Do we have faith in God and His final plan, giving us joy in the midst of tribulation? Let’s begin in Isaiah 25.
Does God give us reason for joy even in the worst times of our lives?
O Yahweh [Lord], You are my God; I will exalt You, I will give thanks to Your name; For You have worked wonders, Counsels formed long ago, with perfect faithfulness. (Isa 25:1 LSB)
Is God fair, punishing nations justly for their atrocities? Will they repent and revere Him?
For You have turned a city into a heap, A fortified city into a ruin; A palace of strangers is no longer a city, It will never be rebuilt. Therefore a strong people will glorify You; Cities of ruthless nations will revere You. (Isa 25:2-3 NASB)
Does God care for the poor and needy in an uncaring and ruthless world?
You have been a refuge for the poor, a refuge for the needy in their distress, a shelter from the storm and a shade from the heat. For the breath of the ruthless is like a storm driving against a wall and like the heat of the desert. You silence the uproar of foreigners; as heat is reduced by the shadow of a cloud, so the song of the ruthless is stilled. (Isa 25:4-5 NIV)
In Mount Zion, the spiritual center of God’s kingdom, what will He do for all people, all nations?
And in this mountain The Lord of hosts will make for all people A feast of choice pieces, A feast of wines on the lees, Of fat things full of marrow, Of well-refined wines on the lees. And He will destroy on this mountain The surface of the covering cast over all people, And the veil that is spread over all nations. He will swallow up death forever, And the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces; The rebuke of His people He will take away from all the earth; For the Lord has spoken. (Isa 25:6-8 NKJV)
Is this salvation that God brings to all the people just a rescue in this life or eternal?
In that day the people will proclaim, “This is our God! We trusted in him, and he saved us! This is the Lord, in whom we trusted. Let us rejoice in the salvation he brings!” (Isa 25:9 NLT)
Will God rule from Mount Zion and reach out to the nations? Will proud nations, symbolized by Moab, be humbled?
For Yahweh’s hand will rest in this mountain. Moab will be trodden down in his place, even like straw is trodden down in the water of the dunghill. He will spread out his hands in the middle of it, like one who swims spreads out hands to swim, but his pride will be humbled together with the craft of his hands. He has brought the high fortress of your walls down, laid low, and brought to the ground, even to the dust. (Isa 25:10-12 WEB)
Does such praise in the midst of tribulation reveal faith in the final outcome?
He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more. There will be no mourning, crying, or pain anymore, for the former things have passed away. (Rev 21:4 CEB)
Do we have faith in God and His final plan, giving us joy in the midst of tribulation? You decide!
Great Tribulation (Isaiah 24)
Will the whole earth one day be shaken in judgment? Will we stay faithful to God? Let’s look at Isaiah 24.
After mentioning several specific nations, did God now expand his judgment to the whole earth?
Look! The Lord is about to destroy the earth and make it a vast wasteland. He devastates the surface of the earth and scatters the people. Priests and laypeople, servants and masters, maids and mistresses, buyers and sellers, lenders and borrowers, bankers and debtors—none will be spared. The earth will be completely emptied and looted. The Lord has spoken! (Isa 24:1-3 NLT)
Is our world polluted under its inhabitants? Does God punish humanity for its sins?
The earth mourns and fades away. The world languishes and fades away. The lofty people of the earth languish. The earth also is polluted under its inhabitants, because they have transgressed the laws, violated the statutes, and broken the everlasting covenant. Therefore the curse has devoured the earth, and those who dwell therein are found guilty. Therefore the inhabitants of the earth are burned, and few men are left. (Isa 24:4-6 WEB)
What fails in the world when God begins withdrawing His blessings?
The wine dries up; the vine withers; all the merry-hearted groan. The joyous tambourines have ceased; the roar of partiers has stopped; the joyous harp has ceased. No one drinks wine or sings; beer is bitter to its drinkers. The town is in chaos, broken; every house is shut, without entrance. There is a cry for wine in the streets. All joy has reached its dusk; happiness is exiled from the earth. Ruin remains in the city, and the gate is battered to wreckage. It will be like this in the central part of the land and among the peoples, like an olive tree that has been shaken, like remains from the grape harvest. (Isa 24:7-13 CEB)
Does a remnant from all over the world praise the Lord? Who is trustworthy?
People in the west shout; they joyfully praise the majesty of the Lord. And so, everyone in the east and those on the islands should praise the Lord, the God of Israel. From all over the world songs of praise are heard for the God of justice. But I feel awful, terribly miserable. Can anyone be trusted? So many are treacherous! (Isa 24:14-16 CEV)
Is the earth utterly broken and violently shaken under the weight of its sins?
Terror and the pit and the snare are upon you, O inhabitant of the earth! He who flees at the sound of the terror shall fall into the pit, and he who climbs out of the pit shall be caught in the snare. For the windows of heaven are opened, and the foundations of the earth tremble. The earth is utterly broken, the earth is split apart, the earth is violently shaken. The earth staggers like a drunken man; it sways like a hut; its transgression lies heavy upon it, and it falls, and will not rise again. (Isa 24:17-20 ESV)
What will happen to heaven and earth on that day when the Lord of Hosts will reign as king on Mount Zion?
On that day the Lord will punish the host of heaven above and kings of the earth below. They will be gathered together like prisoners in a pit. They will be confined to a dungeon; after many days they will be punished. The moon will be put to shame and the sun disgraced, because the Lord of Hosts will reign as king on Mount Zion in Jerusalem, and He will display His glory in the presence of His elders. (Isa 24:21-23 HCSB)
Will God once more shake heaven and earth together?
At that time his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, “Once more I will shake not only the earth but also heaven.” (Heb 12:26 ISV)
Could this be pointing to a time just before the return of Jesus Christ?
For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened. (Mat 24:21-22 KJV)
Will the whole earth one day be shaken in judgment? Will we stay faithful to God? You decide!
After mentioning several specific nations, did God now expand his judgment to the whole earth?
Look! The Lord is about to destroy the earth and make it a vast wasteland. He devastates the surface of the earth and scatters the people. Priests and laypeople, servants and masters, maids and mistresses, buyers and sellers, lenders and borrowers, bankers and debtors—none will be spared. The earth will be completely emptied and looted. The Lord has spoken! (Isa 24:1-3 NLT)
Is our world polluted under its inhabitants? Does God punish humanity for its sins?
The earth mourns and fades away. The world languishes and fades away. The lofty people of the earth languish. The earth also is polluted under its inhabitants, because they have transgressed the laws, violated the statutes, and broken the everlasting covenant. Therefore the curse has devoured the earth, and those who dwell therein are found guilty. Therefore the inhabitants of the earth are burned, and few men are left. (Isa 24:4-6 WEB)
What fails in the world when God begins withdrawing His blessings?
The wine dries up; the vine withers; all the merry-hearted groan. The joyous tambourines have ceased; the roar of partiers has stopped; the joyous harp has ceased. No one drinks wine or sings; beer is bitter to its drinkers. The town is in chaos, broken; every house is shut, without entrance. There is a cry for wine in the streets. All joy has reached its dusk; happiness is exiled from the earth. Ruin remains in the city, and the gate is battered to wreckage. It will be like this in the central part of the land and among the peoples, like an olive tree that has been shaken, like remains from the grape harvest. (Isa 24:7-13 CEB)
Does a remnant from all over the world praise the Lord? Who is trustworthy?
People in the west shout; they joyfully praise the majesty of the Lord. And so, everyone in the east and those on the islands should praise the Lord, the God of Israel. From all over the world songs of praise are heard for the God of justice. But I feel awful, terribly miserable. Can anyone be trusted? So many are treacherous! (Isa 24:14-16 CEV)
Is the earth utterly broken and violently shaken under the weight of its sins?
Terror and the pit and the snare are upon you, O inhabitant of the earth! He who flees at the sound of the terror shall fall into the pit, and he who climbs out of the pit shall be caught in the snare. For the windows of heaven are opened, and the foundations of the earth tremble. The earth is utterly broken, the earth is split apart, the earth is violently shaken. The earth staggers like a drunken man; it sways like a hut; its transgression lies heavy upon it, and it falls, and will not rise again. (Isa 24:17-20 ESV)
What will happen to heaven and earth on that day when the Lord of Hosts will reign as king on Mount Zion?
On that day the Lord will punish the host of heaven above and kings of the earth below. They will be gathered together like prisoners in a pit. They will be confined to a dungeon; after many days they will be punished. The moon will be put to shame and the sun disgraced, because the Lord of Hosts will reign as king on Mount Zion in Jerusalem, and He will display His glory in the presence of His elders. (Isa 24:21-23 HCSB)
Will God once more shake heaven and earth together?
At that time his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, “Once more I will shake not only the earth but also heaven.” (Heb 12:26 ISV)
Could this be pointing to a time just before the return of Jesus Christ?
For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened. (Mat 24:21-22 KJV)
Will the whole earth one day be shaken in judgment? Will we stay faithful to God? You decide!
National Pride (Isaiah 23)
Is a nation’s wealth quickly gone if God so decides? Can God humble a proud nation and lead it to repentance? Let’s begin in Isaiah 23.
Does Isaiah prophesy the destruction of the Phoenician cities of Tyre and Sidon, along the south coast of today’s Lebanon?
A message concerning Tyre. “Wail, you ships of Tarshish, for Tyre is destroyed and is without house or harbor! From the land of Cyprus [Kittim] it was revealed to them. “Be silent, you inhabitants of the coast, you merchants of Sidon, whose messengers crossed over the sea, and were on mighty waters. Her revenue was the grain of Shihor, the harvest of the Nile; and she became the marketplace of nations. (Isa 23:1-3 ISV)
Would Egypt suffer loss of trade from these two now condemned cities?
Be thou ashamed, O Zidon: for the sea hath spoken, even the strength of the sea, saying, I travail not, nor bring forth children, neither do I nourish up young men, nor bring up virgins. As at the report concerning Egypt, so shall they be sorely pained at the report of Tyre. Pass ye over to Tarshish; howl, ye inhabitants of the isle. Is this your joyous city, whose antiquity is of ancient days? her own feet shall carry her afar off to sojourn. (Isa 23:4-7 KJV)
Who is responsible for this punishment of Tyre? Tarshish is a Mediterranean power variously speculated to be headquartered in Spain, Sardinia, Tunis or southern Turkey.
Who has counseled this against Tyre, the bestower of crowns, Whose merchants were princes, whose traders were the honored of the earth? Yahweh of hosts has counseled it, to defile the pride of all beauty, To make contemptuous all the honored of the earth. Overflow your land like the Nile, O daughter of Tarshish; There is no more restraint. He has stretched His hand out over the sea; He has made the kingdoms tremble; Yahweh has given a command concerning Canaan to demolish its strong defenses. (Isa 23:8-11 LSB)
Will God destroy their strongholds like Assyria caused Babylon, the land of the Chaldeans, to exist no more?
He has said, “You shall not be jubilant anymore, you crushed virgin daughter of Sidon. Arise, pass over to Cyprus; even there you will find no rest.” Behold, the land of the Chaldeans—this is the people that did not exist; Assyria allocated it for desert creatures—they erected their siege towers, they stripped its palaces, they made it a ruin. Wail, you ships of Tarshish, For your stronghold is destroyed. (Isa 23:12-14 NASB)
Is this a prophecy of Tyre being diminished during the 70 year Babylonian era? Would her material wealth eventually be dedicated to God?
At that time Tyre will be forgotten for seventy years, the span of a king’s life. But at the end of these seventy years, it will happen to Tyre as in the song of the prostitute: “Take up a harp, walk through the city, you forgotten prostitute; play the harp well, sing many a song, so that you will be remembered.” At the end of seventy years, the Lord will deal with Tyre. She will return to her lucrative prostitution and will ply her trade with all the kingdoms on the face of the earth. Yet her profit and her earnings will be set apart for the Lord; they will not be stored up or hoarded. Her profits will go to those who live before the Lord, for abundant food and fine clothes. (Isa 23:15-18 NIV)
Is love of neighbor different from national pride? What does God do with the proud?
But He gives more grace. Therefore He says: “God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble.” (James 4:6 NKJV)
Is a nation’s wealth quickly gone if God so decides? Can God humble a proud nation and lead it to repentance? You decide!
Does Isaiah prophesy the destruction of the Phoenician cities of Tyre and Sidon, along the south coast of today’s Lebanon?
A message concerning Tyre. “Wail, you ships of Tarshish, for Tyre is destroyed and is without house or harbor! From the land of Cyprus [Kittim] it was revealed to them. “Be silent, you inhabitants of the coast, you merchants of Sidon, whose messengers crossed over the sea, and were on mighty waters. Her revenue was the grain of Shihor, the harvest of the Nile; and she became the marketplace of nations. (Isa 23:1-3 ISV)
Would Egypt suffer loss of trade from these two now condemned cities?
Be thou ashamed, O Zidon: for the sea hath spoken, even the strength of the sea, saying, I travail not, nor bring forth children, neither do I nourish up young men, nor bring up virgins. As at the report concerning Egypt, so shall they be sorely pained at the report of Tyre. Pass ye over to Tarshish; howl, ye inhabitants of the isle. Is this your joyous city, whose antiquity is of ancient days? her own feet shall carry her afar off to sojourn. (Isa 23:4-7 KJV)
Who is responsible for this punishment of Tyre? Tarshish is a Mediterranean power variously speculated to be headquartered in Spain, Sardinia, Tunis or southern Turkey.
Who has counseled this against Tyre, the bestower of crowns, Whose merchants were princes, whose traders were the honored of the earth? Yahweh of hosts has counseled it, to defile the pride of all beauty, To make contemptuous all the honored of the earth. Overflow your land like the Nile, O daughter of Tarshish; There is no more restraint. He has stretched His hand out over the sea; He has made the kingdoms tremble; Yahweh has given a command concerning Canaan to demolish its strong defenses. (Isa 23:8-11 LSB)
Will God destroy their strongholds like Assyria caused Babylon, the land of the Chaldeans, to exist no more?
He has said, “You shall not be jubilant anymore, you crushed virgin daughter of Sidon. Arise, pass over to Cyprus; even there you will find no rest.” Behold, the land of the Chaldeans—this is the people that did not exist; Assyria allocated it for desert creatures—they erected their siege towers, they stripped its palaces, they made it a ruin. Wail, you ships of Tarshish, For your stronghold is destroyed. (Isa 23:12-14 NASB)
Is this a prophecy of Tyre being diminished during the 70 year Babylonian era? Would her material wealth eventually be dedicated to God?
At that time Tyre will be forgotten for seventy years, the span of a king’s life. But at the end of these seventy years, it will happen to Tyre as in the song of the prostitute: “Take up a harp, walk through the city, you forgotten prostitute; play the harp well, sing many a song, so that you will be remembered.” At the end of seventy years, the Lord will deal with Tyre. She will return to her lucrative prostitution and will ply her trade with all the kingdoms on the face of the earth. Yet her profit and her earnings will be set apart for the Lord; they will not be stored up or hoarded. Her profits will go to those who live before the Lord, for abundant food and fine clothes. (Isa 23:15-18 NIV)
Is love of neighbor different from national pride? What does God do with the proud?
But He gives more grace. Therefore He says: “God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble.” (James 4:6 NKJV)
Is a nation’s wealth quickly gone if God so decides? Can God humble a proud nation and lead it to repentance? You decide!
Feast or Fast (Isaiah 22)
As Assyria threatened Jerusalem, did God install a man who saw Him as the answer, not human efforts? Do we rely on weak politics and our military or God? Let’s look at Isaiah 22.
Why is Jerusalem called the Valley of Vision? Had Mount Zion become a spiritual valley, yet even in that fallen condition, did God provide a vision, a warning? Had all Jerusalem’s leaders fled and did its citizens party while Assyrian armies threatened? Did Isaiah weep?
This message came to me concerning Jerusalem—the Valley of Vision: What is happening? Why is everyone running to the rooftops? The whole city is in a terrible uproar. What do I see in this reveling city? Bodies are lying everywhere, killed not in battle but by famine and disease. All your leaders have fled. They surrendered without resistance. The people tried to slip away, but they were captured, too. That’s why I said, “Leave me alone to weep; do not try to comfort me. Let me cry for my people as I watch them being destroyed.” (Isa 22:1-4 NLT)
Did the people of Jerusalem, while under siege turn to God, or various human solutions like diverting spring water into the city and strengthening defensive walls? Do we likewise look to weak politics and our military rather than God?
For it is a day of confusion, and of treading down, and of perplexity from the Lord, Yahweh of Armies, in the valley of vision, a breaking down of the walls, and a crying to the mountains.” Elam [east of the Tigris River] carried his quiver, with chariots of men and horsemen; and Kir [a fort in Assyria] uncovered the shield. Your choicest valleys were full of chariots, and the horsemen set themselves in array at the gate. He took away the covering of Judah; and you looked in that day to the armor in the house of the forest. You saw the breaches of David’s city, that they were many; and you gathered together the waters of the lower pool. You counted the houses of Jerusalem, and you broke down the houses to fortify the wall. You also made a reservoir between the two walls for the water of the old pool. But you didn’t look to him who had done this, neither did you have respect for him who planned it long ago. (Isa 22:5-11 WEB)
Instead of turning to God, did the citizens just party, feast instead of fast? Is there a similar attitude today?
The Lord God of heavenly forces called on that day for weeping and mourning, and shaven heads, and wearing of mourning clothes. But instead there was fun and frivolity, killing of cattle and slaughtering of sheep, eating of meat and drinking of wine: “Eat and drink! Tomorrow we will die!” But the Lord of heavenly forces has revealed in my hearing: This iniquity won’t be forgiven you until you die, says the Lord God of heavenly forces. (Isa 22:12-14 CEB)
What message did God give to the then current political leader, Shebna? Was God about to fire him?
The Lord All-Powerful is sending me with this message for Shebna, the prime minister: Shebna, what gives you the right to have a tomb carved out of rock in this burial place of royalty? None of your relatives are buried here. You may be powerful, but the Lord is about to snatch you up and throw you away. He will roll you into a ball and throw you into a wide open country, where you will die and your chariots will be destroyed. You're a disgrace to those you serve. The Lord is going to take away your job! (Isa 22:15-19 CEV)
Who did God appoint in place of Shebna, in charge of the palace after the king fled? Could this also be a prophecy of a later descendant of David?
In that day I will call my servant Eliakim [God of raising] the son of Hilkiah [my portion is Yah], and I will clothe him with your robe, and will bind your sash on him, and will commit your authority to his hand. And he shall be a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and to the house of Judah. And I will place on his shoulder the key of the house of David. He shall open, and none shall shut; and he shall shut, and none shall open. And I will fasten him like a peg in a secure place, and he will become a throne of honor to his father's house. And they will hang on him the whole honor of his father's house, the offspring and issue, every small vessel, from the cups to all the flagons. In that day, declares the Lord of hosts, the peg that was fastened in a secure place will give way, and it will be cut down and fall, and the load that was on it will be cut off, for the Lord has spoken.” (Isa 22:20-25 ESV)
Is someone else cited as having the key of the house of David, who opens and no one will close, and closes and no one opens? Is it Jesus or Peter?
“Write to the angel of the church in Philadelphia: “The Holy One, the True One, the One who has the key of David, who opens and no one will close, and closes and no one opens says: I know your works. Because you have limited strength, have kept My word, and have not denied My name, look, I have placed before you an open door that no one is able to close. (Rev 3:7-8 HCSB)
As Assyria threatened Jerusalem, did God install a man who saw Him as the answer, not human efforts? Do we rely on weak politics and our military or God? You decide!
Why is Jerusalem called the Valley of Vision? Had Mount Zion become a spiritual valley, yet even in that fallen condition, did God provide a vision, a warning? Had all Jerusalem’s leaders fled and did its citizens party while Assyrian armies threatened? Did Isaiah weep?
This message came to me concerning Jerusalem—the Valley of Vision: What is happening? Why is everyone running to the rooftops? The whole city is in a terrible uproar. What do I see in this reveling city? Bodies are lying everywhere, killed not in battle but by famine and disease. All your leaders have fled. They surrendered without resistance. The people tried to slip away, but they were captured, too. That’s why I said, “Leave me alone to weep; do not try to comfort me. Let me cry for my people as I watch them being destroyed.” (Isa 22:1-4 NLT)
Did the people of Jerusalem, while under siege turn to God, or various human solutions like diverting spring water into the city and strengthening defensive walls? Do we likewise look to weak politics and our military rather than God?
For it is a day of confusion, and of treading down, and of perplexity from the Lord, Yahweh of Armies, in the valley of vision, a breaking down of the walls, and a crying to the mountains.” Elam [east of the Tigris River] carried his quiver, with chariots of men and horsemen; and Kir [a fort in Assyria] uncovered the shield. Your choicest valleys were full of chariots, and the horsemen set themselves in array at the gate. He took away the covering of Judah; and you looked in that day to the armor in the house of the forest. You saw the breaches of David’s city, that they were many; and you gathered together the waters of the lower pool. You counted the houses of Jerusalem, and you broke down the houses to fortify the wall. You also made a reservoir between the two walls for the water of the old pool. But you didn’t look to him who had done this, neither did you have respect for him who planned it long ago. (Isa 22:5-11 WEB)
Instead of turning to God, did the citizens just party, feast instead of fast? Is there a similar attitude today?
The Lord God of heavenly forces called on that day for weeping and mourning, and shaven heads, and wearing of mourning clothes. But instead there was fun and frivolity, killing of cattle and slaughtering of sheep, eating of meat and drinking of wine: “Eat and drink! Tomorrow we will die!” But the Lord of heavenly forces has revealed in my hearing: This iniquity won’t be forgiven you until you die, says the Lord God of heavenly forces. (Isa 22:12-14 CEB)
What message did God give to the then current political leader, Shebna? Was God about to fire him?
The Lord All-Powerful is sending me with this message for Shebna, the prime minister: Shebna, what gives you the right to have a tomb carved out of rock in this burial place of royalty? None of your relatives are buried here. You may be powerful, but the Lord is about to snatch you up and throw you away. He will roll you into a ball and throw you into a wide open country, where you will die and your chariots will be destroyed. You're a disgrace to those you serve. The Lord is going to take away your job! (Isa 22:15-19 CEV)
Who did God appoint in place of Shebna, in charge of the palace after the king fled? Could this also be a prophecy of a later descendant of David?
In that day I will call my servant Eliakim [God of raising] the son of Hilkiah [my portion is Yah], and I will clothe him with your robe, and will bind your sash on him, and will commit your authority to his hand. And he shall be a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and to the house of Judah. And I will place on his shoulder the key of the house of David. He shall open, and none shall shut; and he shall shut, and none shall open. And I will fasten him like a peg in a secure place, and he will become a throne of honor to his father's house. And they will hang on him the whole honor of his father's house, the offspring and issue, every small vessel, from the cups to all the flagons. In that day, declares the Lord of hosts, the peg that was fastened in a secure place will give way, and it will be cut down and fall, and the load that was on it will be cut off, for the Lord has spoken.” (Isa 22:20-25 ESV)
Is someone else cited as having the key of the house of David, who opens and no one will close, and closes and no one opens? Is it Jesus or Peter?
“Write to the angel of the church in Philadelphia: “The Holy One, the True One, the One who has the key of David, who opens and no one will close, and closes and no one opens says: I know your works. Because you have limited strength, have kept My word, and have not denied My name, look, I have placed before you an open door that no one is able to close. (Rev 3:7-8 HCSB)
As Assyria threatened Jerusalem, did God install a man who saw Him as the answer, not human efforts? Do we rely on weak politics and our military or God? You decide!
Babylon Fallen (Isaiah 21)
Does the fall of ancient Babylon echo the fall of a modern Babylon? Does it affect other nations? Do we worship the splendor of Babylon or God? Let’s look at Isaiah 21.
Are commentators correct, who seem to agree that the desert of the sea refers to the waters of Babylon, a marshy, often flooded plain? Is this a prophecy regarding Persians (Elam and the Medes) from the desert who later conquered Babylon, like a whirlwind from the Negev Desert?
The oracle concerning the wilderness of the sea. As whirlwinds in the Negeb sweep on, it comes from the wilderness, from a terrible land. A stern vision is told to me; the traitor betrays, and the destroyer destroys. Go up, O Elam; lay siege, O Media; all the sighing she has caused I bring to an end. (Isa 21:1-2 ESV)
Is Isaiah terrified as he realizes that God has given him a prophecy of Babylon’s destruction?
Therefore I am filled with anguish. Pain grips me, like the pain of a woman in labor. I am too perplexed to hear, too dismayed to see. My heart staggers; horror terrifies me. He has turned my last glimmer of hope into sheer terror. Prepare a table, and spread out a carpet! Eat and drink! Rise up, you princes, and oil the shields! (Isa 21:3-5 HCSB)
What did God tell Isaiah? What was the lookout to do?
For this is what the Lord told me: “Go post a lookout. Have him report what he sees. When he sees chariots, each man with a pair of horses, riders on donkeys or riders on camels, let him pay attention, full attention.” (Isa 21:6-7 ISV)
What was this all about? Who did Isaiah finally say was fallen?
And he cried, A lion: My lord, I stand continually upon the watchtower in the daytime, and I am set in my ward whole nights: And, behold, here cometh a chariot of men, with a couple of horsemen. And he answered and said, Babylon is fallen, is fallen; and all the graven images of her gods he hath broken unto the ground. O my threshing, and the corn of my floor: that which I have heard of the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, have I declared unto you. (Isa 21:8-10 KJV)
Does this affect the nations around Israel like Edom and their mountains?
The oracle concerning Dumah [Idumea, Edom, south of the Dead Sea]. One keeps calling to me from Seir [the mountains of Edom], “Watchman, how far gone is the night? Watchman, how far gone is the night?” The watchman says, “Morning comes but also night. If you would inquire, inquire; Come back again.” (Isa 21:11-12 LSB)
Does this also affect other nations around Israel like Arabia?
The pronouncement about Arabia: In the thickets of Arabia you must spend the night, You caravans of Dedanites [descendants of Abraham via Keturah]. Bring water for the thirsty, You inhabitants of the land of Tema [one of the twelve sons of Ishmael]; Meet the fugitive with bread. For they have fled from the swords, From the drawn sword, and from the bent bow, And from the press of battle. (Isa 21:13-15 NASB)
Does this prophecy also affect other peoples around Israel like the Bedouins?
This is what the Lord says to me: “Within one year, as a servant bound by contract would count it, all the splendor of Kedar [the second son of Ishmael, bedouins] will come to an end. The survivors of the archers, the warriors of Kedar, will be few.” The Lord, the God of Israel, has spoken. (Isa 21:16-17 NIV)
Does this ancient prophecy foreshadow the fall of an apocalyptic Babylon?
And another angel followed, saying, “Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she has made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.” (Rev 14:8 NKJV)
Does the fall of ancient Babylon echo the fall of a modern Babylon? Does it affect other nations? Do we worship the splendor of Babylon or God? You decide!
Are commentators correct, who seem to agree that the desert of the sea refers to the waters of Babylon, a marshy, often flooded plain? Is this a prophecy regarding Persians (Elam and the Medes) from the desert who later conquered Babylon, like a whirlwind from the Negev Desert?
The oracle concerning the wilderness of the sea. As whirlwinds in the Negeb sweep on, it comes from the wilderness, from a terrible land. A stern vision is told to me; the traitor betrays, and the destroyer destroys. Go up, O Elam; lay siege, O Media; all the sighing she has caused I bring to an end. (Isa 21:1-2 ESV)
Is Isaiah terrified as he realizes that God has given him a prophecy of Babylon’s destruction?
Therefore I am filled with anguish. Pain grips me, like the pain of a woman in labor. I am too perplexed to hear, too dismayed to see. My heart staggers; horror terrifies me. He has turned my last glimmer of hope into sheer terror. Prepare a table, and spread out a carpet! Eat and drink! Rise up, you princes, and oil the shields! (Isa 21:3-5 HCSB)
What did God tell Isaiah? What was the lookout to do?
For this is what the Lord told me: “Go post a lookout. Have him report what he sees. When he sees chariots, each man with a pair of horses, riders on donkeys or riders on camels, let him pay attention, full attention.” (Isa 21:6-7 ISV)
What was this all about? Who did Isaiah finally say was fallen?
And he cried, A lion: My lord, I stand continually upon the watchtower in the daytime, and I am set in my ward whole nights: And, behold, here cometh a chariot of men, with a couple of horsemen. And he answered and said, Babylon is fallen, is fallen; and all the graven images of her gods he hath broken unto the ground. O my threshing, and the corn of my floor: that which I have heard of the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, have I declared unto you. (Isa 21:8-10 KJV)
Does this affect the nations around Israel like Edom and their mountains?
The oracle concerning Dumah [Idumea, Edom, south of the Dead Sea]. One keeps calling to me from Seir [the mountains of Edom], “Watchman, how far gone is the night? Watchman, how far gone is the night?” The watchman says, “Morning comes but also night. If you would inquire, inquire; Come back again.” (Isa 21:11-12 LSB)
Does this also affect other nations around Israel like Arabia?
The pronouncement about Arabia: In the thickets of Arabia you must spend the night, You caravans of Dedanites [descendants of Abraham via Keturah]. Bring water for the thirsty, You inhabitants of the land of Tema [one of the twelve sons of Ishmael]; Meet the fugitive with bread. For they have fled from the swords, From the drawn sword, and from the bent bow, And from the press of battle. (Isa 21:13-15 NASB)
Does this prophecy also affect other peoples around Israel like the Bedouins?
This is what the Lord says to me: “Within one year, as a servant bound by contract would count it, all the splendor of Kedar [the second son of Ishmael, bedouins] will come to an end. The survivors of the archers, the warriors of Kedar, will be few.” The Lord, the God of Israel, has spoken. (Isa 21:16-17 NIV)
Does this ancient prophecy foreshadow the fall of an apocalyptic Babylon?
And another angel followed, saying, “Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she has made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.” (Rev 14:8 NKJV)
Does the fall of ancient Babylon echo the fall of a modern Babylon? Does it affect other nations? Do we worship the splendor of Babylon or God? You decide!
Egypt & Cush (Isaiah 20)
Does this prophecy of Egypt and Cush affirm the foolishness of trusting in alliances instead of God? Did Christianity spread further than the Coptic Christianity of Egypt and Sudan, and the Orthodox Christianity of Ethiopia, south of the Sahara and across Africa? Let’s look at Isaiah 20.
Did God tell Isaiah to walk around barefoot, stripped to his loin cloth?
In the year when King Sargon of Assyria sent his commander in chief to capture the Philistine city of Ashdod, the Lord told Isaiah son of Amoz, “Take off the burlap you have been wearing, and remove your sandals.” Isaiah did as he was told and walked around naked and barefoot. (Isa 20:1-2 NLT)
Was Isaiah’s nakedness a sign to the people of Egypt, Sudan and northern Ethiopia? Is there a modern application?
Yahweh said, “As my servant Isaiah has walked naked and barefoot three years for a sign and a wonder concerning Egypt and concerning Ethiopia [Cush], so the king of Assyria will lead away the captives of Egypt and the exiles of Ethiopia, young and old, naked and barefoot, and with buttocks uncovered, to the shame of Egypt. (Isa 20:3-4 WEB)
Who can save Egypt, Cush or Judah on the coast from Assyria, only God?
They will be shattered and shamed because of Cush their hope, and because of Egypt their glory. “On that day, those who live on this coast will say, ‘Look at those in whom we had hoped, to whom we fled for help and rescue from the king of Assyria. How then will we escape?’” (Isa 20:5-6 CEB)
Who was the first from that region to believe in Jesus and be baptized?
An important Ethiopian official happened to be going along that road in his chariot. He was the chief treasurer for Candace, the Queen of Ethiopia. … Then they both went down into the water, and Philip baptized him. After they had come out of the water, the Lord's Spirit took Philip away. The official never saw him again, but he was very happy as he went on his way. (Acts 8:27b, 38b-39 CEV)
Does this prophecy of Egypt and Cush affirm the foolishness of trusting in alliances instead of God? Did Christianity spread further than the Coptic Christianity of Egypt and Sudan, and the Orthodox Christianity of Ethiopia, south of the Sahara and across Africa? You decide!
Did God tell Isaiah to walk around barefoot, stripped to his loin cloth?
In the year when King Sargon of Assyria sent his commander in chief to capture the Philistine city of Ashdod, the Lord told Isaiah son of Amoz, “Take off the burlap you have been wearing, and remove your sandals.” Isaiah did as he was told and walked around naked and barefoot. (Isa 20:1-2 NLT)
Was Isaiah’s nakedness a sign to the people of Egypt, Sudan and northern Ethiopia? Is there a modern application?
Yahweh said, “As my servant Isaiah has walked naked and barefoot three years for a sign and a wonder concerning Egypt and concerning Ethiopia [Cush], so the king of Assyria will lead away the captives of Egypt and the exiles of Ethiopia, young and old, naked and barefoot, and with buttocks uncovered, to the shame of Egypt. (Isa 20:3-4 WEB)
Who can save Egypt, Cush or Judah on the coast from Assyria, only God?
They will be shattered and shamed because of Cush their hope, and because of Egypt their glory. “On that day, those who live on this coast will say, ‘Look at those in whom we had hoped, to whom we fled for help and rescue from the king of Assyria. How then will we escape?’” (Isa 20:5-6 CEB)
Who was the first from that region to believe in Jesus and be baptized?
An important Ethiopian official happened to be going along that road in his chariot. He was the chief treasurer for Candace, the Queen of Ethiopia. … Then they both went down into the water, and Philip baptized him. After they had come out of the water, the Lord's Spirit took Philip away. The official never saw him again, but he was very happy as he went on his way. (Acts 8:27b, 38b-39 CEV)
Does this prophecy of Egypt and Cush affirm the foolishness of trusting in alliances instead of God? Did Christianity spread further than the Coptic Christianity of Egypt and Sudan, and the Orthodox Christianity of Ethiopia, south of the Sahara and across Africa? You decide!
Egypt (Isaiah 19)
Can historic enemies turn to the Lord and reconcile? Is this part of God’s ultimate plan? Let’s begin in Isaiah 19.
Will Egypt become confounded by civil war and a harsh dictatorship?
An oracle [burden, prophecy] concerning Egypt. Behold, the Lord is riding on a swift cloud and comes to Egypt; and the idols of Egypt will tremble at his presence, and the heart of the Egyptians will melt within them. And I will stir up Egyptians against Egyptians, and they will fight, each against another and each against his neighbor, city against city, kingdom against kingdom; and the spirit of the Egyptians within them will be emptied out, and I will confound their counsel; and they will inquire of the idols and the sorcerers, and the mediums and the necromancers; and I will give over the Egyptians into the hand of a hard master, and a fierce king will rule over them, declares the Lord God of hosts. (Isa 19:1-4 ESV)
Will Egypt’s national dependence on the river for crops and fishing be severely tested?
The waters of the sea will dry up, and the river will be parched and dry. The channels will stink; they will dwindle, and Egypt’s canals will be parched. Reed and rush will die. The reeds by the Nile, by the mouth of the river, and all the cultivated areas of the Nile will wither, blow away, and vanish. Then the fishermen will mourn. All those who cast hooks into the Nile will lament, and those who spread nets on the water will shrivel up. Those who work with flax will be dismayed; the combers and weavers will turn pale. Egypt’s weavers will be dejected; all her wage earners will be demoralized. (Isa 19:5-10 HCSB)
Did Zoan, the ancient Egyptian capital city on the Nile delta, contain foolish leaders? Did other national leaders in Memphis, an administrative and religious hub, also lead Egypt astray?
Zoan’s princes are nothing but fools; the wisest advisors of Pharaoh give stupid advice. How can you say to Pharaoh, “I’m a descendant of wise men, a descendant of ancient kings”? Where are your wise men now? Let them tell you, let them make known what the Lord has planned against Egypt. The princes of Zoan have become fools, and the princes of Memphis deluded; the leaders of its tribes have led Egypt astray. The Lord has mixed within them a spirit of confusion; so they make Egypt stagger in all that it does, like a drunkard staggers around in his vomit. As a result, there will be nothing for Egypt that head or tail, palm branch or reed, can do. (Isa 19:11-15 ISV)
Does Egypt become fearful, afraid when anyone even mentions the land of Judah?
In that day shall Egypt be like unto women: and it shall be afraid and fear because of the shaking of the hand of the Lord of hosts, which he shaketh over it. And the land of Judah shall be a terror unto Egypt, every one that maketh mention thereof shall be afraid in himself, because of the counsel of the Lord of hosts, which he hath determined against it. (Isa 19:16-17 KJV)
How can God smiting a nation lead to its healing? Do some Egyptian cities adopt the language of Canaan and worship the Lord?
In that day five cities in the land of Egypt will be speaking the language of Canaan and swearing allegiance to Yahweh of hosts; one will be called the City of Destruction. In that day there will be an altar to Yahweh in the midst of the land of Egypt, and a pillar to Yahweh near its border. And it will become a sign and a witness to Yahweh of hosts in the land of Egypt; for they will cry to Yahweh because of oppressors, and He will send them a Savior and a Champion, and He will deliver them. Thus Yahweh will make Himself known to Egypt, and the Egyptians will know Yahweh in that day. They will even worship with sacrifice and offering, and they will make a vow to Yahweh and pay it. And Yahweh will smite Egypt, smiting but healing; so they will return to Yahweh, and He will be moved by their entreaty and will heal them. (Isa 19:18-22 LSB)
At that time will Egypt, Assyria and Israel all worship the Lord together?
On that day there will be a road from Egypt to Assyria, and the Assyrians will come into Egypt and the Egyptians into Assyria; and the Egyptians will worship with the Assyrians. On that day Israel will be the third party to Egypt and Assyria, a blessing in the midst of the earth, whom the Lord of armies has blessed, saying, “Blessed is Egypt My people, and Assyria the work of My hands, and Israel My inheritance.” (Isa 19:23-25 NASB)
Does God’s purpose ultimately include peace and unity between Jew and Gentile?
For he himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility (Eph 2:14 NIV)
Can historic enemies turn to the Lord and reconcile? Is this part of God’s ultimate plan? You decide!
Will Egypt become confounded by civil war and a harsh dictatorship?
An oracle [burden, prophecy] concerning Egypt. Behold, the Lord is riding on a swift cloud and comes to Egypt; and the idols of Egypt will tremble at his presence, and the heart of the Egyptians will melt within them. And I will stir up Egyptians against Egyptians, and they will fight, each against another and each against his neighbor, city against city, kingdom against kingdom; and the spirit of the Egyptians within them will be emptied out, and I will confound their counsel; and they will inquire of the idols and the sorcerers, and the mediums and the necromancers; and I will give over the Egyptians into the hand of a hard master, and a fierce king will rule over them, declares the Lord God of hosts. (Isa 19:1-4 ESV)
Will Egypt’s national dependence on the river for crops and fishing be severely tested?
The waters of the sea will dry up, and the river will be parched and dry. The channels will stink; they will dwindle, and Egypt’s canals will be parched. Reed and rush will die. The reeds by the Nile, by the mouth of the river, and all the cultivated areas of the Nile will wither, blow away, and vanish. Then the fishermen will mourn. All those who cast hooks into the Nile will lament, and those who spread nets on the water will shrivel up. Those who work with flax will be dismayed; the combers and weavers will turn pale. Egypt’s weavers will be dejected; all her wage earners will be demoralized. (Isa 19:5-10 HCSB)
Did Zoan, the ancient Egyptian capital city on the Nile delta, contain foolish leaders? Did other national leaders in Memphis, an administrative and religious hub, also lead Egypt astray?
Zoan’s princes are nothing but fools; the wisest advisors of Pharaoh give stupid advice. How can you say to Pharaoh, “I’m a descendant of wise men, a descendant of ancient kings”? Where are your wise men now? Let them tell you, let them make known what the Lord has planned against Egypt. The princes of Zoan have become fools, and the princes of Memphis deluded; the leaders of its tribes have led Egypt astray. The Lord has mixed within them a spirit of confusion; so they make Egypt stagger in all that it does, like a drunkard staggers around in his vomit. As a result, there will be nothing for Egypt that head or tail, palm branch or reed, can do. (Isa 19:11-15 ISV)
Does Egypt become fearful, afraid when anyone even mentions the land of Judah?
In that day shall Egypt be like unto women: and it shall be afraid and fear because of the shaking of the hand of the Lord of hosts, which he shaketh over it. And the land of Judah shall be a terror unto Egypt, every one that maketh mention thereof shall be afraid in himself, because of the counsel of the Lord of hosts, which he hath determined against it. (Isa 19:16-17 KJV)
How can God smiting a nation lead to its healing? Do some Egyptian cities adopt the language of Canaan and worship the Lord?
In that day five cities in the land of Egypt will be speaking the language of Canaan and swearing allegiance to Yahweh of hosts; one will be called the City of Destruction. In that day there will be an altar to Yahweh in the midst of the land of Egypt, and a pillar to Yahweh near its border. And it will become a sign and a witness to Yahweh of hosts in the land of Egypt; for they will cry to Yahweh because of oppressors, and He will send them a Savior and a Champion, and He will deliver them. Thus Yahweh will make Himself known to Egypt, and the Egyptians will know Yahweh in that day. They will even worship with sacrifice and offering, and they will make a vow to Yahweh and pay it. And Yahweh will smite Egypt, smiting but healing; so they will return to Yahweh, and He will be moved by their entreaty and will heal them. (Isa 19:18-22 LSB)
At that time will Egypt, Assyria and Israel all worship the Lord together?
On that day there will be a road from Egypt to Assyria, and the Assyrians will come into Egypt and the Egyptians into Assyria; and the Egyptians will worship with the Assyrians. On that day Israel will be the third party to Egypt and Assyria, a blessing in the midst of the earth, whom the Lord of armies has blessed, saying, “Blessed is Egypt My people, and Assyria the work of My hands, and Israel My inheritance.” (Isa 19:23-25 NASB)
Does God’s purpose ultimately include peace and unity between Jew and Gentile?
For he himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility (Eph 2:14 NIV)
Can historic enemies turn to the Lord and reconcile? Is this part of God’s ultimate plan? You decide!
Cush (Isaiah 18)
Did Ethiopia and Sudan have a history with the one true God long before the time of Christ? Do other nations have ancient stories of God? Let’s look at Isaiah 18.
Is this message for Cush, an ancient peoples spanning Sudan and northern Ethiopia, a land where the Nile divides? Were they known for papyrus boats that were light and fast?
Woe to the land shadowed with buzzing wings, Which is beyond the rivers of Ethiopia [Cush], Which sends ambassadors by sea, Even in vessels of reed on the waters, saying, “Go, swift messengers, to a nation tall and smooth of skin, To a people terrible from their beginning onward, A nation powerful and treading down, Whose land the rivers divide.” (Isa 18:1-2 NKJV)
When God raises the alarm of war, anciently a ram’s horn, should the whole world pay attention to what God is about to do?
All you people of the world, everyone who lives on the earth—when I raise my battle flag on the mountain, look! When I blow the ram’s horn, listen! (Isa 18:3 NLT)
Is God planning to give the land of Cush a wake up call, hoping they will repent?
For Yahweh said to me, “I will be still, and I will see in my dwelling place, like clear heat in sunshine, like a cloud of dew in the heat of harvest.” For before the harvest, when the blossom is over, and the flower becomes a ripening grape, he will cut off the sprigs with pruning hooks, and he will cut down and take away the spreading branches. They will be left together for the ravenous birds of the mountains, and for the animals of the earth. The ravenous birds will eat them in the summer, and all the animals of the earth will eat them in the winter. (Isa 18:4-6 WEB)
Would Cush, a land of tall people, repent and turn to the Lord sending gifts to Jerusalem?
At that time, gifts will be brought to the Lord of heavenly forces from a tall and clean-shaven people and from a people feared near and far, a nation barbaric and oppressive, whose land the rivers divide, to the place of the name of the Lord of heavenly forces, to Mount Zion. (Isa 18:7 CEB)
After being baptized by Philip did the Ethiopian eunuch take the Gospel to his people as early church fathers taught? Was this the start of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church, a church independent of Rome except for a brief decade in the 1600’s?
After they had come out of the water, the Lord's Spirit took Philip away. The official never saw him again, but he was very happy as he went on his way. (Acts 8:39 CEV)
Did Ethiopia and Sudan have a history with the one true God long before the time of Christ? Do other nations have ancient stories of God? You decide!
Is this message for Cush, an ancient peoples spanning Sudan and northern Ethiopia, a land where the Nile divides? Were they known for papyrus boats that were light and fast?
Woe to the land shadowed with buzzing wings, Which is beyond the rivers of Ethiopia [Cush], Which sends ambassadors by sea, Even in vessels of reed on the waters, saying, “Go, swift messengers, to a nation tall and smooth of skin, To a people terrible from their beginning onward, A nation powerful and treading down, Whose land the rivers divide.” (Isa 18:1-2 NKJV)
When God raises the alarm of war, anciently a ram’s horn, should the whole world pay attention to what God is about to do?
All you people of the world, everyone who lives on the earth—when I raise my battle flag on the mountain, look! When I blow the ram’s horn, listen! (Isa 18:3 NLT)
Is God planning to give the land of Cush a wake up call, hoping they will repent?
For Yahweh said to me, “I will be still, and I will see in my dwelling place, like clear heat in sunshine, like a cloud of dew in the heat of harvest.” For before the harvest, when the blossom is over, and the flower becomes a ripening grape, he will cut off the sprigs with pruning hooks, and he will cut down and take away the spreading branches. They will be left together for the ravenous birds of the mountains, and for the animals of the earth. The ravenous birds will eat them in the summer, and all the animals of the earth will eat them in the winter. (Isa 18:4-6 WEB)
Would Cush, a land of tall people, repent and turn to the Lord sending gifts to Jerusalem?
At that time, gifts will be brought to the Lord of heavenly forces from a tall and clean-shaven people and from a people feared near and far, a nation barbaric and oppressive, whose land the rivers divide, to the place of the name of the Lord of heavenly forces, to Mount Zion. (Isa 18:7 CEB)
After being baptized by Philip did the Ethiopian eunuch take the Gospel to his people as early church fathers taught? Was this the start of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church, a church independent of Rome except for a brief decade in the 1600’s?
After they had come out of the water, the Lord's Spirit took Philip away. The official never saw him again, but he was very happy as he went on his way. (Acts 8:39 CEV)
Did Ethiopia and Sudan have a history with the one true God long before the time of Christ? Do other nations have ancient stories of God? You decide!
Damascus (Isaiah 17)
Did Damascus fall to Assyria at the same time as the northern tribes of Israel? Will the world experience God’s anger for its hard hearted refusal to repent at Christ’s return? Let’s look at Isaiah 17.
Was Damascus, the capital of Aram, modern Syria, predicted to fall at the same time as Ephraim’s fortress?
An oracle against Damascus: Look, Damascus is no longer a city. It has become a ruined heap. The cities of Aroer are forsaken; they will be places for flocks. They will lie down without fear. The fortress disappears from Ephraim, and a kingdom from Damascus. The remnant of Aram will be like the splendor of the Israelites. This is the declaration of the Lord of Hosts. (Isa 17:1-3 HCSB)
Did Isaiah prophesy simultaneous destruction for most of Israel with very little remaining?
“At that time, Jacob’s glory will have become weakened, and his strong flesh will turn gaunt; it will be as if harvesters gather standing grain, reaping the ears by hand, or it will be as if grain is harvested in the valley of Rephaim. Nevertheless, gleanings will remain in Israel, as when an olive tree is beaten—two or three ripe olives left in the topmost branches, four or five left among the branches of a fruit-filled tree,” declares the Lord God of Israel. (Isa 17:4-6 ISV)
Will men abandon their worthless idols and return to their Maker?
At that day shall a man look to his Maker, and his eyes shall have respect to the Holy One of Israel. And he shall not look to the altars, the work of his hands, neither shall respect that which his fingers have made, either the groves, or the images. (Isa 17:7-8 KJV)
Does a fruitful land become unproductive because a people have forgotten the God of their salvation?
In that day their strong cities will be like forsaken places in the forest, Or like branches which they forsook before the sons of Israel; And the land will be a desolation. For you have forgotten the God of your salvation And have not remembered the rock of your strong defense. Therefore you plant delightful plants And set them with vine branches of a strange god. In the day that you plant it you carefully fence it in, And in the morning you cause your seed to flourish; But the harvest will be a heap In a day of sickliness and incurable pain. (Isa 17:9-11 LSB)
Will God suddenly rebuke bully nations that roar and plunder Israel?
Oh, the uproar of many peoples Who roar like the roaring of the seas, And the rumbling of nations Who rush on like the rumbling of mighty waters! The nations rumble on like the rumbling of many waters, But He will rebuke them, and they will flee far away, And be chased like chaff on the mountains before the wind, Or like whirling dust before a gale. At evening time, behold, there is terror! Before morning they are gone. This will be the fate of those who plunder us And the lot of those who pillage us. (Isa 17:12-14 NASB)
Will God rebuke the nations again at the Second Coming of our Lord?
Then I heard a loud voice from the temple saying to the seven angels, “Go, pour out the seven bowls of God’s wrath on the earth.” (Rev 16:1 NIV)
Did Damascus fall to Assyria at the same time as the northern tribes of Israel? Will the world experience God’s anger for its hard hearted refusal to repent at Christ’s return? You decide!
Was Damascus, the capital of Aram, modern Syria, predicted to fall at the same time as Ephraim’s fortress?
An oracle against Damascus: Look, Damascus is no longer a city. It has become a ruined heap. The cities of Aroer are forsaken; they will be places for flocks. They will lie down without fear. The fortress disappears from Ephraim, and a kingdom from Damascus. The remnant of Aram will be like the splendor of the Israelites. This is the declaration of the Lord of Hosts. (Isa 17:1-3 HCSB)
Did Isaiah prophesy simultaneous destruction for most of Israel with very little remaining?
“At that time, Jacob’s glory will have become weakened, and his strong flesh will turn gaunt; it will be as if harvesters gather standing grain, reaping the ears by hand, or it will be as if grain is harvested in the valley of Rephaim. Nevertheless, gleanings will remain in Israel, as when an olive tree is beaten—two or three ripe olives left in the topmost branches, four or five left among the branches of a fruit-filled tree,” declares the Lord God of Israel. (Isa 17:4-6 ISV)
Will men abandon their worthless idols and return to their Maker?
At that day shall a man look to his Maker, and his eyes shall have respect to the Holy One of Israel. And he shall not look to the altars, the work of his hands, neither shall respect that which his fingers have made, either the groves, or the images. (Isa 17:7-8 KJV)
Does a fruitful land become unproductive because a people have forgotten the God of their salvation?
In that day their strong cities will be like forsaken places in the forest, Or like branches which they forsook before the sons of Israel; And the land will be a desolation. For you have forgotten the God of your salvation And have not remembered the rock of your strong defense. Therefore you plant delightful plants And set them with vine branches of a strange god. In the day that you plant it you carefully fence it in, And in the morning you cause your seed to flourish; But the harvest will be a heap In a day of sickliness and incurable pain. (Isa 17:9-11 LSB)
Will God suddenly rebuke bully nations that roar and plunder Israel?
Oh, the uproar of many peoples Who roar like the roaring of the seas, And the rumbling of nations Who rush on like the rumbling of mighty waters! The nations rumble on like the rumbling of many waters, But He will rebuke them, and they will flee far away, And be chased like chaff on the mountains before the wind, Or like whirling dust before a gale. At evening time, behold, there is terror! Before morning they are gone. This will be the fate of those who plunder us And the lot of those who pillage us. (Isa 17:12-14 NASB)
Will God rebuke the nations again at the Second Coming of our Lord?
Then I heard a loud voice from the temple saying to the seven angels, “Go, pour out the seven bowls of God’s wrath on the earth.” (Rev 16:1 NIV)
Did Damascus fall to Assyria at the same time as the northern tribes of Israel? Will the world experience God’s anger for its hard hearted refusal to repent at Christ’s return? You decide!
Proud Moab (Isaiah 16)
Do Israel and Moab have a long history, from Lot, Balak and Baalam, Ruth, and David’s parents finding refuge there? Is God patient with all nations? Let’s look at Isaiah 16.
As Moab is attacked by foreign forces, is there a place of refuge for them in Zion, if they will bring tribute to the king of Judah, as once did Mesha, King of Moab (2 Kings 3:4-5)? Would that include submission to the one true God?
Send lambs as tribute to the ruler of the land, from Sela [Petra], across the desert, to the mount of Daughter Zion. Like fluttering birds pushed from the nest, so are the women of Moab at the fords of the Arnon. (Isa 16:1-2 NIV)
In reverse, should Moab show mercy upon the outcasts of Judah and be a place of refuge? Is there a coming king in Judah who will execute justice and righteousness?
“Take counsel, execute judgment; Make your shadow like the night in the middle of the day; Hide the outcasts, Do not betray him who escapes. Let My outcasts dwell with you, O Moab; Be a shelter to them from the face of the spoiler. For the extortioner is at an end, Devastation ceases, The oppressors are consumed out of the land. In mercy the throne will be established; And One will sit on it in truth, in the tabernacle of David, Judging and seeking justice and hastening righteousness.” (Isa 16:3-5 NKJV)
Is Moab just like many nations, where national pride, rather than national humility, causes them problems? What causes a return to sweet humility in the nation?
We have heard about proud Moab—about its pride and arrogance and rage. But all that boasting has disappeared. The entire land of Moab weeps. Yes, everyone in Moab mourns for the cakes of raisins from Kir-hareseth. They are all gone now. The farms of Heshbon are abandoned; the vineyards at Sibmah are deserted. The rulers of the nations have broken down Moab—that beautiful grapevine. Its tendrils spread north as far as the town of Jazer and trailed eastward into the wilderness. Its shoots reached so far west that they crossed over the Dead Sea. (Isa 16:6-8 NLT)
Did the prophet weep for Moab, even as he predicted national suffering?
Therefore I will weep with the weeping of Jazer for the vine of Sibmah. I will water you with my tears, Heshbon, and Elealeh: for on your summer fruits and on your harvest the battle shout has fallen. Gladness is taken away, and joy out of the fruitful field; and in the vineyards there will be no singing, neither joyful noise. Nobody will tread out wine in the presses. I have made the shouting stop. Therefore my heart sounds like a harp for Moab, and my inward parts for Kir Heres. It will happen that when Moab presents himself, when he wearies himself on the high place, and comes to his sanctuary to pray, that he will not prevail. (Isa 16:9-12 WEB)
How quickly would this national calamity fall upon Moab? Is this a warning to any proud nation, that its glory can fade quickly, if God wills?
This is the word that the Lord had spoken concerning Moab long ago. But now the Lord has said: In three years, like the years of a hired worker, the glory of Moab, with all its great multitude, will dwindle. The small remnant will be few and feeble. (Isa 16:13-14 CEB)
What is a principle that we, in our national pride, too often forget?
Pride comes before disaster, and arrogance before a fall. (Prov 16:18 CEB)
Is God patient with our nations, waiting for us all to come to repentance?
The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. (2 Pet 3:9 ESV)
Do Israel and Moab have a long history, from Lot, Balak and Baalam, Ruth, and David’s parents finding refuge there? Is God patient with all nations? You decide!
As Moab is attacked by foreign forces, is there a place of refuge for them in Zion, if they will bring tribute to the king of Judah, as once did Mesha, King of Moab (2 Kings 3:4-5)? Would that include submission to the one true God?
Send lambs as tribute to the ruler of the land, from Sela [Petra], across the desert, to the mount of Daughter Zion. Like fluttering birds pushed from the nest, so are the women of Moab at the fords of the Arnon. (Isa 16:1-2 NIV)
In reverse, should Moab show mercy upon the outcasts of Judah and be a place of refuge? Is there a coming king in Judah who will execute justice and righteousness?
“Take counsel, execute judgment; Make your shadow like the night in the middle of the day; Hide the outcasts, Do not betray him who escapes. Let My outcasts dwell with you, O Moab; Be a shelter to them from the face of the spoiler. For the extortioner is at an end, Devastation ceases, The oppressors are consumed out of the land. In mercy the throne will be established; And One will sit on it in truth, in the tabernacle of David, Judging and seeking justice and hastening righteousness.” (Isa 16:3-5 NKJV)
Is Moab just like many nations, where national pride, rather than national humility, causes them problems? What causes a return to sweet humility in the nation?
We have heard about proud Moab—about its pride and arrogance and rage. But all that boasting has disappeared. The entire land of Moab weeps. Yes, everyone in Moab mourns for the cakes of raisins from Kir-hareseth. They are all gone now. The farms of Heshbon are abandoned; the vineyards at Sibmah are deserted. The rulers of the nations have broken down Moab—that beautiful grapevine. Its tendrils spread north as far as the town of Jazer and trailed eastward into the wilderness. Its shoots reached so far west that they crossed over the Dead Sea. (Isa 16:6-8 NLT)
Did the prophet weep for Moab, even as he predicted national suffering?
Therefore I will weep with the weeping of Jazer for the vine of Sibmah. I will water you with my tears, Heshbon, and Elealeh: for on your summer fruits and on your harvest the battle shout has fallen. Gladness is taken away, and joy out of the fruitful field; and in the vineyards there will be no singing, neither joyful noise. Nobody will tread out wine in the presses. I have made the shouting stop. Therefore my heart sounds like a harp for Moab, and my inward parts for Kir Heres. It will happen that when Moab presents himself, when he wearies himself on the high place, and comes to his sanctuary to pray, that he will not prevail. (Isa 16:9-12 WEB)
How quickly would this national calamity fall upon Moab? Is this a warning to any proud nation, that its glory can fade quickly, if God wills?
This is the word that the Lord had spoken concerning Moab long ago. But now the Lord has said: In three years, like the years of a hired worker, the glory of Moab, with all its great multitude, will dwindle. The small remnant will be few and feeble. (Isa 16:13-14 CEB)
What is a principle that we, in our national pride, too often forget?
Pride comes before disaster, and arrogance before a fall. (Prov 16:18 CEB)
Is God patient with our nations, waiting for us all to come to repentance?
The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. (2 Pet 3:9 ESV)
Do Israel and Moab have a long history, from Lot, Balak and Baalam, Ruth, and David’s parents finding refuge there? Is God patient with all nations? You decide!
Moab (Isaiah 15)
What can we learn from Moab mourning for their national sins? Is this just past or also future punishment upon Jordan? Let’s look at Isaiah 15?
What does God have to warn Moab about, descendants of whom live in today’s Jordan?
A message concerning Moab: “For Ir in Moab is destroyed in a night, and Moab is ruined! Because Ir in Moab is destroyed in a single night, Moab is ruined! He has gone up to the temple, and to Dibon, to the high places to weep; over Nebo and over Medeba Moab wails. His head is completely bald, and every beard is shaved off. In its streets they wear sackcloth; on its rooftops and in its squares everyone wails and falls down weeping. Heshbon and Elealeh cry out, their voices are heard as far as Jahaz; therefore the loins of Moab cry aloud; its heart quakes for itself. (Isa 15:1-4 ISV)
Did Isaiah’s heart break as he prophesied that Moab’s refugees would head south to the desert in tears?
My heart shall cry out for Moab; his fugitives shall flee unto Zoar, an heifer of three years old: for by the mounting up of Luhith with weeping shall they go it up; for in the way of Horonaim they shall raise up a cry of destruction. For the waters of Nimrim shall be desolate: for the hay is withered away, the grass faileth, there is no green thing. Therefore the abundance they have gotten, and that which they have laid up, shall they carry away to the brook of the willows. (Isa 15:5-7 KJV)
Did the remnants of the people cry and wail all over the country of Moab?
For the cry has gone around the territory of Moab, Its wailing goes as far as Eglaim and its wailing even to Beer-elim. For the waters of Dimon are full of blood; Surely I will put added woes upon Dimon, A lion upon those of Moab who have escaped and upon the remnant of the land. (Isa 15:8-9 LSB)
Is mourning a good thing, because it will normally lead us to repentance and then to God’s comfort?
Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. (Mat 5:4 NASB)
What can we learn from Moab mourning for their national sins? Is this just past or also future punishment upon Jordan? You decide!
What does God have to warn Moab about, descendants of whom live in today’s Jordan?
A message concerning Moab: “For Ir in Moab is destroyed in a night, and Moab is ruined! Because Ir in Moab is destroyed in a single night, Moab is ruined! He has gone up to the temple, and to Dibon, to the high places to weep; over Nebo and over Medeba Moab wails. His head is completely bald, and every beard is shaved off. In its streets they wear sackcloth; on its rooftops and in its squares everyone wails and falls down weeping. Heshbon and Elealeh cry out, their voices are heard as far as Jahaz; therefore the loins of Moab cry aloud; its heart quakes for itself. (Isa 15:1-4 ISV)
Did Isaiah’s heart break as he prophesied that Moab’s refugees would head south to the desert in tears?
My heart shall cry out for Moab; his fugitives shall flee unto Zoar, an heifer of three years old: for by the mounting up of Luhith with weeping shall they go it up; for in the way of Horonaim they shall raise up a cry of destruction. For the waters of Nimrim shall be desolate: for the hay is withered away, the grass faileth, there is no green thing. Therefore the abundance they have gotten, and that which they have laid up, shall they carry away to the brook of the willows. (Isa 15:5-7 KJV)
Did the remnants of the people cry and wail all over the country of Moab?
For the cry has gone around the territory of Moab, Its wailing goes as far as Eglaim and its wailing even to Beer-elim. For the waters of Dimon are full of blood; Surely I will put added woes upon Dimon, A lion upon those of Moab who have escaped and upon the remnant of the land. (Isa 15:8-9 LSB)
Is mourning a good thing, because it will normally lead us to repentance and then to God’s comfort?
Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. (Mat 5:4 NASB)
What can we learn from Moab mourning for their national sins? Is this just past or also future punishment upon Jordan? You decide!
Restoration (Isaiah 14)
Would Israel be restored and would foreigners join them? Is God impressed by national pride or national repentance? Let’s look at Isaiah 14.
After divine punishment for their sins, would Israel experience a great reversal?
When the Lord has compassion on Jacob and again chooses Israel, and settles them on their own land, then strangers will join them and attach themselves to the house of Jacob. The peoples will take them along and bring them to their place, and the house of Israel will make them their own possession in the land of the Lord as male and female servants; and they will take their captors captive and will rule over their oppressors. (Isa 14:1-2 NASB)
Will Babylonian oppression end and people finally be at rest and at peace?
On the day the Lord gives you relief from your suffering and turmoil and from the harsh labor forced on you, you will take up this taunt against the king of Babylon: How the oppressor has come to an end! How his fury has ended! The Lord has broken the rod of the wicked, the scepter of the rulers, which in anger struck down peoples with unceasing blows, and in fury subdued nations with relentless aggression. All the lands are at rest and at peace; they break into singing. Even the junipers and the cedars of Lebanon gloat over you and say, “Now that you have been laid low, no one comes to cut us down.” (Isa 14:3-8 NIV)
Are the departed spirits of the dead excited and stirred up to meet the Lord at His coming?
Hell [Sheol, the place of the dead] from beneath is excited about you, To meet you at your coming; It stirs up the dead for you, All the chief ones of the earth; It has raised up from their thrones All the kings of the nations. They all shall speak and say to you: ‘Have you also become as weak as we? Have you become like us? Your pomp is brought down to Sheol, And the sound of your stringed instruments; The maggot is spread under you, And worms cover you.’ (Isa 14:9-11 NKJV)
Is the king of Babylon symbolic of a once bright and shining angel, who fell from heaven, who because of his delusional ambitions, became the devil?
How you are fallen from heaven, O shining star [Helel, Lucifer], son of the morning! You have been thrown down to the earth, you who destroyed the nations of the world. For you said to yourself, ‘I will ascend to heaven and set my throne above God’s stars. I will preside on the mountain of the gods far away in the north. I will climb to the highest heavens and be like the Most High.’ Instead, you will be brought down to the place of the dead, down to its lowest depths. Everyone there will stare at you and ask, ‘Can this be the one who shook the earth and made the kingdoms of the world tremble? Is this the one who destroyed the world and made it into a wasteland? Is this the king who demolished the world’s greatest cities and had no mercy on his prisoners?’ (Isa 14:12-17 NLT)
Does the fate of the king of Babylon picture the fate of all abominable national leaders who lead their country to ruin?
All the kings of the nations sleep in glory, everyone in his own house. But you are cast away from your tomb like an abominable branch, clothed with the slain who are thrust through with the sword, who go down to the stones of the pit; like a dead body trodden under foot. You will not join them in burial, because you have destroyed your land. You have killed your people. The offspring of evildoers will not be named forever. (Isa 14:18-20 WEB)
Will Babylon be in ruin and the political progeny of such a corrupt city also be cut off?
Prepare a place to slaughter his sons for the guilt of their father. Don’t let them arise to take over the earth or fill the world with cities. I will arise against them, says the Lord of heavenly forces. I will cut off Babylon’s renown and remnant, offshoot and offspring. I will make it the home of herons, a swampland. I will sweep it away with the broom of destruction, says the Lord of heavenly forces. (Isa 14:21-23 CEB)
Will the Assyrians before the Babylonians also be wiped out?
The Lord All-Powerful has made this promise: Everything I have planned will happen just as I said. I will wipe out every Assyrian in my country, and I will crush those on my mountains. I will free my people from slavery to the Assyrians. I have planned this for the whole world, and my mighty arm controls every nation. I, the Lord All-Powerful, have made these plans. No one can stop me now! (Isa 14:24-27 CEV)
Should the Philistines not rejoice too much over Assyria’s defeat, because their own destruction is coming?
In the year that King Ahaz died came this oracle: Rejoice not, O Philistia, all of you, that the rod that struck you is broken, for from the serpent's root will come forth an adder, and its fruit will be a flying fiery serpent. And the firstborn of the poor will graze, and the needy lie down in safety; but I will kill your root with famine, and your remnant it will slay. Wail, O gate; cry out, O city; melt in fear, O Philistia, all of you! For smoke comes out of the north, and there is no straggler in his ranks. What will one answer the messengers of the nation? “The Lord has founded Zion, and in her the afflicted of his people find refuge.” (Isa 14:28-32 ESV)
How important is national humility to God as opposed to national pride?
But He gives greater grace. Therefore He says: God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble. (James 4:6 HCSB)
Would Israel be restored and would foreigners join them? Is God impressed by national pride or national repentance? You decide!
After divine punishment for their sins, would Israel experience a great reversal?
When the Lord has compassion on Jacob and again chooses Israel, and settles them on their own land, then strangers will join them and attach themselves to the house of Jacob. The peoples will take them along and bring them to their place, and the house of Israel will make them their own possession in the land of the Lord as male and female servants; and they will take their captors captive and will rule over their oppressors. (Isa 14:1-2 NASB)
Will Babylonian oppression end and people finally be at rest and at peace?
On the day the Lord gives you relief from your suffering and turmoil and from the harsh labor forced on you, you will take up this taunt against the king of Babylon: How the oppressor has come to an end! How his fury has ended! The Lord has broken the rod of the wicked, the scepter of the rulers, which in anger struck down peoples with unceasing blows, and in fury subdued nations with relentless aggression. All the lands are at rest and at peace; they break into singing. Even the junipers and the cedars of Lebanon gloat over you and say, “Now that you have been laid low, no one comes to cut us down.” (Isa 14:3-8 NIV)
Are the departed spirits of the dead excited and stirred up to meet the Lord at His coming?
Hell [Sheol, the place of the dead] from beneath is excited about you, To meet you at your coming; It stirs up the dead for you, All the chief ones of the earth; It has raised up from their thrones All the kings of the nations. They all shall speak and say to you: ‘Have you also become as weak as we? Have you become like us? Your pomp is brought down to Sheol, And the sound of your stringed instruments; The maggot is spread under you, And worms cover you.’ (Isa 14:9-11 NKJV)
Is the king of Babylon symbolic of a once bright and shining angel, who fell from heaven, who because of his delusional ambitions, became the devil?
How you are fallen from heaven, O shining star [Helel, Lucifer], son of the morning! You have been thrown down to the earth, you who destroyed the nations of the world. For you said to yourself, ‘I will ascend to heaven and set my throne above God’s stars. I will preside on the mountain of the gods far away in the north. I will climb to the highest heavens and be like the Most High.’ Instead, you will be brought down to the place of the dead, down to its lowest depths. Everyone there will stare at you and ask, ‘Can this be the one who shook the earth and made the kingdoms of the world tremble? Is this the one who destroyed the world and made it into a wasteland? Is this the king who demolished the world’s greatest cities and had no mercy on his prisoners?’ (Isa 14:12-17 NLT)
Does the fate of the king of Babylon picture the fate of all abominable national leaders who lead their country to ruin?
All the kings of the nations sleep in glory, everyone in his own house. But you are cast away from your tomb like an abominable branch, clothed with the slain who are thrust through with the sword, who go down to the stones of the pit; like a dead body trodden under foot. You will not join them in burial, because you have destroyed your land. You have killed your people. The offspring of evildoers will not be named forever. (Isa 14:18-20 WEB)
Will Babylon be in ruin and the political progeny of such a corrupt city also be cut off?
Prepare a place to slaughter his sons for the guilt of their father. Don’t let them arise to take over the earth or fill the world with cities. I will arise against them, says the Lord of heavenly forces. I will cut off Babylon’s renown and remnant, offshoot and offspring. I will make it the home of herons, a swampland. I will sweep it away with the broom of destruction, says the Lord of heavenly forces. (Isa 14:21-23 CEB)
Will the Assyrians before the Babylonians also be wiped out?
The Lord All-Powerful has made this promise: Everything I have planned will happen just as I said. I will wipe out every Assyrian in my country, and I will crush those on my mountains. I will free my people from slavery to the Assyrians. I have planned this for the whole world, and my mighty arm controls every nation. I, the Lord All-Powerful, have made these plans. No one can stop me now! (Isa 14:24-27 CEV)
Should the Philistines not rejoice too much over Assyria’s defeat, because their own destruction is coming?
In the year that King Ahaz died came this oracle: Rejoice not, O Philistia, all of you, that the rod that struck you is broken, for from the serpent's root will come forth an adder, and its fruit will be a flying fiery serpent. And the firstborn of the poor will graze, and the needy lie down in safety; but I will kill your root with famine, and your remnant it will slay. Wail, O gate; cry out, O city; melt in fear, O Philistia, all of you! For smoke comes out of the north, and there is no straggler in his ranks. What will one answer the messengers of the nation? “The Lord has founded Zion, and in her the afflicted of his people find refuge.” (Isa 14:28-32 ESV)
How important is national humility to God as opposed to national pride?
But He gives greater grace. Therefore He says: God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble. (James 4:6 HCSB)
Would Israel be restored and would foreigners join them? Is God impressed by national pride or national repentance? You decide!
Babylon (Isaiah 13)
Did the destruction of Babylon symbolize the elimination of all corrupt human governments? Do we hope for a perfect government from heaven? Let’s examine Isaiah 13.
Is this a prophecy about the end of the Babylonian Empire which captured Judah? Could it also apply to that final human government symbolically called Babylon in Revelation?
Isaiah son of Amoz received this message concerning the destruction of Babylon: “Raise a signal flag on a bare hilltop. Call up an army against Babylon. Wave your hand to encourage them as they march into the palaces of the high and mighty. I, the Lord, have dedicated these soldiers for this task. Yes, I have called mighty warriors to express my anger, and they will rejoice when I am exalted.” (Isa 13:1-3 NLT)
Does this passage have a double meaning, human armies destroying ancient Babylon and heaven’s armies destroying a future Babylon?
The noise of a multitude is in the mountains, as of a great people; the noise of an uproar of the kingdoms of the nations gathered together! Yahweh of Armies is mustering the army for the battle. They come from a far country, from the uttermost part of heaven, even Yahweh, and the weapons of his indignation, to destroy the whole land. (Isa 13:4-5 WEB)
Do people lose heart at the events of this “day of the Lord?”
Wail, for the day of the Lord is near. Like destruction from the Almighty it will come. Then all hands will fall limp; every human heart will melt, and they will be terrified. Like a woman writhing in labor, they will be seized by spasms and agony. They will look at each other aghast, their faces blazing. (Isa 13:6-8 CEB)
Will God show mercy or pity on that terrible day of the Lord?
I, the Lord, will show no mercy or pity when that time comes. In my anger I will destroy the earth and every sinner who lives on it. Light will disappear from the stars in the sky; the dawning sun will turn dark, and the moon will lose its brightness. (Isa 13:9-10 CEV)
Is this just a prophecy against an ancient empire or are there also allusions to the final day of the Lord?
I will punish the world for its evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; I will put an end to the pomp of the arrogant, and lay low the pompous pride of the ruthless. I will make people more rare than fine gold, and mankind than the gold of Ophir. Therefore I will make the heavens tremble, and the earth will be shaken out of its place, at the wrath of the Lord of hosts in the day of his fierce anger. (Isa 13:11-13 ESV)
How terrible will Babylon be and the consequences she will face?
Like wandering gazelles and like sheep without a shepherd, each one will turn to his own people, each one will flee to his own land. Whoever is found will be stabbed, and whoever is caught will die by the sword. Their children will be smashed to death before their eyes; their houses will be looted, and their wives raped. (Isa 13:14-16 HCSB)
Who eventually conquered ancient Babylon? Was this fulfilled by Cyrus the Great in 539 BC? Were they a ruthless bunch indifferent to bribes?
Watch out! I’m stirring up the Medes against them, who care nothing for silver and take no delight in gold. Their bows will dash the young men to pieces; they’ll show no pity on those not yet born, and their eyes will not spare children. (Isa 13:17-18 ISV)
Is ancient Babylon now nothing but ruins at modern-day Hillah, in southern Iraq?
And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldees' excellency, shall be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah. It shall never be inhabited, neither shall it be dwelt in from generation to generation: neither shall the Arabian pitch tent there; neither shall the shepherds make their fold there.
But wild beasts of the desert shall lie there; and their houses shall be full of doleful creatures; and owls shall dwell there, and satyrs [wild goats] shall dance there. And the wild beasts of the islands shall cry in their desolate houses, and dragons in their pleasant palaces: and her time is near to come, and her days shall not be prolonged. (Isa 13:19-22 KJV)
Will a symbolic final Babylon experience a similar fate as ancient Babylon?
And another angel, a second one, followed, saying, “Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great, she who has made all the nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her sexual immorality.” (Rev 14:8 LSB)
Did the destruction of Babylon symbolize the elimination of all corrupt human governments? Do we hope for a perfect government from heaven? You decide!
Is this a prophecy about the end of the Babylonian Empire which captured Judah? Could it also apply to that final human government symbolically called Babylon in Revelation?
Isaiah son of Amoz received this message concerning the destruction of Babylon: “Raise a signal flag on a bare hilltop. Call up an army against Babylon. Wave your hand to encourage them as they march into the palaces of the high and mighty. I, the Lord, have dedicated these soldiers for this task. Yes, I have called mighty warriors to express my anger, and they will rejoice when I am exalted.” (Isa 13:1-3 NLT)
Does this passage have a double meaning, human armies destroying ancient Babylon and heaven’s armies destroying a future Babylon?
The noise of a multitude is in the mountains, as of a great people; the noise of an uproar of the kingdoms of the nations gathered together! Yahweh of Armies is mustering the army for the battle. They come from a far country, from the uttermost part of heaven, even Yahweh, and the weapons of his indignation, to destroy the whole land. (Isa 13:4-5 WEB)
Do people lose heart at the events of this “day of the Lord?”
Wail, for the day of the Lord is near. Like destruction from the Almighty it will come. Then all hands will fall limp; every human heart will melt, and they will be terrified. Like a woman writhing in labor, they will be seized by spasms and agony. They will look at each other aghast, their faces blazing. (Isa 13:6-8 CEB)
Will God show mercy or pity on that terrible day of the Lord?
I, the Lord, will show no mercy or pity when that time comes. In my anger I will destroy the earth and every sinner who lives on it. Light will disappear from the stars in the sky; the dawning sun will turn dark, and the moon will lose its brightness. (Isa 13:9-10 CEV)
Is this just a prophecy against an ancient empire or are there also allusions to the final day of the Lord?
I will punish the world for its evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; I will put an end to the pomp of the arrogant, and lay low the pompous pride of the ruthless. I will make people more rare than fine gold, and mankind than the gold of Ophir. Therefore I will make the heavens tremble, and the earth will be shaken out of its place, at the wrath of the Lord of hosts in the day of his fierce anger. (Isa 13:11-13 ESV)
How terrible will Babylon be and the consequences she will face?
Like wandering gazelles and like sheep without a shepherd, each one will turn to his own people, each one will flee to his own land. Whoever is found will be stabbed, and whoever is caught will die by the sword. Their children will be smashed to death before their eyes; their houses will be looted, and their wives raped. (Isa 13:14-16 HCSB)
Who eventually conquered ancient Babylon? Was this fulfilled by Cyrus the Great in 539 BC? Were they a ruthless bunch indifferent to bribes?
Watch out! I’m stirring up the Medes against them, who care nothing for silver and take no delight in gold. Their bows will dash the young men to pieces; they’ll show no pity on those not yet born, and their eyes will not spare children. (Isa 13:17-18 ISV)
Is ancient Babylon now nothing but ruins at modern-day Hillah, in southern Iraq?
And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldees' excellency, shall be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah. It shall never be inhabited, neither shall it be dwelt in from generation to generation: neither shall the Arabian pitch tent there; neither shall the shepherds make their fold there.
But wild beasts of the desert shall lie there; and their houses shall be full of doleful creatures; and owls shall dwell there, and satyrs [wild goats] shall dance there. And the wild beasts of the islands shall cry in their desolate houses, and dragons in their pleasant palaces: and her time is near to come, and her days shall not be prolonged. (Isa 13:19-22 KJV)
Will a symbolic final Babylon experience a similar fate as ancient Babylon?
And another angel, a second one, followed, saying, “Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great, she who has made all the nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her sexual immorality.” (Rev 14:8 LSB)
Did the destruction of Babylon symbolize the elimination of all corrupt human governments? Do we hope for a perfect government from heaven? You decide!
Rejoice (Isaiah 12)
In the end of all things, will there be great joy and no more reason for sorrow or crying? Do we look forward to this? Let’s begin in Isaiah 12.
When the hope of nations comes, will people give thanks and sing songs of praise?
Then you will say on that day, “I will give thanks to You, Lord; For although You were angry with me, Your anger is turned away, And You comfort me. Behold, God is my salvation, I will trust and not be afraid; For the Lord God is my strength and song, And He has become my salvation.” Therefore you will joyously draw water From the springs of salvation.
And on that day you will say, “Give thanks to the Lord, call on His name. Make known His deeds among the peoples; Make them remember that His name is exalted.” Praise the Lord in song, for He has done glorious things; Let this be known throughout the earth. Rejoice and shout for joy, you inhabitant of Zion, For great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel. (Isa 12:1-6 NASB)
As a foretaste of world peace, is there now no difference between Jews and Gentiles who call on the name of Jesus?
As Scripture says, “Anyone who believes in him will never be put to shame.” For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” (Rom 10:11-15 NIV)
Will all the troubles on earth eventually be resolved in such a way that there will be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying?
Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also there was no more sea. Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.” (Rev 21:1-4 NKJV)
In the end of all things, will there be great joy and no more reason for sorrow or crying? Do we look forward to this? You decide!
When the hope of nations comes, will people give thanks and sing songs of praise?
Then you will say on that day, “I will give thanks to You, Lord; For although You were angry with me, Your anger is turned away, And You comfort me. Behold, God is my salvation, I will trust and not be afraid; For the Lord God is my strength and song, And He has become my salvation.” Therefore you will joyously draw water From the springs of salvation.
And on that day you will say, “Give thanks to the Lord, call on His name. Make known His deeds among the peoples; Make them remember that His name is exalted.” Praise the Lord in song, for He has done glorious things; Let this be known throughout the earth. Rejoice and shout for joy, you inhabitant of Zion, For great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel. (Isa 12:1-6 NASB)
As a foretaste of world peace, is there now no difference between Jews and Gentiles who call on the name of Jesus?
As Scripture says, “Anyone who believes in him will never be put to shame.” For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” (Rom 10:11-15 NIV)
Will all the troubles on earth eventually be resolved in such a way that there will be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying?
Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also there was no more sea. Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.” (Rev 21:1-4 NKJV)
In the end of all things, will there be great joy and no more reason for sorrow or crying? Do we look forward to this? You decide!
Hope of Nations (Isaiah 11)
Is there a king in whom the Gentiles or nations will hope? Do we look forward to His rule? Let’s look at Isaiah 11.
Who is the rod out of the stem of Jesse, a king that descends from the family of David?
Like a branch that sprouts from a stump, someone from David's family [KJV: a rod out of the stem of Jesse] will someday be king. The Spirit of the Lord will be with him to give him understanding, wisdom, and insight. He will be powerful, and he will know and honor the Lord. (Isa 11:1-2 CEV)
Are righteousness, equity and faithfulness some of the character traits of this king?
And his delight shall be in the fear of the Lord. He shall not judge by what his eyes see, or decide disputes by what his ears hear, but with righteousness he shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth; and he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked. Righteousness shall be the belt of his waist, and faithfulness the belt of his loins. (Isa 11:3-5 ESV)
Will wild animals literally be tamed during the reign of this king? Does this reverse some curses in Genesis?
The wolf will live with the lamb, and the leopard will lie down with the goat. The calf, the young lion, and the fatling will be together, and a child will lead them. The cow and the bear will graze, their young ones will lie down together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox. An infant will play beside the cobra’s pit, and a toddler will put his hand into a snake’s den. None will harm or destroy another on My entire holy mountain, for the land will be as full of the knowledge of the Lord as the sea is filled with water. (Isa 11:6-9 HCSB)
Will this “root of Jesse” rally all nations and recover the descendants of the ten tribes from various locations?
At that time, as to the root of Jesse, who will be standing as a banner for the peoples, the nations will rally to him, and his resting place is glorious. At that time, the Lord will reach out his hand yet a second time to recover the remnant that is left of his people, from Assyria, from Lower Egypt, from Upper Egypt, from Cush, from Elam, from Shinar, from Hamath, and from the islands of the sea. He will raise a banner for the nations and will assemble the dispersed of Israel; he will gather the scattered people of Judah from the corners of the earth. (Isa 11:10-12 ISV)
Will the enmity between the northern and southern tribes be healed? Will there be a highway for the remnant to return?
The envy also of Ephraim shall depart, and the adversaries of Judah shall be cut off: Ephraim shall not envy Judah, and Judah shall not vex Ephraim. But they shall fly upon the shoulders of the Philistines toward the west; they shall spoil them of the east together: they shall lay their hand upon Edom and Moab; and the children of Ammon shall obey them. And the Lord shall utterly destroy the tongue of the Egyptian sea; and with his mighty wind shall he shake his hand over the river, and shall smite it in the seven streams, and make men go over dryshod. And there shall be an highway for the remnant of his people, which shall be left, from Assyria; like as it was to Israel in the day that he came up out of the land of Egypt. (Isa 11:13-16 KJV)
Does the author of Romans allude to this prophecy in regard to Jesus?
And again Isaiah says, “There shall come the root of Jesse, And He who arises to rule over the Gentiles, In Him shall the Gentiles hope.” (Rom 15:12 LSB)
Is there a king in whom the Gentiles or nations will hope? Do we look forward to His rule? You decide!
Who is the rod out of the stem of Jesse, a king that descends from the family of David?
Like a branch that sprouts from a stump, someone from David's family [KJV: a rod out of the stem of Jesse] will someday be king. The Spirit of the Lord will be with him to give him understanding, wisdom, and insight. He will be powerful, and he will know and honor the Lord. (Isa 11:1-2 CEV)
Are righteousness, equity and faithfulness some of the character traits of this king?
And his delight shall be in the fear of the Lord. He shall not judge by what his eyes see, or decide disputes by what his ears hear, but with righteousness he shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth; and he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked. Righteousness shall be the belt of his waist, and faithfulness the belt of his loins. (Isa 11:3-5 ESV)
Will wild animals literally be tamed during the reign of this king? Does this reverse some curses in Genesis?
The wolf will live with the lamb, and the leopard will lie down with the goat. The calf, the young lion, and the fatling will be together, and a child will lead them. The cow and the bear will graze, their young ones will lie down together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox. An infant will play beside the cobra’s pit, and a toddler will put his hand into a snake’s den. None will harm or destroy another on My entire holy mountain, for the land will be as full of the knowledge of the Lord as the sea is filled with water. (Isa 11:6-9 HCSB)
Will this “root of Jesse” rally all nations and recover the descendants of the ten tribes from various locations?
At that time, as to the root of Jesse, who will be standing as a banner for the peoples, the nations will rally to him, and his resting place is glorious. At that time, the Lord will reach out his hand yet a second time to recover the remnant that is left of his people, from Assyria, from Lower Egypt, from Upper Egypt, from Cush, from Elam, from Shinar, from Hamath, and from the islands of the sea. He will raise a banner for the nations and will assemble the dispersed of Israel; he will gather the scattered people of Judah from the corners of the earth. (Isa 11:10-12 ISV)
Will the enmity between the northern and southern tribes be healed? Will there be a highway for the remnant to return?
The envy also of Ephraim shall depart, and the adversaries of Judah shall be cut off: Ephraim shall not envy Judah, and Judah shall not vex Ephraim. But they shall fly upon the shoulders of the Philistines toward the west; they shall spoil them of the east together: they shall lay their hand upon Edom and Moab; and the children of Ammon shall obey them. And the Lord shall utterly destroy the tongue of the Egyptian sea; and with his mighty wind shall he shake his hand over the river, and shall smite it in the seven streams, and make men go over dryshod. And there shall be an highway for the remnant of his people, which shall be left, from Assyria; like as it was to Israel in the day that he came up out of the land of Egypt. (Isa 11:13-16 KJV)
Does the author of Romans allude to this prophecy in regard to Jesus?
And again Isaiah says, “There shall come the root of Jesse, And He who arises to rule over the Gentiles, In Him shall the Gentiles hope.” (Rom 15:12 LSB)
Is there a king in whom the Gentiles or nations will hope? Do we look forward to His rule? You decide!
Nations Judged (Isaiah 10)
When Israel fell to Assyria and Judah paid heavy tribute, was God disgusted with Assyria’s arrogance? Are our nations arrogant? Let’s learn from Isaiah 10.
What does God say about legislation that punishes the needy and robs the poor?
How terrible it will be for the one who enacts unjust decrees, for those who write oppressive laws that they have prescribed to deprive the needy of justice and to rob the poor of my people of their rights, so that widows may become their spoil and so that they may plunder orphans! What will you do on the day of Judgment, in the calamity that will come from far away? To whom will you run for help, and where will you leave your wealth, so you won’t have to crouch among those in chains or fall among the slain? Yet for all this, his anger has not turned away, and his hand is still stretched out, ready to strike. (Isa 10:1-4 ISV)
Which nation would God primarily use to punish the northern tribes of Israel?
O Assyrian, the rod of mine anger, and the staff in their hand is mine indignation. I will send him against an hypocritical nation, and against the people of my wrath will I give him a charge, to take the spoil, and to take the prey, and to tread them down like the mire of the streets. (Isa 10:5-6 KJV)
However, instead of humbly acting as God’s vehicle of punishment, does Assyria go too far, acting in an arrogant manner?
But it does not intend to act in this way, And it does not think in its heart in this way, Rather, what is in its heart is to destroy And to cut off many nations. For it says, “Are not my princes all kings? Is not Calno like Carchemish, Or Hamath like Arpad, Or Samaria like Damascus? As my hand has reached to the kingdoms of the idols, Whose graven images were greater than those of Jerusalem and Samaria, Shall I not do to Jerusalem and her images Just as I have done to Samaria and her idols?” (Isa 10:7-11 LSB)
Will Assyria also receive punishment at the hand of the Lord?
So it will be that when the Lord has completed all His work on Mount Zion and on Jerusalem, He will say, “I will punish the fruit of the arrogant heart of the king of Assyria and the arrogant pride of his eyes.” For he has said, “By the power of my hand and by my wisdom I did this, Because I have understanding; And I removed the boundaries of the peoples And plundered their treasures, And like a powerful man I brought down their inhabitants, And my hand reached to the riches of the peoples like a nest, And as one gathers abandoned eggs, I gathered all the earth; And there was not one that flapped its wing, opened its beak, or chirped.” (Isa 10:12-14 NASB)
Why is God angry with Assyria? Was their boasting a cause for God to curse them too?
Does the ax raise itself above the person who swings it, or the saw boast against the one who uses it? As if a rod were to wield the person who lifts it up, or a club brandish the one who is not wood! Therefore, the Lord, the Lord Almighty, will send a wasting disease upon his sturdy warriors; under his pomp a fire will be kindled like a blazing flame. The Light of Israel will become a fire, their Holy One a flame; in a single day it will burn and consume his thorns and his briers. The splendor of his forests and fertile fields it will completely destroy, as when a sick person wastes away. And the remaining trees of his forests will be so few that a child could write them down. (Isa 10:15-19 NIV)
Will the remnant of Israel repent and return to dependence on God?
And it shall come to pass in that day That the remnant of Israel, And such as have escaped of the house of Jacob, Will never again depend on him who defeated them, But will depend on the Lord, the Holy One of Israel, in truth. The remnant will return, the remnant of Jacob, To the Mighty God. For though your people, O Israel, be as the sand of the sea, A remnant of them will return; The destruction decreed shall overflow with righteousness. For the Lord God of hosts Will make a determined end In the midst of all the land. (Isa 10:20-23 NKJV)
Does God encourage Judah not to be afraid of the Assyrians?
So this is what the Lord, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, says: “O my people in Zion, do not be afraid of the Assyrians when they oppress you with rod and club as the Egyptians did long ago. In a little while my anger against you will end, and then my anger will rise up to destroy them.” The Lord of Heaven’s Armies will lash them with his whip, as he did when Gideon triumphed over the Midianites at the rock of Oreb, or when the Lord’s staff was raised to drown the Egyptian army in the sea. In that day the Lord will end the bondage of his people. He will break the yoke of slavery and lift it from their shoulders. (Isa 10:24-27 NLT)
Will the Lord eventually punish Assyria for their arrogance, like lopping a large tree?
He has come to Aiath. He has passed through Migron. At Michmash he stores his baggage. They have gone over the pass. They have taken up their lodging at Geba. Ramah trembles. Gibeah of Saul has fled. Cry aloud with your voice, daughter of Gallim! Listen, Laishah! You poor Anathoth! Madmenah is a fugitive. The inhabitants of Gebim flee for safety. This very day he will halt at Nob. He shakes his hand at the mountain of the daughter of Zion, the hill of Jerusalem. Behold, the Lord, Yahweh of Armies, will lop the boughs with terror. The tall will be cut down, and the lofty will be brought low. He will cut down the thickets of the forest with iron, and Lebanon will fall by the Mighty One. (Isa 10:28-34 WEB)
Did Jesus also speak of yet another punishment of Jerusalem for her sins, one that occurred about 40 years later?
Now Jesus left the temple and was going away. His disciples came to point out to him the temple buildings. He responded, “Do you see all these things? I assure that no stone will be left on another. Everything will be demolished.” (Mat 24:1-2 CEB)
When Israel fell to Assyria and Judah paid heavy tribute, was God disgusted with Assyria’s arrogance? Are our nations arrogant? You decide!
What does God say about legislation that punishes the needy and robs the poor?
How terrible it will be for the one who enacts unjust decrees, for those who write oppressive laws that they have prescribed to deprive the needy of justice and to rob the poor of my people of their rights, so that widows may become their spoil and so that they may plunder orphans! What will you do on the day of Judgment, in the calamity that will come from far away? To whom will you run for help, and where will you leave your wealth, so you won’t have to crouch among those in chains or fall among the slain? Yet for all this, his anger has not turned away, and his hand is still stretched out, ready to strike. (Isa 10:1-4 ISV)
Which nation would God primarily use to punish the northern tribes of Israel?
O Assyrian, the rod of mine anger, and the staff in their hand is mine indignation. I will send him against an hypocritical nation, and against the people of my wrath will I give him a charge, to take the spoil, and to take the prey, and to tread them down like the mire of the streets. (Isa 10:5-6 KJV)
However, instead of humbly acting as God’s vehicle of punishment, does Assyria go too far, acting in an arrogant manner?
But it does not intend to act in this way, And it does not think in its heart in this way, Rather, what is in its heart is to destroy And to cut off many nations. For it says, “Are not my princes all kings? Is not Calno like Carchemish, Or Hamath like Arpad, Or Samaria like Damascus? As my hand has reached to the kingdoms of the idols, Whose graven images were greater than those of Jerusalem and Samaria, Shall I not do to Jerusalem and her images Just as I have done to Samaria and her idols?” (Isa 10:7-11 LSB)
Will Assyria also receive punishment at the hand of the Lord?
So it will be that when the Lord has completed all His work on Mount Zion and on Jerusalem, He will say, “I will punish the fruit of the arrogant heart of the king of Assyria and the arrogant pride of his eyes.” For he has said, “By the power of my hand and by my wisdom I did this, Because I have understanding; And I removed the boundaries of the peoples And plundered their treasures, And like a powerful man I brought down their inhabitants, And my hand reached to the riches of the peoples like a nest, And as one gathers abandoned eggs, I gathered all the earth; And there was not one that flapped its wing, opened its beak, or chirped.” (Isa 10:12-14 NASB)
Why is God angry with Assyria? Was their boasting a cause for God to curse them too?
Does the ax raise itself above the person who swings it, or the saw boast against the one who uses it? As if a rod were to wield the person who lifts it up, or a club brandish the one who is not wood! Therefore, the Lord, the Lord Almighty, will send a wasting disease upon his sturdy warriors; under his pomp a fire will be kindled like a blazing flame. The Light of Israel will become a fire, their Holy One a flame; in a single day it will burn and consume his thorns and his briers. The splendor of his forests and fertile fields it will completely destroy, as when a sick person wastes away. And the remaining trees of his forests will be so few that a child could write them down. (Isa 10:15-19 NIV)
Will the remnant of Israel repent and return to dependence on God?
And it shall come to pass in that day That the remnant of Israel, And such as have escaped of the house of Jacob, Will never again depend on him who defeated them, But will depend on the Lord, the Holy One of Israel, in truth. The remnant will return, the remnant of Jacob, To the Mighty God. For though your people, O Israel, be as the sand of the sea, A remnant of them will return; The destruction decreed shall overflow with righteousness. For the Lord God of hosts Will make a determined end In the midst of all the land. (Isa 10:20-23 NKJV)
Does God encourage Judah not to be afraid of the Assyrians?
So this is what the Lord, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, says: “O my people in Zion, do not be afraid of the Assyrians when they oppress you with rod and club as the Egyptians did long ago. In a little while my anger against you will end, and then my anger will rise up to destroy them.” The Lord of Heaven’s Armies will lash them with his whip, as he did when Gideon triumphed over the Midianites at the rock of Oreb, or when the Lord’s staff was raised to drown the Egyptian army in the sea. In that day the Lord will end the bondage of his people. He will break the yoke of slavery and lift it from their shoulders. (Isa 10:24-27 NLT)
Will the Lord eventually punish Assyria for their arrogance, like lopping a large tree?
He has come to Aiath. He has passed through Migron. At Michmash he stores his baggage. They have gone over the pass. They have taken up their lodging at Geba. Ramah trembles. Gibeah of Saul has fled. Cry aloud with your voice, daughter of Gallim! Listen, Laishah! You poor Anathoth! Madmenah is a fugitive. The inhabitants of Gebim flee for safety. This very day he will halt at Nob. He shakes his hand at the mountain of the daughter of Zion, the hill of Jerusalem. Behold, the Lord, Yahweh of Armies, will lop the boughs with terror. The tall will be cut down, and the lofty will be brought low. He will cut down the thickets of the forest with iron, and Lebanon will fall by the Mighty One. (Isa 10:28-34 WEB)
Did Jesus also speak of yet another punishment of Jerusalem for her sins, one that occurred about 40 years later?
Now Jesus left the temple and was going away. His disciples came to point out to him the temple buildings. He responded, “Do you see all these things? I assure that no stone will be left on another. Everything will be demolished.” (Mat 24:1-2 CEB)
When Israel fell to Assyria and Judah paid heavy tribute, was God disgusted with Assyria’s arrogance? Are our nations arrogant? You decide!
A Government (Isaiah 9)
Do we look forward to a coming government that will rule with fairness and justice? Let’s look at Isaiah 9.
Will there be a great light in Galilee that will replace the gloom of the northern tribes?
Nevertheless, there will be no more gloom for those who were in distress. In the past he humbled the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the future he will honor Galilee of the nations, by the Way of the Sea, beyond the Jordan—The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned. (Isa 9:1-2 NIV)
Will there be great joy because oppression no longer exists?
You have multiplied the nation And increased its joy; They rejoice before You According to the joy of harvest, As men rejoice when they divide the spoil. For You have broken the yoke of his burden And the staff of his shoulder, The rod of his oppressor, As in the day of Midian. For every warrior’s sandal from the noisy battle, And garments rolled in blood, Will be used for burning and fuel of fire. (Isa 9:3-5 NKJV)
Will all that happen because a child will be born who will head a government? What child born was also called God in the Bible?
For a child is born to us, a son is given to us. The government will rest on his shoulders. And he will be called: Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. His government and its peace will never end. He will rule with fairness and justice from the throne of his ancestor David for all eternity. The passionate commitment of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies will make this happen! (Isa 9:6-7 NLT)
Do human political promises often sound like boastful hot air with no substance?
The Lord sent a word into Jacob, and it falls on Israel. All the people will know, including Ephraim and the inhabitants of Samaria, who say in pride and in arrogance of heart, “The bricks have fallen, but we will build with cut stone. The sycamore fig trees have been cut down, but we will put cedars in their place.” (Isa 9:8-10 WEB)
Regardless of the northern tribes’ political bragging, did God’s punishment succeed?
So the Lord raised up their foes against them, and stirred up their enemies—Aram from the east and the Philistines from the west—and they devoured Israel with an open mouth. Even then God’s anger didn’t turn away; God’s hand was still extended. (Isa 9:11-12 CEB)
Did the northern ten tribes repent and worship God?
The people of Israel still did not turn back to the Lord All-Powerful and worship him. In one day he cut off their head and tail, their leaves and branches. Their rulers and leaders were the head, and the lying prophets were the tail. They had led the nation down the wrong path, and the people were confused. The Lord was angry with his people and kept punishing them, because they had turned against him. They were evil and spoke foolishly. That's why he did not have pity on their young people or on their widows and orphans. (Isa 9:13-17 CEV)
Was God’s anger against a sinful nation like a wildfire?
For wickedness burns like a fire; it consumes briers and thorns; it kindles the thickets of the forest, and they roll upward in a column of smoke. Through the wrath of the Lord of hosts the land is scorched, and the people are like fuel for the fire; no one spares another. They slice meat on the right, but are still hungry, and they devour on the left, but are not satisfied; each devours the flesh of his own arm, Manasseh devours Ephraim, and Ephraim devours Manasseh; together they are against Judah. For all this his anger has not turned away, and his hand is stretched out still. (Isa 9:18-21 ESV)
Who was the Word, and how did He become God in the flesh?
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. All things were created through Him, and apart from Him not one thing was created that has been created… The Word became flesh and took up residence among us. We observed His glory, the glory as the One and Only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. (John 1:1-3, 14 HCSB)
Do we look forward to a coming government that will rule with fairness and justice? You decide!
Will there be a great light in Galilee that will replace the gloom of the northern tribes?
Nevertheless, there will be no more gloom for those who were in distress. In the past he humbled the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the future he will honor Galilee of the nations, by the Way of the Sea, beyond the Jordan—The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned. (Isa 9:1-2 NIV)
Will there be great joy because oppression no longer exists?
You have multiplied the nation And increased its joy; They rejoice before You According to the joy of harvest, As men rejoice when they divide the spoil. For You have broken the yoke of his burden And the staff of his shoulder, The rod of his oppressor, As in the day of Midian. For every warrior’s sandal from the noisy battle, And garments rolled in blood, Will be used for burning and fuel of fire. (Isa 9:3-5 NKJV)
Will all that happen because a child will be born who will head a government? What child born was also called God in the Bible?
For a child is born to us, a son is given to us. The government will rest on his shoulders. And he will be called: Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. His government and its peace will never end. He will rule with fairness and justice from the throne of his ancestor David for all eternity. The passionate commitment of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies will make this happen! (Isa 9:6-7 NLT)
Do human political promises often sound like boastful hot air with no substance?
The Lord sent a word into Jacob, and it falls on Israel. All the people will know, including Ephraim and the inhabitants of Samaria, who say in pride and in arrogance of heart, “The bricks have fallen, but we will build with cut stone. The sycamore fig trees have been cut down, but we will put cedars in their place.” (Isa 9:8-10 WEB)
Regardless of the northern tribes’ political bragging, did God’s punishment succeed?
So the Lord raised up their foes against them, and stirred up their enemies—Aram from the east and the Philistines from the west—and they devoured Israel with an open mouth. Even then God’s anger didn’t turn away; God’s hand was still extended. (Isa 9:11-12 CEB)
Did the northern ten tribes repent and worship God?
The people of Israel still did not turn back to the Lord All-Powerful and worship him. In one day he cut off their head and tail, their leaves and branches. Their rulers and leaders were the head, and the lying prophets were the tail. They had led the nation down the wrong path, and the people were confused. The Lord was angry with his people and kept punishing them, because they had turned against him. They were evil and spoke foolishly. That's why he did not have pity on their young people or on their widows and orphans. (Isa 9:13-17 CEV)
Was God’s anger against a sinful nation like a wildfire?
For wickedness burns like a fire; it consumes briers and thorns; it kindles the thickets of the forest, and they roll upward in a column of smoke. Through the wrath of the Lord of hosts the land is scorched, and the people are like fuel for the fire; no one spares another. They slice meat on the right, but are still hungry, and they devour on the left, but are not satisfied; each devours the flesh of his own arm, Manasseh devours Ephraim, and Ephraim devours Manasseh; together they are against Judah. For all this his anger has not turned away, and his hand is stretched out still. (Isa 9:18-21 ESV)
Who was the Word, and how did He become God in the flesh?
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. All things were created through Him, and apart from Him not one thing was created that has been created… The Word became flesh and took up residence among us. We observed His glory, the glory as the One and Only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. (John 1:1-3, 14 HCSB)
Do we look forward to a coming government that will rule with fairness and justice? You decide!
The Longest Name (Isaiah 8)
When a nation is in serious trouble, where do we go for help? Let’s look at Isaiah 8.
What was the purpose in God naming Isaiah’s second son the longest name in the Bible? Is his name “swift booty, speedy prey,” a prophecy of Assyria conquering the northern tribes of Israel?
The Lord said, “Isaiah, get something to write on. Then write in big clear letters the name, MAHER-SHALAL-HASH-BAZ. I will tell Uriah the priest and Zechariah son of Jeberechiah to serve as witnesses to this.” Sometime later, my wife and I had a son, and the Lord said, “Name him Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz. Because before he can say ‘Mommy’ or ‘Daddy,’ the king of Assyria will attack and take everything of value from Damascus and Samaria.” (Isa 8:1-4 CEV)
Had the northern tribes rejected the gentle waters of Jerusalem, God’s loving provision? So, will they be symbolically flooded with the waters from the Euphrates, the Assyrians?
The Lord spoke to me again: “Because this people has refused the waters of Shiloah that flow gently, and rejoice over Rezin and the son of Remaliah, therefore, behold, the Lord is bringing up against them the waters of the River, mighty and many, the king of Assyria and all his glory. And it will rise over all its channels and go over all its banks, and it will sweep on into Judah, it will overflow and pass on, reaching even to the neck, and its outspread wings will fill the breadth of your land, O Immanuel.” (Isa 8:5-8 ESV)
Will any human schemes thwart God’s plans to punish the nation? Does the meaning of “God with us” (Immanuel) shift from God being with the faithful remnant of Judah to God is literally with us in Christ?
Band together, peoples, and be broken; pay attention, all you distant lands; prepare for war, and be broken; prepare for war, and be broken. Devise a plan; it will fail. Make a prediction; it will not happen. For God is with us. (Isa 8:9-10 HCSB)
Who should we fear, those who spread panic and conspiracy theories or God?
For this is what the Lord spoke to me, as his forceful hand was resting on me, and as he was warning me not to live the way this people were living: “Don’t call conspiracy everything that this people calls conspiracy, and don’t fear what they fear, or live in terror. The Lord of the Heavenly Armies—he’s the one you are to regard as holy. Let him be the one whom you fear, and let him be the one before whom you stand in terror! Then he will be a sanctuary, but for both houses of Israel he’ll also be a stone with which someone strikes himself, a rock one stumbles over, a trap and a snare to those who live in Jerusalem. Many will stumble on them; They’ll fall and be broken; They’ll be snared and captured. (Isa 8:11-15 ISV)
Were Isaiah’s sons Shear-Jashub (a remnant shall return) and Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz (swift booty speedy prey), and Isaiah’s name (God is salvation) prophetic signs of what God was about to do?
Bind up the testimony, seal the law among my disciples. And I will wait upon the Lord, that hideth his face from the house of Jacob, and I will look for him. Behold, I and the children whom the Lord hath given me are for signs and for wonders in Israel from the Lord of hosts, which dwelleth in mount Zion. (Isa 8:16-18 KJV)
What does God say to those who seek an answer from the occult?
Now when they say to you, “Inquire of the mediums and the spiritists who whisper and mutter,” should not a people inquire of their God? Should they inquire of the dead on behalf of the living? To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, it is because they have no dawn. And they will pass through the land hard-pressed and hungry, and it will be that when they are hungry, they will be angry and curse their king and their God as they face upward. Then they will look to the earth, and behold, distress and darkness, the gloom of anguish; and they will be banished into thick darkness. (Isa 8:19-22 LSB)
How is Jesus both the chief cornerstone and a stone of stumbling?
For this is contained in Scripture: “Behold, I am laying in Zion a choice stone, a precious cornerstone, And the one who believes in Him will not be put to shame.” This precious value, then, is for you who believe; but for unbelievers, “A stone which the builders rejected, This became the chief cornerstone,” and, “A stone of stumbling and a rock of offense”; for they stumble because they are disobedient to the word, and to this they were also appointed. (1 Pet 2:6-8 NASB)
When a nation is in serious trouble, where do we go for help? You decide!
What was the purpose in God naming Isaiah’s second son the longest name in the Bible? Is his name “swift booty, speedy prey,” a prophecy of Assyria conquering the northern tribes of Israel?
The Lord said, “Isaiah, get something to write on. Then write in big clear letters the name, MAHER-SHALAL-HASH-BAZ. I will tell Uriah the priest and Zechariah son of Jeberechiah to serve as witnesses to this.” Sometime later, my wife and I had a son, and the Lord said, “Name him Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz. Because before he can say ‘Mommy’ or ‘Daddy,’ the king of Assyria will attack and take everything of value from Damascus and Samaria.” (Isa 8:1-4 CEV)
Had the northern tribes rejected the gentle waters of Jerusalem, God’s loving provision? So, will they be symbolically flooded with the waters from the Euphrates, the Assyrians?
The Lord spoke to me again: “Because this people has refused the waters of Shiloah that flow gently, and rejoice over Rezin and the son of Remaliah, therefore, behold, the Lord is bringing up against them the waters of the River, mighty and many, the king of Assyria and all his glory. And it will rise over all its channels and go over all its banks, and it will sweep on into Judah, it will overflow and pass on, reaching even to the neck, and its outspread wings will fill the breadth of your land, O Immanuel.” (Isa 8:5-8 ESV)
Will any human schemes thwart God’s plans to punish the nation? Does the meaning of “God with us” (Immanuel) shift from God being with the faithful remnant of Judah to God is literally with us in Christ?
Band together, peoples, and be broken; pay attention, all you distant lands; prepare for war, and be broken; prepare for war, and be broken. Devise a plan; it will fail. Make a prediction; it will not happen. For God is with us. (Isa 8:9-10 HCSB)
Who should we fear, those who spread panic and conspiracy theories or God?
For this is what the Lord spoke to me, as his forceful hand was resting on me, and as he was warning me not to live the way this people were living: “Don’t call conspiracy everything that this people calls conspiracy, and don’t fear what they fear, or live in terror. The Lord of the Heavenly Armies—he’s the one you are to regard as holy. Let him be the one whom you fear, and let him be the one before whom you stand in terror! Then he will be a sanctuary, but for both houses of Israel he’ll also be a stone with which someone strikes himself, a rock one stumbles over, a trap and a snare to those who live in Jerusalem. Many will stumble on them; They’ll fall and be broken; They’ll be snared and captured. (Isa 8:11-15 ISV)
Were Isaiah’s sons Shear-Jashub (a remnant shall return) and Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz (swift booty speedy prey), and Isaiah’s name (God is salvation) prophetic signs of what God was about to do?
Bind up the testimony, seal the law among my disciples. And I will wait upon the Lord, that hideth his face from the house of Jacob, and I will look for him. Behold, I and the children whom the Lord hath given me are for signs and for wonders in Israel from the Lord of hosts, which dwelleth in mount Zion. (Isa 8:16-18 KJV)
What does God say to those who seek an answer from the occult?
Now when they say to you, “Inquire of the mediums and the spiritists who whisper and mutter,” should not a people inquire of their God? Should they inquire of the dead on behalf of the living? To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, it is because they have no dawn. And they will pass through the land hard-pressed and hungry, and it will be that when they are hungry, they will be angry and curse their king and their God as they face upward. Then they will look to the earth, and behold, distress and darkness, the gloom of anguish; and they will be banished into thick darkness. (Isa 8:19-22 LSB)
How is Jesus both the chief cornerstone and a stone of stumbling?
For this is contained in Scripture: “Behold, I am laying in Zion a choice stone, a precious cornerstone, And the one who believes in Him will not be put to shame.” This precious value, then, is for you who believe; but for unbelievers, “A stone which the builders rejected, This became the chief cornerstone,” and, “A stone of stumbling and a rock of offense”; for they stumble because they are disobedient to the word, and to this they were also appointed. (1 Pet 2:6-8 NASB)
When a nation is in serious trouble, where do we go for help? You decide!
Judgment on the North (Isaiah 7)
Buried in a warning of a coming Assyrian invasion of the northern ten tribes, is there a prophecy of Jesus? Do we believe that if God is for us, who can be against us? Let’s look at Isaiah 7.
Did the northern tribes of Israel align with two foreign kings against Jerusalem?
Now it happened 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. When it was told 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 before the wind. (Isa 7:1-2 LSB)
Did God offer Ahaz of Judah, king in Jerusalem, calm assurance that enemy plans would fail and he need only believe?
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 road to the fuller’s field, and say to him, ‘Take care and be calm, have no fear and do not be fainthearted because of these two stumps of smoldering logs, on account of the fierce anger of Rezin and Aram and the son of Remaliah. Because Aram, with Ephraim and the son of Remaliah, has planned evil against you, saying, “Let’s go up against Judah and terrorize it, and take it for ourselves by assault and set up the son of Tabeel as king in the midst of it,” this is what the Lord God says: “It shall not stand nor shall it come to pass. For the head of Aram is Damascus, and the head of Damascus is Rezin (now within another sixty-five years Ephraim will be broken to pieces, so that it is no longer a people), and the head of Ephraim is Samaria, and the head of Samaria is the son of Remaliah. If you will not believe, you certainly shall not last.”’” (Isa 7:3-9 NASB)
Is this important prophecy of Immanuel familiar to those who remember Christ’s birth?
Again the Lord spoke to Ahaz, “Ask the Lord your God for a sign, whether in the deepest depths or in the highest heights.” But Ahaz said, “I will not ask; I will not put the Lord to the test.” Then Isaiah said, “Hear now, you house of David! Is it not enough to try the patience of humans? Will you try the patience of my God also? Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel. He will be eating curds and honey when he knows enough to reject the wrong and choose the right, for before the boy knows enough to reject the wrong and choose the right, the land of the two kings you dread will be laid waste. (Isa 7:10-16 NIV)
Was there a warning regarding the northern tribes, with Ephraim at its head, regarding a future destruction by Assyria?
The Lord will bring the king of Assyria upon you and your people and your father’s house—days that have not come since the day that Ephraim departed from Judah.” And it shall come to pass in that day That the Lord will whistle for the fly That is in the farthest part of the rivers of Egypt, And for the bee that is in the land of Assyria. They will come, and all of them will rest In the desolate valleys and in the clefts of the rocks, And on all thorns and in all pastures. In the same day the Lord will shave with a hired razor, With those from beyond the River, with the king of Assyria, The head and the hair of the legs, And will also remove the beard. (Isa 7:17-20 NKJV)
How thorough would the destruction by Assyria be upon the northern tribes?
In that day a farmer will be fortunate to have a cow and two sheep or goats left. Nevertheless, there will be enough milk for everyone because so few people will be left in the land. They will eat their fill of yogurt and honey. In that day the lush vineyards, now worth 1,000 pieces of silver, will become patches of briers and thorns. The entire land will become a vast expanse of briers and thorns, a hunting ground overrun by wildlife. No one will go to the fertile hillsides where the gardens once grew, for briers and thorns will cover them. Cattle, sheep, and goats will graze there. (Isa 7:21-25 NLT)
How was part of this prophecy used in explaining Jesus’ birth? Was Jesus God with us during His ministry on earth?
Now all this has happened that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying, “Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and shall give birth to a son. They shall call his name Immanuel,” which is, being interpreted, “God with us.” (Mat 1:22-23 WEB)
How should we understand the presence of God here on earth?
So what are we going to say about these things? If God is for us, who is [can be] against us? (Rom 8:31 CEB)
Buried in a warning of a coming Assyrian invasion of the northern ten tribes, is there a prophecy of Jesus? Do we believe that if God is for us, who can be against us? You decide!
Did the northern tribes of Israel align with two foreign kings against Jerusalem?
Now it happened 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. When it was told 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 before the wind. (Isa 7:1-2 LSB)
Did God offer Ahaz of Judah, king in Jerusalem, calm assurance that enemy plans would fail and he need only believe?
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 road to the fuller’s field, and say to him, ‘Take care and be calm, have no fear and do not be fainthearted because of these two stumps of smoldering logs, on account of the fierce anger of Rezin and Aram and the son of Remaliah. Because Aram, with Ephraim and the son of Remaliah, has planned evil against you, saying, “Let’s go up against Judah and terrorize it, and take it for ourselves by assault and set up the son of Tabeel as king in the midst of it,” this is what the Lord God says: “It shall not stand nor shall it come to pass. For the head of Aram is Damascus, and the head of Damascus is Rezin (now within another sixty-five years Ephraim will be broken to pieces, so that it is no longer a people), and the head of Ephraim is Samaria, and the head of Samaria is the son of Remaliah. If you will not believe, you certainly shall not last.”’” (Isa 7:3-9 NASB)
Is this important prophecy of Immanuel familiar to those who remember Christ’s birth?
Again the Lord spoke to Ahaz, “Ask the Lord your God for a sign, whether in the deepest depths or in the highest heights.” But Ahaz said, “I will not ask; I will not put the Lord to the test.” Then Isaiah said, “Hear now, you house of David! Is it not enough to try the patience of humans? Will you try the patience of my God also? Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel. He will be eating curds and honey when he knows enough to reject the wrong and choose the right, for before the boy knows enough to reject the wrong and choose the right, the land of the two kings you dread will be laid waste. (Isa 7:10-16 NIV)
Was there a warning regarding the northern tribes, with Ephraim at its head, regarding a future destruction by Assyria?
The Lord will bring the king of Assyria upon you and your people and your father’s house—days that have not come since the day that Ephraim departed from Judah.” And it shall come to pass in that day That the Lord will whistle for the fly That is in the farthest part of the rivers of Egypt, And for the bee that is in the land of Assyria. They will come, and all of them will rest In the desolate valleys and in the clefts of the rocks, And on all thorns and in all pastures. In the same day the Lord will shave with a hired razor, With those from beyond the River, with the king of Assyria, The head and the hair of the legs, And will also remove the beard. (Isa 7:17-20 NKJV)
How thorough would the destruction by Assyria be upon the northern tribes?
In that day a farmer will be fortunate to have a cow and two sheep or goats left. Nevertheless, there will be enough milk for everyone because so few people will be left in the land. They will eat their fill of yogurt and honey. In that day the lush vineyards, now worth 1,000 pieces of silver, will become patches of briers and thorns. The entire land will become a vast expanse of briers and thorns, a hunting ground overrun by wildlife. No one will go to the fertile hillsides where the gardens once grew, for briers and thorns will cover them. Cattle, sheep, and goats will graze there. (Isa 7:21-25 NLT)
How was part of this prophecy used in explaining Jesus’ birth? Was Jesus God with us during His ministry on earth?
Now all this has happened that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying, “Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and shall give birth to a son. They shall call his name Immanuel,” which is, being interpreted, “God with us.” (Mat 1:22-23 WEB)
How should we understand the presence of God here on earth?
So what are we going to say about these things? If God is for us, who is [can be] against us? (Rom 8:31 CEB)
Buried in a warning of a coming Assyrian invasion of the northern ten tribes, is there a prophecy of Jesus? Do we believe that if God is for us, who can be against us? You decide!
Deafen their Ears (Isaiah 6)
Why did both Isaiah and Jesus not want the stubborn and unrepentant to understand? Are we repentant? Let’s look at Isaiah 6.
Is Uzziah the first of four kings during whose reign Isaiah prophesied? Was he one of the good kings of Judah?
In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up; and his train filled the temple. (Isa 6:1 WEB)
Are the seraphs around God’s throne a unique kind of angel? The Hebrew im-ending is the same plural as our English s-ending. What did they look like? What were they doing?
Winged creatures [Seraphim] were stationed around him. Each had six wings: with two they veiled their faces, with two their feet, and with two they flew about. They shouted to each other, saying: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of heavenly forces! All the earth is filled with God’s glory!” The doorframe shook at the sound of their shouting, and the house was filled with smoke. (Isa 6: 2-4 CEB)
Does a mature believer realize deeply how sinful our nature actually is?
Then I cried out, “I'm doomed! Everything I say is sinful, and so are the words of everyone around me. Yet I have seen the King, the Lord All-Powerful.” One of the flaming creatures flew over to me with a burning coal that it had taken from the altar with a pair of metal tongs. It touched my lips with the hot coal and said, “This has touched your lips. Your sins are forgiven, and you are no longer guilty.” (Isa 6:5-7 CEV)
Did God call for a volunteer to go and did Isaiah respond? Is God asking for volunteers today?
And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Then I said, “Here I am! Send me.” (Isa 6:8 ESV)
How did God respond to Isaiah volunteering? Was his message to be similar to that of Jesus, who spoke in parables to hide the meaning from unrepentant crowds?
And He replied: Go! Say to these people: Keep listening, but do not understand; keep looking, but do not perceive. Dull the minds of these people; deafen their ears and blind their eyes; otherwise they might see with their eyes and hear with their ears, understand with their minds, turn back, and be healed. (Isa 6:9-10 HCSB)
How long was Isaiah to prophecy during the reigns of four kings of Judah? Who is the holy seed?
Then I asked, “For how long, Lord?” He replied: “Until cities lie waste, without inhabitants, and houses without people; and the land becomes utterly desolate. Until the Lord removes people far away, and there are many empty places in the middle of the land. Even though a tenth of its people remain in it, it will once again be burned, like a terebinth or an oak tree, the stump of which, though the tree has been felled, still contains holy seed.” (Isa 6:11-13 ISV)
When asked why He spoke in parables to people who did not really want to repent, did Jesus echo this chapter of Isaiah?
And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive: For this people's heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them. (Mat 13:14-15 KJV)
Why did both Isaiah and Jesus not want the stubborn and unrepentant to understand? Are we repentant? You decide!
Is Uzziah the first of four kings during whose reign Isaiah prophesied? Was he one of the good kings of Judah?
In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up; and his train filled the temple. (Isa 6:1 WEB)
Are the seraphs around God’s throne a unique kind of angel? The Hebrew im-ending is the same plural as our English s-ending. What did they look like? What were they doing?
Winged creatures [Seraphim] were stationed around him. Each had six wings: with two they veiled their faces, with two their feet, and with two they flew about. They shouted to each other, saying: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of heavenly forces! All the earth is filled with God’s glory!” The doorframe shook at the sound of their shouting, and the house was filled with smoke. (Isa 6: 2-4 CEB)
Does a mature believer realize deeply how sinful our nature actually is?
Then I cried out, “I'm doomed! Everything I say is sinful, and so are the words of everyone around me. Yet I have seen the King, the Lord All-Powerful.” One of the flaming creatures flew over to me with a burning coal that it had taken from the altar with a pair of metal tongs. It touched my lips with the hot coal and said, “This has touched your lips. Your sins are forgiven, and you are no longer guilty.” (Isa 6:5-7 CEV)
Did God call for a volunteer to go and did Isaiah respond? Is God asking for volunteers today?
And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Then I said, “Here I am! Send me.” (Isa 6:8 ESV)
How did God respond to Isaiah volunteering? Was his message to be similar to that of Jesus, who spoke in parables to hide the meaning from unrepentant crowds?
And He replied: Go! Say to these people: Keep listening, but do not understand; keep looking, but do not perceive. Dull the minds of these people; deafen their ears and blind their eyes; otherwise they might see with their eyes and hear with their ears, understand with their minds, turn back, and be healed. (Isa 6:9-10 HCSB)
How long was Isaiah to prophecy during the reigns of four kings of Judah? Who is the holy seed?
Then I asked, “For how long, Lord?” He replied: “Until cities lie waste, without inhabitants, and houses without people; and the land becomes utterly desolate. Until the Lord removes people far away, and there are many empty places in the middle of the land. Even though a tenth of its people remain in it, it will once again be burned, like a terebinth or an oak tree, the stump of which, though the tree has been felled, still contains holy seed.” (Isa 6:11-13 ISV)
When asked why He spoke in parables to people who did not really want to repent, did Jesus echo this chapter of Isaiah?
And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive: For this people's heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them. (Mat 13:14-15 KJV)
Why did both Isaiah and Jesus not want the stubborn and unrepentant to understand? Are we repentant? You decide!
Six Woes (Isaiah 5)
Does God warn Israel of six woes, consequences of their wrong ways? What can we learn from this? Let’s look at Isaiah 5.
What does this song picture and what does the vineyard symbolize?
I will sing a song about my friend's [beloved’s] vineyard that was on the side of a fertile hill. My friend dug the ground, removed the stones, and planted the best vines. He built a watchtower and dug a pit in rocky ground for pressing the grapes. He hoped they would be sweet, but bitter grapes were all it produced. (Isa 5:1-2 CEV)
Did God tend His vineyard well but still it did not produce well?
And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah, judge between me and my vineyard. What more was there to do for my vineyard, that I have not done in it? When I looked for it to yield grapes, why did it yield wild grapes? (Isa 5:3-4 ESV)
Does God warn what He is about to do to His vineyard? Does God finally name His vineyard?
Now I will tell you what I am about to do to My vineyard: I will remove its hedge, and it will be consumed; I will tear down its wall, and it will be trampled. I will make it a wasteland. It will not be pruned or weeded; thorns and briers will grow up. I will also give orders to the clouds that rain should not fall on it. For the vineyard of the Lord of Hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah, the plant He delighted in. He looked for justice but saw injustice, for righteousness, but heard cries of wretchedness. (Isa 5:5-7 HCSB)
Are there six woes that God warns Israel and Judah about? Is greed still driving us to make smaller and smaller house blocks and farms with no room for wildlife between fields?
“How terrible it will be [Woe #1] for you who join house to house, who add field to field, until there is no more room, and you have settled yourselves alone in the middle of the land!” The Lord of the Heavenly Armies has declared this so I could hear it: “Surely many houses will become desolate, great and beautiful houses, without occupants. For ten acres of vineyard will produce only one bath, and one omer of seed will produce only one ephah.” (Isa 5:8-10 ISV)
Do we also have a problem with alcoholism among our people?
Woe [#2] unto them that rise up early in the morning, that they may follow strong drink; that continue until night, till wine inflame them! And the harp, and the viol, the tabret, and pipe, and wine, are in their feasts: but they regard not the work of the Lord, neither consider the operation of his hands. (Isa 5:11-12 KJV)
What will happen to the nation because of their sins? Does God eventually treat all nations alike in this regard?
Therefore My people go into exile for their lack of knowledge; And their honorable men are famished, And their multitude is parched with thirst. Therefore Sheol has enlarged its throat and opened its mouth without limit; And Jerusalem’s majesty, her multitude, her rumbling, and the exultant within her, descend into it. So the common man will be bowed down and the man of importance will be made low, The eyes of the lofty also will be made low. But Yahweh of hosts will be lofty in judgment, And the holy God will show Himself holy in righteousness. Then the lambs will graze as in their pasture, And sojourners will eat in the waste places of the wealthy. (Isa 5:13-17 LSB)
Will criminals with their deceptive scams, bribery, labeling evil good and vice versa be among the first to be punished by God?
Woe [#3] to those who drag wrongdoing with the cords of deceit, And sin as if with cart ropes; Who say, “Let Him hurry, let Him do His work quickly, so that we may see it; And let the plan of the Holy One of Israel approach And come to pass, so that we may know it!” Woe [#4] to those who call evil good, and good evil; Who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness; Who substitute bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter! Woe [#5] to those who are wise in their own eyes And clever in their own sight! Woe [#6] to those who are heroes in drinking wine, And valiant men in mixing intoxicating drink, Who declare the wicked innocent for a bribe, And take away the rights of the ones who are in the right! (Isa 5:18-23 NASB)
After initial punishment will God relent or double down?
Therefore, as tongues of fire lick up straw and as dry grass sinks down in the flames, so their roots will decay and their flowers blow away like dust; for they have rejected the law of the Lord Almighty and spurned the word of the Holy One of Israel. Therefore the Lord’s anger burns against his people; his hand is raised and he strikes them down. The mountains shake, and the dead bodies are like refuse in the streets. Yet for all this, his anger is not turned away, his hand is still upraised. (Isa 5:24-25 NIV)
Did God then beckon Assyria to invade Israel? Will our modern nations escape God's punishment for our sins?
He will lift up a banner to the nations from afar, And will whistle to them from the end of the earth; Surely they shall come with speed, swiftly. No one will be weary or stumble among them, No one will slumber or sleep; Nor will the belt on their loins be loosed, Nor the strap of their sandals be broken; Whose arrows are sharp, And all their bows bent; Their horses’ hooves will seem like flint, And their wheels like a whirlwind. Their roaring will be like a lion, They will roar like young lions; Yes, they will roar And lay hold of the prey; They will carry it away safely, And no one will deliver. In that day they will roar against them Like the roaring of the sea. And if one looks to the land, Behold, darkness and sorrow; And the light is darkened by the clouds. (Isa 5:26-30 NKJV)
Rather than the bad fruit of a rebellious nation, what fruit does the Holy Spirit produce?
But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things! (Gal 5:22-23 NLT)
Does God warn Israel of six woes, consequences of their wrong ways? What can we learn from this? You decide!
What does this song picture and what does the vineyard symbolize?
I will sing a song about my friend's [beloved’s] vineyard that was on the side of a fertile hill. My friend dug the ground, removed the stones, and planted the best vines. He built a watchtower and dug a pit in rocky ground for pressing the grapes. He hoped they would be sweet, but bitter grapes were all it produced. (Isa 5:1-2 CEV)
Did God tend His vineyard well but still it did not produce well?
And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah, judge between me and my vineyard. What more was there to do for my vineyard, that I have not done in it? When I looked for it to yield grapes, why did it yield wild grapes? (Isa 5:3-4 ESV)
Does God warn what He is about to do to His vineyard? Does God finally name His vineyard?
Now I will tell you what I am about to do to My vineyard: I will remove its hedge, and it will be consumed; I will tear down its wall, and it will be trampled. I will make it a wasteland. It will not be pruned or weeded; thorns and briers will grow up. I will also give orders to the clouds that rain should not fall on it. For the vineyard of the Lord of Hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah, the plant He delighted in. He looked for justice but saw injustice, for righteousness, but heard cries of wretchedness. (Isa 5:5-7 HCSB)
Are there six woes that God warns Israel and Judah about? Is greed still driving us to make smaller and smaller house blocks and farms with no room for wildlife between fields?
“How terrible it will be [Woe #1] for you who join house to house, who add field to field, until there is no more room, and you have settled yourselves alone in the middle of the land!” The Lord of the Heavenly Armies has declared this so I could hear it: “Surely many houses will become desolate, great and beautiful houses, without occupants. For ten acres of vineyard will produce only one bath, and one omer of seed will produce only one ephah.” (Isa 5:8-10 ISV)
Do we also have a problem with alcoholism among our people?
Woe [#2] unto them that rise up early in the morning, that they may follow strong drink; that continue until night, till wine inflame them! And the harp, and the viol, the tabret, and pipe, and wine, are in their feasts: but they regard not the work of the Lord, neither consider the operation of his hands. (Isa 5:11-12 KJV)
What will happen to the nation because of their sins? Does God eventually treat all nations alike in this regard?
Therefore My people go into exile for their lack of knowledge; And their honorable men are famished, And their multitude is parched with thirst. Therefore Sheol has enlarged its throat and opened its mouth without limit; And Jerusalem’s majesty, her multitude, her rumbling, and the exultant within her, descend into it. So the common man will be bowed down and the man of importance will be made low, The eyes of the lofty also will be made low. But Yahweh of hosts will be lofty in judgment, And the holy God will show Himself holy in righteousness. Then the lambs will graze as in their pasture, And sojourners will eat in the waste places of the wealthy. (Isa 5:13-17 LSB)
Will criminals with their deceptive scams, bribery, labeling evil good and vice versa be among the first to be punished by God?
Woe [#3] to those who drag wrongdoing with the cords of deceit, And sin as if with cart ropes; Who say, “Let Him hurry, let Him do His work quickly, so that we may see it; And let the plan of the Holy One of Israel approach And come to pass, so that we may know it!” Woe [#4] to those who call evil good, and good evil; Who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness; Who substitute bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter! Woe [#5] to those who are wise in their own eyes And clever in their own sight! Woe [#6] to those who are heroes in drinking wine, And valiant men in mixing intoxicating drink, Who declare the wicked innocent for a bribe, And take away the rights of the ones who are in the right! (Isa 5:18-23 NASB)
After initial punishment will God relent or double down?
Therefore, as tongues of fire lick up straw and as dry grass sinks down in the flames, so their roots will decay and their flowers blow away like dust; for they have rejected the law of the Lord Almighty and spurned the word of the Holy One of Israel. Therefore the Lord’s anger burns against his people; his hand is raised and he strikes them down. The mountains shake, and the dead bodies are like refuse in the streets. Yet for all this, his anger is not turned away, his hand is still upraised. (Isa 5:24-25 NIV)
Did God then beckon Assyria to invade Israel? Will our modern nations escape God's punishment for our sins?
He will lift up a banner to the nations from afar, And will whistle to them from the end of the earth; Surely they shall come with speed, swiftly. No one will be weary or stumble among them, No one will slumber or sleep; Nor will the belt on their loins be loosed, Nor the strap of their sandals be broken; Whose arrows are sharp, And all their bows bent; Their horses’ hooves will seem like flint, And their wheels like a whirlwind. Their roaring will be like a lion, They will roar like young lions; Yes, they will roar And lay hold of the prey; They will carry it away safely, And no one will deliver. In that day they will roar against them Like the roaring of the sea. And if one looks to the land, Behold, darkness and sorrow; And the light is darkened by the clouds. (Isa 5:26-30 NKJV)
Rather than the bad fruit of a rebellious nation, what fruit does the Holy Spirit produce?
But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things! (Gal 5:22-23 NLT)
Does God warn Israel of six woes, consequences of their wrong ways? What can we learn from this? You decide!
Jerusalem Cleansed (Isaiah 4)
Do we believe that Jerusalem will finally be cleansed and become holy? Let’s look at Isaiah 4.
Does warfare often kill so many male soldiers that women become a majority for a time? Does this depict desperate women?
In that day seven women will take hold of one man and say, “We will eat our own food and provide our own clothes; only let us be called by your name. Take away our disgrace!” (Isa 4:1 NIV)
Is there a reference to Jesus in this prophecy? Is that just a thought of Him giving people hope in dark times or does this also apply in some way to His return? What does it mean that some are recorded among the living?
In that day the Branch of the Lord shall be beautiful and glorious; And the fruit of the earth shall be excellent and appealing For those of Israel who have escaped. And it shall come to pass that he who is left in Zion and remains in Jerusalem will be called holy—everyone who is recorded among the living in Jerusalem. (Isa 4:2-3 NKJV)
When the Branch of the Lord reigns will He wash Jerusalem’s sins, and because they are clean, will God’s presence be there again?
The Lord will wash the filth from beautiful Zion and cleanse Jerusalem of its bloodstains with the hot breath of fiery judgment. Then the Lord will provide shade for Mount Zion and all who assemble there. He will provide a canopy of cloud during the day and smoke and flaming fire at night, covering the glorious land. It will be a shelter from daytime heat and a hiding place from storms and rain. (Isa 4:4-6 NLT)
How are we saved, by our own goodness or by a washing from heaven?
not by works of righteousness which we did ourselves, but according to his mercy, he saved us through the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit (Titus 3:5 WEB)
Who is the Branch that will bring cleansing to Jerusalem, mentioned here in this prophecy?
I, Jesus, have sent my angel to bear witness to all of you about these things for the churches. I’m the root and descendant [Branch] of David, the bright morning star. (Rev 22:16 CEB)
Do we believe that Jerusalem will finally be cleansed and become holy? You decide!
Does warfare often kill so many male soldiers that women become a majority for a time? Does this depict desperate women?
In that day seven women will take hold of one man and say, “We will eat our own food and provide our own clothes; only let us be called by your name. Take away our disgrace!” (Isa 4:1 NIV)
Is there a reference to Jesus in this prophecy? Is that just a thought of Him giving people hope in dark times or does this also apply in some way to His return? What does it mean that some are recorded among the living?
In that day the Branch of the Lord shall be beautiful and glorious; And the fruit of the earth shall be excellent and appealing For those of Israel who have escaped. And it shall come to pass that he who is left in Zion and remains in Jerusalem will be called holy—everyone who is recorded among the living in Jerusalem. (Isa 4:2-3 NKJV)
When the Branch of the Lord reigns will He wash Jerusalem’s sins, and because they are clean, will God’s presence be there again?
The Lord will wash the filth from beautiful Zion and cleanse Jerusalem of its bloodstains with the hot breath of fiery judgment. Then the Lord will provide shade for Mount Zion and all who assemble there. He will provide a canopy of cloud during the day and smoke and flaming fire at night, covering the glorious land. It will be a shelter from daytime heat and a hiding place from storms and rain. (Isa 4:4-6 NLT)
How are we saved, by our own goodness or by a washing from heaven?
not by works of righteousness which we did ourselves, but according to his mercy, he saved us through the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit (Titus 3:5 WEB)
Who is the Branch that will bring cleansing to Jerusalem, mentioned here in this prophecy?
I, Jesus, have sent my angel to bear witness to all of you about these things for the churches. I’m the root and descendant [Branch] of David, the bright morning star. (Rev 22:16 CEB)
Do we believe that Jerusalem will finally be cleansed and become holy? You decide!
Jerusalem Judged (Isaiah 3)
As God judged Jerusalem, will He eventually judge the wrongs of the whole world? Let’s look at Isaiah 3.
What did the Lord say He would do to Jerusalem? Did the people rely upon many things but not God? Do our people?
The Lord, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, will take away from Jerusalem and Judah everything they depend on: every bit of bread and every drop of water, all their heroes and soldiers, judges and prophets, fortune-tellers and elders, army officers and high officials, advisers, skilled sorcerers, and astrologers. (Isa 3:1-3 NLT)
What happens when the young and foolish dominate a culture?
I will give boys to be their princes, and children shall rule over them. The people will be oppressed, everyone by another, and everyone by his neighbor. The child will behave himself proudly against the old man, and the wicked against the honorable. (Isa 3:4-5 WEB)
Can times get so bad that mature and wise leadership is totally lacking and nobody wants the responsibility?
Someone will seize a family member, saying, “You have clothing! You be our leader! This mess will be your responsibility!” Someone else will cry out on that day, “I’m no healer! I have neither food nor clothing in my house! Don’t make me the leader of the people!” (Isa 3:6-7 CEB)
What was the cause of Jerusalem’s troubles? Did they bring it on themselves?
Jerusalem and Judah, you rebelled against your glorious Lord—your words and your actions, made you stumble and fall. The look on your faces shows that you are sinful as Sodom, and you don't try to hide it. You are in for trouble, and you have brought it all on yourselves. (Isa 3:8-9 CEV)
Can the wrong kind of leaders come to power? What about our national leadership?
Tell the righteous that it shall be well with them, for they shall eat the fruit of their deeds. Woe to the wicked! It shall be ill with him, for what his hands have dealt out shall be done to him. My people—infants are their oppressors, and women rule over them. O my people, your guides mislead you and they have swallowed up the course of your paths. (Isa 3:10-12 ESV)
Could God charge our world with similar wrongs, plundering the poor and crushing people?
The Lord rises to argue the case and stands to judge the people. The Lord brings this charge against the elders and leaders of His people: “You have devastated the vineyard. The plunder from the poor is in your houses. Why do you crush My people and grind the faces of the poor?” This is the declaration of the Lord God of Hosts. (Isa 3:13-15 HCSB)
Are some of our women vain and self-centered? What did God say about the women of Zion?
The Lord says, “The women of Zion are haughty, walking along with outstretched necks, flirting with their eyes, strutting along with swaying hips, with ornaments jingling on their ankles. Therefore the Lord will bring sores on the heads of the women of Zion; the Lord will make their scalps bald.” (Isa 3:16-17 NIV)
What would God say about arrogant and self-indulgent women?
In that day the Lord will take away the bravery of their tinkling ornaments about their feet, and their cauls, and their round tires like the moon, The chains, and the bracelets, and the mufflers, The bonnets, and the ornaments of the legs, and the headbands, and the tablets, and the earrings, The rings, and nose jewels, The changeable suits of apparel, and the mantles, and the wimples, and the crisping pins, The glasses, and the fine linen, and the hoods, and the vails. (Isa 3:18-23 KJV)
Is God’s way of teaching people to love their neighbor, sometimes for them to experience the suffering they ignored in others?
Now it will be that instead of sweet perfume there will be the smell of rot; Instead of a belt, a rope; Instead of well-set hair, a plucked-out scalp; Instead of fine clothes, a donning of sackcloth; And branding instead of beauty. Your men will fall by the sword And your mighty ones in battle. And her gates will lament and mourn, And deserted she will sit on the ground. (Isa 3:24-26 LSB)
Will a similar thing happen to this world’s Babylonian system, built on the excesses of capitalist greed, obnoxious wealth for some and deplorable slavery for others?
And the merchants of the earth weep and mourn over her, because no one buys their cargo any more—cargo of gold, silver, precious stones, and pearls; fine linen, purple, silk, and scarlet; every kind of citron wood, every article of ivory, and every article made from very valuable wood, bronze, iron, and marble; cinnamon, spice, incense, perfume, frankincense, wine, olive oil, fine flour, wheat, cattle, sheep, and cargo of horses, carriages, slaves, and human lives. (Rev 18:11-13 NASB)
As God judged Jerusalem, will He eventually judge the wrongs of the whole world? You decide!
What did the Lord say He would do to Jerusalem? Did the people rely upon many things but not God? Do our people?
The Lord, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, will take away from Jerusalem and Judah everything they depend on: every bit of bread and every drop of water, all their heroes and soldiers, judges and prophets, fortune-tellers and elders, army officers and high officials, advisers, skilled sorcerers, and astrologers. (Isa 3:1-3 NLT)
What happens when the young and foolish dominate a culture?
I will give boys to be their princes, and children shall rule over them. The people will be oppressed, everyone by another, and everyone by his neighbor. The child will behave himself proudly against the old man, and the wicked against the honorable. (Isa 3:4-5 WEB)
Can times get so bad that mature and wise leadership is totally lacking and nobody wants the responsibility?
Someone will seize a family member, saying, “You have clothing! You be our leader! This mess will be your responsibility!” Someone else will cry out on that day, “I’m no healer! I have neither food nor clothing in my house! Don’t make me the leader of the people!” (Isa 3:6-7 CEB)
What was the cause of Jerusalem’s troubles? Did they bring it on themselves?
Jerusalem and Judah, you rebelled against your glorious Lord—your words and your actions, made you stumble and fall. The look on your faces shows that you are sinful as Sodom, and you don't try to hide it. You are in for trouble, and you have brought it all on yourselves. (Isa 3:8-9 CEV)
Can the wrong kind of leaders come to power? What about our national leadership?
Tell the righteous that it shall be well with them, for they shall eat the fruit of their deeds. Woe to the wicked! It shall be ill with him, for what his hands have dealt out shall be done to him. My people—infants are their oppressors, and women rule over them. O my people, your guides mislead you and they have swallowed up the course of your paths. (Isa 3:10-12 ESV)
Could God charge our world with similar wrongs, plundering the poor and crushing people?
The Lord rises to argue the case and stands to judge the people. The Lord brings this charge against the elders and leaders of His people: “You have devastated the vineyard. The plunder from the poor is in your houses. Why do you crush My people and grind the faces of the poor?” This is the declaration of the Lord God of Hosts. (Isa 3:13-15 HCSB)
Are some of our women vain and self-centered? What did God say about the women of Zion?
The Lord says, “The women of Zion are haughty, walking along with outstretched necks, flirting with their eyes, strutting along with swaying hips, with ornaments jingling on their ankles. Therefore the Lord will bring sores on the heads of the women of Zion; the Lord will make their scalps bald.” (Isa 3:16-17 NIV)
What would God say about arrogant and self-indulgent women?
In that day the Lord will take away the bravery of their tinkling ornaments about their feet, and their cauls, and their round tires like the moon, The chains, and the bracelets, and the mufflers, The bonnets, and the ornaments of the legs, and the headbands, and the tablets, and the earrings, The rings, and nose jewels, The changeable suits of apparel, and the mantles, and the wimples, and the crisping pins, The glasses, and the fine linen, and the hoods, and the vails. (Isa 3:18-23 KJV)
Is God’s way of teaching people to love their neighbor, sometimes for them to experience the suffering they ignored in others?
Now it will be that instead of sweet perfume there will be the smell of rot; Instead of a belt, a rope; Instead of well-set hair, a plucked-out scalp; Instead of fine clothes, a donning of sackcloth; And branding instead of beauty. Your men will fall by the sword And your mighty ones in battle. And her gates will lament and mourn, And deserted she will sit on the ground. (Isa 3:24-26 LSB)
Will a similar thing happen to this world’s Babylonian system, built on the excesses of capitalist greed, obnoxious wealth for some and deplorable slavery for others?
And the merchants of the earth weep and mourn over her, because no one buys their cargo any more—cargo of gold, silver, precious stones, and pearls; fine linen, purple, silk, and scarlet; every kind of citron wood, every article of ivory, and every article made from very valuable wood, bronze, iron, and marble; cinnamon, spice, incense, perfume, frankincense, wine, olive oil, fine flour, wheat, cattle, sheep, and cargo of horses, carriages, slaves, and human lives. (Rev 18:11-13 NASB)
As God judged Jerusalem, will He eventually judge the wrongs of the whole world? You decide!
Day of the Lord (Isaiah 2)
Will we endure as the end of the age and the Lord’s return draw near? Let’s look at Isaiah 2.
How will world peace come, from human leadership or from the Lord? Why will mount Zion be exalted above every other mountain?
The vision that Isaiah son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem: In the last days the mountain of the Lord’s house will be established at the top of the mountains and will be raised above the hills. All nations will stream to it, 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. He will teach us about His ways so that we may walk in His paths.” For instruction will go out of Zion and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. He will settle disputes among the nations and provide arbitration for many peoples. They will turn their swords into plows and their spears into pruning knives. Nations will not take up the sword against other nations, and they will never again train for war. (Isa 2:1-4 HCSB)
Why did God reject Israel? Will God tolerate eastern religious practices and idolatry?
You house of Jacob! Come! Let’s live in the Lord’s light. For you have rejected your people, the house of Jacob, because they are filled with practices learned from the East and they are fortune-tellers like the Philistines. They cut deals with foreigners. Their land is filled with silver and gold, and there is no end to their treasures; their land is filled with horses, and there is no end to their chariots. Their land is filled with idols; they bow down to the work of their hands, to what their own fingers have made. So mankind is humbled, each human being is brought low, and you won’t forgive. (Isa 2:5-9 ISV)
Who will be exalted on the day of the Lord, and who will be humbled?
Enter into the rock, and hide thee in the dust, for fear of the Lord, and for the glory of his majesty. The lofty looks of man shall be humbled, and the haughtiness of men shall be bowed down, and the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day. (Isa 2:10-11 KJV)
Will the day of the Lord also be a day of reckoning? For whom and what symbols of human arrogance?
For Yahweh of hosts will have a day of reckoning Against everyone who is proud and high And against everyone who is lifted up, That he may be made low. And it will be against all the cedars of Lebanon that are high and lifted up, Against all the oaks of Bashan, Against all the high mountains, Against all the hills that are lifted up, Against every lofty tower, Against every fortified wall, Against all the ships of Tarshish And against all the desirable craft. (Isa 2:12-16 LSB)
Is there a lot of arrogance in the world and even various religious traditions? Who alone will be exalted on that day?
And the pride of humanity will be humbled And the arrogance of people will be brought low; And the Lord alone will be exalted on that day, And the idols will completely vanish. People will go into caves of the rocks And into holes in the ground Away from the terror of the Lord And the splendor of His majesty, When He arises to terrify the earth. On that day people will throw away to the moles and the bats Their idols of silver and their idols of gold, Which they made for themselves to worship, In order to go into the clefts of the rocks and the crannies of the cliffs Before the terror of the Lord and the splendor of His majesty, When He arises to terrify the earth. Take no account of man, whose breath of life is in his nostrils; For why should he be esteemed? (Isa 2:17-22 NASB)
Does the New Testament also address the day of the Lord? Who will help us endure until the very end?
He will also keep you firm to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful, who has called you into fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. (1 Cor 1:8-9 NIV)
Will we endure as the end of the age and the Lord’s return draw near? You decide!
How will world peace come, from human leadership or from the Lord? Why will mount Zion be exalted above every other mountain?
The vision that Isaiah son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem: In the last days the mountain of the Lord’s house will be established at the top of the mountains and will be raised above the hills. All nations will stream to it, 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. He will teach us about His ways so that we may walk in His paths.” For instruction will go out of Zion and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. He will settle disputes among the nations and provide arbitration for many peoples. They will turn their swords into plows and their spears into pruning knives. Nations will not take up the sword against other nations, and they will never again train for war. (Isa 2:1-4 HCSB)
Why did God reject Israel? Will God tolerate eastern religious practices and idolatry?
You house of Jacob! Come! Let’s live in the Lord’s light. For you have rejected your people, the house of Jacob, because they are filled with practices learned from the East and they are fortune-tellers like the Philistines. They cut deals with foreigners. Their land is filled with silver and gold, and there is no end to their treasures; their land is filled with horses, and there is no end to their chariots. Their land is filled with idols; they bow down to the work of their hands, to what their own fingers have made. So mankind is humbled, each human being is brought low, and you won’t forgive. (Isa 2:5-9 ISV)
Who will be exalted on the day of the Lord, and who will be humbled?
Enter into the rock, and hide thee in the dust, for fear of the Lord, and for the glory of his majesty. The lofty looks of man shall be humbled, and the haughtiness of men shall be bowed down, and the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day. (Isa 2:10-11 KJV)
Will the day of the Lord also be a day of reckoning? For whom and what symbols of human arrogance?
For Yahweh of hosts will have a day of reckoning Against everyone who is proud and high And against everyone who is lifted up, That he may be made low. And it will be against all the cedars of Lebanon that are high and lifted up, Against all the oaks of Bashan, Against all the high mountains, Against all the hills that are lifted up, Against every lofty tower, Against every fortified wall, Against all the ships of Tarshish And against all the desirable craft. (Isa 2:12-16 LSB)
Is there a lot of arrogance in the world and even various religious traditions? Who alone will be exalted on that day?
And the pride of humanity will be humbled And the arrogance of people will be brought low; And the Lord alone will be exalted on that day, And the idols will completely vanish. People will go into caves of the rocks And into holes in the ground Away from the terror of the Lord And the splendor of His majesty, When He arises to terrify the earth. On that day people will throw away to the moles and the bats Their idols of silver and their idols of gold, Which they made for themselves to worship, In order to go into the clefts of the rocks and the crannies of the cliffs Before the terror of the Lord and the splendor of His majesty, When He arises to terrify the earth. Take no account of man, whose breath of life is in his nostrils; For why should he be esteemed? (Isa 2:17-22 NASB)
Does the New Testament also address the day of the Lord? Who will help us endure until the very end?
He will also keep you firm to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful, who has called you into fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. (1 Cor 1:8-9 NIV)
Will we endure as the end of the age and the Lord’s return draw near? You decide!
Apostasy (Isaiah 1)
How does God view a society that relies on religious rituals, but abandons love of God and neighbor? Let’s look at Isaiah 1.
After about 700 years in the land, 400 years under judges and 120 years under three kings, as the northern Tribes were being taken captive by Assyria, Isaiah prophesied. Was this vision during the reign of three good kings of Judah and one evil king, Ahaz?
The vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah. (Isa 1:1 KJV)
After Solomon, was Israel divided in two, Israel in the north and Judah in the south, partly because they became apostates, forsaking God?
Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth; For Yahweh speaks, “Sons I have reared and raised up, But they have transgressed against Me. An ox knows its owner, And a donkey its master’s manger, But Israel does not know; My people do not perceive.” Alas, sinful nation, People heavy with iniquity, Seed of evildoers, Sons who act corruptly! They have forsaken Yahweh; They have spurned the Holy One of Israel; They have become estranged from Him. (Isa 1:2-4 LSB)
Is God sorry for the self-affliction that sin has caused to Judah?
Where will you be stricken again, As you continue in your rebellion? The entire head is sick And the entire heart is faint. From the sole of the foot even to the head There is nothing healthy in it, Only bruises, slashes, and raw wounds; Not pressed out nor bandaged, Nor softened with oil. (Isa 1:5-6 NASB)
Is sin a cause of national destruction? Does this apply to other nations as well?
Your country is desolate, your cities burned with fire; your fields are being stripped by foreigners right before you, laid waste as when overthrown by strangers. Daughter Zion is left like a shelter in a vineyard, like a hut in a cucumber field, like a city under siege. Unless the Lord Almighty had left us some survivors, we would have become like Sodom, we would have been like Gomorrah. (Isa 1:7-9 NIV)
Why was Israel in such trouble even while keeping feasts that God had commanded? What were their hands full of?
Hear the word of the Lord, You rulers of Sodom; Give ear to the law of our God, You people of Gomorrah: “To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices to Me?” Says the Lord. “I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams And the fat of fed cattle. I do not delight in the blood of bulls, Or of lambs or goats.
“When you come to appear before Me, Who has required this from your hand, To trample My courts? Bring no more futile sacrifices; Incense is an abomination to Me. The New Moons, the Sabbaths, and the calling of assemblies—I cannot endure iniquity and the sacred meeting. Your New Moons and your appointed feasts My soul hates; They are a trouble to Me, I am weary of bearing them. When you spread out your hands, I will hide My eyes from you; Even though you make many prayers, I will not hear. Your hands are full of blood. (Isa 1:10-15 NKJV)
What other attributes are more important to God than keeping feast days and rituals?
Wash yourselves and be clean! Get your sins out of my sight. Give up your evil ways. Learn to do good. Seek justice. Help the oppressed. Defend the cause of orphans. Fight for the rights of widows. (Isa 1:16-17 NLT)
How could their sins become white as snow? Was repentance involved? Is Jesus the ultimate answer to our sins?
“Come now, and let’s reason together,” says Yahweh: “Though your sins are as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow. Though they are red like crimson, they shall be as wool. If you are willing and obedient, you will eat the good of the land; but if you refuse and rebel, you will be devoured with the sword; for Yahweh’s mouth has spoken it.” (Isa 1:18-20 WEB)
Has Jerusalem become unfaithful, like a harlot? What specific sins does God list?
This faithful town has become a prostitute! She was full of justice; righteousness lived in her—but now murderers. Your silver has become impure; your beer is diluted with water. Your princes are rebels, companions of thieves. Everyone loves a bribe and pursues gifts. They don’t defend the orphan, and the widow’s cause never reaches them. Therefore, says the Lord God of heavenly forces, the mighty one of Israel: Doom! I will vent my anger against my foes; I will take it out on my enemies, and I will turn my hand against you. I will refine your impurities as with lye, and remove all your cinders. Then I will restore your judges as in earlier times, and your counselors as at the beginning. After this you will be called Righteous City, Faithful Town. (Isa 1:21-26 CEB)
How important are justice and doing right to God? How vile is idolatry to God?
Jerusalem, you will be saved by showing justice; Zion's people who turn to me will be saved by doing right. But those rebellious sinners who turn against me, the Lord, will all disappear.
You will be made ashamed of those groves of trees where you worshiped idols. You will be like a grove of trees dying in a drought. Your strongest leaders will be like dry wood set on fire by their idols. No one will be able to help, as they all go up in flames. (Isa 1:27-31 CEV)
What will Jesus say to those who did not act in love for their neighbor?
Then they also will answer, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to you?’ Then he will answer them, saying, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’ And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.” (Mat 25:44-46 ESV)
How does God view a society that relies on religious rituals, but abandons love of God and neighbor? You decide!
After about 700 years in the land, 400 years under judges and 120 years under three kings, as the northern Tribes were being taken captive by Assyria, Isaiah prophesied. Was this vision during the reign of three good kings of Judah and one evil king, Ahaz?
The vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah. (Isa 1:1 KJV)
After Solomon, was Israel divided in two, Israel in the north and Judah in the south, partly because they became apostates, forsaking God?
Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth; For Yahweh speaks, “Sons I have reared and raised up, But they have transgressed against Me. An ox knows its owner, And a donkey its master’s manger, But Israel does not know; My people do not perceive.” Alas, sinful nation, People heavy with iniquity, Seed of evildoers, Sons who act corruptly! They have forsaken Yahweh; They have spurned the Holy One of Israel; They have become estranged from Him. (Isa 1:2-4 LSB)
Is God sorry for the self-affliction that sin has caused to Judah?
Where will you be stricken again, As you continue in your rebellion? The entire head is sick And the entire heart is faint. From the sole of the foot even to the head There is nothing healthy in it, Only bruises, slashes, and raw wounds; Not pressed out nor bandaged, Nor softened with oil. (Isa 1:5-6 NASB)
Is sin a cause of national destruction? Does this apply to other nations as well?
Your country is desolate, your cities burned with fire; your fields are being stripped by foreigners right before you, laid waste as when overthrown by strangers. Daughter Zion is left like a shelter in a vineyard, like a hut in a cucumber field, like a city under siege. Unless the Lord Almighty had left us some survivors, we would have become like Sodom, we would have been like Gomorrah. (Isa 1:7-9 NIV)
Why was Israel in such trouble even while keeping feasts that God had commanded? What were their hands full of?
Hear the word of the Lord, You rulers of Sodom; Give ear to the law of our God, You people of Gomorrah: “To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices to Me?” Says the Lord. “I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams And the fat of fed cattle. I do not delight in the blood of bulls, Or of lambs or goats.
“When you come to appear before Me, Who has required this from your hand, To trample My courts? Bring no more futile sacrifices; Incense is an abomination to Me. The New Moons, the Sabbaths, and the calling of assemblies—I cannot endure iniquity and the sacred meeting. Your New Moons and your appointed feasts My soul hates; They are a trouble to Me, I am weary of bearing them. When you spread out your hands, I will hide My eyes from you; Even though you make many prayers, I will not hear. Your hands are full of blood. (Isa 1:10-15 NKJV)
What other attributes are more important to God than keeping feast days and rituals?
Wash yourselves and be clean! Get your sins out of my sight. Give up your evil ways. Learn to do good. Seek justice. Help the oppressed. Defend the cause of orphans. Fight for the rights of widows. (Isa 1:16-17 NLT)
How could their sins become white as snow? Was repentance involved? Is Jesus the ultimate answer to our sins?
“Come now, and let’s reason together,” says Yahweh: “Though your sins are as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow. Though they are red like crimson, they shall be as wool. If you are willing and obedient, you will eat the good of the land; but if you refuse and rebel, you will be devoured with the sword; for Yahweh’s mouth has spoken it.” (Isa 1:18-20 WEB)
Has Jerusalem become unfaithful, like a harlot? What specific sins does God list?
This faithful town has become a prostitute! She was full of justice; righteousness lived in her—but now murderers. Your silver has become impure; your beer is diluted with water. Your princes are rebels, companions of thieves. Everyone loves a bribe and pursues gifts. They don’t defend the orphan, and the widow’s cause never reaches them. Therefore, says the Lord God of heavenly forces, the mighty one of Israel: Doom! I will vent my anger against my foes; I will take it out on my enemies, and I will turn my hand against you. I will refine your impurities as with lye, and remove all your cinders. Then I will restore your judges as in earlier times, and your counselors as at the beginning. After this you will be called Righteous City, Faithful Town. (Isa 1:21-26 CEB)
How important are justice and doing right to God? How vile is idolatry to God?
Jerusalem, you will be saved by showing justice; Zion's people who turn to me will be saved by doing right. But those rebellious sinners who turn against me, the Lord, will all disappear.
You will be made ashamed of those groves of trees where you worshiped idols. You will be like a grove of trees dying in a drought. Your strongest leaders will be like dry wood set on fire by their idols. No one will be able to help, as they all go up in flames. (Isa 1:27-31 CEV)
What will Jesus say to those who did not act in love for their neighbor?
Then they also will answer, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to you?’ Then he will answer them, saying, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’ And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.” (Mat 25:44-46 ESV)
How does God view a society that relies on religious rituals, but abandons love of God and neighbor? You decide!
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