33-Isaiah 5 – 42

Isaiah 5 – 42

Aug. 8, 2009

We will continue our study this week in the Book of Isaiah. Last week we were introduced to the book and we looked at the condition of the Jewish people at that time and about some future events. We will pick up our study this week in Chapter 5. In Chapter 5 Isaiah recorded a parable to the people of Judah and Jerusalem. In this parable God is described as a vineyard owner, and the Jewish people as the vineyard. The Lord planted the vineyard with the choicest vines, and expected it to produce good fruit. Isaiah said the vineyard only produced worthless grapes. God said that because the fruit was worthless He would not try to correct the problem, but He would remove the vines and let the land become a wasteland. This parable was to inform the Jewish people on what would occur if they continued in their rebellion against God. Isaiah predicts the Jewish exile and death in verse 13 “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 measure; And Jerusalem’s splendor, her multitude, her din of revelry and the jubilant within her, descend into it.” Chapter 6 then went back and told the story of the Lord’s call and commission of Isaiah as His prophet to the people of Judah. Isaiah had a vision of heaven and was terrified at what he saw. He recorded his thoughts in verse 4 “Woe is me, for I am ruined! Because I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips; For my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts.” It is then recorded in verse 6-7 that one of the seraphim flew to Isaiah with a coal from the altar and touched it to his lips. This act was God’s way of removing Isaiah’s sin from him and preparing him for his call. Isaiah then spoke with God in verse 8-10 “Then I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?” Then I said, “Here am I. Send me!” He said, “Go, and tell this people: ‘Keep on listening, but do not perceive; Keep on looking, but do not understand.’ “Render the hearts of this people insensitive, their ears dull, and their eyes dim, otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts, and return and be healed.” Isaiah then began his new life as a prophet of God. In Chapter 7 Isaiah was told to go and meet with King Ahaz and warn him of the treachery of the king of Israel. The northern tribes wanted to depose Ahaz and install their own king in his place. Isaiah reveals in verse 8-9 that Israel will cease to exist in less than sixty five years. “For the head of Aram is Damascus and the head of Damascus is Rezin (now within another 65 years Ephraim will be shattered, 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 surely shall not last.” The Lord told Ahaz to ask Him for a sign. When Ahaz refused God spoke through Isaiah a prophecy about his coming Son Jesus in verse 13-16 Then he said, “Listen now, O house of David! Is it too slight a thing for you to try the patience of men, that you will try the patience of my God as well? “Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel. “He will eat curds and honey at the time He knows enough to refuse evil and choose good. “For before the boy will know enough to refuse evil and choose good, the land whose two kings you dread will be forsaken.” Isaiah then predicted that the Assyrians would come against Judah and the Lord would use them to disgrace the people. In Chapter 8 Isaiah called his wife a prophetess and she gave birth to a son whose name was translated as “Swift is the booty, speedy is the prey” as a sign to Israel that Assyria would defeat them and plunder their land. Even with this God promised there would be a remnant of believers left in Judah. The coming of Jesus Christ as king is predicted in Chapter 9. In verse 2 the people who are in darkness are promised a great light. “The people who walk in darkness will see a great light; those who live in a dark land, the light will shine on them.” In verse 6-7 we are told how this king would arrive. “For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; and the government will rest on His shoulders; and His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness from then on and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will accomplish this.” God then sent a message to His people through Isaiah about His anger towards them. In Chapter 10 we find out that Assyria would be God’s instrument to punish Israel for their rebellion. Even though God would use the Assyrians to punish Israel and bring them into captivity He would also remove the power from Assyria because of their pride. They didn’t realize that they were only a tool in the hand of God. Again in verse 21-22 God promises that a remnant of believers would be left. “A remnant will return, the remnant of Jacob, to the mighty God. For though your people, O Israel, may be like the sand of the sea, only a remnant within them will return; a destruction is determined, overflowing with righteousness.” Jesus Christ is again foretold of in Chapter 11. Here He is called the Shoot from the stem of Jesse and also the Branch. Isaiah is referring to the fact that the coming messiah will be a descendant of King David. The peaceful characteristic of His kingdom is shown in verse 6-10. “And the wolf will dwell with the lamb, and the leopard will lie down with the young goat, and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little boy will lead them. Also the cow and the bear will graze, their young will lie down together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox. The nursing child will play by the hole of the cobra, and the weaned child will put his hand on the viper’s den. They will not hurt or destroy in all My holy mountain, for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. Then in that day the nations will resort to the root of Jesse, who will stand as a signal for the peoples; and His resting place will be glorious.” We are again told of the surviving remnant in the end of the chapter. Chapter 12 consists of words of thanksgiving to the Lord from the people, and Chapter 13 contains a prophesy against Babylon. God’s judgment during the Day of the Lord is described and also the future demise of Babylon by the Medes is predicted in the prophecy. Now in Chapter 14 Isaiah wrote about a time in the future when the people of Israel will be restored and returned to the land of Palestine. Today God’s people are returning to their land, but their restoration will have to wait for the second coming of Jesus in the future. The people are told in the prophecy to taunt the king of Babylon. In the chapter the words go from the human king to a description of the sin and fall of Satan. This event was recorded in verse 12-21. I will read here verse 12-15. “How you have fallen from heaven, O star of the morning, son of the dawn! You have been cut down to the earth, you who have weakened the nations! “But you said in your heart, ‘I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God, and I will sit on the mount of assembly in the recesses of the north. ‘I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.’ “Nevertheless you will be thrust down to Sheol, to the recesses of the pit.” This passage contains the prideful statements of Lucifer to God in heaven. God called Himself “I AM”, Satan, who Lucifer became, said “I will”. He had the audacity, as a created being, to declare he was like God. Jesus told His disciples that He witnessed this event in the Gospel of Luke 10:18 “I was watching Satan fall from heaven like lightning.” Isaiah then goes on and describes a series of judgments against Assyria, Philistia, and Moab. In Chapter 16 Isaiah predicted that Moab would be devastated within three years. In Chapter 17 Isaiah then told the people of Damascus that their city would be destroyed. This was done by the Assyrians in 732 BC. Isaiah then gave Ethiopia and Egypt messages in Chapter 18 and 19. Then in Chapter 20 he gives them a prophecy about their future. The Lord had Isaiah go around naked and barefoot for three years as a sign to Egypt and Ethiopia that they would be taken captive in shame by the king of Assyria. Isaiah also spoke a warning to the people of Jerusalem and the land of Israel in Chapter 22. He called it the Valley of Vision because the Lord spoke to His people there in visions. Jesus used the words Isaiah spoke about Eliakim in verse 22 “Then I will set the key of the house of David on his shoulder, when he opens no one will shut, when he shuts no one will open.” to refer to Himself in that He held the key for entry to His kingdom. Isaiah then spoke about the destruction of the city of Tyre in Chapter 23. In Chapter 24 through 27 Isaiah looks into our future today and writes about the final judgment on the Earth during the time of tribulation and the millennial kingdom. In Chapter 24 he revealed that the Earth will be laid waste and all normal activity will cease. Chapter 25 is a song to the Lord that will be sung by His people after this time passes. We are told of a promise in verse 8-9 “He will swallow up death for all time, and the Lord God will wipe tears away from all faces, and He will remove the reproach of His people from all the earth; For the Lord has spoken. And it will be said in that day, “Behold, this is our God for whom we have waited that He might save us. This is the Lord for whom we have waited; let us rejoice and be glad in His salvation.” Chapter 26 is also a song that also has a promise in verse 2-4 “Open the gates, that the righteous nation may enter, the one that remains faithful. “The steadfast of mind You will keep in perfect peace, because he trusts in You. “Trust in the Lord forever, for in God the Lord, we have an everlasting Rock.” In verse 20-21 the believing remnant is told to hide until the judgment is finished. “Come, my people, enter into your rooms and close your doors behind you; Hide for a little while until indignation runs its course. For behold, the Lord is about to come out from His place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity; and the earth will reveal her bloodshed and will no longer cover her slain.” Finally, in Chapter 27 Isaiah reveals that Israel will be delivered in the end. Isaiah then turned his attention back to his day and predicted the fall and captivity of the Northern Tribes called the Nation of Israel to the Assyrians in Chapter 28. He says that because of their drunkenness they would not experience the protection of the Lord. He also spoke a warning to Judah to turn back to the Lord. A prediction is made on the coming messiah in verse 16. “Therefore thus says the Lord God, “Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a tested stone, a costly cornerstone for the foundation, firmly placed. He who believes in it will not be disturbed.” Many places in the New Testament refer to Jesus as that Cornerstone from Isaiah. In Chapter 29 Jerusalem is also warned about the coming destruction. In verse 13 the Lord’s problem with the people is revealed. “Then the Lord said, “Because this people draw near with their words and honor Me with their lip service, but they remove their hearts far from Me, and their reverence for Me consists of tradition learned by rote” We seem to have the same attitude today towards the Lord in our country. The Lord asks us all a question in verse 16. “You turn things around! Shall the potter be considered as equal with the clay, that what is made would say to its maker, “He did not make me”; Or what is formed say to him who formed it, “He has no understanding”? Even with these words the Lord also promises a blessing to those who believe in the end. Chapter 32 is about the future reign of Jesus on the Earth .The chapter is full of the glory of that time of peace and plenty on the Earth and how the people will be blessed. Chapter 33 looks again at God’s judgment on the Earth and its people. These thoughts were extended to the judgments on the nations in Chapter 34. God will punish the nations of the Earth with His wrath in the future and avenge His people. After the trouble Israel will blossom as recorded in Chapter 35. Another wonderful promise was given in verse 10. “And the ransomed of the Lord will return and come with joyful shouting to Zion, with everlasting joy upon their heads. They will find gladness and joy, and sorrow and sighing will flee away.” The next chapters of Isaiah are historical in nature and mark the end of the first part of Isaiah’s book. Chapter 36:1 - 38:9 read almost identically to the text of the Book of 2 Kings 18:3 – 20:19. Isaiah was most likely the author of this section of 2 Kings. It was recorded in the Book of 2 Chronicles 32:32 “Now the rest of the acts of Hezekiah and his deeds of devotion, behold, they are written in the vision of Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, in the Book of the Kings of Judah and Israel.” This historical section covers the invasion of Judah by the Assyrians through the rule of King Hezekiah and his illness. After Hezekiah’s recovery it is recorded in Chapter 39 that the king showed the treasures of his kingdom to the Babylonians. Isaiah then predicted that a time would come soon when the treasure and the people would be carried off to Babylon. The historical section of Isaiah is finished in Chapter 39, and then in Chapter 40 Isaiah wrote a Psalm on the greatness of God. Verse 3 foretells of the ministry of John the Baptist. “A voice is calling, “Clear the way for the Lord in the wilderness; make smooth in the desert a highway for our God.” In the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke this man is revealed to be John the Baptist who preaches ahead of Jesus to prepare His way. This event is also predicted in the Book of Malachi 3:1 “Behold, I am going to send My messenger, and he will clear the way before Me.” The song goes on to say that the Lord is coming in judgment and encourages His people in verse 28-31. “Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth Does not become weary or tired. His understanding is inscrutable. He gives strength to the weary, and to him who lacks might He increases power. Though youths grow weary and tired, and vigorous young men stumble badly, yet those who wait for the Lord will gain new strength; They will mount up with wings like eagles, they will run and not get tired, they will walk and not become weary.” The Lord continues to encourage His people in Chapter 41. He told them these words in verse 8-10. “You whom I have taken from the ends of the earth, and called from its remotest parts and said to you, ‘You are My servant, I have chosen you and not rejected you. ‘Do not fear, for I am with you; Do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, surely I will help you, surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.” We will finish up this week with Chapter 42 where God promises to send His Servant to His people. It was recorded in verse 1-4. “Behold, My Servant, whom I uphold; My chosen one in whom My soul delights. I have put My Spirit upon Him; He will bring forth justice to the nations. “He will not cry out or raise His voice, nor make His voice heard in the street.“A bruised reed He will not break and a dimly burning wick He will not extinguish; He will faithfully bring forth justice. “He will not be disheartened or crushed until He has established justice in the earth; and the coastlands will wait expectantly for His law.” Also in verse 8 is an important warning to everyone about pride. “I am the Lord, that is My name; I will not give My glory to another, nor My praise to graven images.” In the end of the chapter the Lord says that His people have become blind and do not realize what they have done. God questions the people in verse 24. “Who gave Jacob up for spoil and Israel to plunderers? Was it not the Lord, against whom we have sinned, and in whose ways they were not willing to walk, and whose law they did not obey?”

    This ends our study for this week. Next week we will finish the Book of Isaiah and go on to the Book of Jeremiah.