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This electronic module was formatted from the New European commentary on the OT prophets, with permission of the copyright owner: Duncan Heaster


# commentaries

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<h4>The vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem, in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah, kings of Judah- Some of these kings were generally ’good kings’ but the prophecy makes clear that the state of the nation was very weak spiritually and therefore good leadership did not lead to personal spirituality. Hence the appeal is to ’heavens and earth’ (1:2), to the ruling classes and also the individual Israelites- an appeal repeated in :10 to "the rulers" and "the people".</h4><p>There is a very clear structure in Isaiah, which hinges around the historical interlude in Isaiah 37-39. This demonstrates that the prophecies in Isaiah 1-36 of judgment at the hands of Assyria were ameliorated and deferred by the intense repentance and intercession of Isaiah’s school of prophets. But the interlude concludes with the bad news that the reformation was not thorough, and that Judah would go into captivity in Babylon; and therefore the earlier prophecies of judgment by Assyria would be reapplied to judgment by Babylon. But out of that there was to come a wonderful restoration of God’s Kingdom in Israel, explained in the so called ’second Isaiah’ (Isaiah 40-55). But sadly, the Jews who returned failed to allow that amazing potential to come true; and that is the burden of the so called’third Isaiah’ (Isaiah 56-66). It seems that God therefore gave up trying to restore the Kingdom in a political, national sense; and looked instead to a purpose with individuals who had His word in their humbled hearts.</p><p>There’s been much talk of how Isaiah 1-39 appears different in style and attitude to Israel from Isaiah 40-66. I’m personally of the conviction that the two ‘halves’ of Isaiah are by the same inspired author. The phrase “the holy one of Israel” occurs 12 times in Isaiah 1-39, 14 times in Isaiah 40-66 (the so called ‘second Isaiah’), and only 5 times elsewhere in the Old Testament. The New Testament quotes ‘Isaiah the prophet’ with the same rubric, regardless of whether ‘first Isaiah’ or ‘second Isaiah’ are being quoted (compare <a href='B:500 12:38-40'>Joh 12:38-40</a>; <a href='B:520 9:22-29'>Rom 9:22-29</a>; <a href='B:520 10:16'>Rom 10:16</a>; <a href='B:520 10:20'>Rom 10:20</a>). The Septuagint supports the unity of Isaiah, and the Dead Sea scrolls copy of Isaiah doesn’t make any break between chapters 39 and 40. These arguments for the unity of Isaiah must however be balanced against the fact that there is a marked difference in attitude to Israel when chapter 40 begins; and that parts of the prophecy are clearly relevant to Hezekiah’s time, whereas other parts are relevant to the events of Judah’s restoration and the fall of Babylon which enabled this. My suggestion is that, as with the Psalms and some of the other prophets, Isaiah was edited and in places re-written, under inspiration, during the captivity. Hence, parts of it clearly have relevance to Hezekiah’s time and the deliverance from Assyria, but these were used to inspire and teach the Jews in Babylon about a similar great deliverance and restoration which they could expect from Babylon. This is why some commentators have made a convincing case that the whole of Isaiah applies to Hezekiah’s time, whilst others have made an equally convincing case that most of the prophecy applies to the restoration. My suggestion is that the whole of it did apply to Hezekiah’s time, but it was re-written, under inspiration, as applicable to the Jews in exile in Babylon and their deliverance from Babylon, which was set up to happen after the pattern of their earlier deliverance from Assyria.</p><p>The first 12 verses of Isaiah 58 are similar in essence to <a href='B:290 1:1-31'>Isa 1:1-31</a>. This is just one of many connections between the later part of Isaiah (Isaiah 40-66) and the earlier part (Isaiah 1-35). The two sections are connected by the historical interlude of Isaiah 36-39, where Isaiah works with Hezekiah towards repentance, and then has to judge him for his pride and collapse of faith, concluding that his sons shall go into captivity in Babylon. The prophecies about the Assyrian invader in Isaiah 1-35 then become reapplied to Babylon; hence Isaiah 14 speaks of "Babylon" when it was initially Assyria which was in view. As I explain on Isaiah 36-39, Hezekiah sinned quite badly and let the baton drop. A Messianic Kingdom could have been established after the defeat of the Assyrian invader outside Jerusalem, but this possibility was ultimately deferred until our last days. But God didn’t give up working with Judah. At the time of the restoration, there could again have been a Messianic Kingdom, the temple of Ezekiel 40-48 could have been rebuilt; but due to short termism and lack of repentance, this didn’t happen. Therefore the same appeals are made to the returned exiles as were made to Judah in the days of Isaiah and Hezekiah.</p><p><strong>The Inspired Re-Writing Of The Old Testament In Babylon</strong></p><p>Briefly, here are corroborative reasons for thinking that perhaps the whole existing canon of Old Testament Scripture was [under inspiration] edited, re-written and codified during the exile in Babylon:</p><p>- According to Jewish tradition, Ezra edited and produced the Pentateuch in its present form in Babylon (Carl Kraeling, The Synagogue (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1956) pp. 232-235 reproduces plates from the synagogue wall at Dura-Europas showing Ezra doing this in Babylon). This would account for the record of Jacob in exile being so verbally similar to the allusions made to it in the restoration-from-Babylon prophecies in Isaiah. There was certainly great scribal activity in Babylon- 2Ma_2:13 speaks of Nehemiah founding a library of the Jewish scriptures there. This gives another perspective on the way Nehemiah’s prayer in Nehemiah 1 is so full of references to Deuteronomy- if the latter had just been re-written and presented to the Jews in Babylon. The commands to build the tabernacle are repeated in Exodus, and there is the record of Israel’s golden calf apostasy set in the middle of them. <a href='B:20 25:1'>Exo 25:1</a> to <a href='B:20 31:18'>Exo 31:18</a> give the tabernacle building commands, thenthere’s the golden calf incident, and then the commands are repeated in Exodus 35-40. Surely this was edited in this manner to give encouragement to the exiles- the commands to rebuild the temple had been given in detail in Ezekiel 40-48, but the exiles failed- and yet, the implication runs, God was still willing to work again with His people in the building of His sanctuary despite their failure. There is good internal reason to think that the Pentateuch likewise was re-written in places to bring out the relevance of Israel’s past to those in captivity. Consider the use of the word pus, ’scatter’. It was God’s intention that mankind should scatter abroad in the earth and subdue it (<a href='B:10 1:28'>Gen 1:28</a>); but it required the judgment of the tower of Babel to actually make them ’scatter’ (<a href='B:10 11:4'>Gen 11:4</a>). Thus even in judgment, God worked out His positive ultimate intentions with humanity. And this word pus is the same word used with reference to Judah’s ’scattering’ from the land into Babylonian captivity (<a href='B:330 11:17'>Eze 11:17</a>; <a href='B:330 20:34'>Eze 20:34</a>; <a href='B:330 20:41'>Eze 20:41</a>; <a href='B:330 28:25'>Eze 28:25</a>). The intention, surely, was to show the captives that they had been scattered as the people had at the judgment of Babel / Babylon, but even in this, God was working out His purpose with His people and giving them the opportunity to fulfill His original intentions for them.</p><h4>- The Talmud claims that the majority of the prophetic books were re-written and edited into their present form during the captivity, under the guidance of a group of priests called "The Great Assembly" (M. Simon and I:W. Slotski, eds, The Soncino Talmud: Babba Bathra 14b - 15a (London: The Soncino Press, 1935) Vol. 1 pp. 70,71). There are many verbal points of contact between Chronicles and the returned exiles.</h4><p>- Time and again we encounter the phrase "to this day" in the historical books of the Old Testament (e:g. "the Syrians came to Elath, and dwelt there to this day", <a href='B:120 16:6'>2Ki 16:6</a>)- and each time it appears the reference is to the time of the restoration, when presumably those books were edited and rewritten as relevant for the Jews, either those still in Babylon or those who had returned to the land. A good case can be made, for example, that the book of Judges was rewritten at that time in order to show that God’s people don’t need a King in order to be His people, but rather they can be ruled by Spirit-filled leaders (See W:J. Dumbrell, ’No King In Israel’, Journal For The Study Of The Old Testament Vol. 25 (1983) pp. 23-33).</p><p>- The way Deuteronomy refers to cities East of Jordan as being "on this side Jordan" (e:g. <a href='B:50 4:41'>Deu 4:41</a>; <a href='B:50 4:49'>Deu 4:49</a>) would suggest that the editor of the book was writing from a location East of Jordan- likely Babylon. The comment in <a href='B:60 15:63'>Jos 15:63</a> that "the Jebusites dwell with the children of Judah at Jerusalem unto this day" sounds very much as if it were written in the captivity, lamenting the way that the local tribes still lived in Zion. "The children of Judah" is very much a phrase used about the exiles. Thus books like Joshua were written up in the captivity in order to show Judah how they were repeating the sins of their forefathers, and appealing to them thereby to learn the lessons. It’s even possible that the lament that "Geshur and Maacath dwell in the midst of Israel unto this day" (<a href='B:60 13:13'>Jos 13:13</a> RV) is a reference to "Geshem the Arabian" and Sanballat dwelling amongst Israel at the time of their return (<a href='B:160 2:19'>Neh 2:19</a> etc:).</p><p>- It has been observed that the books of Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, Samuel and Kings have certain similarities. For example, they all quote the Deuteronomy version of Israel’s earlier history, leading to the suggestion that Deuteronomy was the first of the collection, a kind of introductory background history. The curses listed in Deuteronomy 28 are all especially relevant to the situation in Judah before the Babylonian invasion, and a number of the curses are alluded to in Lamentations as being descriptive of the situation after the final destruction of Jerusalem. Some of the curses can have little other application, e:g. <a href='B:50 28:41'>Deu 28:41</a> speaks of begetting children, "but they shall not be yours; for they shall go into captivity". Other relevant passages are <a href='B:50 28:36'>Deu 28:36</a> (a king taken captive), 49,50,52. These "former prophets" (Deuteronomy - 2 Kings) appear to have been edited during the exile as history which spoke to the concerns and needs of the exiled people of God (The similarities of style, language and indications of common editing are explained in detail in Martin Noth, The Deuteronomistic History (Sheffield: JSOT Press, 1981); there is a good summary in Terrence Fretheim, Deuteronomic History (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1989). See too M. Weinfeld, Deuteronomy And The Deuteronomic School (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1972)). This combined history speaks mainly of the southern Kingdom, which was the group who went to captivity in Babylon; and it explains why this captivity was justified, as well as giving many examples of where repentance could bring about a restoration (<a href='B:110 8:46-53'>1Ki 8:46-53</a> is specific). This history addresses the questions which concerned the captives- does God abandon His people for ever? Are Israel entirely to blame for what happened? Is there hope of restoration after receiving Divine judgment and breaching His covenant? Can God have a relationship with His people without a temple? To what extent will God always honour the promises to Abraham and David? Should other gods also be worshipped? Reading these books from this perspective reveals how incident after incident was especially selected by the inspired editors in Babylon in order to guide God’s people there. Take the story of Naaman’s Hebrew "maid". Naaman had been the enemy of Israel, and that little child [Heb:] was one of the children of those taken captive. But she witnessed to her captor; he turned to Yahweh; and his skin became like that of "a little child" (<a href='B:120 5:14'>2Ki 5:14</a>)- like her. The message was obvious. The children of the captivity were likewise to witness to their captors and bring them into covenant with Yahweh.</p><p>- A comparison of Psalms 14, 53 illustrate this process of re-writing at Hezekiah’s time. These Psalms are both "A Psalm of David", and are virtually identical apart from <a href='B:230 53:5'>Psa 53:5</a> adding: "There were they in great fear, where no fear was; For God hath scattered the bones of him that encampeth against thee: Thou hast put them to shame, because God hath rejected them". This surely alludes to the Assyrian army encamped against Jerusalem (<a href='B:140 32:1'>2Ch 32:1</a>), put into fear by the Angels, and returning "with shame of face to his own land" (<a href='B:140 32:21'>2Ch 32:21</a>). Yet both Psalms conclude with a verse which connects with the exiles in Babylonian captivity: "Oh that the salvation of Israel were come out of Zion! When God bringeth back the captivity of his people, Then shall Jacob rejoice, and Israel shall be glad". So it would appear that the initial Psalm was indeed written by David; the version of Psalms 14 which is now Psalms 53 was added to and adapted in Hezekiah’s time (<a href='B:240 25:1'>Pro 25:1</a>), and both versions had a final verse added to them during the exile. A number of Psalms appear to have some verses relevant to the exile, and others relevant to earlier historical situations. It would seem that an inspired writer inserted the verses which spoke specifically to the exilic situation. Psalms 102 is an example. <a href='B:230 102:2-12'>Psa 102:2-12</a>; <a href='B:230 102:24-25'>Psa 102:24-25</a> a appear to be the original lament; and the other verses are relevant to the exile. Psalms 22 likewise appears to have had vv. 28-32 added with reference to the exiles; other examples in Psalms 9, 10; Psalms 59; Psalms 66; Psalms 68; <a href='B:230 69:34'>Psa 69:34</a>; Psalms 85; Psalms 107; Psalms 108, 118.</p><h4>- There are evident similarities between the vocabulary and style of Zechariah, Job and the prophets of the restoration. Thus both Job and Zechariah refer to the ideas of the court of Heaven, "the satan" etc. My suggestion is that Job was rewritten during the exile, hence the many points of contact between Job and Isaiah’s prophecies about the restoration. When we read that Job has suffered less than his iniquities deserve (<a href='B:220 11:6'>Job 11:6</a>), this is the very term used to describe Israel’s sufferings in Babylon (<a href='B:150 9:13'>Ezr 9:13</a>). Job, "the servant of the Lord", is being set up as Israel, just as that same term is used about Israel in Babylon throughout the latter part of Isaiah. Job’s mockery by the Arabian friends perhaps parallels the Samaritan and Babylonian mockery of Judah; his loss of children is very much the tragedy of Judah at the hands of the Babylonians which Lamentations focuses upon. And Job’s final revival and restoration after repentance would therefore speak of the blessed situation which Judah could have had at their return to the land. Job’s response to the words of God and Elihu would then speak of Judah’s intended repentance as a result of God’s word spoken to them by prophets like Haggai and Zechariah. There are many connections between Job and the latter parts of Isaiah which speak about the restoration.</h4>


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<h4>Hear, heavens and listen, earth; for Yahweh has spoken- The prophets often balance guilt between the leadership ["heavens"] and the ordinary masses ["earth"]. All society was guilty; it wasn’t that they all suffered just because of a corrupt leadership. Leadership tends to act how the masses want them to, and so whether or not democracy is practiced, there is over time a subconscious socio-political mechanism in place in human society whereby the masses get the leadership they really want.</h4><p>I have nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against Me- &nbsp; That may be a fair translation in the context, but the Hebrew words essentially carry the idea of exaltation- the phrase is translated ’exalt and magnify’ in <a href='B:330 31:4'>Eze 31:4</a>; <a href='B:340 11:36'>Dan 11:36</a> and <a href='B:230 34:3'>Psa 34:3</a>. As Balaam’s prophecy made clear, by grace God had given Israel an exalted position- not so much in the eyes of the Gentile world, but inHis eyes. And Israel abused that by rebelling against the Father who had so loved them. <a href='B:290 43:27'>Isa 43:27</a> uses the same word to say that "your teachers" had ’rebelled’ against God. But all society, heavens and earth, were thereby rebels, because the false teaching was so eagerly accepted. But the continual conviction of Judah as rebels / transgressors [s:w:] sets the scene for the climactic statement in <a href='B:290 53:12'>Isa 53:12</a>, where the word is twice used of how all those rebellions were laid upon the suffering servant, who would die to get them forgiven.</p><h4>So often in the prophets, the pronouns change. One moment we have God speaking, the next, the prophet is responding in agreement, appealing to his people, or echoing the message in his own words. So in <a href='B:290 1:2-3'>Isa 1:2-3</a> we have the direct words of God, ending with “They have rebelled against me… my people don’t consider”. And then in <a href='B:290 1:4'>Isa 1:4</a> we have Isaiah echoing back those thoughts of God: “They have forsaken the Lord”. Prophecies begin with God speaking in the third person, and end with Him speaking in the first person; and vice versa. In all these examples, we see God merging with His prophet, and vice versa (<a href='B:370 3:1'>Amo 3:1</a>; <a href='B:290 3:1'>Isa 3:1</a>; <a href='B:290 3:4'>Isa 3:4</a>; <a href='B:290 5:1-2'>Isa 5:1-2</a> cp. <a href='B:290 5:3-6'>Isa 5:3-6</a>; Isaiah 7; <a href='B:290 10:12'>Isa 10:12</a>; <a href='B:290 11:3'>Isa 11:3</a>; <a href='B:290 11:9'>Isa 11:9</a>; <a href='B:290 22:17'>Isa 22:17</a>; <a href='B:290 22:19-20'>Isa 22:19-20</a>; <a href='B:300 11:17'>Jer 11:17</a>; <a href='B:300 23:9'>Jer 23:9</a>; <a href='B:300 23:11'>Jer 23:11</a>; <a href='B:300 9:1-2'>Jer 9:1-2</a>; <a href='B:290 53:10'>Isa 53:10</a>; <a href='B:290 53:12'>Isa 53:12</a>; <a href='B:290 61:6'>Isa 61:6</a>; <a href='B:290 61:8'>Isa 61:8</a>; <a href='B:290 1:2-4'>Isa 1:2-4</a>; <a href='B:300 4:1-2'>Jer 4:1-2</a>; <a href='B:300 4:21-22'>Jer 4:21-22</a>; <a href='B:300 8:13-14'>Jer 8:13-14</a>; <a href='B:410 1:12-13'>Nah 1:12-13</a>). However, there was more than an echo going on between God and the prophet. There was a kind of dialectic in the Divine-human encounter. God is influenced by man, as well as man by God.</h4>


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<h4>The ox knows his owner- Heb. ’his buyer’, s:w. ’redeemer’. There should be some intuitive bond between God’s redeemed people and God; if there is not, then it is because His people have consciously cast it off. They had been redeemed from Egypt, as we have been- to serve, as an o.<X/h1><p>And the donkey his master’s crib- God had noticed from Heaven how animals and their owners / carers form a special bond. But he found even that to be lacking between Him and His people for whom He had done so much for.</p><h4>But Israel doesn’t know Me, My people don’t consider- To live the unexamined life, doing whatever feels good and seems immediately right for us, drifting forward on autopilot as in a dream with no real sense of God::. is rebellion against Him (:2) and calls for judgment of the hardest sort. It was because they of themselves would not "consider" / ’understand’ that theywere psychologically confirmed in their attitudes and blinded so that they would not understand / consider (<a href='B:290 6:9-10'>Isa 6:9-10</a>). And so God operates to this day. It was the suffering of the servant, the Lord Jesus upon the cross, which was designed to as it were jolt them into considering / understanding (s:w. <a href='B:290 52:15'>Isa 52:15</a>).</h4>


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<h4>Ah sinful nation- Heb. goy, usually used about the Gentiles. When God’s people are rejected they are treated as the world.</h4><p>A people loaded with iniquity- This sets the scene for the image of the suffering servant, the Lord Jesus, bearing or loaded down with Israel’s sins. He was their representative even in their sinfulness. He suffered as them, and therefore by identification with Him, salvation is possible. Sin is the crippling burden. The Lord’s appeal to those ’heavy laden’ was therefore to sinners to come to Him, and exchange their load for His load (<a href='B:470 11:28'>Mat 11:28</a>). As with the analogy of changing masters, there is no total release from any load whatsoever.</p><p>A seed of evildoers- They had been raised as God’s children (:2), but this implies they were children by adoption. Despite all His love and nourishment, they reverted to the ways of their biological parents, and forsook and despised Yahweh.</p><p>Children who deal corruptly!- Often Biblical Hebrew uses terms for destruction / condemnation which also refer to the actual sin being committed which warrants such judgment. This is because sin is its own judgment. The Hebrew word used here is an example. Three times in the record of the flood we read that the earth was "corrupt" (<a href='B:10 6:11-12'>Gen 6:11-12</a>), and four times the same word is used regarding how God would therefore "destroy" the earth (<a href='B:10 6:13'>Gen 6:13</a>; <a href='B:10 6:17'>Gen 6:17</a>; <a href='B:10 9:11'>Gen 9:11</a>; <a href='B:10 9:15'>Gen 9:15</a>). And so any indulgence in sin is in fact an indulgence in condemnation; so that ultimately, all who are finally rejected at the last day are those who have rejected themselves from God.</p><h4>They have forsaken Yahweh, they have despised the Holy One of Israel, they are estranged and backward- The same word is used about how idolaters would ’turn their backs’ upon their idols in the time of their condemnation (<a href='B:290 42:17'>Isa 42:17</a>). The condemned are left in an unbearable limbo- they turned their backs on God, and now turn their backs on the idols of their lives.</h4>


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<h4>Why should you be beaten more, that you revolt more and more?- They had been "beaten" by the experiences of the recent invasions ; by the Syrians (<a href='B:140 24:24'>2Ch 24:24</a>) and the ten tribes (<a href='B:140 25:13'>2Ch 25:13</a>; <a href='B:140 25:23'>2Ch 25:23</a>). It seems the results of those invasions were still felt. They had been intended to learn from them, and yet instead they increasingly revolted- implying that a far greater invasion was to come. We too see God operating like this in our lives.</h4><h4>The whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint- The essential problem with Judah was their heart, standing for the mind or head. The spirit, the thinking, conscious and unconscious::. is what God is supremely interested in.</h4>


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<h4>From the sole of the foot even to the head there is no soundness in it: wounds, welts, and open sores- see on <a href='B:220 2:7'>Job 2:7</a>. Job represented sinful Judah. These types of wounds made them ritually unclean. In Isaiah’s first context, the suffering servant was King Hezekiah. Yet all Israel were to see themselves as ‘in’ him, as spiritual Israel are to see themselves as in Christ. “He was oppressed”, as Israel at that time were being “oppressed” by Assyria. As they were covered in wounds and spiritual sickness (<a href='B:290 1:5-6'>Isa 1:5-6</a>), so the suffering servant bore their diseases and rose again in salvation victory. Significantly, Isaiah 40-53 speak of the one servant, whereas Isaiah 54-66 speak of the “servants” who fulfill in principle the work of the singular servant.</h4><h4>They haven’t been closed, neither bandaged, neither soothed with oil- The implication is that they had refused this. The Lord quarried the language of the wounded man on the Jericho road from this verse. The priests and Levites were unable to offer this; but the despised Samaritan Saviour did. And yet, Judah refused even that.</h4>


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<p>Your country is desolate, your cities are burned with fire; foreigners devour your land in your presence and it is desolate, as overthrown by strangers- This describes the Assyrian invasion of Judah at Hezekiah’s time, burning the cities until Jerusalem alone was left holding out against them. Note the present tenses- the prophetic word was so sure of fulfillment in the future that it was as if it was already fulfilled. And yet as noted on :5, there had been other invasions prior to that from which they were intended to learn.</p>


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<p>The daughter of Zion is left like a shelter in a vineyard, like a hut in a field of melons, like a besieged city- This could refer to how the Assyrians would take the whole land apart from Jerusalem. The entire "vineyard" of God’s work was to be destroyed, apart from a "shelter"- which was Zion. But it is the "daughter of Zion", the faithful remnant, and not the literal Zion which is in view here. They were to be a "shelter", a place of refuge, for others (<a href='B:290 4:6'>Isa 4:6</a> s:w:):&nbsp; As explained on <a href='B:290 4:6'>Isa 4:6</a>, Zion was intended to become not only a place of spiritual refuge, but the capital of a revived Kingdom of God in Judah. That didn’t happen, Zion was saved by grace alone from the Assyrians; and so the "hut" was destroyed (only s:w. <a href='B:290 24:20'>Isa 24:20</a>).</p>


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<h4>Unless Yahweh of Armies had left to us a very small remnant- The same Hebrew word as in :8, where God "left" Jerusalem as the only city which didn’t fall to the Assyrians. But this was by grace. The very existence of the faithful remnant within Jerusalem (centered around Isaiah himself) was by grace, they were "left" by God. In a sense, even spiritual strength is a gift from God. It was due to that remnant that God did not judge Judah as Sodom- even though their rulers were in fact rulers of Sodom (:10). They were Sodom, disobedient Israel were to be judged as Sodom (<a href='B:50 29:23'>Deu 29:23</a>), but were not judged as Sodom because of a remnant- who themselves were preserved by God’s grace. We see grace all through this. The one city that was preserved, Jerusalem, was indeed preserved by grace because 1:21 states that she had become a prostitute against God.</h4><h4>We would have been as Sodom; we would have been like Gomorrah- Even when rebuking them, God sees Israel as in some ways "perfect" (<a href='B:290 42:18-20'>Isa 42:18-20</a>). Israel were like Sodom, and yet they weren’t treated like Sodom (<a href='B:290 1:10'>Isa 1:10</a>). They were Jeshurun, the upright one, but they kicked at God (<a href='B:50 32:15'>Deu 32:15</a>). We ought to be witnessing “to the Jew first” world-wide in these last days, as well as supporting the work of preaching in Israel itself. Paul makes the point that for the sake of the tiny group of Jews who did still hold and practice the truth, Israel would not suffer the judgments of Sodom in totality (<a href='B:520 9:29'>Rom 9:29</a> cp. <a href='B:290 1:9'>Isa 1:9</a>). This would indicate that there will also be a latter day Jewish remnant which will stop the faithless Israel of today receiving the judgment of permanent destruction.</h4>


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<p>Hear the word of Yahweh, you rulers of Sodom! Listen to the law of our God, you people of Gomorrah!- The rebuke of the rulers of Judah at the time of the Assyrian invasion shows that Hezekiah’s spiritual decision making was the more commendable, seeing the rest of his committee, his Government, were worthy of such condemnation. Each of her rulers is condemned in :23.</p>


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<p>What are the multitude of your sacrifices to Me?, says Yahweh. I have had enough of the burnt offerings of rams, and the fat of fed animals. I don’t delight in the blood of bulls, or of lambs, or of male goats- Despite all their revolt against Yahweh of the previous verses, they still religiously offered sacrifice. It just shows that there is a strong religious inclination within people; but that isn’t the same as spirituality. Animals were costly; but they were still offered. <a href='B:290 65:12'>Isa 65:12</a>; <a href='B:290 66:4'>Isa 66:4</a> use the same phrase "I don’t delight in::.". Judah are destined "to the sword, and you shall all bow down tothe slaughter; because when I called, you didn’t answer; when I spoke, you didn’t listen; but you did that which was evil in My eyes, and chose that in which I didn’t delight". The context is their choice of sacrificing to idols; but in <a href='B:290 1:11'>Isa 1:11</a> the same term is used of God’s lack of delight in the sacrifices offered to Him. It seems that they worshipped the idols in the name of Yahweh worship. And this is an abiding temptation for all God’s children- to worship our idols in the name of worshipping God.</p>


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<h4>When you come to appear before Me, who has required this at your hand- This is a rhetorical question. God has made it clear that He had not required all this offering from them, because He couldn’t bear it. Who had required it? They themselves, their own religiosity, their need to sacrifice to someone or something. That is the answer to the question. God did not "require" sacrifices, rather He wished that men would "require" or "seek" relationship with Him (<a href='B:290 45:19'>Isa 45:19</a> s:w:).</h4><h4>To trample My courts?- The Hebrew is literally ’to trample underfoot’ and is used of the trampling underfoot of Jerusalem by her invaders. But the point is that in essence, this had been done by the Jews already. Their judgment was but an extension of their own behaviour. And this really is the essence of condemnation.</h4>


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<p>Bring no more vain offerings. Incense is an abomination to Me; new moons, Sabbaths, and holy gatherings: I can’t bear with evil assemblies- Or "The solemn meeting"; perhaps Passover was in view? The feast became sin, just as Paul warned the breaking of bread meeting could turn into a drinking of wine to condemnation rather than blessing (<a href='B:530 11:23-31'>1Co 11:23-31</a>). "Abomination" is a word associated with idolatry (e:g. <a href='B:290 44:19'>Isa 44:19</a> s:w:). Their incense was offered to Yahweh but was effectively part of their idolatry; they worshipped idols in the name of Yahweh worship (:11). This was ’unbearable’ to God, as if He just could not endure it further. Hence the threatened destruction of the entire system. This kind of thing drives God as it were to the limits of what He "is able to bear" (s:w:).</p>


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<h4>My soul hates your New Moons and your appointed feasts. They are a burden to Me. I am weary of bearing them- A love as strong as God’s is going to also elicit the emotion of hatred and anger when that love is rejected and abused. He "hated" (s:w:) Judah’s insincere worship and relationship with Him (<a href='B:290 1:14'>Isa 1:14</a>; <a href='B:290 61:8'>Isa 61:8</a>; <a href='B:300 44:4'>Jer 44:4</a>). But it is hard to separate the sin from the sinner. That distinction may be helpful for us in order to avoid judging others too personally, but God it seems doesn’t make that decision. He gave Israel into the hands of those who hated her (s:w. <a href='B:330 16:27'>Eze 16:27</a>; <a href='B:330 16:37'>Eze 16:37</a>) and in that sense He hated her. The feelings of hatred which Hosea had for Gomer due to her abuse of His love were those of God for Israel: "There I hated them" (<a href='B:350 9:15'>Hos 9:15</a>). God is not simply "love" in the abstract. He is love for real, with all the emotion and psychological complex which goes along with love; and this will include hatred if that love is abused.</h4><h4>The wrath of God, His grief at sin and being rejected, is intertwined with His amazing grace and love. The gravity and emotional enormity of each ‘side’ of the total equation, the huge tension of the equilibrium that keeps them in perfect balance in God’s character and words, was reflected in the prophets personally; and it will be in us too. The result of this is that the anger of both God and His prophets becomes understandable as more an expression of His and their sorrow, the hurtness of their love, even their weariness. God says that He has “had enough” of Israel, even saying “I am weary to bear” them (<a href='B:290 1:11-15'>Isa 1:11-15</a>). Isa 4324 specifically speaks of God’s weariness with His people- and this too was part of the prophets’ spirit. And yet shining through all that is God’s hopefulness for His people, and His grace: “The Lord waits to be gracious to you; therefore will He exalt Himself [in judgment] to show mercy to you” (<a href='B:290 30:18'>Isa 30:18</a>). This wasn’t an angry God hitting back at a rebellious people; this is the God of Israel looking at judgment only as a way to reveal His grace and mercy in the longer term.</h4>


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<p>When you spread forth your hands, I will hide My eyes from you. Yes, when you make many prayers, I will not hear. Your hands are full of blood- &nbsp; See on <a href='B:290 6:7'>Isa 6:7</a>. Their incense was as&nbsp; an idolatrous abomination to God (:13), and their prayers likewise, seeing incense represents prayer. Full hands was an idiom for sacrifice; but God saw them as deeply unclean, and with the guilt of blood on their hands. <a href='B:300 22:3'>Jer 22:3</a> uses the term with reference to how human victims (perhaps not only children) were offered to the idols in the name of Yahweh, and this was done in the temple.</p>


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<p>Wash yourselves, make yourself clean. Put away the evil of your doings from before My eyes. Cease to do evil- The language is priestly, as if all Israel were priests, and were intended to wash themselves and then come and offer true sacrifice. It isn’t possible to make ourselves clean (s:w. <a href='B:240 20:9'>Pro 20:9</a>); it was Yahweh who could wash them (s:w. <a href='B:290 4:4'>Isa 4:4</a>); but He would do that if they had the desire to wash themselves.</p>


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<h4>Learn to do well- Heb. ’be taught’. They were to accept God’s teaching (s:w. <a href='B:290 48:17'>Isa 48:17</a>); this is an exhortation to be open to His leading and teaching, rather than to academic Bible study of itself.</h4><h4>Seek justice, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow- They had to show justice to others; and if they wished to do that, then God would purge them with His "spirit of justice" (<a href='B:290 4:4'>Isa 4:4</a>). God will confirm us in the way in which we wish to go. All these sins of omission left them with actual blood on their hands (:15)- through their inaction. We would likely have chosen idolatry and child sacrifice as parade examples of their need for repentance; but God instead focuses upon their inaction in being just towards the vulnerable. For this is of equal significance to Him.</h4>


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<h4>Come now, and let us reason together, says Yahweh- A legal term. God and man enter into judgment- and the judge pleads with the guilty to accept forgiveness from Him. God is beseeching men to see the obvious logic of responding to His word (<a href='B:540 5:20'>2Co 5:20</a>), pleading with us to see the greatness, the magnificence of His love towards us in Christ, begging us to realize that if He gave up His Son for us while we were yet sinners, how much more will He give us all things now that we are reconciled to Him through baptism (<a href='B:520 5:6-10'>Rom 5:6-10</a>)! This is more than logic, way beyond the limits of linguistic reasoning.</h4><p>This is extraordinary indeed. God is seeking to persuade men to accept the forgiveness available in the blood of His Son. And He asks us to do this work for Him, to reflect this aspect of His character to the world, with that same spirit of earnest humility: "As though God did beseech you by us; we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God" (<a href='B:540 5:20'>2Co 5:20</a>). No wonder in the context Paul says that we should therefore watch our behaviour and attitudes. The fact men turn away from God’s beseeching, His praying that they will accept His grace, is surely the greatest tragedy in the whole cosmos, in the whole of existence.</p><p>Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow. Though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool- David’s sin, desperation and restoration are typical of the experience of allGod’s true people (e:g. <a href='B:230 51:7'>Psa 51:7</a> = <a href='B:290 1:18'>Isa 1:18</a>). But this becoming white as snow was due to God’s purging, the work of His Spirit; it would not be achieved by repentance alone, simply stopping sinning. A Divine program is in view here, of psychological cleansing; what Jeremiah and Ezekiel call a new heart, a new covenant, the work of the Holy Spirit.</p><h4>Isaiah foresaw the invasion by the Assyrians; what was potentially planned was the complete destruction of Judah. So he appeals for repentance; and the fact that Jerusalem was saved and the Assyrians destroyed could mean that some responded to this appeal. Or perhaps the intercession of Isaiah and the faithful remnant in Jerusalem meant that God relented; but that too was of grace, see on :9.</h4>


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<p>If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land- As noted on :18, Isaiah was appealing for repentance to avert the invasion by Assyria. But more than that, there was the possibility of a Messianic kingdom of God being established in Judah, when they would eat the good of the land. The allusion is to a repentant Israel eating the good of the land of Egypt (<a href='B:10 45:18'>Gen 45:18</a>; <a href='B:10 45:20'>Gen 45:20</a>). The entire eretz and not just the territory of Judah would be theirs. <a href='B:150 9:12'>Ezr 9:12</a> quotes this as being possible if the exiles repented; but it was again precluded by their lack of penitence (<a href='B:160 9:35-36'>Neh 9:35-36</a>).</p>


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<p>But if you refuse and rebel, you shall be devoured with the sword; for the mouth of Yahweh has spoken it- The same words are used in <a href='B:350 11:5'>Hos 11:5</a>: "the Assyrian will be their king, because they refused to repent". For the most part, Judah did refuse; and so the fact they were not all devoured was by grace. Those who were thus devoured had done so to themselves; "your own sword has devoured you" (<a href='B:300 2:30'>Jer 2:30</a>).</p>


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<p>How the faithful city has become a prostitute! She was full of justice; righteousness lodged in her, but now murderers- There were a host of issues the prophets could’ve raised with Israel; but injustice is the recurring theme. Because of the injustice going on in Jerusalem, Isaiah calls her a whore (<a href='B:290 1:21'>Isa 1:21</a>). The prostitution was through forging relationships with other nations such as Egypt, in order to save them from the Assyrians; see on <a href='B:290 2:6'>Isa 2:6</a>. And part of the deal was that they worshipped their gods. They were murderers not just because of their human sacrifices, but because their injustice would lead to their being devoured by the sword; see on :20.</p>


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<p>Your silver has become dross, your wine mixed with water- They had been intended to respond to the purging fire of previous invasions (see on :5), but instead that which was by nature supposed not to corrupt, had become dross. This was how insistent was their desire to sin. LXX "Your silver is worthless, thy wine merchants mix the wine with water". The adulteration of the silver and wine connects with the charge of adultery in :21.</p>


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<p>Your princes are rebellious, and companions of thieves. Each one loves bribes and follows after rewards. They don’t judge the fatherless, neither does the cause of the widow come to them- Hezekiah’s personal reforms were not followed even by other members of the royal family; see on :1. They were no better than petty criminal, lowlife merchants who mixed wine with water (:22). They were unjust to the poor just for the sake of small amounts of money. The connection with <a href='B:350 9:15'>Hos 9:15</a> suggests that all the princes were like this.</p>


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<p>Therefore the Lord, Yahweh of Armies, the Mighty One of Israel, says: Ah, I will get relief from My adversaries, and avenge Myself of My enemies- We sense God in pain, needing "relief". His beloved people had turned to be His enemies. We sense His emotions pent up within Him and requiring release. Yahweh of Israel was and is no stone faced deity.</p>


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<p>and I will turn My hand on you, thoroughly purge away your dross, and will take away all your tin- see on <a href='B:450 12:4'>Zec 12:4</a>. Israel had come to perceive of Yahweh as a god like the gods of the other nations and tribes around them. The prophets consciously brought home the fact that He is unique, and not at all like any local pagan deity. The pagan gods were thought to punish their people for minor infringements of ritual, or simply because deities were cruel at times. Yahweh wasn’t like that; His judgments came only after passionate pleading, after being deferred time and again, and even then, they came in order to bring about correction, as a purging (<a href='B:290 1:25-26'>Isa 1:25-26</a> and ften), and not as an expression of irritation or mere anger of a capricious, unstable deity.</p>


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<p>I will restore your judges as at the first, and your counsellors as at the beginning. Afterwards you shall be called ‘The city of righteousness, a faithful city’- But this is right after calling them a whore in :21. Hosea’s failed marriage with the unfaithful Gomer spoke of God’s terribly painful and tragic relationship with Israel. But like God, Hosea lived in hope of restoration. He fantasized about the day when he would re-live his romance with Gomer, they would again wander together in love in the wilderness, they would re-marry with a new covenant, the joy of which would be so great that the birds and trees joined in with them, and he would re-name the children born during their first marriage. Time and again he wished that Gomer would go back to how things were with them at the beginning; and he tried to engineer things so that she would wish to return there too (<a href='B:350 2:9'>Hos 2:9</a>). All this reflected the fantasy of God for Israel’s return to Him, for a restoration of things (<a href='B:290 1:26'>Isa 1:26</a>; <a href='B:300 33:7'>Jer 33:7</a>; <a href='B:300 33:11'>Jer 33:11</a>). And yet both Gomer and Israel were unfaithful from the beginning; and yet as Hosea decided to view their early romance positively, so God decided to view Israel in the wilderness through the lens of His amazing grace.</p>


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<h4>Zion shall be redeemed with justice- Justice would require that Judah be permanently destroyed. But God’s redemption by grace works in such a way that justice is not infringed. LXX: "For her captives shall be saved with judgment, and with mercy". The judgment of condemnation was going to be used by God to purge them (:25) and thereby save them. If they responded.</h4><h4>And her converts with righteousness- I mentioned on <a href='B:290 1:1'>Isa 1:1</a> that the original application of Isaiah 1-35 was to the times of Hezekiah; but it was then rewritten and reapplied to Babylon. And so "converts" is literally "they that return of her" namely the remnant that were to return from the Babylonian captivity mentioned at the end of Isaiah 39.</h4>


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<p>But the destruction of transgressors and sinners shall be together, and those who forsake Yahweh shall be consumed- The impression is given of all sinners being destroyed at the same time. Due to some repentance and intercession, this threatened outcome didn’t happen in Isaiah’s time; but it will come true at the last day. "Destruction" is literally "breaking into shivers" and this will happen at the last day (<a href='B:730 2:27'>Rev 2:27</a>).</p>


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<p>For they shall be ashamed of the oaks which you have desired, and you shall be confounded for the gardens that you have chosen- For all their offerings of expensive sacrificial animals to Yahweh, they still worshipped idols in the oak shrines. The frequent command "You shall not covet" (<a href='B:20 20:17'>Exo 20:17</a> etc:) uses the same Hebrew word translated "desire" when we read of how Eve "desired" the fruit (<a href='B:10 3:6'>Gen 3:6</a>); yet Israel "desired" the wrong fruit (<a href='B:290 1:29'>Isa 1:29</a>). The "gardens" were planted enclosures for idolatry; the counterpart of the garden of Eden.</p>


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<p>For you shall be as an oak whose leaf fades, and as a garden that has no water- They thought that oaks were symbols of immortality; but they were to fade like their idols would. They were to be "as a garden" because they had worshipped gardens (:29). People become like the gods they worship (<a href='B:230 135:18'>Psa 135:18</a>). Thus sin becomes its own punishment and judgment (<a href='B:300 2:9'>Jer 2:9</a>):&nbsp; These principles apply today, and are put into so many words in :31.</p>


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<p>The strong will be like tinder, and his work like a spark. They will both burn together, and no one will quench them- GNB "Just as straw is set on fire by a spark, so powerful people will be destroyed by their own evil deeds, and no one will be able to stop the destruction". This is summing up the theme of :29,30;&nbsp; that sin becomes its own punishment and judgment. These people were effectively burning themselves up.</p>


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<p>This is what Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem- These prophecies were about the Judah and Jerusalem which Isaiah had before him; this was the potential which could have come about at the time, had they repented. It didn’t, but God’s word will finally come true in essence, although not necessarily in every literal detail envisaged in the primary fulfilment</p>


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<h4>It shall happen in the latter days, that the mountain of Yahweh’s house shall be established on the top of the mountains, and shall be raised above the hills; and all nations shall flow to it- God’s intention was that all nations (a phrase which usually refers to all nations around Israel, those within the eretz promised to Abraham) would come to worship in the restored temple. It would be raised up above the mountains and hills in that the nations would ’raise up’ Zion in the sense of worshipping. The nations would "flow" as a broad stream; later Isaiah in <a href='B:290 66:12'>Isa 66:12</a> sees this as the possibility which could come about after the exile, if the exiles repented and restored Zion and the temple as Ezekiel 40-48 commanded.</h4><p>The Ezekiel prophecies of Ezekiel 40-48 had an intended and possible fulfilment at the time of the restoration under Ezra, but this was nullified by Israel’s lack of response; and therefore, at least in principle, the prophecies had their fulfilment delayed until the second coming. This enables the prophecies to fit in with others which speak of some kind of centralized worship system after Jesus returns (e:g. <a href='B:290 2:2-4'>Isa 2:2-4</a>; <a href='B:290 56:7'>Isa 56:7</a>). Or it could be that these prophecies of Isaiah are likewise talking about what was potentially possible for a restored, obedient Israel; particularly at the time of the restoration from Babylon. The lesson that comes out of all this is the extent to which God is willing to work with us, to tailor His purpose according to how far we are prepared to work with Him, and in that sense to allow Himself to be limited by us. There could be no greater inspiration to a maximal commitment to His purpose and His work.</p><p>The returned exiles didn’t build according to Ezekiel 40-48. And their behaviour meant that the small temple they did build was not exalted in the eyes of the nations around. And so these prophecies come true in essence in a spiritual sense. The New Testament quotes several passages evidently prophetic of the future Kingdom as having their fulfillment in the preaching of the Gospel today. <a href='B:290 2:2-4'>Isa 2:2-4</a> (the word of Yahweh will go out from Jerusalem) is alluded to by the Lord as the basis for the ecclesia’s witness to the world today, “beginning at Jerusalem” (<a href='B:490 24:47'>Luk 24:47</a>). This, the Lord said, was in fulfillment of the Old Testament prophets- and He could only be referring to those like Isaiah.</p><h4>The Jews mixed with the people of the land, they didn’t teach them the Name, and so the restoration prophecies like <a href='B:300 12:14-17'>Jer 12:14-17</a> didn’t come true- they weren’t built up in the midst of Israel as intended. Prophecies like <a href='B:290 19:18'>Isa 19:18</a>; <a href='B:290 19:24'>Isa 19:24</a> were thereby disabled from fulfilment at that time- “In that day there shall be five cities in the land of Egypt that… swear to the Lord…in that day shall Israel be the third with Egypt and with Assyria”. <a href='B:290 2:2-4'>Isa 2:2-4</a>, <a href='B:450 8:21-23'>Zec 8:21-23</a> etc. speak of how Gentile nations would desire to learn the ways of God and come up to a temple in Zion for this purpose. Could it not be that these passages are to be read in the context of <a href='B:300 12:14-17'>Jer 12:14-17</a> - that all this was only possible if at the time of the restoration the nations had learnt God’s ways from the Jews? In this case these passages are not to be taken as ‘proof’ that there has to be a future temple built in Zion:&nbsp;And the ’establishing’ of God’s ’house’ is the language of the promises to David in <a href='B:100 7:13'>2Sa 7:13</a>; <a href='B:100 7:16'>2Sa 7:16</a>; <a href='B:100 7:26'>2Sa 7:26</a>; and that finally speaks more of the establishment of the ’house’ in the sense of family, through the great seed, the Lord Jesus</h4>


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<p>Many peoples shall go and say, Come, let’s go up to the mountain of Yahweh, to the house of the God of Jacob; and He will teach us of His ways, and we will walk in His paths. For out of Zion the law shall go forth, and the word of Yahweh from Jerusalem- This has the ring of psychological reality to it. People learning the Gospel very &nbsp;often share their new found knowledge with others. Time and time again this happens. And here we see the same; people will spread the good news to each other as they begin to understand&nbsp; the Gospel (<a href='B:290 2:3'>Isa 2:3</a>; <a href='B:300 50:5'>Jer 50:5</a>; <a href='B:400 4:2'>Mic 4:2</a>; <a href='B:450 8:21'>Zec 8:21</a>). Their response to having heard the word is to go up to the temple to receive more teaching there. The Mosaic law will surely not function after the Lord returns; it ended at His death. So this initially describes the potential possible after Judah had repented. The temple system could have been exalted, and the surrounding peoples taught God’s law. But it didn’t happen. The Gentiles came to Hezekiah in Jerusalem, but he didn’t teach them God’s law, and the people continued in idolatry; and so the people were condemned to exile in Babylon, and then later Isaiah speaks of the reestablishment of the Kingdom. At that time, all peoples were envisaged as coming to the rebuilt temple. But these things didn’t happen, because Judah didn’t build the temple as outlined in Ezekiel 40-48, nor did they repent. And they were not welcoming to Gentiles. The essence of these words is fulfilled in people coming to the temple of God, which today is the people of God; and perhaps when the Lord returns there will be a place of centralized teaching in Jerusalem. The only other use of the phrase "the law shall go forth" is in <a href='B:290 51:4'>Isa 51:4</a>, which clearly speaks of this happening at the restoration from Babylon. But it didn’t. Perhaps the prophetic potential therefore never will come true; or it may be fulfilled in a reapplied and rescheduled manner.</p>


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<p>He will judge between the nations, and will decide concerning many peoples; and they shall beat their swords into plough shares, and their spears into pruning-hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more- The Mosaic system featured a system of justice whereby those with issues against others could have them resolved. The Gentile nations around Israel were to have access to this same system, if they accepted the God of Israel. "Decide" is literally ’to plead’ (s:w. <a href='B:400 6:2'>Mic 6:2</a>). His judgments are in order to plead with them for repentance. The result of that judgment will be positive, as the judgment upon Israel was intended to have a positive spiritual outcome. God’s judgments lead to the nations learning righteousness (<a href='B:290 26:9'>Isa 26:9</a>), or ’being taught righteousness’. The practical outcome of that judgment will be that therefore they will beat their swords into plough shares; and devote themselves to learning of God (:2,3) rather than of war. This is the revere of the latter day situation in <a href='B:360 3:10'>Joe 3:10</a>, where the enemies of Israel beat their plough shares into swords. The connection could be in that we are to understand <a href='B:290 2:4'>Isa 2:4</a> as saying that the enemies of Israel, her previous invaders referred to as "the nations" around her, will reverse their aggression against Israel and instead come to accept Israel’s God.</p>


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<p>O house of Jacob, come, let us walk in the light of the Lord!- The rest of the chapter, and indeed the whole prophecy, beseech Israel to act as they should as “the house of the Lord” in view of their future glory. Gentiles would come to worship in God’s house, i:e. in the community of His people, and therefore they ought to live the Kingdom life themselves. Thus following straight on from the prophecy of how Gentiles would come to “the house of the God of Jacob”, there is an appeal in 2:5 for the “house of Jacob” to walk in God’s ways themselves. This was Isaiah’s continued appeal to Judah to repent; to walk in the light so that this wonderful potential restoration could come about. In Hezekiah’s time, Judah generally wouldn’t walk in the light; but the restoration prophecies spoke of a restored Judah after the exile doing just this, along with the surrounding nations also walking in Zion’s light (<a href='B:290 42:16'>Isa 42:16</a>; <a href='B:290 58:8'>Isa 58:8</a>; <a href='B:290 60:3'>Isa 60:3</a>). But again, Judah didn’t do this, they walked in darkness (<a href='B:290 59:9'>Isa 59:9</a>), and :6-8 suggests they preferred idolatry to walking in the light; and so the prophetic potential wasn’t realized at the time.</p>


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<h4>For You have forsaken Your people, the house of Jacob, because they are filled from the east with those who practice divination like the Philistines, and they shake hands with the children of foreigners- This idolatry (:8) went on at the same time as great apparent zeal in Yahweh worship, offering expensive animal sacrifices (<a href='B:290 1:11-13'>Isa 1:11-13</a>). Isaiah and other prophets were stating clearly what would be Judah’s fate; and yet they turned to divination and the wisdom of the East to try to tell the future, acting no better than their historical enemies the Philistines- who were renowned for their claims to foretell the future by divination (<a href='B:90 6:2'>1Sa 6:2</a>; <a href='B:120 1:2'>2Ki 1:2</a>). See on <a href='B:290 3:2'>Isa 3:2</a>. "Filled" is the same word we find twice in :7; they were totally committed to these things. It was this rejection of Yahweh’s word which led Him to forsake His people; and He likewise is just as sensitive towards our attitude to His word today. Striking hands with foreigners refers to the making of alliances with other nations, which was the prostitution noted on <a href='B:290 1:21'>Isa 1:21</a>.</h4><h4>The LXX is more concrete as to what was going on. Judah had returned the land to how it was before Israel had first entered it, acting like the Canaanites, marrying them and having children by them: "For he has forsaken his people the house of Israel, because their land is filled as at the beginning with divinations, as the land of the Philistines, and many strange children were born to them".</h4>


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<h4>Their land is full of silver and gold, neither is there any end of their treasures- In the midst of Judah’s prosperity, with a land “filled with silver and gold” perhaps from the control of the Red Sea trading posts (<a href='B:120 14:22'>2Ki 14:22</a>), visions of doom haunted Isaiah’s soul; he couldn’t just go along with the swing of things, knowing that all that wealth was an illusion and being used as an antithesis to faith. Now that’s something we see all the time around us and in the brotherhood; but is our soul touched like his was? Do we know the spirit of the prophets? The land full of wealth parallels the land full of idols (:8). The idols were nearly all connected with fertility cults. The idea was that by serving them, prosperity would be experienced. And it appeared to work. But in fact this was all a reflection of deep unspirituality rather than faith. The same may be true of the apparent blessings of unspiritual people today.</h4><h4>Their land also is full of horses, neither is there any end of their chariots- Multiplying horses and chariots was explicitly forbidden to Israel (<a href='B:50 17:16-17'>Deu 17:16-17</a>; <a href='B:50 20:1'>Deu 20:1</a>), because they were to trust instead on the cherubim Angels fighting for them. <a href='B:290 31:1'>Isa 31:1</a> is explicit that these horses and chariots were Egyptian; they had turned to Egypt for help against Assyria rather than trust in God’s heavenly armies.</h4>


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<p>Their land also is full of idols, they worship the work of their own hands, that which their own fingers have made- See on :7. The essence of idolatry is a worship of human works rather than simple faith in God. And that is why the challenge of idolatry is real for all human history.</p>


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<p>Man is brought low, and mankind is humbled; therefore don’t forgive them- It makes a good exercise to go through Isaiah 2 and look at all the times when words like ‘bow down’ and ‘lift up’ are used. Judah are condemned for ‘bowing down’ before the idols, when in fact they were ‘lifted up’ in pride (<a href='B:290 2:9'>Isa 2:9</a>; <a href='B:290 2:11'>Isa 2:11</a>). We seem to have in :6-9 Isaiah’s prayer to God after his appeal for Israel to repent in :5 went unheeded; he asks God not to forgive the people, because they bowed down to their idols rather than to God, despite having the prospect of the Kingdom placed before them in :2-4.</p>


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<h4>Enter into the rock, and hide in the dust, from before the terror of Yahweh, and from the glory of His majesty- Having asked God not to forgive Judah because of their impenitence, Isaiah now appeals again (as in :5) for their repentance. He asks them to act as if the theophany of judgment day is upon them; then they would repent, and Isaiah asks them to do so right now. They did not respond, because the same appeal is made to the judged and exiled community in Isaiah 40. The whole purpose of the Gospel is to bring down the mountains of human pride and lift up the valleys of those who lack any self-respect (<a href='B:290 40:4'>Isa 40:4</a>), thereby making an equality of attitude amongst God’s people. The vision of the Kingdom in <a href='B:290 2:2-4'>Isa 2:2-4</a> was used as an appeal for humility amongst Israel (2:10-12). And it should so appeal to us today.</h4><h4>At the day of judgment, we will all go through the Moses experience; hiding in the rock in the presence of God’s glory (<a href='B:290 2:10'>Isa 2:10</a> cp. <a href='B:20 33:22'>Exo 33:22</a>). And our vision of that glory in the face of the Lord Jesus even now should have the same humbling effect. For the manifestation of glory to Moses is alluded to in John’s gospel as pointing forward to the glory of God now perceived in the face of Jesus Christ. Isaiah besought men (in the present tense): “Enter into the rock, and hide thee in the dust, for fear of the Lord, and for the glory of his majesty”, and then goes on to say that in the day of God’s final judgment, “[the rejected] shall go into the holes of the rock::. for fear of the Lord and for the glory of His majesty when he ariseth to shake terribly the earth” (<a href='B:290 2:10-11'>Isa 2:10-11</a>; <a href='B:290 2:19-21'>Isa 2:19-21</a>). We must find a true, self-condemning humility now, unless it will be forced upon us at the judgment.</h4>


text:
<p>The lofty looks of man will be brought low, the arrogance of men will be bowed down, and Yahweh alone will be exalted in that day- If this is to happen "in that day", then we are to humble ourselves now. See on :10. John the Baptist’s message was that the valleys are to be lifted up, and the mountains made low, thus creating a plain. I read this as meaning that those with too low a view of themselves are to be lifted up, and the heights of human pride brought down. The over confident and under confident alike are to leveled so that they can be a path for the Lord’s glory. “Made low” in <a href='B:290 40:4'>Isa 40:4</a> is surely in the spirit of <a href='B:290 2:11'>Isa 2:11</a>, which predicts that in the day of judgment, “the lofty looks of man shall be humbled [s:w. ‘made low’], and the haughtiness of man shall be bowed down”. The experience of condemnation in the coming day of the Lord will mean that “the proud and lofty” will be “brought low” (<a href='B:290 2:12'>Isa 2:12</a>; <a href='B:290 2:17'>Isa 2:17</a>; <a href='B:290 5:15'>Isa 5:15</a>). In fact, Isaiah is full of references to the proud being ‘made low’ by judgment- the same Hebrew word is common: <a href='B:290 10:33'>Isa 10:33</a>; <a href='B:290 13:11'>Isa 13:11</a>; <a href='B:290 25:11'>Isa 25:11</a>; <a href='B:290 26:5'>Isa 26:5</a>. Perhaps Paul had this in mind when he said that our preaching is a bringing down of every high thing that is exalted against God (<a href='B:540 10:5'>2Co 10:5</a>). Our message is basically that we must be humbled one way or the other- either by our repentance and acceptance of the Gospel today, or through the experience of condemnation at the day of judgment. We’re calling people to humility.</p>


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<p>For there will be a day of Yahweh of Armies for all that is proud and haughty, and for all that is lifted up; and it shall be brought low- If everything and everyone proud is going to be brought down "in that day", then we should live today as if that future day is upon us. For it is, in essence. We have to note the huge emphasis upon the need for humility. Israel had lost their hold on true doctrine, many scarcely knew the Law (<a href='B:290 57:4-5'>Isa 57:4-5</a>; <a href='B:290 59:3'>Isa 59:3</a>). They got drunk at the temple feasts (<a href='B:290 36:10-12'>Isa 36:10-12</a>; <a href='B:290 58:3-4'>Isa 58:3-4</a>), like Corinth they had an "eat, drink, for tomorrow we die" mentality (<a href='B:290 22:12-13'>Isa 22:12-13</a>); they committed all manner of sexual perversions, along with almost every other form of doctrinal and moral apostasy (<a href='B:290 5:11-13'>Isa 5:11-13</a>; <a href='B:290 5:24'>Isa 5:24</a>; <a href='B:290 8:19'>Isa 8:19</a>; <a href='B:290 9:15'>Isa 9:15</a>; <a href='B:290 22:12-13'>Isa 22:12-13</a>; <a href='B:290 24:5'>Isa 24:5</a>; <a href='B:290 27:11'>Isa 27:11</a>; <a href='B:290 28:7'>Isa 28:7</a>; <a href='B:290 30:10'>Isa 30:10</a>; <a href='B:290 31:6'>Isa 31:6</a>; <a href='B:290 44:8-20'>Isa 44:8-20</a>; consider the similarities with Corinth). This list is worth reading through. And consider the terrible implications of their perversion in <a href='B:290 66:17'>Isa 66:17</a>. But the early chapters of Isaiah sternly rebuke Israel for their pride- there is not a whisper of all these other things until later (<a href='B:290 2:11-22'>Isa 2:11-22</a>; <a href='B:290 3:16-20'>Isa 3:16-20</a>; <a href='B:290 5:15'>Isa 5:15</a>; <a href='B:290 9:9'>Isa 9:9</a>). And even throughout the later rebukes, there is the repeated criticism of their pride (<a href='B:290 13:11'>Isa 13:11</a>; <a href='B:290 16:6'>Isa 16:6</a>; <a href='B:290 23:9'>Isa 23:9</a>; <a href='B:290 24:4'>Isa 24:4</a>; <a href='B:290 25:11'>Isa 25:11</a>; <a href='B:290 26:5'>Isa 26:5</a>; <a href='B:290 28:1'>Isa 28:1</a>; <a href='B:290 28:3'>Isa 28:3</a>; <a href='B:290 28:14'>Isa 28:14</a>; <a href='B:290 29:4'>Isa 29:4</a>; <a href='B:290 30:25'>Isa 30:25</a>; <a href='B:290 57:15'>Isa 57:15</a>). This is why Isaiah’s prophecies of Christ stress His humility (<a href='B:510 8:33'>Act 8:33</a>), and the "lofty", "high", "exaltation" of God. These words, common in Isaiah, are those translated “pride"in Isaiah’s condemnations of Israel’s arrogance; as if to say that God was the only one who could be ’proud’.</p>


text:
<p>for all the cedars of Lebanon that are high and lifted up, for all the oaks of Bashan- The cedars of Lebanon in the temple became iconic, to the point that they are put by metaphor for the temple itself (<a href='B:450 11:1'>Zec 11:1</a>). Judah were so proud of the temple (see on <a href='B:300 7:4'>Jer 7:4</a>). The destruction of the temple was required to humble Judah."High and lifted up"is the same phrase used of the exaltation of Yahweh in glory in <a href='B:290 6:1'>Isa 6:1</a>. What is high and lifted up in human eyes is to be brought down before the glory of Yahweh. It is used in <a href='B:330 10:16'>Eze 10:16</a> about the cherubim, which appear to morph into the seraphim of the Isaiah 6 vision (see on <a href='B:290 6:2'>Isa 6:2</a>). And it is used in <a href='B:290 37:23'>Isa 37:23</a> of how the Assyrians were high and lifted up against Yahweh, and would be brought down- just as the pride of Judah was to be, before the high and lifted up glory of Yahweh. Both Jews and Gentiles would thereby be humbled and the intention was that together they would form part of a restored Kingdom of God in Judah.</p>


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<p>for all the high mountains, for all the hills that are lifted up- The"high places"of Israel are typically associated in the prophets with idol worship. But in <a href='B:290 2:14'>Isa 2:14</a> they are spoken of as places of pride which needed to be brought down. There is therefore a connection between idolatry and pride; believing in one God is associated with no idolatry and thereby humility.</p>


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<p>for every lofty tower, for every fortified wall- The defences of Jerusalem were legendary; and they too were to be brought down, continuing this theme of humility being imposed everywhere and in every way.</p>


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<p>for all the ships of Tarshish and for all pleasant imagery- I suggested on :7 that Judah became a land “filled with silver and gold” perhaps from the control of the Red Sea trading posts (<a href='B:120 14:22'>2Ki 14:22</a>). But the trading ships,"the ships of Tarshish"and their"watchtowers", standing proudly on the ships, were to be brought down. LXX&nbsp; and GNB have"fine ships"for"pleasant imagery". Note that ships of Tarshish mean simply long distance trading vessels."Tarshish"may have been Tartessus in Spain, and so a long distance vessel would have been called a Tarshish boat; just as in 18th century England, an"Indiaman"referred to a long distance trading boat, so named because the longest distance vessels sailed to India.</p>


text:
<h4>The pride of man shall be bowed down, and the arrogance of men shall be brought low- If we don’t humble ourselves now, then God will do this to us through the process of condemnation at the judgment. In this lies the insistent logic of humility. The theme of ‘bringing down’ pride is a major one in the first half of Isaiah (<a href='B:290 2:17'>Isa 2:17</a>; <a href='B:290 13:11'>Isa 13:11</a>; <a href='B:290 25:5'>Isa 25:5</a>; <a href='B:290 25:12'>Isa 25:12</a>; <a href='B:290 29:4'>Isa 29:4</a>; <a href='B:290 32:19'>Isa 32:19</a>). These passages pave the way for the announcement that in man’s response to the Gospel of Christ, “Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low: and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain” (<a href='B:290 40:4'>Isa 40:4</a>). By the hills of human pride being brought down, and the giving of confidence to those so low in the valleys of hopelessness and lack of self respect, there is a leveling of all those who respond to Christ. But more than this; in this lifting up of the hopeless and bringing down of the proud, there is a foretaste of what will happen in the future day of judgment. In essence, “we make the answer now” by whether or not we bring down our pride, or whether we summon the faith in God’s grace and imputed righteousness to believe that we, who are nothing, are lifted up in His sight. “Let the brother of low degree rejoice in that he is exalted: But the rich, in that he is made low” (<a href='B:660 1:9-10'>Jas 1:9-10</a>).</h4><h4>And Yahweh alone shall be exalted in that day- The idea may be, ’exalted as one’. There will come a day when all the world realizes that God is one (<a href='B:290 37:20'>Isa 37:20</a> Heb:)- in that they will realize that He alone is God and all else is pure vanity. Because God alone is holy, only He will be worshipped then (<a href='B:730 15:4'>Rev 15:4</a>)."The Lord alone shall be exalted in that day"(<a href='B:290 2:11'>Isa 2:11</a>; <a href='B:290 2:17'>Isa 2:17</a>). There is a connection therefore between the unity of God and humility in practice.</h4>


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<p>The idols shall utterly pass away- In :19, the AV reads"And they shall go into the holes::.". The worshippers of idols are spoken of as if they are the idols; people become like the gods they worship (<a href='B:230 135:18'>Psa 135:18</a>).</p>


text:
<h4>Men shall go into the caves of the rocks and into the holes of the earth from before the terror of Yahweh, and from the glory of His majesty, when He arises to shake the earth mightily- See on :18. This was what Isaiah foresaw as coming upon Judah in his day. But it didn’t; the full extent of judgment was averted, by the repentance and intercession of a minority. But the essence of these words, as of all prophecy, will come true in the last days. This passage is therefore alluded to in a latter day context in <a href='B:730 6:16'>Rev 6:16</a>.</h4><h4>This hiding in the rocks is the language of condemnation; <a href='B:290 7:19'>Isa 7:19</a> says that even hidden there, they would be attacked by the Assyrians and Egyptians. But it seems many of them were saved from this by grace, and by the repentance of a remnant. Later Isaiah applies it to the judged exiles in Babylon (<a href='B:290 42:22'>Isa 42:22</a>); but with the good news that even from that humbled, condemned position- they could be exalted and returned to the restored Kingdom.</h4>


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<h4>In that day men shall cast away their idols of silver and their idols of gold which have been made for themselves to worship, to the moles and to the bats- The wealthy will hide in caves and throw their gold and silver to the animals before the awesome presence of Yahweh’s glory, with unclean moles and bats gawping at all the discarded wealth of the humans. Dynamically translating this into our terms, I think we can speak of men being ashamed of their bank balances, stock portfolios, expensive cars and furnishings, holiday homes::. when finally (and all too late for many) the penny drops, that all this is shameful, all the pride, wealth and human armament / defenses of man are things to be terribly awkward about before God. But for us, the essence of judgment day is now, as we face up to God’s glory in the face of our Lord Jesus.</h4>


text:
<h4>21 to go into the caverns of the rocks and into the clefts of the ragged rocks, from before the terror of Yahweh, and from the glory of His majesty, when He arises to shake the earth mightily- The allusion is to Moses and Elijah; perhaps both of them went into the rocks with a sense of penitence, as they came close to Yahweh’s glory. Moses was brought to cower in the rocks, just as the unworthy will do (Exo 33:22 = Isa 2:21); and he only saw the back, not the face of God, which is the attitude God adopts to those He rejects (Jer 18:17). And only in this position could Moses see the vision of God’s moral glory. Those visions of glory are alluded to in John’s Gospel as what we too can see in the face of the Lord Jesus; and we likewise should be thereby convicted of our sin, and yet also of His glory and certain salvation.</h4>


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<p>Stop trusting in man, whose breath is in his nostrils; for of what account is he?- Our faith in God is mitigated against by our misplaced faith in humanity. We would rather trust a doctor, a repair man, a kind neighbour, before throwing ourselves upon God as a last resort."Cease ye from man, whose breath is in his nostrils: for wherein is he to be accounted of"(<a href='B:290 2:22'>Isa 2:22</a>) compared to the great God of Israel?</p>


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<p>For, behold, the Lord Yahweh of Armies takes away from Jerusalem and from Judah supply and support, the whole supply of bread, and the whole supply of water- And yet Hezekiah’s tunnel aimed to make Jerusalem have a water supply that could not be cut off by invaders and besiegers. <a href='B:120 20:20'>2Ki 20:20</a> credits him for how he made"the pool, and the conduit, and brought water into the city". It would seem that he did this as it were to get around what Isaiah prophesied here. The reality was that Jerusalem was saved by grace, and also by the repentance and intercession of a minority; and so food and water were not totally removed from the city. Jerusalem’s salvation was not, therefore, by dint of Hezekiah’s ingenuity in apparently avoiding the judgments here given. Finally these words came true at the Babylonian invasion; see on <a href='B:290 1:1'>Isa 1:1</a>.</p>


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<p>The mighty man, the man of war, the judge, the prophet, the diviner, the elder- This continues the theme of Isaiah 2, that all human strength in whatever form was to be brought down and humbled, so that Judah would trust in Yahweh alone. We note that ’diviners’ and ’enchanters’ (:3) featured within the leadership of the people; see on <a href='B:290 2:6'>Isa 2:6</a>.</p>


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<p>The captain of fifty, the honourable man, the counsellor, the skilled craftsman and the clever enchanter- Enchanters and diviners (:2) were embedded throughout society. As lamented on <a href='B:290 2:6'>Isa 2:6</a>, Isaiah and other prophets were stating clearly what would be Judah’s fate; and yet they turned to divination and the wisdom of the East to try to tell the future, acting no better than their historical enemies the Philistines- who were renowned for their claims to foretell the future by divination (<a href='B:90 6:2'>1Sa 6:2</a>; <a href='B:120 1:2'>2Ki 1:2</a>).</p>


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<p>I will give boys to be their princes, and children shall rule over them- LXX"mockers". This didn’t come true in Hezekiah’s time because the potential scenario didn’t happen at the time due to some repentance; but it could be seen as having a fulfilment in the young sons of Josiah ruling Judah in the last days before the Babylonian invasion. But"children"is s:w."delusions"in <a href='B:290 66:4'>Isa 66:4</a>. As noted on :3, they deluded themselves by false teaching and supposed revelations from idols; and God would allow these delusions to take a psychological grip upon them which would dominate them.</p>


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<h4>The people will be oppressed, everyone by another, and everyone by his neighbour- Oppression of each other was the characteristic of society (<a href='B:290 1:17'>Isa 1:17</a>; <a href='B:290 1:21'>Isa 1:21</a>; <a href='B:290 1:23'>Isa 1:23</a>). But the same word is used of the oppression of Judah by their enemies; their judgment was but an extension of how they themselves had lived.</h4><h4>The child will behave himself proudly against the old man, and the base against the honourable- The picture is of anarchy in the final days of the siege of Jerusalem. But this didn’t happen, because Jerusalem was saved from this judgment by grace. However the idea of the elderly not being respected is likely a way of saying that the principles of the Law would be ignored (<a href='B:30 19:32'>Lev 19:32</a>)</h4>


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<p>Indeed a man shall take hold of his brother in the house of his father, saying, You have clothing, you be our ruler, and let this ruin be under your hand- See on :5. This is a picture of the final days of the siege of Jerusalem. The royal family would be no more. And yet even in the fulfilment under the Babylonians, Zedekiah was preserved by grace."Ruin"is literally a stumblingblock (s:w. <a href='B:430 1:3'>Zep 1:3</a>), and refers specifically to Jerusalem as a city (:8). Their pride in the city of Zion was their stumblingblock. In the restored Jerusalem there would be no more such a stumblingblock (<a href='B:290 57:14'>Isa 57:14</a>) because God would live in the hearts of His people rather than in any restored building.</p>


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<p>In that day he will cry out, saying, I will not be a healer; for in my house is neither bread nor clothing. You shall not make me ruler of the people- Instead of everyone jockeying for position in the leadership, nobody would want it. This again is a feature of all condemnation- that what was so desperately sought after in this life will be seen to be of no value, just as gold and silver will be thrown to the animals (<a href='B:290 2:20'>Isa 2:20</a>).</p>


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<h4>For Jerusalem is ruined, and Judah is fallen- For the significance of Jerusalem being a ruin, see on :6. The historical Judah fell before Joseph in repentance (<a href='B:10 44:14'>Gen 44:14</a> s:w:). In all God’s judgments there is the hope of restoration, and this must ever be our hope and intention if ever we have to judge righteous judgment over issues we face.</h4><p>Because their tongue and their doings are against Yahweh- The fact is, by our words we will be condemned and by our use of words we will be counted as righteous. The importance of our words cannot be overstressed. Judah were condemned&nbsp; “because their tongue and their words are against the Lord” (<a href='B:290 3:8'>Isa 3:8</a>). All their idolatry, perversion etc. was summarized in their words. Again and again, Isaiah and the prophets say that the reason for Israel’s condemnation was their words, even those they said under their breath- “your tongue hath muttered perverseness”(<a href='B:290 5:24'>Isa 5:24</a>). “Their princes shall fall by the sword for the rage of their tongue” (<a href='B:350 7:16'>Hos 7:16</a>). “The inhabitants thereof have spoken lies, and their tongue is deceitful in their mouth. Therefore also will I make thee sick in smiting thee, in making thee desolate because of thy sins” (<a href='B:400 6:12-13'>Mic 6:12-13</a>). Truly &nbsp;“death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof” (<a href='B:240 18:21'>Pro 18:21</a>).</p><h4>To provoke the eyes of His glory- LXX"Cloud of glory". The shekinah glory was still present in the temple in Isaiah’s time, perhaps reflecting how God’s Angel eyes still were literally present there; and they were provoked by Judah’s behaviour and words.</h4>


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<h4>The look of their faces testify against them. They parade their sin like Sodom. They don’t hide it- They were witnesses against themselves. Their body language indicated their abandonment to sin; Jeremiah says they had a"whore’s forehead"(<a href='B:300 3:3'>Jer 3:3</a>). It was this psychological hardening in sin and impenitence which merited condemnation, rather than the occasional failures of an otherwise righteous person. But again we recall the grace of <a href='B:290 1:9-10'>Isa 1:9-10</a> - that although they were as Sodom, they would not be judged as Sodom because of the remnant and God’s grace.</h4><h4>Woe to their soul! For they have brought judgment upon themselves- Isaiah repeatedly pronounces “woe” upon the people (<a href='B:290 3:9'>Isa 3:9</a>; <a href='B:290 5:8'>Isa 5:8</a>; <a href='B:290 5:11'>Isa 5:11</a>; <a href='B:290 5:18'>Isa 5:18</a>; <a href='B:290 5:20-22'>Isa 5:20-22</a>; <a href='B:290 8:11'>Isa 8:11</a>), and yet in that very context he can exclaim: “Woe is me” in chapter 6; he identified with them to the point of also feeling unworthy and under woe [in this clearly typifying the Lord’s identity with us].</h4>


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<p>Tell the righteous Good! For they shall eat the fruit of their deeds- Just as the wicked were witnesses against themselves (:9). LXX:"Woe to their soul, for they have devised an evil counsel against themselves, saying against themselves, Let us bind the just, for he is burdensome to us: therefore shall they eat the fruits of their works":&nbsp;This would imply that they persecuted"the just", perhaps Isaiah and the righteous remnant of prophets, just as they were to later do to Jeremiah in the Babylonian context. Isaiah was killed by Manasseh, according to Jewish tradition.</p>


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<p>Woe to the wicked! Disaster is upon them; for the deeds of his hands will be paid back to him- The impression given in these verses is that pay back time will come for the righteous and the wicked, with eternal outcomes. This is nothing less than saying that the day of judgment was about to come. The same word for"paid back"is used of what would happen in the day when Yahweh would be revealed and Judah saved (<a href='B:290 35:4'>Isa 35:4</a>; <a href='B:290 59:18'>Isa 59:18</a>; <a href='B:290 66:6'>Isa 66:6</a>). But that day was deferred in Isaiah’s time, as Assyria didn’t destroy Jerusalem; and the full nature of it likewise didn’t fall at the time of the Babylonian invasion, to which Isaiah 1-35 was reapplied (see on <a href='B:290 1:1'>Isa 1:1</a>). But it will come finally true at the last day.</p>


text:
<h4>As for My people, children are their oppressors, and women rule over them- As noted on :7, instead of everyone jockeying for position in the leadership, nobody would want it. This again is a feature of all condemnation- hat what was so desperately sought after in this life will be seen to be of no value, just as gold and silver will be thrown to the animals (<a href='B:290 2:20'>Isa 2:20</a>). But as suggested on :5, the"oppressors"were to be their invaders, oppressing them as they had each other. Even young men in the Babylonian army and perhaps women amongst them, would oppress the defeated people.</h4><h4>My people, those who lead you cause you to err, and destroy the way of your paths- As noted on <a href='B:290 1:1'>Isa 1:1</a>, despite the attempts at reform by individual kings, the leadership structure was apostate and was not reformed. The implication of this verse is that the ordinary people ought to have refused that leadership.</h4>


text:
<p>Yahweh stands up to contend, and stands to judge the peoples- As a judge stands to deliver a verdict. The"peoples"around Judah were to be judged at the same time, and thus would have been ushered in God’s restored Kingdom, which would have included penitent individuals from amongst"the peoples".</p>


text:
<h4>Yahweh will enter into judgement with the elders of His people, and their leaders- Despite the attempts at reform by individual kings, the leadership structure was apostate and was not reformed. The implication of this verse is that the ordinary people ought to have refused that leadership. For God was punishing the whole society, and not just a corrupt leadership.</h4><h4>It is you who have eaten up the vineyard. The spoil of the poor is in your houses- The language of eating up and spoiling is used of the invaders; again, judgment was to be in essence what Judah had done to each other.</h4>


text:
<p>What do you mean that you crush My people, and grind the face of the poor? says the Lord, Yahweh of Armies- LXX"shame the face of the poor". Out of all the things the leadership could have been condemned for, not least gross idolatry, God focuses upon their attitude to the vulnerable and taking advantage of them. And not just in the material theft from them; but in shaming them. That was so obnoxious to God. His judgment differs from how we would have judged the situation, because shaming a poor man would likely have been far down the list of sins we would have listed.</p>


text:
<p>Moreover Yahweh said, Because the daughters of Zion are haughty, and walk with outstretched necks and flirting eyes, walking to trip as they go, jingling ornaments on their feet- Reflection upon the omniscience of God leads us to marvel at His sensitivity to human behaviour. He noticed even the body language of the women in <a href='B:290 3:16'>Isa 3:16</a> - and condemned them for the way they walked. This is how closely He observes human behaviour. This is the language of prostitution. The daughter of Zion had become a whore through seeking alliances with the surrounding nations. See on <a href='B:290 1:21'>Isa 1:21</a>. But it seems such luxury had become possible in Uzziah’s prosperous reign (<a href='B:140 26:5'>2Ch 26:5</a>).</p>


text:
<p>Therefore the Lord brings sores on the crown of the head of the women of Zion, and Yahweh will make their scalps bald- LXX"The Lord will expose their form", display them as naked, as foreseen also in <a href='B:300 13:22'>Jer 13:22</a>; <a href='B:300 13:26'>Jer 13:26</a>. This was the punishment for prostitution; see on :16. Sores on the crown of the head again recalls Job, who is set up as representative of Judah, although personally righteous. Isaiah likewise was faithful but was asked to walk naked, as representative of his condemned people (see on <a href='B:290 20:2'>Isa 20:2</a>).</p>


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<p>In that day the Lord will take away the beauty of their anklets, the headbands, the crescent necklaces- Crescent necklaces recall the jewelry taken from the Midianites by Gideon. These women are portrayed as prostitutes, in that Jerusalem had prostituted herself to the nations around her in hope of getting help against Assyria. And the price for that was that they adopted their gods and symbols, which they willingly did.</p>


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<p>The earrings, the bracelets, the veils- We marvel at how God noticed the body language of these people (:9,16) and also their precise jewelry. And His record of these things has been preserved all the centuries to this day. He knows all things.</p>


text:
<p>The headdresses, the ankle chains, the sashes, the perfume bottles, the charms- These charms were part of their attraction to divination and soothsaying. Isaiah and other prophets were stating clearly what would be Judah’s fate; and yet they turned to divination and the wisdom of the East to try to tell the future, acting no better than their historical enemies the Philistines- who were renowned for their claims to foretell the future by divination (<a href='B:90 6:2'>1Sa 6:2</a>; <a href='B:120 1:2'>2Ki 1:2</a>). See on <a href='B:290 3:2'>Isa 3:2</a>.</p>


text:
<p>The signet rings, the nose rings- Signet rings meant that these women were within the royal family, and is evidence thatHezekiah’s reforms didn’t even touch his own family.</p>


text:
<p>The fine robes, the capes, the cloaks, the purses- AV"the changeable suits of apparel", as if they had multiple sets of clothing.</p>


text:
<p>The hand mirrors, the fine linen garments, the tiaras, and the shawls- LXX"The Spartan transparent dresses, and those made of fine linen, and the purple ones, and the scarlet ones, and the fine linen, interwoven with gold and purple, and the light coverings for couches". This all recalls the priestly garments and the tapestry of the tabernacle. And yet they were being used as part of the prostitution of these women. They mixed the things of Yahweh worship with their idolatry, and the"Spartan dresses"were clearly part of idol worship. This was how they justified accepting the gods of the nations- they worshipped them in the name of Yahweh worship. And this is our abiding temptation.</p>


text:
<p>It shall happen that instead of sweet spices, there shall be rottenness; instead of a belt, a rope; instead of well set hair, baldness; instead of a robe, a wearing of sackcloth; and branding instead of beauty- They were to go into captivity in shame, ropes upon their heads, and perhaps literally with shaved heads and branded as if in a Nazi concentration camp. The similarity is so exact that it is clear that this prophecy had some incipient fulfilment then, in the humiliation of Europe’s wealthy Jewish women; but the worst is yet to come, when all these prophetic words come to their climax in the last day.</p>


text:
<p>Your men shall fall by the sword, and your mighty in the war- LXX"And thy most beautiful son whom thou lovest shall fall by the sword". The prophecy initially applied to the times of the Assyrian invasion under Hezekiah, but was reapplied to the Babylonian invasion. In this case, we have here a prophecy of the death of Zedekiah similar to that made by Jeremiah. But by grace, Zedekiah was spared, and did not die by the sword, although many of the royal family did. The prophesy about him, like that about Nineveh’s destruction in forty days, was changed in outcome because he repented; just as Jeremiah had said God operates.</p>


text:
<p>Her gates shall lament and mourn; and she shall be desolate and sit on the ground- LXX"levelled with the ground". This didn’t happen when the Assyrians invaded, but the prophecy came true in the Babylonian invasion. Often Jeremiah in Lamentations laments that the walls had not just been knocked down a bit, but had actually been levelled with the ground, at the cost of huge effort by the Babylonians.</p>


text:
<p>Seven women shall take hold of one man in that day, saying, We will eat our own bread, and wear our own clothing: only let us be called by your name. Take away our reproach- The implication was that there were so few men that women were so outnumbered. The law stipulated that a polygamous man must provide bread and clothing for all his wives (<a href='B:20 21:10'>Exo 21:10</a>); but the desperation of the situation led them to accept that the law of Moses no longer functioned. They were driven by the judgments to throw themselves upon God’s grace in the Messianic"branch"(:2) rather than the Law.</p>


text:
<h4>In that day, Yahweh’s branch will be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the land will be the beauty and glory of the survivors of Israel- The revival of Judah’s kingdom, based around a Messianic"Branch"and a remnant, would happen"in that day". This is the day of :1, when Jerusalem would be overcome and left in ruins with hardly any men left. We noted throughout Isaiah 3 that there would be no leadership in Jerusalem; the royal family were to be no more. And yet a branch was to arise, the branch of <a href='B:290 11:1'>Isa 11:1</a>, which was to arise out of the moribund stump of the house of David."The fruit of the land"may refer to the children who would be brought forth, and in whom the remnant would glory. These"survivors"are those saved from the ruins of a desolated Jerusalem, those who"escaped"the Assyrian invasion (s:w. <a href='B:290 10:20'>Isa 10:20</a>; <a href='B:290 37:31-32'>Isa 37:31-32</a>); the same word is used in <a href='B:360 2:32'>Joe 2:32</a>; <a href='B:380 1:17'>Oba 1:17</a>, the"remnant"of <a href='B:330 14:22'>Eze 14:22</a> (s:w:). The destruction of Jerusalem was intended to elicit repentance and to lead seamlessly into a revived Zion and reestablished Kingdom of God in Israel, when again all things would be"glorious"(s:w. <a href='B:290 24:23'>Isa 24:23</a>; <a href='B:290 35:2'>Isa 35:2</a>). But this didn’t happen. Jerusalem was saved by grace, and yet Hezekiah failed to act as"Yahweh’s branch", and Judah were impenitent, unmoved by their salvation by grace.</h4><h4>And so the prophecies were reapplied to Judah’s destruction by Babylon, when again a Messianic branch could have arisen (s:w. <a href='B:300 23:5'>Jer 23:5</a>; <a href='B:300 33:15'>Jer 33:15</a>; <a href='B:450 3:8'>Zec 3:8</a>; <a href='B:450 6:12'>Zec 6:12</a>). The branch was to be"glorious", the word used about the glory of Yahweh being revealed at the restoration (<a href='B:290 40:5'>Isa 40:5</a>; <a href='B:290 58:8'>Isa 58:8</a>; <a href='B:290 60:1'>Isa 60:1</a>). But again, no"branch"appeared. Zerubbabel,"branch from Babylon", failed to live up to his potential. And so the final fulfilment will be at the revelation of the Lord Jesus at the time of Zion’s final desolation. The fruit of the earth / land was to be abundant, as promised for the restoration (<a href='B:330 34:27'>Eze 34:27</a>). But this didn’t happen; the restoration prophets lament the famine at the time of the restoration, for Judah returned to the land without returning to their God.</h4>


text:
<p>It will happen, that he who is left in Zion, and he who remains in Jerusalem shall be called holy, even everyone who is written among the living in Jerusalem- The impression from :1 is that there would literally be very few Jews left alive, and those who were would become the"remnant", and be written among the living, in the book of life, made spiritually acceptable by their purification in the holocaust to come upon the city (:4). In the latter day application, this group would then be immortalized, written among the eternally living. It could have happened at the time of the Assyrian invasion; but Judah didn’t repent. The same scenario is in <a href='B:450 13:8-9'>Zec 13:8-9</a>, where a third part [perhaps just meaning"a remnant"] would pass through the fire and thereby come to"call upon My Name". That too could have happened, perhaps at the time of Antiochus’ invasion; but it didn’t. It will therefore come true in the last days.</p>


text:
<h4>When the Lord shall have washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion, and shall have purged the blood of Jerusalem from its midst, by the spirit of justice, and by the spirit of burning- See on :3. Those who survived the holocaust to come upon Jerusalem would be spiritually purged and thus become the righteous remnant. The filth of the daughters of Zion had just been explained in Isaiah 3. Potentially, those very women of Isaiah’s time could have been spiritually purged by the Assyrian invasion; but they weren’t. And so the prophecy was reapplied and rescheduled to the time of the Babylonian invasion, which was intended to"purge"Judah (<a href='B:300 51:34'>Jer 51:34</a> s:w:) with a spirit / wind of burning (s:w. <a href='B:330 5:2'>Eze 5:2</a>); and when that didn’t happen, to our last days. Although it could perhaps also have come true at the times of Jerusalem’s other desolations under the Greeks and Romans.</h4><h4>It was Yahweh who could wash them; but He would do that if they had the desire to wash themselves (s:w. <a href='B:290 1:16'>Isa 1:16</a>). They had to show justice to others (<a href='B:290 1:17'>Isa 1:17</a>); and if they wished to do that, then God would purge them with His"spirit of justice". God will confirm us in the way in which we wish to go.</h4>


text:
<p>Yahweh will create over the whole habitation of Mount Zion and over her assemblies a cloud and smoke by day, and the shining of a flaming fire by night; for over all the glory will be a canopy- See on :6. This is the language of the exodus from Egypt and the theophany at Sinai when they entered the old covenant. Perhaps it was literally intended that such a canopy would appear over the literal glory of Yahweh which would again appear in Zion; the same word is used of Yahweh appearing from the canopy around a redeemed Zion (<a href='B:360 2:16'>Joe 2:16</a>). The symbolism suggests that Israel had been released from abuse in Egypt, and were now about to enter a new covenant and the Kingdom of God in Israel. That could have come true at the time of both the Assyrian and Babylonian invasions; but Judah refused to accept that new covenant:&nbsp;</p>


text:
<p>There will be a pavilion for a shade in the daytime from the heat, and for a refuge and for a shelter from storm and from rain-"Pavilion"is s:w."shelter"in <a href='B:290 1:8'>Isa 1:8</a>. The entire"vineyard"of God’s work was to be destroyed, apart from a"shelter"- which was Zion. But it is the"daughter of Zion", the faithful remnant, and not the literal Zion which is in view here. They were to be a"shelter", a place of refuge, for others (<a href='B:290 4:6'>Isa 4:6</a> s:w:). The storm and rain therefore spoke of the judgments to come, the warranted condemnation, using the same figures as in theLord’s parable of the builders. But there was to be refuge in Zion. This was literally the case at the time of the Assyrian invasion, and it was intended to be the case spiritually. But so much more was possible then; God would have made a literal canopy over her (:5), and established His Kingdom then. But in Hezekiah’s time, Zion was saved by grace alone. The daughter of Zion was not the refuge for others she could have been. Perhaps the idea is that the storm and rain which destroys her abusers will not harm Zion. The"heat"in the last days could refer to some kind of localized nuclear holocaust.</p>


text:
<h4>Let me sing for my well beloved a song of my beloved about His vineyard- This could be Isaiah’s own inspired song, sung to God, summing up how he perceived things. And it is commented upon by God in :3, when the pronouns change and God speaks. But the"well beloved"is consistently Israel (<a href='B:50 33:12'>Deu 33:12</a>; <a href='B:230 127:2'>Psa 127:2</a>; <a href='B:300 11:15'>Jer 11:15</a>; <a href='B:300 12:7'>Jer 12:7</a>). Isaiah was perhaps singing this song to Israel, to get them to see their potential, to see themselves from outside of themselves. We need to look at our position before God likewise; for the message of the song is that actually, God has done everything to give us an optimal environment for spiritual fruitfulness. And yet we of course struggle to believe that, preferring to believe that if only we had a different career, home, domestic situation::. we would be more fruitful. But God wants our fruitfulness; and He gives us the optimal environment for that.</h4><h4>My beloved had a vineyard on a very fruitful hill- This may follow on from the allusions to the vineyard noted on <a href='B:290 4:6'>Isa 4:6</a>, the previous verse. The vineyard was able to bring forth spiritual fruit- Zion is described as a fruitful hill."Fruitful hill"is a Hebrew phrase also translated"horn of oil". There is the hint that a Messiah / anointed figure could be connected with this vineyard.</h4>


text:
<h4>He dug it up- LXX"fenced it".</h4><p>Gathered out its stones, planted it with the choicest vine, built a tower in its midst, and also cut out a wine press therein- As noted on :1, God has done everything to give us an optimal environment for spiritual fruitfulness, as He did to Judah at this time. For God wants our fruitfulness; and He gives us the optimal environment for that. Yet the vineyard of Judah was destroyed because they refused to be fruitful, and the Lord’s parable of the vineyard clearly alludes to this. And the vineyard has now been given to a new Israel, for whom likewise everything has been done to make it fruitful. The gathering out of the stones means that the land was"good soil","very fruitful"(:1). The parable of the sower alludes here- and the message is that we are all potentially the good ground. The watchtower and fence meant that it ought not to have been spoilt by others- the fact the vineyard was about to be overrun meant that Judah had removed these things.</p><h4>This was the situation at Isaiah’s time; but God tried again at the restoration, gathering out the stones again (<a href='B:290 60:10'>Isa 60:10</a>). But again, Judah didn’t respond. And so as the Lord’s parable explains, the vineyard was given to others.</h4><h4>He looked for it to yield grapes, but it yielded wild grapes- God acts as if surprised and bitterly disappointed, with so much work apparently in vain. The hewing out the winefat (<a href='B:480 12:1'>Mar 12:1</a>) reflects His confident hope that fruit would be brought forth. He enters fully into our time-space limitations, so that He can legitimately express feelings of disappointment. This helps us understand the eagerness with which He looks to our spiritual response and growth. See on <a href='B:300 2:21'>Jer 2:21</a>.</h4>


text:
<p>Now, inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah, please judge between Me and My vineyard- Note the change of pronouns; see on :1. They were asked to see themselves from outside themselves, and to understand that their lack of spiritual fruit was completely their fault. And thus they would judge themselves.</p>


text:
<h4>What could have been done more to My vineyard, that I have not done in it?- God doesn’t force spiritual growth, rather does His Spirit enable the environments for it to occur; in another figure, He does all that could be thought of so that His vineyard brings forth good fruit. We of course may be tempted to doubt this, considering that if only this or that situation in our lives were different, we would be enabled to grow spiritually. But God knows best, and His Spirit works in various ways to provide [by ‘providence’] the best situation for our growth and new creation.</h4><h4>Why, when I looked for it to yield grapes, did it yield wild grapes?- There even seems at times a difficulty on God’s part to understand why the people He had loved could hate Him so much:"Have I been a wilderness to Israel, or a land of thick darkness?Why then do my people say, We will no more come to thee?"(<a href='B:300 2:31'>Jer 2:31</a>);"Why then has this people turned away?"(<a href='B:300 8:5'>Jer 8:5</a>);"Why have they provoked me to anger?"(<a href='B:300 8:19'>Jer 8:19</a>; <a href='B:300 2:14'>Jer 2:14</a>; <a href='B:300 30:6'>Jer 30:6</a>; <a href='B:290 5:4'>Isa 5:4</a>; <a href='B:290 50:2'>Isa 50:2</a>)."What more could I have done for my vineyard::. why did it yield wild grapes?"(<a href='B:290 5:1-7'>Isa 5:1-7</a>). This is so much the anguished cry of bewildered middle age parents as they reflect upon a wayward child. This Divine struggle to understand reflects the extraordinary depth of His love for them; and it warns us in chilling terms as to the pain we can cause God if we spurn His amazing love.</h4>


text:
<p>Now I will tell you what I will do to My vineyard. I will take away its hedge, and it will be eaten up. I will break down its wall of it, and it will be trampled down- The Lord’s parable of the vineyard is shot through with allusions to the vineyard parable of Isaiah 5. When the Lord asks “What will [the owner of the vineyard] do?” (<a href='B:480 12:9'>Mar 12:9</a>), those who picked up the Isaiah 5 allusions would have found the answer in <a href='B:290 5:4-5'>Isa 5:4-5</a>: “What… to do… what I will do”. <a href='B:230 80:12-13'>Psa 80:12-13</a> takes the logic further- the fence was removed and wild beasts entered and destroyed the vineyard. We notice that the nations around Judah, especially the Assyrians and Babylonians, are the prototypes for the"beast"system of the last days. The same peoples are in view. God’s taking away the hedge was done with a heavy heart- because such a huge amount of His work and concern was to thereby be destroyed. His judgments were not therefore painless to Himself. It was the Babylonians who broke down the wall of Jerusalem, and yet here this is presented as God doing so. We see here the principle of God manifestation; and this is why the Lord Jesus can be spoken of as functioning as God, but this doesn’t mean He is God personally, just as the Babylonians were not personally God.</p>


text:
<p>I will lay it a wasteland. It won’t be pruned nor hoed, but it will grow briers and thorns. I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain on it- This and the similar prophecy of desolation in <a href='B:290 7:23-25'>Isa 7:23-25</a> didn’t happen at the Assyrian invasion; it was reapplied to the situation after the Babylonian invasion, when the land was intended to rest (<a href='B:30 26:34'>Lev 26:34</a>; <a href='B:30 26:43'>Lev 26:43</a>) until Judah repented. But even that program didn’t work out, and so the Lord’s parable of the vineyard explained that therefore the vineyard was given to a new Israel. Briers and thorns is an allusion to the curse upon the garden of Eden- another reason for understanding Eden as eretz Israel, from whom likewise Israel were to be exiled to the east. Yet"briers and thorns"is a term used by Isaiah about the aggressive, thorny nature of Judah (<a href='B:290 9:18'>Isa 9:18</a>; <a href='B:290 10:17'>Isa 10:17</a>). Their whole land was to become like them; and so their judgment was but an extension of their own behaviour.</p>


text:
<h4>For the vineyard of Yahweh of Armies is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah His pleasant plant- Ephraim, the ten tribes, were likewise God’s"pleasant"child (<a href='B:300 31:20'>Jer 31:20</a> s:w:). The idea is that He intensely delighted in them; just as the owner of the vineyard had been almost obsessed with his vineyard, it was his pride and joy, and for it to be fruitless was tragic; for it was as if his whole life’s passion had come to nothing.</h4><p>There are many passages where God emphasizes the essential unity of Israel and Judah through the device of parallelism. This is one of them."For the vineyard of Yahweh of armies is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah His pleasant plant".</p><p>And He looked for justice, but, behold, oppression; for righteousness, but, behold, a cry of distress- God planted the vineyard of Israel, just as He creates the environment for the new Israel, because He sought (spiritual) fruit. And that fruit was summed up so often in one word:"justice"(<a href='B:290 5:2'>Isa 5:2</a>; Isaiah 57). The inspiration process uses various puns through which to bring home the subtlety of the difference between true spirituality and fake. Take <a href='B:290 5:7'>Isa 5:7</a>:"He looked for justice (mishpat) and found oppression (mishpah), for righteousness (sdaqah) and heard cries of distress (saqah)". The real aim of our life in Christ, our being a Christian, our prayer, our Bible reading, our attendance at meetings, our spirituality- however you want to look at it- the real aim is to develop a character in harmony with that of God, to manifest Him. This means not getting bitter, forgiving others, being quick to overlook, to read the best motives, to be patient with your husband, with your dog, with your cat, to be full of meditation on our peerless Lord Jesus, to love the Father’s word as He did::. this is what it’s really all about. The occasional heights of self-sacrifice and devotion, the complete dedication of one’s life and thinking to the things of" the Truth", our church (or however we want to describe it), this isn’t necessarily the same thing as being a really spiritual, Christ-centered person. It often takes new converts a long time to realize this; and the quicker we do so, the better. The essential state of our heart is what God is ultimately interested in. This is why men may perform the same outward actions, but be judged quite differently. Consider how both Cain and Jonah fled from the presence of God; both Peter and Judas denied the Lord; both Samuel and Eli failed to control their apostate sons.</p><h4>Think of how eager the Father and Son have been to find spiritual fruit in us. Through the centuries of His involvement with Israel, God had expected to find the fruit of justice in the vineyard of Israel- but He found only poison berries (<a href='B:290 5:4'>Isa 5:4</a>), instead of justice He found abuse and oppression of others (<a href='B:290 5:7'>Isa 5:7</a>). And all that despite doing absolutely all He could for that vineyard. But according to <a href='B:470 21:34-38'>Mat 21:34-38</a>, this didn’t stop Him from having a hopeful, fruit-seeking attitude. He sent His servants the prophets to find the fruit- but they were beaten and murdered. He finally sent His Son, reasoning that"surely they will reverence my son"(<a href='B:470 21:37'>Mat 21:37</a>). But they murdered Him. I have suggested elsewhere that this language can only suggest that God in some sense limited His omniscience and omnipotence in order to fully enter into our dimensions; and hence His experience of dashed hope and deep disappointment. Amazing as the Father’s hopefulness was, His Son’s was even greater. This Father who had had all this experience of simply not getting any fruit, asked His vinedresser (the Lord Jesus) to cut down the tree of Israel, as for the three years of Christ’s ministry He had sought fruit from them and not found any; and further, this tree was ’cumbering the ground’, taking away nutrients which He could have given to another (Gentile) tree. But His servant argues back with Him; the servant asks to be allowed to dig and dung around the tree; and then, he says, ’You can cut it down, although you asked me to do this job’. This was quite unusual for a servant to talk like this; but it’s an insight into the way the Lord Jesus was even more hopeful than His longsuffering Father.</h4>


text:
<p>Woe to those who join house to house, who lay field to field until there is no room, and you are made to dwell alone in the midst of the land!- He repeatedly pronounces “woe” upon them (<a href='B:290 3:9'>Isa 3:9</a>; <a href='B:290 5:8'>Isa 5:8</a>; <a href='B:290 5:11'>Isa 5:11</a>; <a href='B:290 5:18'>Isa 5:18</a>; <a href='B:290 5:20-22'>Isa 5:20-22</a>; <a href='B:290 8:11'>Isa 8:11</a>), and yet in that very context he can exclaim: “Woe is me” in chapter 6; he identified with them to the point of also feeling unworthy and under woe [in this clearly typifying the Lord’s identity with us]. Fields were to return to their original owners at the jubilee, but it seems fields were stolen and the landmarks rearranged, all in disobedience to the Mosaic law:&nbsp; The idea is as in GNB"Soon there will be no place for anyoneelse to live, and you alone will live in the land". Effectively the rich were driving the population into exile from the land; and that is what was to happen.</p>


text:
<h4>In my ears Yahweh of Armies says- The implication is that what Yahweh discreetly and intimately told Isaiah, he was preaching. It seems the Lord Jesus alludes to this in <a href='B:470 10:27'>Mat 10:27</a> and asks us each one to live in the spirit of prophets like Isaiah:"What I am telling you in the dark you must repeat in broad daylight, and what you have heard in private you must announce from the housetops".</h4><h4>Surely many houses will be desolate, even great and beautiful ones, unoccupied- see on <a href='B:610 4:1'>1Ti 4:1</a>. This didn’t fully happen in the Assyrian invasion, because Jerusalem was saved, including its houses. But the destruction of the"great houses"of the wealthy is a major theme in Jeremiah, and in the record of Jerusalem’s fall to the Babylonians (see on <a href='B:300 5:27'>Jer 5:27</a>; <a href='B:300 52:13'>Jer 52:13</a>).</h4>


text:
<p>For ten acres of vineyard shall yield one bath, and a homer of seed shall yield an ephah- Although they had selfishly grabbed land (:8), that land was to become very low yielding. It has been calculated that ten acres of vineyard ought to yield an average of five hundred baths (or four thousand gallons) instead of one bath (eight gallons). If a homer of corn seed yielded only an ephah, then only a tenth of the seed sown was being harvested. It wasn’t worth planting them. And this is what all the condemned will realize; that what they so strove for in life will then become worthless. They will throw their silver and gold to the bats (<a href='B:290 2:20'>Isa 2:20</a>).</p>


text:
<p>Woe to those who rise up early in the morning, that they may follow strong drink; who stay late into the night, until wine inflames them!- Israel are criticized for their early morning attitudes (see on <a href='B:290 50:4'>Isa 50:4</a>)- in the mornings they fantasized after their neighbours’ wives (<a href='B:300 5:8'>Jer 5:8</a>; <a href='B:350 7:6'>Hos 7:6</a>), got up and wanted to get drunk again (<a href='B:290 5:11'>Isa 5:11</a>), had unjust thoughts about others (<a href='B:300 21:12'>Jer 21:12</a>; <a href='B:400 2:1'>Mic 2:1</a>). That’s quite some emphasis- God was so unhappy with what His people thought about in the mornings. And <a href='B:430 3:7'>Zep 3:7</a> is perhaps the most challenging of all- God condemned His people because they rose each morning and cast off all their opportunities (Heb:), despite Him every morning [potentially] revealing His word to them (<a href='B:430 3:5'>Zep 3:5</a>). They allowed themselves to be simply too busy to see all that God potentially enabled for them every single day. And what about us? God has prepared huge potential achievement for each of us- but we tend to fritter our days away in busyness and poor planning and lack of a self-disciplined life.</p>


text:
<h4>The harp, lyre, tambourine, and flute, with wine, are at their feasts; but they don’t respect the work of Yahweh- The"but"suggests that their usage of these instruments was somehow connected to Yahweh worship, so the"feasts"were those of Yahweh. As Corinth turned the breaking of bread into a drunken orgy partly dedicated to idols, so Judah did the same with Yahweh’s feasts, mixing them with idol worship; for musical instruments and drinking wine were not prescribed for the feasts of Yahweh.</h4><h4>Neither have they considered the operation of His hands- They did not regard Yahweh, and so He rejected them by no longer regarding or looking at them (s:w. <a href='B:310 4:16'>Lam 4:16</a>). As Jeremiah so often demonstrates in his prophecy, condemnation was articulated in language which showed it to be but a continuation of attitudes and positions the condemned had already adopted in their lives.</h4>


text:
<p>Therefore My people go into captivity for lack of knowledge. Their honourable men are famished, and their multitudes are parched with thirst- This doesn’t mean that they went into captivity for some intellectual failures in their theology."Knowledge"is used in the Hebraic sense of relationship. The reasons why they were going into captivity have been listed so far in Isaiah, and they don’t include failures in abstract theology. They were all practical reasons. The point was, they had no relationship with Yahweh. But Judah didn’t go into captivity in Isaiah’s time; the threatened judgment was delayed because at least a minority repented. We marvel at God’s eagerness to respond to the slightest signs of genuine repentance, and this is how we should respond to others.</p>


text:
<h4>Therefore Sheol has enlarged its desire, and opened its mouth without measure; and their glory, their multitude, their pomp- This is a similar figure as in <a href='B:420 2:5'>Hab 2:5</a>. The grave enlarged its desire; death, the punishment for sin, is personified as if it were the sinner itself. So the sin is parallel with its punishment; which is a major theme of the prophets. It wasn’t that God was judging them by lashing out in anger; their judgment was in fact an extension of their own sin and essential lifestyle. We note that sheol is the punishment for indulging sinful desires; sheol is the grave, death, and not eternal conscious punishment.</h4><h4>And he who rejoices among them, descend into it- The idea may be that this destruction was not just for the wealthy minority, but also for those who admired them. And there we have a challenge to us; for our society is full of people who congratulate opulent, sinful living and dearly wish to be able to live likewise. And that is just as culpable. See on :15.</h4>


text:
<p>So man is brought low, mankind is humbled, and the eyes of the arrogant ones are humbled- This is a different message to that in :14, which is of death as the punishment for sin. Here, God hopes that His people will be humbled, so that He can be exalted (:16). It was humility which He sought to inculcate by the judgments; and not humility just for its own sake, a few moments of humility before death- but the humility of repentance. The AV says that the"mean man"will be humbled; as noted on :14, those who rejoiced in the opulence of the wealthy and wished to be like that, would be likewise punished.</p>


text:
<p>but Yahweh of Armies is exalted in justice, and God the Holy One is sanctified in righteousness- The message was that man would be humbled, and Yahweh exalted. Peter perhaps gives his take on this in saying that we are to allow ourselves to be humbled, so that we may be exalted in due time (<a href='B:670 5:6'>1Pe 5:6</a>). It is Yahweh who is to be exalted, not us; and yet through identification with His principles, we will be exalted. And so through executing judgment, ’the holy God shows Himself holy by righteousness’. To not punish sin would be unrighteous. And yet it is through that justice that in the grand economy of Divine salvation, we are saved by grace; see on <a href='B:290 4:4'>Isa 4:4</a>.</p>


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<p>Then the lambs will graze as in their pasture, and strangers will eat the ruins of the rich- This is a picture of the restored Kingdom."Strangers"may refer to repentant Gentiles who would take over the ruins of the homes of the wealthy Jews who had been judged. But it may also have reference to the way in which when Babylon conquered Judah, they took into captivity the wealthy, and the poor masses of the people therefore took possession of their ruined properties. This was Babylonian policy, alluded to several times in Jeremiah.</p>


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<p>Woe to those who draw iniquity with cords of falsehood, and wickedness as with cart rope- The idea may be that they were dragging after them a load of sin by cords. But the original is unclear, and the allusion may be to a rope maker, introducing new material to the rope he is making ever longer. The sense would be that sin “is at the beginning like a fine hair-string, but at the finishing like a thick cart-rope". Sin is progressive; unless there is a sense of repentance, it becomes an ever downward spiral.</p>


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<h4>who say, Let Him make speed, let Him hasten His work, that we may see it; and let the counsel of the Holy One of Israel draw near and come, that we may know it!- There was clearly opposition to Isaiah’s prophecies. The idea of judgment coming would have been mocked in these kinds of words. But we wonder whether this is really a verbatim quotation from these people; or whether God read their thoughts as effectively saying this, and as being the real implication of their positions. For there is no evidence that Judah abandoned Yahweh; rather did they claim obedience and loyalty to Him, although they claimed the same about their idols whom they worshipped in His Name.</h4><h4>God was not deaf to their words, or the implications of their thoughts and actions. He in fact heard their mocking ’prayer’, because He later says that He will "hasten His work" (<a href='B:290 60:22'>Isa 60:22</a> s:w:). Likewise their invitation for the word or "counsel" of God to "draw near and come" was fulfilled- when Yahweh did draw near to them in judgment (s:w. <a href='B:290 46:13'>Isa 46:13</a>; <a href='B:290 57:3'>Isa 57:3</a>).</h4>


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<p>Woe to those who callevil good, and good evil; who put darkness for light, and light for darkness; who put bitter for sweet- As noted on :19, we wonder whether this is really a verbatim quotation from these people; or whether God read their thoughts as effectively saying this, and as being the real implication of their positions. For there is no evidence that Judah consciously advocated doing evil in the name of good; rather did they claim obedience and loyalty to Him, although they claimed the same about their idols whom they worshipped in His Name.</p>


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<p>Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight!- Their wisdom came from themselves and not from God’s word. There may be an allusion to <a href='B:240 3:7'>Pro 3:7</a> "Don’t be wise in your own eyes. Fear Yahweh, and depart from evil". It is being wise in our own eyes which precludes repentance; and it is recognition of our own unwisdom which provokes repentance.</p>


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<p>Woe to those who are mighty to drink wine, and champions at mixing strong drink- This alcoholism was apparently incorporated into their perverted keeping of the feasts of Yahweh (see on :12). They turned those feasts into the crude drinking games of many bars today- whoever can drink the most is the mightiest.</p>


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<p>who acquit the guilty for a bribe, but deny justice for the innocent!- God will not justify the wicked (<a href='B:20 23:7'>Exo 23:7</a>); and He hates those who do so (<a href='B:240 17:15'>Pro 17:15</a> cp. 24:24; <a href='B:290 5:23'>Isa 5:23</a>). But God justifies sinners, "the wicked", by grace. This paradox serves to highlight yet more the grace in "justification by grace". The fact the judiciary was so corrupt is again an indication that the reforms of the kings in Isaiah’s time (see on <a href='B:290 1:1'>Isa 1:1</a>) were not very far reaching. The mass unspirituality of the leadership therefore reveals all the more how courageous were kings like Hezekiah in trying to reform things.</p>


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<h4>Therefore as the tongue of fire devours the stubble, and as the dry grass sinks down in the flame, so their root shall be as rottenness, and their blossom shall go up as dust- The fire of judgment is likened to a tongue; and "the tongue is a fire" (<a href='B:660 3:5'>Jas 3:5</a>). Their judgment was to be an extension of their own actions and words. As their tongue had devoured others (:23), so the tongue of fire was to devour them. The fact is, by our words we will be condemned and by our use of words we will be counted as righteous. The importance of our words cannot be overstressed. Judah were condemned&nbsp; “because their tongue and their words are against the Lord” (<a href='B:290 3:8'>Isa 3:8</a>). All their idolatry, perversion etc. was summarized in their words. Again and again, Isaiah and the prophets say that the reason for Israel’s condemnation was their words, even those they said under their breath- “your tongue has muttered perverseness” (<a href='B:290 59:3'>Isa 59:3</a>). “Their princes shall fall by the sword for the rage of their tongue” (<a href='B:350 7:16'>Hos 7:16</a>). “The inhabitants thereof have spoken lies, and their tongue is deceitful in their mouth. Therefore also will I make thee sick in smiting thee, in making thee desolate because of thy sins” (<a href='B:400 6:12-13'>Mic 6:12-13</a>). Truly &nbsp;“death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof” (<a href='B:240 18:21'>Pro 18:21</a>).</h4><h4>Because they have rejected the law of Yahweh of Armies, and despised the word of the Holy One of Israel- Again we see evidence for major opposition to Isaiah’s prophecies from the leadership (:23). They would not have consciously stated their rejection of the law; but God sees to the essence, to the implication of attitudes and thoughts. See on :19,20.</h4>


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<h4>Therefore Yahweh’s anger burns against His people, and He has stretched out His hand against them, and has struck them. The mountains tremble, and their dead bodies are as refuse in the midst of the streets- The past tenses are used because the threatened judgment was so certain. But in fact, it did not come at Isaiah’s time- because there was at least some penitence, and much intercession from the faithful remnant. "The mountains" may refer to the hills of Jerusalem surrounding Zion; the bodies in the streets recalls Jeremiah’s lamentations of what happened when Babylon sacked Jerusalem. The intended application to the Assyrians didn’t happen, because there was some repentance; but the words were rescheduled to the Babylonians.</h4><h4>For allthis, His anger is not turned away, but His hand is still stretched out- Because God’s judgment had not achieved its end result, which was Judah’s repentance. His hand was stretched out still, both in the sense of judgment, and in seeking to save through eliciting repentance.</h4>


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<p>He will lift up a banner for the nations from far, and He will whistle for them from the end of the land. Behold, they will come speedily and swiftly- Clearly enough, the bronze serpent lifted up on the “standard” or pole was a symbol of Christ crucified. But time and again throughout Isaiah, we read that a “standard” or ensign will be “lifted up” in order to gather people together to it (<a href='B:290 5:26'>Isa 5:26</a>; <a href='B:290 13:2'>Isa 13:2</a>; <a href='B:290 11:12'>Isa 11:12</a>; <a href='B:290 18:3'>Isa 18:3</a>; <a href='B:290 62:10'>Isa 62:10</a>). This was the idea of an ensign lifted up. Thus our common response to the cross of Christ should be to gather together unto Him there. And we need to take note that several of those Isaiah passages are speaking about what shall happen in the last days, when divided Israel will unite on the basis of their acceptance of the crucified Jesus. In this context, the nations are being summoned to judge Israel. And yet Isaiah also uses the figure for gathering sinners to the ensign or standard pole of Zion. The intention was that the surrounding nations would be judged and yet some would repent, and become part of a restored Kingdom of God in Judah. But Hezekiah precluded this from happening by getting friendly with the Babylonians and surrounding nations, and his sons worshipped their gods rather than bringing them to the God of Israel.</p>


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<p>None shall be weary nor stumble among them; none shall slumber nor sleep; neither shall the belt of their waist be untied, nor the latches of their shoes be broken- LXX "They shall not hunger nor be weary". The language here is that of God Himself and His faithful people (<a href='B:290 40:28'>Isa 40:28</a>; <a href='B:290 40:31'>Isa 40:31</a>; <a href='B:230 121:4'>Psa 121:4</a>). As will be noted on :28, God’s manifestations have similar characteristics; be they through His own people, or through wicked people He uses to perform His judgments. He is totally in control; there is no radical evil in the cosmos.</p>


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<p>whose arrows are sharp, and all their bows bent. Their horses’ hoofs will be like flint, and their wheels like a whirlwind- They would be a manifestation of the cherubim chariot. Ezekiel uses the same idea. The cherubim would be manifest in both Judah’s attackers and in God’s people. God was totally in control of the whole tragedy. See on :27.</p>


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<p>Their roaring will be like a lioness, they will roar like young lions. Yes, they shall roar and seize their prey and carry it off, and there will be no one to deliver- The initial application was to the lions of Assyria; but due to repentance and intercession, that was averted. And yet lions were also a symbol of the Babylonians, who did carry off Judah into captivity. God acted as a lion to Judah through those lions (<a href='B:350 5:14'>Hos 5:14</a>), manifested through them. God was their deliverer, as so often stated later in Isaiah; but they refused to accept Him as such, and so there was none to deliver. The princes of Judah are also likened to young lions (<a href='B:330 19:3-6'>Eze 19:3-6</a>); it was their lion like behaviour in abusing their people which led to the young lions coming upon Judah. Again, judgment is articulated in terms of the sins which have brought them. Sin is its own judgment. The lions here in <a href='B:290 5:29-30'>Isa 5:29-30</a> clearly represent the Babylonians and Assyrians; but the prophetic hope was that the young lion would be tamed and live in Zion (<a href='B:290 11:7'>Isa 11:7</a>). The vision was of Judah’s enemies being judged and repenting, and coming to live in the restored Kingdom.</p>


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<p>They will roar against them in that day like the roaring of the sea. If one looks to the land behold, darkness and distress. The light is darkened in its clouds- LXX "as the sound of the swelling sea; and they shall look to the land, and, behold, there shall be thick darkness in their perplexity". The Lord seems to apply these ideas to the situation in Israel in the last days (<a href='B:490 21:26'>Luk 21:26</a>), just as the light being turned to darkness happened at His crucifixion (cp. <a href='B:370 8:9'>Amo 8:9</a>). What could have happened at the hands of the Assyrians was averted by repentance; but the prophetic word came true in later judgments upon Judah, and will come finally true in the last days.</p>


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<h4>In the year that king Uzziah died- The idea is that although the king was dead, or had ceased to reign in his last years, Yahweh was still king. See on :5. We may enquire why we have this apparent record of the commissioning of Isaiah at this point, rather than at the beginning of the prophecy. He sees a vision of glory and then is given his prophetic calling, which seems appropriate for the start of his ministry, just as happened to Ezekiel. Perhaps Isaiah gave Isaiah 1-5 and then was now more formally commissioned; see on :9. But the prophets are rarely chronological; Jeremiah particularly is arranged by theme and not chronology. Perhaps the record of Isaiah’s commissioning as a prophet is included here because he feels that he is of unclean lips as his people are; and the state of their lips is to be a major theme of his message. So the idea would be that he began his ministry deeply convicted that he was saved by grace and was one with his audience, no better than they, but saved by grace through his faith in the Messianic Saviour figure silhouetted in the vision which itself convicts him of his sin.</h4><p>I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up; and His train filled the temple- The words high and lofty apply to the throne, not to Yahweh Himself (as in <a href='B:290 57:15'>Isa 57:15</a>). The same phrase has recently been used in Is 2:12-14 of how what is high and lifted up in human eyes is to be brought down before the glory of Yahweh. It is used in <a href='B:330 10:16'>Eze 10:16</a> about the cherubim, which appear to have morphed into the seraphim of this vision (see on :2). And it is used in <a href='B:290 37:23'>Isa 37:23</a> of how the Assyrians were high and lifted up against Yahweh, and would be brought down- just as the pride of Judah was to be, before the high and lifted up glory of Yahweh. Both Jews and Gentiles would thereby be humbled and the intention was that together they would form part of a restored Kingdom of God in Judah. That glory is more specifically defined in <a href='B:290 52:13'>Isa 52:13</a> where "high and lifted up" is used of the exaltation of the suffering servant, the Messiah figure who could have been Hezekiah, had he responded rightly to his sufferings. But after God’s attempts to reapply it to Zerubbabel and others, it came to full term in the suffering of the Lord Jesus.</p><p><a href='B:290 6:10'>Isa 6:10</a> is quoted in John 12, with the information that "these things said Isaiah, because he foresaw his glory, and he spoke about him" (<a href='B:500 12:41'>Joh 12:41</a>). The hour of glory was the hour of crucifixion. The son of God, naked, covered in blood and spittle::. was the Son of man glorified. And likewise when we are fools for Christ’s sake, then we know His glory. <a href='B:500 12:37-41'>Joh 12:37-41</a> tells us that Isaiah 6 is a vision of the Lord Jesus in glory; and in this passage John quotes both Isaiah 6, 53 together, reflecting their connection and application to the same event, namely the Lord’s crucifixion. So it is established that Isaiah 6 is a vision of the crucified Lord Jesus, high and lifted up in glory in God’s sight, whilst covered in blood and spittle, with no beauty that man should desire Him. The point is, when Isaiah saw this vision he was convicted of his sinfulness: "Woe is me, for I am undone::.". And yet the same vision comforted him with the reality of forgiveness, and inspired him to offer to go forth and witness to Israel&nbsp;of God’s grace. Isaiah saw a vision of the Lord "high and lifted up", with the temple veil torn (<a href='B:290 6:4'>Isa 6:4</a> cp. <a href='B:470 27:51'>Mat 27:51</a>), and was moved to realize his sinfulness, and vow to spread the appeal for repentance (<a href='B:290 6:1'>Isa 6:1</a>; <a href='B:290 6:5'>Isa 6:5</a>). The high, lifted up Lord whom he saw was He of <a href='B:290 52:13'>Isa 52:13</a> - the crucified Lord. And yet Isaiah saw Him enthroned in God’s glory, as it were on the cross. So John links the visions of Isaiah 6, 52/53 as both concerning the crucifixion (<a href='B:500 12:37-41'>Joh 12:37-41</a>); there the glory and essence of God was revealed supremely. <a href='B:500 12:38-41'>Joh 12:38-41</a> draws a parallel between being converted, and understanding the prophecies of the glory of the crucified Christ. To know Him in His time of dying, to see the arm of Yahweh revealed in Him there, is to be converted.</p><h4>Isaiah’s vision of "the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up" (<a href='B:290 6:1'>Isa 6:1</a>) connects with the description of the crucified Lord high and lifted up (<a href='B:290 52:13'>Isa 52:13</a>). This vision, John tells us, was of Christ in His glory. And John combines his citation of this passage with that of Isaiah 53 concerning the cross (<a href='B:500 12:41-42'>Joh 12:41-42</a>). The Lord, high and lifted up in glory, was the crucified Lord. There He was enthroned, in God’s eyes, in His throne of glory. When He comes again and sits in the throne of His glory, He will be repeating in principle the glorification of the cross. The very vision of the lifted up Lord convicted Isaiah of his sinfulness, and steeled his faith in forgiveness (<a href='B:290 6:5-8'>Isa 6:5-8</a>). See on <a href='B:500 19:37'>Joh 19:37</a>.</h4>


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<h4>Above Him stood the seraphim- The cherubim overshadowing the ark, where the shekinah glory was, are described as six winged seraphim; or perhaps in the vision, they morph into this form. The word is used of the brazen Seraph (s:w. <a href='B:40 21:8'>Num 21:8</a>) made by Moses; and yet they have human faces, partly human like the cherubim figures of Ezekiel 1, which were also "high and lifted up" (<a href='B:330 10:16'>Eze 10:16</a> s:w:). We seem to have here a kaleidoscope of images, classic apocalyptic genre.</h4><h4>Each one had six wings; with two he covered his face, with two he covered his feet and with two he flew- "Feet" can also be read as "body". The sense is well expressed by the Targum: “With two he covered his face that he might not see; and with two he covered his body that he might not be seen". The seraphim / cherubim themselves are presented as in awe of the glory revealed, and even have a sense of unworthiness before that glory; for the same word for"covered"is used of sin being covered (<a href='B:230 32:1'>Psa 32:1</a>; <a href='B:230 85:2'>Psa 85:2</a>). Perhaps if Angels are in view, they carry with them the sense of forgiven sin from a previous creation. So little wonder Isaiah was even more convicted.</h4>


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<p>One called to another and said, Holy, holy, holy, is Yahweh of Armies! The whole earth is full of His glory!- The"earth"in view is eretz Israel primarily, the territory promised to Abraham. And yet that area was full of sinful behaviour, as Isaiah has demonstrated. But still God’s glory was articulated there at that time, and would be.</p>


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<p>The foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of Him who called, and the house was filled with smoke- This is a vision of the temple, and if the threshold pillars collapsed, the veil screening the most holy place came down. This is another similarity with the crucifixion (<a href='B:470 27:51'>Mat 27:51</a>). The house filling with smoke speaks of God’s wrath, but this wrath was averted in Hezekiah’s time. It had various later fulfillments, but finally <a href='B:730 15:8'>Rev 15:8</a> interprets this as the wrath of God poured out in the last days.</p>


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<h4>Then I said, Woe is me!- Isaiah repeatedly pronounces “woe” upon the people (<a href='B:290 3:9'>Isa 3:9</a>; <a href='B:290 5:8'>Isa 5:8</a>; <a href='B:290 5:11'>Isa 5:11</a>; <a href='B:290 5:18'>Isa 5:18</a>; <a href='B:290 5:20-22'>Isa 5:20-22</a>; <a href='B:290 8:11'>Isa 8:11</a>), and yet in that very context he can exclaim: “Woe is me” in chapter 6; he identified with them to the point of also feeling unworthy and under woe [in this clearly typifying the Lord’s identity with us].</h4><p>For I am undone, because I am a man of unclean lips- Isaiah realized his unworthiness:"Woe is me! For I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips". He felt he was going to be condemned. But then out of the same vision, the Angel comforted him:"Thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged". And then immediately he offered to go on a preaching mission to Israel, motivated by his own experience of forgiveness and with therefore an appropriate humility:"Here am I, send me"(<a href='B:290 6:5-8'>Isa 6:5-8</a>). This incident is full of allusion to the sending of an equally hesitant Moses. As God appears in the burning bush, so God appears to Isaiah among the seraphim, the burning ones. Moses is reluctant to bear God’s word because “I am a man of uncircumcised lips”, and Isaiah felt the same. Whom shall I send… who will go? (<a href='B:20 3:8-9'>Exo 3:8-9</a>) is matched by <a href='B:290 6:8-9'>Isa 6:8-9</a>. The willingness of Moses to go (<a href='B:20 3:4'>Exo 3:4</a>) is that of Isaiah. And it is to be our pattern, going forth in witness firstly convicted of our own utter unworthiness.</p><p>The vision occurred"in the year that King Uzziah died"(<a href='B:290 6:1'>Isa 6:1</a>)- and he died of leprosy, smitten of God for his sin. Isaiah would’ve known Uzziah, and prophesied against him. And yet now, after the vision of God’s glory, Isaiah declares that he is a man"of unclean lips". And it was lepers who had to cover their upper lips (<a href='B:30 13:45'>Lev 13:45</a>). He felt no better than Uzziah, the well known smitten-by-God king of Isaiah’s time. Likewise before the experience of God’s glory as it was and is in Christ, we shouldn’t feel that we are any better than the most famous sinner. See on <a href='B:290 7:20'>Isa 7:20</a>.</p><h4>And I dwell amongst a people of unclean lips: for my eyes have seen the King, Yahweh of Armies!- As noted on <a href='B:290 3:8'>Isa 3:8</a>, the sinfulness of Judah was epitomized in their language. Isaiah did not actually see God Himself, but an intense manifestation of Him. Likewise Yahweh was manifest in the death of the cross, but seeing Jesus there is not actually seeing God Himself crucified.</h4>


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<p>Then one of the seraphim flew to me having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar- Out of the same vision of glory which convicted Isaiah of his sinfulness, there came the power and message of forgiveness. This is what happens as we truly behold the cross. It should account for our conflicting emotions at the breaking of bread when we remember these things, and again encounter the Lord crucified"face to face".</p>


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<h4>He touched my mouth with it and said, Behold, this has touched your lips- Isaiah prophesied of the fire of Divine judgment. But the message was that contact with that fire was not necessarily destructive even to man. It is possible to “dwell with devouring fire” (<a href='B:290 33:14'>Isa 33:14</a>); that is part of relationship with God. The only other reference to lips being touched by an Angel is in <a href='B:340 10:16'>Dan 10:16</a>, where it gives Daniel the power of speech. And so the connection is established between receipt of forgiveness and empowerment to preach that message.</h4><h4>And your iniquity is taken away and your sin forgiven- The Hebrew here differentiates between guilt and forgiveness of sin. Hence GNB"now your guilt is gone, and your sins are forgiven". We can ascent theoretically to sin being forgiven; but feeling guilt removed from us is another thing. And that psychological gift is also available from God, through the power of the cross. The very terms iniquity taken away and sin forgiven are found in <a href='B:290 27:9'>Isa 27:9</a>; these things would happen if Judah were repentant and destroyed their idols. Isaiah is set up as representative of Judah. His cleansing could have been theirs. But they didn’t perceive the glory of the suffering servant, because they were impenitent. There were later chances for fulfilment of the prophecy- <a href='B:450 3:4'>Zec 3:4</a> speaks of how iniquity could have been taken away at the time of the restoration from Babylon. But again this was not fully experienced, and so the prophecies now come true in a new Israel who have responded to the glory of the suffering servant, the Lord Jesus.</h4>


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<h4>I heard the Lord’s voice, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then I said, Here I am. Send me!- The sinful but forgiven Isaiah was representative of Judah (:7), and yet also He was ’going for us’, representative of God and the Angelic seraphim. Just as the Lord Jesus was representative of both God and man; and as we as men are also the face of God in Christ to this world.</h4><p>Isaiah realized his unworthiness:"Woe is me! For I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips". He felt he was going to be condemned. But then the Angel comforted him:"Thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged". And then immediately he offered to go on a preaching mission to Israel:"Here am I, send me"(<a href='B:290 6:5-8'>Isa 6:5-8</a>). This is the essential qualification for all preaching work. Israel’s prophets sought to awaken guilt in those of God’s people who were repressing it. This is different to mere moralizing. They were appealing for an awakening of true conscience and guilt. Isaiah exemplified his message in his own life. He was convicted of his sin, saying “Woe is me”, in order to prepare him for the great truth that “your guilt is taken away” (<a href='B:290 6:1-7'>Isa 6:1-7</a>).</p><p>When God asks Isaiah whom He should send out, in a scene reminiscent of the Angelic court of Heaven in 1 Kings 22 and <a href='B:230 89:7'>Psa 89:7</a>, Isaiah says “Send me”. He wanted to be part of God’s way and word. And with us too, we are all in that sense ‘apostles’, sent ones, in that the word we preach must be identified with us personally. For the Lord’s parable speaks of how the Father sends out His servants- us- to invite men and women in to the supper of His Kingdom (<a href='B:470 22:14'>Mat 22:14</a>). See on <a href='B:290 9:7'>Isa 9:7</a>.</p><h4>The sending forth of Isaiah was the sending forth of God’s word to His people (s:w. <a href='B:290 9:8'>Isa 9:8</a>). Isaiah like the Lord Jesus and like us, was the word made flesh. The man became his message; there was a congruence between him personally and the word preached. In theimmediate context, Isaiah himself was the servant messenger sent forth (s:w. <a href='B:290 42:19'>Isa 42:19</a>; <a href='B:290 48:16'>Isa 48:16</a>; <a href='B:290 61:1'>Isa 61:1</a>); but he was largely rejected, and Jewish tradition has it that Isaiah was sawn in two by Hezekiah’s son Manasseh (<a href='B:650 11:37'>Heb 11:37</a>).</h4>


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<p>He said, Go, and tell this people, ‘You hear indeed, but don’t understand; and you see indeed, but don’t perceive’- It was because they of themselves would not"consider"/ ’understand’ (s:w. <a href='B:290 1:3'>Isa 1:3</a>) that they were psychologically confirmed in their attitudes and blinded so that they would not understand / consider. And so God operates to this day. The message Isaiah was commissioned to preach was therefore some time after they had had the opportunity to hear and see the message of Isaiah 1-5. This would explain why we have this commissioning of Isaiah only now in Isaiah 6.</p>


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<h4>Make the heart of this people fat. Make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and turn again, and be healed- For the quotation of these words in John 12, see on :1. The opportunity to repent in Isaiah’s time was spurned, for the most part. It was repeated in the times of Jeremiah and Ezekiel, and likewise wasn’t responded to. And again in the time of the Lord Jesus. And so He began speaking to the people in parables exactly so that&nbsp; they would not understand.</h4><h4>The Lord spoke in parables so that Israel would be deceived (unless they made specific search of the meaning of the parable) and therefore would not come to salvation. This fact is hard to get round for those who feel God isn’t responsible for deception. Isaiah spoke likewise (<a href='B:290 6:9-10'>Isa 6:9-10</a>; <a href='B:290 29:10-11'>Isa 29:10-11</a>). See on <a href='B:290 66:4'>Isa 66:4</a>. Thus men are confirmed psychologically in the way they wish to go.</h4><h4>And yet although their ears were"heavy", God’s ears were not heavy to them, if they would pray in repentance (s:w. <a href='B:290 59:1'>Isa 59:1</a>). It was by the stripes of the suffering servant that they would be"healed"(s:w. <a href='B:290 53:5'>Isa 53:5</a>). His sufferings and related glory have been the burden of the vision just seen. But whilst they refuse to"see"that, they would not be healed.</h4>


text:
<p>Then I said, Lord, how long? He answered, Until the cities are waste without inhabitant and houses without man and the land becomes utterly waste-This is the scene of <a href='B:290 4:1'>Isa 4:1</a>, when the invasion would severely deplete the population. But the time of their healing by the suffering servant (see on :10) was to coincide with the time of their judgment, in that those left alive were to form the spiritually purged remnant. The Divine intention was that the wasting of Judah would elicit their repentance and acceptance of a suffering servant saviour. This is why the Assyrian invasion coincided with Hezekiah’s suffering in sickness. But he elected not to be that saviour servant, and turned in his heart to Babylon. And so the prophecy was reapplied and rescheduled to other scenarios, which likewise didn’t come to fruition; and will come to its full term in the latter day devastation leading Judah to accept the Lord Jesus as their healer and suffering saviour.</p>


text:
<p>and Yahweh has removed men far away, and the forsaken places are many in the midst of the land- As noted on :11, an exile"far away"and the land laying desolate or emptied of its people (s:w."deserted place"in <a href='B:290 17:9'>Isa 17:9</a>) was required for them to"return"to God, both spiritually and literally to their land (:10"turn again"). This clearly was the potential at the time of the restoration from Babylon; but there was no repentance. And there is evidence from archaeology and Babylonian records that the"poor of the land"who were not taken captive to Babylon were the majority of the population. Babylon had a policy of deporting the ruling classes. That may however be the scenario implied by the LXX"And after this God shall remove the men far off, and they that are left upon the land shall be multiplied". The final fulfilment will be in the latter day desolation.</p>


text:
<p>If there is a tenth left in it, that also will in turn be consumed: as a terebinth, and as an oak, whose stump remains when they are felled; so the holy seed is its stump- LXX"and again it shall be for a spoil, as a turpentine tree, and as an acorn when it falls out of its husk". The original is unclear, but the idea is of new life being sown from a minority (ten per cent?) as a result of the destruction of the majority. The image is similar to that of the Messianic"Branch"shooting forth from the decaying stump of the house of David. A ten percent minority is also envisaged in <a href='B:370 5:3'>Amo 5:3</a>. They were perhaps the tenth, the tithe, which were intended for God’s work. The idea of only a tenth surviving is repeated in <a href='B:370 6:9-10'>Amo 6:9-10</a>. But we read of a third surviving in <a href='B:330 5:1-4'>Eze 5:1-4</a>; <a href='B:450 13:8'>Zec 13:8</a>, and elsewhere of a quarter. The reason is that the judgments pronounced were dependent upon Judah’s response to them. There were various different scenarios of both judgment and blessing, not all of which would come true. Because God is sensitive to human repentance and intercession, and changes the outcomes accordingly (<a href='B:300 18:7-9'>Jer 18:7-9</a>). The point is that as those trees even when cut down retain the seed in their roots, which will again spring up into a great tree, so out of the judgments to come upon Judah there would arise a remnant who would grow up into the great tree of God’s restored Kingdom.</p>


text:
<p>It happened in the days of Ahaz the son of Jotham the son of Uzziah, king of Judah, that Rezin the king of Syria and Pekah the son of Remaliah king of Israel, went up to Jerusalem to war against it, but could not prevail against it- The way Jerusalem survived a siege was to encourage them in Hezekiah’s time that with God’s help they could likewise survive the Assyrian siege. It seems Syria and Israel were trying to form a power bloc against Assyria, and were doing so with Egypt’s help- for this in turn would be a buffer for them against Assyria. Yet soon afterwards Judah were prostituting themselves to Syria and Egypt for help against Assyria. They became caught up in desperate politics, prostituting themselves to these nations and accepting their gods- rather than trust in Yahweh alone.</p>


text:
<p>It was told the house of David, saying, Syria is allied with Ephraim! His heart trembled, and the heart of his people, as the trees of the forest tremble with the wind- <a href='B:660 1:6'>Jas 1:6</a> uses this language and applies it to Christians who lack solid faith; but who like Judah turn to desperate politics to try to save them from situations rather than to their God. The house of David were the royal family, but they are spoken of in the singular, as the trembling heart of their king represented all of them. We note again that the people and the leadership are parallel. The masses were not punished for the unspirituality of their leadership; hence heavens and earth were addressed together at the start of the prophecy (<a href='B:290 1:2'>Isa 1:2</a>). The whole land was to tremble under judgment when it came (<a href='B:290 24:20'>Isa 24:20</a> s:w."tremble"); but judgment was but the articulation of the state of their faithless hearts. They were judged for the state of their hearts. Spiritual mindedness is of paramount significance to God.</p>


text:
<h4>Then Yahweh said to Isaiah, Go out now to meet Ahaz, you, and Shearjashub your son-"Shearjashub"means"a remnant shall return"(see on <a href='B:290 10:21'>Isa 10:21</a>). As is made explicit in :14 and <a href='B:290 8:18'>Isa 8:18</a>, Isaiah’s children were ’signs’. The message of Shearjashub was that a remnant would repent / return; and Isaiah is asking Ahab to be part of that remnant, and to repent of his faithless attitude:&nbsp;&nbsp;</h4><h4>At the end of the conduit of the upper pool, on the highway of the fuller’s field- The washer or fuller uses the same word for ’washing’ as used in the context of cleansing from sin (<a href='B:230 51:2'>Psa 51:2</a>; <a href='B:230 51:7'>Psa 51:7</a>; <a href='B:300 2:2'>Jer 2:2</a>; <a href='B:300 4:14'>Jer 4:14</a>; <a href='B:460 3:2'>Mal 3:2</a>). The suggestion was that they could repent and be cleansed of their sin; but they refused these waters which represented forgiveness (<a href='B:290 8:6'>Isa 8:6</a>). This location was signifcant, because it was there that Rabshakeh came with his demand for Jerusalem to surrender in <a href='B:290 36:2'>Isa 36:2</a>. Hezekiah was intended to recall how Ahaz had beenfaced with Isaiah at that same spot; and the call was to repent, to be washed, to become the remnant which would triumph. Circumstances repeat in our lives and between our lives and those of others; in this case, the experience of Ahaz repeated in the life of his son Hezekiah. And we are intended to join the dots and learn the lesson.</h4>


text:
<h4>Tell him, ‘Be careful- The word is translated ’a watchman’ later in Isaiah. He was to not fear but to watch- for Yahweh’s deliverance.</h4><p>And keep calm- It was in repentance that Judah would find"quietness", s:w."calm"(<a href='B:290 30:15'>Isa 30:15</a>; <a href='B:290 32:17'>Isa 32:17</a>). As noted on :3, Ahaz is being called upon to repent.</p><p>Don’t be afraid, neither let your heart be faint- The Lord may be quoting from here when He urges His people to not let their heart be troubled (<a href='B:500 14:1'>Joh 14:1</a>). The scenarios at the time of the Assyrian and Babylonian invasions didn’t fully come about, and so they were applied to a new Israel.</p><h4>Because of these two tails of smoking torches, for the fierce anger of Rezin and Syria, and of the son of Remaliah- The idea is that they were smoking and not burning torches, and would soon fizzle out; both Israel and Syria would be overrun by Assyria. Isaiah will not mention the name"Pekah"perhaps because he was a usurper who murdered the previous king (<a href='B:120 15:25'>2Ki 15:25</a>). LXX"for when my fierce anger is over, I will heal again".</h4>


text:
<p>Because Syria, Ephraim and the son of Remaliah have plotted evil against you, saying- It is possible that the planned invasion was thwarted because there was some repentance in Judah. But the prophetic word in essence was reapplied and rescheduled; for Assyria"plotted evil against"Judah (s:w. <a href='B:410 1:11'>Nah 1:11</a>). Judah were intended to learn from how this previous plotting of evil had been foiled by Yahweh. Circumstances repeat in our experiences, so that we might learn, and see the same Divine hand at work.</p>


text:
<h4>Let’s go up against Judah and tear it apart- The idea is of making a breach in a city wall, as was to happen under the Babylonians (<a href='B:120 25:4'>2Ki 25:4</a>; <a href='B:300 39:2'>Jer 39:2</a>).</h4><h4>And let’s divide it among ourselves, and set up a king in its midst, even the son of Tabeel- Tabeel is a Syrian name; this was the puppet king they had in mind.</h4>


text:
<p>This is what the Lord Yahweh says: It shall not stand, neither shall it happen- As suggested on :6, this may have been due to some repentance on the part of a minority in Judah. Circumstances repeat in our experiences, so that we might learn, and see the same Divine hand at work. Because this very phrase is used of how Judah are warned not to make plans according to the flesh, because they would not stand nor happen (<a href='B:290 8:10'>Isa 8:10</a>; <a href='B:290 28:18'>Isa 28:18</a>). They should have learnt from how the fleshly plans of Israel and Syria did not stand.</p>


text:
<h4>For the head of Syria is Damascus, and the head of Damascus is Rezin- The idea may be that their ’heads’ were but human, not Divine.</h4><h4>And within sixty-five years Ephraim shall be broken in pieces, so that it shall not be a people- One wonders why&nbsp; the ten tribe Kingdom was to cease being a people within 65 years of Isaiah’s prophecy; yet we note that Ahaz was told in the same context: “If ye [the two tribe Kingdom of Judah] will not believe, surely ye shall not be established” (<a href='B:290 7:8-9'>Isa 7:8-9</a>). Was the prophetic outline of events in Isaiah 7 not conditional upon the faith of Ahaz and the wide reaching repentance of Judah? The demise of Israel happened 15 years later, but perhaps it was somehow possible that it would have been delayed, up to a maximum of ["within"] 65 years, depending on human response?&nbsp; But 65 years from when Isaiah was prophesying would bring us to about BC 670, when Esarhaddon implemented his policy ofbringing foreigners to live in the territory of the ten tribes (<a href='B:150 4:2'>Ezr 4:2</a>; <a href='B:150 4:10'>Ezr 4:10</a>). This was the final breaking in pieces of Ephraim. The immediate destruction of Ephraim and Syria was to be within just a few years (see on :15,16).</h4>


text:
<p>and the head of Ephraim is Samaria, and the head of Samaria is Remaliah’s son. If you will not believe, surely you shall not be established’-"If you do not stand firm::. you shall not be made firm"is a classic example of how God will confirm us in the spiritual path we wish to take. But LXX has"but if ye believe not, neither will ye at all understand", as if understanding in the sense of true relationship with God is predicated upon faith. Misunderstanding of God, in whatever form, therefore usually has a basis in lack of faith; it’s not mere intellectual error in interpretation, but rooted in the moral issues connected with lack of faith.</p>


text:
<p>Yahweh spoke again to Ahaz, saying- The"again"suggests Ahaz had not responded to the call for repentance and faith made in :3,4.</p>


text:
<p>Ask a sign of Yahweh your God; ask it either in the depth, or in the height above- God wanted Ahaz to believe and repent, and Ahaz’s refusal didn’t mean God just turned away from him; He now gives him the opportunity to ask for concrete evidence upon which to base his faith. Such is God’s eagerness for even wicked men like Ahaz to eblieve and repent.</p>


text:
<p>But Ahaz said, I will not ask, neither will I tempt Yahweh- As explained on :11, God was giving Ahaz yet another chance to properly believe in Him and repent. His refusal to engage with this offer was therefore sinful, but he masks it in fake humility. We can appear to be humble, and by doing so actually express our pride. Ahaz is one of many Biblical examples of this kind of false humility. He refused to ask a sign of Yahweh, when invited to, lest he be like apostate Israel in the wilderness, and tempt Yahweh (<a href='B:290 7:12'>Isa 7:12</a> cp. <a href='B:50 6:16'>Deu 6:16</a>). But this was actually a ’wearying’ of God, and so he was given a sign relating to his condemnation (<a href='B:290 7:12-13'>Isa 7:12-13</a>).</p>


text:
<p>He said, Listen now, house of David. Is it not enough for you to try the patience of men, that you will try the patience of My God also?-"My God"suggests this is Isaiah talking. But the context is of God speaking directly (:10). This was how intertwined were God and His prophet; the process of inspiration worked through this. Isaiah’s patience was tested ["the patience of men"], and therefore so was that of God. As noted on <a href='B:290 1:14'>Isa 1:14</a>, God was already"wearied"[s:w."to try the patience"] of Israel.</p>


text:
<h4>Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin will conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel- We could read this as a sign of judgment because Ahaz refused to repent; see on :13. But we could also see God’s purpose in Christ as being His attempt to almost force through His saving purpose with Judah. Already in this chapter, Ahaz had twice refused the invitations to repent and believe (:3,12). And so God responds by giving His Son, rather like how in the parable of the wicked husbandmen, the rejection of the prophets is responded to by God sending His own Son. In the immediate context, Isaiah was to have another son, and his children were all children of sign to Judah (see on :3; <a href='B:290 8:18'>Isa 8:18</a>). This son could perhaps have been the Messiah figure, but presumably he failed to live up to it; or as suggested on <a href='B:290 8:1'>Isa 8:1</a>, this plan was changed by God and the child renamed. And so it came to fulfilment in the Lord Jesus. This explains the ambiguity of the word"virgin", which can mean just a young woman (Isaiah’s wife, in the first instance), or refer (as LXX) to a literal virgin who was to conceive without the involvement of a man. This would also explain the ambiguity caused by the verbs"to conceive"and"bear"being participles- ambiguous as to whether they refer to the present or the future.</h4><h4>Seeing it refers primarily to Isaiah’s wife, we may wonder why it is quoted of the virgin conception of Mary in the New Testament. But the New Testament sometimes seems to quote the Old Testament without strict attention to the context- at least, so far as human Bible scholarship can discern. And rabbinic targums use the text likewise. The early chapters of Matthew contain at least three examples of&nbsp; quotations whose context just cannot fit the application given: <a href='B:470 2:14-15'>Mat 2:14-15</a> cp. os 11:1; <a href='B:470 2:17-18'>Mat 2:17-18</a> cp. <a href='B:300 31:15'>Jer 31:15</a>; <a href='B:470 1:23'>Mat 1:23</a> cp. <a href='B:290 7:14'>Isa 7:14</a>. Much Christian material about Israel shows how they have returned to the land, rebuilt the ruined cities, made the desert blossom etc:, as fulfilment of Old Testament prophecies in Jeremiah etc. The context of these prophecies often doesn’t fit a return to the land by Jews in the 20th century; but on the other hand, the correspondence between these prophecies and recent history is so remarkable that it can’t be just coincidence. So again we are led to conclude that a few words here and there within a prophecy can sometimes have a fulfilment outside that which the context seems to require.</h4>


text:
<p>He shall eat curds and honey when he knows to refuse the evil, and choose the good- Curds and honey could be seen as representing the blessings of obedience to the covenant, which would be enjoyed by the repentant remnant after the desolation of Judah (:22). This time of blessing on Judah was intended to come in just a few years, before the child came to an age of moral responsibility. This implies very small children cannot choose between good and evil. Or as LXX"Butter and honey shall he eat, before he knows either to prefer evil or choose the good". The prophetic potential was that Assyria would invade Judah as well as Israel and take them both into captivity in the time of Ahaz, within a few years (<a href='B:290 8:3-4'>Isa 8:3-4</a>); and the remnant left in the land would, along with this child, eat curds and honey as the land again became fruitful for them. But Assyria didn’t destroy Judah, they weren’t taken into captivity, and generally didn’t repent. The scenario didn’t work out. God factored in the repentance of a tiny remnant and their intercession for Jerusalem; and also the fact that generally, there wasn’t going to be repentance in Judah. And so this potential scenario was disallowed. See on <a href='B:290 8:1'>Isa 8:1</a>.</p>


text:
<p>For before the child knows to refuse the evil, and choose the good, the land whose two kings you abhor shall be forsaken- There is an ambiguity in the text, as to whether the land of Judah was to be forsaken as Ahaz feared; or whether the lands of Syria and Israel would be. Hence LXX"and the land shall be forsaken which thou art afraid of because of the two kings". The next verse in any case warns that judgment is going to come upon Judah at the hands of the Assyrians. The ambiguity may be because the outcome depended upon the repentance of Judah; and God protected them from the Israel-Syria invasion because there was some repentance. And likewise, in the end, from the full intended force of the Assyrian invasion (see on :17).</p>


text:
<h4>Yahweh will bring on you, on your people and on your father’s house, days that have not come, from the day that Ephraim departed from Judah- God said that the division was the greatest tragedy to come upon His people (<a href='B:290 7:17'>Isa 7:17</a>). The way the new garment of Ahijah was torn up to symbolize the division, reflects the utter waste (<a href='B:110 11:29'>1Ki 11:29</a>). For an outer cloak was a garment a man could wear for life; to have a new one was something significant.</h4><h4>Even the king of Assyria- But the Assyrians did not attack in the time of Ahaz, and Jerusalem and the royal family was preserved when they did attack later. As noted on :15,16, this was presumably because there was a modicum of repentance, at least amongst a remnant.</h4>


text:
<p>It will happen in that day that Yahweh will whistle for the fly that is in the uttermost part of the rivers of Egypt, and for the bee that is in the land of Assyria- As explained on :15, The prophetic potential was that Assyria from the north would invade Judah as well as Israel and take them both into captivity in the time of Ahaz, within a few years (<a href='B:290 8:3-4'>Isa 8:3-4</a>), with Egypt attacking from the south; and the remnant left in the land would, along with this child, eat curds and honey as the land again became fruitful for them (:22).</p>


text:
<p>They shall come, and shall all rest in the desolate valleys, in the clefts of the rocks, on all thorn hedges, and on all pastures- This hiding in the rocks is the language of condemnation of <a href='B:290 2:19'>Isa 2:19</a>; but now we learn that even hidden there, they would be attacked by the Assyrians and Egyptians, who like bees and tiny stinging insects would still penetrate to&nbsp; those hidden in clefts of the rock. But it seems many of them were saved from this by grace, and by the repentance of a remnant. See on :15,16,18. Later Isaiah applies it to the judged exiles in Babylon (<a href='B:290 42:22'>Isa 42:22</a>); but with the good news that even from that humbled, condemned position- they could be exalted and returned to the restored Kingdom.</p>


text:
<p>In that day the Lord will shave with a razor that is hired in the parts beyond the River Euphrates, even with the king of Assyria, the head and the hair of the feet; and it shall also consume the beard- This sounds like the shaving of a leprous man that he might be accepted back into fellowship with God. As explained on <a href='B:290 6:5'>Isa 6:5</a>,Judah were leprous, as Isaiah had felt himself to be, and had not allowed themselves to be cleansed by the vision of Yahweh’s glory. So the Assyrian invasion was intended to do this for them, to bring them to fellowship with God.</p>


text:
<p>It shall happen in that day that a man shall keep alive a young cow, and two sheep- The scenario was that the Assyrian invasion would lead to the desolation of the land; but something would be ’kept alive’. And that young cow would produce so much milk that curds would be made from it (:22). The idea was that the remnant in the land would repent and begin to experience the kingdom blessings. But this scenario didn’t come about. God factored in the repentance of a tiny remnant and their intercession for Jerusalem; and also the fact that generally, there wasn’t going to be repentance in Judah. And so this potential scenario was disallowed.</p>


text:
<p>and it shall happen, that because of the abundance of milk which they shall give he shall eat curds: for everyone will eat curds and honey who is left in the midst of the land-"The midst of the land"may refer to salvation in Jerusalem. See on :21.</p>


text:
<p>It will happen in that day that every place where there were a thousand vines at a thousand silver shekels, shall be for briers and thorns- This and the similar prophecy of desolation in <a href='B:290 5:6'>Isa 5:6</a> didn’t happen at the Assyrian invasion; it was reapplied to the situation after the Babylonian invasion, when the land was intended to rest (<a href='B:30 26:34'>Lev 26:34</a>; <a href='B:30 26:43'>Lev 26:43</a>) until Judah repented. But even that program didn’t work out, and so the Lord’s parable of the vineyard explained that therefore the vineyard was given to a new Israel. Briers and thorns is an allusion to the curse upon the garden of Eden- another reason for understanding Eden as eretz Israel, from whom likewise Israel were to be exiled to the east. Yet"briers and thorns"is a term used by Isaiah about the aggressive, thorny nature of Judah (<a href='B:290 9:18'>Isa 9:18</a>; <a href='B:290 10:17'>Isa 10:17</a>). Their whole land was to become like them; and so their judgment was but an extension of their own behaviour.</p>


text:
<p>People will go there with arrows and with bow, because all the land will be briers and thorns- The land of Judah was not overrun by thorns and left desolate because of the mass destruction of its population by the Assyrians. As explained on :15, the possible scenario didn’t happen. These people who remained were intended to be the righteous remnant.</p>


text:
<p>All the hills that were cultivated with the hoe, you shall not come there for fear of briers and thorns; but it shall be for the sending forth of oxen, and for the treading of sheep- The LXX suggests that from the once desolate land covered with thorns, there would come pasture at the restoration:"And every mountain shall be certainly ploughed: there shall no fear come thither: for there shall be from among the barren ground and thorns that whereon cattle shall feed and oxen shall tread". These people who remained were intended to be the righteous remnant.</p>


text:
<p>Yahweh said to me, Take a large tablet, and write on it with a man’s pen, ‘For Maher Shalal Hash Baz’-"A man’s pen"in Hebrew could imply ’in hieroglyphics’ [see Keil & Delitszch’s commentary], clearly understood visually by men (a requirement for all such prophetic work- see <a href='B:420 2:2'>Hab 2:2</a>; <a href='B:530 14:19'>1Co 14:19</a>). It could be that Isaiah is told to draw this on a plaque for all to see, and then when his wife has a child he is told to use this name to name the child. He was told to write on it"Mahershalalhashbaz", not to write ’concerning’ or ’about’ his future son [as the AV incorrectly states]. It could also be that God was telling Isaiah to give his book of prophecies, or at least the prophecies in these chapters, a title on the scroll. The fact Isaiah’s son had the same name would have made him a kind of ’word made flesh’, a living reminder of his father’s work. As we know from the example of Zacharias naming John the Baptist, a father would write his newborn son’s name on a tablet. So he is naming the child before the child was even conceived (:3). His children were signs (see on <a href='B:290 7:3'>Isa 7:3</a>; <a href='B:290 8:18'>Isa 8:18</a>), at least in their names. This naming of a new child follows right after the prediction that a young woman (Isaiah’s wife) was to have a son, ’Emmanuel’, and before he was a few years old, Judah would have been desolated and a righteous remnant emerge (see on <a href='B:290 7:15-25'>Isa 7:15-25</a>). It could be that this new child is that same child; but the name is changed, because the potential scenario changed; see on <a href='B:290 7:15'>Isa 7:15</a>.</p>


text:
<p>and I will take for Myself faithful witnesses to testify: Uriah the priest, and Zechariah the son of Jeberechiah- Presumably, to testify that he had named this child with this name before it was born; and that he somehow foreknew that it would be a male. Isaiah’s knowledge of this would confirm the suggestion made on :1, that this was the ’Emmanuel’ child of <a href='B:290 7:14'>Isa 7:14</a> but renamed. We note that despite the general apostasy of the leadership alluded to in Isaiah’s prophecies so far, there were at least two other faithful men. However, Uriah is mentioned as being ordered to construct an altar to foreign gods in the temple (<a href='B:120 16:10-11'>2Ki 16:10-11</a>). Yet here he is considered by Isaiah to be a"faithful witness". It could be a different Uriah; or perhaps he lost his faith, or regained it- it’s hard to work out when exactly Isaiah is speaking, before or after the time of <a href='B:120 16:10'>2Ki 16:10</a>.</p>


text:
<p>I went to the prophetess, and she conceived, and bore a son. Then Yahweh said to me, Call his name ‘Maher Shalal Hash Baz’- Mahershalalhashbaz means ’Speed the spoil, hasten the prey’. The idea is that whilst Judah refused to repent, they were hastening the threatened judgments upon them; they were as the prey running towards the approaching Assyrian hunter, who was speeding towards them. There is a gap between God’s threatened judgments and His fulfilment of them, but that gap can be reduced [or extended] by human behaviour. Things can be hastened or delayed; and Judah’s impenitence was hastening the fulfilment (cp. <a href='B:290 60:22'>Isa 60:22</a>). God therefore said in this context that He was hastening the fulfilment of His word (<a href='B:300 1:12'>Jer 1:12</a>). We can hasten the coming of the day of God (<a href='B:680 3:12'>2Pe 3:12</a>), for the elects sake the days shall be shortened, the bridegroom delays, yet the days of Amorite iniquity must still be ’filled up’ to the required level before judgment comes::. These kinds of verses show that some factors hasten the coming of judgment, others slow it down and delay it. The actual coming of the Lord Jesus will not be on some date which was arbitrarily predetermined, but rather on a day which is the result of some huge equation, considering and correctly weighting every factor in a way which only a Divine being could do.</p>


text:
<p>For before the child knows how to say, ‘My father’, and, ‘My mother’, the riches of Damascus and the spoil of Samaria will be carried away by the king of Assyria- Judah saw Ephraim’s spoil going into captivity, and yet Judah had spoiled innocent people but not been spoiled in return (<a href='B:290 33:1'>Isa 33:1</a>). Such was God’s grace to them. The idea is that the wealth of both Damascus (<a href='B:330 27:18'>Eze 27:18</a>) and Samaria would be carried away around the same time, and Assyrian inscriptions testify to this.</p>


text:
<p>Yahweh spoke to me yet again, saying-"Yet again"reflects how the people had refused the offers of repentance and forgiveness so far made.</p>


text:
<h4>Because this people have refused the waters of Shiloah that go softly- The small brook within Jerusalem which Hezekiah used to give water to the faithful remnant within Jerusalem during the Assyrian siege. The New Testament"pool of Siloam"is the Greek name for the pool of Shiloah. The water was"soft", it was an apparently insignificant stream, but represented the spiritual water given in Christ (<a href='B:500 4:10'>Joh 4:10</a>). <a href='B:230 46:4-5'>Psa 46:4-5</a> refer to the stream as symbolic of how"God is within"Jerusalem- just as Emmanuel means ’God is with us’. The reference is to the offer made in <a href='B:290 7:3'>Isa 7:3</a>, when Isaiah met Ahaz"At the end of the conduit of the upper pool, on the highway of the fuller’s field":&nbsp; The washer or fuller uses the same word for ’washing’ as used in the context of cleansing from sin (<a href='B:230 51:2'>Psa 51:2</a>; <a href='B:230 51:7'>Psa 51:7</a>; <a href='B:300 2:2'>Jer 2:2</a>; <a href='B:300 4:14'>Jer 4:14</a>; <a href='B:460 3:2'>Mal 3:2</a>). The suggestion was that they could repent and be cleansed of their sin; but they refused these waters which represented forgiveness (<a href='B:290 8:6'>Isa 8:6</a>).</h4><h4>And rejoice in Rezin and Remaliah’s son- Yet we have just read in <a href='B:290 7:1-2'>Isa 7:1-2</a> and will do again in <a href='B:290 8:12'>Isa 8:12</a> that Ahaz and Judah were terrified at the prospect of being invaded by Rezin of Syria and Pekah of Israel, who had come up and besieged Jerusalem. How did they now"rejoice"in them? LXX has"::. but wills to have Rassin, and the son of Romelias to be king over you". GNB offers"::. and tremble before King Rezin and King Pekah". But if we stick with the Masoretic text, we can conclude that it is the ten tribes of Israel who are being spoken about in this verse. They had been offered the waters of Shiloah, the chance of cleansing in Jerusalem and Judah, but had refused it; and so they were to be destroyed by the Assyrians (:7); and that invasion of Israel was to"sweep onward into Judah"(<a href='B:290 8:8'>Isa 8:8</a>). Israel’s refusal of the call to repentance, and subsequent judgment for this by the Assyrians, was to be an example to Judah; just as the judgment of others, both in Biblical history and our own contemporary experience, is to be a warning to us, to which we respond.</h4>


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<p>now therefore, behold, the Lord brings upon them the mighty flood waters of the River Euphrates: the king of Assyria and all his glory. It will come up over all its channels, and go over all its banks- The Assyrian invader is described as having wings and"glory"(<a href='B:290 8:7-8'>Isa 8:7-8</a>), both of which are terms associated with the Angel-cherubim, seeing that they were ultimately behind the invasion. All that happens on earth is somehow a reflection of, and is reflected in, the situation in the court of Heaven. This verse speaks of the Assyrian invasion of the ten tribes; see on :6. Hence"brings upon them".</p>


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<h4>It will sweep onward into Judah- The envisaged prophetic scenario was that the invasion and destruction of the ten tribes by Assyria would be at the same time as the invasion of Judah by Assyria, part of the same campaign, sweeping onward to them. This is also envisaged in <a href='B:290 17:3'>Isa 17:3</a>. Indeed according to <a href='B:290 10:7'>Isa 10:7</a>,"it is in his heart to destroy, and to cut off not a few nations"at that same time. But this isn’t what happened. The prophecies offer various potential scenarios, which could be ameliorated, changed, hastened, intensified, delayed or cancelled because of God’s extreme sensitivity to human repentance. This is why it’s impossible to use Bible prophecies to construct a chronology of latter day events; there are so many variables. Not least the repentance of Israel, the work of the faithful ecclesia in preaching the Gospel to the world and prayer for the Lord’s coming- quite apart from the Divine pity which is at the core of His character.</h4><h4>It will overflow and pass through; it will reach even to the neck; and the stretching out of its wings will fill the breadth of your land, Immanuel- The waters of Euphrates were to rise until only the head of Judah, i:e. Jerusalem, was left uncaptured by the Assyrian invasion. Yet this is the very figure which the Messianic <a href='B:230 69:1'>Psa 69:1</a> uses in a prediction of Christ’s crucifixion. There He was the One, the sufficient remnant, which enabled our salvation- just as Isaiah and Emmanuel had been in Isaiah’s time. This means that the prophecy was rescheduled and reapplied. As noted earlier on this verse, the potential prophetic scenario didn’t happen in Isaiah’s time as it might have done. The"Immanuel"Messianic figure was to be in the land when Judah was invaded and swamped by the same Assyrian campaign which destroyed the ten tribes; and that didn’t happen, at the time. So it was rescheduled and reapplied. For the essence of God’s word shall always come true.</h4>


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<p>Make an uproar, you peoples, and be broken in pieces! Listen, all you from far countries: dress for battle, and be shattered! Dress for battle, and be shattered!- All plans and schemes to resist the Assyrian invasion, trying to form power blocs against them, would fail. Resistance was futile; only the God who was with Judah (:10) could save. This was a tacit appeal for Israel and the surrounding nations to accept Judah’s God. This is consistently the prophetic vision; that the surrounding nations would repent and join together as part of a revived Kingdom of God based in Judah.</p>


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<p>Take counsel together, and it will be brought to nothing; speak the word, and it will not stand: for God is with us- Circumstances repeat in our experiences, so that we might learn, and see the same Divine hand at work. Because this very phrase is used of how the fleshly plans of Israel and Syria also did not stand (<a href='B:290 7:7'>Isa 7:7</a>). There is the same Divine hallmark in all His operations. The only salvation from the Assyrians was to be"Immanuel", God with us. But this prophetic scenario didn’t completely come to pass; see on :8.</p>


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<p>For Yahweh spoke thus to me with a strong hand, and instructed me not to walk in the way of this people, saying- see on <a href='B:610 4:1'>1Ti 4:1</a>. The strength of the Divine hand upon Isaiah was because he was clearly tempted to be caught up in the spirit of panic which was in the society of Judah.</p>


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<h4>Don’t say, ‘A conspiracy!’ concerning all about which this people say, ‘A conspiracy!’ neither fear what they fear, nor be terrorized- They considered that the conspiracy or alliance between Syria and Israel was too powerful for them to resist. So everyone was talking about this"conspiracy"; but the faithful were not to be caught up in the latest paranoia of a faithless society. And that again is a lesson for us.</h4><h4>The Hebrew yare means both fear / dread, and also reverence / worship. It is used for literal fear in <a href='B:290 8:12-13'>Isa 8:12-13</a>: instead of fearing the invaders, worshipping their fears, Israel were to be fearing God. Knowing the enveloping mercy of God should lead to a real fear of a God so gracious (<a href='B:230 5:7'>Psa 5:7</a>). However, obedience to God’s commands would lead to a fear of Yahweh’s glorious and fearful name (<a href='B:50 28:58'>Deu 28:58</a>); not the other way round, whereby fear of God leads to obedience. God’s character is not just partly severe, partly gracious. His grace and His judgment of sin are wonderfully interconnected within His character.</h4>


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<h4>Yahweh of Armies is who you must respect as holy. He is the one you must fear; He is the one you mustdread- The heavenly armies of Angels were to be believed in, rather than the armies of their enemies. Fear, respect and dread here all effectively imply ’believe in’; for we believe in that which we fear. The fear of Yahweh’s judgment is because of sin; it is our sin and its associated judgment which we should fear, more than any human threat to our existence. And if the fear of condemnation is now removed from us, then we can live boldly and confidently in this world, whatever we face in secular life.</h4><h4>The idea is that God’s true people should not share the fears of the unbelieving world [of death, financial collapse etc:] but rather fear God. These verses are quoted and applied to us all in <a href='B:670 3:14-15'>1Pe 3:14-15</a>. The idea of not fearing what men fear but rather fearing God is also in <a href='B:490 12:4-5'>Luk 12:4-5</a> and <a href='B:290 51:12-13'>Isa 51:12-13</a>. God being a rock of security for His people (:14) is applied to the Lord Jesus Christ in <a href='B:670 2:8'>1Pe 2:8</a> - as if to say that we are indeed in the same situation, tempted to fear the world’s fear when all hearts are failing for fear, but our rock is the fact that the Lord Jesus died and rose for us and is coming again for our salvation.</h4>


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<h4>He will be a sanctuary for both houses of Israel- The allusion is how the sanctuary was perceived as a place of asylum (<a href='B:20 21:14'>Exo 21:14</a>; <a href='B:110 1:50'>1Ki 1:50</a>; <a href='B:110 2:28'>1Ki 2:28</a>; <a href='B:110 2:30'>1Ki 2:30</a>). The implication was that Yahweh Himself would be this safe place. In the immediate context, the reference is to how the faithful from both Israel and Judah,"both houses of Israel", fled for refuge from the Assyrians into Jerusalem. The unity of God’s people was to be achieved by their joint experience of their desperation, their realization of their sin, repentance and forgiveness. These are the things which bind people together rather than on paper agreements. But the greater reference is to how God in His Son will be for the salvation of all Israel.</h4><h4>But He will be a trap and a snare for the inhabitants of Jerusalem- This didn’t happen in Isaiah’s day, in that the inhabitants of Jerusalem were spared; this judgment was ameliorated by the repentance and intercession of the remnant. But it did come true later in&nbsp; the Babylonian and Roman invasions; those who remained inhabiting Jerusalem did so in disobedience to the prophetic calls to leave the city, and so were consumed within it. They remained in the city because they believed that the Egyptians (with whom they had made a covenant) would break the Babylonian siege; and so again was fulfilled the warning that covenants with the Gentiles would be a snare to them ( s:w. <a href='B:20 34:12'>Exo 34:12</a>). And yet it is the idols of the nations which are repeatedly described as"a trap and a snare"for Israel;""Yahweh" became that trap and snare because they worshipped those idols in the name of Yahweh worship. The day of the Lord will be a snare to the unsuspecting worldling, who will suddenly find that the Lord has come and destroyed him (<a href='B:290 8:14'>Isa 8:14</a>; <a href='B:290 24:17-18'>Isa 24:17-18</a>; <a href='B:300 50:24'>Jer 50:24</a>; <a href='B:490 21:35'>Luk 21:35</a>). Yet the materialistic believer falls into the snare of riches here and now. Surely the point is that our attitude to riches is a preview of the judgment; the materialistic believer has condemned himself, right now.</h4>


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<p>Many will stumble over it, fall, be broken, be snared, and be captured- "Many" implies a remnant who would not stumble. I suggested on :14 that it was covenants with surrounding nations and accepting their gods which were the "trap and snare" for Israel and Judah in Isaiah’s time. But like all things in the prophetic word, these things became reapplied to the things of the Lord Jesus, so that "Whosoever shall fall on this stone (Christ) shall be broken: but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder" (<a href='B:470 21:44'>Mat 21:44</a>). There is an unmistakable allusion here to the stone destroying the image, the Kingdoms of men, in <a href='B:340 2:44'>Dan 2:44</a>. The choice we have is to fall upon Christ and break our bones, to get up and stumble on with our natural self broken in every bone; or to be ground to powder by the Lord at His return, to share the judgments of this surrounding evil world. Yet strangely (at first sight) the figure of stumbling on the stone of Christ often describes the person who stumbles at His word,&nbsp; who rejects it (<a href='B:290 8:14-15'>Isa 8:14-15</a>; <a href='B:520 9:33'>Rom 9:33</a>; <a href='B:670 2:7-8'>1Pe 2:7-8</a>). In other words, through our spiritual failures we come to break ourselves, we become a community of broken men and women; broken in that we have broken our inner soul in conformity to God’s will. As Simeon cuddled that beautiful, innocent baby Jesus, he foresaw all this: "Behold, this child is set for the fall and rising again (resurrection) of many in Israel::. thatthe thoughts of many hearts may be revealed" (<a href='B:490 2:34'>Luk 2:34</a>). If we are to share His resurrection, if we are to experience such newness of life in this life, we must fall upon Him, really feel the cutting edge of His word. We must be broken now; or be broken and ground to powder at the judgment.</p>


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<h4>Wrap up the testimony. Seal the law among My disciples- This could be Isaiah’s prayer to God for his disciples rather than God’s command to Isaiah. A possible translation of <a href='B:290 8:16'>Isa 8:16</a> is: “I will bind up the testimony, and seal the instruction by my disciples” [suggested by Dr. Martin Hengel]. The context is Isaiah speaking about his disciples in the school of the prophets he ran, and praying to God for them. "The testimony" may be that which was legally testified to in <a href='B:290 8:2'>Isa 8:2</a>. God was now hiding His face from the people (:17) and they were to be left without clear revelation from Him (<a href='B:290 6:9-10'>Isa 6:9-10</a>), and they would not have access to His word (see on :19). The sealing of the book in Daniel likewise means that understanding would be hidden. But Isaiah prays that the word of truth would remain amongst his disciples and immediate family (:18).</h4><h4>The implication could be that the disciples of Divine teaching are actually the seal or credibility of the instruction / testimony which the Gospel contains. Valid converts are therefore a sign of the validity of the preacher, and are therefore a qualification for eldership. The respect afforded to such converters / leaders should, however, be qualified by their meeting of the standards Paul lays down: e:g. their own natural children should be well led by them. The integrity and manner of life of those who converted us is what inspires us to carry on. Thus Paul urges Timothy to “continue” because he knew “of what persons” he had been taught them (<a href='B:620 3:14'>2Ti 3:14</a> RVmg:).</h4>


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<p>I will wait for Yahweh, who hides His face from the house of Jacob, and I will look for Him- The emphasis is upon "I". Yahweh would be hidden from the majority, but Isaiah and his family (:18) represented the remnant from whom He had not hidden His face, and who could look for Him and find Him whereas the majority could not (:21).</p>


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<h4>Behold, I and the children whom Yahweh has given me are for signs and for wonders in Israel from Yahweh of Armies- The children could have been Isaiah’s disciples. But the reference is more naturally to the children of sign, Immanuel and Mahershalalhashbaz, and to Shearjashub his other son (<a href='B:290 7:3'>Isa 7:3</a>), which means ’a remnant will return’, whose name was used as an appeal for repentance in <a href='B:290 7:3'>Isa 7:3</a>; <a href='B:290 10:21'>Isa 10:21</a>. The ’return’ in mind is, I suggest, a spiritual return to God. That son was a "sign" to Judah and in a way, a witness to the mission and message of his father Isaiah. Just as Isaiah’s son ’Immanuel’ is alluded to in the statement in <a href='B:290 8:10'>Isa 8:10</a> that "God is with us", so the idea of ’’Shearjashub’ is in <a href='B:290 10:21-22'>Isa 10:21-22</a>: "A remnant shall return::. to the mighty God". And practically, this found its outworking in Hezekiah’s appeal to all Israel to ’return’ unto Yahweh (<a href='B:140 30:6'>2Ch 30:6</a>). Those who responded came to live in Jerusalem (<a href='B:140 30:10-11'>2Ch 30:10-11</a>)- and thus the promised "sanctuary" was created there. For many in the rest of the land died at the hands of the Assyrians; only those with Isaiah in Jerusalem were preserved. Because they sanctified Yahweh, He was a sanctuary for them (<a href='B:290 8:14'>Isa 8:14</a>). This preservation of the remnant in Jerusalem is a theme of Isaiah- it is alluded to in <a href='B:290 26:20'>Isa 26:20</a> which speaks of coming into a place of refuge until the Assyrian invasion was passed: "Come, My people, enter into your rooms, and shut your doors behind you. Hide yourself for a little moment, until the indignation is past". Likewise Mahershalalhashbaz was a sign in that his name spoke of the coming judgment which Isaiah preached. The words forming his name are found in <a href='B:290 10:2'>Isa 10:2</a>; <a href='B:290 10:6'>Isa 10:6</a> where we read of how Judah were tobe prey and spoil for the Assyrian invaders. Emmanuel too was a sign, alluded to by Isaiah in <a href='B:290 8:10'>Isa 8:10</a>. He was a sign that God is with us. Trinitarians need to note that the child was not "God with us" but the sign that God is with us. <a href='B:140 32:7-8'>2Ch 32:7-8</a> shows how Hezekiah grasped the point, when he twice assures Judah that God is with us and they need not fear Assyria. This means that Isaiah and his wife (a "prophetess") and his three sons were perhaps the faithful remnant in Jerusalem alluded to in chapter 1, for whose sakes Jerusalem was spared. A faithful couple with three sons recalls the situation with Noah, for whose sake the ’earth’ was spared total destruction, and this would explain the many allusions to the judgment of the flood in Isaiah. Here in chapter 8, the Assyrian invasion is explicitly likened to flood waters, and <a href='B:290 54:9'>Isa 54:9</a> puts it all in so many words: "This is like the days of Noah to me: as I swore that the waters of Noah should no more go over the earth, so I have sworn that I will not be angry with you, and will not rebuke you".</h4><p>The voice of the prophets didn’t go entirely unheeded. A tiny minority responded. Isaiah had his school of disciples, referred to in Isaiah 8. The books of the prophets were presumably written up (under inspiration) by their disciples, and the biographical sections added by them. So the very existence of the books of the prophets itself indicates they had some converts who hung on and valued their every word. And yet despite this, the prophets felt lonely men, despite the converts they made- Micah felt like a tree left alone, naked and bare at the end of Summer (<a href='B:400 7:1'>Mic 7:1</a>). Jeremiah “sat alone” (<a href='B:300 15:17'>Jer 15:17</a>). Not only was their perspective on human sinfulness so very different to that of their audience. They preached a message which was counter-cultural and attacked the very bases of the assumptions which lay at the core of individual and social life in Israel. They appeared to back Israel’s enemies. Their message was therefore rejected.</p><p><a href='B:650 2:13'>Heb 2:13</a> applies Isaiah’s words here to Jesus, making Isaiah a clear type of Christ, the faithful one by reason of whom Judah were spared from total destruction, as Isaiah 1 began by emphasizing.</p><h4>Who dwells in Mount Zion- see on <a href='B:10 33:5'>Gen 33:5</a>. There are references in Isaiah to the Lord-Angel- coming out of His dwelling place in the temple to punish the Assyrians; the sacrifices and prayers made "before the Lord" in the temple were thus made in the presence of this Angel. Such phrases as "The Lord of Hosts (Angels) which dwelleth in Mount Zion" (<a href='B:290 8:18'>Isa 8:18</a>) are common. Solomon’s dedication of the temple emphasized the fact that God’s Name dwelt there-which was carried by the Angel (<a href='B:20 23:20-21'>Exo 23:20-21</a>), and that His eyes (Angels) were present in the house. Thus a literal Angel dwelt in the temple- see on <a href='B:230 78:60'>Psa 78:60</a>.</h4>


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<p>When they tell you, Consult with those who have familiar spirits and with the wizards, who chirp and who mutter: shouldn’t a people consult with their God? Should they consult the dead on behalf of the living?- God was going to hide His face from them (:17), and like Saul when he had no revelation from God nor response to prayer, they would turn to the occult. We see here, as we do in Saul’s huge efforts to get to the witch at Endor, the strength of the religious element within man. There is a desire for connection with the unseen, the supernatural and the Divine. There is therefore a hole in the human heart which only the true God can fill. But when He has been rejected, people still wish to turn to other forms of the supernatural. This is why atheism is but bravado; there is a nagging desire for connection with that beyond ourselves, arising from an innate dissatisfaction with our position and condition.</p>


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<h4>Turn to the law and to the testimony! If they don’t speak according to this word- That which Isaiah taught to his sons and school of prophets (:16), which was no doubt challenged by the false prophets. There were clearly some in opposition to Isaiah, false claiming to speak prophecy from God, but which was in opposition to the testimony which Isaiah had perhaps literally written down and sealed (:16). Jewish tradition says that Isaiah was sawn in two by Hezekiah’s son Manasseh.</h4><h4>Surely there is no light in them- Keil: "they are a people for whom no morning dawns", perhaps hinting that they have no hope of resurrection to eternity in the Messianic Kingdom; or that the Messianic dawn which was potentially possible at the time didn’t happen. Hence Luther:&nbsp; “If they do not say this, they will not have the morning dawn”. Instead :22 says they will be sent out into the darkness ofrejection.</h4>


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<p>They will pass through it, very distressed and hungry; and it will happen that when they are hungry, they will worry, and curse by their king and by their God. They will turn their faces upward- They would look up to God, only to look back down to the anguished earth (:22). Only Isaiah and his disciples would be able to look upward and find God: "I will wait for Yahweh, who hides His face from the house of Jacob, and I will look for Him" (:17). The emphasis there is upon "I". Yahweh would be hidden from the majority, but Isaiah and his family (:18) represented the remnant from whom He had not hidden His face, and who could look for Him and find Him whereas the majority could not. That faithful minority would find food in the desolated land (see on <a href='B:290 7:22'>Isa 7:22</a>), but the majority would not; they would curse God and their king (Ahaz, in the initial possible scenario). This didn’t happen as was potentially threatened; but it will come finally true in the last days for those condemned. See on :22.</p>


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<p>and look to the earth, and see distress, darkness, and the gloom of anguish. They will be driven into thick darkness- The scenario envisaged didn’t fully happen at Isaiah’s time. Judah were saved from condemnation by grace, and the Assyrians were destroyed. But this language of condemnation will still come true, for it is quoted by the Lord Jesus about the final judgment and condemnation in darkness of the unfaithful within Israel (<a href='B:470 8:12'>Mat 8:12</a>; <a href='B:470 22:13'>Mat 22:13</a>; <a href='B:470 25:30'>Mat 25:30</a>). Likewise distress upon the earth / land and hearts failing with anguish is applied by the Lord to the situation there in the last days, due to the Jews refusing to believe in Him (<a href='B:490 21:23'>Luk 21:23</a>; <a href='B:490 21:26'>Luk 21:26</a>)</p>


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<h4>But there shall be no more gloom for her who was in anguish- The allusion is to the anguish of childbirth. A new people and kingdom was to be brought forth from the suffering at the hand of the Assyrians. This was perceived by Hezekiah in <a href='B:290 37:3'>Isa 37:3</a>: "the children have come to the birth, and there is no strength to bring forth". The LXX implies that for the ten tribes (Zebulun and Naphtali) as well as Judah, the drinking of the cup of Assyrian judgment would bring forth a Messianic kingdom, if they now quickly repented: :Drink this first. Act quickly, O land of Zabulon, land of Nephthalim, and the rest inhabiting the sea-coast, and the land beyond Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles". But Hezekiah let the baton drop and did not establish the restored Kingdom of God in Judah which was potentially possible.</h4><p>In the former time, He brought into contempt the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali; but in the latter time He has made it glorious, by the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the nations- The present tense is used of what God was certainly going to do. The northernmost areas of the ten tribes, who had suffered most from the Assyrian invasion (<a href='B:120 15:29'>2Ki 15:29</a>), were to be made glorious in the restored kingdom of Judah. Isaiah writes primarily about"Judah and Jerusalem", but all the major prophets envisage a repentant Israel and Judah united together in the new, restored Kingdom of God. This didn’t happen as was prophetically possible at Isaiah’s time. But there is the purposefully enigmatic suggestion here that this revival of Zebulun and Naphtali will be something to do with Galilee- the home area of the Lord Jesus, who would bring about the fulfilment."The way of the sea"has been understood as referring to the region along the west side of the lake of Galilee, where the Lord did much work. It was in this very area that the Lord Jesus first proclaimed the Gospel, in fulfilment of this prophecy (<a href='B:470 4:13'>Mat 4:13</a>).</p><h4>Because God is beyond time, His prophecies appear to jump around in time; and that is also reflective of the conditional nature of prophecy, with various possible applications at different times, depending upon the potential realized amongst God’s people. They only appear disjointed to us who read them with a background insistence that everything must be chronological. Thus the tenses change freely throughout Isaiah 53. And throughout Isaiah, prophecies of the Kingdom are often introduced by the rubric"in that day"; and yet the preceding context is often quite different (e:g. <a href='B:290 3:7'>Isa 3:7</a>; <a href='B:290 3:18'>Isa 3:18</a>; <a href='B:290 4:1'>Isa 4:1</a>; <a href='B:290 5:30'>Isa 5:30</a>; <a href='B:290 7:18'>Isa 7:18</a>; <a href='B:290 7:21'>Isa 7:21</a>; <a href='B:290 10:20'>Isa 10:20</a>; <a href='B:290 10:22'>Isa 10:22</a>; <a href='B:290 11:10'>Isa 11:10</a>; <a href='B:290 12:1'>Isa 12:1</a>; <a href='B:290 17:9'>Isa 17:9</a>; <a href='B:290 19:6'>Isa 19:6</a>; <a href='B:290 22:20'>Isa 22:20</a>; <a href='B:290 22:25'>Isa 22:25</a>; <a href='B:290 25:9'>Isa 25:9</a>; <a href='B:290 27:13'>Isa 27:13</a>; <a href='B:290 28:5'>Isa 28:5</a>; <a href='B:290 29:18'>Isa 29:18</a>). It makes an interesting exercise to go through Isaiah 9 and decide to which time each verse applies. Some of the verses are quoted in the NT and given specific fulfillments. They refer to Isaiah’s day, the Assyrian invasion, the birth of Jesus, the beginning of His ministry at age 30, and to His future Kingdom. And yet the verses aren’t presented in this order; they move from one to the other at ease, with no linking rubric or explanation. Likewise Daniel’s prophecies seem to have a big hiatus in their fulfillment (<a href='B:340 2:34'>Dan 2:34</a>; <a href='B:340 8:23'>Dan 8:23</a>; <a href='B:340 9:24'>Dan 9:24</a>; <a href='B:340 11:39'>Dan 11:39</a>); and Zechariah is another good example. Many attempts to understand prophecy, not least the book of Revelation, have fallen into problems because of an insistent desire to see everything fulfilling in a chronological progression, whereas God’s prophecies (Isaiah is the classic example) ’jump around’ all over the place as far as chronological fulfillment is concerned. And this principle is not only seen in Bible prophecy. The historical records in the Old Testament tend to be thematically presented rather than chronologically (Joshua is a good example of this); and the Gospel records likewise. It especially needs to be recognized that in line with so much OT prophecy, neither the Olivet prophecy nor its extension in the Apocalypse can be read as strictly chronological. Thus <a href='B:490 21:8-11'>Luk 21:8-11</a> gives a catalogue of signs, and then :12 jumps back to the situation before them:"but before all these things::."(<a href='B:490 21:27-28'>Luk 21:27-28</a>; <a href='B:480 13:10'>Mar 13:10</a> are other examples).</h4>


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<h4>The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light, those who lived in the land of the shadow of death, on them the light has shined- This could be seen as an invitation to perceive that light, hence LXX"O people walking in darkness, behold a great light". But they didn’t. And so the returned exiles,"Zion", are asked at a later stage to arise and shine because their light had come (<a href='B:290 60:1'>Isa 60:1</a>). But again they didn’t, and so these prophecies of a light coming are reapplied to the Lord Jesus, who was perceived by a new Zion as the light of the world.</h4><p>The darkness of the context is that of <a href='B:290 8:22'>Isa 8:22</a> - the darkness of condemnation, for the rejected for whom there was ’no dawn’ (<a href='B:290 8:20'>Isa 8:20</a> Heb:). We can be condemned in this life and yet still change that verdict- by coming to the light of Christ. Chapter 8 concluded by speaking of the wicked being sent into the darkness of condemnation (a common figure in Isaiah, e:g. <a href='B:290 5:30'>Isa 5:30</a>; <a href='B:290 9:19'>Isa 9:19</a>). Those who dwell in the dark shadow of death are therefore those who have been condemned- but for them, the light of Christ arose from despised Galilee and the area around the sea of Galilee (:1-"the sea"surely refers in the context to the sea of Galilee, not the Mediterranean).</p><h4>The"great light"could initially have been a reference to the ’great’ son of Isaiah who was to be the saving king of Judah (:6). The holy one of Israel within Zion was to be"great"in distinction from the"great"[s:w:] king of Assyria who was as it were the anti-Christ, the opposite number of the"great"one within Zion, with his offers of a fake Kingdom of God (<a href='B:290 36:4'>Isa 36:4</a>; <a href='B:290 36:13'>Isa 36:13</a>).</h4>


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<h4>You have multiplied the nation, but You have not increased their joy. They will rejoice before You according to the joy in harvest, as men rejoice when they divide the spoil- Their joy not being increased is hard to square with the reference to their joy which follows. The idea may be that their prosperity at the time of Uzziah and Ahaz did not bring joy. But there was going to be great joy- because the Assyrian yoke would be lifted miraculously if they repented (:4). Keil & Delitsch render: “Thou multipliest the nation, preparest it great joy; they rejoice before Thee like the joy in harvest, as men rejoice when they share the spoil". There was not such joy at the time because Judah and Israel didn’t repent. And so "the joy of harvest" could have happened at the restoration from Babylon (<a href='B:230 126:5-6'>Psa 126:5-6</a>). But again it didn’t, and we read of the miserable restored exiles suffering famine and poor harvests because they refused to repent</h4><h4>And so the prophecies were reapplied to the spiritual restoration of God’s people in the Lord Jesus, the one from Galilee hinted at in :1. But there was not universal joy in Israel at Jesus of Nazareth- the prophecy was a potential possibility, but Israel chose not to fulfill it. Both Israel and Judah could have spoiled the Assyrians, but that didn’t happen as it could have done; it had a limited fulfilment in the people of Jerusalem spoiling the tents of the dead Assyrians. And so the figure of spoil being divided was re-applied by the Lord Jesus to describe His victory over sin and sharing it with those who believe in Him (<a href='B:470 12:29'>Mat 12:29</a>; <a href='B:580 2:15'>Col 2:15</a>; <a href='B:580 3:9'>Col 3:9</a> Gk:). Again, Israel should have rejoiced in this- but they generally did not.</h4>


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<h4>For the yoke of his burden and the staff of his shoulder, the rod of his oppressor, You have broken as in the day of Midian- This was to be the reason for their joy and spoiling of the Assyrians (:3), with the burden of heavy taxation now lifted (<a href='B:290 10:27'>Isa 10:27</a>; <a href='B:290 14:25'>Isa 14:25</a>).</h4><h4>The idea of breaking the yoke and destroying the oppressive burdens recalls Israel’s suffering in Egypt (<a href='B:20 2:11'>Exo 2:11</a>; <a href='B:30 26:13'>Lev 26:13</a>), who were Israel’s "oppressors" (s:w. <a href='B:20 3:7'>Exo 3:7</a> "taskmasters"). The reference to Midian’s destruction (repeated in <a href='B:290 10:26-27'>Isa 10:26-27</a>) suggests that a small remnant, akin to Gideon’s three hundred men, would destroy a far greater military and political power which was dominating Israel. It calls for a military fulfilment, and this surely was the possibility in Isaiah’s day. The righteous remnant were to release Judah from domination by the overpowering Assyria. But they did not fully achieve this, nor did they accept God’s new covenant which was to be the basis for them never again being under yoke (<a href='B:300 30:8'>Jer 30:8</a>; <a href='B:330 34:27'>Eze 34:27</a>), and so the prophecy was rescheduled and reapplied to the victory of the Lord Jesus over sin (see on :4). His offer of His yoke in place of the heavy yoke carried by God’s people surely alludes here (<a href='B:470 11:29'>Mat 11:29</a>). And His spiritual victory will have its political and ’military’ manifestation at Christ’s return and His final liberation of Israel from their Arab oppressors.</h4>


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<p>For all the armour of the armed man in the noisy battle and the garments rolled in blood will be for burning, fuel for the fire- This is the scene of Ezekiel 39, when the weapons of Israel’s invaders are burnt. Their bloodstained battle clothes will be burnt to cleanse the land. The language is reapplied to the last days. "The noisy battle" is the word for "earthquake". There was no earthquake recorded when the Assyrian army was destroyed outside Jerusalem; this is the language of the last days. "Fuel for the fire" is the same phrase found in :19, where this is to be the judgment upon Israel and Judah. The judgment that could then have come upon their enemies was to come upon them, because they refused to repent and thus precluded the prophetic potential of :5 from coming about.</p>


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<h4>For to us a child is born, to us a son is given- This sounds like the exaltation of parents at the birth of their child, and the initial application was to the joy of Isaiah and his wife at the birth of the promised child who could have been the saviour Messiah figure. But he was not (see on <a href='B:290 7:14'>Isa 7:14</a>; <a href='B:290 8:1'>Isa 8:1</a>), and so the prophecy came to be fulfilled in the Lord Jesus. See on <a href='B:290 8:18'>Isa 8:18</a>. This is surely Isaiah’s proclamation concerning his fourth son of sign, born to him and his prophetess wife (<a href='B:290 8:3'>Isa 8:3</a>). The son may be the same as ’Emmanuel’. Potentially, this son could’ve been the saving king of Judah. But that child didn’t rise up to it, and so the prophecy will have a deferred fulfilment in the Lord Jesus. If Isaiah’s disciples are understood as his spiritual children (<a href='B:290 8:16'>Isa 8:16</a> cp. 18), then this spiritual child of Isaiah could refer to Hezekiah. But the child is not named because it failed to fulfill the prophecy.</h4><p>And the government will be on his shoulders- Every step of the way along the Via Dolorosa, Yahweh’s enemies reproached every stumbling footstep of His anointed (<a href='B:230 89:51'>Psa 89:51</a>). It was all this that made Him a true King and our unquestioned leader- for on His shoulders is to rest the authority of the Kingdom, because He bore His cross upon the same shoulders.</p><p>Micah 5 speaks of Messiah being born and being smitten upon the cheek at the same time as Jerusalem is besieged and Judah has been invaded by the Assyrians. Whatever minor fulfilment this may have had in Hezekiah, it was pathetically incomplete- he wasn’t born in Bethlehem, and he wasn’t smitten upon the cheek with a rod. I read all this as meaning that Messiah could have been born and then suffered in such circumstances- but it didn’t happen. The prophecy was fulfilled in essence, although in a different context and in a different way, in the Lord Jesus. Likewise <a href='B:290 9:6'>Isa 9:6</a> speaks as if the birth of Messiah would be at a time of deliverance from Israel’s invaders; yet <a href='B:290 9:13'>Isa 9:13</a> RV implies this would only happen if they were obedient: “Yet the people hath not turned / repented”:&nbsp;</p><p>His name will be called- All the exalted language about the child could therefore have been applied to Isaiah’s newborn son; and Trinitarians should note that. "His name will be called::." all these things. This is not to say that He Himself by nature is all these things; they are titles. The titles are all relevant to a Divine deliverer who would arise to save Judah from their enemies and reestablish God’s Kingdom in Judah.</p><h4>At the judgment Jesus will give us God’s name (<a href='B:730 3:12'>Rev 3:12</a>); we then will fully carry the name of God. He calls this name, “My new name”. Remember, Jesus gave the book of Revelation some years after his ascension into heaven and after he had been given God’s name, as explained in Php_2:9. So he can call God’s name “My new name”; the name he had recently been given. We can now properly understand <a href='B:290 9:6'>Isa 9:6</a>, where concerning Jesus we are told, “His name (note that) shall be called, Wonderful, Counsellor, the mighty God, the everlasting Father::.". This is a prophecy that Jesus would carry all the name of God - that he would be the total manifestation or revelation of God to us. It was in this sense that he was called ‘Emmanuel’, meaning, ‘God is with us’, although He personally was not God. Thus the prophecy of Joel 2 that men would call on the name of Yahweh was fulfilled by people being baptized into the name of Jesus Christ (Acts 2:21 cf. 38). This also explains why the command to baptize into the name of the Father was fulfilled, as detailed in the Acts record, by baptism into the name of Jesus.</h4><p>Wonderful- "Wonderful" uses the word usually used for miracles, "wonders", especially of Divine deliverance from enemies. And that is the context here (<a href='B:290 25:1'>Isa 25:1</a>).</p><p>Counsellor- He was to be the "counsellor" who would be the Divine answer to the wicked "counsel" of Syria and Israel against Judah (s:w. <a href='B:290 7:5'>Isa 7:5</a>).</p><p>Divine Warrior- The "warrior" (:5 AV) of their enemies could have been matched by a "Divine Warrior", a Messiah figure who could have saved Israel and Judah from this invasion. This shall come true in the last days in the person of the Lord Jesus. For "mighty God" (AV), see on <a href='B:290 10:21'>Isa 10:21</a>. Even if this translation is accepted, men are called "God" in the Bible, e:g. Moses.</p><p>This phrase is the same as ’Gabriel’. So can we conclude that at His ascension, Jesus took over the role of the Angel Gabriel?&nbsp; Thus until then the Angel Gabriel would have been a type of Jesus, and perhaps His guardian Angel. Maybe this implies that we will take over the role of our guardian Angel when we are glorified. <a href='B:290 9:6'>Isa 9:6</a> also gives Jesus the title ’Wonderful’- which&nbsp; is&nbsp; the&nbsp; name of another Angel (<a href='B:70 13:18'>Jdg 13:18</a> mg:; or is this just another title of the Angel Gabriel?). Thus when Jesus was exalted above the Angels as explained in Hebrews 1, Jesus took the names of the Angels as He took those of God Himself.</p><p>Father of the Eternal Age- The "eternal age" of the Kingdom of peace could have come at that time, with the Messianic son of Isaiah as the father of that eternal age. But it didn’t. It was reapplied to the Lord Jesus, who because He never sought equality with God was given the Name above every Name, all the titles of the Father, in order to give glory to the Father (Php_2:8-11; the whole reasoning contradicts the Trinitarian dogma). To be a "father" of something means being the source of something; it doesn’t mean that the person in view is therefore ’God the Father’. An eternal Messianic kingdom could then have been established; Judah were urged to repent and allow it to happen in <a href='B:290 26:4'>Isa 26:4</a>. And the same potential was there for the exiles who returned from Babylon (<a href='B:290 45:17'>Isa 45:17</a>; <a href='B:290 65:18'>Isa 65:18</a>). And the "father" of that could have been a Messianic figure who arose in Jerusalem. But these potentials have been reapplied and rescheduled to the Kingdom of the Lord Jesus to be established in Zion in the last days. The titles here, including "father", are applied to Eliakim in <a href='B:290 22:21'>Isa 22:21</a>; as noted there, Eliakim could have become a Messiah figure at the time, but he failed (<a href='B:290 22:25'>Isa 22:25</a>). So the prophecies were reapplied to the Lord Jesus.</p><p>Prince of Peace- "Prince" is also a military term, used of the Assyrian generals in <a href='B:290 10:8'>Isa 10:8</a>; <a href='B:290 31:9'>Isa 31:9</a> (also s:w. <a href='B:300 40:7'>Jer 40:7</a> "the captains of the forces"). The Messianic prince of peace could have been the answer to them; but instead Judah preferred to trust in the princes of Egypt (<a href='B:290 19:11'>Isa 19:11</a>). And so the Prince who would bring eternal peace from the surrounding enemies was a prophecy reapplied to the Lord Jesus.</p><p><a href='B:290 9:6'>Isa 9:6</a> states that the Lord Jesus personally is "called" or "proclaimed" as peace. This is the same Hebrew word as in <a href='B:50 20:10'>Deu 20:10</a> - Israel were to "proclaim peace" to cities they attacked, demanding either their submission or destruction. And yet we are the ones who "proclaim [the] peace" of Christ to men (<a href='B:290 52:7'>Isa 52:7</a>). Insofar as we represent Him in our witness, our hearers are faced with a radical choice- to submit to Him or eternally perish. It’s easy to forget that this is how God sees it, as we witness to people. We’re so used to the rejection of our message that we perhaps fail to see the eternal importance of the choice we lay before people; and this should impart a verve and urgency of appeal to our preaching, rather than an indifferent inviting of people to meetings, discussion, etc.</p><p>LXX has "and his name is called the Messenger of the great council". The members of this court of Heaven have various names- Holy ones (<a href='B:350 12:1'>Hos 12:1</a>; <a href='B:450 14:5'>Zec 14:5</a>); spirits (<a href='B:110 22:21-23'>1Ki 22:21-23</a>; <a href='B:230 104:4'>Psa 104:4</a>); messengers/angels (<a href='B:230 91:11'>Psa 91:11</a>; <a href='B:230 103:20'>Psa 103:20</a>); ministers (<a href='B:230 103:21'>Psa 103:21</a>; <a href='B:230 104:4'>Psa 104:4</a>); servants (<a href='B:220 4:18'>Job 4:18</a>); those on high (<a href='B:220 21:22'>Job 21:22</a>); princes (<a href='B:60 5:14'>Jos 5:14</a>; <a href='B:340 10:13'>Dan 10:13</a>). Supremely, <a href='B:290 9:5'>Isa 9:5</a> LXX speaks of Messiah as "the Messenger of the Great Council"[megales boules angelos]. He was to be the vehicle through which Yahweh of Hosts of Angelic armies operated on earth to Israel’s salvation.</p><p>Isaiah is full of allusions to Zoroastrian ideas (see on <a href='B:290 45:6'>Isa 45:6</a>), seeking to teach Judah the true position on these things. Thus it was taught that “Saviours will come from the seed of Zoroaster, and in the end, the great Saviour”, who would be born of a virgin, resurrect the dead and give immortality. These ideas are picked up in <a href='B:290 9:6'>Isa 9:6</a> and applied prophetically to the ultimate Saviour, Jesus – as if to warn the Jews not to accept the prevalent Persian ideas in this area. Indeed as suggested on <a href='B:290 1:1'>Isa 1:1</a>, it appears that [under Divine inspiration] much of the Hebrew Bible was rewritten in Babylon, in order to deconstruct the ideas which Israel were meeting in Babylon.</p><h4>The verse could be rendered: “And the wonderful Counsellor, the mighty God, calls his name Eternal-Father, Prince of Peace::."- as if God gives His own titles to this son, which would fit admirably with what God gave to Jesus on His ascension (Php_2:7-11). If it is accepted that in the first instance, the child in view was the child of Isaiah and his wife, then we need not conclude that the titles and Divine name given to the child imply that he was to be God Himself in person. The failure of the unnamed son of Isaiah to fulfill the intended role meant that the prophecy had fulfilment in Christ- which is in harmony with the interpretation I have offered for the preceding verses of the chapter.</h4>


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<h4>Of the increase of his government and of peace there shall be no end, on the throne of David, and on his kingdom, to establish it, and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness- As explained on :6, this was the Messianic kingdom which could have come in Isaiah’s time. But the people of Judah preferred to continue in injustice and unrighteousness- two of the frequent complaints Isaiah makes about their behaviour. David did"judgment and justice"(<a href='B:100 8:15'>2Sa 8:15</a>; <a href='B:130 18:14'>1Ch 18:14</a>), and yet David said that it was God who executed judgment and justice (<a href='B:230 99:4'>Psa 99:4</a>; <a href='B:230 103:6'>Psa 103:6</a>).</h4>&nbsp;<p>The idea is that the throne of David, i:e. the Davidic Kingdom, was to be restored- with God reigning through and manifested in the Messianic King, just as He had been in and through David in the past. The Kingdom of God will eternally increase, just as the little stone of Daniel 2 keeps expanding over the earth. It may imply that God’s rulership over us will eternally increase, or that we will eternally be involved in expanding and increasing His Kingship [or Kingdom] over other entities, perhaps in the natural creation, or further throughout the infinite cosmos. Whatever, the essence of wanting to extend His Kingdom / Kingship should be programmatic for our lives now, in pastoral care, exhortation, encouragement and preaching work- as well as progressively submitting ourselves to His rulership. For this extension of His Kingship is what we shall spend eternity doing.</p><p>From that time on, even forever- AV"From henceforth even for ever". This eternal Kingdom was intended to start in Isaiah’s time, through the work of his son (either his literal son, or his spiritual son / disciple Hezekiah). But it didn’t- although the possibility and intention was there. Again, we conclude that the establishment of the eternal Kingdom was rescheduled for fulfilment in the Lord Jesus, the One who lived up to all God’s hopes and prophetic expectations.</p><h4>The zeal of Yahweh of Armies will perform this-"The zeal"is s:w. jealousy, envy. God’s motivation was not because Judah were righteous but because He was jealous for His beloved but wayward people. The Hebrew word translated" zeal"in the context of God’s zeal for us (<a href='B:290 9:8'>Isa 9:8</a>) really means the jealousy which flares up in a man for a woman (the same word is in <a href='B:40 5:14-15'>Num 5:14-15</a>; <a href='B:240 6:34'>Pro 6:34</a>; <a href='B:260 8:6'>Son 8:6</a> etc:). That jealousy burning like fire (<a href='B:230 79:5'>Psa 79:5</a>) is His passion for us His people. He is a jealous God in His zeal for us; and therefore any other relationships with the things of this world cannot be contemplated by us. That zeal of God will be poured out upon us at the second coming, resulting in a consummation with Him as the wife of His covenant (<a href='B:290 42:13-14'>Isa 42:13-14</a>; <a href='B:290 64:1'>Isa 64:1</a>). This is a figure which would be unseemly for a man to devise. But this is His passion for us, which the humility of God drives Him to use; and surely it will one day be revealed. To use this very figure of a man in love and consummating his relationship in marriage is so apparently inappropriate that it reflects the humility of God in even considering the use of it. We are God’s heritage, His reward / wages (Heb:), His recompense for all His labour for us (<a href='B:230 127:3'>Psa 127:3</a> Heb:).</h4>


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<p>The Lord sent a word into Jacob, and it falls upon Israel- The sending forth of Isaiah (s:w. <a href='B:290 6:8'>Isa 6:8</a>) was the sending forth of God’s word to His people. Isaiah like the Lord Jesus and like us, was the word made flesh. The man became his message; there was a congruence between him personally and the word preached.</p>


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<h4>All the people will know, including Ephraim and the inhabitants of Samaria, who say in pride and in arrogance of heart- Israel had lost their hold on true doctrine, many scarcely knew the Law (<a href='B:290 57:4-5'>Isa 57:4-5</a>; <a href='B:290 59:3'>Isa 59:3</a>). They got drunk at the temple feasts (<a href='B:290 36:10-12'>Isa 36:10-12</a>; <a href='B:290 58:3-4'>Isa 58:3-4</a>), like Corinth they had an"eat, drink, for tomorrow we die"mentality (<a href='B:290 22:12-13'>Isa 22:12-13</a>); they committed all manner of sexual perversions, along with almost every other form of doctrinal and moral apostasy (<a href='B:290 5:11-13'>Isa 5:11-13</a>; <a href='B:290 5:24'>Isa 5:24</a>; <a href='B:290 8:19'>Isa 8:19</a>; <a href='B:290 9:15'>Isa 9:15</a>; <a href='B:290 22:12-13'>Isa 22:12-13</a>; <a href='B:290 24:5'>Isa 24:5</a>; <a href='B:290 27:11'>Isa 27:11</a>; <a href='B:290 28:7'>Isa 28:7</a>; <a href='B:290 30:10'>Isa 30:10</a>; <a href='B:290 31:6'>Isa 31:6</a>; <a href='B:290 44:8-20'>Isa 44:8-20</a>; consider the similarities with Corinth). This list is worth reading through. And consider the terrible implications of their perversion in <a href='B:290 66:17'>Isa 66:17</a>. But the early chapters of Isaiah sternly rebuke Israel for their pride- there is not a whisper of all these other things until later (<a href='B:290 2:11-22'>Isa 2:11-22</a>; <a href='B:290 3:16-20'>Isa 3:16-20</a>; <a href='B:290 5:15'>Isa 5:15</a>; <a href='B:290 9:9'>Isa 9:9</a>). And even throughout the later rebukes, there is the repeated criticism of their pride (<a href='B:290 13:11'>Isa 13:11</a>; <a href='B:290 16:6'>Isa 16:6</a>; <a href='B:290 23:9'>Isa 23:9</a>; <a href='B:290 24:4'>Isa 24:4</a>; <a href='B:290 25:11'>Isa 25:11</a>; <a href='B:290 26:5'>Isa 26:5</a>; <a href='B:290 28:1'>Isa 28:1</a>; <a href='B:290 28:3'>Isa 28:3</a>; <a href='B:290 28:14'>Isa 28:14</a>; <a href='B:290 29:4'>Isa 29:4</a>; <a href='B:290 30:25'>Isa 30:25</a>; Isa. 50:33; <a href='B:290 57:15'>Isa 57:15</a>). This is why Isaiah’s prophecies of Christ stress His humility (<a href='B:510 8:33'>Act 8:33</a>), and the"lofty","high","exaltation"of God. These words, common in Isaiah, are those translated “pride" in Isaiah’s condemnations of Israel’s arrogance; as if to say that God was the only one who could be ’proud’.</h4><h4>The only other occurence of the phrase "proud heart" is in <a href='B:290 10:12'>Isa 10:12</a>, where this is said of the king of Assyria. Their hearts were no better than that of Sennacherib, and so they were punished as he was. In their hearts they were Gentiles.</h4>


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<p>The bricks have fallen, but we will rebuild with cut stone. The sycamore fig trees have been cut down, but we will put cedars in their place- Israel were determined to overcome the effects of Divine judgment in their own strength; just as today men vainly battle every way they can to resist the effects of Divine judgment. LXX "and let us build for ourselves a tower" equates them with the builders of Babel / Babylon. And so an even greater judgment was to come upon them, at the hands of Babylon - Assyria.</p>


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<p>Therefore Yahweh will set up on high against him the adversaries of Rezin, and will stir up his enemies- This suggests that the Rezin, the king of Syria, would have enemies who would unite against him (perhaps a reference to the latter day uniting of rebel factions against the Syrian regime), and yet at the same time would join with the Philistines (Palestinians) to be as the jaw of a beast closing upon Israel (:12). "Stir up" is really "join together", as AV. The enemies of Syria were going to join with Syria in devouring Israel (:12). We get a sense of politics and temporary alliances between groups which soon turned against each other, despite having Israel as their common enemy. This is precisely the situation we see in the eretz or land promised to Abraham today; these prophecies are coming to their latter day fulfilment. See on :19.</p>


text:
<h4>the Syrians in front and the Philistines behind; and they will devour Israel with open mouth- Again the image of a devouring beast represents the neighbours of Israel, acting as a wild beast towards her. And that continues throughout Daniel and Revelation. These ancient prophecies are beginning to be fulfilled in the last days, with Syria and the Palestinians / Philistines of the sea coast likely to crush an impenitent Israel.</h4><h4>For all this, His anger is not turned away, but His hand is stretched out still- Isaiah later uses this figure of His hand being stretched out still to describe how God stretches out His hand in appeal for repentance (<a href='B:290 65:2'>Isa 65:2</a>). As Emil Brunner observed, "the wrath of God is the love of God". His anger did not turn away exactly because it was His arm stretched out in appeal for Israel’s repentance. The smiting of Israel by God’s hand was in order that they might turn to Him (:13)- it was not any kind of vindictive anger. Our actions typically have only one or two functions, whereas God is the God of boundless function. His words and actions therefore have multiple intentions and fulfillments- a feature often hard for us to comprehend.</h4>


text:
<p>Yet the people have not turned to Him who struck them, neither have they sought Yahweh of Armies- See on :6. God was the one behind all the enemies of His people. His hand was and still is stretched out against Israel until they turn to Him, which is why the end of Judah’s final woes at the hand of her neighbouring enemies will be only when they turn to God in accepting His Son. His hand is stretched out against them for they do not turn unto Him (God) who smites them.</p>


text:
<p>Therefore Yahweh will cut off from Israel head and tail, palm branch and reed, in one day- Both the leadership ("the elder::. is the head", :15) and the ordinary people were equally guilty, as 9:16 says in so many words, and as Isaiah opened his prophecy in chapter 1 by declaring, in his appeal to both the heavens and the earth. Following bad leadership is not, therefore, any mitigation for the sins committed by ordinary, mislead people. Verse 17 is chilling in this connection- widows and young orphans were all counted as equally guilty and were not spared. Even though God in other contexts is very much the defender of the widows and orphans. The intended judgment was to be "in one day"; suddenly, in moments, every sector of Israelite society was to be destroyed. But this isn’t what happened. The various prophetic scenarios at the time didn’t all happen; but they are reapplied to the last days.</p>


text:
<p>The elder and the honourable man is the head, and the prophet who teaches lies is the tail- The false prophets of the last days in Israel were around in Isaiah’s time, and according to Jewish tradition, they sawed Isaiah in half after Hezekiah died. His ministry was not without serious opposition from amongst his own people.</p>


text:
<p>For those who lead this people lead them astray; and those who are led by them are destroyed- But in moral, ethical terms, those led astray were destroyed because they had been willing to be led astray. After all, Isaiah and his school of the prophets were giving them true teaching, and they chose to ignore that. "Destroyed" is better ’to devour’; the devouring of Israel by the beast of :12 was because they willfully followed their false prophets. ’Lead astray’ is the same word as in <a href='B:290 53:6'>Isa 53:6</a>: "All we like sheep have gone astray, we have turned every one to his own way". So although they were led astray, they had chosen this path, making the way of the false prophets their "own way". So they were not simply punished because of being naive, or listening to wrong information. There was more election in it than that.</p>


text:
<h4>Therefore the Lord will not rejoice over their young men, neither will He have compassion on their fatherless and widows; for each one is profane and an evildoer- See on :14. Their ’evil doing’ was likely in not saying anything. As has been so often observed by those who have suffered from oppressive regimes, it is the silent majority who quietly tut-tut but do not oppose and thereby enable evil, who are in fact the most guilty.</h4><p>And every mouth speaks folly- Isaiah and Hezekiah were alone in their faithfulness to Yahweh. The salvation of Jerusalem is explained in Isaiah 1 as only because of the existence of a faithful remnant, and that remnant was basically just Isaiah’s family. Isaiah 1 and other chapters emphasize the total apostasy of Judah at this time. We note that it was because of their words that they were condemned; and that sensitivity to our language continues to this day (<a href='B:470 12:37'>Mat 12:37</a>).</p><h4>For all this His anger is not turned away, but His hand is stretched out still- See on :12</h4>


text:
<h4>For wickedness burns like a fire, it devours the briers and thorns- Briers and thorns is an allusion to the curse upon the garden of Eden- another reason for understanding Eden as eretz Israel, from whom likewise Israel were to be exiled to the east. Yet "briers and thorns" is a term used by Isaiah about the aggressive, thorny nature of Judah (here and <a href='B:290 10:17'>Isa 10:17</a>). Their whole land was to become like them (<a href='B:290 5:6'>Isa 5:6</a>; <a href='B:290 7:23-25'>Isa 7:23-25</a>); and so their judgment was but an extension of their own behaviour.</h4><p>Yes, it kindles in the thickets of the forest, and they roll upward in a column of smoke- The smoke columns caused by the invaders were actually kindled by the wickedness of God’s people. The idea is that the fire spreads from individual thorn bushes and brambles to consume whole thickets of trees. Perhaps the idea is that individual apostasy called for individual judgment, but this spread to the whole nation. Not by any ’guilt by association’, but insofar as personal example comes to influence the whole group.</p><h4>Wickedness burns- The actual sin of the people is spoken of as the fire of judgment. Sin is condemnation. To choose to sin is to choose to live out condemnation and apply it to ourselves. The essence of final judgment is therefore going on right now in our behaviour.</h4>


text:
<p>Through the wrath of Yahweh of Armies, the land is burnt up; and the people are the fuel for the fire. No one spares his brother- "Fuel for the fire" is the same phrase found in :5, where this is to be the judgment upon the enemies of Israel and Judah. The judgment that could then have come upon their enemies was to come upon them, because they refused to repent and thus precluded the prophetic potential of :5 from coming about. As explained on :18, the people were both the fire and the fuel for the fire. What is envisaged here is a complete meltdown of relationships, with both Israel and Judah under attack by a group of neighbours who were enemies with each other but united against God’s people (see on :11); and at the same time, Israel and Judah warring with each other. This didn’t happen in Isaiah’s time, and so the prophetic scenario has been recalculated and reapplied to other times and especially to the last days.</p>


text:
<p>One will devour on the right hand, and be hungry; and he will eat on the left hand, and they will not be satisfied. Everyone will eat the flesh of his own arm- As explained on :19, the devouring of God’s people by the mouth of the beast of her neighbours (:12) was to also involve God’s people devouring each other. And finally, they would eat themselves. The LXX here appears to be alluded to in the New Testament, because the precise scenario here envisaged didn’t quite come true in Isaiah’s time: we can bite and devour one another (<a href='B:550 5:15'>Gal 5:15</a>), as the Jews did in their day of condemnation in the Babylonian invasion (quoting <a href='B:290 9:19-20'>Isa 9:19-20</a> LXX; <a href='B:300 13:14'>Jer 13:14</a>). By doing so we are acting out our own condemnation.</p>


text:
<h4>Manasseh, Ephraim; and Ephraim, Manasseh; and they together shall be against Judah- This appears to be saying that Israel would be divided against itself, and also Israel would be against Judah.</h4><h4>For all this His anger is not turned away, but His hand is stretched out still- See on :12. What is envisaged here is a complete meltdown of relationships, with both Israel and Judah under attack by a group of neighbours who were enemies with each other but united against God’s people (see on :11); and at the same time, Israel and Judah warring with each other. This didn’t happen in Isaiah’s time, and so the prophetic scenario has been recalculated and reapplied to other times and especially to the last days.</h4>


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<p>Woe to those who decree unrighteous decrees, and to the writers who write oppressive decrees- The writing in view may be the writing of legal judgments against the poor who were being abused (:2). God had already given His people decrees to live by, so they were effectively playing God by writing their own decrees. <a href='B:300 8:8'>Jer 8:8</a> seems to be saying that "the pen of the scribes" was replacing God’ law. Judah precluded the reestablishment of God’s Kingdom in Judah by this behaviour; and similar language is used of how the restored exiles didn’t learn the lesson but acted in the same way (<a href='B:290 59:4'>Isa 59:4</a>). And so again, the opportunity to reestablish the Kingdom was precluded.</p>


text:
<p>to deprive the needy from justice, and to rob the poor among My people of their rights, that widows may be their spoil, and that they may make the fatherless their prey!- Spoil and prey are the very words used in :6 of what the Assyrians would do to Judah. But this what Judah had done to themselves; their condemnation was but an extension of how they had lived their lives. We too "make the answer now". We live life standing before God’s judgment; if we are condemned at the last day, then we will have been living that way now.</p>


text:
<h4>What will you do in the day of visitation, and in the desolation which will come from afar?- "The day of visitation" is interpreted as the day of the second coming of the Lord Jesus in judgment (<a href='B:670 2:12'>1Pe 2:12</a>). The intended day of judgment at the hand of the Assyrians was averted; but the repentance of the remnant which was responsible for this was not shared by the majority, so the essence of the prophecy shall come true in the last days.</h4><p>To whom will you flee for help?- This is the phrase used of how the Philistines had fled to Egypt and Ethiopia for help (<a href='B:290 20:6'>Isa 20:6</a>). Judah had done just the same in fleeing to those same nations for help, rather than to their God. They had ignored ’Hezekiah’, ’Yah is my help’. In other words, Judah gave in to the temptation which we acutely face today- to deal with our fears in the same way as the surrounding world does, rather than fall upon our God.</p><h4>Where will you leave your wealth?- Under Uzziah and Ahaz, Judah had been prosperous, and they used that wealth to try to buy security against Assyria from Egypt and others. This is described in Ezekiel and Jeremiah as them being as an immoral prostitute who actually pays men to sleep with her.</h4>


text:
<h4>They will only bow down under the prisoners, and will fall under the slain- The LXX simply has "that ye may not fall into captivity?". GNB "You will be killed in battle or dragged off as prisoners". This isn’t what happened when the Assyrians invaded Judah; so much was averted because of the intercession and repentance of so few.</h4><h4>For all this His anger is not turned away, but His hand is stretched out still- Isaiah later uses this figure of His hand being stretched out still to describe how God stretches out His hand in appeal for repentance (<a href='B:290 65:2'>Isa 65:2</a>). Even if the Assyrian invasion of Judah had succeeded, God would still have been searching for their repentance. As Emil Brunner observed, "the wrath of God is the love of God". His anger did not turn away exactly because it was His arm stretched out in appeal for Israel’s repentance. The smiting of Israel by God’s hand was in order that they might turn to Him (<a href='B:290 9:13'>Isa 9:13</a>)- it was not any kind of vindictive anger. Our actions typically have only one or two functions, whereas God is the God of boundless function. His words and actions therefore have multiple intentions and fulfillments- a feature often hard for us to comprehend.</h4>


text:
<p>Alas Assyrian, the rod of My anger, the staff in whose hand is My indignation!- A pagan god looked after his own people against their enemies. But Yahweh of Israel sent and empowered Israel’s enemies against them, and gave them victory against His own people; He encamped against His very own people (<a href='B:290 29:2-4'>Isa 29:2-4</a>). The archenemy of Israel, Assyria, was revealed as a rod in the God of Israel’s hand, and the King of Babylon was Yahweh’s servant who would come against Yahweh’s own people (<a href='B:300 25:9'>Jer 25:9</a>; <a href='B:300 27:6'>Jer 27:6</a> etc:). The will of Israel’s God was that the capital city, seen by the people as the symbol and nerve center of a god’s power and control, was to be destroyed by Israel’s enemies (Jer 341-5; <a href='B:300 21:3-7'>Jer 21:3-7</a>). In the surrounding culture of Israel, capital cities were portrayed as women, the wives of the gods. They are always presented as pure and wonderful. But the prophets represent cities like Jerusalem and Samaria as fallen women, whores. It was all so counter-cultural. Yahweh’s prophet even appealed for Israel to surrender when under siege (<a href='B:300 21:8-10'>Jer 21:8-10</a>). Try to enter into how radical and counter-cultural all this was. The prophets were trying to share the feelings and positions of a God so vastly different to the imaginations and understandings of His very own people. The nervous stress of this, the psychological pressure, can’t be underestimated. And we are asked to share the spirit / mind / disposition of those prophets. Not only was God on the side of Israel’s enemies; yet through all that, He somehow was with Israel; quite simply, “God is with us”, even though it is He who encamps against them too (<a href='B:290 8:9-10'>Isa 8:9-10</a>; <a href='B:290 18:4'>Isa 18:4</a>). The God of Auschwitz is somehow still the God of Israel. The very torment, even torture, of understanding that was etched clearly in the prophets, and it will be in us too.</p>


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<h4>I will send him against a profane nation- The word for "profane" is used about how Judah were polluted by idols and unfaithfulness to Yahweh with other gods (<a href='B:300 3:2'>Jer 3:2</a>; <a href='B:230 106:38'>Psa 106:38</a> etc:). Hence the verse continues, to speak of God’s related "anger". AV has "hypocritical", in which case we see how hypocrisy is a cardinal sin with God, just as proud body language is (see on :12).</h4><p>And against the people who anger Me will I give him a command- This command was given from the court of Heaven. But surely Sennacherib was not consciously addressed. We see here how God works through human psychology. Sennacherib had his own agendas and motivations. But where do our agendas come from? From a complex web of personal history, desires made stronger by our experiences, our location in time and space, our genes::. so many things. And yet God worked through all that to give this man a command to attack Judah. But see on :14.</p><h4>To take the spoil and to take the prey, and to tread them down like the mire of the streets- Spoil and prey are the very words used in :2 of what Judah had done to themselves in abusing each other; their condemnation was but an extension of how they had lived their lives. For now this was what the Assyrians would do to Judah. We too "make the answer now". We live life standing before God’s judgment; if we are condemned at the last day, then we will have been living that way now. A desire to take spoil and prey from Israel is the characteristic of the latter day Gog (s:w. <a href='B:330 38:12'>Eze 38:12</a>), and we can therefore understand the Assyrian invasion here threatened to ultimately come about in the last days. For actually Assyria did not take a spoil and prey from Judah at this time, because the whole scenario was changed; due to the repentance of a remnant, the Assyrians never took Jerusalem and were destroyed by an Angel.</h4>


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<p>However he doesn’t mean so, neither does his heart think so; but it is in his heart to destroy, and to cut off not a few nations- See on :11. Thus it was in his heart to punish Israel and other nations; he didn’t "mean" to solely punish Judah. Or we could read with LXX "But he meant not thus, neither did he devise thus in his soul: but his mind shall change, and that to destroy nations not a few". In this case, God put the idea in his mind when it was not in his plan; and we would then be exhorted as to the power God has to work directly on the human heart. According to <a href='B:290 8:8'>Isa 8:8</a>, the envisaged prophetic scenario was that the invasion and destruction of the ten tribes by Assyria would be at the same time as the invasion of Judah by Assyria, part of the same campaign, sweeping onward to them. Indeed as we learn here, "it is in his heart to destroy, and to cut off not a few nations" at that same time. But this isn’t what happened. The prophecies offer various potential scenarios, which could be ameliorated, changed, hastened, intensified, delayed or cancelled because of God’s extreme sensitivity to human repentance. This is why it’s impossible to use Bible prophecies to construct a chronology of latter day events; there are so many variables. Not least the repentance of Israel, the work of the faithful ecclesia in preaching the Gospel to the world and prayer for the Lord’s coming- quite apart from the Divine pity which is at the core of His character.</p>


text:
<p>For he says, Aren’t all of my princes kings?- He considered all his princes ought to have somewhere to reign over as kings. But LXX "And if they should say to him, Thou alone art ruler" suggests that if he were to be told that Yahweh alone is king, he would respond by saying that the cities he was planning to invade (:9) were his as much as the cities of his own existing empire. And there we would see the pride and arrogance against Yahweh which is focused upon as the reason for his destruction.</p>


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<p>Isn’t Calno like Carchemish? Isn’t Hamath like Arpad? Isn’t Samaria like Damascus?- See on :8. LXX "Have I not taken the country above Babylon and Chalanes, where the tower was built? and have I not taken Arabia, and Damascus, and Samaria?". He therefore considered that the kingdom of Judah was no different, thus despising Yahweh and treating Him as just another local city idol who was powerless before him (see on :10).</p>


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<p>As my hand has found the kingdoms of the idols, whose engraved images exceeded those of Jerusalem and of Samaria- LXX "As I have taken them, I will also take all the kingdoms: howl, ye idols in Jerusalem, and in Samaria". It was sadly true that there were plenty of idols in Jerusalem (:11), as well as the temple of Yahweh. Sennacherib reasoned that the gods of the surrounding nations had been powerless before him, and therefore Jerusalem would be likewise, because she had the same gods worshipped within her. And that was fair logic, on one level. Yahweh’s salvation of Jerusalem from the Assyrians was therefore all the more an act of pure grace. However we could read him as thinking that Yahweh was a God without idols; other cities had more idols within them than Jerusalem did, and therefore she would be a walkover.</p>


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<p>Shall I not, as I have done to Samaria and her idols, so do to Jerusalem and her idols?- See on :10. We have here a specific example of a man being punished in judgment for his words; see on <a href='B:290 3:8'>Isa 3:8</a>. These words were the ‘fruit of his heart’ (:12)- out of the abundance of his heart his mouth had spoken. And these words were almost cited back to him at the time of his condemnation. But see on :7.</p>


text:
<h4>Therefore it will happen, that when the Lord has performed His whole work on Mount Zion and on Jerusalem- It was God who was going to hew down the temple in Zion, using Assyria merely as the axe in His hand (:15). The work of destroying Zion would be His work; and it would be the total finishing of Zion in completeness, so the Hebrew implies. Again we marvel at how much was averted by so few. We see the power of prayer and repentance.</h4><h4>He will punish the fruit of the wilful proud heart of the king of Assyria, and the insolence of his arrogant looks- The fruit of his heart were the words of :11 for which he was condemned; for by words are men condemned (<a href='B:470 12:37'>Mat 12:37</a>), because they are reflective of the heart. And the state of the heart is of paramount importance to God. Israel were to be the light to the Gentile world around them, the righteous servant who showed light to the Gentiles. But they sadly failed. Note too how the prophets pointed out to Gentile nations their sins and failed responsibilities before the God of Israel (Amos 2; <a href='B:370 9:7'>Amo 9:7</a>; <a href='B:290 10:5'>Isa 10:5</a>; Jeremiah 46; Ezekiel 27, 29). We note here that out of all the things God could have condemned Assyria for (idolatry, viciousness, cruelty etc:), it is their proud hearts and associated body language which He focuses upon. This is how abhorrent is pride to the one God whose moral judgments and perspectives are alone of any importance to man on this earth. The only other occurrence of the phrase "wilful proud heart" is in <a href='B:290 9:9'>Isa 9:9</a>, where this is said of the ten tribes of Israel. Their hearts were no better than that of Sennacherib, and so they were punished as he was. In their hearts they were Gentiles. Likewise the phrase "arrogant looks" is used of the Jews in <a href='B:290 2:11'>Isa 2:11</a>.</h4>


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<p>For he has said, By the strength of my hand I have done it, and by my wisdom; for I have understanding: and I have removed the boundaries of the peoples, and have robbed their treasures. Like a valiant man I have brought down their rulers- The bringing down of Judah is described several times in Isaiah 2 as being Yahweh’s work. He failed to perceive that he was acting on Yahweh’s behalf. The fact he was culpable for this, and was punished for it, means that he ought to have looked at his career in life and perceived that the hand of Israel’s God was in all this. But he refused to see that picture in his life, and became proud; the references to "my wisdom" may refer to the wisdom he thought he had from his gods. It is by reflecting upon the hand of providence in our lives that we are saved from pride. I noted on :12 that the sins of Sennacherib were essentially those of Israel; they are also condemned for trusting in "the strength of my hand" (<a href='B:50 8:17'>Deu 8:17</a> s:w:). See on :14.</p>


text:
<p>My hand has found the riches of the peoples like a nest, and like one gathers eggs that are abandoned, have I gathered all the earth. There was no one who moved their wing, or that opened their mouth, or chirped- LXX "I will take with my hand all the world as a nest: and I will even take them as eggs that have been left; and there is none that shall escape me, or contradict me". This is tantamount to saying that he would not allow any "remnant" to escape; and yet the escape of a remnant from Judah was a major part of Isaiah’s prophecies. The Hebrew is difficult, but the idea seems to be that he intended to totally empty the nest- taking both the eggs and the mother bird, so that there was not a sound from the nest; the mother bird would not chirp or flutter her wings when the eggs were taken, because she was going to be taken as well. This is specifically disobedient to <a href='B:50 22:6-7'>Deu 22:6-7</a>; just as removing landmark boundaries of a neighbour (:13) was disobedient to Deu 1914. It’s as if this Gentile king was being held responsible for breaking the Mosaic law. Perhaps the "command" he was given by God in :6 was a direct revelation, which made him therefore responsible to Yahweh’s law. And therefore his disobedience was the more culpable. Or it could be that Gentiles are to some extent held responsible for breaking Divine laws and principles even if they don’t know them.</p>


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<p>Should an axe brag against him who chops with it? Should a saw exalt itself above him who saws with it? As if a rod should lift those who lift it up, or as if a staff should lift up someone who is not wood- As explained on :32-34, it was God’s intention to hew down Zion. Only because He graciously counted the repentance of a remnant as the repentance of the nation was this plan changed (<a href='B:300 18:8-10'>Jer 18:8-10</a>). As discussed on :14, Sennacherib apparently should have perceived that he was being used by Yahweh, but instead he purposefully refused to see this.</p>


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<p>Therefore the Lord Yahweh of Armies will send among his fat ones leanness; and under his glory a burning will be kindled like the burning of fire- As if he is being offered up as a sacrifice. What was so abhorrent to God was the proud glory of the Assyrians. Things like pride and proud language are enough to call down the most awful condemnations. The fatness of the Assyrians was to become lean; but fatness becoming lean is the very language used of what was to happen to the glory of Judah (<a href='B:290 17:4'>Isa 17:4</a>). By their arrogance they proclaimed themselves as no better than Gentiles, meriting the same judgment.</p>


text:
<h4>The light of Israel will be for a fire, and his Holy One for a flame- Israel were to be the flame which destroyed the Assyrians. But instead an Angel did (<a href='B:140 32:21'>2Ch 32:21</a>), and God makes His Angels a flaming fire (<a href='B:230 104:4'>Psa 104:4</a>). So the scenario foreseen in these judgments didn’t come about exactly as it could have done had all Israel repented, rather than just a minority of them. Because of this, they weren’t used as the fire; a single Angel was instead.</h4><p>LXX "he shall sanctify him with burning fire". This may carry the hint that the fire of judgment would be intended to purify a remnant even from the Assyrians to join with a purified Judah in the reestablished Kingdom. That remnant is spoken of in :19:This is the consistent prophetic vision- that repentant Gentiles would be incorporated within the new, reestablished Kingdom of God. Sadly Hezekiah’s attitude to Gentiles precluded this from happening, as he sought their acceptance rather than bringing them to Israel’s God.</p><h4>And it will burn and devour his thorns and his briers in one day- Briers and thorns is an allusion to the curse upon the garden of Eden- another reason for understanding Eden as eretz Israel, from whom likewise Israel were to be exiled to the east. Sin was its own judgment. "Briers and thorns" is a term used by Isaiah about the aggressive, thorny nature of Judah (here and <a href='B:290 9:18'>Isa 9:18</a>). Their whole land was to become like them (<a href='B:290 5:6'>Isa 5:6</a>; <a href='B:290 7:23-25'>Isa 7:23-25</a>); and so their judgment was but an extension of their own behaviour.</h4>


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<h4>He will consume the glory of his forest and of his fruitful field, both soul and body- The Assyrian army is likened to a forest; they were to be cut down just as they intended to cut down the trees of Jerusalem; see on :33,34. They didn’t actually get to do this, but they intended to; and were punished according to what they had intended to do. That God recognizes intention as action is a deep challenge as well as encouragement.</h4><h4>It will be as when a standard bearer faints- The idea may be of a sudden loss of heart and collapse of moral; exactly as happened when the Angel smote 185,000 soldiers in a moment.</h4>


text:
<h4>The remnant of the trees of his forest shall be few, so that a child could write their number- I suggested on :17 that a remnant of the Assyrians were intended to be purified by the fire of judgment, and be incorporated within the re-established Kingdom of Judah. But the record of the destruction of their army carries no such hint, and the record concludes in Isaiah 37 with the Assyrians continuing in their idolatry. The child who would write them may refer to the child of Isaiah spoken of earlier; see on <a href='B:290 8:18'>Isa 8:18</a>; <a href='B:290 9:6'>Isa 9:6</a>. These things could have come true at that time, in the lifetime of that child; but human refusal to repent precluded them from happening.</h4><h4>This and the similar prophecy of desolation in <a href='B:290 7:23-25'>Isa 7:23-25</a> didn’t happen at the Assyrian invasion; it was reapplied to the situation after the Babylonian invasion, when the land was intended to rest (<a href='B:30 26:34'>Lev 26:34</a>; <a href='B:30 26:43'>Lev 26:43</a>) until Judah repented. But even that program didn’t work out, and so the Lord’s parable of the vineyard explained that therefore the vineyard was given to a new Israel. See on :17.</h4>


text:
<h4>It will come to pass in that day that the remnant of Israel and those who have escaped from the house of Jacob- This is stated just after we have read on :17,19 of a remnant of the Assyrians surviving and turning to Yahweh. They were to join in the new people of God along with the repentant remnant of Judah and Israel, bound together in fellowship due to their common experience of forgiveness, grace and repentance. This didn’t happen, but the essence of the prophetic intention was fulfilled when both Jews and Gentiles were baptized into the Lord Jesus as "the hope of Israel". <a href='B:290 4:2'>Isa 4:2</a> had spoken of how this "remnant" (s:w:) would be the basis of a revived kingdom of God in Judah, based around a Messianic "Branch", "in that day"- the day of <a href='B:290 4:1'>Isa 4:1</a>, when Jerusalem would be overcome and left in ruins with hardly any men left. These "survivors" are those saved from the ruins of a desolated Jerusalem, those who "escaped" the Assyrian invasion (s:w. <a href='B:290 37:31'>Isa 37:31</a>); the same word is used in <a href='B:360 2:32'>Joe 2:32</a>; <a href='B:380 1:17'>Oba 1:17</a>, the "remnant" of <a href='B:330 14:22'>Eze 14:22</a> (s:w:). The destruction of Jerusalem was intended to elicit repentance and to lead seamlessly into a revived Zion and reestablished Kingdom of God in Israel, when again all things would be "glorious" (s:w. <a href='B:290 24:23'>Isa 24:23</a>; <a href='B:290 35:2'>Isa 35:2</a>). But this didn’t happen. Jerusalem was saved by grace, and yet Hezekiah failed to act as "Yahweh’s branch", and Judah were impenitent, unmoved by their salvation by grace.</h4><h4>Will no more again lean on him who struck them, but shall lean on Yahweh, the Holy One of Israel, in truth- This was the bizarre thing; that Judah trusted in the gods of the Assyrians. To "lean" meant ’to trust’. Their acceptance of the Assyrian gods was not therefore a mere matter of political expediency; they ’leant’ upon them. Micah was contemporary with Isaiah, and he uses this word to describe how Judah did "lean" upon Yahweh, claiming that therefore "no evil can come upon us", whilst at the same time worshipping idols (<a href='B:400 3:11'>Mic 3:11</a>). We see here how we can make a profession of faith, even adhering to a ’statement of faith’- when in fact we don’t have faith at all, but rather trust in secular strength. Faith, like every spiritual virtue, has both an apparent form, and a real form.</h4>


text:
<p>A remnant will return, even the remnant of Jacob, to the mighty God- This is a play upon the name of Isaiah’s son Shearjashub. "Shearjashub" means "a remnant shall return" (see on <a href='B:290 7:3'>Isa 7:3</a>). As is made explicit in <a href='B:290 7:14'>Isa 7:14</a> and <a href='B:290 8:18'>Isa 8:18</a>, Isaiah’s children were ’signs’. The message of Shearjashub was that a remnant would repent / return; and Isaiah in <a href='B:290 7:3'>Isa 7:3</a> was asking Ahab to be part of that remnant, and to repent of his faithless attitude:&nbsp;"The mighty God" is the title of Isaiah’s son in <a href='B:290 9:6'>Isa 9:6</a> (s:w:). The remnant would repent and come to this Messiah figure. But these potentials didn’t happen, and Isaiah’s children remained but "signs" (<a href='B:290 8:18'>Isa 8:18</a>), pointing forward to the future work of the Lord Jesus.</p>


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<h4>For though your people, Israel, are like the sand of the sea, a remnant of them shall return- The idea was that the majority of God’s people would be killed, and the remnant that survived would return / repent (s:w:) as a result of the humiliation at the hand of the Assyrians. Their being the seed of Abraham "like the sand of the sea" was not going to save them; they would perish all the same. This level of destruction and repentance didn’t happen, although it was the prophetic potential that it could have done. And so the prophecy is reapplied to the repentant of a remnant of Israel who will accept Jesus as Christ, especially in the last days (<a href='B:520 9:28'>Rom 9:28</a>).</h4><h4>A destruction is determined, overflowing with righteousness- LXX "He will finish the work, and cut it short in righteousness". Paul quotes this version in the New Testament, again providing more evidence that the LXX is usually quoted over the Hebrew, Masoretic text by the inspired New Testament writers. <a href='B:520 9:28'>Rom 9:28</a> (see notes there) quotes this, and yet mixes in allusion to <a href='B:470 24:22'>Mat 24:22</a> "For the elect’s sake those days shall be shortened::. [or else] there should no flesh be saved". This means there will be a shortening of the originally intended prophetic program in the last days. Yet again we see that God’s program is open ended and elastic, in response to a whole raft of factors. Paul quotes this verse from <a href='B:290 10:22'>Isa 10:22</a> along with <a href='B:290 1:9-10'>Isa 1:9-10</a> about a faithful remnant of Judah being preserved. The destruction determined was to result in righteousness through the repentance of the remnant; but this process of destruction has to be cut short for it to achieve this end. The implication is that they would be so slow to respond to it that they would all be consumed before they repented, and "righteousness" was achieved.</h4>


text:
<p>For the Lord Yahweh of Armies, will make a full end as already determined, in the midst of all the earth- The midst of all the earth / eretz refers to Zion. It was God’s plan to destroy the temple at the hands of the Assyrians in Hezekiah’s time (see on :32-34). But He relented of it, and so the prophecy was deferred until later; and the essence of it, until the last days. God intended to make a full end of Zion and Judah at the hands of the Assyrians; but he didn’t. Various factors played their part- the repentance and intercession of a remnant, the evil of Assyria precluding their further usage by God, etc. Very similar language to <a href='B:340 9:26'>Dan 9:26</a> occurs in <a href='B:290 10:23'>Isa 10:23</a>: “For a complete destruction, one that is decreed, shall the Lord of Hosts execute in the midst of the land”. The context is speaking of “the Assyrian”. The same language of the last days is found in <a href='B:290 28:22'>Isa 28:22</a>: “a final destruction on all the earth." The latter day antichrist is therefore modeled upon the “Assyrian” of the Old Testament. Note that “the man of sin” of <a href='B:600 2:8'>2Th 2:8</a> alludes to “the wicked one” of <a href='B:290 11:4'>Isa 11:4</a> LXX, who is, again, “the Assyrian”! So it would appear very likely that the antichrist figure is somehow associated with ‘Assyria’. And what’s going on in Iraq and the territory of ‘Assyria’ right now is gripping the whole world’s attention. Note how the Assyrian is described in <a href='B:290 30:31-33'>Isa 30:31-33</a> as being thrown into a lake of fire – just as the future beast will be (<a href='B:730 19:20'>Rev 19:20</a>).</p>


text:
<p>Therefore the Lord Yahweh of Armies, says: My people who dwell in Zion, don’t be afraid of the Assyrian, though he strike you with the rod, and lift up his staff against you, as Egypt did- The language is ambiguous as to whether they need fear the Assyrians or not; hence LXX "Be not afraid, my people who dwell in Sion, of the Assyrians, because he shall smite thee with a rod: for I am bringing a stroke upon thee, that thou mayest see the way of Egypt". There could be the implication that the Assyrian would not strike them with the rod if they repented. Or perhaps it is specifically the faithful remnant who are being addressed- God’s people who dwelt in Zion.</p>


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<p>For yet a very little while, and the indignation against you will be accomplished, and My anger will be directed to his destruction- God’s anger was going to come, and the majority of the population were intended to perish (:20). But God urges the faithful remnant in Zion (:24) to be assured of their own safety; the destruction of the majority was to happen suddenly, in only "a very little while". This is the situation of <a href='B:290 26:20'>Isa 26:20</a>, when the faithful minority would somehow be miraculously preserved in Zion, whilst the majority of the Jewish population were destroyed. This didn’t happen as planned, and the Assyrians never took Jerusalem. But the essence of it will be fulfilled in the last days.</p>


text:
<h4>Yahweh of Armies will stir up a scourge against him, as in the slaughter of Midian at the rock of Oreb. His rod will be over the sea, and He will lift it up like He did against Egypt- The lifting up of the rod by Moses led to the sea destroying the Egyptian army. And the same was to happen to the Assyrians. But :28-34 go on to describe how Assyria would capture Zion. It could be therefore that this destruction of Assyria was to come after that. Or it could be that here God foresaw how in fact Assyria would be destroyed so that the prophecies about the fall of Zion at this time would not come true. The chronology of the text is therefore bound to be confusing, because so many different possible outcomes are being carried in mind.</h4><h4>The Assyrian was to be destroyed by stirring or (Heb:) raising up a scourge against him, just as he had been a scourge to Judah (<a href='B:290 28:15'>Isa 28:15</a>). This is the word used in <a href='B:290 41:2'>Isa 41:2</a>; <a href='B:290 41:25'>Isa 41:25</a>; <a href='B:290 45:13'>Isa 45:13</a> of the raising up of a Messianic saviour figure who would deliver Judah from her Assyrian oppressors; Micah, contemporary with Isaiah, has the same in view (<a href='B:400 5:5'>Mic 5:5</a>). This didn’t happen, and Hezekiah let the baton drop in any case. So it is rescheduled and reinterpreted in fulfilment to the raising up of the Lord Jesus to save latter day, repentant Judah.</h4>


text:
<h4>It will happen in that day, that his burden will depart from off your shoulder, and his yoke from off your neck, and the yoke shall be destroyed because of the anointing oil- The reference to Midian’s destruction (repeated in <a href='B:290 9:4'>Isa 9:4</a>) suggests that a small remnant, akin to Gideon’s three hundred men, would destroy a far greater military and political power which was dominating Israel. It calls for a military fulfilment, and this surely was the possibility in Isaiah’s day. The righteous remnant were to release Judah from domination by the overpowering Assyria. But they did not fully achieve this, nor did they accept God’s new covenant which was to be the basis for them never again being under yoke (<a href='B:300 30:8'>Jer 30:8</a>; <a href='B:330 34:27'>Eze 34:27</a>). The burden of the Assyrians was to be removed by them being trodden down upon the mountains [an intensive plural for the one great mountain] of Zion (<a href='B:290 14:25'>Isa 14:25</a>). But they never got into Zion, and were not trodden down there. And so the prophecy was rescheduled and reapplied to the victory of the Lord Jesus over sin (see on :4) and the latter day Assyrian. His offer of His yoke in place of the heavy yoke carried by God’s people surely alludes here (<a href='B:470 11:29'>Mat 11:29</a>). And His spiritual victory will have its political and ’military’ manifestation at Christ’s return and His final liberation of Israel from their Arab oppressors.</h4><h4>The salvation because of the anointing oil suggests that a messiah [’anointed one’] figure could have saved Judah at this time; but the fulfilment will be in the Lord Jesus Christ. This is the same message as in <a href='B:400 5:4-5'>Mic 5:4-5</a></h4>


text:
<p>He has come to Aiath, he has passed through Migron; at Michmash he stores his baggage- "Migron" is LXX Megiddo. The mention of Michmash recalls Jonathan’s brave victory there; and the history of that time is also alluded to in :29. The idea may be that a faithful remnant, such as Jonathan, Samuel (:29) and David, could bring about the defeat of powerful oppressors.</p>


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<p>they have gone over the pass; they have taken up their lodging at Geba; Ramah trembles; Gibeah of Saul has fled- see on :28. LXX "Fear shall seize upon Rama, the city of Saul". It was the city of Samuel; but the historical image presented is of Saul desperate to hear God’s word from Samuel and not hearing it.</p>


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<p>Cry aloud with your voice, daughter of Gallim! Listen, Laishah! You poor Anathoth!- These were villages on the northern approaches to Jerusalem. The exhortation to "cry aloud" may be an appeal for them to repent and avert the threatened catastrophe; and perhaps they did, and so the Assyrians never took Jerusalem.</p>


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<p>Madmenah is a fugitive, the inhabitants of Gebim flee for safety- The villages near Jerusalem were depopulated as everyone fled before the Assyrian advance.</p>


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<p>this very day he will halt at Nob. He shakes his hand at the mountain of the daughter of Zion, the hill of Jerusalem- We could read this as describing the Assyrians besieging Jerusalem, and expressing their intentions to destroy the temple on Zion. But LXX offers "Exhort ye them to-day to remain in the way: exhort ye beckoning with the hand the mountain, the daughter of Sion, even ye hills that are in Jerusalem". This would then be an appeal for repentance, and for the remnant who had repented to "remain in the way". For this was the way to avert the destruction of the temple described in :33,34. And indeed it seems this appeal was heard by a minority, who were significant enough for that destruction to be averted.</p>


text:
<p>Behold, the Lord Yahweh of Armies will lop the boughs with terror. The tall will be cut down, and the lofty will be brought low- As explained on :34, it was the Divine plan for Assyria to destroy the temple. <a href='B:290 2:13'>Isa 2:13</a> likewise associates the destruction of the temple with the bringing down of Judah’s pride. The "High and lifted up" temple of <a href='B:290 2:13'>Isa 2:13</a> uses the same phrase for the exaltation of Yahweh in glory in <a href='B:290 6:1'>Isa 6:1</a>. What is high and lifted up in human eyes was and is to be brought down before the glory of Yahweh. This language of cutting down Judah like trees paves the way for the next prophesy in Isaiah 11, which envisages the Messianic shoot sprouting forth out of the cut down stump of the house of David.</p>


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<p>He will cut down the thickets of the forest with iron, and Lebanon will fall by the Mighty One- The cedars of Lebanon in the temple became iconic, to the point that they are put by metaphor for the temple itself (<a href='B:450 11:1'>Zec 11:1</a>). Judah were so proud of the temple (see on <a href='B:300 7:4'>Jer 7:4</a>). The destruction of the temple was required to humble Judah. Clearly the message is that the Assyrians would surround and threaten Zion (:32)- and then demolish the temple. But this didn’t happen. It was intended to; but the prayer, repentance and spirituality of a remnant meant this didn’t happen. This accords with the principle of <a href='B:300 17:8-10'>Jer 17:8-10</a>; that God may state His purpose, but in the gap between statement and realization, there is the opportunity for repentance so that the intended outcome will not happen.</p>


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<h4>A shoot will come out of the stock of Jesse, and a branch out of his roots will bear fruit- As explained on <a href='B:290 10:33'>Isa 10:33</a>, it was the original Divine intention that the Assyrians would take Jerusalem and cut down the cedars of Lebanon associated with the temple. That language of cutting down Judah like trees paves the way for this next prophesy in Isaiah 11, which envisages the Messianic shoot sprouting forth out of the cut down stump of the house of David. But things worked out differently. The temple was not destroyed at that time, and so the planned shoot didn’t come forth; the potential may have been that a son of Isaiah developed into this figure, or perhaps Hezekiah (see on <a href='B:290 7:6'>Isa 7:6</a>; <a href='B:290 8:1'>Isa 8:1</a>; <a href='B:290 8:18'>Isa 8:18</a>). And so the Messianic potential was reapplied to the time of the restoration, and then finally to the Lord Jesus.</h4><p>When Zedekiah was taken into captivity (<a href='B:330 17:20'>Eze 17:20</a>), it was prophesied that “a tender one” (Messiah- <a href='B:290 11:1'>Isa 11:1</a>; <a href='B:290 53:2'>Isa 53:2</a>) would be planted“upon an high mountain”, and grow into a tree in whose shadows all animals would live (<a href='B:330 17:21-22'>Eze 17:21-22</a>). This is clearly the Messianic Kingdom (<a href='B:490 13:19'>Luk 13:19</a>). This young twig at the time of the captivity was surely Zerubabbel, and the “high mountain” upon which his Kingdom could have been established is surely he “high mountain” of <a href='B:330 40:2'>Eze 40:2</a> where the temple could have been built. Yet the prophecy had to suffer a massive deferment until its fulfilment in Christ.</p><h4>It seems that Haggai and Zechariah returned to Jerusalem from Babylon in order to prepare the way for Zerubbabel- they were therefore the primary fulfillment of the prophecies of an Elijah-type prophet heralding the coming of the Messiah king. Zerubbabel failure therefore meant that their ministry was re-scheduled and fulfilled in the work of John the Baptist. Zerubbabel is called “the branch” (<a href='B:450 3:8'>Zec 3:8</a>; <a href='B:450 6:12'>Zec 6:12</a>; <a href='B:300 23:5-6'>Jer 23:5-6</a>), and this obviously invites connection with the prophecy of a branch / Messiah who would grow out of the cut down stump of Jesse (<a href='B:290 11:1'>Isa 11:1</a>). Again, Zerubbabel fits the picture perfectly. The house of David had been cut down in judgment, but the prophesied branch would not be from the royal line of Kings- but rather simply from the ‘stump’ that had been left, i:e. a descendant of Jesse who was not in the direct line of kings. <a href='B:400 5:2'>Mic 5:2</a> speaks of a similar person- a Messiah-king who would be from Bethlehem, i:e. the family of Jesse, rather than from Jerusalem where the royal line of kings were born. His origins would be “from old”- i:e. a person who is still a descendant of Jesse, but not in the direct line of kings. But despite all this, yet again we come to the sad realization that Zerubbabel like his people simply didn’t live up to it; and the prophecies came to be fulfilled finally in Jesus. He could have been Yahweh’s signet ring (<a href='B:440 2:23'>Hag 2:23</a>), His specially favoured son- but he baulked at the height of the calling.</h4>


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<h4>The Spirit of Yahweh will rest on him- The Spirit was also to rest upon the dry bones of Ezekiel 37, causing the exiles to revive and become a reformed Kingdom of God in Judah (<a href='B:330 37:1'>Eze 37:1</a>; <a href='B:330 37:14'>Eze 37:14</a>). Although the envisioned Messianic figure didn’t arise in Hezekiah’s time, he could have arisen at the restoration. But all these possibilities weren’t realized, and so the ultimate fulfilment was in the Lord Jesus.</h4><h4>The spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of Yahweh- This makes six endowments of the Spirit, and the general mention of the Spirit resting upon him in the first part of the verse makes seven. Seven spirits resting upon a Messiah figure is the language of what could have happened at the restoration through Zerubbabel (<a href='B:450 3:9'>Zec 3:9</a>; <a href='B:450 4:2'>Zec 4:2</a>). Again we see that the Messianic figure could have appeared at various stages, but human dysfunction precluded this happening. Yet all this comes to fulfilment in the Lord Jesus. Indeed "the seven spirits" of <a href='B:730 1:4'>Rev 1:4</a> could be read as a title of the Lord.</h4>


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<h4>His delight will be in the fear of Yahweh- AV "Of quick understanding in the fear of the Lord". James alludes to this: "Let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath" (<a href='B:660 1:19'>Jas 1:19</a> RV). If we are truly born by the word then we will swift to hear it, as the Lord Jesus was of quick understanding in the word. We will share His aptitude for it, and we will be slow to speak anything else. For He is but the epitome of personalization of the entire body of Christ.</h4><p>The Lord Jesus is right now "quick to discern the thoughts and intents of [our hearts]" in mediating for us (<a href='B:650 4:12'>Heb 4:12</a> RV). But this is how He was in His mortal life here- for then He was "of quick understanding" too (<a href='B:290 11:3'>Isa 11:3</a> is applied to Him then). He would have had a way of seeing through to the essence of a person or situation with awesome speed- and this must have made human life very irritating for Him at times. But who He was then is who He is now. It’s the same Jesus who intercedes for us in sensitivity and compassion. Note carefully the tense used in <a href='B:650 4:15'>Heb 4:15</a>: "We have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities". It doesn’t say ’which could not have been touched:::’, but rather "which cannot [presenttense] be touched". It’s as if He is now touched with the feeling of our infirmities. Which opens a fascinating window into what having God’s nature is all about. When we by grace come to share it, it’s not just that we will dimly remember what it was like to be human.</p><h4>He will not judge by the sight of his eyes, neither decide by the hearing of his ears- Judging and deciding are the same Hebrew words used in <a href='B:290 2:4'>Isa 2:4</a>. Again, the picture of the restored Kingdom of God we meet there could have come about after the arising of a Messianic figure who would save Judah from the Assyrian in Hezekiah’s time.</h4>


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<h4>But with righteousness he will judge the poor, and decide with equity for the humble of the earth. He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth- In contrast to the unjust and faulty leadership Judah had at the time. And it was Messiah and not the Assyrian who was now going to strike the earth with His rod (<a href='B:290 10:5'>Isa 10:5</a>; <a href='B:290 10:15'>Isa 10:15</a>). There was to be a replacement of the Assyrian king with Israel’s Messiah.</h4><h4>And with the breath of his lips he will kill the wicked- Note that “the man of sin” of <a href='B:600 2:8'>2Th 2:8</a> alludes to “the wicked one” of <a href='B:290 11:4'>Isa 11:4</a> LXX&nbsp; who is, again, “the Assyrian” in the initial context. So it would appear very likely that the antichrist figure is somehow associated with ‘Assyria’. And what’s going on in Iraq and the territory of ‘Assyria’ right now is gripping the whole world’s attention. Note how the Assyrian is described in <a href='B:290 30:31-33'>Isa 30:31-33</a> as being thrown into a lake of fire – just as the future beast will be (<a href='B:730 19:20'>Rev 19:20</a>).</h4>


text:
<h4>Righteousness will be the belt of his waist and faithfulness the belt of his loins- This was the clothing and symbolism of the High Priest; but we have in view here a king-priest, after the order of Melchizedek. Zerubbabel could have met this requirement, but he too failed, and so the prophecy came to total fulfilment in the Lord Jesus.</h4><h4>Paul’s description of the warrior of the Gospel in Ephesians 6 composites together various descriptions of Messiah’s clothing in the servant songs (<a href='B:290 11:5'>Isa 11:5</a> = “loins girded with truth”; <a href='B:290 49:2'>Isa 49:2</a> “mouth like a sharp sword”; <a href='B:290 52:7'>Isa 52:7</a> “bring good tidings / publish salvation” = “the preparation of the Gospel of peace”; <a href='B:290 59:17'>Isa 59:17</a> “breastplate of righteousness”; <a href='B:290 59:17'>Isa 59:17</a> “helmet of salvation”). We are to be Christ to the world.</h4>


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<p>The wolf will live with the lamb, and the leopard will lie down with the young goat; the calf, the young lion, and the fattened calf together; and a little child will lead them- This section of Isaiah repeatedly mentions "a child". As noted on <a href='B:290 7:6'>Isa 7:6</a>; <a href='B:290 8:1'>Isa 8:1</a>; <a href='B:290 8:18'>Isa 8:18</a>; <a href='B:290 10:19'>Isa 10:19</a>, this child could have been Isaiah’s specially predicted son, in whose childhood the Kingdom could have been restored, perhaps with a reduction of the curse amongst the animal creation. But as noted on :7, the wild animals can be understood as representing the nations around Judah who are now at peace with her and her Messiah; and thereby also with each other. But this didn’t happen, and so the prophecy will come to a much grander fulfilment in the future kingdom of the Lord Jesus on earth.</p>


text:
<p>The cow and the bear will graze, their young ones will lie down together. The lion will eat straw like the ox- The lions in <a href='B:290 5:29-30'>Isa 5:29-30</a> clearly represent the Babylonians and Assyrians; but here the prophetic hope was that the young lion would be tamed and live in Zion. The vision was of Judah’s enemies being judged and repenting, and coming to live in the restored Kingdom. Wild beasts were symbolic of Israel’s enemies (see on <a href='B:290 5:5'>Isa 5:5</a>). But the idea is that they would become harmless, and through repentance as a result of their judgment, come to live in God’s restored Kingdom. This was precluded at Isaiah’s time by Hezekiah’s wrong attitude to the Babylonians, and Judah serving their gods rather than bringing them to Israel’s God. And so the prophecy will come to a much grander fulfilment in the future kingdom of the Lord Jesus on earth.</p>


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<p>the nursing child will play near a cobra’s hole, and the weaned child will put his hand on the viper’s den- I suggested on :6 that this child could have been Isaiah’s specially predicted son, in whose childhood the Kingdom could have been restored, perhaps with a reduction of the curse amongst the animal creation.</p>


text:
<h4>They will not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain- The situation in mount Zion would reflect that in "the earth" / land of Israel- there would be no destruction on mount Zion "for the earth / land will be full of the knowledge of Yahweh". No longer would human sacrifices be offered there; the sins of Israel would no longer be repeated in the new Kingdom envisaged here. Destruction on Zion has been a theme of <a href='B:290 10:32-34'>Isa 10:32-34</a>; there was envisaged there the destruction of both Israelites and Assyrians on that mountain. But "nor shall they at all be able to destroy any one on my holy mountain" (LXX).</h4><h4>For the earth will be full of the knowledge of Yahweh, as the waters cover the sea- This stands in contrast to how the land was "full" (s:w:) of idolatry and trust in human philosophy (<a href='B:290 2:6-7'>Isa 2:6-7</a>). The descriptions of the restored Kingdom are so often expressed in terms of how spiritually, this would be the reversal of the unspiritual situation then extant in the earth / land of Israel. "The knowledge of Yahweh" doesn’t so much refer to correct doctrinal knowledge as to the Hebraic ’knowing’, referring to relationship. This relationship with Yahweh would be throughout the entire eretz promised to Abraham; there would be no person or geographical spot which held out against it. Absolutely everyone who survived the conflict around Mount Zion would enter covenant relationship or "knowledge of Yahweh".</h4>


text:
<h4>It will happen in that day that the nations will seek the root of Jesse, who stands as a banner of the peoples- "The nations", referring usually to those immediately around Judah, those within the entire eretz promised to Abraham, would seek this Messiah figure. This explains how the universal knowledge or relationship with Yahweh of the previous verse comes about. This didn’t happen at the time; but His standing as a banner or ensign is alluded to in the figure of the Lord Jesus being lifted up on the cross as an ensign on a pole, and all believers coming to Him there in faith / trust. Hence the LXX "And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, and he that shall arise to rule over the Gentiles; in him shall the Gentiles trust, and his rest shall be glorious". This is quoted in <a href='B:520 15:12'>Rom 15:12</a> about Gentiles in this dispensation believing in the Lord Jesus. We note again that the inspired New Testament writers prefer to quote the LXX when it differs with the Hebrew text. For "in him shall the Gentiles trust" is in the LXX but not the Masoretic text.</h4><h4>And his resting place will be glorious- This could simply refer toa literal appearance of glory upon mount Zion, as hinted at in several prophecies. But this was precluded at the time by Judah refusing this "rest" (<a href='B:290 28:12'>Isa 28:12</a> s:w:). Or His resting place could be the hearts of those who "trust" in Him (<a href='B:290 66:1-2'>Isa 66:1-2</a> s:w:), a resting place chosen by Him because the temple on Zion had not been rebuilt as required and therefore God chose to dwell in the hearts of individuals instead.</h4>


text:
<p>It will happen in that day that the Lord will set His hand again the second time to recover the remnant that is left of His people from Assyria, from Egypt, from Pathros, from Cush, from Elam, from Shinar, from Hamath, and from the islands of the sea- see on <a href='B:450 12:4'>Zec 12:4</a>. For "Pathros" LXX has "Babylon". These areas included the areas where the ten tribes had been taken captive, and where it was envisaged Judah would also be taken. The prophetic potential was that at the restoration of the Kingdom, all God’s people would be gathered together, along with repentant Gentiles, united by the joint experience of conviction of sin, forgiveness and God’s grace. And to this day, that is the basis of unity; "doctrine divides, experience unites", as Paul Tournier put it. Their impenitence at the time of Isaiah and the restoration from Babylon precluded this regathering; they did not return to God, and so He did not return them to their land. But "His hand", His powerful activity, was potentially ready to do this; and it is outstretched to all Israel to this day. This is why the repentance of Israel is critical to the reestablishment of the Kingdom in our days.</p>


text:
<h4>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- As explained on :10, this ensign was refused by the Gentiles and the outcasts of Israel; and so the banner or ensign is alluded to in the figure of the Lord Jesus being lifted up on the cross as an ensign on a pole, and all believers coming to Him there in trust / faith (see on :10). The whole congregation (LXX ekklesia) of Israel were "gathered together" before the smitten rock, which "was Christ" crucified (<a href='B:40 20:8'>Num 20:8</a> cp. 21:16; <a href='B:530 10:4'>1Co 10:4</a>). The “ensign", the pole on which the brazen serpent was lifted up, would draw together the scattered individuals of God’s people; and as stricken Israel were gathered around that pole, so the lifting up of the crucified Christ brings together all His people (<a href='B:500 12:32'>Joh 12:32</a> cp. 3:14).</h4><h4>We note that the repentant of the nations as well as Israel and Judah were to all come to that banner or ensign. The ensign was the rallying point for a tribe, and they would together become a new tribe or nation / ekklesia in the restored Kingdom.</h4>


text:
<p>The envy also of Ephraim will depart, and those who persecute Judah will be cut off. Ephraim won’t envy Judah, and Judah won’t persecute Ephraim- All God’s people would be gathered together, along with repentant Gentiles, united by the joint experience of conviction of sin, forgiveness and God’s grace. And to this day, that is the basis of unity. All interpersonal frictions, envy (jealousy), the perceived need to settle old historical scores::. fade into irrelevance if we genuinely have these experiences of reconciliation with God. Our vertical binding with Him naturally outflows into horizontal bonding with others who have tasted the same grace; as John’s letters make clear. We note that in Isaiah’s time, it was Israel (Ephraim) who had persecuted Judah, even besieging Jerusalem. So Judah’s persecuting of Ephraim refers to their desire for vengeance for that. But that would be no more in their hearts if they accepted the new covenant of grace and accepted their own sins.</p>


text:
<p>They will fly down on the shoulders of the Philistines on the west. Together they will plunder the children of the east. They will extend their power over Edom and Moab, and the children of Ammon will obey them- The vision of a greater, reestablished Kingdom was of dominance over the surrounding nations of the eretz promised to Abraham. Israel and Judah"together"would do this, flying down as if in perfect league with the cherubim armies of Heaven.</p>


text:
<p>Yahweh will utterly destroy the tongue of the Egyptian sea; and with His scorching wind He will wave His hand over the River, and will split it into seven streams, and cause men to march over in sandals- We noted on :11 that if the exiles wished to return / repent, then God’s hand was ready to work mightily to literally return them to the land. Just as with a strong east wind He had dried up the Red Sea, called here"the tongue of the Egyptian sea", so He could dry up"the River", Euphrates, to allow the ten tribes and Judah [envisioned as going into captivity in Babylon] to return. As they wore sandals which didn’t wear out to cross the Red Sea, also part of the miracle, so God would miraculously provide all the human side of things for this great exodus to happen. We note that here and in :12, God foresees that Judah would go into captivity in Babylon; as later Isaiah recognizes. The great possibilities at Hezekiah’s time would not come about; and yet God appears to hope against hope that once they had suffered in Babylon, they would finally learn their lesson. The essential hopefulness of God for humanity is our pattern.</p>


text:
<p>There will be a highway for the remnant that is left of His people from Assyria, like there was for Israel in the day that he came up out of the land of Egypt- LXX reads"Egypt"for Assyria here. Egypt was always attractive for the Jews; they trusted in Egypt and some even fled there, seeking help from Egypt rather than from their God. The significance of the highway is therefore that God would give the opportunity for spiritual repentance and return to Him; playing on the idea that the Hebrew word for"return"is also used for repentance. Just as He could dry up the Euphrates for the return to happen from there, so He could build a highway in the desert. But there was no literal highway built for Israel when they left Egypt. Yet they had God’s guidance, and therefore the unchartered desert was in fact a direct highway- for those with faith to perceive it. And the apparent random twists and turns of our lives must be understood by us in that same way. It’s all in fact a direct highway.</p>


text:
<p>In that day you will say, I will give thanks to You, Yahweh; for though You were angry with me, Your anger has turned away and You comfort me- God fantasizes about the words which the repentant remnant of <a href='B:290 11:10-15'>Isa 11:10-15</a> will say. Their recognition of the existence of God’s wrath is tantamount to recognizing the guilt of their sins; they would come to appreciate that indeed"the wrath of God is the love of God"."Turned away"is the same word used for repentance and return; they will perceive that their repentance has triggered the turning away of His anger. But this scenario didn’t happen at Hezekiah’s time, for soon after his death we read that God did not turn away from His anger, and Judah were sent into captivity (<a href='B:120 23:26'>2Ki 23:26</a> s:w:). Even though Hezekiah himself urged repentance so that Yahweh’s anger would turn away (s:w. <a href='B:140 29:10'>2Ch 29:10</a>; <a href='B:140 30:8'>2Ch 30:8</a>), as did Ezra (<a href='B:150 10:14'>Ezr 10:14</a>). He tried to bring these words to fulfilment, but his reformation failed, overall. The comfort ("You comfort me") offered by God in <a href='B:290 40:1'>Isa 40:1</a> was also largely rejected at the time of the restoration. And so Isaiah often laments that His anger was not turned away, and therefore His hand was still stretched out- both in inflicting judgment, and seeking to thereby bring about repentance (<a href='B:290 5:25'>Isa 5:25</a>; <a href='B:290 9:12'>Isa 9:12</a>; <a href='B:290 9:17'>Isa 9:17</a>; <a href='B:290 9:21'>Isa 9:21</a>; <a href='B:290 10:4'>Isa 10:4</a>). The exiles thought that God’s wrath would be turned away simply because He realized they had not actually sinned and were innocent (<a href='B:300 2:35'>Jer 2:35</a>).</p>


text:
<p>Behold, God is my salvation. I will trust, and will not be afraid; for Yah, Yahweh, is my strength and song; and He has become my salvation- These were the intended words of the repentant remnant; but they fit Isaiah personally, as their representative. For his name means ’Yah saves’, and is a form of Yehoshua, Jesus."Yah is my strength"is ’Hezekiah’. He was the potential Messiah figure who could have been their salvation; but he failed in this, and the destruction of the Assyrians was done by an Angel and not by him personally. In the final fulfilment of this, Judah’s repentance and rejoicing in salvation will be because of their acceptance of the Lord Jesus as Christ. But the whole verse is a quotation of <a href='B:20 15:2'>Exo 15:2</a>, the song of triumph of Moses after the salvation of Israel at the Red Sea:"Yah is my strength and song. He has become my salvation. This is my God, and I will praise Him; my father’s God, and I will exalt Him". The song of Moses is put in the mouth of every redeemed Israelite; all would be as Moses. Judaism saw and sees Moses as an icon of unapproachable spirituality; but here, his rejoicing is to be the experience of every redeemed individual.</p>


text:
<p>Therefore with joy you will draw water out of the wells of salvation- The allusion may be to how after the song of Moses, the people came to the wells of Rephidim, which Isaiah presents as representing the water of salvation, of eternal life. And perhaps the idea is also that when the returned exiles came to Jerusalem, they would do what all pilgrims were supposed to do and drink her spring water (<a href='B:230 87:7'>Psa 87:7</a>), representing eternal life. But Judah urned down such great potentials. And so this is applied by the Lord to the present experience of the believer in Him (<a href='B:500 4:14'>Joh 4:14</a>; <a href='B:500 7:38'>Joh 7:38</a>). But Isaiah 12 continues to explain how the joy of that experience will lead to men saying: “The Lord Jehovah is my strength and my song; he also is become my salvation [as He was for Israel at the Red Sea, cp. our baptism experience]::. Praise the Lord, proclaim his name, declare his doings among the people, make mention that his name is exalted”. The exaltation of the Yahweh Name, the wonder of it, the sheer height of who Yahweh is, these things and our personal part in them is an unending imperative to witness these things world-wide. Men did not confess Jesus to others, despite nominally believing in Him, because they did not love the concept of the glory of God (<a href='B:500 12:43'>Joh 12:43</a> RV). To perceive His glory, the wonder of it all, leads to inevitable witness to others. For we are offering people the water of life eternal.</p>


text:
<p>In that day you will say, Give thanks to Yahweh! Call on His name. Declare His doings among the peoples. Proclaim that His name is exalted!- Isaiah foretold that when Israel know their forgiveness and salvation, they will therefore quite naturally “declare His doings among the peoples”, and invite the Gentile peoples to call themselves by His Name. This will be the motivation for Israel’s witness to the world after the Lord’s return. They will fill the face of the world with spiritual fruit – and this will be the fruit of the taking away of their sin, and their experience of repentance (<a href='B:290 27:6'>Isa 27:6</a>; <a href='B:290 27:9'>Isa 27:9</a> RV).</p>


text:
<p>Sing to Yahweh, for He has done excellent things! Let this be known in all the earth!- This continues the allusion to the Song of Moses (<a href='B:20 15:1'>Exo 15:1</a>; <a href='B:20 15:25'>Exo 15:25</a>). See on :2. The desire of the forgiven and redeemed exiles and repentant Gentiles would be to spread the knowledge of their great salvation to all the earth. This is a natural response to salvation, and should be the root motivation for all our evangelism. Beholding these"excellent things"is pictured as the reward of the faithful remnant in <a href='B:290 26:10'>Isa 26:10</a>; they would then see Yahweh, which is the promise of <a href='B:290 12:6'>Isa 12:6</a>.</p>


text:
<p>Cry aloud and shout, you inhabitant of Zion; for the Holy One of Israel is great in the midst of you!- The prophetic vision was of Yahweh Himself dwelling in Zion, so that the city would be called"the Lord is there"(<a href='B:330 48:35'>Eze 48:35</a>). But the exiles failed to rebuild Zion and operate the services there as commanded in Ezekiel 40-48, and so this literal dwelling of God amongst His redeemed people is alluded to in Revelation 21, 22 as being only fulfilled at the return of the Lord Jesus to earth.</p>


text:
<h4>The burden of Babylon, which Isaiah the son of Amoz saw- Isaiah is here specifically named as the human author. A document like this against a superpower was a dangerous thing to be author of, but he unashamedly stands up for his belief that the present system shall come crashing down- as we should. Hezekiah ended his days seeking friendship with the Babylonians (Isaiah 39), and this prophecy stood to condemn his seeking friendship from them. No wonder Jewish tradition has it that Hezekiah’s son sawed Isaiah in half for his prophecies. Anyone who condemns"friendship with the world"faces similar hostility.</h4><h4>As explained on <a href='B:290 1:1'>Isa 1:1</a>, the first part of Isaiah concerns the Assyrian threat in the time of Isaiah. The appeals for repentance appear to have produced some fruit, and due to them, as well as the intercession of the remnant and also the arrogance of Assyria in refusing to be a mere tool in God’s hand, the threatened Assyrian destruction of Zion didn’t happen. See on <a href='B:300 18:8-10'>Jer 18:8-10</a>. But Hezekiah and Judah generally didn’t respond to that as fully as they might have done. And so the historical interlude concludes with the news that they are to go into captivity in Babylon. But the later part of Isaiah then goes straight on to speak of their restoration from there into a reestablished Kingdom of God in Judah; although the final section of Isaiah laments that these potential possibilities were being precluded by Judah’s unspirituality. The essence of the prophecies will come ultimately true in the establishment of God’s Kingdom and the repentance of Israel in the last days; albeit in a reinterpreted and rescheduled manner. And so the material about Assyria became reapplied to Babylon. Harry Whittaker correctly noted how"Assyria"and"Babylon"are used interchangeably in several places. I would argue that the terms are not interchangeable, as they were two separate entities. Rather is the confusion because the material about Assyria was reapplied and transferred to Babylon. And this transference was reflected in the way that Isaiah was perhaps rewritten, under inspiration, as explained on <a href='B:290 1:1'>Isa 1:1</a>.</h4>


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<h4>Set up a banner on the bare mountain! Lift up your voiceto them! Wave your hand, that they may go into the gates of the nobles- An obvious question occurs in interpreting this chapter: Is it about a Babylonian invasion of Judah which results in Babylon being judged and destroyed by the Medes, or is it all about the fall of Babylon to the Medes? I suggest that the ambiguity of the language is intentional. The judgments Babylon was to bring upon Judah were brought upon her. This is a common feature of Divine judgment of His people’s enemies. The book of Revelation therefore has clear parallels between the judgments upon Israel, and those upon the beast system which brings those judgments.</h4><p>This verse may therefore refer to Babylon coming to mount Zion and mocking it, and then going in to destroy the palatial homes of the nobles (<a href='B:300 52:13'>Jer 52:13</a>). The waving of their hand against Zion would have been seen in the Assyrian mockery of Zion in a similar way in <a href='B:290 37:23'>Isa 37:23</a>; the Assyrians did"wave the hand"against Zion, with the same phrase used in <a href='B:290 10:32'>Isa 10:32</a>. But the LXX makes the text apply to the fall of Babylon, a city built on the plain of Dura:"Lift up a standard on the mountain of the plain, exalt the voice to them, beckon with the hand, open the gates, ye rulers". This would then refer to how some accounts of the fall of Babylon unearthed by Layard claim that some disaffected with the king opened the gates to the Medes.</p><h4>The ensign set up on mount Zion would refer to the"pole"upon which the serpent was lifted up, representing the crucified Lord Jesus (<a href='B:40 21:8'>Num 21:8</a> s:w:). In the latter day application, this is to be the spiritual rallying point for the repentant remnant of both Judah and the surrounding nations (s:w. <a href='B:290 11:10'>Isa 11:10</a>; <a href='B:290 11:12'>Isa 11:12</a>; <a href='B:290 18:3'>Isa 18:3</a>; <a href='B:290 30:17'>Isa 30:17</a>; <a href='B:290 31:9'>Isa 31:9</a>; <a href='B:290 49:22'>Isa 49:22</a>; <a href='B:290 62:10'>Isa 62:10</a>). Although this was precluded from happening at the time because those remnants didn’t repent, it will become gloriously true in the last days.</h4>


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<h4>I have commanded My consecrated ones; yes, I have called My mighty men for My anger, even My proudly exulting ones- The language here is clearly alluding to Angels as well as the Babylonians / Assyrians who were to invade Judah, and also to the Medes who were to invade Babylon. The Angels rejoiced in Yahweh’s greatness, and the invading soldiers in their own greatness. This is to demonstrate that the geopolitics of the world go in waves, and they are all directly under the control of the Angelic armies of heaven. Ezekiel gives the same message, with the cherubim controlling both Judah and the Babylonians.</h4><p>Hence in :4 we read that the Lord of hosts (Angels) mustered the host of the battle. Yet we clearly read elsewhere that"the Angel of the Lord"went out and smote the Assyrians. So we have some Angels sent with a mission to bring the Assyrians there&nbsp; and others sent to destroy them. Other Angels are actually described as the armies themselves, the weapons of indignation against the land of Israel. And another Angel ’destroys’ them. So here we have the wondrous ways of God, absolute unity in absolute diversity.</p><h4>All these things will come to their ultimate term in the last days. Isaiah 13 has many links with Joel’s prophecy, which clearly refers to the last days as well as immediate situations with the Babylonians and Assyrians; :8,10 connect with the latter day prophecy of Luke 21.</h4>


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<p>The noise of a multitude is in the mountains, as of a great people; the noise of an uproar of the kingdoms of the nations gathered together! Yahweh of Armies is mustering the army for the battle- See on :3. In the context of Babylon’s judgment,"the “mountains” would be the Zagros range, North East of Babylon, from where the&nbsp; Medes came. But Babylon likewise invaded Judah from the North East, appearing to come towards them leaping on the mountains (<a href='B:360 2:2'>Joe 2:2</a>; <a href='B:360 2:5'>Joe 2:5</a> etc:). What they did to God’s people was done to them. As explained on :3, all these things happened with the same Divine hallmark upon them, because the same Angels were manipulating the situation.</p>


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<h4>They come from a far country, from the uttermost part of heaven, even Yahweh, and the weapons of His indignation, to destroy the whole land- Assyria and Babylon were Yahweh’s weapons (Isaiah 10), intended to destroy the whole land of Israel. But the language is just as true of the Medes being used to destroy Babylon. Just as Babylon had been the nation from the north who would bringGod’ judgments, so now she is to be judged from the north. She was to be made to realize how she had made others feel. It is not simply so that ’what goes around comes around’; there is a purpose in these judgments repeating themselves. It was so that those who had witnessed and participated in the judgment of Israel might come to see how it felt, and thereby repent. We too are at times made to feel the effect of our actions upon others- for the same reason.</h4><p>Time and again the prophets describe the judgments to fall upon Israel in the same terms as they speak of the condemnations of the surrounding nations (e:g. <a href='B:300 50:3'>Jer 50:3</a>; <a href='B:300 50:13'>Jer 50:13</a>). The message was clear: rejected Israel would be treated as Gentiles. Even if we are separated from this world externally, we can still act in a worldly way, and share the world’s condemnation.</p><h4>The judgment was to be upon all Babylonia, "the whole land", not just the city of Babylon. All attempts to apply this verse solely to the city of Babylon are therefore misplaced; it refers to all Babylonia. And the whole area didn’t become a literal desert; the fertile crescent remained fertile. This recalls how the similar judgments upon the area of Edom likewise didn’t come about at the time; see on <a href='B:300 49:18'>Jer 49:18</a>. But this will happen in the last days.</h4>


text:
<p>Wail; for the day of Yahweh is at hand! It will come as destruction from the Almighty- Is "Wail!" an invitation for Babylon to repent and cry to God? This verse is about verbatim in <a href='B:360 1:15'>Joe 1:15</a> where it is an appeal for Judah to repent before the Assyrians or Babylonians destroyed them. But now it is true of those nations themselves. <a href='B:300 18:8'>Jer 18:8</a> clearly states that this purpose could have been changed. It was God’s intention that all the nations around Israel would repent along with His people, and turn to Him. Even Babylon could have repented at this point. "Therefore hear the counsel of Yahweh::." in <a href='B:300 50:45'>Jer 50:45</a> is also an appeal for repentance. That God should make so much effort with hardened worldlings::. indicates His depth of concern for human salvation. And it should encourage us in our witness. <a href='B:300 51:8'>Jer 51:8</a> puts it like this: "Wail for her; take her balm for her pain, if so be she may be healed". This opens another window into what God potentially planned at this time. Balm in <a href='B:300 46:11'>Jer 46:11</a> refers to repentance.</p>


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<p>Therefore all hands will be feeble, and everyone’s heart will melt- This is not quite the same as the impression given by surface level Bible teachers that the king of Babylon was rejoicing in his city, confident in his own strength, when the Medes diverted the course of the Euphrates and took the city by surprise. The record in Daniel 5 is correct, but that record doesn’t contradict the information given here- that the king was already deeply concerned at the advance of the Medes. Here we read that he was feeble at the news of the enemy advance. Hence we should give due weight to the discovery by Layard of inscriptions which say that Babylon opened her own gates in surrender.</p>


text:
<p>They will be dismayed. Pangs and sorrows will seize them, they will be in pain like a woman in labour. They will look in amazement one at another, their faces will be faces of flickering flame- Even this figure suggests that something is to be brought forth; the Divine hope was that Babylon’s sufferings would lead to a repentant Gentile remnant who could join in His reestablished Kingdom. See on :6. And the language here is that of Jerusalem’s sufferings (<a href='B:300 4:9'>Jer 4:9</a> etc:), and likewise it was God’s hope that a repentant remnant would be elicited by their sufferings. But this didn’t happen, and so these things are transferred to the last days. Then, the day of the Lord will result in the wicked being "in pain as of a woman that travaileth" (<a href='B:290 13:8'>Isa 13:8</a>; is quoted in <a href='B:590 5:3'>1Th 5:3</a>). The Lord also seems to have alluded to this when He spoke of how the faithful just before His coming would be like a woman in travail, with the subsequent joy on delivery matching the elation of acceptance at Christ’s return (<a href='B:500 16:21'>Joh 16:21</a>). So, it’s travail- or travail, especially in the last days. If we choose the way of the flesh, it will be travail for nothing, bringing forth in vain (this is seen as a characteristic of all worldly life in <a href='B:290 65:23'>Isa 65:23</a>). We either cut off the flesh now (in spiritual circumcision), or God will cut us off. This point was made when the rite of circumcision was first given: "The uncircumcised [un-cut off] man::. shall be cut off" (<a href='B:10 17:14'>Gen 17:14</a>).</p>


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<p>Behold, the day of Yahweh comes, cruel, with wrath and fierce anger; to make the land a desolation, and to destroy its sinners out of it- As explained on :18, the judgments here are not only upon the city of Babylon, but upon the entire "land of the Chaldeans", Babylonia. The scale of sudden destruction implied didn’t happen when the Medes took Babylon. The prophetic scenario projected in these prophecies didn’t fully happen, although it will do so ultimately in the last days, as Revelation 18 makes clear. The intention of the desolation of the land, both of Judah and Babylon, was to destroy the sinners and leave a repentant, righteous remnant. This wasn’t the outcome; perhaps because God foresaw that, He didn’t bring the full potential extent of these judgments, neither on Babylon nor on Judah.</p>


text:
<p>For the stars of the sky and its 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- These words are applied in the Olivet prophecy to the situation in the last days (<a href='B:470 24:29'>Mat 24:29</a>). For this didn’t fully happen at the time, although in a symbolic sense the lights went out for Judah as well as Babylon - Assyria (<a href='B:370 8:9'>Amo 8:9</a>; <a href='B:400 3:6'>Mic 3:6</a>). LXX has "the stars of heaven, and Orion". Orion was identified with Nimrod, founder of Assyria, and this constellation was much worshipped by the Babylonians. The prophetic potential was that Assyria and Babylon would be totally eclipsed, along perhaps with the extinguishing from sight of their favourite constellation. But this literal aspect didn’t happen, just as the literal changes to the sun and moon spoken of in <a href='B:290 30:26'>Isa 30:26</a> didn’t happen, because the Kingdom of God was not reestablished at that time because Judah didn’t fully repent.</p>


text:
<p>I will punish the world for their evil, and the wicked for their iniquity. I will cause the arrogance of the proud to cease, and will humble the arrogance of the terrible- This humbling was surely in order to save them; see on :6. The idea was that judgment day would come there and then; the wicked would be destroyed, and those who repented and humbled themselves before Yahweh would be the only ones left. And again we see that humility is seen as the epitome of repentance and all spirituality.</p>


text:
<p>I will make people more valuable than fine gold, even a person than the pure gold of Ophir- A repentant remnant is in view; LXX "And they that are left shall be more precious than gold tried in the fire; and a man shall be more precious than the stone that is in Suphir"; also see on :14. As explained on :11, the intention of the judgments, both on God’s people and the Babylonians, was that a repentant remnant would be produced; and each one of those people would be of extraordinary value to God; this is the scene likewise of <a href='B:290 27:12'>Isa 27:12</a>. The same language is used of the latter day purifying of Israel in <a href='B:450 13:9'>Zec 13:9</a>. Although we can also see in these words the simple truth that the value and meaning of persons will be elevated in God’s Kingdom. "Gold tried in the fire" (LXX) is a phrase used in the New Testament of the refining of all God’s true people today (<a href='B:670 1:7'>1Pe 1:7</a>; <a href='B:730 3:18'>Rev 3:18</a>).</p>


text:
<p>Therefore I will make the heavens tremble, and the earth will be shaken out of its place in the wrath of Yahweh of Armies, and in the day of His fierce anger- Clearly heavens and earth are used symbolically, although a literal earthquake is likely in view. Babylon was to be destroyed with the same kind of miraculous Divine intervention as Sodom; but as noted on :19, this didn’t happen when the Medes took Babylon. But Revelation 18 alludes to all this and makes it clear that such Divine intervention will occur against latter Babylon in the last days.</p>


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<h4>It will happen that like a hunted gazelle, and like sheep that no one gathers- A repentant remnant is in view; LXX "And they that are left shall be as a fleeing fawn, and as a stray sheep". See on :12. Stray sheep is the language of men brought to repentance (<a href='B:230 119:176'>Psa 119:176</a>; <a href='B:490 15:6'>Luk 15:6</a>). The judgment of Babylon as later developed in Jeremiah uses the term about Judah (<a href='B:300 50:6'>Jer 50:6</a>). The idea may be that no man gathers these lost sheep, asthe Lord explains in His parable of the one lost sheep; but the Divine shepherd will.</h4><h4>They will each turn to their own people, and will each flee to their own land- This is developed in <a href='B:300 50:16'>Jer 50:16</a>: "For fear of the oppressing sword they shall turn each one to his people, and they shall flee each one to his own land". The various captive peoples taken to Babylon would each return to their own land, and Judah were to do likewise. But this isn’t how things quite turned out. This was the prophetic ideal scenario, but it didn’t happen because many Jews preferred to remain in Babylon and they didn’t repent.</h4>


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<p>Everyone who is found will be thrust through. Everyone who is captured will fall by the sword- This isn’t what happened when Darius the Mede took Babylon. This was the potential prophetic scenario which didn’t come about, because Judah didn’t repent, and their repentance was a condition for the total fulfilment of the prophecies of judgment upon Babylon (see on <a href='B:300 50:3-4'>Jer 50:3-4</a>). These judgments were to be if Babylon refused to let Judah go (<a href='B:300 50:33'>Jer 50:33</a>). But the reality was that the exiles by the end of 70 years were not asking to go, and when they were given the chance, many chose to remain in Babylon. The threat of a sword hanging over Babylon is an image used elsewhere about Jerusalem, and the idea is that there was therefore an appeal for repentance. This is what God wanted to see from Babylon.</p>


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<p>Their infants also will be dashed in pieces before their eyes. Their houses will be ransacked, and their wives raped- This wasn’t really the scene when the Medes took Babylon. There was much support for Darius the Mede within Babylon; the Nabonidus Chronicle records that the people of Babylon welcomed Cyrus by spreading green twigs before him (James Pritchard, ed:, Ancient Near Eastern Texts Relating to the Old Testament (3rd ed:) (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1968, p. 306b). Both the Babylonian Chronicles and the Cyrus Cylinder describe Babylon being taken "without battle". So the main fulfilment of this must yet be future. See on <a href='B:300 51:4'>Jer 51:4</a>.</p>


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<p>Behold, I will stir up the Medes against them, who will not value silver, and as for gold, they will not delight in it- There is historical evidence that the Medes didn’t value gold and silver. Just as God stirred or raised up Babylon to invade Judah (<a href='B:300 6:22'>Jer 6:22</a>), sharpening her arrows (<a href='B:330 21:21'>Eze 21:21</a>), so He would stir up, or psychologically provoke, other nations to come and judge her (<a href='B:300 50:9'>Jer 50:9</a>; <a href='B:300 50:41'>Jer 50:41</a>; <a href='B:300 51:1'>Jer 51:1</a>; <a href='B:300 51:11'>Jer 51:11</a> s:w:). This is greatly emphasized. The activity of God directly upon human hearts is a great theme of the Biblical revelation, and is to encourage us that He is eager to transform hearts, and to place desires within us beyond our own unaided psychological ability. But the Medes didn’t destroy Babylon; as explained on :20 and <a href='B:300 51:3'>Jer 51:3</a>; <a href='B:300 51:8'>Jer 51:8</a>, there was no destruction of the city, and so much was left that it revived several times and asserted independence. He did not take full vengeance for what Babylon did in His temple because His own people were not eager to rebuild it and were not recognizant of their role in its destruction.</p>


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<p>Their bows will dash the young men in pieces; and they shall have no pity on the fruit of the womb. Their eyes will not spare children- This is what was done to Jerusalem, as Jeremiah frequently expresses in his Lamentations. As people do to God’s people, so it will be done to them at the day of judgment. This is a principle relevant to us all. But this isn’t the scenario which happened when the Medes took Babylon; see on :16,20. As mentioned often in commentary on Jeremiah 50, the judgments here are not only upon the city of Babylon, but upon the entire "land of the Chaldeans", Babylonia. The scale of sudden destruction implied didn’t happen when the Medes took Babylon. The prophetic scenario projected in these prophecies didn’t fully happen, although it will do so ultimately in the last days, as Revelation 18 makes clear. This was because Judah and Israel didn’t repent and earnestly seek to restore Zion; see on <a href='B:300 50:3-4'>Jer 50:3-4</a>; <a href='B:300 50:26'>Jer 50:26</a>. And this was intended to be connected with the realization of these prophecies upon Babylon:&nbsp;</p>


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<h4>Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldeans’ pride- Babylon is presented as being Yahweh’s servant, doing what He commanded against both Israel and the nations, with Him putting the ideas into the king of Babylon’s mind. God surely would not then turn around and condemn Babylon for their obedience. I suggest that Babylon is condemned because they overstepped the bounds of their commission, they were proud, and established themselves as Yahweh with their kingdom as His kingdom. We see the huge importance God attached to humility, and how pride is the worst of sins.</h4><h4>Will be like when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah- Such dramatic destruction of Babylon and the area around it didn’t happen at the hands of the Medes (see on :20; <a href='B:300 50:26'>Jer 50:26</a>). The image of Sodom’s destruction suggests direct, miraculous Divine intervention. This didn’t happen at the time, but Revelation 18 alludes to all this and makes it clear that such Divine intervention will occur against latter Babylon in the last days.</h4>


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<p>It will never be inhabited, neither will it be lived in from generation to generation. The Arabian will not pitch a tent there, neither will shepherds make their flocks lie down there- Eternal desolation may not be required by the text; LXX has "neither shall any enter into it for many generations". The impression given is that the attack upon Babylon would reduce the city to ruins immediately. But this didn’t happen under the Medes; it was only some time later that Cyrus further demolished parts of Babylon’s wall, and there was a rebellion of Babylon at the time of Darius Hystapses. The deportation of some of the population happened even later in the time of Seleucus Nicanor. But the impression is given that all this would happen immediately at Babylon’s fall. It didn’t, because the preconditions related to Judah’s repentance didn’t come about. And so the prophecies were reapplied and rescheduled to the last days, and are alluded to throughout Revelation 18 with reference to the fall of latter day Babylon; which appears to not refer to the literal city of Babylon.</p>


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<h4>But wild animals of the desert will lie there, and their houses will be full of jackals- The language in <a href='B:300 9:11'>Jer 9:11</a> of Jerusalem’s destruction into heaps haunted by jackals is applied to Babylon; and likewise the way Jerusalem was to become a hissing (<a href='B:300 19:8'>Jer 19:8</a>) is also now to be true of Babylon. What latter day Babylon does to Jerusalem shall be done to her; and that is the theme of the book of Revelation, where the seals of judgment upon Israel become the vials of judgment upon the beast system.</h4><h4>Ostriches will dwell there, and wild goats will frolic there- Literally, "demons", half goat, half divine imaginary creatures, "satyrs". This is proof enough that demons refer to mythical creatures and beliefs of the time, and have no real cosmic existence; and that the language of these things is used, as the language of the day, without any Divinely added footnote to the effect that these things don’t actually exist.</h4>


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<p>Wolves will cry in their castles, and jackals in the pleasant palaces. Her time is near to come, and her days will not be prolonged- As noted on :20, much of Babylon did escape when the Medes attacked and conquered her, and the city continued being inhabited for some time. This projected scenario didn’t come about at the time, and yet will do in essence in its latter day fulfilment, as Revelation 18 explains. Her days as a city were in fact prolonged, because the various preconditions for this eternal destruction were not met at the time. What may be in view however is the power of the Babylonian empire; although that didn’t fall for another 170 years from the time of this prophecy. It could be that Isaiah is as it were transported forward in time and speaks as if he is present at the end of Babylon’s rule.</p>


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<h4>For Yahweh will have compassion on Jacob, and will yet choose Israel, and set them in their own land- The time of this "compassion of Jacob" was to be when they returned from exile in repentance (<a href='B:300 30:18'>Jer 30:18</a>; <a href='B:300 33:26'>Jer 33:26</a>; <a href='B:330 39:25'>Eze 39:25</a> s:w:) and accepted the new covenant. But they refused to do this; their return to the land was not matched by a return to God. And so these things are rescheduled to the last days. "Set" is s:w. "rest" in :3,7.</h4><h4>The foreigner will join himself with them, and they will unite with the house of Jacob- As explained on <a href='B:290 13:6'>Isa 13:6</a>, it was the Divine intention that the judgments upon Babylon would result in a repentant remnant of the Babylonian confederacy turning to Yahweh. But Hezekiah’s friendship with Babylon in Isaiah 39 precluded that happening; the Jews ended up worshipping the Babylonian gods rather than leading them to the God of Israel. The unity of the new covenant would be a result of Jews and Gentiles together experiencing conviction of sin, repentance and forgiveness by grace. That is to this day the basis for unity amongst God’s people.</h4>


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<h4>The peoples will take them, and bring them to their place- The Divine intention was that the peoples of their exile would return with them to Zion, bringing back home those they had taken captive; and this mass of Gentiles coming to Zion would therefore be the scene of various other visions of the Kingdom.</h4><h4>The house of Israel will possess them in Yahweh’s land for servants and for handmaids. They will take as captives those whose captives they once were; and they shall rule over their oppressors- The Gentiles who returned with Israel to Zion would serve them there. But their ruling over them was not enforced, but because the Gentiles themselves chose to take the Jews with them and go to Zion and serve God’s people there.</h4>


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<p>It will happen in the day that Yahweh will give you rest from your sorrow from your trouble and from the hard service in which you were made to serve- This presents Judah’s time in Babylon as if it were like being in Egypt. "Hard service" is the same phrase in <a href='B:20 1:14'>Exo 1:14</a>; <a href='B:20 6:9'>Exo 6:9</a>. But there is no evidence that Judah were treated that badly in Babylon, and the books of Daniel and Esther suggest they were even in places of authority. The fall of Babylon / Assyria (see on <a href='B:290 13:1'>Isa 13:1</a>) here envisaged didn’t come about as fully planned at the time; although Revelation 18 applies it all to the last days. The day of rest is that of :1. The idea was that when Babylon fell, God’s people would enter the rest of the restored Kingdom, But that didn’t happen, and so because Judah weren’t ready for Kingdom, Babylon didn’t fall as planned; and that is why all is reapplied to the things of the last days.</p>


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<h4>that you will take up this parable against the king of Babylon and say, How the oppressor has ceased!-&nbsp; The initial "oppressor" in view was Assyria (s:w. <a href='B:290 9:4'>Isa 9:4</a>). But as the prophetic scenario changed and shifted in accordance with human response to it, it became transferred and reapplied to Babylon. And the prophecies may have been rewritten under inspiration to reflect this; see on <a href='B:290 1:1'>Isa 1:1</a>. J:W:Thirtle claims that the original manuscripts of most Old Testament books were sealed with Hezekiah’s seal, as they had been re-written and edited during his time (J:W. Thirtle, Old Testament Problems (Printland Publishers reprint, 2004 facsimile of the 1914 edition) p. 301). Scripture itself testifies to him and his men re-organizing the writings of David. Isaiah, with its initial application to Hezekiah, and then its obvious reference to the captivity and restoration, is another example. Isaiah 14, an oracle against the King of Babylon, goes on to speak of him within the same chapter as the King of Assyria (<a href='B:290 14:4'>Isa 14:4</a>; <a href='B:290 14:22'>Isa 14:22</a>; <a href='B:290 14:25'>Isa 14:25</a>). What seems to have happened is that a prophecy relevant to the Assyrian invasion under Hezekiah has been re-written, under inspiration, with reference to the pomp of Babylon being cast down too.</h4><h4>The golden city has ceased!- Babylon was judged above all for her pride and exaltation of human strength and wisdom. Babylon is set up as a fake Christ and Kingdom of God. She had proselytes and prophets ["boasters"] (<a href='B:300 50:36-37'>Jer 50:36-37</a>); a mountain (<a href='B:300 51:25'>Jer 51:25</a>); "The golden city" (<a href='B:290 14:4'>Isa 14:4</a>) with a thick, embellished wall (<a href='B:300 51:58'>Jer 51:58</a>); springs and rivers within her (<a href='B:300 51:36'>Jer 51:36</a>); “The praise of the whole earth” (<a href='B:300 51:41'>Jer 51:41</a>). Her sin was that she thought of herself in her own right as the kingdom of God, instead of humbling herself to become part of His Kingdom.</h4>


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<p>Yahweh has broken the staff of the wicked, the sceptre of the rulers- "The staff" is often used specifically of Assyria (<a href='B:290 9:4'>Isa 9:4</a>; <a href='B:290 10:5'>Isa 10:5</a>; <a href='B:290 10:15'>Isa 10:15</a>; <a href='B:290 10:24'>Isa 10:24</a> s:w:). But as explained on :4, the prophecies about Assyria were transferred to Babylon.</p>


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<p>who struck the peoples in wrath with a continual stroke, who ruled the nations in anger, with a persecution that none restrained- The striker was initially Assyria- see on :5. There was no restraint, because Judah had lived an unrestrained life (s:w. <a href='B:300 14:10'>Jer 14:10</a>). Their judgment was but an extension of their own spirit of life.</p>


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<p>The whole earth is at rest, and is quiet. They break out in song- The vision is of the whole eretz promised to Abraham now in the rest and quiet of God’s Kingdom, praising Him. The "all nations" around Israel were to be annihilated until only a remnant remained, who were repentant and joined themselves to Yahweh (:1). The destruction of Babylon and the reestablishment of the Kingdom were to be at the same time. But this didn’t happen because Judah were impenitent, and so the full destruction of Babylon didn’t happen to the extent envisaged. Revelation 18 reapplies these things to the last days. This situation could have happened at the restoration from Babylon (s:w. <a href='B:450 6:8'>Zec 6:8</a>) but was precluded by Judah’s impenitence.</p>


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<h4>Yes, the fir trees rejoice with you, with the cedars of Lebanon, saying, Since you are humbled, no lumberjack has come up against us- The cedars of Lebanon were iconic to the temple, and were intended to be cut down by the Assyrians (see on <a href='B:290 2:13'>Isa 2:13</a>; <a href='B:290 10:34'>Isa 10:34</a>; <a href='B:290 37:24'>Isa 37:24</a>). The ’cutter off’ ("lumberjack") was initially Assyria (s:w. <a href='B:290 10:7'>Isa 10:7</a>). This was averted, but it was done by Babylon. The common fir trees may refer to other nations, or to the ordinary people of Judah, who had likewise suffered from Babylon’s destruction; or to the fir trees used in the temple construction (<a href='B:110 5:8'>1Ki 5:8</a>; <a href='B:110 5:10'>1Ki 5:10</a>; <a href='B:110 6:15'>1Ki 6:15</a>; <a href='B:110 6:34'>1Ki 6:34</a>), which the Assyrians had threatened to cut down (<a href='B:120 19:23'>2Ki 19:23</a>). Perhaps also in view was the way the Babylonians cut down the trees around Jerusalem to make siege weapons and platforms (<a href='B:300 6:6'>Jer 6:6</a>). No such feller would come against them or the Jerusalem temple ever again, now that Babylon was humbled. That didn’t happen, because the fall of Babylon here prophesied didn’t fully happen at the time, as noted throughout Isaiah 13. But it will happen at the latter day fall of Babylon, when the land will then be eternally secure from any threat of future invasion.</h4><p><a href='B:290 14:8'>Isa 14:8</a> records the relief that now the "Lucifer" figure would no longer cut down cedars in Lebanon and hew mountains. This is exactly the language used by Nebuchadnezzar: "What no former king had done, I achieved: I cut through steep mountains, I split rocks, I opened passages and constructed a straight road for the transport of Cedars::. to Marduk, my king, mighty cedars::. the abundant yield of the Lebanon" (J:B. Pritchard, ed:, Ancient Near Eastern Texts Relating To The Old Testament (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 3rd ed:, 1969) p. 307). Clearly the figure spoken of in Isaiah 14 was Nebuchadnezzar.</p><h4>"Humbled" is literally to lay down. The Lucifer-king was to "lie down" in his destruction- and that Hebrew term occurs later in Isaiah with reference to the ’laying down’ of Babylon’s King and army in the grave (<a href='B:290 43:17'>Isa 43:17</a>).</h4>


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<p>Sheol from beneath has moved for you to meet you at your coming. It stirs up the dead for you, even all the rulers of the earth. It has raised up from their thrones all the kings of the nations- I noted on <a href='B:290 13:21'>Isa 13:21</a> that the mythical creatures called satyrs were spoken of as if they existed; Babylon’s judgment was described there in terms she would have understood, even if those terms reflected ideas which were not literally true. For satyrs don’t exist in the form the Babylonians believed. And so here too, their concept of the underworld is used. But in any case, sheol is clearly personified here, and in practice it refers to the grave. There is no conscious survival of death; but the idea of dead kings still seated on their thrones in the underworld, rising to meet a new arrival, is used here. This is the kind of thing the Egyptians also believed in, as witnessed by the contents of the pyramids. But speaking to people in their own terms doesn’t mean that those terms are actually correct. See on :15,16,18; <a href='B:290 27:11'>Isa 27:11</a>.</p>


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<p>They all will answer and ask you, Have you also become as weak as we are? Have you become like us?- As explained on :9, the Babylonian concept of death and the underworld is being used against them, just as the Lord used the Jewish myths about Abraham’s bosom to construct the parable of the rich man and Lazarus. Those myths were incorrect, but He used them in order to get a point over to them. The Babylonians’ worst fears about the underworld would, as it were, come upon them. Their condemnation was expressed in terms they could relate to; hence the huge emphasis that their bodies would be left as unburied corpses. This was designed to appeal to their greatest fears, and their deepest conceptions of shame. See on :11.</p>


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<p>Your pomp is brought down to Sheol, with the sound of your stringed instruments. Maggots are spread out under you, and worms cover you- "Worms" refer to crimson grubs, the idea being that as they had once been covered in the scarlet of royalty, so they would in the grave be covered with scarlet grubs. Here we have the reality stated- that sheol is the grave, as the word is often translated elsewhere in the Hebrew Bible. This is in sharp, consciously juxtaposed contrast to the Babylonian conception of sheol, the underworld, as alluded to in :10,11. The sound of their instruments would no longer continue in sheol, contrary to their imagination.</p>


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<h4>How you have fallen from heaven, morning star [Lucifer], son of the dawn! How you are cut down to the ground, who laid the nations low!- This could refer initially to the sudden loss of power experienced by Belshazzar in Daniel 5, or to the madness which came upon Nebuchadnezzar.</h4><p>Note that the words “devil” , “satan” and “angel” never occur in this chapter. This is the only place in Scripture where the word “Lucifer” occurs. There is no evidence that Isaiah 14 is describing anything that happened in the garden of Eden; if it is, then why are we left 3,000 years from the time of Genesis before being told what really happened there?&nbsp; Lucifer is described as being covered in worms (:11) and a man mocked by men (:16) because he no longer has any power after his casting out of heaven; so there is no justification for thinking that Lucifer is now on earth leading believers astray. Believers in the ’Lucifer = satan at the beginning’ idea must enquire why is Lucifer punished for saying, “I will ascend into heaven” (:13), if he was already there? Lucifer is to rot in the grave: “Thy pomp is brought down to the grave::. and the worms cover thee” (:11 AV). Seeing angels cannot die (<a href='B:490 20:35-36'>Luk 20:35-36</a>), Lucifer therefore cannot be an angel; the language is more suited to a man:&nbsp; Lucifer was a king like any other king (:9,10).</p><h4>The idea of ’morning star’ is translated ’Lucifer’ in the Vulgate [Latin] translation of the Bible made by Jerome. Significantly, he uses ’Lucifer’ as a description of Christ, as the ’morning star’ mentioned in Revelation. Indeed, some early Christians took the name ’Lucifer’ as a ’Christian name’ in order to identify themselves with Jesus (Nick Lunn, Alpha And Omega (Sutton, UK: Willow, 1992) p. 254). It wasn’t until Origen that the term ’Lucifer’ took on any connotation of ’Satan’ or a force of evil; and even then it was only popularized much later in Milton’s Paradise Lost. ’Lucifer’ in its strict meaning of ’bearer of the light’ actually was applied in a positive sense to Christian communities, e:g. the followers of Lucifer of Cagliari were called ’Luciferians’. As an aside, it’s worth pointing out that they were one of the groups who insisted that the devil was not a personal being and held to the original Biblical picture of sin and the devil.</h4><p>Remember that this is a “proverb (parable) against the king of Babylon” (:4). “Lucifer” means “the morning star”, which is the brightest of the stars. In the parable, this star proudly decides to “ascend (higher) into heaven::. exalt my throne above the (other) stars of God” (:13). Because of this, the star is cast down to the earth. The star represents the king of Babylon. Daniel chapter 4 explains how Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, proudly surveyed the great kingdom he had built up, thinking that he had conquered other nations in his own strength, rather than recognizing that God had given him success. “Thy greatness (pride) is grown, and reacheth unto heaven” (:22). Because of this “he was driven from men, and did eat grass as oxen, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven, till his hairs were grown like eagles’ feathers, and his nails like birds’ claws” (:33). This sudden humbling of one of the world’s most powerful men to a deranged lunatic was such a dramatic event as to call for the parable about the falling of the morning star from heaven to earth. Stars are symbolic of powerful people, e:g. <a href='B:10 37:9'>Gen 37:9</a>; <a href='B:290 13:10'>Isa 13:10</a> (concerning the leaders of Babylon); <a href='B:330 32:7'>Eze 32:7</a> (concerning the leaders of Egypt); <a href='B:340 8:10'>Dan 8:10</a>, cp. v. 24. Ascending to heaven and falling from heaven are Biblical idioms often used for increasing in pride and being humbled respectively - see <a href='B:220 20:6'>Job 20:6</a>; <a href='B:300 51:53'>Jer 51:53</a> (about Babylon); <a href='B:310 2:1'>Lam 2:1</a>; <a href='B:470 11:23'>Mat 11:23</a> (about Capernaum): “Thou, Capernaum, which art exalted unto heaven, shalt be brought down to hell” (the grave). Adam Clarke’s commentary rightly notes: "The truth is, the text speaks nothing at all concerning Satan nor his fall::. but of the pride, arrogance and fall of Nebuchadnezzar".</p><p>Lucifer was to be “cut down to the ground” - implying he was a tree. This provides a further link with <a href='B:340 4:8-16'>Dan 4:8-16</a>, where Nebuchadnezzar and Babylon are likened to a tree being cut down.</p><p>The passage about "Lucifer" is alluding to and deconstructing a contemporary myth, in a manner which is common to much Biblical literature. "An ancient myth told how Heylel, the morning star (Venus), tried to climb the walls of the northern city of the gods to make himself king of heaven, only to be driven from the sky by the rising sun. In <a href='B:290 14:12-20'>Isa 14:12-20</a> this myth is given a historical application" (G:B. Caird, The Revelation Of St. John The Divine (London: Black, 1966) pp. 114,11). Isaiah is mocking the myth, and saying that the King of Babylon was acting like Heylel in the myth- but would be thrown down not by another planet, but by God Himself.</p><p>H:A. Kelly- one of the leading historians of religious ideas of recent times- observed from much research that "It was not until post-Biblical times that Lucifer was associated with Satan, or that Satan was thought to have been cast out of heaven before the creation of Adam and Eve, or that Satan had some connection with Adam and Eve" (H:A. Kelly, Satan: A Biography (Cambridge: CUP, 2006) p. 1). The New Testament references to Jesus as the morning star, Venus, have been read by H:A. Kelly as a conscious allusion to the growing idea that Lucifer [’light-bringer’, heosphoros in Greek, the dawn-bringer] / Venus, the morning star, was in fact something or someone evil (H:A. Kelly, ibid pp. 164,165). All the N:T. references to the morning star are positive, and all refer to Jesus (<a href='B:680 1:19'>2Pe 1:19</a>; <a href='B:730 2:28'>Rev 2:28</a>; <a href='B:730 22:16'>Rev 22:16</a>). It’s possible to read <a href='B:500 1:8'>Joh 1:8</a> in this context, too. Here John the Baptist is described as "bearing witness to the light", which was language understandable with reference to Venus, the Morning Star which is seen in the East just before the Sun rises in the West.</p><h4>There’s a good reason why the King of Babylon is described as "the morning star", or Venus. The Babylonians believed that their king was the child of their gods Bel and Ishtar, both of whom were associated with the planets- they thought that their King was the planet Venus.</h4>


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<h4>You said in your heart- There is a juxtaposition here between a man thinking something in his heart, and the huge scale of his fall, like a star from heaven to earth (:12). This is the significance to God of the state of the heart. Nebuchadnezzar had been warned by <a href='B:290 14:13'>Isa 14:13</a> that the King of Babylon would be brought down because he would say in his heart “I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God”. Yet the promised fall of Babylon’s King only happened when he said out loud: “Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for the house of the kingdom by the might of my power, and for the honour of my majesty?”. The record continues: “While the word was in the king’s mouth (i:e. he spoke this out loud), there fell a voice from heaven, saying, O king Nebuchadnezzar, to you it is spoken” (<a href='B:340 4:30-31'>Dan 4:30-31</a>). What was the “it” that was spoken about him? Surely the prophecy of Isaiah 14, which was a prediction waiting for a king of Babylon to come along and fulfill it. So the king’s self-talk was that he would rise up to Heaven; but his actual words were an admiration of his Kingdom as opposed to God’s. And yet he was judged for the self-talk behind his words. And this is the kind of relentlessly analytical judgment which a loving Father applies to us too. The culture of nicespeak comes crashing down before His piercing eyes; for the world teaches us that it’s all about how we put it over, the words we choose, the image we cut; and yet God looks upon the heart.</h4><p>I will ascend into heaven! I will exalt my throne above the stars of God!- see on Revelation 1:20. Verses 13 and 14 have connections with <a href='B:600 2:3-4'>2Th 2:3-4</a>, which is about the “man of sin” - thus Lucifer points forward to another man, perhaps another king of latter day Babylon- but not to an angel. Note that "the stars of God" can refer to the leaders of Israel (<a href='B:10 37:9'>Gen 37:9</a>; <a href='B:360 3:15'>Joe 3:15</a>; <a href='B:340 8:10'>Dan 8:10</a>), above whom the King of Babylon wished to arise. Any reference to the Angels would be because the people of God have their representatives in the court of Heaven.</p><p>The Ras Shamra texts include a section on the fall and death of Baal. Although written in Ugaritic, this section has amazing similarities with the poem of Isaiah 14 about the fall of Babylon – e:g. “The death of Baal” includes lines such as “From the throne on which he sits::. how hath Baal come down, how hath the mighty been cast down!”. Isaiah’s message was therefore: ‘Forget those stories about Baal being cast down; what’s relevant for us is that mighty Babylon, which tempts us to trust in her rather than Yahweh God of Israel, is to be cast down, let’s apply the language of Baal’s fall to the kingdoms of this world which we know and live amongst’. Another such example is to be found in <a href='B:290 47:1'>Isa 47:1</a>: “Come down and sit in the dust, O virgin daughter of Babylon; sit on the ground without a throne”. This is almost quoting [albeit through translation] from the ‘Death of Baal’ poem.</p>&nbsp;<p>"Lucifer" wishes to ascend into Heaven. This is somewhat different from the scenario traditionally assumed- which is that Lucifer was in Heaven already, wanted to rise higher, and was therefore thrown down to earth because of his prideful intentions. But the text actually says that he wished to ascend into Heaven- so he was not there originally. The point has been made by that "heaven" was often how the capital city of a nation or people was perceived; for in that city the national god supposedly lived, thus making the city "heaven". The "Hymn to the City of Arbela" is an example in the Assyrian context- because of the gods who supposedly lived there, "Arbela is as lofty as heaven::. O lofty sanctuary::. gate of heaven!" (M. Nissinen, “City as lofty heaven: Arbela and other Cities in Neo-Assyrian Prophecy” in&nbsp; L. L. Grabbe and R. D. Haak, eds:, Every City shall be Forsaken (JSOTSup 330) (Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 2001) pp. 172-209). The desire to ascend into ’heaven’ would therefore speak of the king of Babylon or Assyria’s desire to capture Jerusalem and supplant her God- Yahweh- with their own gods. This idea of Jerusalem as "heaven" is continued in later Isaiah, where the Divine revival of Jerusalem is spoken of as the creation of a new or renewed ’heaven’ (<a href='B:290 51:6'>Isa 51:6</a>; <a href='B:290 51:16'>Isa 51:16</a>; <a href='B:290 65:17-18'>Isa 65:17-18</a>).</p><h4>&nbsp;I will sit on the mountain of assembly, in the far north!- AV "on the sides of the north", the very phrase used of Jerusalem in <a href='B:230 48:2'>Psa 48:2</a>. The mount of assembly or "solemn feast" is clearly Zion. But "The mount of the congregation in the sides of the north" is surely also an allusion to "the Babylonian Olympus, the [supposed] dwelling place of the gods, which was considered to be situated somewhere in the high Asiatic mountain range which forms the boundary or the Plain of Mesopotamia on the northern side, and is also the region of the source of the Euphrates and Tigris" (H. Renckens, Israel’s Concept of the Beginning: The Theology of Genesis 1-3 (New York: Herder & Herder, 1964) p. 206). This location was on earth- not in Heaven. The King of Babylon, the morning star, didn’t aspire to greatness in Heaven, but rather to establishing mount Olympus on the temple mount in Jerusalem. The point of the prophecy is that it is Yahweh alone who is the ultimate and only God-King, reigning on His mount, the mountain of God, which is mount Zion, not Olympus. This idea of mount Zion being taken over by an apostate religious system of the neighbouring nations is repeated in the Olivet prophecy, Revelation and 2 Thessalonians 2 (about the "man of sin"). The final fulfilment will be in the last days.</h4>


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<p>I will ascend above the heights of the clouds! I will make myself like the Most High!- This was the root reason why Babylon and Assyria were condemned. They were Yahweh’s servants, judging Judah as He commanded, but they went far beyond that commission; the axe boasted itself against the Divine hand that wielded it, and played God Himself. The clouds could be an intensive plural referring to the great cloud, the shekinah glory in the temple on mount Zion.</p>


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<p>Yet you shall be brought down to Sheol, to the depths of the pit- I noted on :9 that the Babylonian concept of sheol is alluded to there, but that doesn’t mean that this is correct. Here sheol is defined as God and the Bible know it to be- "the pit", the grave.</p>


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<h4>Those who see you will stare at you. They will ponder you, saying, Is this the man who made the earth to tremble, who shook kingdoms- Clearly the person in view is a "man" and not an Angel or cosmic being; his corpse will be in full view of those he had abused. As noted on :9,15, the Babylonian concept of sheol is alluded to but it was incorrect; the wages of sin is death (<a href='B:520 6:23'>Rom 6:23</a>) and not consciously surviving death in an underworld situation.</h4>


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<h4>who made the world like a wilderness, and overthrew its cities; who didn’t release his prisoners to their home?- This accuses Lucifer of making the “world as a wilderness, (destroying) the cities thereof; that let not loose his prisoners to their home::. (that did) fill the face of the world with cities::. the exactress of gold” (:17 & 21 R:V:; :4 A:V. margin). These are all descriptions of Babylonian military policy - razing whole areas to the ground (as they did to Jerusalem), transporting captives to other areas and not letting them return to their homeland (as they did to the Jews), building new cities and taking tribute of gold from nations they oppressed. Thus there is emphasis on the fact that Lucifer was not even going to get the burial these other kings had (:18,19), implying that he was only a human king like them, seeing his body needed burying. The condemnation for not releasing prisoners would apply to Babylon and Assyria, who took God’s people into captivity The prophecies in later Isaiah about the opening of the prison house therefore had their primary fulfilment in the release of the exiles from Babylonian captivity, which was potentially possible through a Messiah figure.</h4>


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<p>All the kings of the nations sleep in glory, each one in his own house- This again shows that the reference in :9 to dead kings arising in the underworld to greet the king of Babylon is just alluding to their mythical beliefs. The reality was that for all their glory, they were asleep in their tombs ["houses"]; for death is unconsciousness.</p>


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<p>But you are cast away from your tomb like a hated branch, clothed with the slain, who are thrust through with the sword, who go down to the stones of the pit; like a dead body trodden under foot- The corpse of the king of Babylon would be trodden under foot and displayed for all to see, especially those he had abused. There is no evidence that actually happened. Nebuchadnezzar repented, to a degree, according to the book of Daniel. So this outcome was precluded by that, in line with the principles of <a href='B:300 18:8-10'>Jer 18:8-10</a>. It may be that there will be a latter day fulfilment of this, or perhaps this is simply a prophecy (like the destruction of Nineveh within 40 days) which didn’t happen- because in the gap between the word and the fulfilment of it, there was repentance. See on :21.</p>


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<p>You will not join them in burial, because you have destroyed your land. You have killed your people. The seed of evildoers will not be mentioned by name forever- This destruction of Babylon is connected to the impenitence of its king. Likewise Zedekiah of Judah was told something similar; if he didn’t repent, then his land, people and family would suffer. God set these men up with a deal- if they repented, then their equally sinful people and families could have had judgment averted. So it wasn’t that the innocent suffered for the sake of the sin of one leader. Rather, those sinful people could have their judgment averted if one leader repented; just as many sinners are counted righteous by the obedience of the One, the Lord Jesus.</p>


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<h4>Prepare for slaughter of his children because of the iniquity of their fathers- Asking the king to "prepare" to have his children slain could suggest he was being invited to repent. I suggested on :19 that the king of Babylon did this. And so there is no evidence that he saw his children slain.</h4><h4>That they rise not up and possess the earth, and fill the surface of the world with cities- This alludes to Nimrod, the founder of Babylon, who is recorded as building cities. There is no strong evidence that Nebuchadnezzar was a great builder of multiple cities, so the point of this language is to direct us back to Nimrod.</h4>


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<p>I will rise up against them, says Yahweh of Armies, and cut off from Babylon name and remnant, and son and son’s son, says Yahweh- "Cut off" is the same word translated "lumberjack" in :8. As Babylon cut off the cedars of the temple, so she would be cut off. What we do to God’s people will decide the nature of our eternal judgment. Verse 20 says that Lucifer’s seed will be destroyed. Verse 22 says that Babylon’s seed will be destroyed, thus equating them. <a href='B:50 28:7'>Deu 28:7</a> uses the same language in saying that the judgment upon Israel’s enemies, to have Yahweh "rise up against them::. and cut [them] off", would come if Israel were obedient to the covenant. They were not. And that may account for not all of these judgments against the king of Babylon coming true at the time; although the essence of them will in the latter day judgment of Babylon.</p>


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<h4>I will also make it a possession for the porcupine, and pools of water. I will sweep it with the broom of destruction, says Yahweh of Armies- This has been seen as a reference to the Medes diverting the water of the Euphrates into pools. But that at best was a limited fulfilment; for Babylon continued to be inhabited a long time after the Medes took it, and it didn’t become "pools of water", as explained on <a href='B:290 13:20'>Isa 13:20</a>. &nbsp;As noted on :22, these judgments were partly dependent upon Israel’s obedience to the covenant; and that condition wasn’t met. And there was some repentance by Nebuchadnezzar.</h4>


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<h4>Yahweh of Armies has sworn, saying, Surely, as I have thought, so shall it happen; and as I have purposed, so shall it stand- As God thought, so it would happen. It is a common Bible teaching that how a man thinks is expressed in his actions (Pro 23:7; Mat 12:34); a little reflection upon our own actions will confirm this. We think of something and then we do it. Our ‘spirit’ or mind may reflect upon the fact that we are hungry and desire food. We see a banana going spare in the kitchen; that desire of the ‘spirit’ is then translated into action - we reach out for the banana, peel it and eat. This simple example shows why the Hebrew word for ‘spirit’ means both the breath or mind, and also power. Our spirit, the essential us, refers to our thoughts and therefore also to the actions which we take to express those thoughts or disposition within us. On a far more glorious scale, God’s spirit is the same; it is the power by which He displays His essential being, His disposition and purpose. God thinks and therefore does things.</h4><h4>With Assyria at the height of her power, Isaiah proclaimed her downfall (<a href='B:290 14:24-26'>Isa 14:24-26</a>). The life of faith in God is simply the very opposite of what seems humanly sensible. To give money we’d surely be better saving; risk our lives and health for another; neglect our business or career for the sake of the Lord’s work. These ought to be the normal decisions we make, if we are walking in step with the spirit; and yet it would appear that they are the exceptions to the rule of far too many of our lives. And the point is, God’s heart broke because His people were and are like this.</h4>


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<h4>That I will break the Assyrian in My land, and tread him under foot on My mountains. Then his yoke will leave them, and his burden leave their shoulders- The prophecy against Babylon now merges with that against Assyria. I have explained on :4 and on <a href='B:290 13:1'>Isa 13:1</a> that the prophecy against Babylon was initially intended against Assyria. But it was reapplied and transferred to Babylon. But now in these verses we have a specific prophecy against Assyria, relevant to the time of Isaiah when Judah were under the Assyrian yoke, paying tribute to them. But the intended judgment of Assyria also didn’t quite happen as envisaged. Assyria was not trodden down upon the mountains of Yahweh (the one great mountain- Zion). They didn’t even take Jerusalem.</h4><p>"The Assyrian" is mentioned whilst "the king of Babylon" in :4. The prophecy was initially about the Assyrians, but a different prophetic program worked out. So it was applied to the Babylonians, and yet finally will come true of a latter day Babylon / Assyria. And the prophecy was maybe rewritten under inspiration to reflect this; see on <a href='B:290 1:1'>Isa 1:1</a>. Babylon and Assyria are often interchangeable phrases in the prophets because the prophecies about Assyria were transferred to Babylon. Thus, having spoken of the demise of the king of Babylon, v. 25 says, “I will break the Assyrian::.". The prophecies about Babylon in Isaiah 47, are repeated concerning Assyria in <a href='B:410 3:4-5'>Nah 3:4-5</a>; <a href='B:410 3:18'>Nah 3:18</a>, and <a href='B:430 2:13'>Zep 2:13</a>; <a href='B:430 2:15'>Zep 2:15</a>; and <a href='B:140 33:11'>2Ch 33:11</a>, says that the king of Assyria took Manasseh captive to Babylon - showing the interchangeability of the terms. <a href='B:370 5:27'>Amo 5:27</a> says that Israel were to go into captivity “beyond Damascus”, i:e. in Assyria, but Stephen quotes this as “beyond Babylon” (<a href='B:510 7:43'>Act 7:43</a>). <a href='B:150 6:1'>Ezr 6:1</a> describes Darius the king of Babylon making a decree concerning the rebuilding of the temple. The Jews praised God for turning “the heart of the king of Assyria” (<a href='B:150 6:22'>Ezr 6:22</a>), again showing that they are interchangeable terms. The prophecy of Isaiah 14, along with many others in Isaiah, fits in well to the context of the Assyrian invasion by Sennacherib in Hezekiah’s time, hence v. 25 describes the breaking of the Assyrian. Verse 13 is easier to understand if it is talking about the blasphemous Assyrians besieging Jerusalem, wanting to enter Jerusalem and capture the temple for their gods. Earlier the Assyrian king, Tilgath-Pilneser, had probably wanted to do the same (<a href='B:140 28:20-21'>2Ch 28:20-21</a>). <a href='B:290 14:13'>Isa 14:13</a>: “For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven::.(symbolic of the temple and ark - <a href='B:110 8:30'>1Ki 8:30</a>; <a href='B:140 30:27'>2Ch 30:27</a>; <a href='B:230 20:2'>Psa 20:2</a>; <a href='B:230 20:6'>Psa 20:6</a>; <a href='B:230 11:4'>Psa 11:4</a>; <a href='B:650 7:26'>Heb 7:26</a>) I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation (mount Zion where the temple was) in the sides of the north” (Jerusalem - <a href='B:230 48:1-2'>Psa 48:1-2</a>).</p><h4>The righteous remnant were to release Judah from the yoke and burden of domination by the overpowering Assyria (<a href='B:290 10:27'>Isa 10:27</a>). But they did not fully achieve this, nor did they accept God’s new covenant which was to be the basis for them never again being under yoke (<a href='B:300 30:8'>Jer 30:8</a>; <a href='B:330 34:27'>Eze 34:27</a>). The burden of the Assyrians was to be removed by them being trodden down upon the mountains [an intensive plural for the one great mountain] of Zion (<a href='B:290 14:25'>Isa 14:25</a>). But they never got into Zion, and were not trodden down there. And so the prophecy was rescheduled and reapplied to the victory of the Lord Jesus over sin (see on <a href='B:290 10:4'>Isa 10:4</a>) and the latter day Assyrian. His offer of His yoke in place of the heavy yoke carried by God’s people surely alludes here (<a href='B:470 11:29'>Mat 11:29</a>).</h4><h4>The parallel prophecy is in <a href='B:410 1:13'>Nah 1:13</a>: "Now will I break his yoke from off you, and will burst your bonds apart". This is a reference to the Assyrian’s yoke upon Judah (<a href='B:120 18:14'>2Ki 18:14</a>; <a href='B:290 10:27'>Isa 10:27</a>). The implication of "Now::." is that Nahum may have been contemporary with the Sennacherib invasion of Judah at Hezekiah’s time, having himself been one of those taken captive to Assyria from the ten tribes some years before. Some kind of Messianic kingdom could have been established then (<a href='B:410 1:15'>Nah 1:15</a>), but Hezekiah didn’t follow through on his potential, and the exiles didn’t repent. The intended scenario was that Nineveh would be destroyed and the exiles return in repentance; but that didn’t quite happen as it potentially could have done, although the prophetic word will ultimately come true in the last days.</h4>


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<p>This is the plan that is determined for the whole earth. This is the hand that is stretched out over all the nations- The idea of a "plan" is that this was a potential scenario; the hand of God was active to work out a plan whereby all the nations within the eretz promised to Abraham would be judged and a remnant amongst them repent, and join themselves with a repentant Israel and Judah in a reestablished Kingdom of God in Judah. But that plan didn’t work out fully at the time; it was reapplied to the last days.</p>


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<p>For Yahweh of Armies has planned, and who can stop it? His hand is stretched out, and who can turn it back?- As explained on :26, this was the Divine plan for those times. It didn’t fully come about then because various preconditions weren’t met; not least that Israel and Judah didn’t repent. But the ultimate plan and intention to reestablish Yahweh’s Kingdom on earth was and is unstoppable.</p>


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<p>This burden was in the year that king Ahaz died- This appears to apply to the subsequent prophecy against Philistia. The significance was in the fact that after Uzziah subdued the Philistines (<a href='B:140 26:6-7'>2Ch 26:6-7</a>), Ahaz had allowed them to take some cities in the southern part of Judah (<a href='B:140 28:18'>2Ch 28:18</a>). But Hezekiah was to crush them (<a href='B:120 18:8'>2Ki 18:8</a>).</p>


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<h4>Don’t rejoice, O Philistia, all of you, because the rod that struck you is broken; for out of the serpent’s root an adder will emerge, and his fruit will be a fiery flying serpent- The rod that smote the nations in the context is clearly Assyria and Babylon, which was to be broken. But Philistia was not to relax because of that; after the fall of those powers, "an adder" was to emerge and crush them. The prophetic potential was that this fiery flying serpent was to be Hezekiah, for he did attack them in <a href='B:120 18:8'>2Ki 18:8</a>. He was to be a Messiah figure; the serpent lifted up on a pole as an ensign (s:w. <a href='B:40 21:8'>Num 21:8</a>), as if directly connected with the seraphim of <a href='B:290 6:2'>Isa 6:2</a>; <a href='B:290 6:6'>Isa 6:6</a> (s:w. "fiery flying serpent"). The Jewish targum also understands the reference here to be to Messiah: "For, from the sons of Jesse shall come forth the Messiah; and his works among you shall be as the flying serpent". But Hezekiah messed up after the Assyrian threat was removed. And so the prophecies of the Messiah conquering the Philistine areas is to be reapplied to the last days.</h4><h4>Another alternative is to take the Assyrian rod as a reference to Sargon who "took Ashdod" (<a href='B:290 20:1'>Isa 20:1</a>), and took Khanun, King of Gaza, prisoner, putting "all Philistia", all its various local fiefdoms (<a href='B:90 6:18'>1Sa 6:18</a>), into subjection. The fiery serpent who punished them even more would then refer to Sennacherib. But in what sense was Sargon smitten? And how then to understand the kingdom passages which now follow? But see on :31.</h4>


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<p>The first-born of the poor will eat, and the needy will lie down in safety; and I will kill your root with famine, and your remnant will be killed- Adam Clarke: "I will kill “He will slay”". The idea is that when the Messiah figure arose at the fall of Babylon (:29), there would be the Kingdom of God reestablished; with plenty of food for the poor and needy of Judah, and the destruction of the remnants of the impenitent Philistines. The "remnant" would refer to those left over after their sufferings at the hands of Babylon and Assyria.</p>


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<h4>Howl, gate! Cry, city!- This could be read as an appeal for them to repent, and cry to Yahweh in order to avoid the destruction that was otherwise certain (see on <a href='B:300 18:8-10'>Jer 18:8-10</a>).</h4><h4>You are melted away, Philistia, all of you; for smoke comes out of the north, and there is no straggler in his ranks- This recalls the prophecies of the Assyrians and Babylonians advancing in perfect order "from the north"; and I suggested on :29 that Sennacherib might have been the flying fiery serpent. But the&nbsp; reference equally could be to Messiah’s forces coming upon them "from the north" in that as noted on :28, what is in view is the Philistine capture of the cities in the southern part of Judah (<a href='B:140 28:18'>2Ch 28:18</a>).</h4>


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<p>What will they answer the messengers of the nation? That Yahweh has founded Zion, and in her the afflicted of His people will take refuge- The idea could be that the judged, desperate and repentant Philistines send messengers to Zion asking for help, and are told that the afflicted of God’s people have found refuge in the reestablished Zion- implying that the Philistines could likewise. Zion will have been founded in that the foundation corner stone of the Messiah had been laid there (<a href='B:290 28:16'>Isa 28:16</a>). These things didn’t fully happen at the time, but will come to fulfilment in the&nbsp; Lord Jesus at His return. They could have had more fulfilment in Hezekiah, when the messengers of the nations sent to congratulate him after the victory against Assyria and his recovery from terminal illness (<a href='B:140 32:23'>2Ch 32:23</a>). But he let the baton drop at that stage. Later on, the foundation of Zion was again laid (<a href='B:150 3:10'>Ezr 3:10</a>; <a href='B:290 44:28'>Isa 44:28</a>; <a href='B:450 4:9'>Zec 4:9</a> s:w:), but again the baton was dropped.</p>


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<h4>The burden of Moab: for in a night, Ar of Moab is laid waste, and brought to nothing- The idea is that Moab would be overthrown in a night. This didn’t literally happen. I have noted on Is 13:1 and throughout the prophecies of the fall of Babylon that these prophecies against the nations didn’t completely come to pass. The prophetic scenario was that judgment would come upon Israel, Judah and all the surrounding nations; Babylon would fall, and a repentant remnant of all the nations in the eretz promised to Abraham would become part of the reestablished Kingdom of God in Judah. And so likewise this overnight destruction of Moab didn’t happen; the lay waste an entire nation overnight would require Divine intervention. It’s rather like the language of <a href='B:290 13:13'>Isa 13:13</a>, suggesting there would be an earthquake and a Divine judgment on the scale of Sodom’s destruction. This didn’t happen. But it will in the last days, to where the prophecy has been rescheduled and reapplied. The significance of Ar is that according to Mesha’s inscription on the Moabite Stone, it had been taken from Judah in the time of Ahab</h4><h4>For in a night Kir of Moab is laid waste, and brought to nothing- LXX: "by night the wall of the land of Moab shall be destroyed". The great prophetic theme is that all human defences, be they the walls of Jerusalem, Babylon or Moab, would all prove powerless before the Divine judgment. And that principle applies today, where wealth, scheming and insurance policies can be felt to be a wall against Divine judgment.</h4>


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<p>They have gone up to Bayith, and to Dibon, to the high places, to weep. Moab wails over Nebo and over Medeba. Baldness is on all of their heads; every beard is cut off- LXX "Debon, where your altar is, shall be destroyed". The judgments were always against the idols of these nations, in the hope that a remnant would repent. Weeping over Nebo, a mountain, is strange unless we understand that there was a supernatural Divine judgment intended (see on :1) which would bring down the mountains. The order of the areas here is from south to north; the idea is that all Moab would be desolated. This didn’t happen at the time; see on :1.</p>


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<p>In their streets they clothe themselves in sackcloth. In their streets and on their housetops everyone wails, weeping abundantly- The LXX read this as a command: "Gird yourselves with sackcloth in her streets: and lament upon her roofs, and in her streets, and in her ways; howl all of you with weeping". In this case, we would have here a call to repentance, just as Babylon had. Because God wished them to repentant, and the Divine intention was that a minority would. They were to weep on the streets and housetops because this was where their altars were (<a href='B:290 22:1'>Isa 22:1</a> etc:). Jeremiah lamented that Jerusalem’s streets and roofs were full of such idolatry.</p>


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<h4>Heshbon cries out with Elealeh. Their voice is heard even to Jahaz. Therefore the armed men of Moab cry aloud- Because the Moabites would cry out and their voice would be heard, “my heart shall cry out for Moab” (<a href='B:290 15:4-5'>Isa 15:4-5</a>; <a href='B:290 15:8'>Isa 15:8</a>). As the Lord Jesus is a representative Saviour, we too must feel the judgment that is to come upon others, and in that sense cry out for them as they will cry out. We too will appeal to men with conviction, as Isaiah’s heart cried out for Moab like a young heifer about to be slaughtered, feeling for them in what would come upon them, and desperately appealing for their repentance. <a href='B:300 48:41'>Jer 48:41</a> defines the crying aloud as birth pangs: "the heart of the mighty men of Moab at that day shall be as the heart of a woman in her pangs". Again the metaphor has hope of a new birth out of this calamity. The Divine hope was that Moab along with Israel would repent and form a reborn people in the restored Kingdom of God in Israel.</h4><h4>Their souls tremble within them- This could be a reference to their awareness that they had sinned against Yahweh; hence LXX "her soul shall know".</h4>


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<p>My heart cries out for Moab! Her nobles flee to Zoar, to Eglath Shelishiyah; for they go up by the ascent of Luhith with weeping; for in the way of Horonaim, they raise up a cry of destruction- As Moab cried out like a three year old heifer (<a href='B:300 48:34'>Jer 48:34</a>), so did Isaiah for them (<a href='B:290 15:5'>Isa 15:5</a>). All this was done by Isaiah and Jeremiah, knowing that Moab hated Israel (<a href='B:290 25:10'>Isa 25:10</a>) and were evidently worthy of God’s condemnation. But all the same they loved them, in the spirit of Noah witnessing to the mocking world around him. Our knowledge of this world’s future means that as we walk the streets and mix with men and women, our heart should cry out for them, no matter how they behave towards us, and there should be a deep seated desire for at least some of them to come to repentance and thereby avoid the judgments to come. Passionate Christian living has such witness at its heart. Particularly is this true, surely, of the people and land of Israel. It ought to be impossible for us to walk its streets or meet its people without at least desiring to give them a leaflet or say at least something to try to help them see what lies ahead. See on <a href='B:290 16:7'>Isa 16:7</a>.</p>


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<p>For the waters of Nimrim will be desolate; for the grass has withered away, the tender grass fails, there is no green thing- I suggested on :1,2 that what was in view was a supernatural Divine judgment upon Moab, rather than a drought which would produce this situation over an extended period. Again we note the destruction of physical features, such as the waters of Nimrim. This would have been due to direct Divine judgment; the destruction of all green things is likewise reflective of such supernatural judgment rather than the effects of invading armies. The desolation of the waters could have been from invaders putting stones in wells as in <a href='B:120 3:25'>2Ki 3:25</a>, but the impression is of a more widespread and supernatural destruction.</p>


text:
<p>Therefore they will carry away the abundance they have gotten, and that which they have stored up, over the brook of the willows- LXX "Shall Moab even thus be delivered? for I will bring the Arabians upon the valley, and they shall take it". Whether or not Moab would be delivered was left an open question because they would be asked to repent, and accepted the deliverance of Yahweh who alone could save. The later prophecy of <a href='B:300 48:40'>Jer 48:40</a> says that Babylon would effect this judgment upon Moab. Just as Babylon came as an eagle against Judah, so it would against Moab (<a href='B:300 4:13'>Jer 4:13</a>; <a href='B:50 28:49'>Deu 28:49</a>). There was to be noavoiding Divine judgment. So we see here the reapplication of a prophecy about Moab to a later date; instead of bands of Bedouin Arab marauding over her Divinely judged wastelands, and her crossing the brook into Edom, the Babylonians were to judge her, because this earlier prophecy didn’t come to its possible fulfilment at the time.</p>


text:
<p>For the cry has gone around the borders of Moab; its wailing to Eglaim, and its wailing echoes back to Beer Elim- From the north to the south, the equivalent of the “Dan and Beersheba” of Israel.</p>


text:
<p>For the waters of Dimon are full of blood; for I will bring yet more on Dimon, a lion on those of Moab who escape, and on the remnant of the land- LXX "I will bring Arabians upon Dimon, and I will take away the seed of Moab, and Ariel, and the remnant of Adama". As explained on :1, the prophetic scenario didn’t completely work out at the time; but it will do in essence in the last days. For "Arabians", see on :7. There is an alliteration between "Dibon" and "blood". The idea is that their being full of blood was potentially possible; but again, that depended upon their repentance as to whether the potential was realized.</p>


text:
<h4>Send the lambs for the ruler of the land from Selah to the wilderness, to the mountain of the daughter of Zion- Sela is Petra. This verse seems to be an appeal for Moab to repent and send an offering to Mount Zion, the temple, instead of sending lambs as a tribute to Israel as before (<a href='B:120 3:4'>2Ki 3:4</a>). This was in order to avert the judgment coming upon them, which is spoken of as sure to come ("for it shall be::.", :2). God’s word was able to be fulfilled or not, according to human repentance. "The wilderness" would refer to the tract of desert between Sela and Jerusalem.</h4><p>LXX "I will send as it were reptiles on the land: is not the mount of the daughter of Sion a desolate rock?". In this case the judgment of Moab and Judah, including the destruction of the temple, is envisaged as happening at the same time. This was part of the wide network of possible prophetic scenarios.</p><h4>To the ruler of the land- Moab were to accept that they were living in the land promised to Abraham and were only allowed there in God’s Kingdom by grace. Under David they had given him tribute (<a href='B:100 8:2'>2Sa 8:2</a>), and the tribute they paid to later kings of Israel was in lambs (<a href='B:120 3:4'>2Ki 3:4</a>), so we can assume they sent their tribute to David in the form of lambs; they were being asked to accept that the throne of David had been re-established (see on :5). This tribute was to be given "from Selah to the wilderness", from the frontier city to the other side of the country. The whole of Moab was to accept from the heart that they were living by grace in the territory of God’s Kingdom and to give tribute to the Messiah King of Israel, recognizing that Israel’s God was ruler of the whole land / earth.</h4>


text:
<p>For it will be that as wandering birds, as a scattered nest, so will the daughters of Moab be at the fords of the Arnon- The daughters of Moab could refer to the provincial towns of Moab. The idea may be that the scattered Moabites would be restored if they repented by worshipping Yahweh (:1); and their remnant would then be restored to their land. All this of course was a prophetic scenario that depended upon the repentance of both Judah and Moab in response to the judgments to come upon them at the hands of the Assyrians or Babylonians. But they didn’t respond.</p>


text:
<p>Give counsel! Execute justice! Make your shade like the night in the midst of the noonday! Hide the outcasts! Don’t betray the fugitive!- This is an appeal for repentance, made clearer in the LXX: "take farther counsel, and continually make thou a shelter from grief: they flee in darkness at mid-day; they are amazed; be not thou led captive". As explained on :4, if they had accepted the refugees from Judah and turned to Yahweh, the intended judgment would have been averted, in line with the principles of <a href='B:300 18:8-10'>Jer 18:8-10</a>. Or it could be that this verse is an exhortation to Judah to accept the repentant remnant of Moab into Zion; for the reestablished Kingdom was intended to be a place of refuge for the remnants of the surrounding nations (<a href='B:290 4:6'>Isa 4:6</a>).</p>


text:
<h4>Let My outcasts dwell with you! As for Moab, be a hiding place for him from the face of the destroyer. For the extortioner is brought to nothing. Destruction ceases, the oppressors are consumed out of the land- As explained on :3, if they had accepted the refugees from Judah and turned to Yahweh, the intended judgment would have been averted, in line with the principles of <a href='B:300 18:8-10'>Jer 18:8-10</a>. The LXX have: "The fugitives of Moab shall sojourn with thee [the change of one accent reverses the sense]; they shall be to you a shelter from the face of the pursuer: for thine alliance has been taken away, and the oppressing ruler has perished from off the earth". This then would be an address to Judah. They were to accept refugees from Moab and Moab would accept their refugees; perhaps that idea is reflected in the ambiguity of the text here. The "alliance" with Egypt would end, and Babylon would fall. In God’s restored Kingdom which would then be established (:5), the remnants of Moab and Judah would then have an equal place by grace. But the refusal to repent meant that this possibility didn’t happen, and so in essence the scene has been reapplied to events of the last days.</h4><p>But the Hebrew is obscure, and we note the term ’outcasts’ occurs in :3 also. The NIV, ESV and other versions suggest the idea is that the Moabite outcasts should be allowed to dwell in Israel, as if in expectation that some (the Moabite ’remnant’ of :14?) would respond to the call of Moab to repentance and would want to become part of the covenant people- and they were to be accepted: "Let the outcasts of Moab sojourn among you" (ESV). This certainly makes most sense in the context. The prophecy is about Moab and the possibility of Moab’s repentance at the time of Judah’s restoration; to suddenly start talking about the outcasts of Israel would be out of context in the chapter. It was David who was famed for letting the outcasts come and dwell with him (s:w. <a href='B:100 14:13-14'>2Sa 14:13-14</a>), so this could be another hint that Moab were to accept the grace of a Davidic king in Israel (see on 16:1). The double appeal for Israel to let the outcasts of Moab dwell amongst them was perhaps because God had earlier said that Moabites were not to enter into the Israelite congregation (<a href='B:50 23:3'>Deu 23:3</a>). God emphasis that they are His outcasts. By grace, foreseeing Moab’s awful judgment, He urges Israel to accept repentant Moab amongst them. This all goes to show that in wrath He remembers mercy, and at the time of judging others His dominant emotion is concern for them- and He truly has tried all possible ways to avert the tragedy.</p><h4>"Let mine outcasts dwell with thee Moab”, God pleads in <a href='B:290 16:4'>Isa 16:4</a>. But the rest of Isaiah 16 is about the awful judgment that will fall upon Moab (<a href='B:290 16:12'>Isa 16:12</a>; <a href='B:290 16:14'>Isa 16:14</a>). The text doesn’t say so, but it’s apparent enough- that if Moab was not merciful to the Jews fleeing the Assyrian invasion, then they would face a like judgment. But that judgment was conditional upon Moab’s behaviour.</h4>


text:
<h4>A throne will be established in grace, one will sit on it in truth, in the tent of David, judging, seeking justice, and swift to do righteousness- It was possible, and envisaged by Isaiah, that a Messianic King would sit upon the re-established throne of David and would provide safety and salvation to the Gentile world who wished to accept Him. See on :4. The same words are used for the eternal establishment of the Messianic throne in the promise to David in <a href='B:100 7:13'>2Sa 7:13</a>; <a href='B:100 7:16'>2Sa 7:16</a>; and Isaiah also uses the phrase in this connection (<a href='B:290 9:6'>Isa 9:6</a>). This didn’t happen in his time, but the potential was there- in the same way as his son of chapter 9 could have been a Messiah King with an eternal Kingdom in Israel.</h4><h4>"Grace"is also translated"mercy". This would then be seen to have been God’s intention through all the judgments. David’s enthusiasm for the coming of judgment reflected his understanding that it will be a day of the display of Divine mercy. <a href='B:290 16:5'>Isa 16:5</a> speaks of it as"a throne shall be established in mercy, and one [the Lord Jesus] shall sit thereon judging in truth". It will be the ultimate moment of truth, and yet it will be established in mercy.</h4>


text:
<h4>We have heard of the pride of Moab, that he is very proud; even of his arrogance, his pride, and his wrath- This is juxtaposed next to the wonderful possibility of the restored Kingdom of God which they could have a part in (:5). It was their pride which precluded their repentance and the establishment of the Kingdom then.</h4><h4>His boastings are nothing- The ambiguity of the original is perhaps because we are dealing with various possible scenarios; the fulfilment of the prophetic word was conditional upon various scenarios of repentance. Hence LXX here:"thy prophecy shall not be thus, no not thus".</h4>


text:
<h4>Therefore Moab will wail for Moab, all of them will wail- It was Moab who would howl for Moab- but Isaiah, feeling for them so strongly, also howled for them; “my bowls shall sound like an harp for Moab” (<a href='B:290 16:11'>Isa 16:11</a>). And he felt the same for his own people, Israel. See on is. 15:4,5.</h4><h4>You will mourn for the raisin cakes of Kir Hareseth, utterly stricken- The mourning for the raisin cakes, part of the idol rituals (<a href='B:350 3:1'>Hos 3:1</a>), may be mourning in repentance. Hence LXX:"but thou shalt care for them that dwell in Seth, and thou shalt not be ashamed". The ambiguity of the original is perhaps because we are dealing with various possible scenarios; the fulfilment of the prophetic word was conditional upon various scenarios of repentance.</h4>


text:
<p>For the fields of Heshbon languish like the vine of Sibmah. The lords of the nations have broken down its choice branches which reached even to Jazer, which wandered into the wilderness. Its shoots were spread abroad, they passed over the sea- The vines of Moab were famous, known even"over the sea"(although this could refer to the vineyards spreading to the Dead Sea). They stretched from Sibmah, in the outskirts of Heshbon, all the way to Jazer and even to the desert; and even to the Dead Sea. This again is a feature of Divine judgment; all that secular man boasts and rejoices in will be brought down.</p>


text:
<p>Therefore I will weep with the weeping of Jazer for the vine of Sibmah. I will water you with my tears, Heshbon, and Elealeh: for on your summer fruits and on your harvest the battle shout has fallen- Isaiah was to weep for Moab, even though Moab wept for herself (:7). He so believed the prophecy about Moab and like God, took no pleasure in the death of the wicked. The same"I"who wept for Moab’s judgment was to be the One who brought the judgments:"for I will trample on thy harvest and on thy vintages"(LXX), the classic language of Divine judgment. Through Isaiah, He wept for these Gentiles, so wishing their repentance.</p>


text:
<p>Gladness is taken away, and joy out of the fruitful field; and in the vineyards there will be no singing, neither joyful noise. Nobody will tread out wine in the presses; I have made the shouting stop- The context is of Isaiah speaking (:11). He realized the power of the words he was uttering. He was manifesting God here; as noted on :9, the same"I"who wept for Moab’s judgment was to be the One who brought the judgments."Shouting"is as AV"vintage shouting". Their joyful treading of the vintage was to be replaced by Yahweh treading them in the winepress of judgment; see on :9. The Hebrew noun is used for both the joyous shout of the grape-treaders and for a battle-cry (<a href='B:300 25:30'>Jer 25:30</a>; <a href='B:300 51:14'>Jer 51:14</a>).</p>


text:
<h4>Therefore my heart sounds like a harp for Moab, and my inward parts for Kir Heres- The very core of Isaiah’s being wept for his national enemies, so sure was he that the words flowing from his tongue and pen were true. And yet Isaiah was speaking on God’s behalf, for it was God ultimately who brought the judgments (:10), and so Isaiah’s weeping over Moab’s impenitence was in fact God’s weeping. He is not indifferent to the billions who have refused His offer of repentance and salvation.</h4><h4>Isaiah’s heart cried out for Moab like a young heifer about to be slaughtered, feeling for them in what would come upon them, and desperately appealing for their repentance. Because the Moabites would cry out and their voice would be heard, “my heart shall cry out for Moab” (<a href='B:290 15:4-5'>Isa 15:4-5</a>; <a href='B:290 15:8'>Isa 15:8</a>). As the Lord Jesus is a representative Saviour, we too must feel the judgment that is to come upon others, and in that sense cry out for them as they will cry out. “Therefore shall Moab howl for Moab” (<a href='B:290 16:7'>Isa 16:7</a>)- but Isaiah, feeling for them so strongly, also howled for them; “my bowls shall sound like an harp for Moab” (<a href='B:290 16:11'>Isa 16:11</a>).</h4>


text:
<p>It will happen that when Moab presents himself, when he wearies himself on the high place and comes to his sanctuary to pray, that he will not prevail- Moab was intended to have realized that the gods of their high places would not save them; but they refused to perceive that, wearying themselves in endlessly begging the gods for help as in <a href='B:110 18:26'>1Ki 18:26</a>; and then still went to their sanctuary to pray to their idols. They thereby refused the possibility of their judgment being averted. The sanctuary sounds like the sanctuary Mesha writes about on the Moabite stone, Beth-Bamah. However there is again an ambiguity in the text which could hint at the possibility of their repentance; Ewald translates it:":::and prevails nothing, then he shall be ashamed of Chemosh, and turn to Jehovah".</p>


text:
<p>This is the word that Yahweh spoke concerning Moab in time past- AV"long ago". But surely not that long ago- the prophecy against Moab was in chapter 15. But the three years grace (:14), the gap between statement and fulfilment, was a relatively long time in the sense that God was allowing for repentance when repentance had already been refused by Moab. Or the’long ago’ prophecy could be Balaam’s in <a href='B:40 24:17'>Num 24:17</a>. All that time, Moab had had the opportunity to repent and make history work out a different way to that prophesied. But still they would not. But"in time past"can refer to the recent past (<a href='B:100 15:34'>2Sa 15:34</a>) and the distant past (<a href='B:230 93:2'>Psa 93:2</a>).</p>


text:
<p>But now Yahweh has spoken, saying, Within three years, as a worker bound by contract would count them, the glory of Moab shall be brought into contempt, with all his great multitude; and the remnant will be very small and feeble- Perhaps the sense is that as a hired hand counts the days of required service exactly, so this calamity would happen within exactly three years. I noted on the prophecies of Isaiah’s children in <a href='B:290 7:16'>Isa 7:16</a>; <a href='B:290 8:1'>Isa 8:1</a>; <a href='B:290 8:18'>Isa 8:18</a> that there was the potential of a very speedy fulfilment of the prophecies, before the newborn child could even speak; and we have a similar period in <a href='B:290 21:16'>Isa 21:16</a>. And out of all those judgments, a repentant"remnant"were envisaged as emerging, who could join with Judah in the reestablished Kingdom of God. But the complex network of possibilities alluded to be Isaiah were precluded by the lack of repentance by both Judah and Moab.</p>


text:
<p>The burden of Damascus: Behold, Damascus is taken away from being a city, and it will be a ruinous heap- I have commented through Isaiah 13-16 upon the conditional nature of these prophecies. They envisage a situation in which Babylon and / or Assyria will judge Judah and the surrounding nations, and a repentant remnant from all of them will unite in a multi-ethnic, reestablished Kingdom of God in Judah. But this scenario was precluded by various factors, not least the impenitence of all the peoples; and perhaps foreseeing this, God did not bring about all the judgments to the extent spoken of. The essence of the prophecies however will come true in the last days. Here we have an example- Damascus continued as a city and does to this day, being one of the oldest continually occupied cities on earth.</p>


text:
<p>The cities of Aroer are forsaken. They will be for flocks, which shall lie down, and none shall make them afraid- See on :1. The LXX make this read on as part of the burden upon Damascus in :1. There is no"Aroer"near Damascus.</p>


text:
<h4>The fortress shall cease from Ephraim, and the kingdom from Damascus, and the remnant of Syria. They will be as the glory of the children of Israel, says Yahweh of Armies- And that glory was to be brought down (:4). Here there is envisaged the judgment together of Israel, Syria and Judah. This was the Divine perspective on Judah’s fear of a confederacy against them by Israel and Syria- they were all to perish together (<a href='B:290 7:1-5'>Isa 7:1-5</a>). I explained on <a href='B:290 8:8'>Isa 8:8</a> that it was one of the various prophetic potentials that Assyria would destroy these three nations together during the same campaign. This didn’t come about; partly because there was enough response in Judah to Isaiah’s prophecies that the Assyrians were stopped short and destroyed. Or it could be that the overweening pride of Assyria and their revolt against Yahweh was such that He destroyed to destroy them anyway and not allow them to destroy Jerusalem. Hence LXX:"And she shall no longer be a strong place for Ephraim to flee to, and there shall no longer be a kingdom in Damascus, or a remnant of Syrians; for thou art no better than the children of Israel". The Syrians did remain and the kingdom of Damascus did continue, because the potential scenario was precluded from happening. We also note that Israel are again presented as no better than the Gentiles, and therefore shared similar judgments.</h4><h4>It could be argued that this chapter is largely about the judgment of"Jacob", but Damascus is mentioned because Syria would no longer be a fortress or"bulwark"/ source of strength for them. The idea is that Damascus and the ten tribes were to be destroyed together in the same campaign by Babylon or Assyria. Whilst this scenario didn’t quite work out as it could have done, the abiding reality is that all human sources of strength fade to nothing before Divine judgment. This is the same situation as in Isaiah 7, where Israel and Syria united against Judah and their judgment by Assyria / Babylon is prophesied. Syria was not so strong; Damascus had recently been ransacked by the Assyrians (<a href='B:120 16:9'>2Ki 16:9</a>). But still they seemed to Israel such a relative source of strength.</h4>


text:
<p>It will happen in that day that the glory of Jacob will be made thin, and the fatness of his flesh will become lean- The fatness of the Assyrians was to become lean (<a href='B:290 10:16'>Isa 10:16</a>); but here, fatness becoming lean is the very language used of what was to happen to the glory of Jacob. By their arrogance they proclaimed themselves as no better than Gentiles, meriting the same judgment. See on :3.</p>


text:
<p>It will be like when the harvester gathers the wheat, and his arm reaps the grain. Yes, it will be like when one gleans grain in the valley of Rephaim- This is the language of judgment day, a harvest in a valley. But from that judgment there was intended to be a gleaning, a remnant of good corn would emerge. This reflects the continual Divine hope that a remnant of Syria as well as of Ephraim and Judah would repent (:5). For the subject of the prophecy merges from Syria to Ephraim and now to Judah- the valley of Rephaim or giants was just south of Jerusalem in Judah(<a href='B:60 15:8'>Jos 15:8</a>; <a href='B:60 18:16'>Jos 18:16</a>). The idea was that remnants of all these peoples would unite in repentance in the reestablished Kingdom of God in Judah.</p>


text:
<p>Yet gleanings will be left there, like the shaking of an olive tree, two or three olives in the top of the uppermost bough, four or five in the outermost branches of a fruitful tree, says Yahweh, the God of Israel- The idea is that the tree was"fruitful"[potentially] but only a very few bits of fruit would be found. This finding of this tiny remnant"there", in a valley near Jerusalem (see on :5). This didn’t happen at the time, <a href='B:400 7:1'>Mic 7:1</a> says that actually no gleanings of the vintage were found; but all this will be transferred, reapplied and rescheduled to the outcome of the final judgment in a similar valley near Jerusalem at the Lord’s return. Olives were struck down from the higher branches with a stick, and that rod or stick which was to beat Judah and the nations is clearly defined as Babylon / Assyria in Isaiah 10. <a href='B:290 24:13-15'>Isa 24:13-15</a>; <a href='B:290 24:21-23'>Isa 24:21-23</a> clearly applies this scenario to the last days.</p>


text:
<p>In that day, a man will look to his Maker, and his eyes shall perceive the Holy One of Israel- This envisages the remnant of the Syrians, Israel and Judah turning to Yahweh, God of Israel. At their nadir, like men today, they will reflect on the most basic fact of human existence- that they were created by God. Man cannot see God, and yet eyes can perceive Him- if they are penitent. The contrast is with how they had previously focused their mental attention on what they had ’made’, their idols (:8); rather than upon their personal maker. This is the wonderful imperative of believing that we were made, created; the works of our hands become less appealing.</p>


text:
<p>They will not look to the altars, the work of their hands; neither shall they respect that which their fingers have made, neither the Asherim nor the incense altars- The Syrians, as well as God’s people, would repent of their idolatry and turn to Yahweh alone (:7). And this shall come supremely true in the last days. When a man looks to his maker,"he shall not look to the altars [of] the work of&nbsp;his hands, neither shall he have respect to that which&nbsp;his fingers have made". God’s fingers made the stars and all of creation (<a href='B:230 8:3'>Psa 8:3</a>). By focusing upon&nbsp;God’s works in creation, we will not be focused upon our works, but rather trust in God’s creative grace.</p>


text:
<p>In that day their strong cities will be like the forsaken places in the woods and on the mountain top, which were forsaken from before the children of Israel; and it will be a desolation-"Strong"is the same word used in :10 of how God was to be their strength. Instead, Israel had trusted in the strong cities of the Syrians such as Damascus. This is the trouble with trusting in human strength and even having access to it; our trust in God’s strength is thereby so easily diminished:&nbsp;</p>


text:
<h4>For you have forgotten the God of your salvation, and have not remembered the rock of your strength- They saw salvation in an alliance with Syria to destroy Judah with Egypt’s help and thus form a united buffer against Assyria. All these kinds of petty politics and desperate dreams are just as much a part of our thinking today. And it is all a forgetting of Yahweh as the rock of our strength and salvation. Syria was not so strong; Damascus had recently been ransacked by the Assyrians (<a href='B:120 16:9'>2Ki 16:9</a>). But still they seemed to Israel such a relative source of strength.</h4><h4>Therefore you plant pleasant plants, and set out foreign seedlings- RVmg."thou plantest plantings of Adonis". This was a Syrian god. The alliance between Israel and Syria against Judah (Isaiah 7) required Israel to accept Syrian gods. And therefore they had effectively resigned their belief in Yahweh although they would never have admitted that in so many words. We can not serve two masters.</h4>


text:
<p>In the day of your planting, you hedge it in; in the morning, you make your seed blossom, but the harvest flees away in the day of grief and of desperate sorrow- The idea is that no matter how successful the alliance with Syria appeared to be initially, it would not prosper when it came to term, and the harvest of it would be a day of terrible judgment. This is the end of all ways around problems which are anything less than a complete falling upon Yahweh in our hearts."Desperate sorrow"and"grief"in Hebrew mean incurable illness; the tragedy was that the opportunity for healing had been givenbut they had refused it, and therefore so many potentials were thereby disallowed.</p>


text:
<p>Ah, the uproar of many peoples, who roar like the roaring of the seas; and the rushing of nations, that rush like the rushing of mighty waters!- The judgment upon Syria and Israel (and probably Judah is also in view here (see on :5), would be like the rushing of waters- representing the various nations in the Assyrian or Babylonian confederacy. But this strange rush of nations against them would be strangely stopped (:13), by grace."The roaring of the seas"is the term used for the Babylonian invasion of Judah (<a href='B:300 5:22'>Jer 5:22</a>; <a href='B:300 6:23'>Jer 6:23</a>). What began as a prophecy of judgment against Syria and Israel at the hands of the Assyrians now morphs into judgment against Judah at the hands of the Babylonians; see on <a href='B:290 13:1'>Isa 13:1</a>. The phrase is also used of Yahweh’s victory at the roaring Red Sea (<a href='B:290 51:15'>Isa 51:15</a>; <a href='B:230 65:7'>Psa 65:7</a>), implying again that this invasion is going to be destroyed as the Egyptians were. This didn’t happen at the Babylonian invasion, although potentially it could’ve done had Judah repented.</p>


