord for help. Every person in Judah should be confessing their sins to God and giving their hearts to Him. 

When we move on to our next segment of Chapter 31 we will find Isaiah prophesying about the supernatural deliverance that is coming.

The Book Of Isaiah. Day 136, The One Whom We Should Trust

As we closed Chapter 30 we found the Lord promising to defend Jerusalem from the Assyrian army. We know from our study of the kings that the Lord struck dead 185,000 Assyrian soldiers during the night as they were encamped around Jerusalem and that the king of Assyria was obliged to postpone the intended siege of the city in order to give himself time to regroup and plan the next attack. But he was assassinated in his own country before he could do so. 

As we begin Chapter 31 we find the Lord again cautioning the people of Judah not to call upon the Egyptians for help. They are not to make an alliance with that heathen nation but are instead to place all of their trust in the Lord.

"Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help, who rely on horses, who trust in the multitude of their chariots and in the great strength of their horsemen, but do not look to the Holy One of Israel, or seek help from the Lord." (Isaiah 31:1) In view of the approaching threat of Assyria---the nation that ended up causing the fall of the northern kingdom of Israel as well as several other nations and tribes---it made sense from a human standpoint to combine the soldiers, horses, and chariots of Judah with the soldiers, horses, and chariots of Egypt. Assyria was a great threat to Egypt as well as to Judah and other peoples of the region. To use a modern expression, the people of Judah probably thought, "The enemy of my enemy is my friend." Although the Lord's people had long been cautioned never to go back to Egypt for anything, the fact that Assyria was the enemy of both Judah and Egypt made it highly likely that Pharaoh would agree to an alliance and that  perhaps the combined forces of both nations would have a chance of pushing back the enemy.

But man's way is not God's way. If the people of Judah will wholeheartedly trust in Him, they will never need to ally themselves with anyone else. In that era all the other nations of the world were pagan nations and, as the Apostle Paul phrased it, "What fellowship has light with darkness?" (2 Corinthians 6:14) The Lord's people have no business forming a close political/military alliance with the idolaters of Egypt.

If we rely solely on human wisdom, things will appear good to us that are actually not good. Worldly wisdom is not necessarily godly wisdom. The all-wise God knows what is best for every person on the planet. The people of Judah do not need to call upon a heathen nation to help them against Assyria. Having the Lord on their side is all they need; He will defeat their enemy. "Yet He too is wise and can bring disaster; He does not take back His words. He will rise up against that wicked nation, against those who help evildoers." (Isaiah 31:2) 

As we learned in our study of the kings, Pharaoh did make an attempt to come to the aid of Judah (and to the aid of his own nation) by marching out with a large band of troops in hopes of pushing back the Assyrian forces. But he was met with a resounding defeat and had to retreat to his own country. He ended up humbling himself to the king of Assyria and willingly paying the tribute demanded of him. Anyone who hoped Egypt would be the solution to their problem was severely disappointed.

"But the Egyptians are mere mortals and not God; their horses are flesh and not spirit. When the Lord stretches out His hand, those who help will stumble, those who are helped will fall; all will perish together." (Isaiah 31:3) The Lord will pull the rug out from under our feet when we are trying to stand on a foundation that is not Him. He does this for our good. Egypt will be defeated because the Lord does not want the people of Judah to trust in Egypt. 

I've had the Lord pull the rug out from under me several times in my fifty-four years on earth in order to demonstrate to me that I've placed my trust in something or someone who cannot really help me. I'm not saying that we never need the help of fellow humans; I'm saying that the foundation of our life is to be our faith in God. If we are putting anyone or anything in place of God, trouble is sure to follow, for there isn't anyone or anything who can do for us what God can do for us. People will let us down even if they don't intend to let us down. But the Lord's promises are unbreakable and His power is unshakable.

The Book Of Isaiah. Day 135, The Voice Of The Lord Will Shatter Assyria

Isaiah has been warning the people of Judah, on behalf of the Lord, not to turn to Egypt for help against Assyria. The forces of Assyria are going to come right up to the gates of Jerusalem later in the book of Isaiah but the Lord is going to miraculously deliver the city from the enemy. Ahead of this great event, Isaiah assures the people that the Lord is going to take care of the problem for them.

"See, the Name of the Lord comes from afar, with burning anger and dense clouds of smoke; His lips are full of wrath, and His tongue is a consuming fire." (Isaiah 30:27) The anger and wrath in verse 27 are not directed toward the nation of Judah but toward the nation that threatens it.

"His breath is like a rushing torrent, rising up to the neck. He shakes the nations in the sieve of destruction; He places in the jaws of the peoples a bit that leads them astray." (Isaiah 30:28) This verse makes it clear that it is not the nation of Judah but Judah's enemies that the Lord intends to defeat. 

Have you ever worried about things that didn't even come to pass? I'm pretty sure everyone has---and more than once. I couldn't tell you how many times I've worried over particular problems that ended up being solved before I actually arrived at the moment of having to deal with them. That is what is going to happen when Assyrian soldiers come and camp around Jerusalem with the intention of laying siege to it: the Lord is going to solve the problem without the people inside the city having to do anything except trust Him.

After witnessing His mighty deliverance, the people will sing His praises. "And you will sing, as on the night you celebrate a holy festival; your hearts will rejoice as when people playing pipes go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the Rock of Israel. The Lord will cause people to hear His majestic voice and will make them see His arm coming down with raging anger and consuming fire, with cloudburst, thunderstorm and hail. The voice of the Lord will shatter Assyria; with His rod He will strike them down. Every stroke the Lord lays on them with His punishing club will be to the music of timbrels and harps, as He fights them in battle with the blows of His arm." (Isaiah 30:29-32)

In our study of the kings we learned that during the night the Lord struck down 185,000 Assyrian troops in their camp outside of Jerusalem so that in the morning, when the citizens of the city awoke, it was to the sound of silence from the camp. It was to the sight of nothing except dead bodies rather than the sight of armed soldiers standing around the walls.

We conclude Chapter 30 with the following text: "Topheth has long been prepared; it has been made ready for the king. Its fire pit has been made deep and wide, with an abundance of fire and wood; the breath of the Lord, like a stream of burning sulfur, sets it ablaze." (Isaiah 30:33) 

Topheth was a location outside of Jerusalem in the Valley of Ben Hinnom. This was a place considered unclean, for in the time of the Canaanites it was used for many abominable heathen sacrifices---including child sacrifice. Some of the descendants of Jacob also engaged in such heathen practices in that location, so that by the time of Jesus it was used as a city dump similar to our landfills of today, for the unclean practices that took place there had rendered it unfit for being anything other than a dump site. Jesus compared that location to hell because it was a place where fires burned continually (to get rid of household garbage and the bodies of livestock that died of disease or died by being attacked by wild animals) and because it was filled with maggots and a terrible stench. Jesus used this comparison so people would understand what a place of despair hell is going to be---so they would not end up there. 

Isaiah appears to be using the location of Topheth as a metaphor for hell as well, stating that this will be the fate of the king of Assyria. The king of Assyria did not die in the region of Jerusalem and he was not buried or burned at Topheth; he was not among those who perished in the plague the Lord sent during the night. He did die though, and at the hands of two of his own sons, not long after threatening to regroup his army and send it against Jerusalem again.

The Lord handles so many situations for us before we ever arrive at them, just as He is going to do for the people of Jerusalem against their enemy. Even in times when we have to enter the battle, He is right there with us fighting for us. There are occasions in the Bible where the people fight in battles and there are occasions when the Lord tells them to stand back and watch Him do it, but in both circumstances He is the one who wins the victory. In the case of the Assyrians coming right up to the gates of Jerusalem, the Lord wins the victory without the people inside the city having to lift a finger against the Assyrian army. How many times has He done the same for you and for me? More times than we are even aware of! Let us thank Him for that!

The Book Of Isaiah. Day 134, Weeping No More

The Lord has foretold a time of hardship for the nation but He has also promised the people that He will "rise up to show you compassion". As we discussed yesterday, He will never break the promise He made about preserving the people of Israel. 

Earlier in our chapter we found the people of Judah of Isaiah's day and of the next 130 years saying things like, "Don't prophesy to us anymore!" But a time will come when they will turn back to the Lord, back to the Scriptures, back to the true prophets, and back to the wise elders.

"People of Zion, who live in Jerusalem, you will weep no more. How gracious He will be when you cry for help! As soon as He hears, He will answer you. Although the Lord gives you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, your teachers will be hidden no more; with your own eyes you will see them. Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, 'This is the way; walk in it.'" (Isaiah 30:19-21) 

A lot of the prophets and priests and elders went astray from the Lord. Some did not, but they were generally scoffed at. As we continue on through the books of the prophets we will find the majority of the people choosing to listen to false messengers because the false messengers speak the words they want to hear. But this will not always be the case! After their defeat and their captivity in Babylon, they will want to know the truth about the Lord. They will seek Him and He will answer them. True prophets and faithful priests and wise elders will rise up to guide them.

After the era of captivity we never again see the tribes of Israel bowing to images again. They will recognize these things for how useless they are, which is why this next verse graphically describes them casting the idols from them as a person would cast away an object covered in bodily fluids. "Then you will desecrate your idols overlaid with silver and your images covered with gold; you will throw them away like a menstrual cloth and say to them, 'Away with you!'" (Isaiah 30:22) Anything covered with blood or any other bodily fluids was considered unclean due to the risk of pathogens. Just as a person would not retain any object covered in blood but would throw it in the garbage, the idols to which the people formerly bowed will now appear to them as unclean garbage, fit for nothing but being thrown onto the trash heap to be burned.

When the Lord brought the descendants of Jacob into the promised land, He assured them He would make all of their work prosper. Their fields would produce abundant crops. Their flocks would increase. The work of the laborers and the artisans would turn out well and would provide a living for their families. He also warned the people that turning from Him would result in the opposite: drought, disease, and oppression by their enemies. In this next segment we foresee a day which has only been fulfilled in part in our time.

"He will also send you rain for the seed you sow in the ground, and the food that comes from the land will be rich and plentiful. In that day your cattle will graze in broad meadows. The oxen and donkeys that work the soil will eat fodder and mash, spread out with fork and shovel. In the day of great slaughter, when the towers fall, streams of water will flow on every high mountain and every lofty hill. The moon will shine like the sun, and the sunlight will be seven times brighter, like the light of seven full days, when the Lord binds up the bruises of His people and heals the wounds He inflicted." (Isaiah 30:23-26) 

Although a large number of the people returned from the Assyrian captivity and from the Babylonian captivity, the return of prosperity promised above was not completely fulfilled in that era. The Lord did help the nation to rebuild but it continued to be plagued and subjugated by various enemies. For a very long time in history the nation of Israel was not even a sovereign and recognized nation in the world until fairly recent times.

The Lord has kept His promise to make Israel a sovereign nation in the world again. He has kept His promise never to remove the tribes of Israel from the earth. But the complete fulfillment of the verses above will not take place until the Messiah comes to reign over the earth forever from the throne of David at Jerusalem. But just as the Lord has kept every promise up until now, He will continue to keep every promise He has ever made. Whether the reign of the Messiah begins in our lifetime or whether it doesn't begin until a thousand years from now, it will happen and then the descendants of Jacob will weep no more. Indeed, no one who has trusted in the name of the Lord will ever weep again.

The Book Of Isaiah. Day 133, The Lord Longs To Be Gracious

As we closed yesterday's passage we found the Lord providing the people with a recipe for peace with Himself---a recipe which would also provide them with security from their enemies. But He said the people would have nothing to do with this recipe, preferring instead to look to mankind for help. He continues with that theme as today's text opens.

"You said, 'No, we will flee on horses.' Therefore you will flee! You said, 'We will ride off on swift horses.' Therefore your pursuers will be swift." (Isaiah 30:16) The references to horses may be a reference to the people's intention to call upon Egypt for help. Egypt was primarily where they procured their horses in those days, even though the Lord strictly charged the people not to trade with the Egyptians for horses and not to enter into an alliance with them. 

Their intention to flee their enemies is an intention to flee from God, whether they realize it or not. They are rejecting His help because they don't want to submit to His authority over them. I'm reminded of when I was a child and would frequently reject the outstretched hand of my father or mother. I was a fiercely independent child who always wanted to do everything myself, even when it wasn't in my best interests. I painfully recall an occasion when, on an ice-encrusted sidewalk outside the post office, my mother cautioned me that I must hold her hand on the way back to the car. Stubbornly I refused, trotting off to the car on my own and falling embarrassingly on my bottom in front of everyone. A fall is what's going to happen to the people of Judah when they refuse the outstretched hand of the Lord. 

Before the Lord brought the descendants of Jacob into the promised land He cautioned them that if they forsook Him they would flee from their enemies. By contrast, the reward of obedience was that their enemies would flee from them in all directions; He promised that no nation would ever be able to stand against them if they would remain faithful to Him. Because the spiritual health of the citizens of Judah will continue to dwindle over the coming decades, their nation will fall approximately 130 years after the northern kingdom of Israel falls. They will reap the consequences of forsaking the Lord, as we see in this next passage.

"A thousand will flee at the threat of one; at the threat of five you will all flee away, till you are left like a flagstaff on a mountaintop, like a banner on a hill." (Isaiah 30:17) As we learned in our study of the kings, many thousands of the citizens of Jerusalem and Judah were deported by the Babylonians after the kingdom fell to the Neo-Babylonian Empire. Only the poorest and least skilled would be left in the land to labor for the enemy. 

But this is not what the Lord wants for them! He does not want to have to bring this to pass. "Yet the Lord longs to be gracious to you; therefore He will rise up to show you compassion. For the Lord is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for Him!" (Isaiah 30:18) The Lord promised never to make an end of the tribes of Israel and He is going to keep that promise. On foreign soil they will remember Him and begin to call upon Him again. He will respond by restoring them to the land.

In the example of the fall I took outside the post office, my mother longed to be gracious to me. She wanted to prevent me from taking a fall. When I rejected her help, she didn't rejoice when I fell. She didn't say, "I told you so!" She didn't say, in response to my need for help in getting up off the slick sidewalk, "You'll just have to lie there. I'm not going to help you get up." The Lord doesn't do this to the people either. When they reject His offer of help they will fall, but He doesn't rejoice over their fall. He doesn't refuse to help them back up when they call out to Him. He will judge the heathen Babylonians who have oppressed them and He will do this by bringing an enemy against Babylon, an enemy whose leader will set the captives free, and the people will be allowed to return and rebuild. 

No matter what mistakes you or I may have made, the Lord is not going to refuse to help us get back on our feet when we repent and cry out to Him for help. He longs to be gracious to us!

The Book Of Isaiah. Day 132, The Right Way Rejected

In our last study session we learned that a time would come when the people would reject godly wisdom; indeed, some are already doing so in Isaiah's day. We learned that a time would come when the people would reject the message of the true prophets in favor of listening to false prophets who will tell them what they want to hear. 

Because the people will refuse to listen to godly advice, the Lord states that their waywardness will be their downfall. "Therefore this is what the Holy One of Israel says: 'Because you have rejected this message, relied on oppression and depended on deceit; this sin will become for you like a high wall, cracked and bulging, that collapses suddenly, in an instant. It will break in pieces like pottery, shattered so mercilessly that among its pieces not a fragment will be found for taking coals from a hearth or taking water out of a cistern.'" (Isaiah 30:12-14)

There is no true security without the Lord. There is no sure foundation except the Lord. If Isaiah's nation of Judah puts its trust in anyone or in anything except the Lord, the help they hope for from that thing or person will be in vain. I want to stop here for a moment to point out that this is a good thing for any person who is placing their trust in anyone or in anything except the Lord. The Lord must tear down those false defenses in order to point us back to Himself for forgiveness, for mercy, for salvation. If He allowed us to persist in a sense of false security He would be doing us no favors. In fact, He would actually be hurting us if He allowed us to build our lives on unsafe foundations.

Where should the people of Judah have placed their trust? To whom should they have turned for help? To the God of Israel! The Lord clearly lays out the path to success for them. "This is what the Sovereign Lord, the Holy One of Israel, says: 'In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength, but you would have none of it.'" (Isaiah 30:15) 

The solution to all of their spiritual problems and to all of their national security problems was simple: turn back to the Lord, repent of sins, trust in Him. But although the Lord makes the plan of salvation so simple that even very small children can understand it, some folks consider themselves too sophisticated and worldly to accept such a simple solution for the needs of their souls. Others reject the message because they do not want to submit to the Lord; they want to be the lords of their own lives. But rejection of the message brings certain disaster! It brings hardships in this life and, if the person never turns to the Lord, it brings eternal separation from His presence.

In our next study session we will take a look at what many of the people said in response to the message the Lord sent them through His prophets. We will find His heart yearning to be gracious to them and being unable to because they refuse His graciousness. Have you ever tried to help someone who didn't want your help? It was impossible to do anything for them, wasn't it? We can't force a human being to do what's right, not really, not from their hearts. The Lord also does not force human beings to do what's right. He has the power to do so but He is a gentleman and does not force Himself on anyone. He created us with the ability to make choices and He respects our human dignity and the free will with which He endowed us. That is why we can either accept or reject what He says to us but that is also why we must bear the consequences of making the wrong decision. We are free to reject Him---nobody is forcing us to bow to Him and give our hearts to Him---but there are consequences to deliberately refusing His offer of mercy, grace, hope, comfort, protection, provision, and salvation.

The Book Of Isaiah. Day 131, A Message On A Scroll

In yesterday's study we found the Lord warning the people of Judah through the prophet Isaiah not to turn to Egypt for help against Assyria. Ever since the Lord brought the descendants of Jacob out of Egypt, they have been under His commandment not to go back to Egypt and not to make any alliances with Egypt.

When we did our study of the kings we learned that Judah did call upon Pharaoh for help against Assyria, which was a common enemy of both nations, and that Pharaoh did make an attempt to be of help in pushing the Assyrian forces back. But Pharaoh was met with a major defeat and he was obliged to retreat back to his own land where he submitted himself to the king of Assyria and agreed to pay him tribute. 

Because the Lord reveals to Isaiah that the people of Judah will turn to Egypt for help, Isaiah foresees the gifts the king of Judah will send to Pharaoh. Isaiah feels sorry for the beasts of burden that will have to transport these goods, for the alliance with Egypt will prove to be of no benefit to Judah.

The prophet says, "A prophecy concerning the animals of the Negev: Through a land of hardship and distress, of lions and lionesses, of adders and darting snakes, the envoys carry their riches on donkeys' backs, their treasure on the humps of camels, to that unprofitable nation, to Egypt, whose help is utterly useless. Therefore I call her Rahab the Do-Nothing." (Isaiah 30:6-7) 

In my background study I learned that although "Rahab" is a proper name (you will recall that the woman of Jericho who hid the Israelite spies was named Rahab), it is a word that means "pride" in Hebrew. There are several occasions in the Bible where Egypt is referred to as "Rahab", for it was a prideful nation whose people lived in idolatry and excess and all sorts of immorality. Egypt is on the decline in Isaiah's day, bearing little resemblance to its glory days of the time of Moses, but the attitude of its people is the same as when Egypt was at its zenith of power and wealth. The people of Judah have apparently bought into the idea of Egypt being powerful and wealthy even though its heydey is long past now.

Earlier in our study the Lord already predicted that the people of Judah would become ashamed of having trusted in Egypt. He now tells Isaiah to write the following words regarding Judah's attitude of rebellion against the God who has commanded them to trust in Him alone: "Go now, write it on a tablet for them, inscribe it on a scroll, that for the days to come it may be an everlasting witness. For these are rebellious people, deceitful children, children unwilling to listen to the Lord's instruction. They say to the seers, 'See no more visions!' and to the prophets, 'Give us no more visions of what is right! Tell us pleasant things, prophesy illusions. Leave this way, get off this path, and stop confronting us with the Holy One of Israel!'" (Isaiah 30:8-11)

The Lord tells Isaiah to write these things on a scroll before they happen. The people have not yet called upon Egypt for help. The people have not yet rejected all the messages of the true prophets in favor of believing false prophets (as they will in the book of Jeremiah). But when these things happen, the scroll will be proof that the Lord is God, that He knows all things, and that He predicted their actions before they occurred. The scroll will give witness to the Lord's omniscience and it will give witness to the rebellious nature of the people. The scroll should serve to help them acknowledge their sin and to repent over it, though the majority will not do this. But still, it proves the Lord right and it proves the people to be wrong. 

We close today's study by reminding ourselves that the word of God will always prove the Lord to be right. If our attitudes are not in alignment with His word, then we are in the wrong. 

The Book Of Isaiah. Day 130, An Obstinate Nation

We begin Chapter 30 today with a warning for the people of Judah not to look to Egypt for help against Assyria. The Lord compares the people of Judah to disobedient children in this matter, calling them "obstinate", which is the same as calling them "stubborn, willful, headstrong, unyielding, unreasonable and hardened".

Earlier in the Old Testament, after the Lord brought the descendants of Jacob out of Egypt, He warned them never to return there. They weren't even to engage with them in trading, for the Lord commanded the kings not to procure a fleet of horses and chariots from Egypt, which is where most kings obtained the finest horses and chariots in the world at that time. But as the threat of Assyria looms large over Judah (and as Israel falls to Assyria) the people of Judah will appeal to Pharaoh for help against their common enemy.

"'Woe to the obstinate children,' declares the Lord, 'to those who carry out plans that are not Mine, forming an alliance, but not by My spirit, heaping sin upon sin; who go down to Egypt without consulting Me; who look for help to Pharaoh's protection, to Egypt's shade for refuge.'" (Isaiah 30:1-2)

We are not to make any sort of close alliances that go against the word of God. We are commanded not to be unequally yoked with unbelievers. (2 Corinthians 6:14) To be in a yoke with someone is to be tied to someone closely for a common purpose, like in marriage or in a business partnership or (as in the case of Judah) in a political/military alliance. It is never the Lord's will for a believer to marry an unbeliever and I don't believe it is ever the Lord's will for a believer to enter into a business partnership with an unbeliever. It is not the Lord's will for Judah to enter into an alliance with the heathen nation of Egypt either.

As we learned during our study of the kings, the forces of Egypt will be unable to repel the forces of Assyria. This alliance will not benefit Judah for, after suffering a large defeat, Pharaoh will submit to Assyria and pay tribute to its king in order to avoid being deposed from the throne and in order to prevent his nation from falling. The Lord warns the people of Judah ahead of time that the alliance will not benefit them. "But Pharaoh's protection will be to your shame, Egypt's shade will bring you disgrace. Though they have officials in Zoan and their envoys have arrived in Hanes, everyone will be put to shame because of a people useless to them, who bring neither help nor advantage, but only shame and disgrace." (Isaiah 30:3-5)

The officials of Pharaoh will make an alliance with the nation of Judah and will accept gifts from the king of Judah but, when all is said and done, the alliance will not be advantageous to either party. Close alliances with unbelievers are not advantageous to anyone, whether it's in marriage or in business or in any other situation where the believer and the unbeliever are tied together legally or emotionally. While it's possible that the believer will be a good influence on the unbeliever, there is no guarantee of that, and it is often the case that the unbeliever is a bad influence on the believer. At the very least, such an alliance will be fraught with conflicts because the two will have differing opinions in many areas. The believer will want to make decisions based on the word of God and prayer while the unbeliever will want to make decisions based on human feelings and based on worldly advice. Whatever endeavor they are engaged in will not prosper as it should because spiritually they are not a good match and this will reflect on everything they do together.

The people will end up ashamed for trusting in help from Egypt. By contrast, this is what the Bible says about the one who trusts in the Lord: "Those who look to Him are radiant; their faces are never covered with shame." (Psalm 34:5)

The Book Of Isaiah. Day 129, The Work Of The Lord's Hands

Earlier in Chapter 29 we found the Lord calling the people spiritually blind and spiritually illiterate because they were going through the motions of religion---in a way that suited their weak human nature---instead of worshiping the Lord from the heart and instead of worshiping Him in the ways He commanded. 

But this won't always be the case! A day is coming when they will say something like, "I was lost but now am found. I was blind but now I see."

Chapter 29 ends with words of hope. "In a very short time, will Lebanon not be turned into a fertile field and the fertile field seem like a forest? In that day the deaf will hear the words of the scroll, and out of doom and darkness the eyes of the blind will see. Once more the humble will rejoice in the Lord; the needy will rejoice in the Holy One of Israel." (Isaiah 29:17-19)

Some scholars believe the reference to Lebanon (and in some translations we find Carmel mentioned as the "fertile field") symbolizes a turnaround of circumstances. Lebanon was known for its mighty cedar trees. Carmel was known for its fertile land. In the segment above we see these things reversed: Lebanon is described as a fertile field and Carmel as a mighty forest. This reversal symbolizes the power of the Lord to completely change hearts and lives and to completely change nations. A God who can turn a thick forest into a fruitful field can turn hearts, lives, and nations around.

Part of this turnaround involves ridding the nation of wickedness. "The ruthless will vanish, the mockers will disappear, and all who have an eye for evil will be cut down---those who with a word make someone out to be guilty, who ensnare the defender in court and with false testimony deprive the innocent of justice." (Isaiah 29:20)

The Lord will rid the nation not only of wickedness from within but also wickedness from without. He will cut off the enemies of Israel. He will do this because there will be a turning back to Him. This prophecy has been fulfilled in part, for after the return to the land the people conquered by Assyria and Babylon no longer called upon the names of other gods, but all the commentaries I consulted believe this final segment primarily has to do with the eternal state of Israel under the reign of the Messiah. I see no reason to disagree with this theory; after the Messiah comes as King of kings and Lord of lords, Israel will have peace on every side forever. Never again will any of her people look to anyone except the Lord as their Redeemer and Helper. 

"Therefore this is what the Lord, who redeemed Abraham, says to the descendants of Jacob: 'No longer will Jacob be ashamed; no longer will their faces grow pale. When they see among them their children, the work of My hands, they will keep My name holy; they will acknowledge the holiness of the Holy One of Jacob, and will stand in awe of the God of Israel. Those who are wayward in spirit will gain understanding; those who complain will accept instruction.'" (Isaiah 29:22-24)  

These "children"---the great number of descendants of Jacob who believe on the name of the Lord---are called by the Lord "the work of My hands". He is the One who does all the redeeming work on mankind's behalf. Salvation is by faith and not by works, which is why I believe Abraham is mentioned in this passage because the Bible says that his faith was accounted to him for righteousness. (Genesis 15:6, Romans 4:1-5) 

These children of God are compared to Abraham who was saved by his faith in the Lord and not by the works of his own hands. Abraham was not free from sin and he counted on the Lord to do for him what he could not do for himself. Likewise, in our text today, we find the descendants of Abraham trusting in the Lord to do for them what they were unable to do for themselves. This is why their position in the family of God is the work of His hands, not theirs. Yours and my position in the family of God was accomplished by the Lord; we simply accepted on faith what He had done for us. Then, just as He did for Abraham, He credited us with righteousness---not a righteousness wrought by ourselves (for that was impossible for us) but a righteousness wrought by His own hands.

The Book Of Isaiah. Day 128, The Pot And The Potter

The Lord speaks of the way many of the people of Isaiah's day are denying that He created them. They are viewing themselves as the lords of their lives, eschewing Him in favor of living as they please. But there is a lot of hypocrisy in this, for though they do not honor Him in their hearts, they make an outward show of respecting Him.

We pick up with a verse we left off with yesterday and then we move on from there. "The Lord says: 'These people come near to Me with their mouth and honor Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me. Their worship of Me is based on merely human rules that they have been taught.'" (Isaiah 29:13)

We spoke yesterday about how they are talking the talk but not walking the walk. They are worshiping the Lord in ways that suit themselves, not in the ways commanded by Him. This is particularly true in the northern kingdom of Israel where the citizens long ago (when the kingdom split in two) began worshiping at the golden calf sites at Dan and at Bethel. While they claimed these calves represented the Lord, He had commanded that no images ever be made to represent Him. Furthermore, He also commanded that the center of worship be at the temple in Jerusalem; no other altars are authorized for their use. Bringing offerings and sacrifices to the golden calves started the people on a slippery slope to idolatry, for many rejected the Lord altogether in favor of pagan gods.

Even in the southern kingdom of Judah, where a godly king sits on the throne for most of Isaiah's ministry, people have "customized" their religion. We still find this happening in Jesus' day when He talks about all the rules and regulations the religious leaders have added to the laws and commandments of God. The Lord Jesus calls them hypocrites, for the priests and scribes and Pharisees and Sadducees are judging others for being unable to keep the hundreds of rules they cannot keep themselves. So when the Lord says in our passage today that the people are worshiping Him according to rules made up by humans, we see that this is an ongoing issue---not only in Isaiah's day but also in Jesus' day. There is a lot of legalism in our own day and a lot of sects that appear to be operating on a "salvation by works" doctrine which is a false doctrine.

The Lord is going to show mankind that He is God alone! In this next segment we find the people believing that their dark deeds are hidden from the sight of Almighty God and that He will not take them to task for their sins. We also find them behaving as if God did not create them in the first place and that they are free to do as they please.

"Therefore once more I will astound these people with wonder upon wonder; the wisdom of the wise will perish, the intelligence of the intelligent will vanish. Woe to those who go to great depths to hide their plans from the Lord, who do their work in darkness and think, 'Who sees us? Who will know?' You turn things upside down, as if the potter were thought to be like the clay! Shall what is formed say to the one who formed it, 'You did not make me?' Can the pot say to the potter, 'You know nothing?'" (Isaiah 29:14-16)

A potter is greater than the pots he makes. If he fashions a pot and places it on a shelf, can he not see it? Does he not know everything about it? Can the pot do anything without him, to move itself here or there? Likewise, man can do nothing without being seen by the Lord. The Lord created us and He holds us in this life; we could not even draw the next breath without Him. How then do we dare boast against Him? How can we claim we don't need Him? We didn't create ourselves. We don't have the power over life and death. We don't have power over the next life either and cannot save our souls or do anything of eternal value without Him.

The prophet says the people are starting to think the potter is just like the clay. But that is not possible, for it's obvious that a potter is something bigger, something more intelligent, something more powerful than the clay. The Lord is not a sinner like them just because He has not yet judged the northern kingdom of Israel or the southern kingdom of Judah. He is giving them opportunities to repent. Although He knows a time is coming when He must let each of these nations fall to the enemy because the people are going to keep falling farther into sin, His loving nature demands that He provide the opportunities anyway. His righteous nature demands it also; no one will be able to stand in the judgment and accuse Him of never having made the invitation to come to Him and be saved. He will be able to point to every time He sent His word to them through anyone. He will be able to point to every time when the Holy Spirit pleaded with their spirits to repent.

The Lord is greater than mankind just as the potter is greater than the clay. Just as the pot can do nothing on its own, we can do nothing on our own that's of godly significance in this world and we can do nothing on our own to save our souls.

The Book Of Isaiah. Day 127, Spiritual Blindness And Spiritual Illiteracy

In our last study session we found the Lord promising a day in which He will judge every nation that has persecuted His people. But that day is not yet, for in Isaiah's time many things have already gone spiritually wrong in the kingdoms of Israel and Judah. It will not be long before Israel falls to the Assyrian Empire due to rampant idolatry. Judah will last approximately 130 years longer than Israel, but due to spiritual decline it too will fall to an enemy: the Neo-Babylonian Empire.

In today's text the Lord talks about the spiritual blindness and the spiritual illiteracy of many of the people of Isaiah's era.

"Be stunned and amazed, blind yourselves and be sightless; be drunk, but not from wine, stagger, but not from beer." (Isaiah 29:9) This blindness is willful. Just as in our own day people like to turn a blind eye to the laws of God so they won't have to acknowledge how they've transgressed His laws, a lot of the people of Isaiah's day are doing the same thing. 

Because the people want to be blind to their sin, the Lord says something like, "Have it your way, then." He will allow them to do as they wish for a season. "The Lord has brought over you a deep sleep: He has sealed your eyes (the prophets); He has covered your heads (the seers)." (Isaiah 29:10) It's not that the Lord wants people to ignore their sins and it's not that He prevents anyone from repenting. It's that a number of the people have ignored the words of the true prophets for so long that, as discipline, the Lord has few words to say to them through the true prophets. 

It's often easier to get someone's attention with silence than with words, isn't it? Have you ever had anyone repeatedly ignore your warnings or your complaints about a particular situation? Have you ever noticed that, if you go silent, they suddenly pay attention to you and start asking what's wrong? The Lord has sent message after message to His people and a lot of them have refused to hear the prophets. He will have to use silence to get their attention; then they will want to hear Him.

The people's refusal to heed the word of God and obey it has rendered their hearts hard. They have ignored His words for so long that when they hear a true message from Him, it's difficult for them to recognize it as the word of God. They've refused to heed their consciences for so long that even when they read the word of God it doesn't immediately have an impact on them because they have become spiritually illiterate. "For you this whole vision is nothing but words sealed in a scroll. And if you give the scroll to someone who can read, and say, 'Read this, please,' they will answer, 'I can't; it is sealed.' Or if you give the scroll to someone who cannot read, and say, 'Read this, please,' they will answer, 'I do not know how to read.'" (Isaiah 29:11-12)

It is a dangerous business to harden our hearts and our consciences against the ministry of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit reveals to us our shortcomings. The Holy Spirit opens the Scriptures to us. If we repeatedly harden our hearts against what He has to say to us, we may find ourselves looking as confusedly at a passage of Scripture as one who cannot read at all. And if we show the passage to someone who is as hard-hearted as we are, they will be unable to explain it to us. This is the spiritual condition of a great number of the people of Isaiah's day: they have become spiritually illiterate. 

That doesn't mean all is lost! They can repent and turn back to the Lord. They can submit themselves to the teaching of the Holy Spirit. They can pray and they can meditate over the Scriptures. The Lord never refuses to help anyone who sincerely wants to know Him and who wants to understand what He has to say to mankind. The problem is that a lot of the people of Isaiah's time do not want to do those things. That is why we conclude today's study with these words of the Lord. "The Lord says: 'These people come near to Me with their mouth and honor Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me.'" (Isaiah 29:13a) 

They are talking the talk but not walking the walk. Outwardly they are using religious phrases and making a show of being children of God but it's all talk. The Lord sees into their hearts and knows that things are not as they should be in their hearts. Thankfully, this won't be their permanent condition, but as we continue on through the books of the prophets we learn that their spiritual condition gets worse before it gets better.

The Book Of Isaiah. Day 126, Enemies Vanquished

In yesterday's portion of Chapter 29 the prophet Isaiah predicted a siege against Jerusalem. 

Jerusalem has been under siege a number of times. For example, the Assyrian army came up to encamp against it and besiege it but the Lord delivered the city in a miraculous way. We studied this event in our study of the kings and we will take a fresh look at it later in the book of Isaiah. Also as we learned in our study of the kings, after the Neo-Babylonian Empire overthrew the Assyria Empire, the Neo-Babylonian army also besieged the city---and this time the Lord allowed the city to fall to the enemy. Later in Jerusalem's history the Roman army, for another example, laid siege to and overtook the city. We do not know which specific siege Isaiah had in mind or whether he had all of them in mind, although many scholars believe he was looking at the imminent threat of Assyria when he spoke the words of our chapter.

The Lord will supernaturally thwart the plans of the Assyrian army. He will also bring down every empire that ever has or ever will threaten the existence of Israel as a nation. In today's text the prophet foresees an end to all opposition to Israel.

"But your many enemies will become like fine dust, the ruthless hordes like blown chaff. Suddenly, in an instant, the Lord Almighty will come with thunder and earthquake and great noise, with windstorm and tempest and flames of a devouring fire." (Isaiah 29:5-6) 

Although the Lord struck dead, overnight, many thousands of soldiers of the Assyrian army, I don't believe that's the event that is in view here. I think that particular event was an example of how mightily He fights on the side of those who are faithful to Him (for when He struck down the Assyrians the people of Jerusalem and Judah were calling upon Him for help), but I believe the words of verses 5-6 are intended for the end times when, before the Messiah comes to reign forever, the Lord puts an end to all nations that persecute His people Israel.

More than one nation is is view here. Although the Lord has already put an end to several nations that were enemies of Israel in the past, I think Isaiah's words regard events that take place in the book of Revelation when prejudice against Israel will reach an all-time high in the corrupt world government of that era. I think this prophecy is about a final end to all prejudice against the Jews and an end of all persecution of them.

"Then the hordes of all the nations that fight against Ariel, that attack her and her fortress and besiege her, will be as it is with a dream, with a vision in the night---as when a hungry person dreams of eating, but awakens hungry still; as when a thirsty person dreams of drinking, but awakens faint and thirsty still. So will it be with the hordes of all the nations that fight against Mount Zion." (Isaiah 29:7-8) Isaiah uses the names of  "Ariel" and "Mount Zion" synonymously with "Jerusalem". 

In the book of Revelation in the end times we will find a coalition of nations joining together to fight against the Lord, to fight against Israel, and to fight against those who have come to faith in the Lord during the Great Tribulation. But the Lord Jesus Christ (in an event often referred to as the "Second Coming of Christ") comes in person to fight against these enemies and He supernaturally destroys them before He sets up His eternal kingdom on earth, with His capital being at Jerusalem. When that takes place, the memory of Israel's enemies will be like the faint memory of a dream. The old enemies will be no more. No new enemies will arise. If anyone should think back on the past and the various eras in which Israel was opposed by enemies, it will be like speaking of a time so far gone that it will be like speaking of a dream a person might have had far back in childhood. Times will be so peaceful and joyous that they will somehow, through the Lord's infinite grace and mercy, erase the sting of all past hurts.

The Book Of Isaiah. Day 125, A Prophecy Regarding A Siege Of Jerusalem

As we begin Chapter 29 we find the prophet speaking a prophecy against the city of David but we also find him speaking a prophecy of future glory for that city---and of defeat of Israel's enemies.

We know from our previous study of the Old Testament that the forces of the Assyrian army will come to lay siege to Jerusalem. We know that later on the Neo-Babylonian army will come and lay siege to Jerusalem. Isaiah foresees great troubles coming against the city, some in the nearer future and some in the farther off future. 

"Woe to you, Ariel, Ariel, the city where David settled!" (Isaiah 29:1a) I don't believe we have ever seen Jerusalem referred to as "Ariel" before and scholars are divided in their opinions as to what the name means. Depending on the proper translation, it either means "lion of God" or "altar hearth of God". 

Either translation---or both---is appropriate. Jacob spoke of his son Judah as a lion's whelp back in the book of Genesis and he prophesied that the tribe of Judah would become the royal line of Israel, stating that the scepter would not depart from Judah until the One to whom it belongs comes. This is generally interpreted to be a reference to the eternal King of kings who is of the direct line of David, of the royal line of Judah. The Lord Jesus Christ is often referred to as "the lion of the tribe of Judah", for He fulfills the prophecies regarding the lineage of the Messiah and someday He will take up the scepter and reign from David's throne forever. So it is clear that Jerusalem is the city that Isaiah calls "Ariel" since it is the city where David settled and it is the royal city of the kingdom of Judah and it will be the capital of the Messiah.

If "Ariel" is also intended to represent the "altar hearth of God" then it may be a reference to the fact that the Lord's temple was in Jerusalem and that the only altar authorized by God was there. This also backs up our belief that Isaiah can be talking about no other city than Jerusalem. 

What will happen there? While life appears to be going on as usual, disaster will strike. "Add year to year and let your cycle of festivals go on. Yet I will besiege Ariel; she will mourn and lament, she will be to me like an altar hearth." (Isaiah 29:1b-2) 

In this passage the mention of an altar hearth indicates burning and ashes, whether literally or figuratively or both. It warns of destruction. It speaks of the useless works of any who eschew God and any who worship idols. As the Lord will say later in the book of Isaiah, the one who bows at the altar of a false god is like one who "feeds on ashes". (Isaiah 44:20) Just as ashes cannot nourish the body and bring health to it, a life lived apart from God cannot nourish the soul or save it.

"I will encamp against you on all sides; I will encircle you with towers and set up My siege works against you. Brought low, you will speak from the ground; your speech will mumble out of the dust. Your voice will come ghostlike from the earth; out of the dust your speech will whisper." (Isaiah 29:3-4) The Lord speaks of these difficult circumstances as though He Himself is encircling the city and laying siege to it. Though He will use enemy armies to do it, this work is His. It will happen at His command to suit His purpose, and His purpose is to bring corrective discipline. Corrective discipline is not administered to destroy the one who has gone off course but to help them see the error of their ways, repent of the error, and get on the right track.

Time and time again in the Bible we find the Lord humbling those who are lifted up in pride, who feel they have no need of Him, who are behaving as if they are the lords of their own lives. But also, time and time again, we find Him blessing and lifting up those who are humble. In today's study we find Isaiah predicting some circumstances through which the Lord will humble the prideful and the idolatrous. In our next segment there is good news though! In time He will lift up Jerusalem again and He will destroy the enemies of His people.

The Book Of Isaiah. Day 124, The Lord's Timing And The Lord's Methods

Chapter 28 concludes with a metaphor that compares the work of the Lord to the work of a farmer. Just as there are seasons in the year for plowing, for planting, for growing and for harvesting, so also are there seasons in which the Lord must deal with people in different ways. Isaiah has been predicting a season in which the Lord will have to discipline the people. They have not borne godly fruit---indeed, many have forsaken the Lord altogether---and a time of hardship is coming. But this hardship is intended for their good, just as the things a farmer does for his crops are good. 

Isaiah speaks of the plowing and planting work of the farmer. "Listen and hear my voice; pay attention and hear what I say. When a farmer plows for planting, does he plow continually? Does he keep on breaking up and working the soil? When he has leveled the surface, does he not sow caraway and scatter cumin? Does he not plant wheat in its place, barley in its plot, and spelt in its field? His God instructs him and teaches him the right way." (Isaiah 28:23-26) 

A farmer doesn't start plowing and keep plowing all season long; a time comes to plant. A farmer doesn't keep planting all season long; a time comes to stop planting and to start watering and tending the plants so they will grow. A farmer doesn't keep letting the plants grow until they overtake the land and become useless; he harvests at the proper time. The Lord operates in the same way. He knows when is the right time to deal with His people in the best way. He gives people time to repent, encouraging them by the Holy Spirit and by other people to repent, but there comes a point when corrective action must be taken if they do not repent. 

The Lord only uses as much corrective force as is necessary. A farmer who harvests his crops doesn't use undue force and destroy the products of his labor; neither is the Lord going to use undue force with the descendants of Jacob and destroy them as a people. Isaiah now speaks of the various ways in which a farmer harvests and processes the crops. "Caraway is not threshed with a sledge, nor is the wheel of a cart rolled over cumin; caraway is beaten out with a rod, and cumin with a stick. Grain must be ground to make bread; so one does not go on threshing it forever. The wheels of a threshing cart may be rolled over it, but one does not use horses to grind grain. This also comes from the Lord Almighty, whose plan is wonderful, whose wisdom is magnificent." (Isaiah 28:27-29)

The methods Isaiah says farmers do not use on particular types of grain are methods that would render the grain unusable. The Lord's purpose for correcting Isaiah's people is not to render them unusable, but usable. His purpose for allowing hardship is not to destroy them but to prevent them from destroying themselves with useless idolatry and sinful living. His purpose for discipline is not to cast them away from His presence but to draw them near to Him.

We all go through times of hardship in life. Sometimes they arrive because we have gotten off course and the Lord is using hardship to get us back on course. Sometimes we have not gotten off course but the Lord allows hardship for some other purpose, such as to help us build spiritual strength so we will be ready to confidently step ahead in faith for a wonderful opportunity He is going to send our way. Hardship is never fun, but if we have made the Lord the God of our lives we can rest assured that He doesn't allow anything in the lives of His children that He does not intend for our good. The hardship He is going to send upon Isaiah's people will not be fun but it is going to produce godly fruit and bring them back to Him. 

The Book Of Isaiah. Day 123, A Strange Work

Before we begin today's study I want to thank everyone for your patience while I was sick for the past five days and while I was unable to be online long enough to do the Bible study. I am feeling much better today.

Our text from Isaiah 28 regards work the Lord is going to perform which He refers to as "strange work" and as an "alien task". The reason this work feels strange and alien to Him is because it involves fighting against the descendants of Jacob. He is not fighting against the enemies of Israel and Judah; He is fighting against Israel and Judah.

"The Lord will rise up as He did at Mount Perazim, He will rouse Himself as in the Valley of Gibeon---to do His work, His strange work, and perform His task, His alien task." (Isaiah 28:21) Mount Perazim and the Valley of Gibeon are places where the Lord worked on behalf of the descendants of Jacob. These are places where He won great victories for them.

But now He is preparing to win a great victory against them. This is a victory for holiness. This is a victory for righteous living. In Isaiah's day a large number of the people of the northern kingdom of Israel have been living in idolatry for a very long time. In his nation of Judah the people have dabbled with idolatry off and on; some of their kings have been blatant idolaters, though the current king is not. The Lord fought on the side of the people while they were on His side but as more and more are fighting against Him, He will fight against them. But we must keep in mind that He does not intend to make a permanent end of them as a nation, never to rise again, as He intends to destroy some of the pagan nations around them. He will fight against them not to put an end to them but to heal them.

This fight is intended for discipline. The discipline will be as light or as harsh as it needs to be to turn them around, so He informs them through the prophet Isaiah that the severity of the discipline is up to them. "Now stop your mocking, or your chains will become heavier; the Lord, the Lord Almighty, has told me of the destruction decreed against the whole land." (Isaiah 28:22) 

The coming discipline is a done deal, for the Lord knows that's what it is going to take to cause the people to forsake their useless idols and turn back to him. Nothing short of enemy invasion and captivity is going to bring about repentance. But the sooner the people start turning back to Him, the lighter the yoke will be. The sooner the people start turning back to Him, the shorter the captivity will be. 

Later in the Bible, when we find the people turning back to Him and when we find them returning to rebuild the land, the Lord will fight on their side again against those who don't want them to rebuild. Enemies around them will attempt to prevent them from rises from the ashes but the Lord will enable them to rise. 

Sickness In Our Home

I'm sorry I've been absent from the Bible study for several days. I've been very sick since Thursday and now my husband has been sick since Saturday night.

We appreciate your prayers that we will soon be well. I hope to be back hopefully tomorrow.

The Book Of Isaiah. Day 122, A Prophecy Against The Land

In yesterday's text the Lord announced His intention to lay in Zion a "precious cornerstone". We talked about the way this passage is applied to the Lord Jesus Christ on the pages of the Bible. We talked about how the Lord gave Isaiah this message 700 years before the birth of Christ. As we look at today's text we see that before the advent of the "precious cornerstone" there will be an era of judgment against the land of Isaiah's people.

Earlier in our chapter we learned that even those who should be setting a godly example for the people---priests and prophets---were living lives of excess and debauchery. The Lord deplored their drunkenness and their refusal to follow and teach His holy laws. There are still faithful prophets in the land, such as Isaiah, but a large number of the people were choosing to believe the false words of unfaithful prophets who were assuring them that Jerusalem would never fall. A lot of people chose to believe these lies because they wanted to believe them; if they believed the words of the true prophets they would have to change their ways.

In Isaiah's day the fall of the northern kingdom of Israel is imminent. But Isaiah's birthplace, which is the southern kingdom of Judah, will endure for over a century after the fall of Israel. During the majority of Isaiah's ministry there was a godly king on the throne of Judah and a spiritual revival took place that lengthened the time it took for the people of Judah to fall into as much abject idolatry as the people of Israel. But they will fall spiritually and, as a result, they will fall as a nation.

The Lord spoke earlier in our chapter about how a lot of the people of Judah have already made a "covenant with death" because they have believed lies. A fierce destruction will come that will reveal those lies for what they are, so He says, "Hail will sweep away your refuge, the lie, and water will overflow your hiding place. Your covenant with death will be annulled; your agreement with the realm of the dead will not stand. When the overwhelming scourge sweeps by, you will be beaten down by it. As often as it comes it will carry you away; morning after morning, by day and by night, it will sweep through. The understanding of this message will bring sheer terror." (Isaiah 28:17b-19)

When the Lord spoke of the downfall of Israel to the Assyrian Empire, He spoke of the invasion and captivity in terms related to natural disasters. He used the imagery of severe storms to describe how the Assyrian army would storm into the nation, causing the fall of its capital city of Samaria, and seizing and deporting thousands of citizens. The Lord uses similar imagery in today's text when He talks about how Judah will fall to the Neo-Babylonian Empire. Babylon took all but the poorest of the land captive but this was done in three major stages, which may be why in our passage above the Lord says, "As often as it comes it will carry you away."

No rest or relief will be had in those days, when Judah is under constant threat by the enemy. The Lord uses the metaphor of someone unable to get comfortable in bed when He talks about that time. "The bed is too short to stretch out on, the blanket too narrow to stretch out on, the blanket too narrow to wrap around you." (Isaiah 28:20) Nothing in which the people placed their trust will be able to help them. They were depending on the wrong people (sinful priests, false prophets) to guide them. They were calling upon the wrong powers (false gods) to protect them against the enemy. 

Living in sin is a hard life. Oh, there is no doubt that there is pleasure in sin but those pleasures only last for a season. (Hebrews 11:25) We can have most anything we want in this life---anything that satisfies the carnal side of our nature---but a price must be paid for it. There will be consequences. As King Solomon, who was the wisest man who ever lived with the exception of the Lord Jesus Christ, said: "The way of a transgressor is hard." (Proverbs 13:15) We may think we are living it up when we are living in sin, but we are harming ourselves and we are harming those around us. There are natural consequences for sin (doing wrong will cause problems for us in this world when we break moral and governmental laws) and there is judgment for sin (from the hand of a holy God). 

It is very uncomfortable when we realize we are lost in our sins. I tossed and turned for many a night when I realized I was lost in my sins. The distractions of the daytime didn't bring me any peace of mind either. Night by night and morning by morning I was plagued with this terrifying knowledge. When we continue with our chapter in our next study session we will find the Lord urging the people to use this knowledge for their good: to repent and stop going down the wrong path. They can turn around and avoid a great deal of sorrow.