Isaiah 10:16-19

¹⁶ Therefore the Lord, the God of hosts, will send a wasting disease 

among his stout warriors;
And under his glory a fire will be kindled like a burning flame.
¹⁷ And the light of Israel will become a fire and his Holy One a flame,
And it will burn and devour his thorns and his briars in a single day.
¹⁸ And He will destroy the glory of his forest and of his fruitful garden, 

both soul and body,
And it will be as when a sick man wastes away.
¹⁹ And the rest of the trees of his forest will be so small in number
That a child could write them down.

Yesterday, I attended a Celebration of Life service for a woman in my Bible study/life group at church. It was a beautiful celebration, indeed, and she was a beautiful person and sister in Christ. One of her sons-in-law spoke at the service, using the theme "Semper Paratus" ("Always ready") to describe this woman's approach to her everyday and spiritual life. Made a strong impression on me, as it was so true of her. Not able to concentrate on writing here yesterday, I'm glad for God's speaking to me through this man's words, because that saying gives a framework for Isaiah's words and ministry, too.

"...preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine...."

--II Timothy 4: 2 and 3a

Chapter 10 began with Israel and Judah not being ready. Not in the preparation of their armies or strategies against the mighty foe of the Assyrian armies. They were not ready with their allegiance and devotion to God. They were not ready with sound judgment and Godly decision-making. The day would come when God would raise up Assyria to take the land of Israel. Because they were not ready, they had no one to Whom to flee.

Isaiah speaks to Judah, under King Hezekiah, who "did right in the sight of the Lord, according to all that his father David had done." (II Kings 18: 3) When Assyria's King Sennacherib raised new threats of takeover, was Judah ready? As I hope you read last week, Judah was. Hezekiah "went up to the house of the Lord" (II Kings 19:14) and prayed, asking God for deliverance. This was a king who lived "Semper Paratus" in serving, worshiping and calling upon His God.

Isaiah's words regarding Assyria might well have been scoffed at by those who did not serve God as faithfully as Hezekiah. Certainly, Sennacherib would have pompously laughed off this mockery to himself, being the ruler of the most powerful empire of the day. But God is the supreme lead when it comes to living and acting "Semper Paratus." He is always ready to bring forth righteous judgment at the appointed time. As this segment of Chapter 10 finishes, we see what awaits Sennacherib and the future of Assyria.

"Therefore...," given Sennacherib's prideful disdain for God, even in light of God's working in his nation, "the Lord, the God of hosts" will bring punishment. (vs. 16)

"We are sure he can do it, for he is the Lord of hosts, of all the hosts of heaven and earth. All the creatures are at his command; he makes what use he pleases on them. He is the Lord of the hosts both of Judah and of Assyria, and can give the victory to which he pleases. Let us not fear the hosts of any enemy if we have the Lord of hosts for us."

--Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on the Bible

Linger on that last line and claim that today: "Let us not fear the hosts of any enemy if we have the Lord of hosts for us." Hezekiah did not fear the words of Sennacherib, but he did not simply turn away and deny that the leader of a powerful empire was steps away from his boundaries. Hezekiah turned to the Lord, seeking His deliverance, and did not try to orchestrate his own. To whom do we turn when a host of the Enemy is on our doorstep?

There is no need for great explanation or exposition on these verses. God will weaken the strength of the fighting men and burn with His power across the empire. If anything the dichotomy between God as light, and God as fire and flame (vs. 17) draws my attention. The pictures are as old as the days in the wilderness.

"The Lord was going before them in a pillar of cloud by day to lead them on the way, and in a pillar of fire by night to give them light, that they might travel by day and by night."

 --Exodus 13:21

John would pick up on the theme of light in his gospel, "In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men. The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it." (John 1: 4 and 5) The Light would not leave Judah, even in the midst of times of darkness, whether this time of fearful anxiety with Sennacherib or the eventual darkness of the days of exile in Babylon. The darkness of the world does not understand, but mocks, and instead prides itself on its own strength and power. Yet, "in Him is life." Where does that leave those without Him?

Interestingly, Light becomes fire.
 

"Now the people became like those who complain of adversity in the hearing of the Lord; and when the Lord heard it, His anger was kindled, and the fire of the Lord burned among them and consumed some of the outskirts of the camp."

--Numbers 11:1

Our passage in Isaiah is all about the consuming fire that is God, the God of Light. God shows wrath, jealousy for His people and judgment that has been physical. Isaiah's phrasing of the work of the Fire turns Assyria's mighty warriors into "thorns and briars" (vs. 17) which will not stand against an Almighty blaze. Sennacherib's "forest" and "garden" (vs. 18)--the kingdom he has grown--likewise, will be destroyed. Whatever trees might remain after such a ravaging fiery spread had numbers so small "that a child could write them down." (vs. 19)
 

 

Are we always ready in our knowing who God is? Not that we will know everything there is to know about God! But, are we always ready to grow our teachable hearts? To live life "Semper Paratus"--Ready to serve as God calls us? Ready to love as He showed us? Ready to honor and worship Him as He is due? Ready to thank Him with all that we are?

 

"Therefore, since we receive a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us show gratitude, by which we may offer to God an acceptable service with reverence and awe; for our God is a consuming fire."

--Hebrews 12: 28 and 29

Because the Light still shines, "A remnant will return".... 'Til next Wednesday!

Photo: calfiresandiego.blogspot.com

* * *

Next week: Isaiah 10:20-23

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 9:1-3

Birth and Reign of the Prince of Peace

¹ But there will be no more gloom for her who was in anguish; 

in earlier times He treated the land of Zebulun 

and the land of Naphtali with contempt, but later on He shall make it glorious, 

by the way of the sea, on the other side of Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles.

² The people who walk in darkness
Will see a great light;
Those who live in a dark land,
The light will shine on them.
³ You shall multiply the nation,
You shall increase their gladness;
They will be glad in Your presence
As with the gladness of harvest,
As men rejoice when they divide the spoil.

Chapter 8 left us with a picture of "distress and darkness, the gloom of anguish." (8:22) Thankfully, Isaiah's words continued directly into Chapter 9--and the news is brighter, literally!

To get through verse 1, we need to address some place names. Zebulun and Naphtali were two of the territories--part of the 12 tribal lands of Israel--on the border of Galilee (see map below), and those areas among the first to be invaded by Tiglath-pileser of Assyria.

 

"In the days of Pekah king of Israel, Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria came and captured Ijon and Abel-beth-maacah and Janoah and Kedesh and Hazor and Gilead and Galilee, all the land of Naphtali; and he carried them captive to Assyria."

^{--II Kings 15:29}

 

^{As God would bring this warring nation to Judah, He first brought it to destroy Israel. The nation would not be a nation as it knew itself after its captivity. The people would be scattered. Times were truly dark. But what Isaiah's message says is that the gloom of this situation would not last; that God would, again, "make it glorious." The ultimate fulfillment of that prophecy has yet to be seen, as it will come with Christ's second coming. The foreshadowing of that fulfillment came with His first Advent.}

"Now when Jesus heard that John had been taken into custody, He withdrew into Galilee; and leaving Nazareth, He came and settled in Capernaum, which is by the sea, in the region of Zebulun and Naphtali. This was to fulfill what was spoken through Isaiah the prophet:

“The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali,

By the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles—
“The people who were sitting in darkness saw a great Light,
And those who were sitting in the land and shadow of death,
Upon them a Light dawned.”

From that time Jesus began to preach and say, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”

^{--Matthew 4: 12-17}

^{One of the great blessings of studying Isaiah is seeing the direct relationship and fulfillment of so many of his prophecies--both in Old Testament and New Testament times. Matthew records the very Scripture we read today out of Isaiah 9, and Jesus lived out these recorded words in his ministry. This "great light" would be the Messiah, "the true Light which, coming into the world, enlightens every man." (John 1:9) The word of prophecy should have been a word of hope to a people in the darkness of captivity.}

^{"In the worst of times God’s people have a nevertheless to comfort themselves with, something to allay and balance their troubles; they are persecuted, but not forsaken, sorrowful yet always rejoicing. And it is matter of comfort to us, when things are at the darkest, that he who forms the light and creates the darkness has appointed to both their bounds and set the one over against the other...."}

 ^{--Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on the Bible}

 

^{"You shall multiply the nation," says verse 3. This would have had significant meaning to Israel, as God was reaffirming the covenant that He made with Abraham: "...Indeed I will greatly bless you, and I will greatly multiply your seed as the stars of the heavens and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your seed shall possess the gate of their enemies." (Genesis 22:17) For a scattered people to not only see itself again as a nation but as a nation blessed by God should have been a comfort. There was hope for the exiled children, that this "seed" would "possess the gate of their enemies."}

"We gather together to ask the Lord’s blessing;
He chastens and hastens His will to make known.
The wicked oppressing now cease from distressing.
Sing praises to His Name; He forgets not His own."

--We Gather Together, lyrics by Adrianus Valerius

 

^{There is an interesting section of verse 3. This is how it reads in the King James Version: "Thou has multiplied the nation, and not increased the joy...." (emphasis mine) At first, this would seem a little odd, especially in the context of what the rest of the passage is saying. If there's no more gloom, wouldn't joy be on the rise? It would be if it were the proper kind of joy.}

"Yet it follows, Thou hast not increased the joy—the carnal joy and mirth, and those things that are commonly the matter and occasion thereof. But, notwithstanding that, they joy before thee; there is a great deal of serious spiritual joy among them, joy in the presence of God, with an eye to him."

--Matthew Henry

^{Isaiah does make comparisons to earthly gladness associated with this joy. It will be like the celebration over the gathering of the harvest or sharing the spoil of a victorious battle. The celebration will not be over the goodness of that gathered or gained, but, rather, in the One who enables the gathering and the victory; the One who brings forth and is true goodness!} 

"Sowing in the morning, sowing seeds of kindness,
Sowing in the noontide and the dewy eve;
Waiting for the harvest, and the time of reaping,
We shall come rejoicing, bringing in the sheaves."

^{--Bringing in the Sheaves, lyrics by Knowles Shaw}

^{In this season of Thanksgiving, let us remember that while we have much to be thankful for, we celebrate not that which we have, but give all glory, laud and honor to the One who has given beyond measure, by His grace unto us. And we shall come to Him, rejoicing!}

^{"Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all ye lands. Serve the Lord with gladness: come before his presence with singing. Know ye that the Lord he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name. For the Lord is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations."}

^{--Psalm 100, King James Version}

Happy Thanksgiving, friends!

 

 

 

"For a child will be born to us".... 'Til next Wednesday!

Photo: faithandworship.com; keyway.ca

* * *

Next week: Isaiah 9: 4-7

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).

Isaiah 8: 19-22

 

¹⁹ When they say to you, “Consult the mediums and the spiritists 
who whisper and mutter,” should not a people consult their God?  
Should they consult the dead on behalf of the living?
²⁰ To the law and to the testimony! 
If they do not speak according to this word, it is because they have no dawn.
²¹ They will pass through the land hard-pressed and famished, 
and it will turn out that when they are hungry, 
they will be enraged and curse their king and their God as they face upward.  
²² Then they will look to the earth, and behold, distress and darkness, the gloom of anguish; and they will be driven away into darkness.

Closing out Chapter 8 of Isaiah with another strong message through the prophet that gives us pause for today. Doing some "ghost-busting" (vs. 19)....
 
Before Israel became a divided kingdom, its first king, King Saul, had banished mediums and spiritists in obeying the law of God--since He would turn His face away from those nations who allowed consultations through them. Yet, when faced with a pending battle with the Philistines and having heard no word from God on how to handle the battle, the king takes matters into his own hands, going undercover into Philistine-controlled land and consulting--you guessed it--a medium for aid! To heap more problems upon himself, he assures the medium, "as the Lord lives," (I Sam. 28: 10) that she will not be in trouble, even as he asks her to call up the spirit of Samuel. What's really incredible is that God allows Samuel to been seen and heard, only for Samuel to give the king the message that his disobedience will cost him.

[Contrast this, again, to King Ahaz's situation, with God pulling out all the stops in endowing wisdom--prophet's words, validation of success, offer and presentation of a sign (of the Messiah, no less!)--yet no belief!! Is it any wonder God is frustrated with His human creation and their pursuance of their own will?]

As Scripture shows us time and time again, God's Word is ever-consistent. Should Isaiah or any other authority in Judah consult with mediums and spiritists? Should they consult with the dead in the hopes of attaining help? (vs. 19) Judah's King Manasseh, who came to rule after Isaiah's ministry, showed no regard for him [as tradition holds he had Isaiah sawn in two inside a hollow log] nor his bringing God's Word to light.

"He [Manasseh] made his son pass through the fire, practiced witchcraft and used divination, and dealt with mediums and spiritists. He did much evil in the sight of the Lord provoking Him to anger.... ...Manasseh seduced them [Judah] to do evil more than the nations whom the Lord destroyed before the sons of Israel."

--II Kings 21:6 and 9

So, when there is trouble, who ya gonna call? "To the law and to the testimony!" (vs. 20) Last week, we read God's word to Isaiah to "bind up the testimony [or teaching], seal the law among my disciples." (8:16) We are not advised to go to the [spiritually or otherwise] dead for guidance. We should seek out the living--those who live and walk in the Light, the light of God's teaching! Isaiah would carry that Light through his ministry to those would listen, to those who "had ears to hear," as the New Testament would say. The remnant of believers. Because, those who did not follow the testimony, "have no dawn." (vs. 20) There is no light that rises in them, no dayspring. [Hebrew definitions from Strong's]

"O come, Thou Day-Spring, come and cheer
Our spirits by Thine advent here
Disperse the gloomy clouds of night
And death's dark shadows put to flight.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel."

--Lyrics from "O Come, O Come Emmanuel"

"Those will never be drawn to consult wizards that know how to make a good use of their Bibles."

--Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on the Bible

 

For Judah, the consequences that follow God's judgment are again outlined in these last verses, with an Assyrian invasion leaving their once-rich land in a state of depravity, resulting in hard times and famine (vs. 21). Instead of looking to their own disobedience, they will blame their king; they will blame "their" God. But, in the end, the darkness is in and of themselves, and "they will be driven away into darkness" (vs. 22) as exile in Babylon will offer them no relief.

Go beyond the historical facts, though, won't you? This "hunger" and "darkness" refer as much to one's current spiritual state and future spiritual welfare as it does to what Isaiah's prophecy means to Judah's immediate future of the day. Without a relationship with the Lord, one will walk through life hungering, because something is missing in the heart (often referred to as "a God-shaped hole"). Until we recognize that only One can fill what is missing, we will be missing out on the abundant life that He has given to us. Indeed, there is no rest.

"Those that go away from God go out of the way of all good. They shall be very uneasy to themselves, by their discontent and impatience under their trouble. A good man may be in want, but then he quiets himself, and strives to make himself easy; but these people when they shall be hungry shall fret themselves, and when they have nothing to feed on their vexation shall prey upon their own spirits; for fretfulness is a sin that is its own punishment."

--Matthew Henry

Out-of-control anxiety leads to frustration, anger, blaming, lawlessness. [Read the Book of James and see how trouble can build up and over out of a conflicted heart.]

Not only do we face dark times in our lives, but the darkest time is yet to come. Isaiah's prophecy will apply to the coming Day of the Lord.

"Alas, you who are longing for the day of the Lord,
For what purpose will the day of the Lord be to you?
It will be darkness and not light...."

--Amos 5:18

For the Jews, the Pharisees, notably, the Lord's return meant salvation was coming. But, as Jesus tried to teach them through a parable, salvation had already come! Yet, they had not believed. They had not listened and heard and understood the words of the prophets. Cross-reference searches on today's passages led me to Luke 16: 19-31, Jesus' parable of the rich man and Lazarus (not the one Jesus raised from the dead). Please click on that link and read this story. I felt as though it was one I had never read. It is as much a story for the Judah of Isaiah's day as it is a story for this minute!

The opportunity to know God through a relationship with His Son, the Messiah who has come and will come again, and through God's Word in the Bible is here right now. May we take Isaiah's words to heart--to know, accept and live "the law and the testimony"--lest we continue to "live" in the dark and die to the dark.

^"But Abraham said, ‘Child, remember that during your life you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus bad things; but now he is being comforted here, and you are in agony. And besides all this, between us and you there is a great chasm fixed, so that those who wish to come over from here to you will not be able, and that none may cross over from there to us.’

And he said, ‘Then I beg you, father, that you send him to my father’s house—for I have five brothers—in order that he may warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.’ But Abraham said, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them.’

But he said, ‘No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent!’

But he said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be persuaded even if someone rises from the dead.'"

--Luke 16: 25-31

"Then Jesus again spoke to them, saying, 'I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life.'"

--John 8:12

 



"Birth and Reign of the Prince of Peace"--O Happy Day! Starting Chapter 9.... 'Til next Wednesday!

Photo: redmercuri.com

* * *

Next week: Isaiah 9:1-3

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: 26-30

²⁶ He will also lift up a standard to the distant nation,
And will whistle for it from the ends of the earth;
And behold, it will come with speed swiftly.
²⁷ No one in it is weary or stumbles,
None slumbers or sleeps;
Nor is the belt at its waist undone,
Nor its sandal strap broken.
²⁸ Its arrows are sharp and all its bows are bent;
The hoofs of its horses seem like flint and its chariot wheels like a whirlwind.
²⁹ Its roaring is like a lioness, and it roars like young lions;
It growls as it seizes the prey
And carries it off with no one to deliver it.
³⁰ And it will growl over it in that day like the roaring of the sea.
If one looks to the land, behold, there is darkness and distress;
Even the light is darkened by its clouds.

We conclude Isaiah, Chapter 5, far from the beautiful vineyard that opened this chapter. This reads more like a scene out of "Braveheart" than "A Walk in the Clouds."

Last time, we talked about God's hand being in total control of this situation. The judgment and consequences facing Judah were His doing. He would "lift up a standard,"--a flag, sail or sign [Strong's]--to a "distant nation." A signal flare of sorts was fired to a nation that was not part of Israel--likely, forces from the Assyrian Empire. ("These would be Syria, Assyria, Babylon, etc. The imperial Assyrian army was composed of mercenaries hired from all over the Assyrian Empire."--Reformation Study Bible). Strong's includes one more definition in an explanation of the Hebrew for 'standard'--token. God was handing off Judah as if someone were receiving a token for a high score in an arcade game. Here, catch....

"'Because you did not serve the Lord your God with joy and a glad heart, for the abundance of all things; therefore you shall serve your enemies whom the Lord will send against you, in hunger, in thirst, in nakedness, and in the lack of all things; and He will put an iron yoke on your neck until He has destroyed you. 'The Lord will bring a nation against you from afar, from the end of the earth, as the eagle swoops down, a nation whose language you shall not understand....'"

--Deuteronomy 28: 47-49

Verse 26 says that God will "whistle" for this armament. This whistle is not a still small voice as Elijah would have heard in recognizing God. Again looking at the Hebrew, the word means "to be shrill, i.e., to whistle or hiss (as a call or in scorn)." [Strong's] More like the tea kettle at high boil kind of whistle! Or a hissing that would have sounded like a bee, as Assyria was noted for its bees. [International Standard Bible Encyclopedia] And once the call was issued, the forces would come "with speed swiftly," which certainly emphasizes the point.

Isaiah takes the next several verses to describe the army. Verse 27 describes a group dressed for battle with nothing of strength out of place. Not a one weary, stumbling, or sleepy. The phrasing chosen here reminds me immediately of Psalm 121: "He who keeps you will not slumber. Behold, He who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep." (verses 3b and 4) The Lord was lifting up an army with Divine might.

"If God set up his standard, he can incline men’s hearts to enlist themselves under it, though perhaps they know not why or wherefore. When the Lord of hosts is pleased to make a general muster of the forces he has at his command, he has a great army in an instant...."

--Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on the Bible

The army of total preparedness has perfect equipment as well. Bows and arrows, groomed and at the ready. Horses with hooves that "seem like flint," (verse 28) meaning of great hardness, so that they would be prepared to ride the miles and withstand the attack to come. Their chariots would kick up the dust, as if a "whirlwind." It is with the reference to chariots that some commentaries I read suggested this entire passage might also refer to other times of judgment and invasion, such as the emergence of the Roman Empire. More on this thought in a moment....

Verse 29 goes figurative, as the invading force takes on the persona of a roaring lion. Isaiah describes the take-over of Judah as if a lion attacking its prey. It begins with a commanding roaring, moves to a satisfying growl, the seize and, finally, the unchallenged escape. Babylon invaded Jerusalem in 586 B.C., destroying the temple and leading a host of Jews back to exile. If only Isaiah's words had sounded to God's people as a roaring lion.

"Those who would not hear the voice of God speaking to them by his prophets, but stopped their ears against their charms, shall be made to hear the voice of their enemies roaring against them and shall not be able to turn a deaf ear to it."

--Matthew Henry

Finishing up with verse 30 out of the King James Version:

"And in that day they shall roar against them like the roaring of the sea: and if one look unto the land, behold darkness and sorrow, and the light is darkened in the heavens thereof."

The idea of Scripture being applicable in more than one place and time (Assyrian Empire; Roman Empire; End Times) shouldn't surprise us. This is a living, active word! (Hebrews 4:12) Surely, in the exile of Judah and the destruction of the temple, there would be darkness in the heavens. I know what you're thinking, though: This was at God's hand! He could have intervened, done something different. But, as I hope we've learned from the little of Isaiah that we have tackled so far, we are talking about a people that had turned so far away from God that drastic measures were necessary. And, truly, when you read passages in Deuteronomy, like Chapter 28, this was the punishment to fit the disobedience. No surprises here!

It is hard to see this as a "tough love" situation, but, through discipline, God was trying to reach them and bring them back to Himself. This is a way He shows His love for us. And a time was coming in which there would be the greatest showing of His love ever known. Yet, history repeats itself....

"In him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not."

--John 1: 4 and 5

The "darkness" did not understand, but led the true Light of the world to the cross. "And if one look unto the land, behold darkness and sorrow, and the light is darkened in the heavens thereof."

"It was now about the sixth hour, and darkness fell over the whole land until the ninth hour, because the sun was obscured...."

--Luke 23: 44-45a

"...The earth shook and the rocks were split. ...When they saw the earthquake and the things that were happening, became very frightened and said, 'Truly this was the Son of God!'"

--Matthew 27: 51-54 (excerpts)

THINGS HAPPEN in the presence of God, even as the heavens are darkened and saddened at the will of those who do not see. Might we hear the roaring cry of the prophets, the roaring cry of our Savior--the Lion of Judah [How about that flip on a metaphor!?]--so that we will not continue to walk in darkness, but have the light of life? (John 8:12)

Before that Day of the last roaring?

"'There will be signs in sun and moon and stars, and on the earth dismay among nations, in perplexity at the roaring of the sea and the waves, men fainting from fear and the expectation of the things which are coming upon the world; for the powers of the heavens will be shaken.'"

--Luke 21: 25 and 26 (Jesus speaking) 

How Isaiah became a prophet. Chapter 6 begins.... 'Til next Wednesday!

Photo: twistedsifter.com

* * *

Next week: Isaiah 6: 1-3

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 2: 1-5

Isaiah 2

God’s Universal Reign

 ¹ The word which Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem.  ² Now it will come about that in the last days
The mountain of the house of the LORD
Will be established as the chief of the mountains,
And will be raised above the hills;
And all the nations will stream to it.
³ And many peoples will come and say,
“Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD,
To the house of the God of Jacob;
That He may teach us concerning His ways
And that we may walk in His paths.”
For the law will go forth from Zion
And the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.
⁴ And He will judge between the nations,
And will render decisions for many peoples;
And they will hammer their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks.
Nation will not lift up sword against nation,
And never again will they learn war.
 ⁵ Come, house of Jacob, and let us walk in the light of the LORD.

With the beginning of Isaiah Chapter 2, we engage in the prophet's speaking on a solitary subject across the next four chapters. This will be obvious as we start Chapter 6, in which we read about Isaiah's call to the prophecy. My study Bible says of our verses today that these are "the first of three pictures of Zion (Jerusalem) in this discourse that depicts her future exaltation."

By "future," the commentaries I review suggest times following Isaiah's receiving of this word from God. As I read through this portion, I can clearly see how the passage refers to the millennial kingdom, to be established by Jesus Christ at His second advent and earthly reign. Though it is also true that the text can apply to a time that has already passed. The beauty of Scripture is such that it can apply across multiple time frames. Let's explore that notion today!

"Now it will come about that in the last days...."

--vs. 2

When I see "last days," I generally think end times. Referring back to a passage I explored not long ago in Hosea, "Afterward the sons of Israel will return and seek the LORD their God and David their king; and they will come trembling to the LORD and to His goodness in the last days." (Hosea 3:5, emphasis mine) The sons of Israel will not recognize Jesus as Messiah until He appears in the flesh in His second coming. But, the New Testament writers use "last days" to refer to the time after Christ's first advent. Consider this from Hebrews 1: "God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, in these last days has spoken to us in His Son." (Hebrews 1: 1 & 2a)

Matthew Henry continues in the vein of the New Testament writers when he suggests that our Isaiah text today refers to the establishment of Christianity:

"Now the prophet here foretels: I. The setting up of the Christian church, and the planting of the Christian religion, in the world. Christianity shall then be the mountain of the Lord’s house; where that is professed God will grant his presence, receive his people’s homage, and grant instruction and blessing, as he did of old in the temple of Mount Zion."

--Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on the Bible

 

When I was studying Daniel through Beth Moore's teaching, she introduced a couple of terms from Biblical commentators that, I think, apply here as well. "Dual reference" indicates a place in Scripture which can be referred to in a more present time as well as a forthcoming time, like the establishment of "the mountain of the house of the Lord." It is then possible to have a "dual fulfillment" of said prophecy, which would support Matthew Henry's viewpoint on the beginnings of Christianity while allowing for a second fulfillment of the prophecy under Christ in the time when "every knee shall bow...." (Romans 14:11) As you and I continue to digest that, let's look at some other passages more closely, tying in this concept. 

 

The people head to the mountain "that He may teach us...that we may walk in His paths." (vs. 3) Isaiah writes in a time when people went to the mountain to worship their created idols. Certainly, even in that time, Jerusalem had the opportunity to correct their steps. But pride and self-righteousness would keep them from listening to God (which is why He stopped listening to them--Isaiah 1:15).

 

"Good and upright is the LORD;

Therefore He instructs sinners in the way.

He leads the humble in justice,
And He teaches the humble His way.

All the paths of the LORD are lovingkindness and truth
To those who keep His covenant and His testimonies.

For Your name’s sake, O LORD,

Pardon my iniquity, for it is great.

Who is the man who fears the LORD? He will instruct him in the way he should choose.

--Psalm 25: 8-12

Isaiah 2:3 also speaks of "the law" (or, per other translations, the instruction) and "the word of the Lord"  coming from Zion/Jerusalem. In addition to Zion referring to Jerusalem, "the mountain of the Lord"--Mount Zion--was the location of the temple in Jerusalem, as the earlier-mentioned Henry comment says. God's word was always available to His people. Not surprisingly, the fulfillment of the law, through Christ and the "going forth" of His word would begin in Jerusalem--following His crucifixion there, His commissioning of the disciples and their receiving of the Holy Spirit:

"Now He said to them, 'These are My words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things which are written about Me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.' Then He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, and He said to them, 'Thus it is written, that the Christ would suffer and rise again from the dead the third day, and that repentance for forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed in His name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem.'"

--Luke 24: 44-47 (emphasis mine)

Isaiah 2:4 speaks of judgment and rendering decisions. Again, not hard for me to see this as an end-times fulfillment, with Christ bringing decisions regarding eternal judgment of all people. But, can we also see this passage as being fulfilled earlier? "Render decisions" in other translations can mean "reprove" or "rebuke." God's power in admonishing and correcting the nations can be seen throughout the course of history. Surely his words through the prophets culminating in the exile of His own people could be included as reproof.

 

The next line is one you have likely heard before: "And they will hammer their swords into plowshares...." Popular musicians--from Stephen Stills to Michael Jackson--have pulled this text for their song lyrics, as have politicians, including Dwight Eisenhower and Ronald Reagan, used these words in their speeches. The sculpture in the picture above is entitled "Let Us Beat Swords into Plowshares," by Evgeniy Vuchetich, part of the United Nations Art Collection. The representation in art, speech and verse refers to a time of peace. Interestingly, when God gave these same words to the prophet Joel, they were flipped around to indicate preparation for a time of war: "Beat your plowshares into swords and your pruning hooks into spears...." (Joel 3:10)

 

With the Messiah, the Prince of Peace--as Isaiah would name Him in Chapter 9--coming to reign, the earth will know a time of peace, a prelude to that in the eternal Kingdom. Yet even our Lord Himself proclaimed, "Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you." (John 14: 27a) He is our peace, and when there is no peace in our relationships and circumstances, we need to remember that He has shown us what His peace looks like. Do we not have the tools to hammer our swords into plowshares, even now?

"The design and tendency of the gospel are to make peace and to slay all enmities. It has in it the most powerful obligations and inducements to peace; so that one might reasonably have expected it should have this effect, and it would have had it if it had not been for those lusts of men from which come wars and fightings." 

--Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on the Bible

 This has been difficult study today. I get the basics, though it is still "too lofty" for me to completely understand. This is one of the reasons why I veered away from the prophets for so long. But, I'm thankful for the teachings of others to guide me as I seek to understand where the Spirit is leading through all of this. Thankful to "walk in the light of the Lord." (vs. 5)

"This is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you, that God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth; but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin."

--I John 1: 5-7

 

No new subhead for our verses next week, but the tone and direction sound a lot like the judgments of Chapter 1. Why God abandons His people.... 'Til next Wednesday!

Photo: swordandploughshare.com

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Next week: Isaiah 2: 6-9

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).