Isaiah Chapter 5:8-23

With this part of the chapter we enter the six "woes".
This is a collection of warnings about sins that the people had committed that had provoked God's displeasure. 
Verse 8 says, "woe to those who join house to house and field to field until there is no more room, so that you have to live alone in the midst of the land!"

What Isaiah is talking about here is that the rich would buy up as much land as they could and use it to build large mansions, and large vineyards. They did not want neighbors. They wanted the land all to themselves. They wanted to live "alone" in the land. This is what  people, and the world of real estate, has always been like. It is still like this today. The rich have lots of land and big beautiful houses and the poor have very little. We think of this as normal, but the land of Israel is different. It has been different since Abraham walked the earth. The Lord is angry at the children of Israel for doing this because  the land had come to them as a gift from God with a promise that it would always be theirs,(Gen. 13:14-17, 17:18) but also, there were restrictions attached to the ownership of every parcel of land. 

 Leviticus 25:1-34, lists the specific requirements that the Lord gave regarding the land. This passage in Leviticus explains the sabbath year rest for the land and the requirements of what was to happen to the land in the year of Jubilee. The year of Jubilee was supposed to be celebrated every 50 years. No matter what, in the year of Jubilee, land that was bought, sold, bartered or changed hands in anyway, had to be given back to the original owners. If they could redeem the land earlier and buy it back they were aloud to do so, but if they couldn't, the original owners were supposed to be given back their land when the year of Jubilee came. It's ownership would revert back to
the original family that was given the land when the children entered the promised land. 

It was part of a families inheritance and heritage and it was supposed to return to them no matter what the circumstances. The only exception was actual buildings that were built within the city walls. Those did not have to revert back to the families at the year of Jubilee. Some people would buy up these houses and connect them together, "til there is no more room".

 Behind all of this is a condition of the heart, greed and covetousness, over the land that the Lord had given to them, with no regard for others.
Verse  5:9, is very interesting. Remember in chapter three how we discussed the fact that only the poorest  people of the land were left behind when the captivity of Jerusalem took place (2Kings 25:12)? And, in chapter 3, of Isaiah it tells us that ,"the plunder of the poor is in your houses". Here we see that the poor got their chance to plunder the houses of the rich. Verse 5: 9 says" surely many houses will become desolate. Even great and fine ones without occupants"


This second woe in verses 5:11-12, is pretty self explanatory. There were people who lived for their ability to party. There lives revolved around there pleasures with no consideration of the Lord and His works in their lives.
"Therefore my people go into exile" verse 5:13-15. It's a done deal, the people haven't figured this out. They are hungry and thirsty for what is important, but they don't know it. (And we know that they did go into exile for 70 years).

I worked at a bank a number of years ago. The small town I worked in had a disproportionate number of very wealthy people living there. There was one man imparticular whose story I can't forget. He had a lovely wife who was about 15 years his junior. They had 2 very cute, small children under the age of 5. They also had an incredible amount of money in our bank. The money they had with us was just their spending money. They had investments and other bank accounts all over the world. The man's job was to manage his money. I saw the wife more than I saw the man. When I usually saw him, it was in the afternoon. Then one day he came in in the early morning. He was disheveled and shaking badly. He looked 10 years older than he usually looked. It was obvious that he needed a drink to calm his nerves.  When I mentioned his shaking to one of the other girls who worked with me and actually lived in the town where we worked, she said that it was common knowledge that he was an alcoholic. She said that he had recently gotten in trouble again for  drinking and driving and he and his cute little family were going to take a get away trip to Australia to help him dry out.
He was hungry and thirsty, but he had no idea what he was seeking. He had no consideration for the Lord's work in his life .

Verses 5:14-17,  The Lord says; Therefore Hell is ready, it is plenty big enough for the vast amount of people who will slide into hell from this sin. All of Jerusalem would be welcome including the revelers and the jubilant. (I cant help but think of New Orleans) . The people will be humbled and the important people will be brought even lower. But this judgement will show the holiness of the Lord.
Then the lambs will graze in their pastures (5:17) unaffected by the tragedy happening around them and strangers, people the wealthy owners  don't even know, will eat and be sustained by their wealth, fields and property. 
 The poorest of the people, those left behind in the exodus of the captivity, were able to be sustained from what the wealthy had owned and cherished.

 




The next woe is verse  5:18." Woe to those who drag iniquity with the cords of falsehood, and sin as if with cart ropes".

Mocking God

These people keep their wickedness going with lying and deceit. It is hard work to keep their lies straight. Their sins are a heavy burden they drag behind them not even realizing how heavy their sins are. Verse 5:19, But, they mock God and His followers, demanding to see proof. Pretending that they can't wait to take on the challenge of the Lord's return. 


The next verse, 5:20, is as relevant today as it was when Isaiah recorded this. " Woe to those who call evil good and good evil". They had sons and daughters dedicated to be temple prostitutes. Some who were even in the temple of the Lord. (1st Kings 14:24,15:12, 2Kings23:7). India still has children who are dedicated to be temple prostitutes. They also had temples in Isaiah's day which were for the express purpose of sacrificing their infants to other gods. (1Kings 11:7, 2Kings23:10, Lev.20:2). We do also, they are called abortion clinics. 

  Just as they called what they were doing worship. Our society says they are doing women a great service by getting rid of the children they don't need or want.
"evil good and good evil"





Verse 5:21, says woe to the people who think too much of their intellect.This is about people who think they are too smart to believe in God or any  type of religious beliefs. They think they are too wise to be fooled into believing in anything but themselves. They believe that only people of low intelligence would believe in God. 

"While a man thinks humble of himself, there is a chance that he may repent and amend. When he is "wise in his own eyes" he does not see why he has to change."
The pulpit commentary
WM. B. Eerdmans

 

  The last "woe" verse 5:22, at first, seems to be a repeat of the second "woe" but with a closer look we can see that there is a big difference. This woe addresses the corruption of a man who does not spend his days languishing at the banquet table to drink, but goes about his daily life with impaired morals  and decision making abilities. His conscience is dulled by the strong drink he consumes. Verse 5:23, He is a man of authority who the people should be able to rely on for fair judgements and moral justice. Instead, he is able to be bribed and has no feelings of compassion and fairness. His decisions can be bought. "he takes away the rights of the ones who are in the right".

Remember; these "woes" are a lament, some of them sterner than others but the idea is  that of a heart felt pity and regret for the situation. It shows a desire to have the situation be different and an emotional warning . Consider Matt. 24:19 "but woe to those who are with child and nursing in those days!". Jesus doesn't say this because He is displeased with pregnant women and nursing mothers. He is lamenting the sad situation and the hardship they will inevitably face when this time in history comes.
 Always, God's heart is to love us and bring us to Himself. 

Keep reading your bibles!! This book is long and complicated but it is so much easier to see the connections in the bible as you spend more time reading and studying. The Lord speaks to us from His word. 
God bless you precious ladies.
I'm praying for all of you
Love
Nancy  

Isaiah chapter 5:1-7

Isaiah 5 starts with the prophet singing a song for God, his beloved. It is not a love song. It is an analogy of the Lord's relationship with His people, Israel. Isaiah aligns himself with the Lord in the song. He makes it clear that his beloved is not at fault. His beloved did everything He could to secure a healthy, beautiful, fruitful vineyard and all the Lord got was wildness, unfruitfulness and shriveled connections to Him.

 

 Verse 5:2 says "He dug all around" and removed all the stones. Palestine is a very rocky place. To properly cultivate the ground you must remove a great deal of stones. The people that Isaiah was speaking to knew this. Where I live, we have a very similar problem the ground is full of rocks and stones and small boulders.  The rocks seem to grow whenever it rains and everywhere you dig, you have to expect to run into rocks. It's maddening. Here in the text, Isaiah is making it clear that the Lord had "dug all around" just to get rid of the rocks. 

  He got rid of the hard, heavy obstacles that would have kept their lives from being fruitful. In the literal farm land of Jerusalem, the farmers worked very hard to remove stones from their fields. In 2Kings 3:19, the people of Israel are told to finish a battle by "marring" the enemy land with stones.

The next part of this verse is very interesting. "and planted it with the choicest vine"  Jesus is the choice vine. (In my bible and in the Eerdman's commentary, both sources indicate that the "choicest" not only indicates the best but also indicates a bright, deep red color) . In Matthew 26:27-28 Jesus says that the wine is His blood.

 In  John 15, Jesus says; "I am the vine and my Father is the vinedresser." If we look back into the book of Genesis, when Jacob summoned his son's to prophesy of their futures in chapter 49, he speaks to Judah in verse 10, and says, " The septer shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler's staff from between his feet, until Shiloh comes,(this is speaking of the Lord Jesus) and unto Him, shall be the obedience of the peoples. He (Judah) ties his foal to the vine,
and his donkey's colt to the "choice vine". Ge. 49:11

 We know that the linage of the messiah Jesus, is through the tribe of Judah. Judah was the tribe of kings because God had tied their heritage to the messiah not the other way around. They had been "grafted in" to the "choice vine".  

Jesus says, He is the vine in John 15. The Lord said that He planted the "choicest vine" within His people, within the men of Israel Isa.5:7 " For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel, And the men of Judah His delightful plant......"

 In Matt 21:33-38, Mark 12:1-9 and Luke 20:9-16,  Jesus tells the parable of the vineyard and the landowner. When He tells this parable, He is speaking to the Priests, scribes and elders of the people. He uses some of the very same wording as chapter 5 in Isaiah, but in the parable the land owner goes away and sends his servants (the prophets) who are  badly mistreated  by the vine growers intrusted with the  vineyard. In the parable the landowner sends his son who is killed by the vine growers. Jesus then tells them that the owner will come and destroy them  and give the vineyard to others. Luke 20:16 says that when the scribes, elders and priests heard His words they said "may it never be!" They new that Jesus was talking about them and their land. They probably were able to connect the analogy in Isaiah 5 with this parable and of course they would have known the out come of Isaiah's prophesy in chapter 5, because it resulted in the 70 year exile. In all of the gospel accounts, we read that this angered the leaders of the people and they were even more determined to destroy Jesus.


At verse 5:3 the narrative switches from Isaiah speaking, to the Lord  speaking to  the people.
Verse 5: 4 reminds me of discussions I've had with, and about, my teenagers. "What more could I have done ?"
Why, when I expected it to produce good grapes did it produce only wild grapes?"(I'm going to remember this verse!) Be comforted, if the Lord can raise "wayward sons" (and daughters), so can we. Read Isa.1:2.

I used to live by a river in Waterbury ,Vt. I would walk to the river and collect wild grape ivy from the river banks. I made wreaths out of it to sell at craft shows. The wild ivy would grow grapes but they were very small clusters which turned dark purple, but never got plump and sweet. They stayed small and hard.  

The Lord then tells them in verse 5 that he will remove the protection that He was providing for them. He was going to remove the hedge of protection, and the  walls (some vineyards had a prickly hedge, some had a wall. The best had both.) . Verse 6, " I will lay it waste; It will not be pruned or hoed, but briars and thorns will come up. I will charge the clouds to rain no rain on it."  The idea here is neglect of His vineyard not out right ravage. He had carefully tended His vineyard, now He would offer no care, He would not keep up the fences, weed, hoe or water it. It would become, trampled over. People would not even notice when they walk through it from one place to another. And, it would lay neglected  and in  ruins. (verse 5: 6).

The full explanation of this parable is in verse 5:7. The Lord delighted in the house of Israel and the men of Judah, He expected righteous judgements and justice for the people (see Isa.3:14-15 This is where the Lord comes to his feet to judge the elders of Israel for their treatment of the poor )   and all He saw was bloodshed, and all He heard was a cry of distress from the oppressed.

 The Lord cares so much about the poor and  the neglected. He had taken good care of His children and He expected them to be kind and caring toward the needy.  

The next blog will be Isaiah 5:8-24. Please keep reading your bibles. Let the Lord touch you and melt your heart. He has shown us over and over in this book already how much He cares for the poor and oppressed of the world. 

I look at the over all stats of the blog just about everyday. I know that there are women all over the world looking at this blog. God bless you precious ladies. I'm praying for all of you.
love
Nancy   

Isaiah Chapter 4

You really can't understand  Isaiah chapter 4 unless you first study  chapter 3. Chapter 4 is actually a continuation of chapter 3 and a conclusion of the thoughts that Isaiah has been conveying regarding the actions and attitude of the women of Israel. 
He tells them that not only will they be devastated and sitting in the dirt, but because so many of the eligible bachelors will be lost in the seige on Jerusalem  (3:25), there will be no one for the young women to marry. "For seven women will take hold of one man in that day, saying, "we will eat our own bread and wear our own clothes, only let us be called by your name; take away our reproach! " (Isa. 4:1)   Isaiah was explaining that there was to be such a shortage of young men to marry, the young women would have to resort to drastic measures to get a husband and hopefully get a child.  In their culture there was great shame in never getting married and it was an even greater disgrace to not  have born children.

In verses 2 and 3, Isaiah starts to speak of the time of the millennium when Jerusalem will be restored and "the Branch of the Lord will be glorious and the fruit of the earth."  In Jeremiah 23:5, the "Branch" is also discussed.  He, the "Branch," is the "Lord of righteousness" which is of course, Jesus.







Verse 3, is another piece to the puzzle of understanding the millennium.  It says that anyone who is left in Jerusalem (after the upheaval and after the arrival of the Lord) will be called holy (and then more clarification) "everyone who is recorded for life in Jerusalem." This brings up the very interesting topic of the "books"


According to Rev. 20:12, at the time of the great white throne judgement, the people will be judged by what was written of their deeds in a  set of books. These books are separate from the Lambs book of Life. This checking of the books for good deeds is secondary to checking for the person's name in the book of life.  Rev.20:15 says that anyone whose name that is not found in the lambs book of life will be thrown into the lake of fire.

Also, there is a very interesting passage in Exodus 32:32-33 where Moses had returned to speak to the Lord after the children of Israel had made the golden calf. Moses tells the Lord that, if He won't forgive the people, that he wants the Lord to "blot him out of the book " that the Lord had written.  The Lord says; "whoever sins against Me, I will blot him out of My book"

In Rev. 3:5, Jesus is talking to the church at Sardis. He expresses in the earlier verses that He is not very happy with the church in Sardis as a whole, but that there is a remnant of people who are truly pleasing Him.  He says of these people; "He who overcomes will thus be clothed in white garments; and I will not erase his name from the book of life and I will confess his name before my father..."

And, what about this?              Psalm 139:16  "Thine eyes have seen my unformed substance; And in Thy book they were all written, the days that were ordained for me, when as yet there were not one of them." I find this verse very interesting.It seems that there is a book which keeps the ordained days of each person from the time that they are in the womb until they are taken from this world in death. Incredible.


So, to sum up the book idea. There is possibly a "book of days" which has recorded in it, the days of life in mortal bodies, for all humans.  A  book of deeds" where every deed, good or bad, and every word is recorded,  and the Lambs book of life which has the names of the humans who have chosen  to be "born again " (John 3).  I believe these accounts of the books are literal. We will see these records some day.

In verse  4:4, we return to the theme of this chapter. Isaiah is still addressing the problem  with the way the women have been living.There can be no purity in Jerusalem until the "filth of the daughters of Zion"  has been washed away. Amazing, He called the way they had been living "filth". The description he gives of their behavior in chapter 3 is very like the behavior of women in our society today.
He goes on to finish the verse by saying the bloodshed of Jerusalem, also must be purged with the spirit of judgment and the spirit of burning.

If we follow the theme of this chapter, we have to conclude that the bloodshed pertains to the women, just as the rest of the text implies. Erdmans suggests that the bloodshed has to do with the sacrificing of the infants to Molech.  Ahaz "burnt his children in the fire after the abomination of the heathen" (2chron. 28:3) Mannassah did also (2chron. 33:6) and Solomon himself built the temple of Molech (1kings 11:7-8), which probably began the practice. It quickly spread from his foreign wives to the
daughters of Israel.




This practice of sacrificing the infants was probably on going and widespread far before Isaiah's time even though God had made it clear that this was abhorrent to Him. 
( Lev20:2-3)



Then, when the sin is purged, never to return,verses 4:5-6 say ;"then the Lord will create over the whole area of Mount Zion and over her assemblies a cloud by day, even smoke, and the brightness of a flaming fire by night (look at Ex. 40:38); for over all the glory will be a "canopy" (Chuppah, Strong's reference # 2646) And there will be a shelter to give shade from the heat by day, and refuge and protection from the storm and the rain".

Every detail,  in the word of God is designed to touch us deeply and personally. It is no mistake that after talking to the women of Israel of judgement and displeasure at their choices, the Lord gives a promise of a time when all sin will be washed away. The word "canopy" in this verse is the same word used for the bridal canopy which was used in that day and is still used today when a Jewish couple marries. It is called the  "Chuppah". It is the same word used in Psalm 19:5, and Joel 2:16.

 As Isaiah finishes his admonishment addressed to the women, he finishes with an encouragement and a promise that would have been the fulfillment of a life dream for the Jewish women of that day (and maybe of most women today )to meet and marry the perfect man.  Remember earlier in this chapter, Isaiah told them that the devastation from their sin would be so great that they would have no one to marry. Now he says that if
 they were to repent and be purged of their sin, they would be met by the presence of God under the chuppah. They would have known what this meant. God was to be their protector, their provider and their bridegroom. God would be the fulfillment of all of their hopes and dreams.

 He is going to be all of that and more to us too.
"Let us rejoice and be glad and give the glory to Him, for the marriage of the Lamb has come and His bride has made herself ready." And it was given to her to clothe herself in fine linen, bright and clean; for  the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints. Rev.19:7-8

This passage is a rare jewel.


 Such a small chapter and yet it contains such love expressed by the Lord specifically towards women. He speaks directly to our hearts in this chapter. 
 Remember; it will not be just an umbrella to cover us during the millennium , it will be a Chuppah.

Read, Read Read ladies! His word is so worth your time!!!
start reading Isaiah chapter 5.

 Sorry this chapter took me so long. My oldest daughter had a new baby and I got to play Nana to my older grand daughters! 

God bless all of you ladies! I'm praying for all of you
Love
Nancy

Isaiah chapter 3

To fully appreciate chapter 3 we have to start with the verse that ends chapter 2. Verse 2:22 says "STOP REGARDING MAN WHOSE BREATH IS IN HIS NOSTRILS FOR WHY SHOULD HE BE ESTEEMED?"

This verse is the beginning of a thought that starts chapter 3 and ends in verse 3:3. In these verses Isaiah tells them, in a sense, that they are impressed by the wrong things and the wrong people. He tells them that all men will fail them.The God of the universe was going to remove any and all things that they regarded as important. He starts with their food and water and moves on to their important people. Notice, the common man is not mentioned here. It is only people who would be thought of by the general population as important. The Mighty men, the judges, the deviners, the elders, the counselors and expert artisans. ( by the way; all of the expert artisans, mighty men, captains ect.  were carried away by Nebuchadnezzar in the captivity of Jahoiachin. Read it in 2Kings 24:14 )


Verse 3:4, "I will make mere lads their princes, and capricious children will rule over them" 
The extreme youth of the kings that came after Hezekiah fulfilled this prophesy. Only one was as old as twenty five when he became king:

Jahoahaz was 23  (2Kings 23:31)
Amon was 22 (2Kings 21:19)
Zedekiah was 21 (2Kings 24:18)
Jehoiachin was 18 (2Kings 24:8)This guy only reigned 3 months before Nebuchadnezzar took him and all the gold and silver from the temple.
Manasseh was 12  (2Kings 21:1) This guy was their wickedest king. Tradition says that he was responsible for having Isaiah sawn in two, which is what Heb. 11:37 is referring to. 
and Josiah was 8 (2Kings 22:1) In 2Kings 23:25, we are told that there was no king like Josiah, ever, who turned to the Lord with all his heart, soul and being. 

The point Isaiah was making was that their rulers were weak, unmanly and they acted like little children. 

In verse 3:5, he says everyone will be about his own interests above anyone elses. They will all oppress each other, not just ignore or not care about, but they will all take advantage of each other in a ruthless way.




The children will be insolent and disrespectful. There will be no honor or respect for the elderly. Basically, he is telling them that the norms of society would fall apart. Notice::: God is giving us the signs of a society in trouble.

Verses 3:6-7, says, a man will lay hold of his brother because his clothes are in better condition than some around him. He tries to make him King. (he wanted to make him king because he wanted his brother to provide for him). It was the kings job to see that everyone had enough to eat and clothes to wear  In verse 3:6 the brother says No,  he protests with emotion,  I can't fix your problems, I can't be king because I have nothing to eat or wear either. I have nothing stored up.

3:8 "Jerusalem is ruined, Judah has fallen." this was spoken this way to convey the certainty of it happening . They have sinned with their tongues , their actions have provoked the "eyes of His glory" They knew He was always watching and they did not care.

3:9 In verse 9, Isaiah again uses Sodom as an example to them. He says they display their sin as Sodom did (a great insult). If you haven't read the story of Sodom yet, it is worth reading. (Gen 19:1-29) Once you understand the history of Sodom, you will understand  exactly what Isaiah is talking about. They had reached a very grave level of depravity.

In verse 3:12, Isaiah starts this verse with a lament, as if he is speaking the fear and loss he feels in his soul to himself, but out loud. "Their oppressors are children and women rule over them" What he is really saying is ; They are being oppressed by youths who are so unmanly that they still need their mothers to guide them. Then he addresses them directly. "O, my people! Those who guide you lead you astray, and confuse (literally; swallow up)  the direction of your paths." He was still trying to get the people to listen.

In verses 3:13-15, we see the great sin here. We see the sin that brings the almighty God to His feet!!! 
He is no longer sitting on His throne. He stands to judge the monarchy of the people of Israel . This is powerful, confrontational and serious. What Sin has brought Him to His feet? The oppression of the poor! 

Isaiah says; "it is you who have devoured up the vineyard" In Exodus 23:10-11 they were told to give the land a rest, once every 7 years so that the poor could eat  freely and the land could be refreshed. In 2Chron. 36:21, we find out that they never did give the land it's rest!!!  They were in exile for 70 years "until the land had enjoyed it's sabbaths"



side note!! Reread 2Kings 24:14, the end of it says " none remained except the poorest people of 
the land". Think about it, all the royal people, the rich people, the important people, were all gone. The fields, vineyards and olive groves were now left unattended. The lavish as well as the common homes, were now empty and their owners were gone. Some places would have been burned, but I'm sure, that there were still many, many things that the poorest of families would have rejoiced to have. Open fields to eat from, clothes and blankets and blessed shelter. It could have been a time of rejoicing for the poorest of people once everyone else was gone. GOD IS SO GOOD.....I think the end of  verse 3:14, can be taken 2 ways; "the plunder of the poor is in your houses"

 
 Back to chapter 3, verse 3:15, A standing, almighty God says to them "What do you mean by crushing My people, and grinding the face of the poor?" Read Exodus 22:22-27. The beautiful, loving heart of the Lord talks about how the people were to treat the poor. In those days many of the poor were widows and orphans. These were people with no husband or father to care for them.  In Exodus 22:22-27, the Lord also says what He will do to them if they are not kind to these people.

From verse 3:16 to the end of the chapter, Isaiah addresses the women.
In verse 3:16 the Lord said
 "Because the daughters of Zion are proud, (or like men)
And walk with out stretched necks and seductive eyes, and go along mincing steps (in a childish way) and tinkle the bangles on their feet". Because of these things, He says He will afflict them.

The point that Isaiah is making here is that the women were dressing and acting immodestly to attract the attention of men. 

One day while I was waiting for the school bus to arrive , I heard some one teaching on the radio. He was discussing the fact that "pretty" was dead. No girls want to be pretty anymore. Everyone wants to be "hot". His point was that "pretty" invokes a desire to protect innocence, while "hot" invokes just the opposite response, especially in men.    

 
Please don't miss the point!  The rest of this chapter is awesome because Isaiah details all the clothing, jewlery, head dresses, veils, perfume boxes they wore around their necks,  dangling earrings, mirrors, purses, finger rings, nose rings, undergarments and turbins! It's all so fascinating. He finishes by telling them that God is taking all that stuff away. He says they will smell bad and they are going to loose all of their precious treasures and be branded and bald. The men that they worked so hard to impress will be killed by the sword in battle and these grand ladies would be sitting in the dirt in deep grief.

Judea captured, note the Jewish woman sitting on the ground.

But the important thing to remember here  is... that in verse 3:16 the Lord said that all this would happen to them because of their proud, immodest ways. It does not please the Lord if a woman dresses to look "hot" or sexy. And, please look down at the beautiful little faces that look up at you and see your daughters as the women they will be. Teach them with these verses. The Lord is not pleased with the way our society encourages women to dress to be sexy. Help your daughters to avoid popular culture. Be very careful with the T.V. they watch and the music they listen to.

So, all you wonderful ladies,

Dress to please the KING OF KINGS, He is "faithful and true"(Rev.19:11)

This is an incredible chapter. We can see the things that brought their society to ruin and captivity.
I pray that we will all be changed forever by the study of this book! Keep reading your bible. Start chapter 4 if you haven't already. Read it as many times as you can. There will be about a week delay in the posting of chapter 4. I am going out of town with my husband for a few days.

God Bless all of you ladies. I am praying for all of you!
Love
Nancy
 

  



 

Isaiah chapter 2

Isaiah Chapter 2  doesn't seem to have any connection with chapter 1. It is another record of a vision that Isaiah saw. As we progress through the book, we will see chapters in this book that will actually record history for us. But much of this chapter is taken up with a prophetic vision involving the Millennium.

The Millennium is the word given to the thousand year reign of Christ upon the earth. It will be a time after, the anti-christ is revealed, and after, people will be required to choose or resist the mark of the beast. I will not go into too much detail about when and how this will all take place because many people disagree about the sequence of these events.  I would like to simply explore what a wonderful time it will be for all who claim Christ as savior.  

The Millennium is the time on earth when the "wolf will dwell with the lamb, the leopard will lay down with the kid, and the calf, the young lion and the fatling, and a little child will lead them" (Isaiah 11:6-9).

.. It is when the "They will hammer their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks" (Micah 4:3)..
This is long awaited time of "Peace on Earth"

           

It is the time that one of the most recognized scripture in the United States is describing, " For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; And the government shall rest upon His shoulders; And His name shall be called, Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal father, Prince of Peace " (Isaiah 9:6)..

It is a time when there will be peace on Earth. Most people Know about these ideas, especially at Christmas time and embrace them as wonderful ideas and wishful happenings but they have no idea where these ideas came from or that they are all attributed to the reign of Christ upon the earth during the Millennium. They do not know or understand that Christ needs to rule as king of their lives for them to be able to participate in these wonderful days.


In order to get a good mental picture of the millennium, we will have to look at scriptures scattered through out the old testament. It is kind of like a glorious puzzle that rewards us with a beautiful picture of our future with Jesus. 
The way that I'm going to explain this study is to write the verse and then list corresponding verses that support and clarify this information in Isaiah. The  verses may not include every verse that corresponds to the verse in Isaiah, but it will help clarify what the verse in Isaiah is talking about.
 

Chapter 2:2  Now, it will come about in the last days,
The mountain of the house of the Lord will be established as chief of the mountains, it will be raised above the hills; and all the nations will stream to it.
Read, Micah 4:1-4 (starts the same way) , Zech.14:3-4 and Zech. 2:10-11.

2:3-4 and many people will come and say, "come let us go up to the  mountain of the Lord, to the house 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, And He will judge between the nations, and will render decisions for many people, . And they will hammer their swords into plow shares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not lift up sword against nation, and never again will they learn war.(peace on earth)
Read; psalm 72:11, Zech. 2:10, and Micah 4:2-3 (these verses are very similar to this)


Here  in verse 2:5, we leave off the millennium for a little while, but there are so many more fascinating scripture passages that deal with the 1000 year reign of Christ on the earth. Here are a few if you want to do further reading on the subject. 
Ezekiel chapters 40-48 are a detailed description of the temple that will stand in Jerusalem during the millennium. It will literally be the Lord's house. There will be no Holy of Holies because the Lord will finally be dwelling in His house. There will be animal sacrifices again.  And precious water will flow from the new temple (Ezek.43) This water is also mentioned in Zech. 14:8. It is amazing and fascinating reading. Also, Zech. 14 is incredible. You get a real sense of God's heart for us and the promises of that wonderful time.




Ok, so back to Isaiah chapter 2. In verse 2:6 he Tells them that the Lord has abandoned them because they are filled with the influences from the east, and they were involved in getting predictions about the future like the Philistines. We have a brief mention of the Philistine diviners in 1Sam. 6:2. We know that Uzziah conquered 3 of the Philistine cities, (2Chron. 26:6) which put the Israelites  in closer contact with the Philistines.** Apparently the Philistines had a big influence on them instead of the other way around. **

 Verse 2:7 speaks of the land being filled with silver, gold and horses. This verse is the Lord expressing His distaste of luxurious, ostentatious living. They had been warned in  Duet. 17:16-17  not to multiply silver and gold, wives or horses  to themselves. The Lord knew that they would have to bargain and become friendly with other nations to get these things and in the natural progression of man, they would adopt the ways of these foreign people.



Verse 2:8 says that their land was full of idols and they worshiped the work of their hands, that which their fingers had made. This verse is interesting because both  kings, Uzziah and Jotham, forbade idol worship and and maintained the worship of Jehovah (2Kings 15:34) but idol worship continued on the high places and in the peoples hearts.

In verses 2:10-11 He tells them to enter the rocks, hide in caves from the terror of the Lord. There will be a humbling of man in that day. He was warning them.

The Isrealites were very familiar with this idea of hiding in caves. They had hidden in caves many times when they were oppressed by their enemies (judges 6:2, 1sam. 13:6, 22:1). As a matter of fact. There is a 5 acre, underground Limestone cavern that runs below the ancient part of the city, Jerusalem. It has been carved out over a period of thousands of years. 

 
   He is making a point when He told them to hide in the caves. He wanted them to understand that it was going to get bad for them. That, as in the past, He was going to bring judgement on them to the point of oppression and misery. 

Now that Isaiah has announced  that God is about to visit His people in anger, in verses 2:12-16, he starts to describe all of the things that His anger will be focused against. 
 

Cedars of Lebanon

 The day of the Lord will be against everyone and everything who is proud, lofty and lifted up. He says that the trees that they are so proud of , that are desired by the rich, and prized among the people, will be destroyed (2:23). These trees were a source of pride to the Israelites. Solomon used them to build the temple (1Kings 5:9-10) . The wood from these trees is mentioned in  the scripture mourning the destruction of Tyre in Ezekiel 27:5-6. In Isaiah 37:24, we read of the words of Sennacherib as he brags about cutting down their beloved trees.

In verse 2:14 he says His anger will be against the lofty mountains, against all the hills that are valued by the people of Israel. This is amazing. The mountains and high places were very important to them. Read Chapter 19 of the book of Exodus, and take special note of the importance of the mountains in that chapter.
 Also, as a side note...Solomon built the Temple for the god Chemosh on a mountain to please his foreign wives (1Kings 11:7).  Worship of the god Chemosh involved putting their little children through fire.

Verse 2:15 says against the towers and fortified walls. King Uzziah and King Jotham, were big builders and built many fortified towers  (2nd Chron 26:9-10, 27:4).  Their trust was not in God, but in their towers. Which of course, could not save them from the judgment of God.
 

 This brings up a very important question for all of us, are we wisely preparing for our future or are we trusting in our own strength?

Verse 2:16 God is still listing, in great detail, all of the ways that His children have disappointed Him. These are not lofty metaphors, it is an actual list of things they treasured, trusted in and idolized.

He was going to act against their fleet of ships. The biggest and most powerful of the fleet.

According to Eerdmans, the "ships of Tarshish", were originally ships built to withstand the trip to Tarshish, which was especially long and dangerous. Ezekiel 27:25 talks about these ships. In 2nd Kings 14:22, it says Uzziah built "Elath" (Errdaman's says : should say "rebuilt") . Elath was a massive ship taken from Edom. Ist Kings 22:48, says that it remained with the Jews until the reign of Ahaz and then it was taken by Rezin and given back to Edom. Their fleet of  big ships was a source of pride and security for them


The second part of this verse is very interesting, "And against all the beautiful craft". Eerdmans says that this is referring to the beautiful things that they decorated their homes and palaces with. Wall mosaics and paintings, carvings and beautiful pottery.




Verse 2:17, all the things that man takes pride in, including himself, will be humbled before the mighty God.
In verse 2:18, He is referring to idols they worshiped being wiped away in every way, physically and from their hearts.

Then in verse  2:19, He brings them back to the original thought starting in verse 2:10 That things will be so bad for them that they will once again be desperate enough to go into hiding in their caves. He again talks of their idols and possessions  becoming worthless to them and how they will  cast them away for the privilege of making it into the caves alive. The Lord will again take center stage in their thoughts as they witness His awesome power and judgement.

Verse 2:22 ends this chapter but it is obvious that this break in the text was not put there by Isaiah.
This verse is the beginning of sentence which starts chapter 3.

This verse has been very special to me since early in my Christianity. "STOP REGARDING MAN, WHOSE BREATH OF LIFE IS IN HIS NOSTRILS FOR WHY SHOULD HE BE ESTEEMED?"

wHy InDeeD? aNd YeT IsN't ThAt WhAt kEePS Us fROM sHaRiNg JeSuS WiTH aLl wHO NeEd TO hEaR. oUr WoRrY oF ofFeNdINg ThEM Or tHeM rEjEcTiNg us!!!!

We have to get over ourselves and them. Eternity is coming, we can't stop it or delay it. We are not in control and neither are they. They need Jesus above all things, even if they don't know it. The Holy Spirit is waiting to give us the power and the words. Pray for boldness. Pray to live out  verse 2:22!!

Ascribe strength to God;
His majesty is over Israel,
And His strength is in the skies.
O God, Thou art awesome from
Thy sanctuary,
The God of Israel Himself gives
strength and power to the people,
Blessed be God!
Psalm 68:34-35

Dear ladies, keep reading! Go on to chapter 3 and read it every day, over and over. The goal is to know Isaiah when we are finished. The ladies at church are going to help me come up with chapter remembering tools, until then, keep reading. I am praying for every one of you!

Love
Nancy