Isaiah 23: 11-14

¹¹ He has stretched His hand out over the sea,
He has made the kingdoms tremble;
The Lord has given a command concerning Canaan to demolish its strongholds.

¹² He has said, “You shall exult no more, O crushed virgin daughter of Sidon.
Arise, pass over to Cyprus; even there you will find no rest.”

¹³ Behold, the land of the Chaldeans—this is the people which was not; 
Assyria appointed it for desert creatures—they erected their siege towers, 
they stripped its palaces, they made it a ruin.

¹⁴ Wail, O ships of Tarshish,
For your stronghold is destroyed.

As far as prophecies go, this one that we've been reading about in Isaiah 23 is fairly complete. The beginning set the scene for whom the word was about (Tyre), as well as the response to that word (by the surrounding trade nations). We learned last time why the city was poised for demise (pride) as well as who originated that call (God, of course). Today, we learn more about who would handle the actual devastation. Next week, the chapter concludes.

Verse 11 picks up from last week's passage in which God is established as the one "who has planned this against Tyre." (vs. 8) "He has stretched His hand out...made the kingdoms tremble." One of the cross-reference passages for this verse is Exodus 14, in which Moses stretches out his hand over the Red Sea, and God creates the path that would lead the Israelites to safety. Where God's hand makes a way, it also disciplines others (meaning, Pharaoh and the Egyptians, or, in Isaiah's prophecy, Tyre). The Hebrew for 'stretch' beyond the literal definition means "to bend away (including moral deflection)." [Strong's] I see this as God bending this city away from Himself, because He cannot be in the midst of the pride He has witnessed.

"For Tyre built herself a fortress
And piled up silver like dust,
And gold like the mire of the streets.
Behold, the Lord will dispossess her
And cast her wealth into the sea;
And she will be consumed with fire."

--Zechariah 9: 3 and 4

At the end of verse 11, we read that God has issued a command against Canaan. No confusion here. Tyre and its motherly city of Sidon were both a part of the territory of Canaan. You see the command in verse 12. There will be no more jubilance in Tyre. To whomever remains in the city, the order is given to evacuate. "...Pass over to Cyprus...." Even though Tyre will become, largely, unpopulated, it does not mean that the burden brought upon the city will leave the hearts of those who leave it, and this is an interesting take-away point. "...Even there you will find no rest."

"Note, We deceive ourselves if we promise ourselves rest any where in this world. Those that are uneasy in one place will be so in another; and, when God’s judgments pursue sinners, they will overtake them."

--Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible

Try to outrun or outfox or just plain ditch your troubles? Doesn't work, does it? You will find yourself as did one of my favorite movie characters--Maria from The Sound of Music. She tries to flee a big life decision by seeking refuge back in the abbey from whence she came. She learns with some Reverend Mother-ly guidance that you can't "escape your troubles. You have to face them." Tyre was absorbed in its own pride--a state of the heart that was not left behind, even as its inhabitants fled to supposedly safe havens.

"And man, being a part of Thy creation, desires to praise Thee, man, who bears about with him his mortality, the witness of his sin, even the witness that Thou 'resistest the proud,'--yet man, this part of Thy creation, desires to praise Thee. Thou movest us to delight in praising Thee; for Thou hast formed us for Thyself, and our hearts are restless till they find rest in Thee...."

--from The Confessions of St. Augustine

We have an alternative to being on the lam, having our hearts constantly condemn us. Why does God discipline? To turn His creation back to Him! He is full of mercy and patience, but, there is a time of divine intervention at His will, which can take the form of discipline. Discipline--out of love, out of grace.

"Have you been walking on a surface that's uncertain?
Have you helped yourself to everything that's empty?
You can't live this way too long.
There's more than this, more than this....You can rest, you will find rest. Let this old life crumble, let it fade.
Let this new life offered be your saving grace...."

--Lyrics from "Let it Fade" by Jeremy Camp

With verse 13, we are given a picture of the depth of the earthly force Tyre will be facing. God says, "Behold, the land of the Chaldeans—this is the people which was not...." The Chaldeans are also known as the Babylonians. At this time, Assyria was the nation of highest dread. Per my study Bible, Assyria "ravaged" Babylon in 689 B.C. We already know from Isaiah's earlier prophecies of Assyria's conquest of Israel and its take-down of most of Judah (God sparing Jerusalem, under Hezekiah).

"Woe to Assyria, the rod of My anger
And the staff in whose hands is My indignation....
Yet it does not so intend,
Nor does it plan so in its heart,
But rather it is its purpose to destroy
And to cut off many nations."

--Isaiah 10:5 and 7

As with the Assyrian conquest of Babylon, the plan for Tyre was to turn the bustling harborfront into a place "for desert creatures." (vs. 13)

"...And their houses will be full of owls;
Ostriches also will live there, and shaggy goats will frolic there."

--Isaiah 13:21

As if to end with a poetic finish, Isaiah returns to his opening call upon the merchant cities of the world, to grieve and mourn over the loss of Tyre. "Wail, O ships of Tarshish...."

"The ships of Tarshish were the carriers for your merchandise. 

And you were filled and were very glorious
In the heart of the seas."

--Ezekiel 27:25

But, Isaiah is not quite finished. We will look at a sort of epilog next week. Had the Tyrians only been able to accept the picture--like that featured above--that the prophet was offering. Had they only been able to see beyond their pride to the sole means of, not escape but, true freedom....

"Look up on the ruins of Tyre, and see all this glory stained, and sullied, and buried in the dust. The honourable ones of heaven will be for ever such; but see the grandees of Tyre, some fled into banishment, others forced into captivity, and all impoverished, and you will conclude that the honourable of the earth, even the most honourable, know not how soon they may be brought into contempt."

--Matthew Henry

The end of Tyre? For certain, the end of Chapter 23. ....'Til next time!

Photo: chestofbooks.com

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Next time:  Isaiah 23: 15-18
 
Note: I read from the New American Standard Bible translation,
specifically, The MacArthur Study Bible (NASB).
I will quote other sources if used in a post.
I also use Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible
(with notes from the King James Version).

Isaiah 14: 24-27

Judgment on Assyria

²⁴ The Lord of hosts has sworn saying, 
“Surely, just as I have intended so it has happened, 
and just as I have planned so it will stand, 
²⁵ to break Assyria in My land, and I will trample him on My mountains. 
Then his yoke will be removed from them 
and his burden removed from their shoulder. 
²⁶ This is the plan devised against the whole earth; 
and this is the hand that is stretched out against all the nations. 
²⁷ For the Lord of hosts has planned, and who can frustrate it? And as for His stretched-out hand, who can turn it back?”

Not only Babylon, but all of Assyria would face judgment at the hand of the Lord. Isaiah includes a few short verses here on Assyria before then launching into judgment on Philistia. No one escapes judgment, and that's a main theme in today's passage.

"...To break Assyria in My land...." We have already talked about Assyria, back in Chapter 10--God using the nation as a disciplinary force against Israel and Judah. We traced the path of the mighty Assyrian Sennacherib in his march toward Judah, knocking out cities all along the way. (Read post, here.) But, under God's provision, Sennacherib would not only not take Jerusalem, but he would face the power of the God of Angel Armies.

"'For I will defend this city to save it for My own sake and for My servant David's sake.' Then it happened that night that the angel of the Lord went out and struck 185,000 in the camp of the Assyrians...."

--II Kings 19: 34 and 35a 

For its aggression against God's people, the Lord brings a judgment yet to come, for the "yoke" and "burden" have not yet been fully removed from His people. (vs. 25)

Although the header for this section is regarding Assyria, today's passage is such a wonderful character study of God Himself. What God intends to have happen, will happen. What He plans, stands. (vs. 24) We can think back to the characters of past rulers, now minding their time on their thrones in Sheol, who likely thought of themselves in the same regard. But which one can say with all truth that every plan born was a plan that went down per its exact ideation?

"But He is unique and who can turn Him? And what His soul desires, that He does."

--Job 23:13

Job may not have understood what was happening around his life's circumstances, but he gives us a wonderfully succinct response regarding something of who God is. The one and only. Unparalleled. Not to be replicated. 

And, not to be thwarted. With verse 26, we return to some phrasing that Isaiah has used before: "...The hand that is stretched out against all the nations." Let's take a quick look back at Isaiah, Chapter 5:

"On this account the anger of the Lord has burned against His people,
And He has stretched out His hand against them and struck them down.
And the mountains quaked, and their corpses lay like refuse in the middle of the streets. For all this His anger is not spent,
But His hand is still stretched out."

--Isaiah 5:25 (emphasis mine)

There is a hand that holds Jesus and the souls of the righteous in their heavenly places, and there is another hand that can cradle and comfort, or stretch out and strike His Creation. The Chapter 5 passage refers to God's people, and His hand did not hold back the punishment that was to come. It can be difficult to understand the extent of God's discipline. But it would be worth our while to consider the tremendous extent of God's mercy, grace and patience in light of the ongoing sinful behavior of man that leads to such a level of discipline. When we come to grips with the incredible love that He has for us such as to exhibit the greatest of restraint over our sin, then we might pray strong words like King Hezekiah: "...Deliver us...that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that You alone, O Lord, are God." (II Kings 19:19)

In verse 26, the hand that is stretched out is against all of those who have come up against God's people--against "the whole earth." "All the nations." The ultimate plan has been the same since God originally came up with it. His chosen people will be saved! Who can "frustrate" that plan? "Who shall disannul it? (King James Version) There is not one who can stand against the "unique" one.

So why try? Ah...submission. Submission of everything. Our complete selves. I think we feel that God "frustrates" that plan. Do we ever think it's out of love? We love having clear-cut plans, making plans, making back-up plans, trying to keep our lives in perfect order. So easy to forget that we are not in the order-establishment business.

In his commentary, Matthew Henry speaks of this prophecy of Isaiah's, asking the question why would people care? It would not be for 200 years following Isaiah's words that people would see God's intervention in Babylon. Why should these words carry such weight, for them, for us?

"The Lord of hosts hath sworn, that he might show the immutability of his counsel, and that his people may have strong consolation."

--Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on the Bible

God not only speaks of who He is with such great authority, but He swears an oath to His people that they will see it as He has called it. Are we consoled by the fact that hope in our Lord is an eternal perspective? Henry pulls in the wisdom of the Hebrews in support:

"In the same way God, desiring even more to show to the heirs of the promise the unchangeableness of His purpose, interposed with an oath, so that by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have taken refuge would have strong encouragement to take hold of the hope set before us."

--Hebrews 6: 17-18 

"...And hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us."

--Romans 5:5

Judgment on Philistia.... 'Til next Wednesday!

Photo: oxhilldevons.com

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Next week:  Isaiah 14: 28-32
 
Note: I read from the New American Standard Bible translation,
specifically, The MacArthur Study Bible (NASB).
I will quote other sources if used in a post.
I also use Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible
(with notes from the King James Version).

Isaiah 5: 24 and 25

  

²⁴ Therefore, as a tongue of fire consumes stubble
And dry grass collapses into the flame,
So their root will become like rot and their blossom blow away as dust;
For they have rejected the law of the Lord of hosts
And despised the word of the Holy One of Israel.
²⁵ On this account the anger of the Lord has burned against His people,
And He has stretched out His hand against them and struck them down.
And the mountains quaked, and their corpses lay like refuse in the middle of the streets.
For all this His anger is not spent,
But His hand is still stretched out.

With his use of dramatic imagery continuing, Isaiah speaks of the judgment awaiting Judah at the hand of God.

I thought about taking a picture of our backyard when I read about stubble and dry grass in verse 24. Appropriate in this scorcher of a Central Virginia summer! But the image above fits Isaiah's words better, as he describes what could be seen as tongues of fire "licking up straw" (New International Version) and dry grass practically melting in the flames. It's a fire that spreads like a hot post on Twitter!

"Sinners make themselves as stubble and chaff, combustible matter, proper fuel to the fire of God’s wrath, which then of course devours and consumes them, as the fire devours the stubble, and nobody can hinder it, or cares to hinder it. Chaff is consumed, unhelped and unpitied."

--Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on the Bible

The result is that the once-abundant vineyard that was Judah is facing rot at its core. And without roots, you have no shoots, much less blossoms, much less fruit.

 

"Moreover, the pride of Israel testifies against him,
And Israel and Ephraim stumble in their iniquity;
Judah also has stumbled with them.
They will go with their flocks and herds
To seek the Lord, but they will not find Him;
He has withdrawn from them....

Ephraim is oppressed, crushed in judgment,
Because he was determined to follow man’s command.
Therefore I am like a moth to Ephraim
And like rottenness to the house of Judah."

--Hosea 5: 5, 6, 11 and 12

We read, again, in verse 24, that it is Judah's rejection of the law and despising of the word that brings about this incredible wrath from God. What has happened to the book of the law? Remember, Isaiah is writing of a time of extreme apostasy by the leadership and the people. Not that all who sat on the throne were spiritually lost, but more of them were unrighteous than righteous.

"'Go, inquire of the Lord for me and the people and all Judah concerning the words of this book that has been found, for great is the wrath of the Lord that burns against us, because our fathers have not listened to the words of this book, to do according to all that is written concerning us.'"

--II Kings 22: 13

King Josiah came to power after Isaiah's prophecy and death. He was one of the righteous who served prior to the fall of Jerusalem. God's wrath had been burning against the people, but Josiah hadn't quite figured out what the cause was. (He was 8 when he first took the throne!) In 622 B.C., some 18 years into his leadership, Josiah summoned his scribe to go to the high priest to work through a financial transaction--he wanted the workman repairing the house of the Lord to be paid. In that visit, the high priest uncovered the book of the law to share with the scribe, who shared it with the king. As his scribe read the word, Josiah tore his clothes--a sign that he understood the sacredness of the law and the resulting response from God against His people.

[Our merciful God showed Josiah grace from His wrath in that He told the king he would pass from this life (609 B.C.) before the initiation of captivity at the hands of Babylon (587 B.C., in or about).]

Picking up with verse 25, because of the blatant disregard for God's Word, upon which rests the foundation for the ongoing relationship His people have with the Lord, God is angry and is stretching out His hand against His people. One of the cross-references for this verse is in Exodus, with Aaron, holding up the staff that God gave Moses, and calling for Egypt's waterways to be turned to blood. This same hand that protected and provided for these people under so many circumstances is now to be held up against them. I just find the imagery so compelling.

"Mountains quake because of Him
And the hills dissolve;
Indeed the earth is upheaved by His presence,
The world and all the inhabitants in it."

--Nahum 1:5

I hadn't taken in the full meaning of this idea until reading this passage in Nahum. "Indeed the earth is upheaved by His presence." Who was bringing that state of calamity upon Judah? God is fully responsible. His presence causes upheaval in our lives. And we can see this in a positive light [His people needed a wake-up call!] or a negative one [Captivity is painful, Lord!], but we need to understand that THINGS HAPPEN in the presence of God! Here, He says, "I'm angry! You will notice my presence!" Judah's road to hard times was being announced through Isaiah. Babylon was merely a tool in the Lord's battle arsenal. Captivity and the loss of their home will cause the nation to "be still and know that I am God."

Again, I note the frustration in the work of the prophet who would not see the times change with his warnings. That progressing work would come in exile, with the prophet Daniel bringing together all of these thoughts in his prayer to God on behalf of His people:

"Indeed all Israel has transgressed Your law and turned aside, not obeying Your voice; so the curse has been poured out on us, along with the oath which is written in the law of Moses the servant of God, for we have sinned against Him. Thus He has confirmed His words which He had spoken against us and against our rulers who ruled us, to bring on us great calamity; for under the whole heaven there has not been done anything like what was done to Jerusalem. As it is written in the law of Moses, all this calamity has come on us; yet we have not sought the favor of the Lord our God by turning from our iniquity and giving attention to Your truth. Therefore the Lord has kept the calamity in store and brought it on us; for the Lord our God is righteous with respect to all His deeds which He has done, but we have not obeyed His voice."

--Daniel 9:11-14

A "distant nation" is coming.... 'Til next Wednesday!

Photo: thewe.cc

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Next week: Isaiah 5: 26-30

Note: I read from the New American Standard Bible translation,
specifically, The MacArthur Study Bible (NASB).
I will quote other sources if used in a post.
I also use Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible
(with notes from the King James Version).