The Reign of Righteousness

Isaiah 32:1-8

1 Behold, a king will reign in righteousness,
And princes will rule with justice.

2 A man will be as a hiding place from the wind,
And a cover from the tempest,
As rivers of water in a dry place,
As the shadow of a great rock in a weary land.

3 The eyes of those who see will not be dim,
And the ears of those who hear will listen.

4 Also the heart of the rash will understand knowledge,
And the tongue of the stammerers will be ready to speak plainly.

5 The foolish person will no longer be called generous,
Nor the miser said to be bountiful;
6 For the foolish person will speak foolishness,
And his heart will work iniquity:
To practice ungodliness,
To utter error against the LORD,
To keep the hungry unsatisfied,
And he will cause the drink of the thirsty to fail.

7 Also the schemes of the schemer are evil;
He devises wicked plans
To destroy the poor with lying words,
Even when the needy speaks justice.

8 But a generous man devises generous things,
And by generosity he shall stand.

Righteousness will rule over foolishness and those who scheme against others.  The rule in righteousness can only ever occur under the Messiah, for no earthly king or other ruler can rule with true justice.  There will be protection from the storms and strength in prosperity.  Also eyes will be seeing as they are opened and ears will listen and not just hear because they are ruled by the peace of God’s righteous reign in that day.  Those who used to rashly say things without knowledge will finally understand in God given wisdom and the ones struggling to find words to speak will be able to be clearly heard and understood.  The foolish, however, will be revealed as not being so generous as their veiled actions used to indicate and the moser who keeps all to himself will not be admired for his wealth anymore because it was at the expense of meeting other’s needs with generosity.  Yes, foolish people will be revealed as foolish and the sinful ungodliness will no longer be acceptable or cheered on anymore.  The sins against God will be revealed from heaven (Romans 1:18-19) as those keep food from the hungry and will themselves be left thirsty and starving as they had done to others.  The evil schemes of wicked intent to harm others, the plans to mistreat the needy and lie to the poor who cry out for justice will be thwarted at last.  In contrast, the generous stands in his care expressed genuinely to help his neighbor as he plans for their good as our Lord does in His righteous ruler who is our Messiah, the Christ we know as Jesus.  His reign of righteousness knows no end Luke 1:33)! 

Trust in God, not Earthly Powers to Deliver

Isaiah 31:1-9 

1 Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help,
And rely on horses,
Who trust in chariots because they are many,
And in horsemen because they are very strong,
But who do not look to the Holy One of Israel,
Nor seek the LORD!

2 Yet He also is wise and will bring disaster,
And will not call back His words,
But will arise against the house of evildoers,
And against the help of those who work iniquity.

3 Now the Egyptians are men, and not God;
And their horses are flesh, and not spirit.
When the LORD stretches out His hand,
Both he who helps will fall,
And he who is helped will fall down;
They all will perish together.

4 For thus the LORD has spoken to me:
"As a lion roars,
And a young lion over his prey
(When a multitude of shepherds is summoned against him,
He will not be afraid of their voice
Nor be disturbed by their noise),
So the LORD of hosts will come down
To fight for Mount Zion and for its hill.

5 Like birds flying about,
So will the LORD of hosts defend Jerusalem.
Defending, He will also deliver it;
Passing over, He will preserve it."

6 Return to Him against whom the children of Israel have deeply revolted. 7 For in that day every man shall throw away his idols of silver and his idols of gold—sin, which your own hands have made for yourselves.

8 "Then Assyria shall fall by a sword not of man,
And a sword not of mankind shall devour him.
But he shall flee from the sword,
And his young men shall become forced labor.

9 He shall cross over to his stronghold for fear,
And his princes shall be afraid of the banner,"
Says the LORD,
Whose fire is in Zion
And whose furnace is in Jerusalem.

God warned His people about the vain trust in the power nations and armies to deliver them from their enemies.  They specifically looked to the large army and military might of Egypt to save them, but only God could deliver Jerusalem from Assyria.  They looked at the outside armor for power instead of seeking the Lord and trusting with praying and fasting while doing what was right according to His word in willing obedience.  This is an essential lesson for us all in the present evil age of political and societal unrest.  Like the might of Egypt, our countries lack the power of man or machinery to prevail if we fail to put our trust in His power and mighty hand of deliverance.  Politicians and nations are not to be worshiped as God should be!  They are men and not God and their weapons are made by flesh and not Him.  Therefore we should heed the words of Isaiah as told to God’s people here, to not be moved or dismayed at the unrest and wars, but to trust and wait upon the LORD who does not fear any of these things and under whose wings we rest in protecting love.  Defending, He will deliver us; passing over high above in the heavens as a bird, He will preserve His people forever.  Repentance was called for then and is essential still for our relationship with our Lord God who rules over us and loves over us in keeping His people to the end.  Trust Him.  Only trust and obey in willingness with feet planted firm on the Rock of our salvation, Jesus the Christ.  Throw away false objects and people and institutions of worship which we make for ourselves and are not made by God.  Then the enemy will fall as Assyria any God’s own hand and sword from His mouth, ending death and sin’s presence among us for good.  The enemy will falter in fear of God our banner (Exodus 17:15, Psalm 60:4-5), the God who consumes the enemy by fire (Deuteronomy 9:3, Hebrews 12:29, Revelation 20:10, 14-15).  The call of the gospel is deliverance through Christ by faith to trust and follow Him by repentance and not go back to other idols to trust in.  May we learn from Israel through the words of Isaiah not to serve dead and powerless idols of nations, leaders, and weapons or technology over our Creator and Deliverer who holds all power, wisdom, and ability to save.  Amen! 

A Sieve and a Song

Isaiah 30:27-33 

27 Behold, the name of the LORD comes from afar,
Burning with His anger,
And His burden is heavy;
His lips are full of indignation,
And His tongue like a devouring fire.

28 His breath is like an overflowing stream,
Which reaches up to the neck,
To sift the nations with the sieve of futility;
And there shall be a bridle in the jaws of the people,
Causing them to err.

29 You shall have a song
As in the night when a holy festival is kept,
And gladness of heart as when one goes with a flute,
To come into the mountain of the LORD,
To the Mighty One of Israel.

30 The LORD will cause His glorious voice to be heard,
And show the descent of His arm,
With the indignation of His anger
And the flame of a devouring fire,
With scattering, tempest, and hailstones.

31 For through the voice of the LORD
Assyria will be beaten down,
As He strikes with the rod.

32 And in every place where the staff of punishment passes,
Which the LORD lays on him,
It will be with tambourines and harps;
And in battles of brandishing He will fight with it.

33 For Tophet was established of old,
Yes, for the king it is prepared.
He has made it deep and large;
Its pyre is fire with much wood;
The breath of the LORD, like a stream of brimstone,
Kindles it.

This judgment on Assyria is a picture of God’s judgment on all who oppose Him.  The wrath of God is poured out on (Romans 2:8) them no matter how far they may seem from His arm.  The devouring word f the Lord to hold all accountable for their sin of rebellion against Him will find us all out as it did for the Assyrians.  He will sift the nations and all in them who reject Him and His word, a most unpleasant and unpopular truth which many run from in abject and vocal denial when it is heard, even leading them to blaspheme further and deny there is a aged at all.  Ah, but God’s people have a song in the night to glorify their provider and deliverer whom they worship and fear with great awe and wonder in trust and faithfulness to His word.  It is as a song of worship and as a living sacrifice which the old temple sacrifices foreshadowed for us in the scriptures.  To those at a distance from Him, He makes His voice heard through the former prophets like Isaiah and the final one who is His Son (Hebrews 1:1-4, 2:1).  In the end that revelation will display His wrath against sin with His power to shake the very heavens and earth (Hebrews 12:25-26, 28).  Like Assyria as a picture and shadow of the final judgment, the whole world will so be shaken and struck down by the word of His power (Revelation 19:15, 21).  Yes, just as the end was certain for the enemies of the LORD like Assyria, so has His justice and judgment been prepared for the vessels of wrath who deny and reject Him and His word (Romans 9:22-24) as a short and swift work against the unrighteous on the earth (Romans 9:28).  May we who hear and have been given eyes of our hearts to see take heed and speak His word faithfully as Isaiah and the messengers of God before us (Jeremiah 23:28-29), which is the good news of grace and reconciliation and deliverance from this burning wrath (2 Peter 3:7, 10, 12, 2 Thessalonians 1:8, Matthew 25:41) to come upon the world for disbelief and disobedience.  There is a sieve and a song to consider.  There is a sieve and a song to consider for worship by deliverance of grace or judgment of God’s wrath which we all deserve.  One is judgment and the other is joyful worship of deliverance. 

God Will Show Grace and Guidance

Isaiah 30:18-26

18 Therefore the LORD will wait, that He may be gracious to you;
And therefore He will be exalted, that He may have mercy on you.
For the LORD is a God of justice;
Blessed are all those who wait for Him.

19 For the people shall dwell in Zion at Jerusalem;
You shall weep no more.
He will be very gracious to you at the sound of your cry;
When He hears it, He will answer you.

20 And though the Lord gives you
The bread of adversity and the water of affliction,
Yet your teachers will not be moved into a corner anymore,
But your eyes shall see your teachers.

21 Your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying,
"This is the way, walk in it,"
Whenever you turn to the right hand
Or whenever you turn to the left.

22 You will also defile the covering of your images of silver,
And the ornament of your molded images of gold.
You will throw them away as an unclean thing;
You will say to them, "Get away!"

23 Then He will give the rain for your seed
With which you sow the ground,
And bread of the increase of the earth;
It will be fat and plentiful.
In that day your cattle will feed
In large pastures.

24 Likewise the oxen and the young donkeys that work the ground
Will eat cured fodder,
Which has been winnowed with the shovel and fan.
25 There will be on every high mountain
And on every high hill
Rivers and streams of waters,
In the day of the great slaughter,
When the towers fall.

26 Moreover the light of the moon will be as the light of the sun,
And the light of the sun will be sevenfold,
As the light of seven days,
In the day that the LORD binds up the bruise of His people
And heals the stroke of their wound.

The patient possess their souls in God in Christ.  Many of the promises made to Israel include the rest of God’s people called in Christ.  We all therefore are told to wait for His mercy and grace given ultimately in the Messiah as we see His greatness and justice fulfilled in His work of saving grace.  Just as the citizens of Jerusalem past were told to cry out and anticipate His answer that their tears may be taken away, so we all look forward to the New Jerusalem where there will be no more tears to follow in His presence as Revelation 21:4 demonstrates to us.  When we cry out to Him, He hears and delivers forever, not just from the latest army attacking Israel as before.  We all similarly experience adversity and affliction in life as His people, yet those who are our faithful teachers will not be moved as they lead us on the truths of scripture.  God Himself has further promised to teach us and guide us by His Spirit who lives inside us now; when we wander from His way, He is here to show us the way to go as we turn off to the left or right, and He leads us in holiness to cast aside any and everything we worship apart from Him along the way as we grow in sanctification.  Like Israel, as God’s people we also will be fruit along this way in adverse circumstances because He leads us and guides us for His name’s sake for His glory, honor, and praise.  We anticipate the river flowing through the Celestial City (Revelation 22:1-2) after the final battle when our enemy is defeated forever and his tower of power over us, namely sin and death, is forever defeated (Revelation 20:14, 1 Corinthians 15:54, 56-57).  God’s light will be our moon and sun to illuminate everything (Revelation 21:23) as He heals His people and removes sin’s wounds upon us at last!  We will also be taken away from the presence of sin at last as God shows us grace and guidance into eternity.  Come quickly, Lord Jesus! 

Rebellion of Rejecting the Lord

Isaiah 30:8-17

8 Now go, write it before them on a tablet,
And note it on a scroll,
That it may be for time to come,
Forever and ever:

9 That this is a rebellious people,
Lying children,
Children who will not hear the law of the LORD;
10 Who say to the seers, "Do not see,"
And to the prophets, "Do not prophesy to us right things;
Speak to us smooth things, prophesy deceits.

11 Get out of the way,
Turn aside from the path,
Cause the Holy One of Israel
To cease from before us."

12 Therefore thus says the Holy One of Israel:
"Because you despise this word,
And trust in oppression and perversity,
And rely on them,

13 Therefore this iniquity shall be to you
Like a breach ready to fall,
A bulge in a high wall,
Whose breaking comes suddenly, in an instant.

14 And He shall break it like the breaking of the potter's vessel,
Which is broken in pieces;
He shall not spare.
So there shall not be found among its fragments
A shard to take fire from the hearth,
Or to take water from the cistern."

15 For thus says the Lord GOD, the Holy One of Israel:
"In returning and rest you shall be saved;
In quietness and confidence shall be your strength."

But you would not,
16 And you said, "No, for we will flee on horses"—
Therefore you shall flee!
And, "We will ride on swift horses"—
Therefore those who pursue you shall be swift!

17 One thousand shall flee at the threat of one,
At the threat of five you shall flee,
Till you are left as a pole on top of a mountain
And as a banner on a hill.

In their rebellion of rejecting God and His word, Israel wanted their ears tickled instead of hearing hard truths.  They did not want the prophets to speak what God told them, but wanted only to easy lies so as not to be upset.  They wanted the smooth lies of peace, health, and wealth and not repentance and following the word of the Lord, much as many do even today.  They went so far as to ask that God stopped being there and would get out of their own way as they spurned His.  Because they relied on their own perversion an oppression of others instead of following what God said, even despising His commands, they faced imminent judgment.  They were like a potter’s vessel being crafted by his hand and understanding which was broken to the smallest fragments for their defiance and rejection of His hand’s work which was themselves.  If only they listened to God calling them to return and to rest on Him for salvation, for deliverance from their just due (Romans 3:23), they would have the strength of that peace with God with quiet confidence.  But they rebelled further and reaped the whirlwind (Hosea 8:7).  As those fleeing God, they were to be swiftly hunted down and running scared at the impending execution of divine justice as a sign to warn others of the wages of sin.  Thanks be to God in Christ we have repentance by faith leading to life and reconciliation by God’s work of grace in His Son!  May we then be more diligent to hear and heed His word and not fall in with the wrong crowd of the world and its thinking to live contrary to all the scriptures tell us.  Remember this word of God given through His messenger Isaiah and all the apostles and prophets (Ephesians 2:20, 2 Peter 3:2).  May we not allow others to sway us from the truth of God’s word.  Amen. 

The World is a Futile Confidence

Isaiah 30:1-7 

1 "Woe to the rebellious children," says the LORD,

"Who take counsel, but not of Me,
And who devise plans, but not of My Spirit,
That they may add sin to sin;

2 Who walk to go down to Egypt,
And have not asked My advice,
To strengthen themselves in the strength of Pharaoh,
And to trust in the shadow of Egypt!

3 Therefore the strength of Pharaoh
Shall be your shame,
And trust in the shadow of Egypt
Shall be your humiliation.
4 For his princes were at Zoan,
And his ambassadors came to Hanes.

5 They were all ashamed of a people who could not benefit them,
Or be help or benefit,
But a shame and also a reproach."

6 The burden against the beasts of the South.
Through a land of trouble and anguish,
From which came the lioness and lion,
The viper and fiery flying serpent,
They will carry their riches on the backs of young donkeys,
And their treasures on the humps of camels,
To a people who shall not profit;

7 For the Egyptians shall help in vain and to no purpose.
Therefore I have called her
Rahab-Hem-Shebeth.

God’s people trusted in another’s power instead of His.  Their rebellion of sin looked to their own reasoning and counsel among themselves when the source of guidance and reliance was to be found in Him and His word as written and as the prophets like Isaiah were dictating at the time, just as the apostles spoke and wrote the New Testament letters later.  The people then went to Egypt to enlist an army instead of relying on the Lord of Hosts to do battle for them as He had for them out of that land of bondage and into the promised land of freedom.  They wanted to go back to relying on their old masters who bound them as symbolic of sin’s grip on them, a poignant lesson and reminder for us still.  That trust only led to shame of defeat just as our trust in the world and its systems will only entangle us in bondage as well (Galatians 5:1, 2 Timothy 2:4, 2 Peter 2:20).  Why suffer as Israel by repeating the mistake of such a futile confidence of nationalism or political reliance for a savior when we have the Savior of the world in us to defend and guide us?  Like these, we would only find great loss and no eternal profit with such a false confidence and empty hope.  We have the hope of the world and through faith in Him and His working we have true confidence and eternal hope.

Recovery of Wisdom

Isaiah 29:17-24

17 Is it not yet a very little while
Till Lebanon shall be turned into a fruitful field,
And the fruitful field be esteemed as a forest?

18 In that day the deaf shall hear the words of the book,
And the eyes of the blind shall see out of obscurity and out of darkness.
19 The humble also shall increase their joy in the LORD,
And the poor among men shall rejoice
In the Holy One of Israel.

20 For the terrible one is brought to nothing,
The scornful one is consumed,
And all who watch for iniquity are cut off—
21 Who make a man an offender by a word,
And lay a snare for him who reproves in the gate,
And turn aside the just by empty words.

22 Therefore thus says the LORD, who redeemed Abraham, concerning the house of Jacob:

"Jacob shall not now be ashamed,
Nor shall his face now grow pale;
23 But when he sees his children,
The work of My hands, in his midst,
They will hallow My name,
And hallow the Holy One of Jacob,
And fear the God of Israel.

24 These also who erred in spirit will come to understanding,
And those who complained will learn doctrine."

This message of hope in the midst of judgment for the sin of God’s people shows the Lord’s grace to them as well as us.  Fruitfulness would be restored to the land and much more.  The prophetic description of the work of the Messiah, Christ Jesus, was given for them to look forward to and for us to look back on in awe of His work.  He would and has given hearing to deaf ears and sight to blinded eyes (Matthew 11:5, Mark 7:37).  The hearing was from God’s word, in the book of His scriptures, and the seeing would bring men and women out of darkness into his wonderful light of truth and to see Him (1 Peter 2:9, Acts 26:18).  This also gave joyful hope to the humble who looked to their Master’s hand for provision and understanding.  Yes, the terrible one who is our adversary would be brought down as all who follow him against the people of God and those who scorn and despise them and the word of the Lord.  Those who live to sin and draw others down against sound doctrine and holy living with them will be stopped.  This prophecy was for those delivered by the faith of Abraham who heard God, trusted all He said, and acted on that faith, just as we do with the gospel of Christ Jesus.  There is no shame in such humility to confess our sin and truth from it to Him according to His word and work in Him (1 Peter 2:6).  We then are to follow suit by giving honor and glory to our holy God for all He is and has done with godly fear and awe.  As we tell the good news, ears are opened to hear and eyes to see the glory of God in His word.  They will come to understand and learn sound teaching from Him and through us (John 6:45, 1 Thessalonians 2:13, 1 John 1:3), just as foretold through Isaiah.  The gospel of grace is found from all scripture as we see here and hear in the explanations in later writings such as Galatians 3:8, 22 and 2 Timothy 3:16.  Just as Israel recovered wisdom as God gave it to their understanding by opening their eyes and ears though their humbled repentant hearts, so He speaks wisdom still to call many to Himself through the gospel of grace in Christ. 

Blindness of Disobedience and God’s Work

 Isaiah 29:9-16 

9 Pause and wonder!
Blind yourselves and be blind!
They are drunk, but not with wine;
They stagger, but not with intoxicating drink.

10 For the LORD has poured out on you
The spirit of deep sleep,
And has closed your eyes, namely, the prophets;
And He has covered your heads, namely, the seers.

11 The whole vision has become to you like the words of a book that is sealed, which men deliver to one who is literate, saying, "Read this, please."
And he says, "I cannot, for it is sealed."

12 Then the book is delivered to one who is illiterate, saying, "Read this, please."
And he says, "I am not literate."

13 Therefore the Lord said:
"Inasmuch as these people draw near with their mouths
And honor Me with their lips,
But have removed their hearts far from Me,
And their fear toward Me is taught by the commandment of men,

14 Therefore, behold, I will again do a marvelous work
Among this people,
A marvelous work and a wonder;
For the wisdom of their wise men shall perish,
And the understanding of their prudent men shall be hidden."

15 Woe to those who seek deep to hide their counsel far from the LORD,
And their works are in the dark;
They say, "Who sees us?" and, "Who knows us?"

16 Surely you have things turned around!
Shall the potter be esteemed as the clay;
For shall the thing made say of him who made it,
"He did not make me"?
Or shall the thing formed say of him who formed it,
"He has no understanding"?

This message given to disobedient and distant hearted Israel is just as applicable to fallen man today.  Their hearts were far from following God instead of being devoted to Him, which added to their blindness that the Lord had given them in that rebellious thinking and sinful living.  It would take God’s work to change them and us; we are all deaf, dumb, and blind as dead men walking due to our inheritance of sin from Adam and Eve, and need divine work to intervene for us.  Just as Isaiah’s words to God’s people then, so we need to pause and wonder at these things in this book.  We all are born stumbling around in the dark with spiritual blindness and act as if asleep to the things of God and as a drunken man falling all over the place, unable to find the way without vision or the divine guidance of grace.  When the scriptures are put in front of us, we are like those spoken of here, either saying it is not comprehensible or accessible to us, or that we are simply unable to read and understand the word of God.  God’s word is therefore not read and we cannot understand unless given eyes to see and ears to hear what He is saying until He opens our eyes to unseal it and gives us spiritual understanding to be divinely literate.  Just as people then gave God lip service without putting their heart into following Him, so it was when Jesus walked among us as Emmanuel and spoke these same words to the Pharisees (Matthew 15:7-9) who placed religious tradition above understanding and obedience to God’s word.  It is no different now either because we are all born in sin and disobedience to the truth which is near to us but hidden from us.  The fear of man’s religious regulations has masked the true fear of God and faithful following of Him.  The Lord therefore told us through Isaiah what He would do, that He would do a wonderfully marvelous work for us (1 Peter 2:9) to pull down our own wisdom and philosophical understanding that we might be given spiritual understanding to be divinely literate (1 Corinthians 2:9-10, 12-13) with opened eyes and ears to see clearly and hear Him distinctly.  We cannot hide from Him in what we do or what is in our hearts.  We cannot make God in our comfortable image as one serving our desires as if we were the potter spinning Him on our wheel of our good fortune.  He has made us and not we ourselves.  He alone has the understanding to create us in His image, male and female and not in our own imagination of other forms.  If we deny our Creator to honor His word and work, He will hand us over to our own delusion and destruction as Romans 1:18-19, 24-25, 28, 32 describes for us in no uncertain terms.  Our blindness and deafness of such disobedience are only healed by the gospel of His work to forgive and reconcile us to Himself (John 6:29) if we accept and trust His living Word telling us these things.  God sees.  God knows.  He gives understanding eyes and ears to accept this good news to deliver us from darkness and bring us into His marvelous light with new hearts and minds!  Do we try to "make" God in our image, questioning why He does not do as we would?  Or do we see that He is God in heaven who does as He pleases?  God made us, and remakes us in Christ, so we need to yield under His mighty and loving hand of grace and guidance for His, the Master Potter's, good will and purpose.  He gives understanding as we need it and are able.  God wants our hearts, and faith that takes Him at His word, trusting and serving with actions that reflect the thoughts and intents of the heart.  He did such a wondrous work in His Son up to, on, and from the cross! This is marvelous and Christ now is our wisdom and understanding that we lack without Him.

Woe to Wandering Jerusalem

Isaiah 29:1-8 

1 "Woe to Ariel, to Ariel, the city where David dwelt!
Add year to year;
Let feasts come around.

2 Yet I will distress Ariel;
There shall be heaviness and sorrow,
And it shall be to Me as Ariel.

3 I will encamp against you all around,
I will lay siege against you with a mound,
And I will raise siegeworks against you.

4 You shall be brought down,
You shall speak out of the ground;
Your speech shall be low, out of the dust;
Your voice shall be like a medium's, out of the ground;
And your speech shall whisper out of the dust.

5 "Moreover the multitude of your foes
Shall be like fine dust,
And the multitude of the terrible ones
Like chaff that passes away;
Yes, it shall be in an instant, suddenly.

6 You will be punished by the LORD of hosts
With thunder and earthquake and great noise,
With storm and tempest
And the flame of devouring fire.

7 The multitude of all the nations who fight against Ariel,
Even all who fight against her and her fortress,
And distress her,
Shall be as a dream of a night vision.

8 It shall even be as when a hungry man dreams,
And look—he eats;
But he awakes, and his soul is still empty;
Or as when a thirsty man dreams,
And look—he drinks;
But he awakes, and indeed he is faint,
And his soul still craves:
So the multitude of all the nations shall be,
Who fight against Mount Zion."

This prophecy against Jerusalem also known as Ariel was where king David had lived as a man after God’s own heart, but now was disobedient and wandering away into judgment.  No matter how life just seemed to go on for one season and festival to the next, year after year, it was not for God’s glory and they did not really honor Him.  Sorrow and distress would be given them in return for leaving their first love.  God would bring their enemies to the doorstep and lay siege to the city to bring them done in the humility of defeat while they still held to the broken covenant of protection which they had forfeited.  In their humbling they would be brought down to the dust of a buried man, the same dust of which Adam was created by the hand of God and which now would accept them back without the ability to speak anymore.  The illustration of a medium speaking as a whisper out of the ground showed how their idolatry of continuing sinful disobedience had relegated them to judgment and death.  But their enemies were still God’s as well, and they would suddenly suffer as dust and chaff which the wind blows away by His quick omnipotent breath.  They would be punished by natural disasters and consuming fire, these who fought against Jerusalem, and would be relegated to being as a bad dream.  Those fighting the Lord and His people would go hungry and remain unsatisfied and weak as they crave something out of reach, the blessings of the Lord who loves and defends His people even when they stray into sin.  Yes, the word of the Lord brought woe to Jerusalem, but a worse fate to those opposing Him through them.  Even now God defends His people who are the church from Jacob and all nations through the faith of Abraham, and He will vanquish His enemies who oppose us for Christ’s sake in judgment, blowing them away as useless chaff from the fruitful wheat of His chosen ones.  It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God as Hebrews 10:30-31 tells us. 

How the Lord Teaches Us

Isaiah 28:23-29

23 Give ear and hear my voice,
Listen and hear my speech.

24 Does the plowman keep plowing all day to sow?
Does he keep turning his soil and breaking the clods?

25 When he has leveled its surface,
Does he not sow the black cummin
And scatter the cummin,
Plant the wheat in rows,
The barley in the appointed place,
And the spelt in its place?

26 For He instructs him in right judgment,
His God teaches him.

27 For the black cummin is not threshed with a threshing sledge,
Nor is a cartwheel rolled over the cummin;
But the black cummin is beaten out with a stick,
And the cummin with a rod.

28 Bread flour must be ground;
Therefore he does not thresh it forever,
Break it with his cartwheel,
Or crush it with his horsemen.

29 This also comes from the LORD of hosts,
Who is wonderful in counsel and excellent in guidance.

We are to listen to the teaching of God according to how He wants us to learn, precepts built on precepts as it was written earlier in Isaiah 28:10 for us to consider and heed.  This means we need to slow down and make the time to listen to His word that we might gain understanding as we consider His meaning and intent.  Things have appointed places, which is why a good systematic theology can outline the main teachings of the scriptures, just as the farming examples show us here by Isaiah’s hand.  We should learn not to go over and over the same spot in the Bible because it is familiar or because we like and mostly understand it, but plow through the other fields of learning from the Lord from Genesis to Revelation also.  The context of the entire crop is more nourishing and pays off in the harvest if we expand our work to cultivate understanding for more complete wisdom.  There are appointed places for each type of grain that the wise farmer puts in the ground and so we must plant the truths of God and His works in ordered places in our minds and hearts to understand their instruction best.  In all these approaches it is vital to trust God given insight and understanding, however.  Yes, He teaches us and gives right judgment of discernment in our reading and studies of the scriptures which our own abilities cannot.  Just as certain crops each must be harvested differently, such as the examples of the grains needing varying sizes of tools to avoid damaging the seeds being removed from their restraining husks, so we must learn from the Lord how to extract the one meaning from each proverb with multiple applications and extract more obvious commands and examples in their context care and diligently for our full spiritual nourishment.  If we spend all our time preparing to make bread from the wheat and neglect the other crops, it will be flattened and crushed past having the right taste and in a timely and necessary manner for our full growth as a result.  These words of sound wisdom come from the LORD of us all according to His word of wonderful counsel and excellent guidance for our good growth and fruitfulness (Matthew 13:23, 2 Timothy 2:6, 3:16-17).  This is how the Lord teaches us from the scriptures.  Consider these things in your handling the word of God (2 Timothy 2:15) and harvest well for your spiritual growth, which is your sanctification, as well as to rightly instruct others in making disciples.  

A Precious Cornerstone and Trusted Foundation

Isaiah 28:16-22 

16 Therefore thus says the Lord GOD:
"Behold, I lay in Zion a stone for a foundation,
A tried stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation;
Whoever believes will not act hastily.

17 Also I will make justice the measuring line,
And righteousness the plummet;
The hail will sweep away the refuge of lies,
And the waters will overflow the hiding place.

18 Your covenant with death will be annulled,
And your agreement with Sheol will not stand;
When the overflowing scourge passes through,
Then you will be trampled down by it.

19 As often as it goes out it will take you;
For morning by morning it will pass over,
And by day and by night;
It will be a terror just to understand the report."

20 For the bed is too short to stretch out on,
And the covering so narrow that one cannot wrap himself in it.

21 For the LORD will rise up as at Mount Perazim,
He will be angry as in the Valley of Gibeon—
That He may do His work, His awesome work,
And bring to pass His act, His unusual act.

22 Now therefore, do not be mockers,
Lest your bonds be made strong;
For I have heard from the Lord GOD of hosts,
A destruction determined even upon the whole earth.

We have a precious cornerstone as our foundation of God’s building on the solid ground of our trust in His working, which is infinitely precious to His people.  The Lord Himself set the stone in place to build His church upon as we now understand with Christ’s incarnation and His Spirit explaining through the apostles what He meant long ago in Isaiah’s words to us (1 Peter 2:6-8, Acts 4:11-12, Ephesians 2:20).  He is proven to be true and trustworthy and the only solid foundation to build upon (1 Corinthians 3:11).  He must be looked at in His word to be able to trust in and not hastily believed about in some halfhearted manner.  Only then as the cost is counted may a life be given into his absolute subjection and infinitely loving care.  Justice is called the measuring line, by which we are weighed and found wanting, every living soul since the fall of mankind.  Righteousness is called the plummet line, the upright standing straight before God which is only in the perfectly righteous one, Jesus Christ, who is our righteousness in which we stand.  We cannot hide from the judgment to come nor cover ourselves with lies to justify ourselves.  Living just to die and attempt escaping accountability to the Lord is impossible.  Death and hell are unavoidable and will overtake us all who are not founded on the certain cornerstone foundation of the faith of Abraham who so believed by trust in action of or His promise and working (Galatians 3:8-9).  Such a fate is terrifying to hear when understood, yet knowing that the Lord has done His awesome work in the unusual act of sending His own Son to die for us that we might live if we understand and trust His promises in that work done where ours cannot ever be effective, this humbles us to repentance and faith unto salvation.  Mockers will deny this judgment and approaching destruction to their own demise.  May all who hear and understand not reject the offer of forgiveness by grace and trust His work which delivers us from the wrath to come (Luke 3:7-8, 1 Thessalonians 1:10, Romans 5:8-9).  Oh that many would hear, understand, actively believe and trust to receive the Savior and His work for them to find a solid footer to lay their eternal foundation on! 

Learning by Precept upon Precept

Isaiah 28:1-15

1 Woe to the crown of pride, to the drunkards of Ephraim,
Whose glorious beauty is a fading flower
Which is at the head of the verdant valleys,
To those who are overcome with wine!

2 Behold, the Lord has a mighty and strong one,
Like a tempest of hail and a destroying storm,
Like a flood of mighty waters overflowing,
Who will bring them down to the earth with His hand.

3 The crown of pride, the drunkards of Ephraim,
Will be trampled underfoot;
4 And the glorious beauty is a fading flower
Which is at the head of the verdant valley,
Like the first fruit before the summer,
Which an observer sees;
He eats it up while it is still in his hand.

5 In that day the LORD of hosts will be
For a crown of glory and a diadem of beauty
To the remnant of His people,
6 For a spirit of justice to him who sits in judgment,
And for strength to those who turn back the battle at the gate.

7 But they also have erred through wine,
And through intoxicating drink are out of the way;
The priest and the prophet have erred through intoxicating drink,
They are swallowed up by wine,
They are out of the way through intoxicating drink;
They err in vision, they stumble in judgment.
8 For all tables are full of vomit and filth;
No place is clean.

9 "Whom will he teach knowledge?
And whom will he make to understand the message?
Those just weaned from milk?
Those just drawn from the breasts?

10 For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept,
Line upon line, line upon line,
Here a little, there a little."

11 For with stammering lips and another tongue
He will speak to this people,
12 To whom He said, "This is the rest with which
You may cause the weary to rest,"
And, "This is the refreshing";
Yet they would not hear.

13 But the word of the LORD was to them,
"Precept upon precept, precept upon precept,
Line upon line, line upon line,
Here a little, there a little,"
That they might go and fall backward, and be broken
And snared and caught.

14 Therefore hear the word of the LORD, you scornful men,
Who rule this people who are in Jerusalem,
15 Because you have said, "We have made a covenant with death,
And with Sheol we are in agreement.
When the overflowing scourge passes through,
It will not come to us,
For we have made lies our refuge,
And under falsehood we have hidden ourselves."

This message of woe to Ephraim and Jerusalem was for their continued disbelief and disobedience to God’s word which He taught them by precept built upon precept, on truth at a time until they should have reached und and wisdom.  The same principle goes for us except we have the Holy Spirit to give us both the understanding of God’s word and will as well as the ability to live accordingly in our ongoing growth of sanctification (Philippians 2:12-13).  Israel did not have His Spirit to help them and they kept falling away in various ways.  Therefore the Lord called out the woes of their just due for pride and drunkenness, for fleeting prosperity and resulting stumbling with errors of judgment and their own perceived beauty and power in place of acknowledging those being the Lord’s.  This is a lesson for us to stamp out our pride, power, and our accomplishments and self worth above His.  The principles He taught were based on one principle at a time to build upon, which is how we should learn now as well in our discipleship and teaching each other in Christ.  We must beware falling away as they did in disbelief and disobedience that exposes us and causes our downfall to catch us as they had happen.  Remember that verses 11 and 12 speak of 1 Corinthians 14:20-22 describing gifts of languages (“tongues”) being signs to reach unbelievers  who needed to understand the gospel in their own language.  He called them to His rest in Christ and the refreshing of God’s Spirit sealing and giving them understanding.  But many did not listen then either.  Those whom He called because they were His had been given ears to hear and eyes to see that they might turn and live as the gospel calls His people even now.  Those who refuse to hear and reject His word face the same fate for all the teaching by principle on principle will only lead to judgment and accountability without humility and accompanying holiness as a result, a changed life and new birth.  Otherwise, our fate is as was that of Israel recorded here.  Pride and lies take ineffective refuge against the truth in judgment.  That is a death wish in denying the Lord and His word, yet the world is under the sway of the father of lies and gladly gropes along toward that end of endless lies against God’s word, living and written who was given for us and our deliverance from our just due.  May we then not take His scriptures lightly and be about our Father’s business to tell the truth of the gospel of grace and forgiveness that others may find reconciliation with Him, teaching them precept upon precept. 

The Hope of Restoration

Isaiah 27:2-13 

2 In that day sing to her,
"A vineyard of red wine!
3 I, the LORD, keep it,
I water it every moment;
Lest any hurt it,
I keep it night and day.

4 Fury is not in Me.
Who would set briers and thorns
Against Me in battle?
I would go through them,
I would burn them together.
5 Or let him take hold of My strength,
That he may make peace with Me;
And he shall make peace with Me."

6 Those who come He shall cause to take root in Jacob;
Israel shall blossom and bud,
And fill the face of the world with fruit.

7 Has He struck Israel as He struck those who struck him?
Or has He been slain according to the slaughter of those who were slain by Him?
8 In measure, by sending it away,
You contended with it.
He removes it by His rough wind
In the day of the east wind.

9 Therefore by this the iniquity of Jacob will be covered;
And this is all the fruit of taking away his sin:
When he makes all the stones of the altar
Like chalkstones that are beaten to dust,
Wooden images and incense altars shall not stand.

10 Yet the fortified city will be desolate,
The habitation forsaken and left like a wilderness;
There the calf will feed, and there it will lie down
And consume its branches.

11 When its boughs are withered, they will be broken off;
The women come and set them on fire.
For it is a people of no understanding;
Therefore He who made them will not have mercy on them,
And He who formed them will show them no favor.

12 And it shall come to pass in that day
That the LORD will thresh,
From the channel of the River to the Brook of Egypt;
And you will be gathered one by one,
O you children of Israel.

13 So it shall be in that day:
The great trumpet will be blown;
They will come, who are about to perish in the land of Assyria,
And they who are outcasts in the land of Egypt,
And shall worship the LORD in the holy mount at Jerusalem.

The restoration of the people of the LORD is spoken of here. God kept His people even through their failure of unfaithfulness, watering and protecting them as a vineyard for His refined wine over time.  He likewise keeps us in Christ to persevere to the end as His people also, natively or grafted in (Romans 11:17).  He is the true vine and we are the branches to hear much fruit even though we also stumble and fail as sinners redeemed by grace in His righteousness.  We also then hold onto His strength in our weakness (Romans 8:26, Hebrews 4:15, 2 Corinthians 12:10) and have peace with God through the sacrificial blood shedding of the Messiah Jesus.  Our root is in Jacob called Israel and not outside of that spiritual lineage in Christ.  Just as other nations were accepted into Israel took root there, we also do to hear fruit and fill the earth as we multiply according to His word to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob through all nations.  The Lord continues to protect His chosen people who now include the promised ones from other nations who have been and are still being grafted in.  Jacob’s sin was covered as they crushed false gods and their idols and incense of false worship.  Their sin was covered and they were justified just as all are in the covering of Christ’s blood of His sacrifice once made for all He calls.  We can all take comfort and hope in this.  Contrariwise, the enemies who refuse the Lord and His people will eventually be defeated and desolate as were the cities of old because of a lack of understanding with deaf ears and blinded eyes and hard hearts.  There is no mercy or grace for those rejecting Him.  This is a difficult truth to take in as He threshes out the grain and burns the chaff (Luke 3:17).  There is no limit to the final judgment; only those trusting His word, living and written, will find joy at the final trumpet when the dead are raised (1 Corinthians 15:52, 1 Thessalonians 4:16) to join Him.  We who are outcasts of the world will then all worship together as one in the New Jerusalem come down out of heaven where God will finally live with us forever!  Such is the hope of the restoration of God’s people in Christ. 

The Dead Shall Live!

Isaiah 26:13 - 27:1

13 O LORD our God, masters besides You
Have had dominion over us;
But by You only we make mention of Your name.

14 They are dead, they will not live;
They are deceased, they will not rise.
Therefore You have punished and destroyed them,
And made all their memory to perish.

15 You have increased the nation, O LORD,
You have increased the nation;
You are glorified;
You have expanded all the borders of the land.

16 LORD, in trouble they have visited You,
They poured out a prayer when Your chastening was upon them.
17 As a woman with child
Is in pain and cries out in her pangs,
When she draws near the time of her delivery,
So have we been in Your sight, O LORD.

18 We have been with child, we have been in pain;
We have, as it were, brought forth wind;
We have not accomplished any deliverance in the earth,
Nor have the inhabitants of the world fallen.

19 Your dead shall live;
Together with my dead body they shall arise.
Awake and sing, you who dwell in dust;
For your dew is like the dew of herbs,
And the earth shall cast out the dead.

20 Come, my people, enter your chambers,
And shut your doors behind you;
Hide yourself, as it were, for a little moment,
Until the indignation is past.

21 For behold, the LORD comes out of His place
To punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity;
The earth will also disclose her blood,
And will no more cover her slain.

7:1 In that day the LORD with His severe sword, great and strong,
Will punish Leviathan the fleeing serpent,
Leviathan that twisted serpent;
And He will slay the reptile that is in the sea.

The messages here to Israel and to us all as God’s people is to take refuge from the coming judgment because the dead shall live.  They will arise from death and the dust of the earth as it gives up the dead, and we will awake and sing.  This is a clear picture of the resurrection to come which was veiled in a prophetic hope to Israel for deliverance from their enemies.  It is salvation from more than just the enemies of this life for it includes the enemy of death from our soul’s disease of sin which we are all born with.  That was why Israel tried and failed to follow God’s law over and over, for their nature prevented lasting righteousness as we all do in unregenerate form.  The passage here had begun with those who had subjected the people of the Lord while they still owed allegiance to their true Lord alone.  God therefore multiplied them among those nations to glorify Himself in that grace for their sakes even while they disobeyed and walked away time after time until the prophets called them to accountability and forgiveness before certain judgment came on them.  It became a fear driven warning message.  When the people were in trouble from the oppressors they prayed as they were disciplined for their sin.  Like a woman in childbirth they gave birth, but it was only emptiness instead of fruitfulness.  In all this they were not delivered by their labors nor did they defeat their enemies oppressing them.  The message of grace was their hope; they were told that their dead would live in a resurrection from the dust of death to sing thanksgiving and praise to their Lord who frees from the oppressor.  This picture of the final resurrection gives us hope that our adversary and death itself will be defeated by His labor on the cross as never was possible in our own efforts to attain righteousness.  He has provided atonement through certain justification of all who trust in His work alone and not their own (John 6:28-29), having entered His rest from their labors (Hebrews 4:3, 9-10, Revelation 14:13).  Yes, the people were told to take shelter until the LORD comes out of His place to do all these things to bring the punishment for sin and to enact judgment for it with severity of His wrath on it and them.  Like the twisted serpent of old (Revelation 12:9) who tries to flee, he also will be punished forever for all to see in that lake of fire (Revelation 20:2, 10).  For us this is great news and assurance that the dead will live again in and with Christ forever because we trusted His labor over ours and His righteousness instead of our own unobtainable righteousness outside of Him.  Praise Him as the earth casts us out of the dust of death into eternal life in His presence at last!  The dead shall truly live; that is our certain hope in the face of our deserved judgment and evidence of His merciful grace in Christ because He died and rose again as our forerunner (Hebrews 6:19-20).  Amen. 

Our Everlasting Rock of Salvation

Isaiah 26:1-12 

1 In that day this song will be sung in the land of Judah:
"We have a strong city;
God will appoint salvation for walls and bulwarks.
2 Open the gates,
That the righteous nation which keeps the truth may enter in.

3 You will keep him in perfect peace,
Whose mind is stayed on You,
Because he trusts in You.
4 Trust in the LORD forever,
For in YAH, the LORD, is everlasting strength.

5 For He brings down those who dwell on high,
The lofty city;
He lays it low,
He lays it low to the ground,
He brings it down to the dust.
6 The foot shall tread it down—
The feet of the poor
And the steps of the needy."

7 The way of the just is uprightness;
O Most Upright,
You weigh the path of the just.

8 Yes, in the way of Your judgments,
O LORD, we have waited for You;
The desire of our soul is for Your name
And for the remembrance of You.

9 With my soul I have desired You in the night,
Yes, by my spirit within me I will seek You early;
For when Your judgments are in the earth,
The inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness.

10 Let grace be shown to the wicked,
Yet he will not learn righteousness;
In the land of uprightness he will deal unjustly,
And will not behold the majesty of the LORD.

11 LORD, when Your hand is lifted up, they will not see.
But they will see and be ashamed
For their envy of people;
Yes, the fire of Your enemies shall devour them.

12 LORD, You will establish peace for us,
For You have also done all our works in us.

When God judges the earth in righteousness we will sing with all God’s people of His salvation accomplished for us and not by us.  Because of the righteousness of His truth and work we have that eternal strong city far surpassing the earthly Jerusalem of Israel.  As a people in the new nation which is the kingdom of God in Christ, we find our righteousness in Him alone and our protection of salvation which cannot be taken from us once He has bestowed it forever upon the ones He has chosen for Himself.  This mind set on Christ and His salvation bring us perfected peace which focuses our minds on His reconciling work foretold from the beginning as our sure foundation on the eternal Rock of ages, the eternally existing God (Micah 5:2).  A house built on shifting sands does not have peace with God in Christ (Romans 5:1) and falls in the judgment with all the proud who deny and reject the only hope of deliverance from sin and death.  They will be humbled as they are brought down to kneel to Him at last (Isaiah 45:23-24, Philippians 2:10-11) in subjection to the only righteous Lord and Sovereign.  The Lord knows the way of the righteous because He draws them along the path to Himself and His saving grace, and we who are His patiently wait for Him as we desire to honor and glorify Him in ever willing obedience to His word.  We desire Him and therefore seek to know Him more each day because of that unmerited salvation, though we are saddened that those who seek the wickedness of sinful disobedience who will never learn such righteousness is in Him alone and not by working to prove themselves to be good when none of us are.  To see God’s majesty is to humbly accept our sinful state (Romans 3:23, 6:23) and His reconciling grace as our only deliverance from our just due (1 Thessalonians 1:10).  Those rejecting this good news refuse to see Him and therefore will be ashamed in the end as they are devoured just as the enemies of Israel were then as verse 11 tells us by the revealed word given through Isaiah.  Yes, it is the LORD who establishes peace for us because He alone has done the work of salvation for righteousness in and for us!  He is our Rock of ages, the eternal solid foundation on which we stand in grace. 

God is Worthy of Praise!

Isaiah 25:1-12 

1 O LORD, You are my God.
I will exalt You,
I will praise Your name,
For You have done wonderful things;
Your counsels of old are faithfulness and truth.

2 For You have made a city a ruin,
A fortified city a ruin,
A palace of foreigners to be a city no more;
It will never be rebuilt.
3 Therefore the strong people will glorify You;
The city of the terrible nations will fear You.

4 For You have been a strength to the poor,
A strength to the needy in his distress,
A refuge from the storm,
A shade from the heat;
For the blast of the terrible ones is as a storm against the wall.

5 You will reduce the noise of aliens,
As heat in a dry place;
As heat in the shadow of a cloud,
The song of the terrible ones will be diminished.

6 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.

7 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.

8 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.

9 And it will be said in that day:
"Behold, this is our God;
We have waited for Him, and He will save us.
This is the LORD;
We have waited for Him;
We will be glad and rejoice in His salvation."

10 For on this mountain the hand of the LORD will rest,
And Moab shall be trampled down under Him,
As straw is trampled down for the refuse heap.

11 And He will spread out His hands in their midst
As a swimmer reaches out to swim,
And He will bring down their pride
Together with the trickery of their hands.
12 The fortress of the high fort of your walls
He will bring down, lay low,
And bring to the ground, down to the dust.

Praise is due to the LORD God Almighty for all His wonderful works and faithful counsel of truth!  He tears down the enemies and causes them to prosper no more, bringing fear to the nations and praise to His glory from His chosen people for those same things.  He gives strength to those with very little to none and those desperately in need.  He shelters them from the heat of the day and from storms of life, and protects them from their enemies as a fortress surrounding them.  He silences the threats of those set against them and provides abundantly from the place where He meets them and where they worship Him.  He lifts the veil from their eyes to see Him and His work (2 Corinthians 3:16), the covering which is over everyone in the world.  The promise extends into the new covenant where death is swallowed up forever and ever and all tears of sorrow will be wiped away (Hosea 13:14, 1 Corinthians 15:54, Revelation 21:4).  Yes, the rebuke of the penalty of sin will be taken away along with the presence and power of sin in eternity.  This is truly our God whom we have waited for and who saves us from certain eternal destruction.  Therefore we will also be forever glad and rejoice in His salvation of grace in the Son our Messiah!  His hand has rested on this new Jerusalem on the hill never moving as of old, and the enemy will be defeated forever as Moab was then (Revelation 20:10, 1 Corinthians 15:26).  The Lord will have the final victory to bring down man’s pride and deceit and judge angels.  The strongholds will be destroyed and God will be praised for all these wonderful works of judgment and grace.  Praise the Lord!  He is worthy of praise! 

Judgment Coming on all the Earth, Part 2

Isaiah 24:13-23

13 When it shall be thus in the midst of the land among the people,
It shall be like the shaking of an olive tree,
Like the gleaning of grapes when the vintage is done.

14 They shall lift up their voice, they shall sing;
For the majesty of the LORD
They shall cry aloud from the sea.
15 Therefore glorify the LORD in the dawning light,
The name of the LORD God of Israel in the coastlands of the sea.

16 From the ends of the earth we have heard songs:
"Glory to the righteous!"
But I said, "I am ruined, ruined!
Woe to me!
The treacherous dealers have dealt treacherously,
Indeed, the treacherous dealers have dealt very treacherously."

17 Fear and the pit and the snare
Are upon you, O inhabitant of the earth.

18 And it shall be
That he who flees from the noise of the fear
Shall fall into the pit,
And he who comes up from the midst of the pit
Shall be caught in the snare;
For the windows from on high are open,
And the foundations of the earth are shaken.

19 The earth is violently broken,
The earth is split open,
The earth is shaken exceedingly.
20 The earth shall reel to and fro like a drunkard,
And shall totter like a hut;
Its transgression shall be heavy upon it,
And it will fall, and not rise again.

21 It shall come to pass in that day
That the LORD will punish on high the host of exalted ones,
And on the earth the kings of the earth.
22 They will be gathered together,
As prisoners are gathered in the pit,
And will be shut up in the prison;
After many days they will be punished.

23 Then the moon will be disgraced
And the sun ashamed;
For the LORD of hosts will reign
On Mount Zion and in Jerusalem
And before His elders, gloriously.

The Lord will reign gloriously after the coming judgment of justice poured out on the world.  He will shake the world once more (Hebrews 12:27, Luke 21:26-27) to dislodge the olives and grapes of wrath from their attachments.  Those who know the Lord will lift songs of praise to Him to glorify the majesty of God and His righteous justice.  They will sing, "Glory to the righteous!" while confessing their own ruination of their sinful nature.  Yet we now know His promised grace in the forgiveness and reconciliation of the Messiah Jesus Christ who is the answer to our guilt and our release from this certain judgment (John 5:24).  The fear of death fills the earth apart from His work to free and forgive us as the prophecy tells us here.  People may attempt to flee the judgment to come as they are shaken but will find no escape if they do not give Him the glory, fear Him, and trust His work in Christ (Revelation 14:7).  Otherwise they all find the pit of the lake of fire to fall into from which there is no escape and no further hope.  The snares of sin and idolatry which keep men from the Lord will hold them fast as the earth is shaken and reels back and forth in that time before His coming.  As Joel 2:31-32 says about that time, the sun and moon will be darkened and the only hope for the called ones (Romans 9:27-28) will be to call on the name of the Lord for deliverance from that terrifying end.  But God will reign gloriously as the only wise and worthy Sovereign before and among His people who trusted Him and heeded His word for reconciliation in the unearned favor of grace because He chose to do so to rescue some from what we all deserve.  May these fearful things cause us to trust more in godly fear, give Him the glory for His work in Christ, and look forward to His eternal reign in the New Jerusalem before His elders and people in His glorious presence! 

Judgment Coming on all the Earth, Part 1

Isaiah 24:1-12 

1 Behold, the LORD makes the earth empty and makes it waste,
Distorts its surface
And scatters abroad its inhabitants.

2 And it shall be:
As with the people, so with the priest;
As with the servant, so with his master;
As with the maid, so with her mistress;
As with the buyer, so with the seller;
As with the lender, so with the borrower;
As with the creditor, so with the debtor.

3 The land shall be entirely emptied and utterly plundered,
For the LORD has spoken this word.

4 The earth mourns and fades away,
The world languishes and fades away;
The haughty people of the earth languish.

5 The earth is also defiled under its inhabitants,
Because they have transgressed the laws,
Changed the ordinance,
Broken the everlasting covenant.

6 Therefore the curse has devoured the earth,
And those who dwell in it are desolate.
Therefore the inhabitants of the earth are burned,
And few men are left.

7 The new wine fails, the vine languishes,
All the merry-hearted sigh.
8 The mirth of the tambourine ceases,
The noise of the jubilant ends,
The joy of the harp ceases.
9 They shall not drink wine with a song;
Strong drink is bitter to those who drink it.

10 The city of confusion is broken down;
Every house is shut up, so that none may go in.

11 There is a cry for wine in the streets,
All joy is darkened,
The mirth of the land is gone.
12 In the city desolation is left,
And the gate is stricken with destruction.

As Romans 8:21 reminds us, all of creation is under sin’s bondage of corruption.  This includes not only the fallen people corrupted by the sin in Eden’s garden plot, but the world under our stewardship as given to Adam at its inception.  This means that it does not matter a person’s position in life, for judgment comes the same to all just as none is more righteous than another to deserve lesser condemnation for unrepentant sin outside of God’s grace given in Christ.  Common people, priests, servants and masters upstairs and down, consumers and businessmen, bankers and borrowers, and even any lenders and borrowers — all find they are under he same corruption of inherited sin and subject to the same accountability of justice in judgment.  We all have fallen short of God’s standards (Romans 3:23) and have inherited this sad state as well.  Even the best efforts of our doing good are tainted by that soul stain and we are utterly unable to keep every point of the law we are accountable to live by if we do it all (James 2:10-11).  We cannot earn and do not deserve reconciliation with God; only He can bestow it by grace in justice earned by His Son for us.  Isaiah told God’s people that they had corrupted the laws of God and suffered the consequences.  They broke their covenant contract agreement with the Lord to do what He said in order to live.  This corruption spread to all of creation under their responsibility as he also spoke of here.  The curse they brought on themselves are up the entire earth as we observe in its decay even today.  All the crops which supplied sustenance and joy had failed as a result, along with the prosperity of all.  The end result is a cry for more wine to drown out the suffering and sorrow in the midst of their spiritual desolation.  Such is the fallen state of man this day and every day apart from deliverance from our sin within which we have inherited and continue to practice (Romans 5:12, 18, 1 Corinthians 15:21-22).  Judgment is surely coming to all the earth which groans until that day (Romans 8:22) for redemption of being made anew.  May we then be found reconciled in the Son of God who takes away the sin of the world! 

Wages of Tyre’s Sin

Isaiah 23:1-18 

1 The burden against Tyre.
Wail, you ships of Tarshish!
For it is laid waste,
So that there is no house, no harbor;
From the land of Cyprus it is revealed to them.

2 Be still, you inhabitants of the coastland,
You merchants of Sidon,
Whom those who cross the sea have filled.
3 And on great waters the grain of Shihor,
The harvest of the River, is her revenue;
And she is a marketplace for the nations.

4 Be ashamed, O Sidon;
For the sea has spoken,
The strength of the sea, saying,
"I do not labor, nor bring forth children;
Neither do I rear young men,
Nor bring up virgins."

5 When the report reaches Egypt,
They also will be in agony at the report of Tyre.
6 Cross over to Tarshish;
Wail, you inhabitants of the coastland!

7 Is this your joyous city,
Whose antiquity is from ancient days,
Whose feet carried her far off to dwell?

8 Who has taken this counsel against Tyre, the crowning city,
Whose merchants are princes,
Whose traders are the honorable of the earth?
9 The LORD of hosts has purposed it,
To bring to dishonor the pride of all glory,
To bring into contempt all the honorable of the earth.

10 Overflow through your land like the River,
O daughter of Tarshish;
There is no more strength.

11 He stretched out His hand over the sea,
He shook the kingdoms;
The LORD has given a commandment against Canaan
To destroy its strongholds.

12 And He said, "You will rejoice no more,
O you oppressed virgin daughter of Sidon.
Arise, cross over to Cyprus;
There also you will have no rest."

13 Behold, the land of the Chaldeans,
This people which was not;
Assyria founded it for wild beasts of the desert.
They set up its towers,
They raised up its palaces,
And brought it to ruin.

14 Wail, you ships of Tarshish!
For your strength is laid waste.

15 Now it shall come to pass in that day that Tyre will be forgotten seventy years, according to the days of one king. At the end of seventy years it will happen to Tyre as in the song of the harlot:

16 "Take a harp, go about the city,
You forgotten harlot;
Make sweet melody, sing many songs,
That you may be remembered."

17 And it shall be, at the end of seventy years, that the LORD will deal with Tyre. She will return to her hire, and commit fornication with all the kingdoms of the world on the face of the earth. 18 Her gain and her pay will be set apart for the LORD; it will not be treasured nor laid up, for her gain will be for those who dwell before the LORD, to eat sufficiently, and for fine clothing.

The great port city of commerce, Tyre, was called to account for her sins by God through the prophetic message which has many parts difficult to interpret and understand fully.  It begins with the fall of the proud and sinful city, most likely as sinful as Nineveh (Jonah 1:2) also slated for destruction.  The difference is that Tyre continued to boast of her wealth and loved her harlotries with other gods and lustful lifestyle.  He fall shocked the Mediterranean world from Egypt to Cyprus and beyond to Tarshish at the far western part of that great sea (where Jonah was running away from God to as well).  The joy of that ancient city was no more.  The merchants and traders all stood in shock and awe at her fall by the hand of the Lord.  He had determined and end to Tyre because of her pride and self-seeking glory over God’s, and demonstrated His contempt on all the honorable powerful and wealthy who used her as well.  Yes, the Lord God shakes kingdoms and their cities when they put them above Him, and makes their strongholds of power and might fall as quickly as they rise.  This is a warning to other nations and towns to not pridefully boast and pursue immortality and self-importance over godliness and righteousness.  The result of Tyre’s fall was seventy years of anonymity to the world, a distant memory for a generation to remember and not repeat those sins while the recollection of her power and importance faded from memory.  After seventy years, they sang ballads to awaken the old memories in song, yet the Lord dealt with her fornication with the kingdoms of the world as He will in the end (Revelation 17:1-2) with her sister Babylon.  Any gain from the resurrected Tyre would be set apart for the Lord instead and for His people who serve and worship Him alone, not those of sinful Tyre.  This is a picture of our provision in Christ at the end when the sinful world is judged and we reap eternal benefits for believing and following Him over sin and selfish pride.  He alone is the way, truth, and life.  In Him there is victory over sin and death and the judgment to the lake of fire we all are headed to.  May we learn from the judgment on Tyre and Babylon.  The wages of Tyre’s sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life (Romans 6:23)!