Isaiah 23: 15-18

¹⁵ Now in that day Tyre will be forgotten 

for seventy years like the days of one king. 

At the end of seventy years it will happen to Tyre as in the song of the harlot:

¹⁶ Take your harp, walk about the city,
O forgotten harlot;
Pluck the strings skillfully, sing many songs,
That you may be remembered.

¹⁷ It will come about at the end of seventy years that the Lord will visit Tyre. 

Then she will go back to her harlot’s wages and will play the harlot 

with all the kingdoms on the face of the earth.

¹⁸ Her gain and her harlot’s wages will be set apart to the Lord; 

it will not be stored up or hoarded, but her gain will become sufficient food 

and choice attire for those who dwell in the presence of the Lord.

Concluding Isaiah Chapter 23 this week, as the prophecy of Tyre comes to a close. But, as we discover, Tyre itself is not coming to an end, even though the text to this point has suggested that the devastation of the city will bring it to ruin. As God has a plan for the redemption of Judah, He also had a plan for bringing back Tyre.

"Tyre will be forgotten," says verse 15. But, before we can get to that place of redemption, we need to understand that Tyre will temporarily be taken off the map, so to speak. "...For seventy years like the days of one king." History confirms a literal fulfillment of this prophecy. In 572 B.C., King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon would wipe out Tyre (after the Assyrians had their go years earlier), and the city was left to the "desert creatures." (vs. 13) After 70 years--the same time frame as the destruction and captivity of Judah--the Tyrians were allowed to return to their city to rebuild, just as the Jews under Nehemiah did in Jerusalem.

Although this was a literal fulfillment, that was not the last destruction of Tyre. Alexander the Great had an even greater conquering in 332 B.C. It's important, then, to note not only the multiple fulfillment possible with prophecy, but also that the numbers included with prophecies may not be literal. As '7' is a number that indicates perfection or completion in Scripture, so is '70.' Recall Jesus' use of "70 times 7" (Matthew 18:22) as the number of times in which we are to offer forgiveness (meaning always). When it was time to complete a work, God would put Tyre back on the path of rebuilding.

How many times would Tyre return to this path? Just as we understand that offering forgiveness is a for-always situation, we might understand, too, that Tyre would find itself continuing in a success-sin pattern beyond a mere 70 years. [And we can't relate to that at all, can we?] For Tyre, repeating that pattern meant returning to the ways it knew best--that of the route of successful world commerce. Isaiah turns poetic on us here, using the metaphor of a harlot to represent the city's motivations and actions.

"O forgotten harlot... Pluck the strings skillfully, sing many songs, that you may be remembered," verse 16 reads. Tyre is not unlike an 80s band on a reunion tour, trying to cash in on its earlier success by playing through sets of the hits that made it famous. [Maybe even with the same hair and costumes!] "Do you remember this one!?!! Sing it out--YEAH!!!!!!!" And, quite often we think, how sad! Why did you turn back when you could have moved forward? It all goes back to the character of the city's leadership, to the spiritual heart of the people.

"The love of worldly wealth is a spiritual whoredom, and therefore covetous people are called adulterers and adulteresses (Jas. 4:4), and covetousness is spiritual idolatry."

--Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible

"You adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. Or do you think that the Scripture speaks to no purpose: 'He jealously desires the Spirit which He has made to dwell in us'? But He gives a greater grace. Therefore it says, 'God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble.' Submit therefore to God."

--James 4:4-7

As successful as Tyre was around the world, "the market of nations" had a stone-cold heart, bent on meeting its own needs even as it was engaging many suitors, if you will. The "virgin daughter of Sidon" (vs. 12) may not have had any offspring cities, but it was far from ethical innocence, and quite far from knowing true love. But True Love was not finished with Tyre, and God wove into this prophecy the stipulation that Tyre would not gain from its business as it once had.

"And her merchandise and her hire shall be holiness to the LORD: it shall not be treasured nor laid up; for her merchandise shall be for them that dwell before the LORD, to eat sufficiently, and for durable clothing."

--Verse 18, King James Version

When "the Lord visits Tyre," (vs. 17) which is, again, in an undefined period of time, then shall Tyre's merchandise (profit, commerce, gain) and hire (wages, reward, gift) become holiness to the Lord. [Word meanings from Strong's.] Holiness?! Remember, Tyre was in a cycle, and when the city had its better days, God was working with them, giving them, as James said, "a greater grace." The city did get rebuilt after Nebuchadnezzar's invasion, and some of the Tyrians who returned came back changed people and effected change in how they used the wealth they were regaining.

"Perhaps their being fellow-captives with the Jews in Babylon (who had prophets with them there) disposed them to join with them in their worship there, and turned them from idols, as it cured the Jews of their idolatry: and when they were released with them, and as they had reason to believe for their sakes, when they were settled again in Tyre, they would send gifts and offerings to the temple, and presents to the priests."

--Matthew Henry

Additional Scripture and historical documents also show the evidence of God's presence in Tyre. Recall the story of when Jesus met the Syrophoenician woman with the demon-possessed daughter of whom he said, "Great is your faith." (Matthew 15: 21-28) He met her while traveling through Tyre and Sidon. Paul also traveled to the city, as his ship stopped to unload cargo. Sounds like old Tyre, right? "After looking up the disciples, we stayed there seven days...." (Acts 21:4a) Disciples in Tyre! Paul stayed a week, spending time in fellowship and prayer with the Tyrian disciples and their families. The Roman historian Eusebius (Hist. 10:4) said that “when the church of God was founded in Tyre..., much of its wealth was consecrated to God... and was presented for the support of the ministry.” (from a footnote in the Amplified Bible)

Tyre may not have been able to shed its old ways completely. We all are hard-pressed to rid ourselves of sin in our lives. Though God brought discipline upon Tyre, as He brought upon even His favored ones, Israel and Judah, He did so not with the intent to obliterate the city but to guide them into an honorable relationship with Him. Hear James' words again: "'He jealously desires the Spirit which He has made to dwell in us.'" Where Tyre could not find it within itself to completely give up its ways to wealth, God would minister from within so that His Kingdom would reign through the "market of the world."

How much better, though, to begin with the calling on our hearts before moving to the callings in our lives? [I LOVE this!....]

"We must first give up ourselves to be holiness to the Lord before what we do, or have, or get, can be so. When we abide with God in our particular callings, and do common actions after a godly sort—when we abound in works of piety and charity, are liberal in relieving the poor, and supporting the ministry, and encouraging the gospel—then our merchandise and our hire are holiness to the Lord, if we sincerely look at his glory in them."

--Matthew Henry 

"Judgment on the Earth"--Chapter 24 is the first of four chapters on the subject. Hold onto your hats! ....'Til next time!

Photo: www.bbc.co.uk

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Next time:  Isaiah 24: 1-6
 
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 22: 12-14

¹² Therefore in that day the Lord God of hosts called you to weeping, to wailing,
To shaving the head and to wearing sackcloth.
¹³ Instead, there is gaiety and gladness,
Killing of cattle and slaughtering of sheep,
Eating of meat and drinking of wine:
“Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we may die.”
¹⁴ But the Lord of hosts revealed Himself to me,
“Surely this iniquity shall not be forgiven you

Until you die,” says the Lord God of hosts.

Are you like me--Do you screen out more calls than you take? Do you stare at your caller ID, asking why the same "unknown" folks continue to call day after day (and often more frequently)? If "the Lord God of hosts" came up on your display, how would you respond?

When you read prophecy, often knowing how history unfolded and how prophecy was fulfilled, it is so frustrating and sometimes unbelievable to read how people could have mindlessly ignored a message that was specifically given to them. Yet, when you fully take in this "vision" that Isaiah is relating to Jerusalem, and you think about society today--with its emphasis on personal pleasures and self-sufficiency in an environment of selective communication--are we all that far away from the prophet's word? Time for another reality check!

Verse 12 of Chapter 22 sums up the message left to Jerusalem by God: "This is a call to repentance, My people!" There should be deep, inward grieving over the continued display of sinfulness, culminating with a lack of recognition of God as their authority in life. I've spoken here several times about King Hezekiah, who truly tried to reform his country. In the good-king/bad-king kingdom that was Jerusalem in those days, he really was one of the good ones. He modeled for the people not only by restoring God in the places of worship, but by demonstrating active faithfulness to Him through his political decisions in running the country and in his personal response to dealing with those tough situations. He was the one who tore his clothes and sought God in prayer as things around Jerusalem began to disintegrate. But earthly leaders, even with their Godly intentions and actions, cannot sway the mindset of an entire nation, much less change the plans of God.

"...And all this to lament their sins (by which they had brought those judgments upon their land), to enforce their prayers (by which they might hope to avert the judgments that were breaking in), and to dispose themselves to a reformation of their lives by a holy seriousness and a tenderness of heart under the word of God."

--Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible

So, we have verse 13, in which we see that not only have the people disregarded the word of their king and their Lord, but they have opted to go full-throttle on the prodigal way.

"And just as it happened in the days of Noah, so it will be also in the days of the Son of Man: they were eating, they were drinking, they were marrying, they were being given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all. It was the same as happened in the days of Lot: they were eating, they were drinking, they were buying, they were selling, they were planting, they were building; but on the day that Lot went out from Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all."

--Luke 17: 26-29

You could add on to Jesus' examples here: It also happened in the days of Hezekiah--they were eating, they were drinking, they were doing everything that made them happy, even with the charioteers of Assyria fixed at their gates. But, in the days of Nebuchadnezzar, the sons of Jerusalem would call Babylon home.

"But what do you do? You throw a party!
    Eating and drinking and dancing in the streets!
You barbecue bulls and sheep, and throw a huge feast—
    slabs of meat, kegs of beer. 
'Seize the day! Eat and drink!
    Tomorrow we die!'"

--Verse 13 from The Message

It seems crazy to us when we read how Jerusalem responded. We're watching that movie, and we know the killer is hiding behind the door, but the victim is completely oblivious. Truly, not just oblivious, but frivolously saying, "Whatever.... Not going to happen to me, but if it does, I'm going out with a bang." Does it register yet how ridiculously angry God must have been? Biblical commentator Matthew Henry said, "It is a sin against the remedy." God could save them. God would save them. But rather than admit that there was a problem at their gates--and an even bigger one in their hearts--Jerusalem says, "More sheep ribs, please. Extra sauce!"

"Rejoice, young man, during your childhood, and let your heart be pleasant during the days of young manhood. And follow the impulses of your heart and the desires of your eyes. Yet know that God will bring you to judgment for all these things."

--Ecclesiastes 11:9

"Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we may die." (vs. 13) What originated with Isaiah would be passed down over generations. Paul would use this quote in writing the Corinthians, admonishing them as some in the church had misrepresented and confounded the teaching of Jesus' resurrection from the dead:

"If from human motives I fought with wild beasts at Ephesus, what does it profit me? If the dead are not raised, let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die. Do not be deceived: 'Bad company corrupts good morals.' Become sober-minded as you ought, and stop sinning; for some have no knowledge of God. I speak this to your shame."

--I Corinthians 15: 32-34

To me, this reads so much like Isaiah's situation in his day. If I stand here naked among you, prophesying God's word, what does it profit unless you heed what God is saying through me? If God has not brought His people to this place, building His city, establishing His principles by which to prosper His people, then let's party, 'cause what difference does it make? Become sober-minded as you ought, and stop sinning. Isaiah was saying exactly what Paul said. "For some have no knowledge of God. I speak this to your shame." YIKES! Jerusalem didn't get this. 2014 Christians, do we get this??

How personal was this message to Isaiah? He goes so far as to tell us that "the Lord of hosts revealed Himself to me...." (vs. 14) In studying up on these words, this was not a visual revealing but a speaking directly to Isaiah. In other words, Isaiah heard this from God literally in his ear! This apostasy, this sin, that is on full display before the Lord "shall not be forgiven"; "will not be atoned for" (New International Version); "shall not be purged" (King James Version), until.... The 'your' in closing part of the verse is related not to Jerusalem but to Isaiah. Atonement will not be granted until after Isaiah has passed away.

At this, I, being Isaiah, would have thought instantly back to the day of my commissioning as a prophet. God calls Isaiah, and he answers. He is ready to, “Go, and tell this people" (Isa. 6: 9) of whatever God desires him. "Lord, how long?" the prophet asks. (Isa. 6:11)

"Until cities are devastated and without inhabitant,
Houses are without people
And the land is utterly desolate,
The Lord has removed men far away,
And the forsaken places are many in the midst of the land."

--Isaiah 6: 11 and 12

Isaiah would not live to see the day Jerusalem was carried off by Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonians.

"'In your filthiness is lewdness.
Because I would have cleansed you,
Yet you are not clean,
You will not be cleansed from your filthiness again
Until I have spent My wrath on you.'"

--Ezekiel 24:13 (just before Babylon decimated Jerusalem)

And what if Isaiah had not answered the call of the Lord God of hosts? What if he had written off his vision as a spectacle? Just a dream? A misplaced phone call?

Who is calling you today? What message are you hearing?



"It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God." (Hebrews 10:31) We'll read what happens to the "prime minister" of Jerusalem at the hands of God. ....'Til next week!

Photo: israel21c.org

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Next week:  Isaiah 22: 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 22: 1-5

 

The Valley of Vision

¹ The oracle concerning the valley of vision.

What is the matter with you now, that you have all gone up to the housetops?
² You who were full of noise,
You boisterous town, you exultant city;
Your slain were not slain with the sword,
Nor did they die in battle.
³ All your rulers have fled together,
And have been captured without the bow;
All of you who were found were taken captive together,

Though they had fled far away.
⁴ Therefore I say, “Turn your eyes away from me,
Let me weep bitterly,
Do not try to comfort me concerning the destruction of the daughter of my people.”
⁵ For the Lord God of hosts has a day of panic, subjugation and confusion

In the valley of vision,
A breaking down of walls
And a crying to the mountain.

With the completion of Chapter 22, we will officially be one-third of the way through Isaiah. WOW! Thinking I have learned so much, and also thinking, gee, there's a LOT more left to learn! It's all good. Praising God for His enlightenment over this study! Have to celebrate those mileposts when you reach them. This is a significant one on the journey.

Chapter 22 is called "The Valley of Vision" in my study Bible. Not a real place. But, after all the nations, towns and oases we have studied over these weeks, who's to say there wasn't a Valley of Vision? Bible scholars generally agree that this refers to Jerusalem--which received numerous visions, through prophets like Isaiah, as a chosen communication vehicle of God.

"Fitly enough is Jerusalem called a valley, for the mountains were round about it, and the land of Judah abounded with fruitful valleys. ...But most emphatically is it called a valley of vision because there God was known and his name was great, there the prophets were made acquainted with his mind by visions, and there the people saw the goings of their God and King in his sanctuary."

--Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible

This is not a note of encouragement to Jerusalem, however, as verse 1 begins (as so many other chapters we have read in Isaiah), "The oracle concerning...." The other nations have received their strong words. Jerusalem would now receive some of its own, through its home prophet. There is some question as to what time frame this prophecy references. The thwarted takeover (by God) by Sennacherib of Assyria is one possibility (II Kings 19). The destruction of the city by Babylon's Nebuchadnezzar is another. One can even make the case for an end-times double-fulfillment prophecy. What we can decide is that the actions of Jerusalem are not ignorable.

Finishing out verse 1, Isaiah asks the people why they are up on their rooftops. "What is the matter with you, now....?" If you are afraid of the enemy and you live in a valley, heading up to the roof would provide you with a better view of your surroundings. Judah had some looming enemies. Isaiah, in Chapter 15, makes reference to the people of Moab being on their housetops in a state of mourning:

"In their streets they have girded themselves with sackcloth; on their housetops and in their squares everyone is wailing, dissolved in tears."

--Isaiah 15:3

Another possibility, and, likely, Isaiah's point-of-view, is a popular choice even today--Party time! If this is post-Sennacherib's visit and the city was not destroyed, then it's time to celebrate. It's not that Isaiah doesn't understand the response of his people. Isaiah understands far too much more about the situation of his people to condone this response. "Your slain were not slain with the sword, nor did they die in battle," he says in verse 2. Jerusalem celebrated as if it contained a nation full of victorious soldiers who had endured a hard-fought battle. We know this isn't how the story went. [Do read II Kings 19 if you don't recall what we've looked at here over several chapters. King Hezekiah was on his knees in prayer for a reason!]

Isaiah's cry of "What is the matter with you?" might be on the same level as Jesus looking over Jerusalem centuries later. "When He approached Jerusalem, He saw the city and wept over it, saying, 'If you had known in this day, even you, the things which make for peace! But now they have been hidden from your eyes.'" (Luke 19: 41 and 42) Isaiah's deep sorrow over Jerusalem's lack of response to their Lord for His work in saving their city leads him to express himself outwardly ("Let me weep bitterly. Do not try to comfort me...," verse 4), as well as to give a picture of how their lack of faithfulness and honor to God will play out in their future.

"Her adversaries have become her masters,
Her enemies prosper;
For the Lord has caused her grief
Because of the multitude of her transgressions;
Her little ones have gone away
As captives before the adversary."

--Lamentations 1:5

Verse 3 may well refer to Jerusalem's takeover by the Babylonians, not too much further down the road. King Nebuchadnezzar started with the outer layers of Judah before coming in to take over the city completely, burning it and pillaging the temple. "All your rulers have fled together...." (vs. 3) In reading the account of King Neb's closing campaign in II Kings 25, you will discover that a famine has left Jerusalem without food. This causes Neb's men to rush in to take the city in its weakness and Judah's King Zedekiah to make a last-ditch run for cover.

"Then the city was broken into, and all the men of war fled by night by way of the gate between the two walls beside the king’s garden, though the Chaldeans [Babylonians] were all around the city. And they went by way of the Arabah. But the army of the Chaldeans pursued the king and overtook him in the plains of Jericho and all his army was scattered from him. Then they captured the king and brought him to the king of Babylon at Riblah, and he passed sentence on him."

--II Kings 25: 4-6 (my addition)

Interestingly, The Message paraphrase entitles Isaiah 22 "A Country of Cowards." Even under King Zedekiah, folks were being taken into Babylonian captivity. The literal loss of leadership in Jerusalem (Zedekiah's sons were killed before him, ending the family reign, and the Babylonians speared out his eyes before carting him away) led to the complete collapse of the city, except for the most poor and the unskilled to labor in the fields. "All of you who were found were taken captive together...." (vs. 3)

Isaiah reiterates that a ceasing to the celebrations is warranted as "the Lord God of hosts has a day of panic, subjugation and confusion" in His plans. (vs. 5) The Amplified Bible says, "a day of discomfiture and of tumult, of treading down, of confusion and perplexity...." Always illuminating to do a word study (with definitions from the Online Etymology Dictionary). 

• 'Subjugation' means, most literally "to bring under a yoke." No doubt for the captives of Judah, the stories told for generations of freedom from the yoke of slavery of Egypt arose once again. Why do all those leaders and prophets, the songs and psalms, use words of remembrance? Because we forget! And forgetting some things--the most important thing!--is costly. Not recognizing God's provision, not to mention His authority and sovereignty, led Judah to experience that from which it had already come. 

[How Jesus' words should have carried such weight with the Jews when He spoke: "Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light." (Matthew 11:29 and 30) Do you not remember the days of Babylon?]

• 'Panic' means "of Pan." Do you remember Pan? I only remember him for his flute, and we still have pan flutes today (a series of multiple-length tubes banded together). He was the Greek god of woods and fields. What I had forgotten was probably the more important part of his nature--"the source of mysterious sounds that caused contagious, groundless fear in herds and crowds, or in people in lonely spots." Now you see where we get 'panic' from! If Judah had trusted in God, they would not have experienced the contagious, groundless fear that kept them herded together in their blind following of sin and misguided decisions.

• 'Confusion'--means to "overthrow, ruin," "to pour together," also "to confuse" (or confound--See this post for another picture of this.) There will not just be the sense of disorder; there will be perplexity--Why? Why us? Why this? Why God?! Why??!?....

Unfortunately for Jerusalem, Isaiah has only begun to tell of the city's future discomfiture.

The forces are gearing up against Jerusalem ...'Til next Wednesday!



Photo: www.urbanchristiannews.com
 

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Next week:  Isaiah 22: 6-11
 
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: 20-23

²⁰ “You will not be united with them in burial,
Because you have ruined your country,
You have slain your people.
May the offspring of evildoers not be mentioned forever.
²¹ “Prepare for his sons a place of slaughter
Because of the iniquity of their fathers.
They must not arise and take possession of the earth
And fill the face of the world with cities.”

²² “I will rise up against them,” declares the Lord of hosts, 

“and will cut off from Babylon name and survivors, 

offspring and posterity,” declares the Lord.

²³ “I will also make it a possession for the hedgehog and swamps of water, 

and I will sweep it with the broom of destruction,” declares the Lord of hosts.

[Next Wednesday is our official study break. But, as you can tell, I am having difficulty with the summer schedule. There is definitely a different rhythm at the homestead when the kids are around. It's been really tough to write with focus this week. A little late, but we're gettin' it done!....]

All songs have to end at some point, and this is the finish of the taunt-song of Babylon. But even as the people's verses close, God Himself picks up the themes, continuing to spell out the nation's doom.

As we pick up with verse 20, we recall that former kings of the nations, now in Sheol, are at first shocked and then mockingly critical of the king of Babylon, who has come to take up residence alongside them. But, as we read, "You will not be united with them...." Remember what we read last week, that as the "kings of the nations lie in glory, each in his own tomb (vs. 18)...you have been cast out of your tomb like a rejected branch." (vs. 19) This king is at a level that none have fathomed.

"...And what did he get by that, when the wealth of the land and the multitude of the people are the strength and honour of the prince, who never rules so safely, so gloriously, as in the hearts and affections of the people? But tyrants sacrifice their interests to their lusts and passions; and God will reckon with them for their barbarous usage of those who are under their power, whom they think they may use as they please."

 --Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on the Bible

This is a king who had such little regard for the people defending and supporting him that he killed them and "ruined his (your) country." (vs. 20) Even the kings of Sheol received an appropriate burial--each to his own tomb. But not so this king, who will be laid to rest "like a trampled corpse." (vs. 19)

"To be denied decent burial is a disgrace, which, if it be inflicted for righteousness’ sake (as Ps. 79:2), may, as other similar reproaches, be rejoiced in (Matt. 5:12); it is the lot of the two witnesses, Rev. 11:9. But if, as here, it be the just punishment of iniquity, it is an intimation that evil pursues impenitent sinners beyond death, greater evil than that, and that they shall rise to everlasting shame and contempt."

--Matthew Henry

The shame of the king of Babylon will not be trampled out with his body; it will remain within his family. The NASB has the end of verse 20 and the beginning of verse 21 written in the plural--multiple kings and multiple sons, implying, to me that this is a general principle of the Word. As such, it is also applied to one as corrupt as the king of Babylon. We need only revisit the words of the Ten Commandments to remember God's direction on this:

"You shall not worship them [idols, graven images] or serve them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me...."

--Exodus 20:5 (emphasis mine)

Bottom line is that sin is costly, especially without a Savior in the picture. The places we fall short are oftentimes those very same places that can be seen in our children. Not that we are responsible for the consequences of our children's sin, but if we aren't training them up in the way they should go (Proverbs 22:6), we are in a position of contributing to the furtherance of our own sinful nature down through the generations. All of this designates the king of Babylon in the position of not being remembered and facing eternal life in "a place of slaughter." (vs. 21)

Another reason the family line is to come to an end is that evil sons in power breed evil cities with more evil people (vs. 21). Certainly we can see this modeled in Babylon through Nebuchadnezzar and Belshazzar. Had God not intervened and shut down Babylon at the Belshazzar dinner party, who knows how far awry things would have been, not only for Israel but for the rest of the world? Matthew Henry notes that it was Nimrod, great-grandson of Noah, who grew in stature through the acquisition of cities for his kingdom (beginning with Babel!). "Pharaoh oppressed Israel in Egypt by setting them to build cities, Exod. 1:11," he said. The sons of the king of Babylon will face a demise in which there is no ability to build an evil empire.

And with that, the taunt-song ends! No long-held high note or cymbal crash at the end of verse 21. Instead, God steps in, speaking with the beginning of verse 22, reiterating that He will not stand for a king of Babylon regime and will "cut off" any remembrance of that line, through offspring or note of posterity. Again, this is not an action unique to one of the king of Babylon, thus showing consistency in God's actions. The reigns of the Jeroboams in Israel met a similar fate:

"...Therefore behold, I am bringing calamity on the house of Jeroboam, and will cut off from Jeroboam every male person, both bond and free in Israel, and I will make a clean sweep of the house of Jeroboam, as one sweeps away dung until it is all gone."

--I Kings 14:10

God pulled the "broom of destruction" (vs. 23) from His closet in a wave of renewal. There will be not a Babylon dust bunny remaining! Unlike Israel, for which, as we know, a remnant will be preserved, even in the midst of God's cleansing.

Exploration of this passage comes at the same time my daughter and I have been in discussions over the nature of God. She is often frustrated that God's grace and merciful spirit are highlighted in teaching and materials more so than His wrath and fury, as if those didn't exist any more. I appreciate that she has this view, because God is an all-consuming fire! But my daughter doesn't fully understand the how's and why's of His use of wrath [as if anybody truly does? Uh uh....]. She doesn't see it as particularly fair that some people receive this punishment while others get off, seemingly, scot-free. I found Matthew Henry's commentary noteworthy:

"The providence of God consults the welfare of nations more than we are aware of by cutting off some who, if they had lived, would have done mischief. Justly may the enemies cut off the children: For I will rise up against them, saith the Lord of hosts (Isa. 14:22), and if God reveal it as his mind that he will have it done, as none can hinder it, so none need scruple to further it."

--Matthew Henry

Not necessarily a satisfactory answer for a young teenager, but something to ponder all the same. [Because Mama doesn't have an answer for everything!]

Final note concerning verse 23:

"I will also make it a possession for the hedgehog and swamps of water...."

There seems to be a translation issue with 'hedgehog.' I was wondering what the significance of the hedgehog might have been in this passage. You never know what you'll find when you start exploring word choices. So, I find that the passage probably doesn't refer to a hedge-scouring mammal but to a water bird. The King James Version uses 'bittern' for 'hedgehog'. A bittern is "a solitary bird, frequenting marshy ground," according to Easton's Bible Dictionary. "The Hebrew word (kippod) thus rendered in the Authorized Version [bittern] is rendered 'porcupine' in the Revised Version."

So why is bittern better, perhaps? There's a note in my study Bible about what happened the night Belshazzar was killed:

"One ancient account alleged that Persia's General Ugbaru had troops dig a trench to divert and thus lower the waters of the Euphrates River. Since the river flowed through the city of Babylon, the lowered water enabled besiegers to unexpectedly invade via the waterway under the thick walls and reach the palace before the city was aware."

Notes in the Amplified Bible support this account, saying that the area around Babylon became flooded, allowing for the development of marshy areas and, thus, creatures that would support a marshy environment, like bitterns. Verse 23 might well relate to that picture of Babylon post-Belshazzar, though we know that, ultimately, the "broom of destruction" will be a permanent clean sweep.

An official study break next week (and a renewed focus on the schedule, let's hope!).... 'Til next Wednesday a week from now!

Photo: www.123rf.com

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Next week: Isaiah 14: 24-27
 
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: 3-5

³ “And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah,
Judge between Me and My vineyard.
⁴ “What more was there to do for My vineyard that I have not done in it?
Why, when I expected it to produce good grapes 
did it produce worthless ones?
⁵ “So now let Me tell you what I am going to do to My vineyard:
I will remove its hedge and it will be consumed;
I will break down its wall and it will become trampled ground.

As God is telling His story in Isaiah, Chapter 5, He turns to His listeners and says, in verse 3, "And now...," what do you think the ending should be?" We have read in the first two verses of this chapter of this beautiful vineyard, established and cared for with the greatest of skill and love. But the plot in the story turns to "sour grapes." And what is the ending? Isaiah left the decision to the "inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah." (vs. 3)

Will you follow God or will you follow the "vineyard," the chosen people of God who have turned away and against Him? "Judge," discern, reason, go figure, given the information provided, how this story could end any way but how God spells it out in verse 5. In rhetorical questions, really, God asks, "What more was there to do....?" Had He not provided for everything and shown incredible grace to His people, even in their waywardness? Psalm 80, once again, appears as a cross-reference:

"You removed a vine from Egypt;

You drove out the nations and planted it.

You cleared the ground before it,

And it took deep root and filled the land.

The mountains were covered with its shadow,

And the cedars of God with its boughs.

It was sending out its branches to the sea

And its shoots to the River."

--Psalm 80: 8-11

It should have been a fabulously fruitful grape. But there was no fruit worth picking! Sour, stinking, worthless, nothing of a grape.

It will not be the only time Judah and Jerusalem are compared with a vineyard in Scripture. As Jesus shares what we know as "the parable of the landowner," He talks with his critics about the end that faces the vine-grower who selfishly and at no cost whatsoever tends his vineyard.

"'Therefore when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those vine-growers?' They said to Him, 'He will bring those wretches to a wretched end, and will rent out the vineyard to other vine-growers who will pay him the proceeds at the proper seasons.'"

--Matthew 21:40-41

What the chief priests and Pharisees determined to be the ending of Jesus' story is the same conclusion that God reaches with Judah and Jerusalem. And, what we learn over time is that this storyline plays out in Israel over and over throughout history into modern times. From my study Bible, "As punishment for her unfruitfulness, Israel became desolate and accessible to any nation wishing to invade her, such as happened in the Babylonian invasion of 586 B.C., and will happen repeatedly until her national repentance at the second coming of the Messiah."

The hedge of protection has come down and the walls of Jerusalem next, says the Lord in verse 5. With this calamity comes the revealed vulnerability of a nation that will not receive God's gracious protection in the manner in which it had known it until a time yet to come.

"Why have You broken down its hedges, so that all who pass that way pick its fruit? A boar from the forest eats it away and whatever moves in the field feeds on it."

--Psalm 80: 12 and 13

When the chosen vineyard yielded bad fruit, something had to change. The "boar from the forest" might well be King Nebuchadnezzar, who came in to devour Judah, selecting his kinsman Zedekiah to rule as the Babylonian captivity began. Even in this tumultuous time, as God tried to speak to Judah, the people seemed to be lost, pondering God's question from Isaiah 5:3, looking back and forth at their choices: Him or the vineyard? Him or the vineyard?

"The Lord, the God of their fathers, sent word to them again and again by His messengers, because He had compassion on His people and on His dwelling place; but they continually mocked the messengers of God, despised His words and scoffed at His prophets, until the wrath of the Lord arose against His people, until there was no remedy.... Then they burned the house of God and broke down the wall of Jerusalem, and burned all its fortified buildings with fire and destroyed all its valuable articles.

--II Chronicles 36: 15-16 and 19 (italics mine)

Isaiah spoke to a people who did not hear him. How much, I'm sure, he was hoping to be the "remedy" of which II Chronicles speaks. Isaiah would be told a great deal more by God, and we will soon read of his calling by God in Chapter 6. We know that more is to come from Isaiah on the true Remedy. But His message would be one that would leave the Jewish nation continuing not to hear, yet open the way for you and me.

"Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people, producing the fruit of it."

--Matthew 21:43

Official study break! Enjoy a peace-filled week....'Til Wednesday in 2 weeks!

Photo: culinae.wordpress.com

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In 2 weeks: Isaiah 5: 6 and 7

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).