Isaiah 13: 6-8

⁶ Wail, for the day of the Lord is near!
It will come as destruction from the Almighty.
⁷ Therefore all hands will fall limp,
And every man’s heart will melt.
⁸ They will be terrified,
Pains and anguish will take hold of them;
They will writhe like a woman in labor,
They will look at one another in astonishment,
Their faces aflame.

The New American Standard Bible indicates this section of Isaiah 13 as "Judgment on the Day of the Lord." Certainly, as we read through, you will see obvious signs that Isaiah is pointing to the end times. But, we might also read these words as a prophecy with a double fulfillment, seeing the defeat of Babylon by the Medes and Persians as an initial fulfillment of God's words to Isaiah. Isaiah, the writer, is very much present in this passage today, as we receive a very visual picture.

"Wail" or "Howl ye," as the King James Version of verse 6 reads--"the day of the Lord is near!" This is definitely not a "Rejoice!" or "Sing praises!" event for those who have not received the Lord's salvation. "Weeping and gnashing of teeth" comes to mind as a response. The day shall bring "destruction" and that at the hand of the Almighty--El Shaddai (God of the mountain, Encyclopedia of the Bible). How do you describe that destruction? Isaiah begins by reflecting on the appearance of those who will experience it firsthand.

"All hands will fall limp," verse 7, or "All hands be feeble" in the Amplified Bible. The study notes in the Amplified consider this passage in light of an event in the Babylon of Judah's captivity. Daniel 5 tells the story of then King Belshazzar, King Nebuchadnezzar's son, who had a party one night, worshiping false gods while drinking wine in abundance out of the stolen precious gold and silver vessels of the Temple. Suddenly, a hand appears and begins writing on the wall.

"Then the king’s face grew pale and his thoughts alarmed him, and his hip joints went slack and his knees began knocking together."

--Daniel 5:6

The prophets are giving us a picture of incredible fear with these images. The strong hand of God printed the words that would bring Belshazzar to his knees, literally. He would die, powerless, that night as the city would be taken over, and Darius the Mede made king. Prophecy fulfilled.

But, Babylon is not completely dead. Indeed, "Babylon" will rise (and fall) again, as Revelation tells us; this is the center of operations of the Antichrist. (Revelation 14) Isaiah's words will come back in the faces of those who witness the return of Christ and His armies, as He faces His earthly enemies once and for all. "Every man's heart will melt," or liquefy, as the Hebrew might also be translated. [Strong's] "Strength will rise as we wait upon the Lord," will not be the chosen lyrics or reality of Babylon!

"And they [of Babylon] shall be dismayed and terrified, pangs and sorrows shall take hold of them; they shall be in pain as a woman in childbirth. They will gaze stupefied and aghast at one another, their faces will be aflame [from the effects of the unprecedented warfare]."

--Verse 8, Amplfied Bible

Besides "weeping and gnashing of teeth," another often-used Biblical image of pain is that of "a woman in childbirth." Head back to Genesis 3:16 for the pronouncement: "To the woman He said, 'I will greatly multiply your pain in childbirth, in pain you will bring forth children....'" The King James Version of verse 8 uses the phrase "woman that travaileth," the root words of that meaning "pangs of childbirth, trouble, toil, labor, torture." (World English Dictionary) Scripture's picture of this kind of pain is not an immediate infliction but a drawn-out ordeal. Childbirth is a process, with increasingly difficult stages of pain. Having experienced this process twice (without medication), I have an appreciation for this metaphor!

Even so, we cannot comprehend fully what the Day of the Lord will look like, though it will leave the mightiest earthly warrior "in astonishment." (vs. 8) We say we are living in the last days, but are these the days of tribulation, as Scripture tells us are coming? The pangs of the end times come in seals and trumpets and bowl judgments, to use the words of Revelation. The events of the past few days--bombings and earthquakes and abominable crimes against new life--make me turn to Revelation and other passages, wondering if the time is at hand and if it's time to measure the size of those "contractions":

"When you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be frightened; those things must take place; but that is not yet the end. For nation will rise up against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; there will be earthquakes in various places; there will also be famines. These things are merely the beginning of birth pangs."

--Jesus, speaking of the Tribulation, in Mark 13: 7 and 8

How long will this labor be? As we travail through these last days, are our eyes looking toward our Strong Deliverer? "Babylon" is beckoning.

"You are the everlasting God
The everlasting God
You do not faint
You won't grow weary
You're the defender of the weak
You comfort those in need
You lift us up on wings like eagles."

--from "Everlasting God," lyrics by Chris Tomlin 

Mortal man is scarce.... 'Til next Wednesday!

Photo:www.sodahead.com

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Next week: Isaiah 13: 9-12

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 8: 13-18

 

¹³ “It is the Lord of hosts whom you should regard as holy.
And He shall be your fear,
And He shall be your dread.
¹⁴ “Then He shall become a sanctuary;
But to both the houses of Israel, a stone to strike and a rock to stumble over,
And a snare and a trap for the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
¹⁵ “Many will stumble over them,
Then they will fall and be broken;
They will even be snared and caught.”

¹⁶ Bind up the testimony, seal the law among my disciples.
¹⁷ And I will wait for the Lord who is hiding His face from the house of Jacob; 
I will even look eagerly for Him. ¹⁸ Behold, I and the children 
whom the Lord has given me are for signs and wonders in Israel 
from the Lord of hosts, who dwells on Mount Zion.

Not sure who first coined "God-incidence" for coincidence, but it's a concept that I fully believe. In other words, nothing happens by accident! Everything that occurs in our lives happens for a reason and is under the control of Almighty God. I cannot turn to this study week in and week out without seeing His presence and His Word having an impact on something happening in my world.

I'm sidetracking a little bit, now, but I've been so moved by the group Bible study that I'm in that has focused on the ministry of Paul. We just finished reading Acts 27 about one of his shipwrecks. Before he was even put on the boat (as a prisoner on his way to Rome), Paul was visited by the presence of Jesus and assured that he would preach in Rome. It was that utter confidence in the words of His Savior that spoke through him in his journey, even as his ship with 276 passengers faced utter demolition by storms. O, to have the discernment and the confidence of walking through trials with the assurance of Jesus and God's Word for us!

Really, I think this is what was happening with Isaiah in Chapter 8, as God is reassuring the prophet of his calling, despite the incredible obstacles he would face in trying to get the Word out to Judah. God was basically saying, You will be disappointed! You will feel like a failure! The people will come up against you. But, I will be your sanctuary (8:14), even though those around you will not see the Truth. There are many across the United States who are disappointed this morning, feeling that their votes have failed them. God's Word may well be for those today. I will be your sanctuary! But, see what else Isaiah said before you claim that verse today, OK? Here we go....

Last week's passage ended with God saying, "And you are not to fear what they fear or be in dread of it." (8:12) This week's passage begins with an answer to what Isaiah should fear: "It is the Lord of hosts...." (8:13) Who is holy? There is only One--the Lord of hosts. Not kings. Certainly not idols. Not culture or whatever arguments the people would bring against him. If Isaiah kept God holy--sanctified and set apart from everything else worldly--then he would remain strong in the Truth and in his presentation of such, no matter what else was said against him.

Verse 14 comes with that all-important word 'Then'! What comes first? Honoring the Lord of hosts as holy above all. "Then, He shall become a sanctuary." (8:14, emphasis mine) This is why I put the caution on claiming this verse outright. You cannot claim the sanctuary--the refuge, protection and security of the Lord--if you do not honor the holiness of God! Down the line, there is nothing Judah would have wanted more than to claim sanctuary, especially in an invasion from an established ally [Assyria]. How Isaiah's words here could have spoken to them if the nation had accepted God as holy! But we know they did not--not before the time of the prophets nor after the time of the Messiah.

The rest of verse 14 and then verse 15 both address not only Judah but the state of the entire nation of Israel--the 12 tribes! They did not believe in the holy nature of God and His plan, nor would they recognize God in the flesh, as their Messiah walked amongst them. Many passages in the New Testament refer to the words Isaiah received regarding the "stone" and the "rock." [Not surprisingly, the Amplified Bible capitalizes both of those words in the Isaiah passage.]

"For this is contained in Scripture:

'Behold, I lay in Zion a choice stone, a precious corner stone,
And he who believes in Him will not be disappointed.'

This precious value, then, is for you who believe; but for those who disbelieve,

'The stone which the builders rejected,
This became the very corner stone,'

and, ^'A stone of stumbling and a rock of offense';

for they stumble because they are disobedient to the word, and to this doom they were also appointed."

--I Peter 2: 6-8 (from which Peter pulled Scripture in Isaiah and Ephesians)

God's Word had not changed for Israel, nor had His warnings and exhortations to the people to repent and believe. There was given the opportunity for refuge and provision, but accepting God as holy above all proved too great a cost in the lives of the people. So....

"...He would be a terror to them, as he would be a support and stay to those that trusted in him. Instead of profiting by the word of God, they should be offended at it; and the providences of God, instead of leading them to him, would drive them from him. What was a savour of life unto life to others would be a savour of death unto death to them."

--Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on the Bible

Not all would be lost! Isaiah took heart in what he heard next from God: "Bind up the testimony, seal the law among my disciples." (8:16, emphasis mine) There would be some who would believe and who would accept the Word of God, the teachings through Isaiah. "They had the responsibility of maintaining written records of his [Isaiah's] prophecies so that they could become public after the prophesied Assyrian invasion," says my study Bible. But, more importantly, they would move forward the Truth that God's chosen people would receive the fulfillment of His promises. Yes, a remnant would be saved!

Verses 17 and 18 close with Isaiah speaking: "And I will wait for the Lord...." Isaiah and his own children, and the children of Israel whom God would save. There are many references in the Bible to waiting for or on the Lord--numerous enough that one has to take the concept seriously as an overriding principle of life. We simply do not wait in our society--not for God's timing and not for anyone. Not unusual, then, to see all of the recorded Biblical references to words and phrases like 'perseverance', 'hold fast', 'be still', etc. To whom or what are we running? In whom or what is our hope?? Isaiah knew his hope was in the Lord and that deliverance--eternal deliverance--would come through Him, in His time! Puts a new spin on the now-colloquial phrase, "Wait for it...."

Why is waiting for the Lord a challenge for Judah? Catch the next part of verse 17: "the Lord who is hiding His face from the house of Jacob." The day was coming when God was going to completely turn His back upon Judah. We must keep reminding ourselves that even though Isaiah is being encouraged, the consequences of Judah's sinfulness had already been decided in its invasion by the Assyrians and its exile to Babylon. What does this kind of "turning His back" look like?

"Then My anger will be kindled against them in that day, and I will forsake them and hide My face from them, and they will be consumed, and many evils and troubles will come upon them; so that they will say in that day, 'Is it not because our God is not among us that these evils have come upon us?'"

--Deuteronomy 31:17

What happens when we do not wait on the Lord and go our own way? What happens when we do not accept the supreme Lordship of God as holy? How did Judah not understand? How do we not understand? It only takes a look around the world today to wonder if we aren't continuing to ask these very same questions, reaching the very same answers.

"What has it cost you
What have you won
The sins of the fathers
Are the sins of the sons
It was always within you
It will always continue
But it shouldn't surprise you at all
You know...."

--from Surprises, lyrics by Billy Joel

Now, we don't want to end on a downer, so don't miss the hope! Don't miss the point! "I will even look eagerly for Him." (8:17, emphasis mine) We are not only called to wait, not only called to follow God even in times of rampant disobedience without repentance, but we are to wait eagerly. The Amplified Bible uses the phrasing, "I will look for and hope in Him." The Message paraphrase puts it as such: "...while I wait and hope for him. I stand my ground and hope...." The process of waiting is not a twiddling of thumbs as time marches onward. We are all called to see God in all things, seeking His hope and standing on His Word. Back to Jeremiah 29 to close today:

"'Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart. I will be found by you,' declares the Lord, 'and I will restore your fortunes and will gather you from all the nations and from all the places where I have driven you,' declares the Lord, 'and I will bring you back to the place from where I sent you into exile.'"

--Jeremiah 29: 12-14 (emphasis mine)

The end of Chapter 8: "To the law and to the testimony!".... 'Til next Wednesday!

Photo: andrewschultz.com

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Next week: Isaiah 8: 19-22

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 7: 1-4

 Isaiah 7:1-4

War against Jerusalem

¹ Now it came about in the days of Ahaz, the son of Jotham, the son of Uzziah, king of Judah, that Rezin the king of Aram and Pekah the son of Remaliah, king of Israel, went up to Jerusalem to wage war against it, but could not conquer it. 

² When it was reported to the house of David, saying, “The Arameans have camped in Ephraim,” his heart and the hearts of his people shook as the trees of the forest shake with the wind.

³ Then the Lord said to Isaiah, “Go out now to meet Ahaz, you and your son Shear-jashub, at the end of the conduit of the upper pool, on the highway to the fuller’s field,
⁴ and say to him, ‘Take care and be calm, have no fear and do not be fainthearted because of these two stubs of smoldering firebrands, on account of the fierce anger of Rezin and Aram and the son of Remaliah.

It is hard to leave Chapter 6 of Isaiah, as I easily could have read something from the prophet regarding his inner thoughts on his vision. In fact, dining with Isaiah after that moment would have been an amazing and most memorable meal! But, on to Chapter 7, and the tone and topic change dramatically, as you can see from the chapter's title. Lots of people and place names, so let's explore carefully, today, with that in mind, using the map above and making connections as the Holy Spirit allows.

There are three key people mentioned in the passage, and one who is not mentioned:

Ahaz--He is the king of Judah at the time of this war against Jerusalem. But, note, he is the third king to rule during the prophecy of Isaiah. (We have jumped in time since King Uzziah's death in Chapter 6. In fact, there are no recorded prophecies from Isaiah during the reign of Uzziah's son, Jotham.) Unlike Jotham and Uzziah--Ahaz's father and grandfather, respectively--Ahaz "did not do right in the sight of the Lord" (II Chronicles 28: 1).

Rezin--He is the king of Aram, the capital of which is Damascus and which we now know as Syria.

Pekah--He is the king of Israel, which does not mean the entire nation of Israel here, but, rather, the 10 Northern tribes of Israel, (Ephraim being the largest tribe and often used as a name for Israel). His father is Remaliah.

Tilgath-pilneser (unmentioned)--He is the king of Assyria and plays a role in causing these kings to respond as they do.

Tilgath-pilneser had planned to invade Israel during Azariah's reign in Judah, but a bribe by Menahem, then king of Israel, cooled off things for awhile. The Assyrian Empire was a huge presence to both Israel and Aram, which is why both of those nations eventually formed an alliance. And, why stop at two nations against a powerhouse when you could potentially have three. So, Rezin and Pekah decide that an attack on Judah would be profitable. God, who is angered by Judah's rebellious nature, allows them victory for a time--specifically, at the close of King Jotham's reign (II Chronicles 28), before Ahaz comes to the throne. The nations are then poised to take on Jerusalem, but, at the time of Isaiah's writing, the nations are unsuccessful. (Isa. 7:1)

Judah was not in a position to withstand an attack by Tilgath-pilneser, certainly, much less the continued threats of Rezin and Pekah. This all started to weigh on Ahaz's strategic thinking. As verse 2 reports, "'The Arameans have camped in Ephraim'" his [Ahaz's] heart and the hearts of his people shook as the trees of the forest shake with the wind." Palpable fear, at their own doing.

"They had made God their enemy, and knew not how to make him their friend, and therefore their fears tyrannised over them; while those whose consciences are kept void of offence, and whose hearts are fixed, trusting in God, need not be afraid of evil tidings; though the earth be removed, yet will not they fear; but the wicked flee at the shaking of a leaf." (Leviticus 26:36)

--Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on the Bible

Now, check out this next part: "Then the Lord said to Isaiah...." So, God is going to intervene at this time through Isaiah. Did He have to? He's got an evil king on the throne. But, catch verse 2, it is the "house of David" that is on the throne, even if the current king is evil. God intervened for the sake of His people! Isaiah is told to go with his son to meet Ahaz. Names are terribly significant in Scripture, and Isaiah's son's name is no exception: Shear-jashub, which means "a remnant shall return." Wow! Echoes what Isaiah was hearing in his vision from God--a key message of his prophecy.

Just a short note on the location for this meeting. They were to meet Ahaz "on the highway to the fuller's field." A fuller, according to the Encyclopedia of the Bible, is "one who cleans, shrinks, and thickens newly shorn wool or cloth." The cleaning process in preparing the wool or cloth was messy and stinky, apparently, so the fuller's work was done in a place outside of the city and near a source of water. [I was also wondering if Fuller, of Fuller Brush Company, had any relationship to 'fuller.' Cannot find any definitive link, but it is an interesting parallel.]

Moving on to the Lord's actual words, in verse 4, "'Take care and be calm, have no fear....'" Now, if you were the leader of a nation surrounded by challenging forces and heavy artillery, standing with a multi-king-serving prophet of the living God and his son, who carries the eternal prophecy for your people, would these not be words that would bring huge relief? Ponder that....

Finishing today's passage, the description of Rezin and Pekah is so over-the-top, you almost can't believe it's for real from God: "...these two stubs of smoldering firebrands...." Literally, a firebrand is the burnt end of a stick, and this says "stubs" of sticks. In other words, "Ahaz, these guys are not a problem. I've got this one," says the Lord.

And what does Ahaz say? [Sorry, we're just not there yet!]


More background on our "smoldering firebrands".... 'Til next Wednesday!

Photo: sareltours.com

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Next week: Isaiah 7: 5-9

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).