Judgment on the Mighty Servant

Isaiah 22:15-25 

15 Thus says the Lord GOD of hosts:
"Go, proceed to this steward,
To Shebna, who is over the house, and say:

16 'What have you here, and whom have you here,
That you have hewn a sepulcher here,
As he who hews himself a sepulcher on high,
Who carves a tomb for himself in a rock?

17 Indeed, the LORD will throw you away violently,
O mighty man,
And will surely seize you.

18 He will surely turn violently and toss you like a ball
Into a large country;
There you shall die, and there your glorious chariots
Shall be the shame of your master's house.
19 So I will drive you out of your office,
And from your position he will pull you down.

20 'Then it shall be in that day,
That I will call My servant Eliakim the son of Hilkiah;
21 I will clothe him with your robe
And strengthen him with your belt;
I will commit your responsibility into his hand.
He shall be a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem
And to the house of Judah.

22 The key of the house of David
I will lay on his shoulder;
So he shall open, and no one shall shut;
And he shall shut, and no one shall open.

23 I will fasten him as a peg in a secure place,
And he will become a glorious throne to his father's house.

24 'They will hang on him all the glory of his father's house, the offspring and the posterity, all vessels of small quantity, from the cups to all the pitchers. 25 In that day,' says the LORD of hosts, 'the peg that is fastened in the secure place will be removed and be cut down and fall, and the burden that was on it will be cut off; for the LORD has spoken.'"

This prophecy was aimed at Shebna, a person of high position in the court of king Hezekiah of Judah who was his secretary.  Isaiah spoke directly to his high and mighty nature because he had made himself a fancy tomb as if he was so important and needed to be honored and remembered by all.  He was a servant to the king, however, not the king appointed by God or made important by Him.  God promised to grab him and cast down the mighty man, throwing him as a ball far away to die with his games played for his own gain and self-importance.  The king would pull Shebna down from the high position as he drove him out in shame and humility.  God then replaced him by calling one of His choice, Eliakim the son of Hilkiah (Isaiah 36:3), to serve God’s people in Jerusalem and Judah as a father would care for them instead of himself.  Then comes the key given to him which is prophetic of Christ as Revelation 3:7 tells us.  He has the key of life and death, of judgment and forgiveness, as the only wise King and Sovereign (Jude 1:25).  The Messiah will be the ultimate ruler who cares for His people as no man or king ever can.  Why then trust in political leaders who are sinful and fall so short of Him?  They will all have their pegs removed and lose their high places as the Lord takes them down.  Worship God in Christ!  He alone has the glory of His Father’s house and its posterity in His offspring born again to a living hope (1 Peter 1:3, Acts 17:29), a peg or nail which cannot ever be removed, since the nails that held Him to the cross secured our life from His death instead of ours.  That work is as unending as He is because He did it for forever.  There remains only a certain judgment, however, on those setting themselves up as mighty servants like Shebna to rule over others as we see today with our present rulers and government officials.  The mighty will all fall. 

Blindness in the Valley of Vision

Isaiah 22:1-14 

1 The burden against the Valley of Vision.
What ails you now, that you have all gone up to the housetops,
2 You who are full of noise,
A tumultuous city, a joyous city?
Your slain men are not slain with the sword,
Nor dead in battle.

3 All your rulers have fled together;
They are captured by the archers.
All who are found in you are bound together;
They have fled from afar.

4 Therefore I said, "Look away from me,
I will weep bitterly;
Do not labor to comfort me
Because of the plundering of the daughter of my people."

5 For it is a day of trouble and treading down and perplexity
By the Lord GOD of hosts
In the Valley of Vision—
Breaking down the walls
And of crying to the mountain.

6 Elam bore the quiver
With chariots of men and horsemen,
And Kir uncovered the shield.

7 It shall come to pass that your choicest valleys
Shall be full of chariots,
And the horsemen shall set themselves in array at the gate.

8 He removed the protection of Judah.
You looked in that day to the armor of the House of the Forest;

9 You also saw the damage to the city of David,
That it was great;
And you gathered together the waters of the lower pool.
10 You numbered the houses of Jerusalem,
And the houses you broke down
To fortify the wall.

11 You also made a reservoir between the two walls
For the water of the old pool.
But you did not look to its Maker,
Nor did you have respect for Him who fashioned it long ago.

12 And in that day the Lord GOD of hosts
Called for weeping and for mourning,
For baldness and for girding with sackcloth.

13 But instead, joy and gladness,
Slaying oxen and killing sheep,
Eating meat and drinking wine:
"Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die!"

14 Then it was revealed in my hearing by the LORD of hosts,
"Surely for this iniquity there will be no atonement for you,
Even to your death," says the Lord GOD of hosts.

This prophecy against Jerusalem in the valley of visions given through the prophets like Isaiah was to expose their chosen blindness and resultant hopelessness for their rejection of the LORD.  In the valley of vision they should have heard and heeded God’s word as revealed to them but instead they turned away and faced overthrow by their enemies.  This plundering of God’s people brought sadness to Him and to Isaiah who was burdened with bringing the message.  As the Lord enacted judgment on Jerusalem, bringing trouble and confusion in the valley of vision where all should have heard and seen, there was breaking down of the city and weeping instead because of the hardness of their hearts.  The armies of judgment entered the valley where vision failed as God removed the protection of His almighty hand and they looked vainly to their own defense.  The destruction was extensive to include their own destruction of the houses along the city walls to reinforce them against the onslaught.  But their biggest mistake was in not looking to their Maker who made all things and relying on Him.  He had made them and given them the city and their protection.  He called on them to repent, to turn from self-reliance to faithfully following by trusting obedience, but they instead found false happiness in revelry and partying, taking up the ill-fated mantra of "Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die!" in their living of excess in sin.  This rejection of the Lord earned them death and no atonement for their willing sin of rejecting Him.  Likewise, those who reject His Word, Jesus Christ, will also find no atonement because many will refuse to believe God in the valley of vision given in the scriptures and preached as the gospel to them (John 12:48).  By hardening their hearts, many will not find the way to life, but only the certain judgment which we all deserve and cannot escape apart from listening to Him and His atoning work (John 6:28-29) of His death, burial, and hope bringing resurrection.  No defense we can mount can protect us from being overthrown and defeated by sin and death if we do not look to our Maker as in the wilderness which was to point us to Christ (Numbers 21:8-9,  John 3:14-15) to trust in for life.  He is the only way, the absolute truth, and life itself (John 14:6)!  May we not be caught up in the world to repeat the rejection of these in old Jerusalem who lived for the passing pleasures of sin (1 Corinthians 15:32, Hebrews 11:25), the blind ones in the valley of vision given in the Bible for our instruction and salvation.  There is atonement only for those who humble themselves in repentance to life in Christ. 

Land of Silence in Darkness

Isaiah 21:11-17

11 The burden against Dumah.
He calls to me out of Seir,
"Watchman, what of the night?
Watchman, what of the night?"

12 The watchman said,
"The morning comes, and also the night.
If you will inquire, inquire;
Return! Come back!"

13 The burden against Arabia.
In the forest in Arabia you will lodge,
O you traveling companies of Dedanites.

14 O inhabitants of the land of Tema,
Bring water to him who is thirsty;
With their bread they met him who fled.
15 For they fled from the swords, from the drawn sword,
From the bent bow, and from the distress of war.

16 For thus the LORD has said to me: "Within a year, according to the year of a hired man, all the glory of Kedar will fail; 17 and the remainder of the number of archers, the mighty men of the people of Kedar, will be diminished; for the LORD God of Israel has spoken it."

These burdens laid on the prophet Isaiah by the Lord were aimed at Edom and Arabia with fugitives running from violence.  Darkness enveloped the world and the message heard a cry out of the silence (Dumah in Hebrew meaning “silence,” that is, the land of silence; see Ps. 94:17; 115:17) of that darkness they were in.  The reply was for them to keep seeking the answer no matter how the darkness came and went from them.  It was as if a call for repentance in the command to return and come back.  In Arabia they were running from the violence, but the end of defeat was promised instead because God had predetermined it and indeed Sargon invaded Arabia in 715 B.C. and they were defeated by Assyria between 691–689 B.C.  The darkness and death followed those enemies of God’s people and of the Lord Himself with certain action, but not without warning as given by Isaiah here.  We also have been given warnings of the tribulation and wrath to come (Revelation 6:17, 1 Thessalonians 1:10) and can rest assured that it will absolutely come to pass in His appointed time.  The darkness is all around and we have the words of life that lead into the marvelous light (1 Peter 2:9, Acts 26:18) of forgiveness and reconciliation with God in Christ!  May we speak these words faithfully (Jeremiah 23:28-29) to bring down the opposition of defeat (2 Corinthians 10:5) which leads people to run away from the violence of certain judgment.  This certain hope of His word brings life and light into the death and darkness of this fallen world.  Oh, may those without Him in darkness and with a view to impending defeat keep inquiring and turn to Jesus Christ for light and life (John 1:4) as we bring that word which is like a hammer and fire to bear on them and break stubborn hearts before they are counted among the chaff separated from the wheat and consumed in the fire of judgment (Luke 3:17)!   

The Fall of Babylon

Isaiah 21:1-10 

1 The burden against the Wilderness of the Sea.
As whirlwinds in the South pass through,
So it comes from the desert, from a terrible land.

2 A distressing vision is declared to me;
The treacherous dealer deals treacherously,
And the plunderer plunders.

Go up, O Elam!
Besiege, O Media!
All its sighing I have made to cease.

3 Therefore my loins are filled with pain;
Pangs have taken hold of me, like the pangs of a woman in labor.
I was distressed when I heard it;
I was dismayed when I saw it.

4 My heart wavered, fearfulness frightened me;
The night for which I longed He turned into fear for me.

5 Prepare the table,
Set a watchman in the tower,
Eat and drink.

Arise, you princes,
Anoint the shield!

6 For thus has the Lord said to me:
"Go, set a watchman,
Let him declare what he sees."

7 And he saw a chariot with a pair of horsemen,
A chariot of donkeys, and a chariot of camels,
And he listened earnestly with great care.

8 Then he cried, "A lion, my Lord!
I stand continually on the watchtower in the daytime;
I have sat at my post every night.

9 And look, here comes a chariot of men with a pair of horsemen!"
Then he answered and said,

"Babylon is fallen, is fallen!
And all the carved images of her gods
He has broken to the ground."

10 Oh, my threshing and the grain of my floor!
That which I have heard from the LORD of hosts,

The God of Israel,
I have declared to you.

The God of Israel was declared to Babylon before she fell by His hand.  The message came as from the dry desert on a whirlwind, a disturbing and painful vision for Isaiah to witness and tell of the treachery and plunder of the sinful nation being judged and sentenced.  The pain was as if a woman in labor, no small suffering of anguish, and fear made the heart skip a beat as the night filled with fearful boding to come.  He commanded a watch to be set on the tower so they could continue to eat, drink, and be merry (Luke 12:19) until the watched reported anyone approaching.  The watchman saw a chariot and a lion as he watched day and night to guard the city.  When the chariot finally approached him, he heard the proclamation that Babylon had fallen (Revelation 14:8, 18:2) and her idols smashed into the dust where they came from.  As Jeremiah 51:33 tells us, the time of Babylon’s harvest on her threshing floor had come as will all by God’s hand of judgment seen in Matthew 3:12 and other places.  This is why Isaiah witnessed of the God of Israel and told of Him to the hearers and readers of this warning.  We likewise bear witness of the fall and judgment of the spiritual Babylon of the world under the sway of the wicked one who will also be judged and thrown down in the end for good.  The God we declare in the gospel of Jesus Christ is our witness of the coming judgment and the only deliverance through the Son of God who died in our place that we might hear, see, believe, and receive Him as or sure salvation from the wrath to come (1 Thessalonians 1:10).  The message is for all who have been given repairs to hear to turn before judgment overtakes you.  Learn from the Babylon which was and the one which is to come.  God’s threshing floor keeps only the good seed and the rest is burned in the end.  Turn and live! 

Egypt and Ethiopia Shown their Nakedness

Isaiah 20:1-6 

1 In the year that Tartan came to Ashdod, when Sargon the king of Assyria sent him, and he fought against Ashdod and took it, 2 at the same time the LORD spoke by Isaiah the son of Amoz, saying, "Go, and remove the sackcloth from your body, and take your sandals off your feet." And he did so, walking naked and barefoot.

3 Then the LORD said, "Just as My servant Isaiah has walked naked and barefoot three years for a sign and a wonder against Egypt and Ethiopia, 4 so shall the king of Assyria lead away the Egyptians as prisoners and the Ethiopians as captives, young and old, naked and barefoot, with their buttocks uncovered, to the shame of Egypt. 5 Then they shall be afraid and ashamed of Ethiopia their expectation and Egypt their glory. 6 And the inhabitant of this territory will say in that day, 'Surely such is our expectation, wherever we flee for help to be delivered from the king of Assyria; and how shall we escape?'"

The prophet Isaiah was called to speak even without words, yes without clothes as well, to make God’s message clear to Egypt and Ethiopia of Cush.  Assyria came against them according to the Lord’s predetermined plan to take them prisoner for their sin against Him and His people.  Like John the Baptist, Isaiah had been clothed in sackcloth to mourn Israel and call them to repentance, yet then God commanded him to make a visual prophetic statement by removing that and showing his nakedness before them.  This seems extreme and even perverse to us until we understand the purpose was to point to the impending enslavement of the Egyptians and Ethiopians when defeated by the Assyrians.  It was to shame them for their sin against Him for all to witness and fear the judgment of the LORD.  Their empty hope in the might of Ethiopia and the glory of old Egypt would be vanquished and exposed.  That would put the fear of the Lord in them at last!  It also made others fear Assyria as God’s instrument which could be aimed at them as well.  There was no escape from God’s judgment, even if not all understood it was not Assyrian power that was the threat, but also a lesson not to trust in any nation’s power or reputation of glory to deliver as only the LORD can.  This is an example for us not to trust in the powers of war, but the Lord our God for deliverance from judgment (Psalm 20:7, Isaiah 31:1, Jeremiah 3:23).  Nations rise and fall and rulers with them, but the kingdom of God in Christ endures firmly forever.  We will all stand exposed for who we are and in whom we trust before Him and in the assembly of all in the final day of judgment (Revelation 3:17, 16:15).  Remember how the nakedness of the prophet which exposed those of Ethiopia and Egypt and trust in Him alone, for His word will expose us all an in whom we glory and trust to deliver! 

Egypt Struck and Healed

Isaiah 19:13-25

13 The princes of Zoan have become fools;
The princes of Noph are deceived;
They have also deluded Egypt,
Those who are the mainstay of its tribes.

14 The LORD has mingled a perverse spirit in her midst;
And they have caused Egypt to err in all her work,
As a drunken man staggers in his vomit.

15 Neither will there be any work for Egypt,
Which the head or tail,
Palm branch or bulrush, may do.

16 In that day Egypt will be like women, and will be afraid and fear because of the waving of the hand of the LORD of hosts, which He waves over it. 17 And the land of Judah will be a terror to Egypt; everyone who makes mention of it will be afraid in himself, because of the counsel of the LORD of hosts which He has determined against it.

18 In that day five cities in the land of Egypt will speak the language of Canaan and swear by the LORD of hosts; one will be called the City of Destruction.

19 In that day there will be an altar to the LORD in the midst of the land of Egypt, and a pillar to the LORD at its border. 20 And it will be for a sign and for a witness to the LORD of hosts in the land of Egypt; for they will cry to the LORD because of the oppressors, and He will send them a Savior and a Mighty One, and He will deliver them. 21 Then the LORD will be known to Egypt, and the Egyptians will know the LORD in that day, and will make sacrifice and offering; yes, they will make a vow to the LORD and perform it. 22 And the LORD will strike Egypt, He will strike and heal it; they will return to the LORD, and He will be entreated by them and heal them.

23 In that day there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria, and the Assyrian will come into Egypt and the Egyptian into Assyria, and the Egyptians will serve with the Assyrians.

24 In that day Israel will be one of three with Egypt and Assyria—a blessing in the midst of the land, 25 whom the LORD of hosts shall bless, saying, "Blessed is Egypt My people, and Assyria the work of My hands, and Israel My inheritance."

The burden of the Lord against Egypt exposed their foolish rulers who deceived and were being deceived as all evil people do (2 Timothy 3:13).  The Lord Himself introduced a spirit of distortion into the Egyptians to bring their evil deeds to nothing and make them stagger around unable to accomplish their unrighteous aims as a drunken man stumbles around without sure footing.  This is how he brings the counsel of evil to frustration to stop it from overtaking God’s people and the world until He is ready to bring them all to an end in the final day.  He would stop Egyptian trade and prosperity, from workers to leaders.  Their fear would mount up among them because of God’s work against them for their sin, and they would fear the people of God instead of continuing to attack them.  They would then speak praise of the Lord of hosts and speak the language of the people of God, even setting up an altar to worship Him in Egypt!  That was a sign and witness to the Lord and His working, an acknowledgment of His lordship over them.  Egypt would call out the name of the Lord for a Savior to deliver them from their sin and their enemies.  Their vows would be to follow the Lord afterwards and the Lord’s striking their land would then turn to His healing it as a kind of discipline to cause them to repent, turning to Him for healing.  This is a picture of the gospel for lost people who were once enemies of God (Colossians 1:21) but have been humbled to repent of their wicked ways (Ezekiel 33:11) and be healed in their dead souls to be among God’s people and worship Him as living sacrifices (Romans 12:1) under His blessings of forgiveness and reconciliation.  Just as Egypt, Assyria, and Israel were then blessed together, so will we all in Christ be blessed as a people united in Him (Colossians 3:11, Revelation 5:9).  We have been similarly struck and healed by His atoning death, His burial and resurrection, and healing with a promise of unending life (1 John 2:25) together with our Lord.  God’s burden for us leads to healing in His wings and enables our worship of Him forevermore.  Isaiah uses the burden of God recounting how Egypt was struck and healed to paint a picture of the gospel of God’s grace to strike our pride and sinfulness in order to heal us eternally and cause us to worship Him. 

Proclamation Against Egypt

Isaiah 19:1-12 

1 The burden against Egypt.

Behold, the LORD rides on a swift cloud,
And will come into Egypt;
The idols of Egypt will totter at His presence,
And the heart of Egypt will melt in its midst.

2 "I will set Egyptians against Egyptians;
Everyone will fight against his brother,
And everyone against his neighbor,
City against city, kingdom against kingdom.

3 The spirit of Egypt will fail in its midst;
I will destroy their counsel,
And they will consult the idols and the charmers,
The mediums and the sorcerers.

4 And the Egyptians I will give
Into the hand of a cruel master,
And a fierce king will rule over them,"
Says the Lord, the LORD of hosts.

5 The waters will fail from the sea,
And the river will be wasted and dried up.

6 The rivers will turn foul;
The brooks of defense will be emptied and dried up;
The reeds and rushes will wither.

7 The papyrus reeds by the River, by the mouth of the River,
And everything sown by the River,
Will wither, be driven away, and be no more.

8 The fishermen also will mourn;
All those will lament who cast hooks into the River,
And they will languish who spread nets on the waters.

9 Moreover those who work in fine flax
And those who weave fine fabric will be ashamed;
10 And its foundations will be broken.
All who make wages will be troubled of soul.

11 Surely the princes of Zoan are fools;
Pharaoh's wise counselors give foolish counsel.
How do you say to Pharaoh, "I am the son of the wise,
The son of ancient kings?"

12 Where are they?
Where are your wise men?
Let them tell you now,
And let them know what the LORD of hosts has purposed against Egypt.

The Lord had a purpose in proclaiming His burden against Egypt for their sins of idolatry and self-proclaimed wisdom apart from His word.  Isaiah told them that the Lord would therefore come in to them and His very presence would shake their false gods and put His fear into their hearts so that they felt dissolved of strength and will.  Then He would cause infighting among them as He had turned others against each other before to have His enemies defeat themselves.  Their spirit would falter and fall as the false and empty counsel of spiritualism failed them along with the lifeless idols of their own making.  He would turn them over to a harsh dictator and take away their prosperity along with their defenses they wrongly relied upon.  Their fishing would catch no more and industry of all kinds would falter to the very foundation because of their refusal to accept and rely on the LORD God alone.  He called their princes and counsels fools because of this.  Their reliance on past glory was the height of their foolishness in supposed wisdom, which is God’s alone.  Therefore Isaiah told them this was what burdened God’s heart, their rejection of Him and reliance on His counsel.  There are warnings here for us individually and nationally as well.  As nations, we cannot rely on past righteousness or good deeds if we go away from submission to and reliance on God alone.  When our wisdom and might are put before right, the end is in sight.  This goes for us as individuals also; if we wander away from trust and reliance on God’s word and His ways, we face peril of being shaken and loss of spiritual and material prosperity in our defiance instead of sole reliance.  May we learn from Egypt’s mistakes. 

Proclamation Against Ethiopia

Isaiah 18:1-7 

1 Woe to the land shadowed with buzzing wings,
Which is beyond the rivers of Ethiopia,
2 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."

3 All inhabitants of the world and dwellers on the earth:
When he lifts up a banner on the mountains, you see it;
And when he blows a trumpet, you hear it.

4 For so the LORD said to me,
"I will take My rest,
And I will look from My dwelling place
Like clear heat in sunshine,
Like a cloud of dew in the heat of harvest."

5 For before the harvest, when the bud is perfect
And the sour grape is ripening in the flower,
He will both cut off the sprigs with pruning hooks
And take away and cut down the branches.

6 They will be left together for the mountain birds of prey
And for the beasts of the earth;
The birds of prey will summer on them,
And all the beasts of the earth will winter on them.

7 In that time a present will be brought to the LORD of hosts
From a people tall and smooth of skin,
And from a people terrible from their beginning onward,
A nation powerful and treading down,
Whose land the rivers divide—
To the place of the name of the LORD of hosts,
To Mount Zion.

The Ethiopians of Cush ruled Egypt for a time, and these are likely the peoples who Isaiah prophecies against because God’s people had trusted in their might to fight for them instead of the Lord God.  These are the ones who sent messengers to broker treaties for help and who used papyrus boats as well.  Though these earthly powers are advertised loudly and broadly, God looks down from where He dwells among men to see clearly and bring relief to His people at the appointed times.  Those who oppose Him and His chosen people He stops their harvest and levels them so that they cannot spread out to influence His people anymore.  Instead they are left as prey for the animals and birds to consume.  Then the Cushites would bring tribute to Israel for offerings to the true God of all in His temple on Mount Zion.  How does this teach us?  We learn that God wants us to rely on Him by faith and not seek answers elsewhere to defend ourselves as His people.  It is the power of God who enables us and provides for our defense in His providence.  Those who oppose Him in us will eventually all bow to acknowledge Him as Lord of all (Isaiah 45:23, Philippians 2:10-11) as they answer to his sovereign rule and power.  All power and honor and glory is the Lord’s, so why seek to rely on our own supposed strength (2 Corinthians 12:10) and not walk by faith in our omnipotent Lord as we ought (Isaiah 31:1, Psalm 20:7) for our safety?  The Lord spoke against Ethiopia and Egypt of the people of Cush, and He speaks still against all set against His people united in Christ who are the unseen church.   He reigns, He reigns! 

Proclamation Against Syria and Israel

Isaiah 17:1-14 

1 The burden against Damascus.
"Behold, Damascus will cease from being a city,
And it will be a ruinous heap.

2 The cities of Aroer are forsaken;
They will be for flocks
Which lie down, and no one will make them afraid.

3 The fortress also will cease from Ephraim,
The kingdom from Damascus,
And the remnant of Syria;
They will be as the glory of the children of Israel,"
Says the LORD of hosts.

4 "In that day it shall come to pass
That the glory of Jacob will wane,
And the fatness of his flesh grow lean.

5 It shall be as when the harvester gathers the grain,
And reaps the heads with his arm;
It shall be as he who gathers heads of grain
In the Valley of Rephaim.

6 Yet gleaning grapes will be left in it,
Like the shaking of an olive tree,
Two or three olives at the top of the uppermost bough,
Four or five in its most fruitful branches,"
Says the LORD God of Israel.

7 In that day a man will look to his Maker,
And his eyes will have respect for the Holy One of Israel.

8 He will not look to the altars,
The work of his hands;
He will not respect what his fingers have made,
Nor the wooden images nor the incense altars.

9 In that day his strong cities will be as a forsaken bough
And an uppermost branch,
Which they left because of the children of Israel;
And there will be desolation.

10 Because you have forgotten the God of your salvation,
And have not been mindful of the Rock of your stronghold,
Therefore you will plant pleasant plants
And set out foreign seedlings;
11 In the day you will make your plant to grow,
And in the morning you will make your seed to flourish;
But the harvest will be a heap of ruins
In the day of grief and desperate sorrow.

12 Woe to the multitude of many people
Who make a noise like the roar of the seas,
And to the rushing of nations
That make a rushing like the rushing of mighty waters!

13 The nations will rush like the rushing of many waters;
But God will rebuke them and they will flee far away,
And be chased like the chaff of the mountains before the wind,
Like a rolling thing before the whirlwind.

14 Then behold, at eventide, trouble!
And before the morning, he is no more.
This is the portion of those who plunder us,
And the lot of those who rob us.

This proclamation against Damascus of Syria and against Israel is a burden of the prophet Isaiah because it was a burden on Gods own heart for His people and their enemies.  Because of their sin the people of the Lord would see Damascus fall into ruins as they themselves faced judgment.  Their former glory would wane as that of Syria and their prosperity was to dwindle away because of their continuing disobedience.  He compares the meager harvest of grain, grapes, and olives which leave but a small remnant left in sight, and those high above as if out of sight.  This is a picture of the remnant of Israel after their judgment and reaping sin’s consequences.  There is always a remnant left after the pruning and drought according to this and other instances of God’s working in dealing with His people and their constant wandering from His commands.  But the remnant will turn back (repent) to respect and honor his creator.  He will stop looking for help and cease worshiping at altars of deaf and dumb idols of his own making as if they could ever be a substitute for the Lord God to worship and follow.  They will see how their cities will fall and be left desolate due to their sin in breaking the first commandment (Exodus 20:3, Judges 10:13).  Forgetting the God of their salvation who delivered them time and again from their enemies and bondage to sin, they sowed the wrong plants as if from a foreign land instead of the promised one of milk and honey.  They only reaped desperate sorrow and mountainous ruin.  Though the nations rage and make much loud noise like waves of a strong storm, God rebukes their attempts to make much of themselves and blows them away like useless chaff from the grain (Luke 3:17) as if a tempest wind blows it far away from Him.  Yes, in the evening there is only trouble and the morning reveals nothing is left after the cleansing.  This is the end of those who are set against God’s people as robbers and thieves and against His glory and honor in causing them to sin with dead idols.  God will judge those within and without, but He knows His own whom he has called and will preserve that remnant forevermore (2 Timothy 2:19, Romans 9:27, 11:5).  This is a lesson for we who are the Lord’s to live humbly as we do what is right and fair while showing others the forgiving mercy shown us as His remnant (Micah 6:8).  If He for us then who can be against us? 

Moab’s Destruction and The Lord’s Reign

Isaiah 16:1-14 

1 Send the lamb to the ruler of the land,
From Sela to the wilderness,
To the mount of the daughter of Zion.
2 For it shall be as a wandering bird thrown out of the nest;
So shall be the daughters of Moab at the fords of the Arnon.

3 "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.

4 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.

5 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."

6 We have heard of the pride of Moab—
He is very proud—
Of his haughtiness and his pride and his wrath;
But his lies shall not be so.

7 Therefore Moab shall wail for Moab;
Everyone shall wail.
For the foundations of Kir Hareseth you shall mourn;
Surely they are stricken.

8 For the fields of Heshbon languish,
And the vine of Sibmah;
The lords of the nations have broken down its choice plants,
Which have reached to Jazer
And wandered through the wilderness.
Her branches are stretched out,
They are gone over the sea.

9 Therefore I will bewail the vine of Sibmah,
With the weeping of Jazer;
I will drench you with my tears,
O Heshbon and Elealeh;
For battle cries have fallen
Over your summer fruits and your harvest.

10 Gladness is taken away,
And joy from the plentiful field;
In the vineyards there will be no singing,
Nor will there be shouting;
No treaders will tread out wine in the presses;
I have made their shouting cease.

11 Therefore my heart shall resound like a harp for Moab,
And my inner being for Kir Heres.
12 And it shall come to pass,
When it is seen that Moab is weary on the high place,
That he will come to his sanctuary to pray;
But he will not prevail.

13 This is the word which the LORD has spoken concerning Moab since that time. 14 But now the LORD has spoken, saying, "Within three years, as the years of a hired man, the glory of Moab will be despised with all that great multitude, and the remnant will be very small and feeble."

This prophecy was against Moab for their haughtiness, pride, wrath, and lies.  They were called to give shelter of sanctuary to God’s people to protect them from destruction with a future view to the Messianic rule of David’s line with all the people of God to come (that is, the church).  That rule would be founded on a throne of mercy and truth so justice and righteousness could be governed with merciful judgment in the one of the lineage of David in the flesh but of God in the spirit, the Christ to come.  How that has come to fruition!  Jesus the Christ rules and will judge the earth to satisfy the wrath of God against the unrighteous symbolized by Moab and other nations opposed to His rule.  But He will have built His throne on a sure foundation of mercy to forgive and righteousness to impart to the humble who believe and receive Him as their Sovereign King on that divine throne to rule and judge those not trusting but rejecting that rule.  The proud and haughty ones who disbelieve and disobey will unknowingly even protect those under God’s rule at times until they are called to judgment for their abominations and unbelief in the day of judgment.  There will be mourning for the lost who lost their joy and gladness of singing and temporary prosperity just as it was with Moab.  And just as Moab was given three years before their accountability, so there is a time set in the heavens for the final judgment of accountability to the Lord which He alone knows but which signs have been given to alert us to that day’s coming.  May our message of reconciliation and eternal hope be our witness to the righteousness and mercy of Christ therefore in light of the coming destruction and the Lord’s eternal reign on earth. 

God’s Burden Against Moab

Isaiah 15:1-9 

1 The burden against Moab.
Because in the night Ar of Moab is laid waste
And destroyed,
Because in the night Kir of Moab is laid waste
And destroyed,
2 He has gone up to the temple and Dibon,
To the high places to weep.

Moab will wail over Nebo and over Medeba;
On all their heads will be baldness,
And every beard cut off.

3 In their streets they will clothe themselves with sackcloth;
On the tops of their houses
And in their streets
Everyone will wail, weeping bitterly.

4 Heshbon and Elealeh will cry out,
Their voice shall be heard as far as Jahaz;
Therefore the armed soldiers of Moab will cry out;
His life will be burdensome to him.

5 "My heart will cry out for Moab;
His fugitives shall flee to Zoar,
Like a three-year-old heifer.

For by the Ascent of Luhith
They will go up with weeping;
For in the way of Horonaim
They will raise up a cry of destruction,
6 For the waters of Nimrim will be desolate,
For the green grass has withered away;
The grass fails, there is nothing green.

7 Therefore the abundance they have gained,
And what they have laid up,
They will carry away to the Brook of the Willows.

8 For the cry has gone all around the borders of Moab,
Its wailing to Eglaim
And its wailing to Beer Elim.

9 For the waters of Dimon will be full of blood;
Because I will bring more upon Dimon,
Lions upon him who escapes from Moab,
And on the remnant of the land."

Those who worship false gods (which are not divine because only One is God, He of the scriptures whose Son we serve) will face the consequences of sin by their destruction as Moab was judged here.  These idol worshiping people mourn and weep over the loss of inanimate wood and stone which they bow down to, not unlike today where entertainment and sports and political heroes are idolized, and ignore their Creator and heavenly Sovereign.  These of Moab were so distraught that they cried out and wandered heartbroken in the streets because of their loss of their own making.  God cried out to them as He does now to those with cheap and worthless substitutes.  The alternative now is destruction instead of abundance and crying instead of joy and peace with God in Christ just as Moab and the others faced judgment and death apart from the Lord.  Only the remnant who are drawn to the narrow way will escape.  Such is the lesson today as it was then for the enemies of God until they find rest and peace in the calling out of darkness into the light of life.  This is God’s burden calling out against and for Moab as it is still to all who serve other gods today.  Amen.  

Assyria and Philistia Broken

Isaiah 14:24-32 

24 The LORD of hosts has sworn, saying,

"Surely, as I have thought, so it shall come to pass,
And as I have purposed, so it shall stand:

25 That I will break the Assyrian in My land,
And on My mountains tread him underfoot.
Then his yoke shall be removed from them,
And his burden removed from their shoulders.

26 This is the purpose that is purposed against the whole earth,
And this is the hand that is stretched out over all the nations.

27 For the LORD of hosts has purposed,
And who will annul it?
His hand is stretched out,
And who will turn it back?"

28 This is the burden which came in the year that King Ahaz died.

29 "Do not rejoice, all you of Philistia,
Because the rod that struck you is broken;
For out of the serpent's roots will come forth a viper,
And its offspring will be a fiery flying serpent.

30 The firstborn of the poor will feed,
And the needy will lie down in safety;
I will kill your roots with famine,
And it will slay your remnant.

31 Wail, O gate! Cry, O city!
All you of Philistia are dissolved;
For smoke will come from the north,
And no one will be alone in his appointed times."

32 What will they answer the messengers of the nation?
That the LORD has founded Zion,
And the poor of His people shall take refuge in it.

After the fall of Babylon of old and to come, the word of the Lord through Isaiah turned to the enemies of His people who had oppressed them, Assyria and Philistia.  God’s sovereign work against both is a picture of all who oppose Him through His chosen people, of Israel and the Nations alike called in Christ, the Branch of Jesse and Messiah prepared as announced.  As God thinks, it will certainly happen.  As He purposes, so it shall stand so nobody can alter it (Isaiah 43:13).  This is His sovereign predetermined purposes as He plans, which holds for world events we call history as well as personal lives called eternally to Himself which cannot be snatched from His almighty hand.  There is absolute certainty in God’s purposed plans and work from beginning to end which we only see the edges of as He chooses to show us in the scriptures (Ecclesiastes 3:11, Isaiah 46:10, Job 26:14, Deuteronomy 29:29).  He broke Assyria and took His people out from under their cruel and oppressive rule and dissolved the Philistine rule even as they rejoiced in being set free themselves from other oppressors.  God’s purposes are in all the earth for His people and against His enemies who are set in opposition to the people He calls to Himself.  He is absolutely sovereign over all nations by the power of His outstretched hand.  What He says will happen will.  Nobody can turn His hand back.  The enemies of the people of the Lord are protected eternally, but the enemies who find another enemy removed according to God’s plan can become as those of Philistia, turning from vipers to dragons to their demise.  He ended them through starvation and destruction of their remaining numbers in His sovereign purposes, and will do it again in the ultimate end of the rule of all evil in the judgment day (1 Corinthians 15:24-25).  Just as Philistia was burned up and its smoke rose from the destruction, so will the spiritual Babylon in judgment (Revelation 18:8-10).  All these things happen by God’s will in His times as planned from before time itself in His sovereignty.  Yet God has prepared a refuge in Zion for His people, a picture and type of the New Jerusalem where all in Christ will find eternal refuge from sin and death in God’s very presence forevermore.  Nobody can snatch us out of the hand which lead us through the narrow gate into those streets of gold; our victory is in Christ according to His work which we trust is true (John 6:28-29)!  The nations of the world will all be broken as Assyria and Philistia, but our Kingdom is an everlasting one (Psalm 145:13, Daniel 4:3, 2 Peter 1:11) and we are not broken.  Hallelu Yah! 

Fall and Destruction of Satan and Babylon

Isaiah 14:12-23 

12 "How you are fallen from heaven,
O Lucifer, son of the morning!
How you are cut down to the ground,
You who weakened the nations!

13 For you have said in your heart:
I will ascend into heaven,
I will exalt my throne above the stars of God;
I will also sit on the mount of the congregation
On the farthest sides of the north;
14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds,
I will be like the Most High.'

15 Yet you shall be brought down to Sheol,
To the lowest depths of the Pit.

16 "Those who see you will gaze at you,
And consider you, saying:

'Is this the man who made the earth tremble,
Who shook kingdoms,
17 Who made the world as a wilderness
And destroyed its cities,
Who did not open the house of his prisoners?'

18 "All the kings of the nations,
All of them, sleep in glory,
Everyone in his own house;
19 But you are cast out of your grave
Like an abominable branch,
Like the garment of those who are slain,
Thrust through with a sword,
Who go down to the stones of the pit,
Like a corpse trodden underfoot.

20 You will not be joined with them in burial,
Because you have destroyed your land
And slain your people.
The brood of evildoers shall never be named.

21 Prepare slaughter for his children
Because of the iniquity of their fathers,
Lest they rise up and possess the land,
And fill the face of the world with cities."

22 "For I will rise up against them," says the LORD of hosts,
"And cut off from Babylon the name and remnant,
And offspring and posterity," says the LORD.
23 "I will also make it a possession for the porcupine,
And marshes of muddy water;
I will sweep it with the broom of destruction," says the LORD of hosts.

The fall and destruction of Babylon is a prophetic picture of Satan’s demise as well as the earthly kingdom at the time of Isaiah’s message from the LORD.  The aspirations of the earthly ruler of Babylon to rise against God in rebellion and in blasphemy call himself God as His equal while destroying the nations are all driven by the Angel of dark light who once burned brightly in God’s creation in heaven.  Yes, the earthly king followed his master and became like him instead of God, just as the cult of the Mormons does by their blasphemy of rising to become gods themselves and rule worlds as if replacing the one true God with their dark lies acting as light (2 Corinthians 11:14-15).  Such arrogance in pride to assume to ascend to God’s level and then take over as Him!   The earthly kings as in Babylon who follow this fallen Angel of light will all meet the same end in the lake burning with the unending fire of everlasting death (Revelation 20:10, 15), while we who are in Christ find everlasting life in humility and subservience to the only wise King (1 Timothy 1:17).  In that Day all will gaze at the dragon of old (Revelation 12:9) who is cast down for good and wonder at how he had deceived so many with fear and trembling and destruction, and how he aspired arrogantly to assume he could become God and replace Him, just as the king of Babylon did on earth in a microcosmic way in comparison!  Other rulers have died and sleep in glory as verse 18 says, but the type of the Adversary here is cast out of the grave, most likely meaning he will not rest in peace but suffer forever with no respite.  The earthly king destroyed and killed and so his children, those following him, will also be taken down and go to the place of eternal unrest with him.  This is true both for the king of Babylon and Lucifer.  Just as the LORD promised to cut off the name and remnant of that earthly kingdom so will He cut off the followers of destruction and their posterity in the lake of fire we call Hell (Revelation 12:10, 15).  There is nothing left of the kingdom of Babylon where life is found, and there will likewise only be the dead in spirit who will inhabit that place of everlasting destruction (2 Thessalonians 1:9) with the deceiver of all mankind and destroyer of God’s good creation (Genesis 3:4, 13, 2 Corinthians 11:3).  This is the forewarning and lessons from the fall and destruction of Babylon and Satan.  May we all hear the gospel and escape God’s wrath which we all deserve by trusting His work in Jesus Christ alone for deliverance from this certain fate and serve God alone by the trusting and humble obedient worship of our lives (Romans 12:1-2) and not in pride or arrogance to assume we can rule instead of Him.  Amen and amen! 

Mercy and Judgment

Isaiah 14:1-11

1 For the LORD will have mercy on Jacob, and will still choose Israel, and settle them in their own land. The strangers will be joined with them, and they will cling to the house of Jacob. 2 Then people will take them and bring them to their place, and the house of Israel will possess them for servants and maids in the land of the LORD; they will take them captive whose captives they were, and rule over their oppressors.

3 It shall come to pass in the day the LORD gives you rest from your sorrow, and from your fear and the hard bondage in which you were made to serve, 4 that you will take up this proverb against the king of Babylon, and say:

"How the oppressor has ceased,
The golden city ceased!

5 The LORD has broken the staff of the wicked,
The scepter of the rulers;
6 He who struck the people in wrath with a continual stroke,
He who ruled the nations in anger,
Is persecuted and no one hinders.

7 The whole earth is at rest and quiet;
They break forth into singing.

8 Indeed the cypress trees rejoice over you,
And the cedars of Lebanon,
Saying, 'Since you were cut down,
No woodsman has come up against us.'

9 "Hell 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.

10 They all shall speak and say to you:
'Have you also become as weak as we?
Have you become like us?

11 Your pomp is brought down to Sheol,
And the sound of your stringed instruments;
The maggot is spread under you,
And worms cover you.'

The Lord promised mercy on Jacob but judgment on the King of Babylon and all that he pictures for us.  After all the gloom and doom concerning the Day of the Lord in the previous chapter, God assures the remnant of His chosen people that they will find mercy and a home still.  Others of the surrounding nations will come to join them as a picture of the Gentiles joining them in Christ when He comes in His church of all whom He calls to Himself.  Then those were made servants to Israel and Rule over them, but in the Messiah we are all made servants of Christ and not subservient in service to each other (Galatians 3:28).  The Lord was to bring rest from sadness, fear, and bondage, which Christ Jesus does for us as well.  He will wipe away every tear (Revelation 7:17, 21:4), take away our fear of eternal torment as our due punishment for sin (1 John 4:18), and release us from sin’s bondage (Romans 8:15, Hebrews 2:14-15).  Israel was able to pronounce the Lord’s judgment against the king of Babylon who is symbolic of the ultimate oppressor in the form of the Antichrist and his rule in the latter days.  We have the Lord Jesus Christ who has pronounced that one’s demise of judgment in the lake of fire and can rest assured that we will have justice in the end over the oppressor of our souls and wicked rulers under the sway of the wicked one who is Lucifer and the devil of old (1 John 5:19, Revelation 12:9, 20:10).  That is in the next part of this chapter to be spoken of tomorrow.  We do know that just as the king of Babylon of old was judged and then cut down and called from the place of the dead known as Hell and Sheol, so will the Adversary and enemy of all God’s creation be cast down in the final judgment to a lake of everlasting eternal fire that does not consume as it enacts justice through suffering.  All pride against the Lord will end up there along with all in the world who led others astray and away from the Lord in their temporal dominance over others.  The whole earth will rejoice with singing praise to our Redeemer’s victory in that day of judgment and mercy! 

The Judgment Day of the Lord

Isaiah 13:1-22 

1 The burden against Babylon which Isaiah the son of Amoz saw.

2 "Lift up a banner on the high mountain,
Raise your voice to them;
Wave your hand, that they may enter the gates of the nobles.

3 I have commanded My sanctified ones;
I have also called My mighty ones for My anger—
Those who rejoice in My exaltation."

4 The noise of a multitude in the mountains,
Like that of many people!
A tumultuous noise of the kingdoms of nations gathered together!
The LORD of hosts musters
The army for battle.

5 They come from a far country,
From the end of heaven—
The LORD and His weapons of indignation,
To destroy the whole land.

6 Wail, for the day of the LORD is at hand!
It will come as destruction from the Almighty.

7 Therefore all hands will be limp,
Every man's heart will melt,
8 And they will be afraid.
Pangs and sorrows will take hold of them;
They will be in pain as a woman in childbirth;
They will be amazed at one another;
Their faces will be like flames.

9 Behold, the day of the LORD comes,
Cruel, with both wrath and fierce anger,
To lay the land desolate;
And He will destroy its sinners from it.

10 For the stars of heaven and their constellations
Will not give their light;
The sun will be darkened in its going forth,
And the moon will not cause its light to shine.

11 "I will punish the world for its evil,
And the wicked for their iniquity;
I will halt the arrogance of the proud,
And will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible.
12 I will make a mortal more rare than fine gold,
A man more than the golden wedge of Ophir.

13 Therefore I will shake the heavens,
And the earth will move out of her place,
In the wrath of the LORD of hosts
And in the day of His fierce anger.

14 It shall be as the hunted gazelle,
And as a sheep that no man takes up;
Every man will turn to his own people,
And everyone will flee to his own land.

15 Everyone who is found will be thrust through,
And everyone who is captured will fall by the sword.
16 Their children also will be dashed to pieces before their eyes;
Their houses will be plundered
And their wives ravished.

17 "Behold, I will stir up the Medes against them,
Who will not regard silver;
And as for gold, they will not delight in it.

18 Also their bows will dash the young men to pieces,
And they will have no pity on the fruit of the womb;
Their eye will not spare children.

19 And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms,
The beauty of the Chaldeans' pride,
Will be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah.
20 It will never be inhabited,
Nor will it be settled from generation to generation;
Nor will the Arabian pitch tents there,
Nor will the shepherds make their sheepfolds there.

21 But wild beasts of the desert will lie there,
And their houses will be full of owls;
Ostriches will dwell there,
And wild goats will caper there.

22 The hyenas will howl in their citadels,
And jackals in their pleasant palaces.
Her time is near to come,
And her days will not be prolonged."

This prophecy against old world Babylon is symbolic of the new, and points to a day of judgment for the temporal world then and the final battle at His coming to pour out His wrath on sin and judge the world in righteousness.  Isaiah was called to warn the sinners and assemble His people who are set aside as His to wage war against Babylon.  He even used the enemies of Babylon for this purpose, for God uses all to bring His sovereign plans and purposes to pass.  Verse 6 is against that ungodly Babylon but is also pointing to the final Day of the Lord when everlasting destruction will be meted out (Revelation 6:17, 18:21) to end her ungodliness forever.  When this battle happens men’s hearts will fail in fear and painful sorrow at their impending doom as their faces show some sort of surprise over what was happening.  This was true for the corrupt city empire then and will be again in the final judgment against all who reject the Lord and His Anointed.  The Lord came then to destroy sinners in His wrath as the stars fall from the heavens and the sun diminished along with the moon (Matthew 24:29-30, Mark 13:24-25).  This clearly pointed past the destruction of the old Persian empire to the world at large for the Lord’s judgment against sinners, for the world and its evil as mentioned in verse 11.  Yes, the proud and haughty will be humbled and laid low by God’s mighty hand.  In the day of that anger of God He will shake the heavens and earth out of its place of sinful rebellion against His sovereignty from which nobody can escape (Haggai 2:6-7, Hebrews 12:25-28) except the redeemed through the Son of God in His word alone.  All the kingdoms of the earth will be thrown down and be seen no more, just as Babylon was annihilated.  There was desolation then, but the Hope now is a new heaven and earth where righteousness will dwell (Revelation 21:1k 2 Peter 3:12-13, Romans 8:21).  There is hope in the Judgment Day of the Lord only for the redeemed, but what a certain hope! 

Praise God for Becoming our Salvation!

Isaiah 12:1-6 

1 And in that day you will say:
"O LORD, I will praise You;
Though You were angry with me,
Your anger is turned away, and You comfort me.

2 Behold, God is my salvation,
I will trust and not be afraid;
For YAH, the LORD, is my strength and song;
He also has become my salvation.'"

3 Therefore with joy you will draw water
From the wells of salvation.

4 And in that day you will say:
"Praise the LORD, call upon His name;
Declare His deeds among the peoples,
Make mention that His name is exalted.

5 Sing to the LORD,
For He has done excellent things;
This is known in all the earth.

6 Cry out and shout, O inhabitant of Zion,
For great is the Holy One of Israel in your midst!"

Praise the Lord for tour salvation!  Though His justified strong anger was on us, yet He turned that anger away because it was satisfied by Himself by becoming our salvation in the Messiah.  He sacrificed His Son in our stead to pour out that wrath on the perfect and blameless sacrifice who never sinned as we have from Adam to ourselves.  This is more than enough reason to praise the Lord who comforts us in that forgiveness which never ends nor can be taken away!  Yes, God is my salvation and that truth realized takes away my fear of death and punishment of deserved judgment.  What should we who have obtained this heavenly state then do?  We begin as Isaiah wrote here from God’s pen, trusting with an unshakable faith to once and for all time put aside fear of unending torment (Matthew 25:46) for our rebellious sins (1 John 4:18) which we have been pardoned from by God’s work to save us.  He has quite literally become our salvation to deliver us from the kingdom of darkness in that of His marvelous light of His countenance (1 Peter 2:9, Acts 26:18).  We can therefore draw living water from Him who lives in us of that salvation (John 4:14, 7:38-39), which is His very and Holy Spirit in every regenerated one called to trust and receive Him and His work for that deliverance (John 1:12).  We can draw out of Him to satisfy our thirst and revive us when we fail again (1 John 1:9).  The promise is that we can not only praise Him as His due for all these things, but we can also call on His name in times of joy or trouble alike and then tell others of all His wonderful works, especially the gospel which we find from Genesis 3:15 to this passage in Isaiah to the fullness of time when Jesus the Christ came as God among us, Emmanuel.   We speak to others not only to make disciples but also to lift up His name in praise to give the Lord the glory due to Him.  We make much about Jesus to make much about the Father by the working of His Spirit in us.  This is our declaration of God’s work to the world.  We can also sing these praises to Him because of all the excellence of His working to show the world and remind ourselves of His worthiness which drives the direction of our new life in Him.  Like these children of God long ago, we also cry out with a shout of the greatness of the God who is with and among us.  Let us therefore praise Him and tell of all His wondrous deeds among the people!  Praise God for becoming our salvation! 

The Remnant’s Branch of Righteousness

Isaiah 11:1-16 

1 There shall come forth a Rod from the stem of Jesse,
And a Branch shall grow out of his roots.

2 The Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon Him,
The Spirit of wisdom and understanding,
The Spirit of counsel and might,
The Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD.

3 His delight is in the fear of the LORD,
And He shall not judge by the sight of His eyes,
Nor decide by the hearing of His ears;
4 But with righteousness He shall judge the poor,
And decide with equity for the meek of the earth;
He shall strike the earth with the rod of His mouth,
And with the breath of His lips He shall slay the wicked.

5 Righteousness shall be the belt of His loins,
And faithfulness the belt of His waist.

6 "The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb,
The leopard shall lie down with the young goat,
The calf and the young lion and the fatling together;
And a little child shall lead them.

7 The cow and the bear shall graze;
Their young ones shall lie down together;
And the lion shall eat straw like the ox.
8 The nursing child shall play by the cobra's hole,
And the weaned child shall put his hand in the viper's den.

9 They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain,
For the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD
As the waters cover the sea.

10 "And in that day there shall be a Root of Jesse,
Who shall stand as a banner to the people;
For the Gentiles shall seek Him,
And His resting place shall be glorious."

11 It shall come to pass in that day
That the Lord shall set His hand again the second time
To recover the remnant of His people who are left,
From Assyria and Egypt,
From Pathros and Cush,
From Elam and Shinar,
From Hamath and the islands of the sea.

12 He will set up a banner for the nations,
And will assemble the outcasts of Israel,
And gather together the dispersed of Judah
From the four corners of the earth.

13 Also the envy of Ephraim shall depart,
And the adversaries of Judah shall be cut off;
Ephraim shall not envy Judah,
And Judah shall not harass Ephraim.

14 But they shall fly down upon the shoulder of the Philistines toward the west;
Together they shall plunder the people of the East;
They shall lay their hand on Edom and Moab;
And the people of Ammon shall obey them.

15 The LORD will utterly destroy the tongue of the Sea of Egypt;
With His mighty wind He will shake His fist over the River,
And strike it in the seven streams,
And make men cross over dry-shod.

16 There will be a highway for the remnant of His people
Who will be left from Assyria,
As it was for Israel
In the day that he came up from the land of Egypt.

As Isaiah 9:1–7 foretold of the coming Messiah, here it continues as the Branch of the rod from Jesse as the son of David.  He would have the Spirit of God on Him as Jesus when baptized by John, He would have wisdom, understanding, counsel, power, and bring the knowledge and fear of the Lord with Him to His people.  We see all these attributes fulfilled in Jesus the Christ of that same lineage of Jesse spoken here.  He is the Branch of God’s promise fulfilled who was born of a virgin as promised and who brings righteousness to the remnant of His people who are called and chosen for Himself, first of Israel and then from out of all nations as promised to Abraham (Genesis 17:5, Romans 4:16-17).  He judges rightly because He knows our hearts and upholds the meek while judging the wicked who have rejected His righteousness and forgiveness in the Anointed One.  He has only to speak a word and they are judged or released from judgment with everlasting atonement.  He is clothed with righteousness and faithfulness, meaning that we can trust Him to be true to every word of promise because there is no sin found in Him (2 Corinthians 5:21, 1 Peter 2:22).  Ultimately He will being peace with Him and each other in the fullness of time, in the resurrection.  All the hate and destruction will vanish away as the knowledge of Him permeates the earth and all who remain in it as it is made new.  This root of the promise of Jesse is our banner whom we follow in victory (1 Corinthians 15:57) over sin, death, and hell of deserved eternal punishment.  Resting in Him is ever so glorious!  He has recovered His remnant of Israel and now has added in the remnant of the few who are called out of every nation, people, and tongue for His promises to fulfill.  He will destroy those opposed in disbelief and who reject His promised Branch but has provided a highway to heaven for we who He calls to the narrow path through the gate of His Son to escape bondage to sin as Israel was led out of their enslavement in Egypt.  He is the remnant’s Branch of righteousness who rules with a rod of iron (Revelation 2:27, 19:15) as Lord of all, just as promised.  Yes, we find all the promises of God in Jesus Christ answered as yes and amen (2 Corinthians 1:20), certain and true.  Praise and thanks be to God who has done all these things! 

Pruning for the Remnant

Isaiah 10:16-34

16 Therefore the Lord, the Lord of hosts,
Will send leanness among his fat ones;
And under his glory
He will kindle a burning
Like the burning of a fire.

17 So the Light of Israel will be for a fire,
And his Holy One for a flame;
It will burn and devour
His thorns and his briers in one day.

18 And it will consume the glory of his forest and of his fruitful field,
Both soul and body;
And they will be as when a sick man wastes away.
19 Then the rest of the trees of his forest
Will be so few in number
That a child may write them.

20 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.

21 The remnant will return, the remnant of Jacob,
To the Mighty God.
22 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.

23 For the Lord GOD of hosts
Will make a determined end
In the midst of all the land.

24 Therefore thus says the Lord GOD of hosts: "O My people, who dwell in Zion, do not be afraid of the Assyrian. He shall strike you with a rod and lift up his staff against you, in the manner of Egypt. 25 For yet a very little while and the indignation will cease, as will My anger in their destruction." 26 And the LORD of hosts will stir up a scourge for him like the slaughter of Midian at the rock of Oreb; as His rod was on the sea, so will He lift it up in the manner of Egypt.

27 It shall come to pass in that day
That his burden will be taken away from your shoulder,
And his yoke from your neck,
And the yoke will be destroyed because of the anointing oil.

28 He has come to Aiath,
He has passed Migron;
At Michmash he has attended to his equipment.
29 They have gone along the ridge,
They have taken up lodging at Geba.
Ramah is afraid,
Gibeah of Saul has fled.

30 Lift up your voice,
O daughter of Gallim!
Cause it to be heard as far as Laish—
O poor Anathoth!

31 Madmenah has fled,
The inhabitants of Gebim seek refuge.
32 As yet he will remain at Nob that day;
He will shake his fist at the mount of the daughter of Zion,
The hill of Jerusalem.

33 Behold, the Lord,
The LORD of hosts,
Will lop off the bough with terror;
Those of high stature will be hewn down,
And the haughty will be humbled.
34 He will cut down the thickets of the forest with iron,
And Lebanon will fall by the Mighty One.

The pruning of God’s people was like clearing the forest and burning away the chaff of the harvest.  He used the Assyrians to do some of that work by invading Israel, but also promised to draw them back to Himself as He drew the attackers away.  He would prune with fire to consume the horns and useless briars that only cause pain and chocked out the good growth of His people.  In the process both soul and body of His people would be consumed in that refining fire, the ‘glory of his forest and of his fruitful field.’  Ah, but the remnant who passed through the trial by fire learned not to depend on the powerful conquerors like Assyria but on ‘the LORD, the Holy One of Israel, in truth.’  God desires that His people worship in spirit and truth and rely on Him alone for life and godliness (John 4:23-24, 2 Peter 1:3) and not lean on worldly powers for security, provision, or fruitfulness.  This was the lesson to the remnant of Israel and also to we who are the remnant of all called through the gospel to the narrow road which few find (Romans 11:5, Matthew 7:13-14, Luke 13:23-24).  The remnant of Israel is abut a small group determined by God out of the larger nation numbered as the sand of the sea as promised to Abraham as descendants.  This elect group includes the nations of that number outside of Israel but still within the nations through Abraham through the same faith in the Lord.  Together we are the remnant who are chosen and called out by and to Himself.  Like God’s people then, we are also not to fear the enemy because they will be destroyed in the final judgment where righteousness will overflow the destruction by grace.  We are called to trust in God alone through Christ alone by His grace alone in that certain hope of His calling (Ephesians 1:18).  Our spiritual yoke of sin has been broken and the yoke of our oppressors will follow as pictured in the Lord’s dealing with the Assyrian onslaught.  He will humble the haughty and bring them down but lift up the humble who have trusted in Him.  Such is the case with those now trusting in the Branch, the Messiah who we now know as Jesus.  Our victory is in Him alone (1 Corinthians 15:57), not the chariots and horses of a nation or government.  Here is the pruning of the remnant in hope.  Amen.