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<p>They struck down about ten thousand Moabite men at that time, every strong man and every man of valour, and none escaped- </p><p>See on :17. The word for "thousand", especially when used in a military context, doesn't necessarily refer to a literal 1,000. Rather can it mean some kind of military subdivision.</p>


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<p>So Moab was subdued that day under the hand of Israel. The land had rest for eighty years- </p><p>The nations in the land being "subdued" was the outcome of Israel being obedient to the covenant (s:w. <a href='B:50 9:3'>Deu 9:3</a>). We read this word "subdued" used of how the land was at times subdued before Israel (<a href='B:70 3:30'>Jdg 3:30</a>; <a href='B:70 4:23'>Jdg 4:23</a>; <a href='B:70 8:28'>Jdg 8:28</a>; <a href='B:70 11:33'>Jdg 11:33</a>). But each time it is clear that the people generally were not obedient to the covenant. One faithful leader was, and the results of his faithfulness were counted to the people. This is what happened with the Lord's death leading to righteousness being imputed to us.</p>


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<p>After him came Shamgar the son of Anath, who killed six hundred Philistine men with an ox goad, and he also saved Israel-</p><p>The Hebrew phrase "attack::. and save" is used in <a href='B:90 23:2'>1Sa 23:2</a> when David is uncertain about whether to attack the Philistines. David is being pointed back by this allusion to the zeal of Shamgar the son of Anath, 'the answer'. The answer to David's question was in Shamgar. David was spiritually and mentally exhausted at this time, and God's way forward for him at this time was to get up and be proactive for others. That is not always the right answer for us in our low moments, but when it is, we will be directed to it by God, perhaps through allusion to Biblical characters.</p><p>Samson's victory at Lehi may have inspired Shammah to slay the Philistines at the same place, years later (<a href='B:100 23:11'>2Sa 23:11</a>; AV "into a troop" is Heb. "Lehi"). And yet Samson's victory with a donkey jawbone would have been inspired by Shamgar's victory with an ox goad (<a href='B:70 3:31'>Jdg 3:31</a>). This is how the body of Christ should function; one spiritual victory inspiring another.</p>


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<p>The children of Israel again did that which was evil in the sight of Yahweh, when Ehud was dead- </p><p>This is the intentionally repeated cycle of all the historical records, both of the judges and kings. Israel's apparent loyalty to Yahweh was only seen at the time of strong individual reformist leaders. Immediately the leader died, they returned to unashamed idolatry. Clearly the message is that no matter what strong leadership there may be amongst God's people, or what truly spiritual ethos and culture is inculcated by them- the hearts of individuals can still be untouched by it. And so without that culture, if the church closes or the individual moves away geographically or cannot attend due to health issues, or the leader dies::. the commitment of the individual will be shown to have been meaningless. We must ask ourselves how our faith would really be, if we were taken away from the Godly influences and cultures in our lives. If individual believers were forcibly removed from their churches and spiritual networks- would their faith stand? This is why we must continue our appeal for personal Bible reading, indeed Bible study, and serious personal prayer and witnessing.</p><p>"The children of Israel did evil in the sight of Yahweh" is a refrain which occurs seven times in Judges (<a href='B:70 2:11'>Jdg 2:11</a>; <a href='B:70 3:7'>Jdg 3:7</a>; <a href='B:70 3:12'>Jdg 3:12</a>; <a href='B:70 4:1'>Jdg 4:1</a>; <a href='B:70 6:1'>Jdg 6:1</a>; <a href='B:70 10:6'>Jdg 10:6</a>; <a href='B:70 13:1'>Jdg 13:1</a>), recalling how Israel both over history and in the last days were to be punished "seven times" for their sins (<a href='B:30 26:23-24'>Lev 26:23-24</a>).</p>


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<p>Yahweh sold them into the hand of Jabin king of Canaan who reigned in Hazor- Yahweh sold them, but the record often says that they sold or prostituted themselves to the idols of the nations. He will confirm men in the path they wish to go.</p><p>The record of Deborah and Barak's victory over "Jabin king of Canaan" is shot through with connections with other passages which are clearly latter day prophecies, e:g. Psalms 83, Ezekiel 38:&nbsp;&nbsp; There is also a very deliberate series of allusions in their song of victory to Israel's exodus from Egypt and the destruction of Pharaoh's army - which is also prophetic of Israel's future deliverance from her neighbouring oppressors by the Lord's return:&nbsp;Other expositors have shown the links between the song of Deborah and Barak and Psalms 68, which is clearly prophetic of Christ's work of deliverance both on the cross and in the final deliverance of Israel from the forces of evil.</p><p>"Jabin" meaning "man of great understanding" may suggest that he was the intellectual think-tank behind the confederacy, whose ideology was operationalized by a capable, well resourced, military leader (Sisera). The motivation for the coming attack on Israel must be ideological as well as just "to take a great spoil":&nbsp;However, the words of Sisera's mother imply that he (and she!) personally was motivated by a desire for the riches of the Israelites:&nbsp; "Have they not divided the prey::. of divers colours of needlework::. meet for the necks of them that take the spoil?" (<a href='B:70 5:30'>Jdg 5:30</a>). Such total confidence in victory is yet to be seen in a Middle East scarred with the memories of Israel's&nbsp;victories over the last decades.</p><p>The captain of whose army was Sisera who lived in Harosheth of the Gentiles- </p><p>This presents an identical scenario to Sennacherib king of Assyria having Rabshakeh as his field commander during his attack on Jerusalem, which beyond doubt was a major type of Israel's latter day invasion outlined in passages like Ezekiel 38 and Psalms 83.</p>


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<p>The Israelites cried to Yahweh, for he had nine hundred iron chariots, and for twenty years he mightily oppressed the children of Israel- </p><p>"Oppress" is the word used of how Israel were oppressed in Egypt (<a href='B:20 3:9'>Exo 3:9</a>). But the intention, as with Israel's latter day oppression, is that it would lead them to cry out for Yahweh's salvation, 'Jesus': "For they will cry to Yahweh because of oppressors, and He will send them a saviour and a defender, and He will deliver them" (<a href='B:290 19:20'>Isa 19:20</a> s:w:). All the judges were therefore types of the ultimate deliverance of Israel by the Lord Jesus in the last days.</p><p>The fearful implications of "chariots of iron" [probably wooden chariots with iron scythes on the wheels] is hard for us to fully appreciate. "The children of Joseph said::. the Canaanites that dwell in the land of the valley have chariots of iron" (<a href='B:60 17:16'>Jos 17:16</a>), as if that were a totally understandable reason for their unwillingness to even challenge the Canaanites;&nbsp; whilst some years later Saul and Jonathan were the only Israelites to have iron weapons, thanks to the Philistines' monopoly over it (<a href='B:90 13:19-22'>1Sa 13:19-22</a>). Possession of 900 "chariots of iron" was therefore like having some super-weapon into whose paradigm no other armaments could enter:&nbsp; This may have its latter day equivalent during the coming period of Israel's total domination by her neighbours. See on :15.</p>


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<p>Now Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lappidoth, judged Israel at that time- </p><p>"Deborah" is usually interpreted as meaning 'bee', but clearly it is a form of the common Hebrew word for 'word' or 'saying', debar. The prophetess was a woman of the word, and as with many personal names, she was named after her life's work- just as Anglo Saxons carry the name carpenter, smith, buckler, joiner etc. She "judged Israel" perhaps in the sense of giving them judgments from God's word.</p>


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<p>She lived under the palm tree of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in the hill country of Ephraim, and the Israelites came up to her for judgment-</p><p>Presumably this refers just to those Israelites who wanted to hear the judgments of God's word. She laments in <a href='B:70 5:10'>Jdg 5:10</a> LXX that she was largely ignored, and she rebukes those who ignored her prophetic words and had been unwilling to assist in the battle: "Ye that sit on the judgment-seat, and walk by the roads of them that sit in judgment by the way". It was Deborah who sat by the roadside giving judgment from God's word, and who was largely ignored</p><p>Note the parallel between an Angel sitting under an oak and a prophetess sitting under an oak (<a href='B:70 4:5'>Jdg 4:5</a>; <a href='B:70 6:11'>Jdg 6:11</a>). In <a href='B:300 23:18'>Jer 23:18</a>; <a href='B:300 23:22'>Jer 23:22</a> we find prophets standing in the “council of the Lord” (RV) to receive His word; and yet this sounds very much like Angels standing in the court of Heaven to receive God’s word of command. “The God of the spirits [Angels] of the prophets sent his Angel” to the prophet John (<a href='B:730 22:6'>Rev 22:6</a> RV); implying that as God had sent His Angel-Spirits to inspire the prophets, so now He did to John. <a href='B:230 147:15'>Psa 147:15</a>; <a href='B:230 147:18'>Psa 147:18</a> speak of the sending out of God’s word to melt snow and send rain; this must surely refer to the Angels being sent out from the court of Heaven to do these things. The way the “watcher and holy one” came down from Heaven is paralleled with the word of Divine command likewise coming down from Heaven (<a href='B:340 4:23'>Dan 4:23</a>; <a href='B:340 4:31'>Dan 4:31</a>). The universe is not just ticking away on clockwork; the Angels are actively being sent out from Heaven to perform what may appear the most mundane and repetitious of things. Thus God sends out His Angels; He sends out His word; and He also sent out His prophets (Haggai- <a href='B:440 1:12'>Hag 1:12</a>; Ezekiel- <a href='B:330 3:5-6'>Eze 3:5-6</a>). God rose up and sent out His prophets (<a href='B:120 17:13'>2Ki 17:13</a>; <a href='B:300 7:25'>Jer 7:25</a> and many others). He is described as doing this because those prophets likewise identified with the word (as Deborah- see on :4) and became part of their own message.</p>


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<p>She sent and called Barak the son of Abinoam out of Kedesh Naphtali and said to him- </p><p>'The holy place of Naphtali' is an example of the paganic place names still being used. Barak is being called to leave all that and go and work for Yahweh in His strength. "Barak", 'lightning', is the word used to describe Yahweh's miraculous manifestation through lightnings in the saving of His people (s:w. <a href='B:50 32:41'>Deu 32:41</a>; <a href='B:100 22:15'>2Sa 22:15</a>), and He will use them again in the last days when He repeats these ancient victories over Israel's enemies (s:w. <a href='B:420 3:11'>Hab 3:11</a>; <a href='B:450 9:14'>Zec 9:14</a>). But Barak was slow and nervous to live up to the potential victory which was implicit in his name; and that was the tragedy of Israel's history at the conquest. And it is the abiding tragedy of so much spiritual history.</p><p>Hasn’t Yahweh, the God of Israel, commanded-</p><p>This could imply he had received the prophetic word to go into battle, but had not responded. <a href='B:70 5:2'>Jdg 5:2</a> LXX says that "A revelation was made in Israel when the people were made willing", referring to the specific prophetic word given to Deborah here in <a href='B:70 4:6-7'>Jdg 4:6-7</a> that victory was possible- if the people were willing. Which Barak wasn't, completely.</p><p>‘Go to Mount Tabor and take with you ten thousand men of the children of Naphtali and Zebulun?- </p><p>"Mount Tabor::. the river Kishon (<a href='B:70 4:6-7'>Jdg 4:6-7</a>) is near the valley of Jezreel - Armageddon:&nbsp;Hence <a href='B:70 5:19'>Jdg 5:19</a> speaks of "the waters of Megiddo", and "men of::. Naphtali::. and::. of Zebulun" from those same areas (4:6) were used to win the victory. "Take with you", AV "draw toward", is s:w. :7 for how God would likewise draw the enemy toward them. The two sides were to be drawn together by God in conflict.</p>


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<p>I will draw to you, to the river Kishon- </p><p>This 'drawing' points forward to Gog, the chief (military?) prince of Meshech and Tubal (parts of Assyria?), being drawn into Israel with hooks in his jaws (<a href='B:330 38:4'>Eze 38:4</a>; <a href='B:330 38:8'>Eze 38:8</a>).</p><p>Sisera the captain of Jabin’s army with his chariots and his multitude, and I will deliver him into your hand’- </p><p>The apparently insuperable strength of Sisera is recognized, but within that recognition there is the encouragement that God would deliver it all into the hand of Barak. He disbelieved this, and so the victory was given into the hand of a woman. Thus God set up a potential which a man didn't realize, and in this case, He transferred it into the hands of another (:9).</p>


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<p>Barak said to her, If you will go with me then I will go, but if you will not go with me I will not go- </p><p>If Yahweh had commanded him (:6), then Yahweh would be with him. But just as Israel wanted a human king rather than Yahweh, so Barak wanted a human manifestation of God to be with him. Just as Asa is recorded as serving God just as well as David, when actually this wasn't the case; but God counted him as righteous (<a href='B:110 15:11'>1Ki 15:11</a>), so the incomplete faith of men like Baruch was counted as full faith by later inspiration (<a href='B:70 4:8-9'>Jdg 4:8-9</a> cp. <a href='B:650 11:32'>Heb 11:32</a>). Sometimes the purges of idolatry by the kings is described in undoubtedly exaggerated language- such was God's joy that at least something was being done?</p>


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<p>She said, I will surely go with you; nevertheless the journey that you take will not be for your honour, for Yahweh will sell Sisera into the hand of a woman. Deborah arose and went with Barak to Kedesh- </p><p>The potential was that the enemy was to be sold into Barak's hands (:7). But Barak didn't fully believe that, and so the potential was applied to another. This is still how God works.</p>


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<p>Barak called Zebulun and Naphtali together to Kedesh and he went with ten thousand men following him; and Deborah went with him- </p><p><a href='B:650 11:32'>Heb 11:32</a> seems to imply that Barak did this in faith, although not to the ideal level possible for him.</p>


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<p>Now Heber the Kenite had separated himself from the Kenites, from the children of Hobab the brother-in-law of Moses, and had pitched his tent by the oak in Zaanannim which is by Kedesh-</p><p>Kedesh, 'holy place', was an example of the pagan names still being used by the Israelites. Likewise Zaanannim is LXX "the oak of the covetous ones", and we recall the association of oaks with idolatry. Again we are getting the impression of strength coming out of surrounding spiritual weakness. Heber's separation from the Kenites is here not presented in a very positive light. See on :17.</p>


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<p>They told Sisera that Barak the son of Abinoam had gone up to Mount Tabor- </p><p>The battle plans seemed all the wrong strategy in human terms. The dreaded chariots were at full advantage on the flat land around the Kishon. Barak took his men up into the mountain, which was logical, as chariots couldn't be used there. But then they are told by God to come down from mount Tabor and fight with the chariots (:14). As with the capture of Jericho, God's strategy is seen as unwise humanly. But this is the 'foolishness of the thing preached' which Paul says confounds the might of this world:&nbsp;</p>


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<p>Sisera gathered together all his chariots, nine hundred chariots of iron, and all the people who were with him, from Harosheth of the Gentiles to the river Kishon- </p><p>This 'gathering together' is spoken of in latter-day passages - <a href='B:450 14:2'>Zec 14:2</a> and <a href='B:730 16:14'>Rev 16:14</a>. These previous invasions which typify those of the future, also mention this 'gathering together': Sisera's forces did this (<a href='B:70 4:13'>Jdg 4:13</a>), as did those of Ammon (<a href='B:130 19:7'>1Ch 19:7</a>), the Amorites (<a href='B:70 11:20'>Jdg 11:20</a>), the local powers with Assyria in Hezekiah's time (<a href='B:400 4:11'>Mic 4:11</a>), Gog's forces (<a href='B:330 38:7'>Eze 38:7</a>), the Arab-Canaanite tribes (<a href='B:10 34:30'>Gen 34:30</a>) and especially the Philistines (<a href='B:90 13:5'>1Sa 13:5</a>; <a href='B:90 13:11'>1Sa 13:11</a>; <a href='B:90 17:1'>1Sa 17:1</a>; <a href='B:90 25:1'>1Sa 25:1</a>; <a href='B:90 28:1'>1Sa 28:1</a>; <a href='B:90 29:1'>1Sa 29:1</a>; <a href='B:100 23:11'>2Sa 23:11</a>). This is quite some emphasis. Thus while we can expect to see greater potential Arab unity developing around the Israel issue and perhaps a common allegiance to charismatic 'Nebuchadnezzar' figure for a brief period, their complete meeting of minds will not be until the final push against Jerusalem.</p>


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<p>Deborah said to Barak, Go, for this is the day in which Yahweh has delivered Sisera into your hand- </p><p>But as explained on :7,9, Yahweh's plan was indeed that ideally Sisera would be delivered into Barak's hand. But his faith wasn't up to it, so the enemy was to be delivered into a woman's hand. But it seems Deborah, as a prophet, knew that it was still potentially possible for Barak to have the victory through the enemy being delivered into his hands.</p><p>Just as all the animals and everything in the eretz promised to Abraham was 'delivered into the hands' of Noah (s:w. <a href='B:10 9:2'>Gen 9:2</a>), so the nations of that eretz were delivered into the hands of Israel (s:w. <a href='B:20 6:8'>Exo 6:8</a>; <a href='B:20 23:31'>Exo 23:31</a>; <a href='B:50 2:24'>Deu 2:24</a>; <a href='B:50 3:2-3'>Deu 3:2-3</a>; <a href='B:50 7:24'>Deu 7:24</a>; <a href='B:50 21:10'>Deu 21:10</a>; <a href='B:60 2:24'>Jos 2:24</a>; <a href='B:70 1:2'>Jdg 1:2</a>). Tragically, like Adam in Eden [perhaps the same eretz promised to Abraham] and Noah in the new, cleansed eretz, Israel didn't realize this potential. What was delivered into the hand of Joshua (<a href='B:60 2:24'>Jos 2:24</a>) actually wasn't delivered into their hand, because they disbelieved (<a href='B:70 2:23'>Jdg 2:23</a>); and this looks ahead to the disbelief of so many in the work of the Lord Jesus, who has indeed conquered the Kingdom for us. They considered the promise of the nations being delivered into their hand as somehow open to question, and only a possibility and not at all certain (<a href='B:70 8:7'>Jdg 8:7</a>; <a href='B:40 21:2'>Num 21:2</a> cp. <a href='B:40 21:34'>Num 21:34</a>). Some like Jephthah (s:w. <a href='B:70 11:32'>Jdg 11:32</a>; <a href='B:70 12:3'>Jdg 12:3</a>), Ehud (<a href='B:70 3:10'>Jdg 3:10</a>; <a href='B:70 3:28'>Jdg 3:28</a>), Deborah (<a href='B:70 4:14'>Jdg 4:14</a>), Gideon (<a href='B:70 7:15'>Jdg 7:15</a>) did, for a brief historical moment; but as individuals, and their victories were not followed up on. Instead they were dominated by the territory. And so instead, they were delivered into the hands of their enemies within the eretz (s:w. <a href='B:30 26:25'>Lev 26:25</a>; <a href='B:70 13:1'>Jdg 13:1</a>).</p><p>Hasn’t Yahweh gone out before you? So Barak went down from Mount Tabor and ten thousand men after him-</p><p>See on :12. To come down from mount Tabor to where the chariots could be used was the very opposite of good strategy. Deborah in <a href='B:70 4:14'>Jdg 4:14</a> quotes the words of <a href='B:50 9:3'>Deu 9:3</a> concerning the Angel going before Israel to drive out the nations to Barak, to inspire him with courage in fighting them. She recognized that the work the Angels did when they went out many years ago to do all the groundwork necessary for Israel to destroy all the tribes of Canaan was done for all time. It was not too late to make use of that work by making a human endeavour in faith. So with us, the smaller objectives in our lives as well as our main goal of reaching the Kingdom have all been made possible through the work of Christ and the Angels in the past. Deborah's recognition of this is shown in her song- <a href='B:70 5:20'>Jdg 5:20</a>: "They (the Angels) fought from Heaven; the stars (Biblical imagery for Angels) in their courses fought against Sisera". In passing, note that the Hebrew for 'courses' is almost identical with that for 'ladder' in the account of Jacob's vision of a ladder of Angels. Strong specifically defines it as meaning 'staircase'. See on <a href='B:20 14:24'>Exo 14:24</a>.</p><p>Other implications that a repentant Israel will be used to win this great victory, are to be found in the mention of "the river Kishon" and "Harosheth", which was near Mount Carmel:&nbsp;These places feature in the record of Elijah's great appeal to Israel; the apostate element among them were slain at the Kishon (<a href='B:110 18:40'>1Ki 18:40</a>), as the faithless in Israel will be in the last days:&nbsp;&nbsp;The typical inference here in Judges that the invader will be destroyed at this same place would suggest that they will share in the judgments that come upon God's enemies, and therefore perish in the same geographical location:&nbsp;&nbsp; Yet it was also in this same place that Israel repented, finally responding to Elijah's ministry. The work of the Elijah prophet of the last days will likewise culminate in a spiritually revived Israel defeating their enemies.</p>


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<p>Yahweh routed Sisera and all his chariots and all his army with the sword before Barak, and Sisera got down from his chariot and fled away on foot- </p><p>This stress on chariots, both in the record of the attack and of God's defeat of them, takes the mind back to the Egyptian chariots which pursued Israel and were destroyed in the Red Sea. "The Lord discomfited Sisera, and all his chariots, and all his host" (<a href='B:70 4:15'>Jdg 4:15</a>) recalls how God "troubled (same Hebrew word translated " discomfited") the host of the Egyptians, and took off their chariot wheels::. so that the Egyptians said, Let us flee::. and the Egyptians fled" (on foot, <a href='B:20 14:24-27'>Exo 14:24-27</a>), just as Sisera "lighted down off his chariot, and fled away on his feet" (<a href='B:70 4:15'>Jdg 4:15</a>), due to the mud produced by the hail (<a href='B:230 83:9'>Psa 83:9</a>).</p>


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<p>But Barak pursued the chariots and the army to Harosheth of the Gentiles, and all the army of Sisera fell by the sword; there was not a man left- </p><p>"There was not a man left" matches the comment concerning the Egyptians, that "there remained not so much as one of them" (<a href='B:20 14:28'>Exo 14:28</a>). We find the essence of the Red Sea deliverance repeated in life after life, situation after situation, in Israel's history. This happens to the extent that some of the Psalms can speak as if we were there present; and Paul stresses how that passage through water remains a type of the baptism of every believer to this day (<a href='B:530 10:1'>1Co 10:1</a>). Just as Yahweh confounded Israel's enemies at the Red Sea (<a href='B:20 14:24-25'>Exo 14:24-25</a>), so He did in Deborah's victory over Sisera (<a href='B:70 4:15'>Jdg 4:15</a>); and likewise "not one was left".</p>


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<p>However Sisera fled away on foot to the tent of Jael the wife of Heber the Kenite- </p><p>The wives of Bedouin chiefs have their own tent.</p><p>For there was peace between Jabin the king of Hazor and the house of Heber the Kenite-</p><p>This would suggest Heber had moved away from the things of God and was now in league with Jabin, rather than maintaining the connection between the Kenites and Israel. We recall that Moses' wife was a Kenite. See on :11. Again we are getting the impression of strength coming out of surrounding spiritual weakness.</p>


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<p>Jael went out to meet Sisera and said to him, Turn in, my lord, turn in to me; don’t be afraid. He came in to her into the tent and she covered him with a rug- </p><p>LXX "Hid him behind&nbsp; curtain". Here again, as with Rahab, Ehud and the Gibeonites, we have deception used as an expression of faith.</p>


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<p>He said to her, Please give me a little water to drink for I am thirsty. She opened a skin of milk and gave him a drink and covered him- </p><p>The cameraman of Divine inspiration is zoomed close in here upon the two people in the tent. She gives him more than he asks, not water but milk, and butter (<a href='B:70 5:25'>Jdg 5:25</a>), perhaps thinking that dairy products would make him more sleepy. She did what she did on the spur of the moment, for she was surely not expecting Sisera to come stumbling in to her tent. Although she had her own tent, there is no evidence that the other people in the encampment, including her husband, agreed with her actions. Like Ehud, she acted completely alone, quite against the expectations of her surrounding family and environment.</p>


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<p>He said to her, Stand at the door of the tent and when any man comes and asks you ‘Is there any man here?’ say ‘No’- </p><p>The theme of gender continues. She surely had children and other women in her tent. She was to speak of Sisera as if he were not even a man, but a woman. The whole story is a deconstruction of the male glorifying narrative of those times. And this was not purely for the sake of it, rather is it part of a wider theme that God works through the despised in order to achieve His greatest victories.</p>


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<p>Then Jael Heber’s wife took a tent peg and a hammer in her hand and went quietly to him and hammered the peg into his temples, and it pierced through into the ground- </p><p>This is clearly intended to be understood as the seed of the woman smiting the seed of the serpent in the head. Jael smiting off Sisera's head may be the basis of <a href='B:230 110:7'>Psa 110:7</a>: "therefore shall he lift up the head". It also connects with David cutting off Goliath's head in an encounter full of echoes of the latter-day conflict between Christ and Israel's enemies:&nbsp;In the same way as Israel then had to follow up David's token victory, so they had to do the donkey- work in the wake of Sisera's death, and so they will also engage in a process of subduing the nations after Christ's initial dramatic victory at Armageddon - the landing of the stone upon the feet, the killing of Goliath, the nailing of Sisera's head. "The hand of the children of Israel prospered ('going, went and was hard', A:V. mg:), and prevailed against Jabin the king of Canaan, until they had destroyed Jabin" (<a href='B:70 4:24'>Jdg 4:24</a>) definitely speaks of a subsequent process of subjugation.</p><p>For he was in a deep sleep; so he died- </p><p>LXX "darkness fell upon him and he died". But the idea seems to be that he swooned, and then died. She didn't kill him outright, according to Deborah's song of praise for Jael, he rose up and then fell down dead at her feet (<a href='B:70 5:27'>Jdg 5:27</a>). This makes Jael's bravery all the more commendable, especially in that her husband was in league with Jabin.</p>


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<p>As Barak pursued Sisera, Jael came out to meet him and said to him, Come and I will show you the man whom you seek. He came to her and there lay Sisera, dead; and the tent peg was in his temples- </p><p>In <a href='B:70 5:15'>Jdg 5:15</a> LXX, Deborah comes over as in command in the field, sending Barak on foot to find Sisera: "And princes in Issachar were with Deborah and Barak, thus she sent Barak on his feet in the valleys into the portions of Reuben".</p>


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<p>So God subdued on that day Jabin the king of Canaan before the Israelites- </p><p>The nations in the land being "subdued" was the outcome of Israel being obedient to the covenant (s:w. <a href='B:50 9:3'>Deu 9:3</a>). We read this word "subdued" used of how the land was at times subdued before Israel (<a href='B:70 3:30'>Jdg 3:30</a>; <a href='B:70 4:23'>Jdg 4:23</a>; <a href='B:70 8:28'>Jdg 8:28</a>; <a href='B:70 11:33'>Jdg 11:33</a>). But each time it is clear that the people generally were not obedient to the covenant. One faithful leader was, and the results of his faithfulness were counted to the people. This is what happened with the Lord's death leading to righteousness being imputed to us.</p>


text:
<p>The hand of the Israelites prevailed more and more against Jabin the king of Canaan until they had destroyed him- </p><p>All this is but one of several hints that after Christ's latter day destruction of the military arm (cp. Sisera) of the enemies in the land of Israel, the campaign is then taken to the civil headquarters (represented by 'Babylon' in the Apocalypse?), typified here by Jabin.</p>


text:
<p>Then Deborah and Barak the son of Abinoam sang this song- </p><p>It is clearly Deborah's song, and it is very critical of those in Israel who didn't respond to her prophetic call to arms. And Barak would have ben humbled by the fact that women like Deborah and Jael had gotten the glory rather than himself. So the way he sings along with it is a sign of his humility, which meshed with his faith [although incomplete] which Paul notes in Hebrews 11.</p>


text:
<p>Because the leaders took the lead in Israel, because the people offered themselves willingly, blessed be Yahweh!</p><p>But the song will go on to lament that the leaders of Israel didn't take the lead (:7 especially), and neither did Barak. But Deborah, a woman, took the lead and was the true leader. Elders can shut up, or open, the Kingdom to men. They watch “in behalf of” the souls of the ecclesia (<a href='B:650 13:7'>Heb 13:7</a> RV). Their very examples can influence the flock positively or negatively- for “like priest like people” is a Biblical idea. When the leaders “offered themselves willingly”, so did the people (<a href='B:70 5:2'>Jdg 5:2</a>; <a href='B:70 5:9'>Jdg 5:9</a>). LXX "A revelation was made in Israel when the people were made willing" would refer to the specific prophetic word given to Deborah in <a href='B:70 4:6-7'>Jdg 4:6-7</a> that victory was possible- if the people were willing. Which Barak wasn't, completely.</p><p>"The people offered themselves willingly" to Deborah perhaps forms the basis for the description of Christ's people in the last days, being "willing in the day of your power" (<a href='B:230 110:2'>Psa 110:2</a>).</p>


text:
<p>Hear, you kings! Give ear, you princes! I, even I, will sing to Yahweh. I will sing praise to Yahweh the God of Israel- </p><p>LXX "I will sing, it is I who will sing to the Lord, it is I, I will sing a psalm" emphasizes "I"; perhaps the song was sung specifically by Deborah, as she glorifies that she, a woman and despised prophetess who had to teach under a palm tree as she had no premises to do so, had had her prophetic word justified. Barak would then show his humility by singing along with her. "Hear, O ye kings;&nbsp; give ear, O ye princes" sounds like the appeal to the nations that goes out after Christ's victory (cp. <a href='B:230 2:10'>Psa 2:10</a>). But the kings and princes could simply refer to the leaders of Israel, whom effectively Deborah is rebuking later in the song (:7).</p>


text:
<p>Yahweh, when You went forth out of Seir, when You marched out of the field of Edom, the earth trembled, the heavens poured. Yes, the clouds poured down water- </p><p>LXX "the heaven dropped dews". There was apparently a downpour of water from Heaven which led to the Kishon swelling and carrying away some of the enemy (:21). This is the language of Habakkuk 3, Psalms 68 and other prophecies of the last days. Deborah is feeling she has become, by default, another Moses; for the victorious march of Israel is like theirs from Sinai (:5), which she calls "Seir", alluding to <a href='B:50 33:2'>Deu 33:2</a>. She feels a similar theophany has occurred, along with the rainfall then experienced (<a href='B:230 68:8-9'>Psa 68:8-9</a>).</p>


text:
<p>The mountains melted at the presence of Yahweh, even Sinai at the presence of Yahweh the God of Israel- </p><p>Heb:, as AV, "this Sinai", as if Deborah felt herself back there standing before Sinai witnessing the great theophany there, in that she has seen it before her eyes, as it were, in what God has now done in giving her victory against Sisera. This is the power of Biblical history. There is a living word which continues to speak to us; the historical victories of God are replicated, in essence, in our own experiences.</p>


text:
<p>In the days of Shamgar the son of Anath, in the days of Jael, the highways were deserted, the travellers walked through byways- </p><p>The idea is that the situation in Jael's time is as it was in the days when Shamgar delivered Israel (<a href='B:70 3:31'>Jdg 3:31</a>). Whilst this describes the broken down infrastructure of the land, with people using byways because they feared being attacked on the main roads, there is the implication in LXX of spiritual weakness: "they deserted the ways::. they went in crooked paths". And this may speak of the latter day Israel in a state of devastation and collapse, with highways unoccupied (cp. motorways wrecked by bombing).</p>


text:
<p>The rulers ceased to rule in Israel. They ceased until I, Deborah, arose; until I arose, a mother in Israel- </p><p>Rulers is LXX "the mighty men ceased". Deborah's song is really a lament at the failure of Israel's leadership, and Barak, who had also failed to provide this leadership when empowered to do so, was very humble to have sung this song with her (:1). She was a "mother in Israel", providing leadership in a family bereft of male headship- because none of the men provided it.</p>


text:
<p>They chose new gods, therefore war came to the gates- </p><p>Gentile nations didn't change their gods; but God's people did, ever seeking a little extra material benefit from some new religion; see on <a href='B:300 2:8'>Jer 2:8</a>; <a href='B:300 2:11'>Jer 2:11</a>. Israel are therefore likened in Hosea to a sexually addicted woman, ever seeking new partners. In this sense Israel were worse than the other nations, who only changed their gods when forced to by the military dominance of neighbours.</p><p>Was there a shield or spear seen among forty thousand in Israel?-</p><p>"Thousand" when used in a military context usually means some military subdivision rather than a literal 1,000. The idea may be that although they had shields and spears, none of the 40,000 in view got their weapons out in response to Deborah's prophetic call.</p>


text:
<p>My heart is with the governors of Israel, who offered themselves willingly among the people. Bless Yahweh!- </p><p>LXX "You that are willing among the people, bless the Lord":&nbsp;Deborah now praises the few leaders who did respond to her prophetic call to arms. The Hebrew for "governors" can mean a law-giver or teacher, literally "an engraver of laws"; she may have in mind the faithful scribes, who supported her prophetic call to arms. Perhaps in the latter day context this speaks of a minority of faithful amongst latter day Israel, with God's law engraved in their hearts as it was on stone previously (<a href='B:300 31:33'>Jer 31:33</a>):&nbsp;Remember that Elijah will be calling for a revival of true interest in the Mosaic law during &nbsp;his ministry, which may well coincide with Israel's period of downtreading (<a href='B:460 4:4-6'>Mal 4:4-6</a>).</p>


text:
<p>Speak, you who ride on white donkeys, you who sit on rich carpets and you who walk by the way- </p><p>This seems a criticism of those in Israel who were not "willing" to assist in the battle. LXX "Ye that mount a she-ass at noon-day, ye that sit on the judgment-seat, and walk by the roads of them that sit in judgment by the way". It was Deborah who sat by the roadside giving judgment from God's word, and who was largely ignored (<a href='B:70 4:5'>Jdg 4:5</a>).</p>


text:
<p>Far from the noise of archers, in the watering places, there they will recite the righteous acts of Yahweh, the righteous acts of His rule in Israel. Then the people of Yahweh went down to the gates- </p><p>The idea may be that those who didn't respond to God's command to fight Sisera would in the future, far from the noise of war, recite at the wells the great acts which Yahweh had wrought through women. And those who recited things at the watering places were largely women. We recall how women were found at wells in the lives of Abraham's servant, Jacob and Moses. In the latter day context, <a href='B:330 39:3'>Eze 39:3</a> stresses how Gog will rely on his archery to terrorize Israel in the last days: "I will smite your bow out of your left hand, and will cause your arrows to fall out of your right hand":&nbsp;Assyrian bas-reliefs frequently show them posing with their bows:&nbsp;The importance of archery in warfare can easily be overlooked by us, who tend to lump bows, arrows, swords and shields etc. together as obsolete weaponry. Yet the ability to strike from a distance without personal combat was a vital innovation:&nbsp;The highlighting of the fact that the enemies of Judges 4 and Gog of Ezekiel 38 both used archery suggests that this may have a latter day equivalent - which must surely be in the use of missile power? The vials of Revelation being poured out from the air onto the earth (land - of Israel) may also indicate that latter day judgments literally descend from the air.</p>


text:
<p>‘Awake, awake, Deborah! Awake, awake, sing a song! Arise, Barak, and lead away your captives, you son of Abinoam’- </p><p>Perhaps the first sentence in this verse was sung by Barak (see on :1), and the second by Deborah, in a kind of part singing. <a href='B:230 68:18'>Psa 68:18</a> quotes this verse with reference to the latter day work of the Lord Jesus. Taking captivity captive (Heb:) means 'take prisoner those who took you prisoner'. This is the language of the latter day victory over Babylon (<a href='B:290 14:2'>Isa 14:2</a>).</p>


text:
<p>Then a remnant of the nobles and the people came down. Yahweh came down to me against the mighty- </p><p>She laments that only a remnant had responded to her call to arms. LXX "Then went down the remnant to the strong". But this again is a theme of God's workings with men. The left handed, the women, the minorities, those whom man despises, are used by Him to work His great victories.</p>


text:
<p>Those whose root is in Amalek came out of Ephraim after you, Benjamin, among your peoples. Governors came down out of Machir- </p><p>LXX "Ephraim rooted them out in Amalek, behind thee was Benjamin among thy people: the inhabitants of Machir came down with me searching out the enemy". Machir may recall the daughters of Zelophehad, who joined Deborah in personally fighting the enemy.</p><p>Those who handle the writer’s quill came out of Zebulun- </p><p>The idea is that instead of drawing their quills from their pouches, they drew swords.</p><p>God asked goldsmiths to do the manual work of building the wall of Jerusalem, bruising their sensitive fingers against lumps of rock (<a href='B:160 3:8'>Neh 3:8</a>; <a href='B:160 3:31'>Neh 3:31</a>); and Barak’s victorious warriors were civil servants and writers (<a href='B:70 5:14'>Jdg 5:14</a>), not military men. Paul was sent to the Gentiles and Peter to the Jews, when we’d have thought that naturally speaking, they would have been far more comfortable in the reverse roles. Judas was put in charge of the money amongst the twelve; when Matthew the tax collector would presumably have been the obvious man for the job. Naaman wanted to do some great act, but was asked to do the hardest thing for him- to dip in Jordan.</p>


text:
<p>The princes of Issachar were with Deborah. As was Issachar, so was Barak. They rushed into the valley at his feet- </p><p>LXX "And princes in Issachar were with Deborah and Barak, thus she sent Barak on his feet in the valleys into the portions of Reuben". Deborah comes over as in command in the field, sending Barak on foot to find Sisera (<a href='B:70 4:22'>Jdg 4:22</a>).</p><p>By the watercourses of Reuben there were great divisions of heart- </p><p>She rightly mocks how the men of Reuben claimed to struggle in their hearts as to whether or not to support her call to arms. So often we hear the phrase "It's difficult to decide" or talk about struggles of heart- when the call to rise up in obedience is obvious and clear. But God's unambiguous calls are often made difficult by our struggles of the heart against them.</p>


text:
<p>Why did you sit among the sheepfolds, to hear the whistling for the flocks? At the watercourses of Reuben there was much searching of heart- </p><p>As noted on :15, they were claiming that the decision to follow God's calling was 'so difficult' and required much internal agony of heart searching. In reality, it involved them sitting amongst their sheep, listening to the bleating of the flocks (LXX). She asks "Why:::?". And the answer was, because they didn't have faith and devotion to God's clear prophetic word which had called them to arms. Or we can read as GNB "Yes, the tribe of Reuben was divided; they could not decide to come". They operated on the false basis that there had to be unanimity before they could agree; and because they were divided over the matter, even those willing to fight actually didn't. Because they put their own desire for unanimity or "unity" with their brethren above the need to be loyal to God's word personally.</p>


text:
<p>Gilead remained beyond the Jordan. Why did Dan remain in ships? Asher remained still at the haven of the sea, and lived by his creeks- </p><p>Asher "lived" or [LXX] 'remained in his tabernacles', perhaps implying devotion to false gods; see on :18.</p>


text:
<p>Zebulun was a people that jeopardized their lives to the death; Naphtali also, on the high places of the field- </p><p>The reference to the paganic high places could be in contrast to the hint in :17 that Asher remained serving idols, whilst Naphtali won victories for Yahweh on the paganic high places.</p>


text:
<p>The kings came and fought, then the kings of Canaan fought at Taanach by the waters of Megiddo- </p><p>Taanach was in either Issachar or Asher (<a href='B:60 17:11-12'>Jos 17:11-12</a>; <a href='B:70 5:19'>Jdg 5:19</a>). But this town was also given to Ephraim (<a href='B:130 7:29'>1Ch 7:29</a>). As each Israelite was promised some personal inheritance in the land, rather than some blanket reward which the whole nation received, so we too have a personal reward prepared. But the precise nature of that reward is as it were negotiable by us now, according to our spiritual ambition. Just as Caleb chose Hebron and secured it for himself.</p><p>The battle was fought "at Taanach by the waters of Megiddo":&nbsp;&nbsp;'Taanach' meaning 'place of fasting' is another hint at repentant Israel taking part in the final defeat of their latter day enemies. Joel describes a call to fasting during the period when the land lies totally devastated during the initial period of enemy domination (<a href='B:360 2:15'>Joe 2:15</a>).</p><p>"Megiddo" and the descriptions of Sisera gathering his chariots and God drawing them into battle must link with the nations being gathered to Armageddon, the valley of Megiddo (<a href='B:730 16:16'>Rev 16:16</a>):&nbsp;If this connection is valid, then " the kings of the earth (land - of Israel?) and of the whole world" which are&nbsp; gathered (<a href='B:730 16:14'>Rev 16:14</a>) would primarily refer to the kings of the eretz promised to Abraham,&nbsp;those within the 'land' at its maximum promised extent between the Nile and Euphrates.</p><p>They took no plunder of silver-</p><p>If the "they" is the victorious Israelites, the idea may be that unlike Achan, they devoted the spoil to Yahweh. Or LXX "they took no gift of money" might imply they refused to be bought off by the Canaanites, but rather slew them. If the "they" is the Canaanites, then Deborah may be rejoicing that the faithful Israelites refused to pay tribute to them.</p>


text:
<p>From Heaven the stars fought. From their courses they fought against Sisera-</p><p>Israel’s fighting is paralleled with the Heavens and stars [=Angels] fighting for them. The Lord of Hosts of Angels was working in tandem with the hosts of Israel. And it’s the same for the new Israel. <a href='B:650 12:22'>Heb 12:22</a> speaks of how we, the hosts of the church, are paralleled with hosts of Angels: “…to innumerable hosts, the general assembly of angels, and the church of the firstborn” (RVmg:). See on :22.</p><p>Deborah in <a href='B:70 4:14'>Jdg 4:14</a> quotes the words of <a href='B:50 9:3'>Deu 9:3</a> concerning the Angel going before Israel to drive out the nations to Barak, to inspire him with courage in fighting them. She recognized that the work the Angels did when they went out many years ago to do all the groundwork necessary for Israel to destroy all the tribes of Canaan was done for all time. It was not too late to make use of that work by making a human endeavour in faith. So with us, the smaller objectives in our lives as well as our main goal of reaching the Kingdom have all been made possible through the work of Christ and the Angels in the past. Deborah's recognition of this is shown in her song- <a href='B:70 5:20'>Jdg 5:20</a>: "They (the Angels) fought from Heaven; the stars (Biblical imagery for Angels) in their courses fought against Sisera". In passing, note that the Hebrew for 'courses' is almost identical with that for 'ladder' in the account of Jacob's vision of a ladder of Angels. Strong specifically defines it as meaning 'staircase'. See on <a href='B:20 14:24'>Exo 14:24</a>.</p>


text:
<p>The river Kishon swept them away, that ancient river, the river Kishon. My soul, march on with strength- </p><p>The "ancient river" recalls the historical associations of Kishon with the repentance of Israel at Elijah's time. It seems some of the enemy were swept away trying to ford it. LXX "my mighty soul will trample him down" presents Deborah as a glorious warrior on horseback; although we wonder if she is not being a tad lifted up in pride in speaking like this (see on :28). There was apparently a downpour of water from Heaven which led to the Kishon swelling and carrying away some of the enemy (:4).</p>


text:
<p>Then the horse hoofs stamped because of the prancing, the prancing of their strong ones- </p><p>LXX "When the hoofs of the horse were entangled", recalling the horses of the Egyptians entangled in the mud of the Red Sea. The idea is that the horses and chariots of Sisera, like those of Pharaoh, were in conflict with those of the Angel cherubim.</p><p>The chariots of Egypt and Sisera will finally be seen as a poor match for the Angel-cherubim "chariots of Israel and the horsemen thereof". "Then were the horsehoofs (of Sisera's chariots) broken by the means of the pransings, the pransings of their mighty ones", i:e. the Angel-cherubim:&nbsp;&nbsp; If there was a manifestation of the Cherubim on that occasion, this would accord well with the gentle hint that there will be a Cherubim appearance associated with the second coming (<a href='B:470 24:30'>Mat 24:30</a>), and this would also be the means of putting the latter day Arab 'chariots' out of business.</p>


text:
<p>‘Curse Meroz’, said the angel of Yahweh. ‘Curse bitterly its inhabitants, because they didn’t come to help Yahweh, to help Yahweh against the mighty’- </p><p>Deborah was a prophetess and may have been given her prophetic words directly by an Angel. In one sense God 'requires not help from man'. But in another sense, 'God is in need of man', as Avraham Heschel put it. He never forces His ways upon us, and always acts with respect to human freewill. In this sense He 'needs' our "help"; even if it is the "help" which a father asks from his young son in doing a job. Meroz may have been a village through which Sisera or his men had fled, and they feared to join in the fight. The same situation was to recur when Succoth and Penuel refused to help Gideon (<a href='B:70 8:5-9'>Jdg 8:5-9</a>). The history of Meroz and the Israelites who refused to help Deborah was a lesson not learnt by Succoth and Penuel.</p>


text:
<p>Jael shall be blessed above women, the wife of Heber the Kenite; blessed shall she be above women in the tent- </p><p>Deborah's words reflect some bitterness at the way that women were secluded "in the tent" with apparently no role in public life. But Jael had risen above that. When unexpectedly Sisera came stumbling into her tent, she paid no respect to the league her husband had made with him and his king Jabin. She deceived him and slew him. She rose above all the apparent constraints upon serving Yahweh which were upon her:&nbsp;</p>


text:
<p>He asked for water and she gave him milk. She brought him butter in a lordly dish- </p><p>She did this in sarcasm, recognizing him for who he was, and treating him as a lord- until she slew him.</p>


text:
<p>She put her hand to the tent peg and her right hand to the workmen’s hammer. With the hammer she struck Sisera. She struck through his head. Yes, she pierced and struck through his temples- </p><p>LXX "She stretched forth her left hand to the nail" would be another example of left handed people, or ambidextrous, being used by God; or at best, the victory is ascribed to the use of the left hand. Left handed people were considered strange and often relegated to the periphery of society in primitive societies; we see again how almost all the judges had something which made them despised and rejected. And yet it was exactly that group which God delighted to use to save His people (<a href='B:70 3:15'>Jdg 3:15</a>). We notice how God used left handed people to give David victory (<a href='B:130 12:2'>1Ch 12:2</a>), and to punish their hypocritical brethren (<a href='B:70 20:16'>Jdg 20:16</a>). He seems to rejoice in using those whom man despises.</p><p>We note again how Jael uses the man's hammer. She does the work a man was supposed to do. This is clearly intended to be understood as the seed of the woman smiting the seed of the serpent in the head.</p>


text:
<p>At her feet he bowed, he fell, he lay. At her feet he bowed, he fell. Where he bowed, there he fell down dead- </p><p>The idea of <a href='B:70 4:21'>Jdg 4:21</a> seems to be that he swooned, and then died. She didn't kill him outright, he rose up and then fell down dead at her feet. This makes Jael's bravery all the more commendable, especially in that her husband was in league with Jabin.</p>


text:
<p>Through the window she looked out and cried; Sisera’s mother looked through the lattice. ‘Why is his chariot so long in coming? Why do the wheels of his chariots delay?’- </p><p>Whilst Deborah was full of faith and God's word, there is a discernible element of bitterness and arrogance in her, now she has won the victory; see on :21. And we must beware of this kind of thing. From a distance, she mocks Sisera's mother and rejoices in that woman's pain and bitter disappointment.</p>


text:
<p>Her wise ladies answered her, yes she answered herself- </p><p>This again is a mocking at the supposed wisdom of the enemy. Their wise women were sure Sisera delayed because he was busy gathering the spoil. And their wisdom is derided as foolishness.</p>


text:
<p>‘Have they not found, have they not divided the spoil? A girl, two girls for every man; to Sisera a spoil of dyed garments, a spoil of dyed garments embroidered, of dyed garments embroidered on both sides, on the necks of the spoil?’- </p><p>Deborah mocks this woman and her female friends, as&nbsp; women who would glorify the way Sisera was delaying because he was busy raping pretty girls and dragging them back with him. In the latter day context, "Prey::. spoil" is Ezekiel 38 language: "To take a spoil and to take a prey::. Are you come to take a spoil::. a prey?" (<a href='B:330 38:12-13'>Eze 38:12-13</a>). Thus the motivation for the average invader is quite clear- although this will most likely be wrapped up behind some pseudo-religious reasoning provided by a latter day 'Jabin' (see on <a href='B:70 4:2'>Jdg 4:2</a>):&nbsp; Such total confidence in victory is yet to be seen in a Middle East scarred with the memories of Israel's&nbsp;victories over the last decades.</p>


text:
<p>So let all Your enemies perish, Yahweh, but let those who love Him be as the sun when it rises forth in its strength-</p><p>This takes on an ultimate fullness of meaning when this battle is read as typical of Armageddon, when all&nbsp;God's enemies will perish once and for all:&nbsp; "But let them that love him be as the sun when he goes forth in his might" is using the common figure of the dawn as being representative of Messiah's second coming (<a href='B:460 4:2'>Mal 4:2</a>;&nbsp; <a href='B:100 23:4'>2Sa 23:4</a>; <a href='B:230 19:4-5'>Psa 19:4-5</a>). Those who truly love the appearing of that sunrise will themselves be a light to this dark world of flesh; they shall personally go forth as the rays of sunlight, in whatever way, just as the light of&nbsp; knowledge of the person of Jesus will do.</p><p>Then the land had rest forty years- </p><p>The forty years rest of <a href='B:70 3:11'>Jdg 3:11</a>; <a href='B:70 5:31'>Jdg 5:31</a>; <a href='B:70 8:28'>Jdg 8:28</a> may not be a literal period. I have elsewhere noted that the forty year reigns of Saul, David and Solomon create chronological problems if read literally. The idea may be that forty years was a time of testing, as it was for Israel in the wilderness. We think of the Lord's 40 days of testing too. In this case, they were tested by peace. And they consistently failed, as God's people often do.</p>


text:
<p>The children of Israel did what was evil in the sight of Yahweh, and Yahweh delivered them into the hand of Midian for seven years- </p><p>The events of these chapters are to be read as typical of Israel's latter-day conflict with her enemies. Psalms 83 is a well-known description of the final invasion of Israel to "cut them off from being a nation", concluding with the imprecation "Make their nobles like Oreb, and like Zeeb;&nbsp; yes, all their princes as Zebah, and as Zalmunna" (<a href='B:230 83:11'>Psa 83:11</a>) - whom Gideon destroyed. Isaiah 9 is set in the context of the Assyrian invasions of the land, the last of which they were saved from by Hezekiah, the primary fulfilment of the "great light" which appeared to an Israel under Assyria's dominance:&nbsp;&nbsp; The destruction of the invaders was to be "as in the day of Midian" (<a href='B:290 9:4'>Isa 9:4</a>), i:e. it would be typified by Gideon's destruction of Midian previously:&nbsp;&nbsp; The context in <a href='B:290 8:12'>Isa 8:12</a>; <a href='B:290 8:19-22'>Isa 8:19-22</a> speaks of Israel living in fear of an Arab confederacy, having thrown off their faith in God, stubbornly refusing to seek "to the law and to the testimony", and with the land full of "trouble and darkness" so that "they shall pass through it, hardly bestead and hungry", due to the invaders destroying the crops. This language recalls the scenario portrayed in <a href='B:70 5:6-7'>Jdg 5:6-7</a>, where the Jews creep around their own land after a total collapse of infrastructure.</p><p>Isaiah 9 then speaks of how God "lightly afflicted the land of Zebulon and the land of Naphtali (in the first Assyrian invasion - <a href='B:120 15:29'>2Ki 15:29</a>) and afterward did more grievously afflict her" (<a href='B:290 9:1'>Isa 9:1</a>) in the second invasion:&nbsp;The suffering of Israel at this time is spoken of in terms of their abuse in Egypt, which is clearly typical of the last days: "You have multiplied the nation (as God did in Egypt - <a href='B:20 1:7'>Exo 1:7</a>), and not increased the joy::. You have broken the yoke of his burden, and the staff of his shoulder (the language of Israel in Egypt), the rod of his oppressor (s:w. "taskmaster" in <a href='B:20 1:11'>Exo 1:11</a>) (<a href='B:290 9:3-4'>Isa 9:3-4</a>).</p><p>This was to be "as in the day of Midian" (<a href='B:290 9:4'>Isa 9:4</a>) when Israel's saviour was Gideon. Yet <a href='B:290 9:2'>Isa 9:2</a> speaks of their saviour as "a great light" arising in the darkness, and this is quoted in <a href='B:470 4:15-16'>Mat 4:15-16</a> as referring to Jesus. Gideon therefore becomes a type of Christ's breaking of the yoke of sin, and also of His latter-day deliverance of Israel from sin's political manifestation:&nbsp;Similarly the account of David's victory over Goliath has reference to our Lord's victory over sin on the cross, and also over "the man of sin" who will oppress Israel in the last days.</p><p>"The children of Israel did evil in the sight of Yahweh" is a refrain which occurs seven times in Judges (<a href='B:70 2:11'>Jdg 2:11</a>; <a href='B:70 3:7'>Jdg 3:7</a>; <a href='B:70 3:12'>Jdg 3:12</a>; <a href='B:70 4:1'>Jdg 4:1</a>; <a href='B:70 6:1'>Jdg 6:1</a>; <a href='B:70 10:6'>Jdg 10:6</a>; <a href='B:70 13:1'>Jdg 13:1</a>), recalling how Israel both over history and in the last days were to be punished "seven times" for their sins (<a href='B:30 26:23-24'>Lev 26:23-24</a>).</p><p>It is possible that a 'time' may also refer to a year, so the fact that "the Lord delivered them into the hand of Midian seven years" (<a href='B:70 6:1'>Jdg 6:1</a>) may refer to this "seven times" punishment for sin, which was to come after their refusal to be reformed by their previous sufferings (<a href='B:30 26:23-24'>Lev 26:23-24</a>). A seven-year duration of Israel's final holocaust is hard to square with hints elsewhere that this will last for three and a half years:&nbsp;But <a href='B:340 9:25-27'>Dan 9:25-27</a> implies that after 69 weeks ('sevens') there would be a final week of punishment for Israel's sins, which would be split into two halves of three and a half years each. The first three and a half years may apply to the AD 70 period, and the latter to the last days. See on :25.</p>


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<p>The hand of Midian prevailed against Israel, and because of Midian the Israelites made themselves dens in the mountains, the caves and the strongholds- </p><p>"Yahweh delivered" Israel "into the hand of Midian" (:1) uses the same Hebrew word as in <a href='B:30 26:25'>Lev 26:25</a>, "I will punish you yet seven times:::ye shall be delivered into the hand of the enemy":&nbsp;To fulfil this, "the hand of Midian became strong (Hebrew) against Israel". Such a revival of Israel's enemies coupled with increasing military success against Israel is a process which is already beginning, and which, despite short-term fluctuations, we should expect to continue.</p><p>Identical language of hiding in caves is found in <a href='B:90 13:6'>1Sa 13:6</a> concerning Israel's pining away when under attack by the Philistines:&nbsp;&nbsp;There can be no doubt that these incidents are the focus of <a href='B:650 11:37-38'>Heb 11:37-38</a>, which describes nameless men of faith as being "slain with the sword:&nbsp;they wandered about in sheepskins::. being destitute, afflicted, tormented::. they wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth". This therefore teaches us that there were definitely some in Israel at those times who had a remarkable degree of faith, and it surely follows that the final tribulation which these previous invasions typify will likewise lead to the existence of a minority of faithful in Israel.</p><p>The Hebrew word translated "caves" occurs again in <a href='B:330 33:27'>Eze 33:27</a> in a passage speaking of the final desolation of the Land which will lead to Israel's repentance:&nbsp; "They that be in the forts and in the caves shall die of the pestilence (cp. the plagues to come upon Israel in the last days , <a href='B:30 26:25'>Lev 26:25</a>):&nbsp;For I will lay the land most desolate::. none shall pass through (cp. "the highways were unoccupied", <a href='B:70 5:6'>Jdg 5:6</a>):&nbsp;Then shall they know that I am the Lord, when I have laid the land most desolate" (<a href='B:330 33:27-29'>Eze 33:27-29</a>). All this suggests a desolation of the land physically and a state of total breakdown of infrastructure.</p><p>The Israelites who fled to the dens and caves are described as heroes of faith because of what they did (<a href='B:650 11:38'>Heb 11:38</a>). And yet their domination by the Philistines was a result of their idolatry. They were idolatrous, and yet some had faith; and it was this faith when surrounded by weakness which was perceived by God.</p>


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<p>So when Israel had sown their seed, the Midianites, the Amalekites and the people of the east came up against them- </p><p>This is exactly what one would expect from the allusion to <a href='B:30 26:26'>Lev 26:26</a>, speaking of the curses to come for breaking the covenant:&nbsp; "If::. you break my covenant I also will do this unto you (i:e. break My side of the covenant, in that) I will even appoint over you terror, consumption::. and cause sorrow of heart:&nbsp; and ye shall sow your seed in vain, for your enemies shall eat it".</p>


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<p>and they encamped against them, and destroyed the crops as far as Gaza, and left no sustenance in Israel, neither sheep nor ox nor donkey- </p><p>Note that the initial motive for the raids was to spoil the land and steal cattle. The Ezekiel 38 latter day invader has similar motivation, "To take a spoil::. to take a prey::. to take away cattle and goods" (<a href='B:330 38:13'>Eze 38:13</a>). It should be noted, however, that such connections do not necessarily indicate that the invasion prefigured in Judges 6 is to be equated with that of Ezekiel 38. The point is that all the latter-day invasions of Israel have broadly similar motives, and all consistently involve the neighbours of Israel, rather than nations like Russia.</p>


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<p>For they came with their livestock and their tents; they came up as locusts for multitude; both they and their camels were without number, and they came into the land to destroy it- </p><p>This 'scorched earth' policy of the invaders is the prototype for Joel's latter day prophecy of the locust / grasshopper invaders leaving the land physically empty before Israel are forced to their final repentance:&nbsp;We note how the destruction as if by locusts means that Israel were treated as Egypt, to where they returned in their hearts and whose gods they had taken with them. See on :7.</p>


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<p>Israel was brought very low because of Midian and the children of Israel cried to Yahweh- </p><p>"Very low" is the word used about Israel's latter day humiliation which leads to their final repentance (<a href='B:290 17:4'>Isa 17:4</a>). It's not that God willingly humiliates; it's that humility is necessary for relationship with Him, and pride leads to sin. And it is this humiliation which leads to our crying out to God. David uses the word of himself (<a href='B:230 79:8'>Psa 79:8</a>; <a href='B:230 116:6'>Psa 116:6</a>; <a href='B:230 142:6'>Psa 142:6</a>), as if he saw in Israel at this time something of himself. As we can:&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>


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<p>When the Israelites cried to Yahweh because of Midian- </p><p>Their crying to Yahweh is twice emphasized (:6,7). The phrase is used of how Israel did so in Egypt (<a href='B:90 12:8'>1Sa 12:8</a>), and of how they will in the last days (<a href='B:360 1:14'>Joe 1:14</a>). We noted the allusion to Joel in :5.</p>


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<p>Yahweh sent a prophet to them, and he said to them, Thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel, ‘I brought you up from Egypt and brought you out of slavery- </p><p>The response to their crying to Yahweh is not deliverance, but rather a prophet coming to them and attempting to convict them of their sin and failure to respond to God's wonderful deliverance of them from the Gentile world. Their repentance is therefore presented as utterly critical to their further deliverance. But there is no record of this repentance being forthcoming. Instead, a weak man who doubts his own faith is chosen and strengthened to deliver them. This was absolutely a case of salvation by grace.</p><p>The salvation from the Egyptians was at the Red Sea, long ago (<a href='B:20 14:30'>Exo 14:30</a>). The Israelites were repeatedly reminded of this (<a href='B:70 2:1'>Jdg 2:1</a>; <a href='B:70 6:8'>Jdg 6:8</a>; <a href='B:70 10:11'>Jdg 10:11</a>). But they failed to perceive that God's actions in history were in fact their personal salvation, an act of grace shown to them also. David grasped that point, and his Psalms often thank God for the exodus, as if it had happened to him personally. But the problem is that Israel like all people tended to only see what was before their face at that moment. They had no sense of God's historical salvation of them, and the guarantee that He would likewise come through for them, if they remained faithful to Him.</p><p>In the latter day context, this must have a connection with the suggestion that Elijah will be "sent" to Israel during their suffering, "before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord" (<a href='B:460 4:5'>Mal 4:5</a>):&nbsp;&nbsp; This "dreadful day" must be that of the final destruction of Israel's invaders rather than simply the return of Christ. Joel similarly speaks of how during the time when the Jewish heavens and earth are turned into "blood and fire, and pillars of smoke", the Jews will possess the Spirit gifts "before the great and the terrible day of the Lord come" (<a href='B:360 2:28-31'>Joe 2:28-31</a>):&nbsp;&nbsp; This connection between Joel and Malachi would hint that the possession of these gifts is associated with the work of Elijah.</p>


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<p>and I delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians and out of the hand of all who oppressed you, drove them out from before you, and gave you their land- </p><p>"Oppress" is the word used of how Israel were oppressed in Egypt (<a href='B:20 3:9'>Exo 3:9</a>). But the intention, as with Israel's latter day oppression, is that it would lead them to cry out for Yahweh's salvation, 'Jesus': "For they will cry to Yahweh because of oppressors, and He will send them a saviour and a defender, and He will deliver them" (<a href='B:290 19:20'>Isa 19:20</a> s:w:). All the judges were therefore types of the ultimate deliverance of Israel by the Lord Jesus in the last days.</p>


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<p>I said to you, I am Yahweh your God; you shall not fear the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But you have not listened to My voice’.</p><p>And so the message ended. There is no record of this repentance being forthcoming. Instead, a weak man who doubts his own faith is chosen and strengthened to deliver them. This was absolutely a case of salvation by grace.</p><p>In the latter day context, the prophet reminding Israel of the covenant they made with God in Horeb (<a href='B:70 6:10'>Jdg 6:10</a>), is precisely the work of Elijah (<a href='B:460 4:4'>Mal 4:4</a>):&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>


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<p>The angel of Yahweh came and sat under the oak which was in Ophrah, which belonged to Joash, the Abiezrite, and his son Gideon was beating out wheat in the winepress, to hide it from the Midianites-</p><p>As noted on :10, this further initiative to save Israel without their repentance is a Divine movement of absolute grace. We have a picture here of Israel's desperation and poverty, as well as the extent of the domination by the Midianites. They had to hide even their wheat and flour from the marauding bands. We deduce that the winepress is not in use- for one of the curses for breaking the covenant was that the vintage would cease, and wine would be cut off from Israel.</p><p>Note the parallel between an Angel sitting under an oak and a prophetess sitting under an oak (<a href='B:70 4:5'>Jdg 4:5</a>; <a href='B:70 6:11'>Jdg 6:11</a>). In <a href='B:300 23:18'>Jer 23:18</a>; <a href='B:300 23:22'>Jer 23:22</a> we find prophets standing in the “council of the Lord” (RV) to receive His word; and yet this sounds very much like Angels standing in the court of Heaven to receive God’s word of command. “The God of the spirits [Angels] of the prophets sent his Angel” to the prophet John (<a href='B:730 22:6'>Rev 22:6</a> RV); implying that as God had sent His Angel-Spirits to inspire the prophets, so now He did to John. <a href='B:230 147:15'>Psa 147:15</a>; <a href='B:230 147:18'>Psa 147:18</a> speak of the sending out of God’s word to melt snow and send rain; this must surely refer to the Angels being sent out from the court of Heaven to do these things. The way the “watcher and holy one” came down from Heaven is paralleled with the word of Divine command likewise coming down from Heaven (<a href='B:340 4:23'>Dan 4:23</a>; <a href='B:340 4:31'>Dan 4:31</a>). The universe is not just ticking away on clockwork; the Angels are actively being sent out from Heaven to perform what may appear the most mundane and repetitious of things. Thus God sends out His Angels; He sends out His word; and He also sent out His prophets (Haggai- <a href='B:440 1:12'>Hag 1:12</a>; Ezekiel- <a href='B:330 3:5-6'>Eze 3:5-6</a>). God rose up and sent out His prophets (<a href='B:120 17:13'>2Ki 17:13</a>; <a href='B:300 7:25'>Jer 7:25</a> and many others). He is described as doing this because those prophets likewise identified with the word and became part of their own message.</p>


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<p>The angel of Yahweh appeared to him and said, Yahweh is with you, you mighty man of valour-</p><p>The Angel assured Gideon that "Yahweh is with you [singular]"; and yet Gideon seems to have intentionally misunderstood this by arguing back that if Yahweh is really with us, then why are they suffering so much (<a href='B:70 6:12-13'>Jdg 6:12-13</a>). He flinched at the personal call to action- just as we can, seeking instead to take refuge behind the community. Yet God Himself turns to Gideon and bids him "go in the strength of this one"- the Hebrew grammar referring to the Angel. Robert Boling comments: "The referent of "this one" is the Yahweh envoy [i:e. the Angel], presumably in his capacity as commander of Yahweh's army". And this is the same call to us- to go in the strength of the Angel which goes before us, and seek to replicate Him, Heaven's plan for us, on this earth. And God backed up this call to Gideon to follow the Angel by saying he should go out in faith, "because Ehyeh is with you" (<a href='B:70 6:16'>Jdg 6:16</a>)- a direct quotation from the Angelic manifestation to Moses in <a href='B:20 3:12'>Exo 3:12</a>. It's an interesting exercise to follow the parallels between the Angelic commander of Yahweh's armies, and Joshua as the human commander of them on earth. And one doesn't have to be a military leader in iron-age Israel to feel that same call to follow the Angel.</p>


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<p>Gideon said to him Oh, my lord, if Yahweh is with us why then has all this happened to us? Where are all His wondrous works which our fathers told us of, saying ‘Didn’t Yahweh bring us up from Egypt?’ But now Yahweh has forsaken us and delivered us into the hand of Midian- </p><p>See on :12. Gideon is focusing upon the statements that Yahweh had brought Israel out of Egypt- and ignoring the consequences of Israel's sin of returning to Gentile domination by worshipping Gentile gods. This is typical of human 'difficulties' with God. They focus upon one aspect of the equation, and refuse to factor in the consequence of human sin.</p><p>We need to realize that God deals with us as individuals. No matter how functional and holy, or dysfunctional and evil, is our church, we are still treated by the Father as His individual children. So many have struggled with this, tending to see themselves rather as inevitably part of a community, faceless cogs in a machine. And this is actually quite attractive to humanity- hence the popularity of Roman Catholicism. Reflect a while on how God told Gideon: “I will be with thee” [you singular], and yet Gideon responds: “Oh my Lord, if the Lord be with us…” (<a href='B:70 6:12-13'>Jdg 6:12-13</a>). Gideon had to be taught that God saw him as a separate, unique individual, and didn’t deal with him automatically merely as part of a community as a whole. But it was a slow process. When Gideon saw in a dream a man saying that God had delivered Midian into his [singular] hand, Gideon then tells Israel that God had delivered Midian into their hands (<a href='B:70 7:14-15'>Jdg 7:14-15</a>). He still found it so hard to believe that God treated him as so important to Him.</p>


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<p>Yahweh looked at him and said, Go in the strength of this One and save Israel from the hand of Midian. Haven’t I sent you?- </p><p>I prefer the AV / ESV: "Go in this might of yours and save Israel". There is a purposeful juxtaposition between Gideon's whining weakness, and God's statement that this is his "might" and by this strength / might, Gideon is to deliver Israel. All within us cries out that Gideon is not strong in faith; indeed he goes straight on to express his lack of faith that he could save Israel (:15). And that is exactly the point. Gideon is a parade example of those [like ourselves] who out of weakness are made strong (<a href='B:650 11:34'>Heb 11:34</a>). It continues the theme of God rejoicing to save Israel by the weak, the left handed, the women, those who consider their faith is weak.</p><p>Or "Go in the strength of this One" could be God speaking directly to Gideon whilst the Angel stood there; as if bidding him follow his Angel in the path to victory which had already been potentially enabled.</p>


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<p>He said to him, O Lord, how can I save Israel? My family is the poorest in Manasseh and I am the least in my father’s house- </p><p>"Poorest" could be as LXX and Hebrew, "my thousand is weakened", or diminished. This is evidence enough that the Hebrew term "thousand" doesn't mean literally 1,000, but a group of some kind; for the 1,000 is here diminished, and yet still remains a "thousand". This helps explain the otherwise very high numbers which we find in some places in the Hebrew Bible. The family had been brought down very low. But this was so that God might use Gideon in his weakness, and through him manifest His saving strength. The answer as to "How can I save::.", is 'through Yahweh's saving', Yahoshua, 'Jesus'. So many questions are effectively posed by God in our lives through our experiences, which have the same answer: Yah's salvation, Jesus.</p><p>Gideon argued that his "thousand" in Manasseh was diminished or reduced. But he was to learn that this was the kind of "strength" which he was to go against the Midianites with. And when he does, he finds that his strength is greatly diminished again, twice; from 32,000 to 10,000, and then from 10,000 to 300. But this theme of diminishing his strength had begun when his "thousand" was diminished.</p><p>We note the consistent theme of initial resistance to the Divine call (<a href='B:20 3:11'>Exo 3:11</a>; <a href='B:20 4:10'>Exo 4:10</a>; <a href='B:20 4:13'>Exo 4:13</a>; <a href='B:90 10:21-22'>1Sa 10:21-22</a>; <a href='B:300 1:6'>Jer 1:6</a>; <a href='B:370 7:14-15'>Amo 7:14-15</a>; <a href='B:490 5:8'>Luk 5:8</a>). We can too easily excuse our lack of devotion by saying that we are unfit and unworthy. But this is a lack of faith in His forgiveness and grace.</p>


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<p>Yahweh said to him Surely I will be with you, and you shall strike the Midianites as one man-</p><p>Gideon was bidden rise up to the example of Moses- for there were many similarities between his call by the Angel, and the Angelic calling which Moses received at the burning bush. Thus Gideon was called to follow the Angel in faith, "because Ehyeh is with you" (<a href='B:70 6:16'>Jdg 6:16</a>)- a direct quotation from the Angelic manifestation to Moses in <a href='B:20 3:12'>Exo 3:12</a>. And yet he responds: "Alas! For I have seen Yahweh's envoy face to face!" (<a href='B:70 6:22'>Jdg 6:22</a>). Gideon knew full well that Moses had seen the Angel "face to face" (<a href='B:50 34:10'>Deu 34:10</a>). Gideon's fear is therefore rooted in a sense that "No! I'm simply not Moses!". And it's the same with us. We can read of all these reasons to believe that Moses is really our pattern, and respond that "No! This ain't me::.". But there, in the record of Gideon and his success, lies our challenge to rise up to the spirit of Moses.</p><p>The huge numbers of the Midianites are spoken of "as one man". Gideon was perhaps confident to fight a single Midianite in one on one combat, for he appears to have been a physically strong warrior. And God is saying that fighting the Midianites will be no more difficult than that for Gideon.</p>


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<p>He said to Him, If now I have found grace in Your eyes, then show me a sign that it is really You Who talk with me- </p><p>Gideon perceives he is being led as Moses was (see on :16,22). And so he uses the phrase Moses used, "If now I have found grace in Your eyes". But he does so without attention to context, for Moses said that when being almost sarcastic to God in his effectively refusing the way God wished him to go in.</p>


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<p>Please don’t go away until I come to you and bring out my present and lay it before you. He said, I will wait until you come back-</p><p>Circumstances repeat within our lives, and between our lives and those of other believers. This incident was to repeat in <a href='B:70 13:15'>Jdg 13:15</a>. Such connections are why we meet together, why we share our lives with others; and one of the reasons why we read the Bible, which is God's selected choice of various biographies which He knows will speak to each of us in a unique way.</p>


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<p>Gideon went in and prepared a young goat and unleavened cakes of an ephah of meal. He put the meat in a basket and he put the broth in a pot and brought it out to him under the oak and presented it- </p><p>Oaks were typically associated with idolatry, and the altar of Baal was apparently standing on the property belonging to Gideon's father. It was as if the Angel is demanding that Gideon and his people no longer serve Baal, but Yahweh; and give to Yahweh what they had intended for Baal (see on :25).</p>


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<p>The angel of God said to him, Take the meat and the unleavened cakes and lay them on this rock and pour out the broth. He did so- </p><p>That there was a rock altar beneath an oak (:19) makes it clear enough that the family sacrificed to idols at this point. But as explained on :25, they were now to quit that and sacrifice instead to Yahweh. Tragically it was probably upon the rock upon which Gideon first sacrificed to Yahweh (<a href='B:70 6:20'>Jdg 6:20</a>) that his seventy sons were to be slain by Abimelech, with the help of men who worshipped Baal Berith (<a href='B:70 9:5'>Jdg 9:5</a>).</p>


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<p>Then the angel of Yahweh stretched out the end of the staff that was in his hand and touched the meat and the unleavened cakes, and fire went up out of the rock and consumed the meat and the unleavened cakes, and the angel of Yahweh departed out of his sight- </p><p>Gideon being told to "pour out the broth" upon his offering, making it wet so that the consumption by fire from heaven was clearly miraculous (<a href='B:70 6:20-21'>Jdg 6:20-21</a> cp. <a href='B:110 18:33-34'>1Ki 18:33-34</a>), was encouraging Gideon to see himself as the prototype Elijah-prophet. This would provide the basis for Elijah dousing his sacrifice with water before it was accepted in an identical way. Gideon still doesn't learn, for he proceeds to ask for a repeat of this miracle concerning wetness; he asks that there should only be dew upon the ground (or perhaps even upon the whole land of Israel, see Hebrew text) according to his word of faithful prayer (<a href='B:70 6:37-39'>Jdg 6:37-39</a>). Elijah saying that "there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my word" (<a href='B:110 17:1'>1Ki 17:1</a>) is surely a conscious replica of this. It is quite possible that we, too, may be given certain prompts in life by reason of particular experiences repeating those of a Biblical character.</p>


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<p>Gideon saw that he was the angel of Yahweh, and Gideon said, Alas, Lord Yahweh! I have seen the angel of Yahweh face to face!- </p><p>See on :16, where we saw how Gideon is being set up as Moses. His panic at having seen the face of an Angel is therefore due to failing to appreciate this. For Moses saw the Angel's face, and lived. And there was no reason why Gideon couldn't. We see in his panic a man struggling with the calling he was being given. And yet despite all his wriggling, he does finally accept it, and does act in faith, as Hebrews 11 makes clear.</p><p>I suggest that Gideon is transferring his real guilt into a form of false guilt, as often happens within the human mind. He realized his family, Israel and probably himself were guilty of idolatry. But he can't quite bring himself to confess that to himself, and so instead he feels guilt stricken over something which wasn't a sin, i:e. seeing the face of an Angel. For Moses and others had done so, and it was no sin.</p><p>It was no random chance that Gideon was later led to victory at Penuel (<a href='B:70 8:9'>Jdg 8:9</a>). Penuel was so named to celebrate how Jacob had sene the face of God and lived (<a href='B:10 32:30'>Gen 32:30</a>). Gideon had earlier thought he would be slain as he had been so unworthy to see the face of the Angel. As with our lives, God was leading him to perceive ever more His grace. See on :23.</p>


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<p>Yahweh said to him, Peace! Don’t be afraid. You will not die-</p><p>"Peace" in the Bible usually refers to peace with God through forgiveness. The assurance that he will not die was because he had been forgiven. I explained on :22 that he did have a conscience of sin, but he couldn't quite bring himself to confess it, and transferred that true guilt into a false guilt. But this was enough for God; that movement of conscience within Gideon was accepted as repentance, and he is assured peace with God. And he perceives this and memorializes that peace in the name of the altar he will build.</p><p>I noted on :22 that Gideon was later reminded at Penuel of how he like weak Jacob had seen the face of God and lived. And he at that time tells the men of Penuel that he will "come again in peace" (<a href='B:70 8:9'>Jdg 8:9</a>). Coming "in peace" reflected how he had learned the lesson from seeing the face of the Angel; for he had built an altar called 'Yahweh is peace', and now he was confident that indeed he was at peace with God despite all his weaknesses.</p>


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<p>Then Gideon built an altar there to Yahweh and called it Yahweh is Peace-</p><p>As explained on :23, this was a celebration of peace with God; and it implies therefore his repentance and forgiveness. What was required in order to lift the Midianite oppression was repentance; and Gideon's very weak repentance was as it were used by God to enable Him to lift it.</p><p>To this day it is still in Ophrah of the Abiezrites-</p><p>I would consider the book of Joshua to have largely been written by Joshua, under Divine inspiration, although edited [again under Divine inspiration] for the exiles. And the book of Judges likewise. For the exiles too were set to reestablish God's Kingdom in the land and to inherit it again as the Israelites first did. The phrase "to this day" occurs several times in Joshua / Judges, and appears to have different points of historical reference (<a href='B:60 4:9'>Jos 4:9</a>; <a href='B:60 5:9'>Jos 5:9</a>; <a href='B:60 6:25'>Jos 6:25</a>; <a href='B:60 7:26'>Jos 7:26</a>; <a href='B:60 8:28-29'>Jos 8:28-29</a>; <a href='B:60 9:27'>Jos 9:27</a>; <a href='B:60 10:27'>Jos 10:27</a>; <a href='B:60 13:13'>Jos 13:13</a>; <a href='B:60 14:14'>Jos 14:14</a>; <a href='B:60 15:63'>Jos 15:63</a>; <a href='B:60 16:10'>Jos 16:10</a>; <a href='B:60 22:3'>Jos 22:3</a>; <a href='B:60 23:8-9'>Jos 23:8-9</a>; <a href='B:70 1:26'>Jdg 1:26</a>; <a href='B:70 6:24'>Jdg 6:24</a>; <a href='B:70 10:4'>Jdg 10:4</a>; <a href='B:70 15:19'>Jdg 15:19</a>; <a href='B:70 18:12'>Jdg 18:12</a>). I would explain this by saying that the book was edited a number of times and the remains of those edits remain in the text. For God's word is living and made relevant by Him to every generation.</p>


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<p>The same night Yahweh said to him, Take your father’s bull, the second bull seven years old, and throw down the altar of Baal that your father has and cut down the Asherah that is by it- </p><p>The seven year old bull represented the seven years of Midianite domination of Israel (:1). "The second bull" may have been an animal which was being raised especially for sacrifice to Baal. It was only by ending this Baal worship that the seven years of domination would be ended. And the seven year old bull was therefore to be seen as a kind of atonement sacrifice for those seven years of apostacy.</p>


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<p>build an altar to Yahweh your God on the top of this stronghold in the proper way, and take the second bull and offer it as a burnt offering with the wood of the Asherah which you cut down- </p><p>"This stronghold" may refer to the heap of stones under the oak tree which they had used for worshipping idols. I suggested on :25 that the "second bull" [it could be translated just "the other bull"] was one being bred for sacrifice to Baal.</p>


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<p>Then Gideon took ten of his servants and did as Yahweh had spoken to him, and because he feared his father’s household and the men of the city, he could not do it by day, so he did it by night- </p><p>Again we see his weakness, and yet his desire to respond, however weakly. And God eagerly used that. Clearly his family were idolaters and the altar was on his father's property, so it would be surprising if Gideon was not also an idolater.</p>


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<p>When the men of the city arose early in the morning, the altar of Baal was broken down and the Asherah was cut down that was by it and the second bull had been offered on the altar that was built- </p><p>The record presents Gideon's complete (if nervous) obedience through the eyes of the observers early that morning. Gideon knew they would soon find out that he had done it. But he doesn't flee the village. He did it at night because he feared the other people would forcibly stop him from doing it.</p>


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<p>They said one to another, Who has done this? When they inquired and asked, they said, Gideon the son of Joash has done this- </p><p>We note that Gideon doesn't call them out on their idolatry. Rather he lets them come to him. He was no fearless prophet, denouncing idolatry in God's Name.</p>


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<p>Then the men of the city said to Joash, Bring out your son that he may die, because he has broken down the altar of Baal and because he has cut down the Asherah that was by it-</p><p>They were twisting the Mosaic laws of apostacy to apply them to Gideon for desecrating Baal's altar. They were psychologically able to do this because they considered that Baal worship was a form of Yahweh worship. And it was this continual mixture of flesh and spirit, of truth and error, which was and is the abiding weakness of God's people.</p>


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<p>Joash said to all who stood against him, Will you contend for Baal? Or will you save him? He who will contend for him, let him be put to death by morning. If he is a god, let him contend for himself, because someone has broken down his altar-</p><p>Joash had presumably been a committed Baal worshipper; for the altar was on his territory, and the village would have been quite small. He responds not at all as we, or probably Gideon, expected. We can be encouraged that there is a spiritual conscience within all people, and when they see someone like Gideon have the courage to stand up and be counted, they are relatively easily motivated to do the same. Thus the Gospel penetrates strongly Islamic or atheistic communities- because one person within them stands up and is counted for Christ.</p><p>Self-expression, or even self-manifestation, is one of God’s features, and so He intends it to be in us who are made after His image. God manifestation doesn’t in that sense mean the destruction or ignoring of the individual human person; rather, the very opposite, in that the real character, the new life, will be eternally developed and preserved. This is where Hinduism is so wrong, as wrong as any monolithic, apostate version of Christianity- the person disappears into the great Whole. Joash understood where ‘God manifestation’ can be taken too far; he told the Baal worshippers to let Baal plead for himself, rather than them pleading for him. This needs thinking through. He was saying that they were assuming that they had to ‘play God’ for Baal; they had to mindlessly, unthinkingly manifest the god they thought existed. Joash says that if Baal really exists, he himself will act for himself, openly. And this of course is where the One True God excels; He does act for Himself, and doesn’t rely solely upon manifesting Himself through men in order to achieve anything. Note the intentional surprise for us in <a href='B:290 43:1'>Isa 43:1</a>: "Thus says the Lord that created you::. I have redeemed you, I have called you by your name; you are Mine". We expect the creator, owner and redeemer of someone or something to name it with His name. But God dashes that expectation- He says instead that we are called by our name.</p>


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<p>Therefore on that day he named him Jerub-Baal, saying, Let Baal contend against him because he has broken down his altar-</p><p>We see here how names were given to people because of life experiences; this explains why the same person or place can have several names. Joash was struck by the power of the logic which had occurred to him; Baal ought to argue for himself if he were a real god. Baal's total dependence upon men for his actions was evidence enough that he had no real existence. And Joash was grateful to Gideon for pointing this out:&nbsp;</p>


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<p>Then all the Midianites and the Amalekites and the people of the east assembled themselves together and they crossed over and encamped in the valley of Jezreel- </p><p>People who had been yelling for Gideon's blood now go strangely silent. Joash was perhaps the elder of the village, and his logic was hard to argue back against. The eastern peoples then crossed over Jordan, all set to now wipe out the Israelites and take their land. This was indeed the punishment for breaking the covenant, and only the weak faith and shaky repentance of Gideon was going to stop it.</p>


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<p>But the Spirit of Yahweh came upon Gideon, and he blew a trumpet; and Abiezer was gathered together after him- </p><p>This language is picked up in <a href='B:290 61:1-2'>Isa 61:1-2</a>: "The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me::. to preach good tidings::. liberty to the captives:::to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of vengeance of our God":&nbsp;Primarily this refers to Isaiah preaching an inspired message of deliverance to an Israel threatened by the Assyrian invasion,&nbsp;whilst it is also quoted in the Gospels&nbsp; concerning the work of Christ:&nbsp;Both these applications have their basis in the Spirit of God coming upon the judges, showing that they typify both the work of Christ and of the Elijah prophet, of which Isaiah was an early manifestation.</p><p>Abiezer, his home village, gathered loyally around Gideon; when just recently they had demanded his death for apostacy against Baal. We see here how fickle people are; and yet more positively, how relatively easy it is for people to change. Because there is a spiritual conscience in everyone, and it often needs just one person within their family or community to step out for Christ, and they will too.</p>


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<p>He sent messengers throughout all Manasseh and they also were gathered together after him, and he sent messengers to Asher, to Zebulun and to Naphtali and they came up to meet them- </p><p>The idea may be that all Manasseh supported him, but the three other tribes came up to discuss with him, just "to meet them". Or it could be that they all responded, at least eventually (<a href='B:70 7:23'>Jdg 7:23</a>). We recall how Deborah's appeal for support from Asher and some of the leaders of these tribes had been refused. And after God gave the great victory, she taught everyone the song of Deborah in Judges 5 which lamented their lack of response. So perhaps that had worked, and now they responded. We may fail a call the first time, but then it is repeated, and we accept it. Just as Gideon had motivated the village of Abiezer, so now Abiezer motivated "all Manasseh" and perhaps they in turn motivated Asher, Zebulun and Naphtali.</p>


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<p>Gideon said to God, If You will save Israel by my hand, as You have spoken- </p><p>Gideon's fragile faith is in fact a great encouragement to us. He nervously kept on in his spiritual path, although ever wanting visible evidence of God's presence with him.</p>


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<p>I will put a fleece of wool on the threshing floor; if there is dew on the fleece only and it is dry on all the ground, then I will know that You will save Israel by my hand as You have said- </p><p>The giving or withholding of dew was a reflection of whether or not Israel were receiving the blessings or cursings of the covenant. They deserved no dew, for they had sinned. Elijah was to be inspired by Gideon's weak faith in later asking for dew and rain to be withheld (<a href='B:110 17:1'>1Ki 17:1</a>). We too are to be motivated by the faith of others, no matter how weak. The threshing floor is also a symbol of judgment. If God gave His blessings, the dew, to Gideon's fleece but not to the ground / land of Israel generally, then Gideon would know that indeed God was uniquely with him, even if the rest of Israel deserved judgment and the withholding of the covenant blessings. "Ground" is eretz, the usual word for the land of Israel. If just the soil around the fleece were in view, a different word would have been used.</p>


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<p>That is what happened, for he got up early the next day and squeezed the fleece together and wrung the dew out of the fleece, a bowl full of water- </p><p>There is a much repeated characteristic of God's servants: that they 'rose up early in the morning' and did God's work. In each of the following passages, this phrase is clearly not an idiom; rather does it have an evidently literal meaning: Abraham (<a href='B:10 19:27'>Gen 19:27</a>; <a href='B:10 21:14'>Gen 21:14</a>; <a href='B:10 22:3'>Gen 22:3</a>); Jacob (<a href='B:10 28:18'>Gen 28:18</a>); Job (1:5); Moses (<a href='B:20 8:20'>Exo 8:20</a>; <a href='B:20 9:13'>Exo 9:13</a>; <a href='B:20 24:4'>Exo 24:4</a>; <a href='B:20 34:4'>Exo 34:4</a>); Joshua (<a href='B:60 3:1'>Jos 3:1</a>; <a href='B:60 6:12'>Jos 6:12</a>; <a href='B:60 7:16'>Jos 7:16</a>; <a href='B:60 8:10'>Jos 8:10</a>); Gideon (<a href='B:70 6:38'>Jdg 6:38</a>; <a href='B:70 7:1'>Jdg 7:1</a>). This is quite an impressive list, numerically. This can be a figure for being zealous (<a href='B:230 127:2'>Psa 127:2</a>; <a href='B:240 27:14'>Pro 27:14</a>; <a href='B:260 7:12'>Son 7:12</a>; <a href='B:290 5:11'>Isa 5:11</a>; <a href='B:430 3:7'>Zep 3:7</a>). God Himself rises up early in His zeal to save and bring back His wayward people (<a href='B:300 7:13'>Jer 7:13</a>; <a href='B:300 7:25'>Jer 7:25</a>; <a href='B:300 11:7'>Jer 11:7</a>; <a href='B:300 25:3-4'>Jer 25:3-4</a>; <a href='B:300 26:5'>Jer 26:5</a>; <a href='B:300 29:19'>Jer 29:19</a>; <a href='B:300 32:33'>Jer 32:33</a>; <a href='B:300 35:14-15'>Jer 35:14-15</a>; <a href='B:300 44:4'>Jer 44:4</a>). Yet the above examples all show that men literally rose up early in their service to God; this was an expression of their zeal for God, in response to His zeal for us. I'm not suggesting that zeal for God is reflected by rising early rather than staying up late; but it wouldn't be too much to suggest that if we are men of mission, we won't waste our hours in bed. Get up when you wake up.</p>


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<p>Gideon said to God, Don’t let Your anger be kindled against me and I will speak but this once- </p><p>Gideon is inspired by the words and spiritual ambition of Abraham (<a href='B:10 18:32'>Gen 18:32</a>). Perhaps he feared it was just a coincidence, seeing that fleeces naturally attract dew.</p><p>Please let me make a trial just this once more with the fleece. Let it now be dry only on the fleece and on all the ground let there be dew-</p><p>I suggested on :37 that Gideon specifically understood the dew as covenant blessing from God, which the ground / land of Israel didn't deserve. He had asked God to show him that he, Gideon, was going to receive those blessings, even if the land didn't. But his faith still faltered. By asking for it to now be done the other way around, Gideon was effectively asking for all Israel to be blessed with dew- because of his lack of faith, and needing everything to be demonstrated to him again. Again we note that "ground" is eretz, the usual word for the land of Israel. If just the soil around the fleece were in view, a different word would have been used.</p>


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<p>God did so that night, for it was dry on the fleece only and there was dew on all the ground- </p><p>The Hebrew word for "fleece" is literally 'that which is cut down / cut off', and it can also effectively mean that which is destroyed (s:w. <a href='B:410 1:12'>Nah 1:12</a> "thus shall they be cut down"; "they are soon cut off", <a href='B:230 90:10'>Psa 90:10</a>). Israel had indeed been cut down by the Midianites. Gideon had just cut down the symbols of Baal worship (same idea, although a different word is used- <a href='B:70 6:26'>Jdg 6:26</a>; <a href='B:70 6:28'>Jdg 6:28</a>; <a href='B:70 6:30'>Jdg 6:30</a>). I suspect he simply asked for the miracle to be done again, in reverse order, because of his own weak faith and not because he saw any great symbology in the whole scene at the time. But later, he may have perceived that he had been asking God to place His blessing of dew upon that which was cut down, or retract it. And indeed God demonstrated that He could do this with ease- and do it at Gideon's word. The blessing or cursing of Israel was to depend upon Gideon and his faith. For generally Israel had not repented, and that was what was necessary for the Midianite domination to end. But Gideon's weak repentance was going to be accepted by God as it were for all Israel. This was how eager God was to save them from Midian, despite their idolatry. And it looks ahead to His eagerness to save us, through the work of the Lord Jesus and His far greater righteousness being imputed to us, who are more willing to receive it than were Israel. Arguments like this make us have every confidence that we shall indeed be saved, by His amazing grace.</p>


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<p>Then Jerubbaal, who is Gideon- </p><p>"Gideon" is the word used for the command to cut down the idols of the land (<a href='B:50 7:5'>Deu 7:5</a>; <a href='B:50 12:3'>Deu 12:3</a>). It seems Gideon was named this after he cut down the pagan grove on his family property, and his father then also called him "Jerubbaal", 'let Baal content [for himself]'. We see here how men came to be called by various names which reflected their life experiences. This is why often people have a number of different names in the Hebrew Bible.</p><p>And all the people who were with him rose up early-</p><p>There is a much repeated characteristic of God's servants: that they 'rose up early in the morning' and did God's work. In each of the following passages, this phrase is clearly not an idiom; rather does it have an evidently literal meaning: Abraham (<a href='B:10 19:27'>Gen 19:27</a>; <a href='B:10 21:14'>Gen 21:14</a>; <a href='B:10 22:3'>Gen 22:3</a>); Jacob (<a href='B:10 28:18'>Gen 28:18</a>); Job (1:5); Moses (<a href='B:20 8:20'>Exo 8:20</a>; <a href='B:20 9:13'>Exo 9:13</a>; <a href='B:20 24:4'>Exo 24:4</a>; <a href='B:20 34:4'>Exo 34:4</a>); Joshua (<a href='B:60 3:1'>Jos 3:1</a>; <a href='B:60 6:12'>Jos 6:12</a>; <a href='B:60 7:16'>Jos 7:16</a>; <a href='B:60 8:10'>Jos 8:10</a>); Gideon (<a href='B:70 6:38'>Jdg 6:38</a>; <a href='B:70 7:1'>Jdg 7:1</a>). This is quite an impressive list, numerically. This can be a figure for being zealous (<a href='B:230 127:2'>Psa 127:2</a>; <a href='B:240 27:14'>Pro 27:14</a>; <a href='B:260 7:12'>Son 7:12</a>; <a href='B:290 5:11'>Isa 5:11</a>; <a href='B:430 3:7'>Zep 3:7</a>). God Himself rises up early in His zeal to save and bring back His wayward people (<a href='B:300 7:13'>Jer 7:13</a>; <a href='B:300 7:25'>Jer 7:25</a>; <a href='B:300 11:7'>Jer 11:7</a>; <a href='B:300 25:3-4'>Jer 25:3-4</a>; <a href='B:300 26:5'>Jer 26:5</a>; <a href='B:300 29:19'>Jer 29:19</a>; <a href='B:300 32:33'>Jer 32:33</a>; <a href='B:300 35:14-15'>Jer 35:14-15</a>; <a href='B:300 44:4'>Jer 44:4</a>). Yet the above examples all show that men literally rose up early in their service to God; this was an expression of their zeal for God, in response to His zeal for us. I'm not suggesting that zeal for God is reflected by rising early rather than staying up late; but it wouldn't be too much to suggest that if we are men of mission, we won't waste our hours in bed. Get up when you wake up.</p><p>And encamped beside the spring of Harod- </p><p>"Harod" means trembling, and may have been named after the trembling of Gideon and the people (:3). Constantly he is portrayed as weak in faith and fearful, and yet not giving up and going forward in the path given to him.</p><p>And the camp of Midian was on the north side of them by the hill of Moreh, in the valley- </p><p>Moreh was the name of a Canaanite, so the continuing place name reflects how it had not been conquered by the Israelites and renamed as it should have been. We have the persistent impression of strength despite an environment of such weakness, and this we respect about Gideon.</p>


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<p>Yahweh said to Gideon, The people who are with you are too many for Me to give the Midianites into their hand, lest Israel boast against Me saying, ‘My own hand has saved me’- </p><p>In all Israel's great military victories, there was some element of God's hand (e:g. hailstones, earthquake) to stop them thinking that their own strength alone had saved them. And this is major theme in God's working with us. Gideon had earlier argued that his "thousand" in Manasseh was diminished or reduced (see on <a href='B:70 6:15'>Jdg 6:15</a>). But he was to learn that this was the kind of "strength" which he was to go against the Midianites with. And when he does, he finds that his strength is greatly diminished again, twice; from 32,000 to 10,000, and then from 10,000 to 300. But this theme of diminishing his strength had begun when his "thousand" was diminished.</p><p>This passage is alluded to in <a href='B:530 1:26-29'>1Co 1:26-29</a>, where Paul explains that for this same reason God has chosen "not many" to bring about His way of salvation, through a small remnant of weak people bringing to nothing the mighty things. This would equate Gideon's 300 with the true believers of both natural and spiritual Israel.</p>


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<p>Now therefore announce to the people, ‘Whoever is fearful and trembling, let him return and depart from Mount Gilead’. Twenty-two thousand of the people returned and ten thousand remained-</p><p>This was strictly according to the law of Moses, which required commanders to invite their fearful soldiers to leave before conflict (<a href='B:50 20:8'>Deu 20:8</a>). "Thousand" may refer to a military unit; see on <a href='B:70 6:15'>Jdg 6:15</a>. 32,000 were reduced to 10,000, and 10,000 to 300. The proportion of reduction the second time was far greater than the first time; about two thirds of the men returned, i:e. about 30% remained. But then just 3% remained. And overall, only about 1 % of the force was required by God. There would have been thousands of troops moving away from the front, rather embarrassed to tell the villages they passed through that they had moved away from the front because they were fearful. To turn their backs before their enemies was one of Israel's curses for disobedience to the covenant. So the whole thing was set up to show them that indeed they had been disobedient to the covenant, and God was gently punishing them for this.</p><p>"Mount Gilead" is hard to understand. There may have been a Mount Gilead on the western side of Jordan, but it is not mentioned anywhere else. "Gilead" and "Gilboa" differ by one letter in Hebrew. Perhaps Gideon was to undo Saul's defeat, and was encamped on Mount Gilboa. Or we could read maher, 'in haste', for mehar, "from the mount", giving the sense "let him return in haste to Gilead" i:e. go home.</p>


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<p>Yahweh said to Gideon, The people are still too many. Bring them down to the water and I will test them for you there. Those of whom I tell you, ‘This one shall go with you’ shall go, and those of whom I tell you, ‘This one shall not go with you’ shall remain- </p><p>"The water" was presumably the spring of Harod, meaning "trembling" (:2,3). Those who apparently weren't trembling were to be tested as to whether they were weak enough to be used for the great salvation God was to achieve. Only Gideon was aware, it seems, of this basis for reducing the people further. It was a very personal move from God to him, to yet further reduce his trust in human strength.</p>


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<p>So he brought down the people to the water and Yahweh said to Gideon, Each one who laps the water with his tongue, as a dog laps, set him by himself; likewise each one who bows down on his knees to drink- </p><p>"Laps" is yalok, the very sound a dog makes when drinking. Only Gideon at this point knew the basis upon which he was dividing his men. It would have taken him some time to pass by ten thousand men [although "thousand" may mean a military subdivision rather than 1,000] and pick out the 300 who lapped. At the time, he may have had no idea why this was being made so significant. Perhaps bowing on the knees recalled idol worship, and the more sensitive would not have done this. Those who lapped were acting like despised dogs. And it is by the dogs, like 'Caleb' [= 'dog'] who followed Yahweh faithfully [as a dog does a man], that God would save His people. Those who acted like dogs were the ones used, lapping like a dog laps, rather than drinking from cupped hands as men usually do:&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>


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<p>The number of those who lapped, putting their hands to their mouth, was three hundred men, but all the rest of the people got down on their knees to drink-</p><p>Gideon's faith would have been fully stretched. Although the exact number, 300, would have confirmed to him that this indeed was what God intended.</p>


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<p>Yahweh said to Gideon, By the three hundred men who lapped I will save you, and deliver the Midianites into your hand. Let all the other people go, each to his own place- </p><p>They were not to be kept as some kind of reserve force, they were to be sent home. The demand for faith was total, and we are sometimes put in similar positions, where we have only faith in God and all possibility of human help has been removed.</p>


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<p>So the three hundred men took food and their trumpets, and he sent all the rest of them to their tents; and the camp of Midian was beneath him in the valley- </p><p>We expect to read of warriors taking weapons in their hands. But instead they take food and trumpets. Again we see how God's strategy is totally different to human strategy. It would have been a fair test of their faith to continue with an apparently bizarre plan which had no human hope of success. The spiritually minded would have recalled the conquest of Jericho with trumpets. "Their trumpets" would have been those of the 300 trumpeters amongst the 10000 men. They handed over their trumpets, perhaps each platoon of around 33 men had a trumpeter amongst them. Originally, perhaps the 32,000 had 300 trumpeters amongst them. And he handed his trumpet to one of the 300.</p><p>AV: "And retained those three hundred men", using the same word as in :11 for "strengthened". Perhaps Gideon strengthened their faith in the intention of God to use them to save Israel from such overwhelming odds.</p>


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<p>The same night Yahweh said to him, Arise, go down into the camp; for I have delivered it into your hand- </p><p>The Israelite troops were mustered on a hill with a commanding view, so that they would see the vast army of their enemies. And now Gideon was told to go down to them, clinging on to his faith in those words that "I have delivered it into your hand", maybe repeating them over and over.</p>


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<p>But if you are afraid to go down, go with Purah your servant down to the camp- </p><p>God knows our frame and remembers that we are dust. He sets an ideal standard that He knows we can reach- in Gideon's case, to go down to the camp of the enemies. But He knew Gideon's weakness and so by grace delayed the plan for a day, to allow Gideon to get more support for his weak faith. Rather like He didn't send Israel on the direct route to Canaan, lest they see war and lose heart. We can therefore never complain that we are forced by overpowering circumstance into lack of faith. God knows our levels and will not test us beyond that which we can bear, but will make a way of escape (<a href='B:530 10:13'>1Co 10:13</a>). This is a wonderful promise, and it removes any excuse of 'circumstantial ethics' for our lack of response to God's challenges to faith.</p>


text:
<p>and you will hear what they say. After that your hands will be strengthened to go down into the camp. Then he went down with Purah his servant to the outskirts of the armed men who were in the camp-</p><p>See on :12. Purah, 'boast of Yah', would have been one of Gideon's servants who bravely helped him cut down the altar of Baal and the Ashtaroth on another night not so long ago. See on :10; the same phrase for strengthening hands is used of how God graciously strengthened the hands of Lot to leave Sodom (<a href='B:10 19:16'>Gen 19:16</a>), when he like Gideon had some faith but not enough to rise up to the simple command to 'go out' as commanded by God.</p><p>Gideon had strengthened the 300 men (see on :8), but clearly his own faith needed strengthening. He would have strengthened them whilst himself doubting. This is absolutely true to real human experience. The record has every psychological and spiritual credibility.</p>


text:
<p>The Midianites, the Amalekites and all the children of the east lay along in the valley like locusts for multitude, and their camels were without number, as the sand which is on the seashore for multitude-</p><p>The same description is used of Saul's Philistine enemies in <a href='B:90 13:5'>1Sa 13:5</a>. Gideon was Saul's hero-see on <a href='B:90 14:28'>1Sa 14:28</a>; <a href='B:90 14:31'>1Sa 14:31</a>. Saul tried to externally imitate Gideon when he prohibited the men to eat anything while they were pursuing the Philistines (<a href='B:90 11:11'>1Sa 11:11</a> = <a href='B:70 7:16'>Jdg 7:16</a>; <a href='B:90 13:5'>1Sa 13:5</a> = <a href='B:70 7:12'>Jdg 7:12</a>; <a href='B:90 14:24'>1Sa 14:24</a>; <a href='B:90 14:28'>1Sa 14:28</a>; <a href='B:90 14:31'>1Sa 14:31</a> = <a href='B:70 8:4-5'>Jdg 8:4-5</a>).</p><p>The enemy were "as the sand by the sea side for multitude", using the words of the Abrahamic promises (<a href='B:10 22:17-18'>Gen 22:17-18</a>):&nbsp;These people were therefore a pseudo-Israel, having the appearance of being Abraham's true seed. Hagar had been promised "I will multiply your seed exceedingly, that it shall not be numbered for multitude", after the pattern of the promises to Abraham (<a href='B:10 16:10'>Gen 16:10</a>). This is confirmed by their description as being "by ranks of five" (<a href='B:70 7:11'>Jdg 7:11</a>), using the identical Hebrew phrase as used in <a href='B:20 13:18'>Exo 13:18</a> and <a href='B:60 4:12'>Jos 4:12</a> concerning Israel's marching against their enemies:&nbsp;The aptness of this to Israel's present enemies is obvious- their local enemies claim they are the true seed of Abraham.</p>


text:
<p>When Gideon had come, there was a man telling a dream to his fellow. He said, I had a dream: a cake of barley bread tumbled into the camp of Midian and came to the tent and struck it so that it fell, and turned it upside down so that the tent lay flat- </p><p>Gideon is likened to a loaf of barley bread tumbling into Midian, overturning it - pointing forward to Jesus, the barley-bread loaf (<a href='B:500 6:35'>Joh 6:35</a> cp. :9), falling as the little stone on to the image (<a href='B:70 7:13'>Jdg 7:13</a>):&nbsp;Barley bread was despised as the most desperate kind of food a man could eat to stay alive. And this was how Gideon felt- he was God's most desperate plan. His faith was weak, his repentance for idolatry had been secret and nervous, and yet God was going to use him.</p><p>"Tumbled" is used to describe the sword of the cherubim which "turned every way" (<a href='B:10 3:24'>Gen 3:24</a>); another hint that Gideon and his men were a replication of the cherubim on earth; see on :20.</p><p>"The tent" is the usual word for 'tabernacle'. They had carried the tabernacle of their god with them into battle, and Gideon overturned it. The victory was therefore to be against their gods, and thereby demonstrating the supremacy of Yahweh. Gideon and Purah had overturned the altar of Baal in Abiezer, and as with events in our lives, this was to prepare him for the far greater overturning of the pagan tabernacle of the Midianites. The same phrase is used for the tabernacle of David which "fell", s:w. "lay flat" (<a href='B:370 9:11'>Amo 9:11</a>).</p>


text:
<p>His fellow answered, This is none other than the sword of Gideon the son of Joash, a man of Israel. God has delivered Midian into his hand with all the army-</p><p>But Gideon's men were not to use swords, only trumpets and earthenware::. and to proclaim the sword of Yahweh. Gideon now understood that Yahweh's sword was his sword, Yahweh's sword was men who didn't use swords. If the Midianites believed that they were delivered into Gideon's hand, and God believed it, then Gideon had to believe it.</p>


text:
<p>When Gideon heard the telling of the dream and its interpretation, he worshipped, and he returned into the camp of Israel. He said, Arise, for Yahweh has delivered the army of Midian into your hand!- </p><p>We need to realize that God deals with us as individuals. No matter how functional and holy, or dysfunctional and evil, is our church, we are still treated by the Father as His individual children. So many have struggled with this, tending to see themselves rather as inevitably part of a community, faceless cogs in a machine. And this is actually quite attractive to humanity- hence the popularity of Roman Catholicism. Reflect a while on how God told Gideon: “I will be with thee” [you singular], and yet Gideon responds: “Oh my Lord, if the Lord be with us…” (<a href='B:70 6:12-13'>Jdg 6:12-13</a>). Gideon had to be taught that God saw him as a separate, unique individual, and didn’t deal with him automatically merely as part of a community as a whole. But it was a slow process. When Gideon saw in a dream a man saying that God had delivered Midian into his [singular] hand, Gideon then tells Israel that God had delivered Midian into their hands (<a href='B:70 7:14-15'>Jdg 7:14-15</a>). He still found it so hard to believe that God treated him as so important to Him. Or we could argue that Gideon was not out for personal justification, but for the victory of Israel.</p><p>Just as all the animals and everything in the eretz promised to Abraham was 'delivered into the hands' of Noah (s:w. <a href='B:10 9:2'>Gen 9:2</a>), so the nations of that eretz were delivered into the hands of Israel (s:w. <a href='B:20 6:8'>Exo 6:8</a>; <a href='B:20 23:31'>Exo 23:31</a>; <a href='B:50 2:24'>Deu 2:24</a>; <a href='B:50 3:2-3'>Deu 3:2-3</a>; <a href='B:50 7:24'>Deu 7:24</a>; <a href='B:50 21:10'>Deu 21:10</a>; <a href='B:60 2:24'>Jos 2:24</a>; <a href='B:70 1:2'>Jdg 1:2</a>). Tragically, like Adam in Eden [perhaps the same eretz promised to Abraham] and Noah in the new, cleansed eretz, Israel didn't realize this potential. What was delivered into the hand of Joshua (<a href='B:60 2:24'>Jos 2:24</a>) actually wasn't delivered into their hand, because they disbelieved (<a href='B:70 2:23'>Jdg 2:23</a>); and this looks ahead to the disbelief of so many in the work of the Lord Jesus, who has indeed conquered the Kingdom for us. They considered the promise of the nations being delivered into their hand as somehow open to question, and only a possibility and not at all certain (<a href='B:70 8:7'>Jdg 8:7</a>; <a href='B:40 21:2'>Num 21:2</a> cp. <a href='B:40 21:34'>Num 21:34</a>). Some like Jephthah (s:w. <a href='B:70 11:32'>Jdg 11:32</a>; <a href='B:70 12:3'>Jdg 12:3</a>), Ehud (<a href='B:70 3:10'>Jdg 3:10</a>; <a href='B:70 3:28'>Jdg 3:28</a>), Deborah (<a href='B:70 4:14'>Jdg 4:14</a>), Gideon (<a href='B:70 7:15'>Jdg 7:15</a>) did, for a brief historical moment; but as individuals, and their victories were not followed up on. Instead they were dominated by the territory. And so instead, they were delivered into the hands of their enemies within the eretz (s:w. <a href='B:30 26:25'>Lev 26:25</a>; <a href='B:70 13:1'>Jdg 13:1</a>).</p>


text:
<p>He divided the three hundred men into three companies and he gave each of them a trumpet and an empty pitcher, with a torch inside the pitcher-</p><p>The pitchers would have been used for carrying water, for water supply was critical to the movement and sustenance of an army on the move. To have empty pitchers, they would have had to empty the water out of them. Now they had no water, they had to trust fully in Yahweh. They had to get down from the mountain, destroy the enemy, and then they would again be able to lap of the water. The earthenware pitchers represented men, made of clay, but with the torch of God's Spirit burning within them. And that potential was to be revealed by breaking the pitchers. "Empty" translates the common Hebrew word for vain or worthless. They had no strength of their own.</p>


text:
<p>He said to them, Watch me, and do as I do when I come to the outermost part of the camp- </p><p>Gideon and Purah had been to the outermost part of the camp the night before. Israel would only be delivered from the Midianites if they repented, and Gideon's repentance was being treated as symbolic of the nation. And so the people with him had to act as if 'in him'. He was their representative, as the Lord Jesus is for us.</p>


text:
<p>When I blow the trumpet, I and all who are with me, then blow your trumpets too, on every side of the camp, and shout ‘For Yahweh and for Gideon!’-</p><p>See on :17. AV "The sword of the Lord and of Gideon". He had learned the lesson from :14, that his sword was that of Yahweh. And yet they were not to use swords, but just to have torches and worthless [s:w. "empty"] pitchers in their hands. Yahweh's sword was not a visible one in the hands of His people. And that is an abiding lesson:&nbsp;</p>


text:
<p>So Gideon and the hundred men who were with him came to the outskirts of the camp in the beginning of the middle watch, when they had but newly set the watch. They blew the trumpets and broke in pieces the pitchers that were in their hands- </p><p>To break an earthenware pitcher was a symbol of death (<a href='B:250 12:6'>Ecc 12:6</a>). Through their human frailty, for the pitchers were "empty" (s:w. vain, worthless), the torch fire of God's Spirit was to be revealed.</p><p>The blowing of trumpets by the 300 points forward to the resurrection. The breaking of the clay to reveal the burning lamps within the pitchers, is clearly at the root of <a href='B:540 4:6-8'>2Co 4:6-8</a>: "God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness (cp. the sudden appearance of those lights on that night):::we have this treasure in earthen vessels (cp. <a href='B:70 7:19'>Jdg 7:19</a>), that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us (cp. <a href='B:70 7:2'>Jdg 7:2</a>):&nbsp;&nbsp;We are troubled on every side" (cp. "on every side", :18 and <a href='B:70 6:2-6'>Jdg 6:2-6</a>):&nbsp;All this would suggest that the 300 men are to be connected with the resurrected of the new Israel, whose "earthen vessels" are broken (by means of resurrection and judgment) at the end of Israel's latter day downtreading and immediately prior to the great destruction of their enemies by them:&nbsp;To break an earthenware pitcher was a symbol of death (<a href='B:250 12:6'>Ecc 12:6</a>).</p>


text:
<p>The three companies blew the trumpets and broke the pitchers and held the torches in their left hands and the trumpets in their right hands with which to blow, and they shouted, The sword of Yahweh and of Gideon!- </p><p>Literally, they strengthened the torches in their hands, the very phrase used in :8,11 of God strengthening their hands. But their strength was in gripping on to the torches, not their human weapons.</p><p>"The sword of Yahweh", instead of their swords [for they held pitchers and torches, not swords] has been interpreted as a reference to the cherubim; see on :13. The point has been made that this whole scenario of flashing fire and swords was a&nbsp;conscious imitation of the cherubim:&nbsp;From this we can infer that the cherubim will be associated with the latter-day deliverance of Israel- perhaps the enigmatic "sign of the son of man in heaven" (<a href='B:470 24:30'>Mat 24:30</a>).</p>


text:
<p>They each stood in his place around the camp and all the army ran, and they shouted and put them to flight- </p><p>The shouting was as in the conquest of Jericho- the victory cry uttered before they had won the victory. This was done in faith, acting as if they had received already that which they had asked for (<a href='B:480 11:24'>Mar 11:24</a>).</p>


text:
<p>They blew the three hundred trumpets, and Yahweh set every man’s sword against his fellow and against all the army, and the army fled as far as Beth Shittah toward Zererah, as far as the border of Abel Meholah by Tabbath-</p><p>This is a prototype for how the latter day invasion by Israel's neighbours will be overcome (also <a href='B:140 20:23'>2Ch 20:23</a>). Psalms 83 perfectly describes the Islamist unity as they attack Jerusalem in the last days (<a href='B:230 83:3-5'>Psa 83:3-5</a>; <a href='B:230 83:12'>Psa 83:12</a>), but concludes with the Psalmist praying that God would destroy them as He did Oreb and Zeeb (<a href='B:230 83:11'>Psa 83:11</a>) - who were defeated as a result of God making their troops turn on each other.</p><p>The invaders massacred each other, as in <a href='B:140 20:23'>2Ch 20:23</a>. They were a confederacy, and there were likely preexisting tensions and suspicions. This is a theme in the latter-days passages: <a href='B:450 14:13'>Zec 14:13</a>;&nbsp; <a href='B:70 7:22'>Jdg 7:22</a>;&nbsp; <a href='B:90 14:22'>1Sa 14:22</a>:&nbsp;And the same will happen in the last days. Whilst such confusion is easily possible given modern high-technology warfare, it would seem more likely that a few initial mistakes of this sort could open up old rivalries which are then fought out to the death:&nbsp;Indeed, we could sensibly look for even more rifts to occur between Israel's enemies, e:g. over oil.</p>


text:
<p>The men of Israel were gathered together out of Naphtali, Asher and all Manasseh, and they pursued Midian- </p><p>We recall how Deborah's appeal for support from Asher and some of the leaders of these tribes had been refused. And after God gave the great victory, she taught everyone the song of Deborah in Judges 5 which lamented their lack of response. So perhaps that had worked, and now they responded. We may fail a call the first time, but then it is repeated, and we accept it. We note that these men of Israel from these areas were probably those who had originally come with Gideon and then been sent back (<a href='B:70 6:35'>Jdg 6:35</a>). They would have reflected upon their own weakness of faith, and now would have been grateful to be called out to service again. God doesn't just dismiss people from His service because of their weak faith; He tries to use them again.</p>


text:
<p>Gideon sent messengers throughout all the hill country of Ephraim saying, Come down against Midian and seize the waters of the Jordan ahead of them as far as Beth Barah. So all the men of Ephraim were gathered together and took the waters of the Jordan as far as Beth Barah- </p><p>This would have been near to where Israel first entered the land under Joshua. The spiritually minded would have seen the hand of God again at work in the same locality. This was where John the Baptist was to baptize repentant Israelites (<a href='B:500 1:28'>Joh 1:28</a>). And the whole victory was because of repentance.</p>


text:
<p>They took the two princes of Midian, Oreb and Zeeb and they killed Oreb at the rock of Oreb and Zeeb they killed at the winepress of Zeeb- </p><p>Zeeb had presumably tried to hide in a winepress. But he was slain there. And we recall how it was in a winepress, disused because there was no vintage because Israel had broken the covenant, that Gideon was first called whilst threshing wheat in it.</p><p>They pursued Midian, and they brought the heads of Oreb and Zeeb to Gideon beyond the Jordan-</p><p>The Philistines in <a href='B:90 29:4'>1Sa 29:4</a> recalled how David had carried the head of Goliath to Saul (<a href='B:90 17:57'>1Sa 17:57</a>). To carry the heads of a king's enemies was a way to get the king's favour, as in <a href='B:70 7:25'>Jdg 7:25</a>; <a href='B:100 4:8'>2Sa 4:8</a>; <a href='B:100 16:9'>2Sa 16:9</a>; <a href='B:100 20:21'>2Sa 20:21</a>; <a href='B:120 10:6-8'>2Ki 10:6-8</a>. Again we see the inspired, historical record has consistency. It would have required a clever editor to insert this theme of beheading to curry a leader's favour throughout the entire Biblical record. But the histories were clearly written at different times; a later hand would not have thought of all these realistic touches to sprinkle so consistently throughout it. The internal harmony of the Bible is to me the greatest indication that it is what it claims to be, the Divinely inspired word of God, evidencing His editing throughout.</p>


text:
<p>The men of Ephraim said to him, Why have you treated us this way, that you didn’t call us when you went to fight with Midian? They rebuked him sharply-</p><p>The Ephraimites came over as offended because they weren’t invited to fight in a battle, even though they had shown no inclination; and they did this with both Gideon and Jephthah&nbsp; (<a href='B:70 8:1'>Jdg 8:1</a>; <a href='B:70 12:1'>Jdg 12:1</a>).</p>


text:
<p>He said to them, What have I now done in comparison with you? Isn’t the gleaning of the grapes of Ephraim better than the vintage of Abiezer?-</p><p>The Proverbs often comment upon historical situations in the Hebrew Bible, and "a soft answer turns away wrath" may well be based upon this incident (<a href='B:240 15:1'>Pro 15:1</a>). We recall that Gideon was initially called by God whilst he was threshing wheat in the disused family winepress in Abiezer- disused because there was no vintage, as this was a curse for disobedience to the covenant. He is ever aware of how the victory began with the few men of Abiezer gathering around him, and only then did others come to his call to arms. He assumes Ephraim has a vintage, a wine harvest, which is incomparable to that of Abiezer. He treated even those apostates as more worthy of God's blessing than himself and his home village. We have a window here onto his deep and genuine humility, which is the more commendable as it seems he was a strong warrior in his own right (see on :18,21).</p>


text:
<p>God has delivered into your hand the princes of Midian, Oreb and Zeeb! What was I able to do in comparison with you? Then their anger was abated toward him, when he had said that- </p><p>God had delivered the enemy into Gideon's personal hand (<a href='B:70 7:9'>Jdg 7:9</a>), but Gideon speaks of the enemies having been given into Israel's hand (<a href='B:70 7:15'>Jdg 7:15</a>). Gideon was not out for personal justification, but for the victory of Israel:&nbsp;And so he has the humility to placate the Ephraimites by saying that they had the honour of having Oreb and Zeeb in their hands.</p>


text:
<p>Gideon came to the Jordan and crossed over with the three hundred men, exhausted yet pursuing- </p><p>LXX "faint and hungry", hence their request for bread in :5. Saul tried to imitate this when he prohibited the men to eat anything while they were pursuing the Philistines (<a href='B:90 11:11'>1Sa 11:11</a> = <a href='B:70 7:16'>Jdg 7:16</a>; <a href='B:90 13:5'>1Sa 13:5</a> = <a href='B:70 7:12'>Jdg 7:12</a>; <a href='B:90 14:24'>1Sa 14:24</a>; <a href='B:90 14:28'>1Sa 14:28</a>; <a href='B:90 14:31'>1Sa 14:31</a> = <a href='B:70 8:4-5'>Jdg 8:4-5</a>). But he was totally missing the point- he was trying to make a cardboard copy of another man's faith, following only the externalities, without Gideon's faith and humility.</p><p>The pursuit of the enemy east of Jordan repeats what Abraham did with his 318 servants, roughly the same number as Gideon had with him. He found himself, as we do, walking in the steps of his spiritual father Abraham; see on :32. David too was to pursue after his enemies exhausted, and so we see how circumstances repeat between the lives of God's people. This is how the Bible becomes a living word, the history is not dead but alive, because it has been carefully selected by God to show us that man is not alone, God is with us, no circumstance we face is in essence unique; others have trodden this path before.</p>


text:
<p>He said to the men of Succoth, Please give loaves of bread to the people who follow me, for they are exhausted and I am pursuing Zebah and Zalmunna, the kings of Midian- </p><p>To turn down a request for bread from travellers was a deep insult, according to the hospitality culture of the times. And it still is, in many such areas today. Zebah and Zalmunna had fled upon camels, and so it seemed they would not be caught by Gideon and his men. And the men of Succoth clearly feared they would survive and return to punish them if they supported Gideon. They failed to learn the lesson of Deborah's song, which castigated those Israelites who had failed to respond to her call to arms.</p>


text:
<p>The princes of Succoth said, Are the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna already in your possession, that we should give bread to your army?- </p><p>Meroz was cursed bitterly by God in <a href='B:70 5:23'>Jdg 5:23</a>. It was a village through which Sisera or his men had fled, and they feared to join in the fight. The same situation was to recur when Succoth and Penuel refused to help Gideon. The history of Meroz and the Israelites who refused to help Deborah was a lesson not learnt by Succoth and Penuel.</p>


text:
<p>Gideon said Because of that, when Yahweh has delivered Zebah and Zalmunna into my hand, I will tear your flesh with the thorns of the wilderness and with briers- </p><p>Gideon's faith is now so strong that he can be sure that he will catch those whom he was pursuing, even though they had camels. "Tear" is AVmg. "thresh", with all its connotations of judgment. The area around Succoth is famed for its thorn bushes.</p><p>Just as all the animals and everything in the eretz promised to Abraham was 'delivered into the hands' of Noah (s:w. <a href='B:10 9:2'>Gen 9:2</a>), so the nations of that eretz were delivered into the hands of Israel (s:w. <a href='B:20 6:8'>Exo 6:8</a>; <a href='B:20 23:31'>Exo 23:31</a>; <a href='B:50 2:24'>Deu 2:24</a>; <a href='B:50 3:2-3'>Deu 3:2-3</a>; <a href='B:50 7:24'>Deu 7:24</a>; <a href='B:50 21:10'>Deu 21:10</a>; <a href='B:60 2:24'>Jos 2:24</a>; <a href='B:70 1:2'>Jdg 1:2</a>). Tragically, like Adam in Eden [perhaps the same eretz promised to Abraham] and Noah in the new, cleansed eretz, Israel didn't realize this potential. What was delivered into the hand of Joshua (<a href='B:60 2:24'>Jos 2:24</a>) actually wasn't delivered into their hand, because they disbelieved (<a href='B:70 2:23'>Jdg 2:23</a>); and this looks ahead to the disbelief of so many in the work of the Lord Jesus, who has indeed conquered the Kingdom for us. They considered the promise of the nations being delivered into their hand as somehow open to question, and only a possibility and not at all certain (<a href='B:70 8:7'>Jdg 8:7</a>; <a href='B:40 21:2'>Num 21:2</a> cp. <a href='B:40 21:34'>Num 21:34</a>). Some like Jephthah (s:w. <a href='B:70 11:32'>Jdg 11:32</a>; <a href='B:70 12:3'>Jdg 12:3</a>), Ehud (<a href='B:70 3:10'>Jdg 3:10</a>; <a href='B:70 3:28'>Jdg 3:28</a>), Deborah (<a href='B:70 4:14'>Jdg 4:14</a>), Gideon (<a href='B:70 7:15'>Jdg 7:15</a>) did, for a brief historical moment; but as individuals, and their victories were not followed up on. Instead they were dominated by the territory. And so instead, they were delivered into the hands of their enemies within the eretz (s:w. <a href='B:30 26:25'>Lev 26:25</a>; <a href='B:70 13:1'>Jdg 13:1</a>).</p>


text:
<p>He went up from there to Penuel and spoke to them in the same way, and the men of Penuel answered him as the men of Succoth had answered- </p><p>Spiritual weakness is easily contagious. They replied just as the others had, assuming Gideon would not achieve his Divinely empowered mission.</p>


text:
<p>He said to the men of Penuel, When I come again in peace I will break down this tower- </p><p>Penuel was so named to celebrate how Jacob had seen the face of God and lived (<a href='B:10 32:30'>Gen 32:30</a>). Gideon had earlier thought he would be slain as he had been so unworthy to see the face of the Angel (<a href='B:70 6:22'>Jdg 6:22</a>). As with our lives, God was leading him to perceive ever more His grace. Coming "in peace" reflected how he had learned the lesson from seeing the face of the Angel; for he had built an altar called 'Yahweh is peace', and now he was confident that indeed he was at peace with God despite all his weaknesses; see on <a href='B:70 6:23-24'>Jdg 6:23-24</a>.</p>


text:
<p>Now Zebah and Zalmunna were in Karkor and their armies with them, about fifteen thousand men, all who were left of all the army of the people of the east; one hundred and twenty thousand fighting men having been killed- </p><p>This means that initially, 135000 were facing Gideon's 300. That works out at precisely 450 of the enemy for every one of Gideon's men. And it cannot be coincidence that Elijah describes himself as facing off as one man of God against 450 prophets of Baal on Carmel (<a href='B:110 18:22'>1Ki 18:22</a>). Despite his arrogance and spiritual weakness, Elijah learned the lesson from Gideon's courageous example. This is how the Bible becomes a living word, the history is not dead but alive, because it has been carefully selected by God to show us that man is not alone, God is with us, no circumstance we face is in essence unique; others have trodden this path before:&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>


text:
<p>Gideon went up by the way of those who lived in tents on the east of Nobah and Jogbehah and attacked the army, which was unsuspecting- </p><p>'The way of the tent-dwellers' means the Bedouin route, he took the rough short cut, because those he was pursuing had camels and he was presumably on foot. Hence he came upon them whilst they were "unsuspecting".</p>


text:
<p>Zebah and Zalmunna fled and he pursued after them, and took the two kings of Midian, Zebah and Zalmunna, and routed all the army- </p><p>"Zebah" is the word for sacrifice, and the execution of Zebah in :21 may therefore be understood as an offering of them to Yahweh. Perhaps this is what he was named after the event, seeing that personal names were often given in response to life experiences.</p>


text:
<p>Gideon the son of Joash returned from the battle from the ascent of Heres- </p><p>"Heres", the sun, probably refers to some place of idolatry. The whole record of the victories is to show the supremacy of Yahweh over the gods of the peoples, whom Israel were worshipping.</p>


text:
<p>He caught a young man of Succoth and asked of him, and he described for him the princes of Succoth and its elders, seventy-seven men- </p><p>This was presumably in the form of a list of names.</p>


text:
<p>He came to the men of Succoth and said, See Zebah and Zalmunna, concerning whom you taunted me saying, ‘Are the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna now in your possession, that we should give bread to your men who are weary?’- </p><p>Gideon preserved the kings alive in order to teach the men of Succoth. But we wonder, as always with Gideon, whether there was not an element of arrogance now creeping in to an otherwise humble man (see on :2) For surely there was no absolute need to humiliate his enemies and also go to such lengths to demonstrate the wrongness of the men of Succoth.</p>


text:
<p>He took the elders of the city and thorns of the wilderness and briers, and with them he taught the men of Succoth a lesson- </p><p>This kind of torture was perhaps not unto death. Perhaps it was all an unnecessary display of power and smacks of arrogance (see on :15). Or maybe he didn't slay them as he did the men of Penuel (:17) because he believed they could be "taught" from this. But "taught" is LXX "threshed"; see on :7.</p>


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<p>He broke down the tower of Penuel and killed the men of the city- </p><p>This is the language of Christ's return in judgment upon the people of Jerusalem, who are elsewhere likened to a tower in Zion (<a href='B:470 22:7'>Mat 22:7</a>):&nbsp;In the latter day context, those Jews who survive the tribulation but still refuse to learn the lesson of total commitment to their Messiah / judge / saviour, will be destroyed at broadly the same time as their enemies.</p><p>We note that Gideon apparently "taught" the men of Succoth (:16), but slew those of Penuel. Perhaps they took refuge in their tower and refused to meet with Gideon nor repent, hence he slew them.</p>


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<p>Then he said to Zebah and Zalmunna, What kind of men were they whom you killed at Tabor? They answered, They were like you. Each one resembled the children of a king- </p><p>This massacre is not previously recorded. But clearly there had been the deaths of Gideon's relatives at Tabor. We note that Gideon had the air of a leader to him, resembling a king. His humility noted on :2 is therefore the more commendable. But we note what is so true to human experience and observation, that those who may exude authority and confident leadership skills are often terribly insecure, clinging on to God with a childlike faith and ever seeking His reassurance. See on :30.</p>


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<p>He said, They were my brothers, the sons of my mother. As Yahweh lives, if you had saved them alive, I would not kill you- </p><p>The implication of :18 is that those slain at Tabor were Gideon's own children. See on :20. But it seems his brothers were also slain. The Divine command was to slay the Canaanites, so Gideon's statement here that he was only going to kill them because they had slain his relatives is therefore somewhat spiritually lacking. As is his materialistic demand for the spoil and making an ephod. And yet he died in faith.</p>


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<p>He said to Jether his firstborn, Get up and kill them! But the youth didn’t draw his sword for he was afraid, because he was still a youth-</p><p>Although Gideon's brothers were slain (:19), it seems from :18 that his children were also killed. This is why he asks his firstborn son, who was with him and had survived, to act as the avenger of blood and slay those who had killed his brothers. This however was somewhat of a twist of the law of blood revenge, which surely didn't apply to deaths in battle. Although the children may have been too young to fight. "Jether" means "excellency" and this was the meaning of Jacob's firstborn Reuben, who was the "excellency" of his power (<a href='B:10 49:3'>Gen 49:3</a> s:w:). In this we see Gideon being guided by Biblical precedent, despite his weaknesses.</p>


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<p>Then Zebah and Zalmunna said, Get up and do it yourself, for as the man is, so is his strength. Gideon arose and killed Zebah and Zalmunna and took the crescents that were on their camels’ necks- </p><p>The implication could be that Gideon was indeed built as a strong and mighty warrior. His deep humility (see on :2) is therefore the more commendable. The crescents which he took remain the symbols of Israel's neighbouring enemies. But they had religious significance, and Gideon would have been better to destroy them. See on :12.</p>


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<p>Then the men of Israel said to Gideon, Rule over us, both you and your son and your son’s son also, for you have saved us out of the hand of Midian- </p><p>Gideon had the deportment of a king, and had acted like one (:18). But we see here Israel's lack of faith in Yahweh as their king, and their desperate desire for the immediate, the human and the visual rather than the invisible things of God's rulership and kingship over them.</p>


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<p>Gideon said to them, I will not rule over you, neither shall my son rule over you. Yahweh shall rule over you- </p><p>Time and again, the Bible is full of warnings against doing what seems right before God, when our motives are far from Him. Take the way that Gideon was invited to be king over Israel, but he refused, citing the fact that Yahweh is Israel's King. All well and good::. but the record goes on to record how he made an idolatrous ephod in his home town, to which all Israel came (<a href='B:70 8:22-24'>Jdg 8:22-24</a>). And he had a son, Abimelech- which means 'my father is king'!. And indeed Abimelech did try to become King of all Israel (<a href='B:70 9:2'>Jdg 9:2</a>). Our behaviour smacks of this time and time again. We do what is externally right, but our inward motives are impure. There's an urgent need for self-examination at depth within each of us::. and yet the busyness of our lives, our poor time management and lack of rigorous regime in spiritual life, so easily leads us not to seriously attempt this. And we end up doing things which are only externally right. See on <a href='B:70 9:18'>Jdg 9:18</a>.</p><p>And yet we could quite understandably read this as Gideon's commendable refusal to replace Yahweh as their king. He resisted the temptation to misinterpret <a href='B:50 17:14-15'>Deu 17:14-15</a> as meaning that indeed he was the man who would be desired as king by Israel.</p><p>The parable of <a href='B:70 9:8-11'>Jdg 9:8-11</a> implies that Israel repeated this request, but Gideon's sons refused, following their father's example. Only the illegitimate Abimelech accepted it.</p>


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<p>Gideon said to them, I would make a request of you, that every man would give me the earrings of his spoil. They had golden earrings because they were Ishmaelites- </p><p>Midianites were Ishmaelites (<a href='B:10 37:25'>Gen 37:25</a>; <a href='B:10 37:28'>Gen 37:28</a>; <a href='B:10 37:36'>Gen 37:36</a>). It seems that having overcome the temptation to be king (:23), Gideon succumbed to another temptation- to become wealthy, to effectively act as king by demanding wealth from his followers. We catch ourselves doing this; just as the alcoholic quits alcohol and takes to drugs. See on :26.</p>


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<p>They answered, We will willingly give them. They spread a garment and each man threw the earrings of his spoil into it- </p><p>When Gideon received the golden earrings of the Ishmaelites (<a href='B:70 8:24-27'>Jdg 8:24-27</a>), his mind should have flown back to how golden earrings were turned into the golden calf (<a href='B:20 32:2'>Exo 32:2</a>). He was potentially given the strength to resist the temptation to turn them into an idol. But he must have blanked out that Biblical precedent in his heart; he ignored his spiritual potential.</p>


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<p>The weight of the golden earrings that he requested was one thousand seven hundred shekels of gold, besides the crescents, the pendants and the purple clothing that was on the kings of Midian, and besides the chains that were about their camels’ necks- </p><p>Purple clothing was the clothing of kings. As noted on :24, Gideon turned down being king- but he then as it were compensated for that by taking the clothing and wealth appropriate to a king. His victory over temptation in this area was therefore only external, and not from the heart. And we can do the same.</p>


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<p>Gideon made an ephod of it and put it in his city, in Ophrah, and all Israel prostituted themselves by worshipping it there; and it became a snare to Gideon and to his house- </p><p>Twice in 1 Timothy, Paul speaks about a snare; the snare of the devil (<a href='B:610 3:7'>1Ti 3:7</a>), and the snare of wanting wealth (6:9). The desire for wealth in whatever form is the very epitome of the devil, our inherent sin which we must struggle against. The idea of a snare is that it results in a sudden and unexpected destruction. The unexpectedness of the destruction should set us thinking: surely the implication is that those who are materialistic don't realize that in fact this is their besetting sin, and therefore their rejection in the end because of it will be so tragically unexpected. It's rather like pride; if you're proud and you don't know it, then you really are proud. And if we're materialistic and don't know it, we likewise really have a problem. The idea of riches being a snare connects with copious OT references to idols as Israel's perpetual snare (<a href='B:20 23:33'>Exo 23:33</a>; <a href='B:50 7:16'>Deu 7:16</a>; <a href='B:70 2:3'>Jdg 2:3</a>; <a href='B:70 8:27'>Jdg 8:27</a>; <a href='B:230 106:36'>Psa 106:36</a>; <a href='B:350 5:1'>Hos 5:1</a>). Paul's point is surely that the desire of wealth is the equivalent of OT idolatry.</p><p>The ephod was likely comprised of precious stones which had also been in the earrings of the Midianites and around the necks of their camels. He had built an altar to Yahweh in his home, and it seems this was an imitation high priestly breastplate. He was effectively setting himself up as a priest:&nbsp;</p>


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<p>So Midian was subdued before the Israelites, and they exalted their heads no more-</p><p>The nations in the land being "subdued" was the outcome of Israel being obedient to the covenant (s:w. <a href='B:50 9:3'>Deu 9:3</a>). We read this word "subdued" used of how the land was at times subdued before Israel (<a href='B:70 3:30'>Jdg 3:30</a>; <a href='B:70 4:23'>Jdg 4:23</a>; <a href='B:70 8:28'>Jdg 8:28</a>; <a href='B:70 11:33'>Jdg 11:33</a>). But each time it is clear that the people generally were not obedient to the covenant. One faithful leader was, and the results of his faithfulness were counted to the people. This is what happened with the Lord's death leading to righteousness being imputed to us.</p><p>The land had rest forty years in the days of Gideon- </p><p>The forty years rest of <a href='B:70 3:11'>Jdg 3:11</a>; <a href='B:70 5:31'>Jdg 5:31</a>; <a href='B:70 8:28'>Jdg 8:28</a> may not be a literal period. I have elsewhere noted that the forty year reigns of Saul, David and Solomon create chronological problems if read literally. The idea may be that forty years was a time of testing, as it was for Israel in the wilderness. We think of the Lord's 40 days of testing too. In this case, they were tested by peace. And they consistently failed, as God's people often do.</p>


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<p>Jerubbaal the son of Joash went and lived in his own house- </p><p>He commendably didn't try to establish himself with a palace, as he had rejected the possibility of becoming king. But he turned that house into a quasi sanctuary, having built an altar to Yahweh there, and now having made a breastplate. We see how his apparent resistance of the temptation to be king was not from the heart, because he acted like a king in other ways.</p>


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<p>Gideon had seventy sons conceived from his body, for he had many wives-</p><p>I suggested on :18,20 that some of Gideon's sons had been killed at Tabor, and this is why he asked his firstborn to act as the avenger of blood in slaying their killers. It is psychologically understandable that he sought to build up his family again, but his "many wives" hardly speak of spirituality, and having 70 sons looked ahead to the ungodly behaviour of Ahab (<a href='B:120 10:1'>2Ki 10:1</a>).</p>


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<p>His concubine who was in Shechem also bore him a son and he named him Abimelech- </p><p>Abimelech means 'my father is king'. And indeed Abimelech did try to become King of all Israel (<a href='B:70 9:2'>Jdg 9:2</a>). As discussed on :23, Gideon overcame the temptation to become king, but only on an external level. In reality his behaviour was as if was a king in all but name.</p>


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<p>Gideon the son of Joash died in a good old age and was buried in the tomb of Joash his father in Ophrah of the Abiezrites- </p><p>This is the same description used for the death of Abraham (<a href='B:10 15:15'>Gen 15:15</a>; <a href='B:10 25:8'>Gen 25:8</a>) in whose faultering steps of faith Gideon had followed; see on :4. He is presented, for all his moral weakness and faultering faith, as a seed of Abraham. And he is listed amongst the faithful in Hebrews 11. We are thereby comforted in our own self doubt, as we review the weak nature of our own faith and commitment:&nbsp;</p>


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<p>As soon as Gideon was dead, the people of Israel turned again and played the prostitute after the Baals, and made Baal Berith their god- </p><p>Israel is so often set up as the bride of God (<a href='B:290 54:5'>Isa 54:5</a>; <a href='B:290 61:10'>Isa 61:10</a>; <a href='B:290 62:4-5'>Isa 62:4-5</a>; <a href='B:300 2:2'>Jer 2:2</a>; <a href='B:300 3:14'>Jer 3:14</a>; <a href='B:350 2:19-20'>Hos 2:19-20</a>). This is why any infidelity to God is spoken of as adultery (<a href='B:460 2:11'>Mal 2:11</a>; <a href='B:30 17:7'>Lev 17:7</a>; <a href='B:30 20:5-6'>Lev 20:5-6</a>; <a href='B:50 31:16'>Deu 31:16</a>; <a href='B:70 2:17'>Jdg 2:17</a>; <a href='B:70 8:27'>Jdg 8:27</a>; <a href='B:70 8:33'>Jdg 8:33</a>; <a href='B:350 9:1'>Hos 9:1</a>). The very language of Israel 'selling themselves to do iniquity' uses the image of prostitution. This is how God feels our even temporary and fleeting acts and thoughts of unfaithfulness. This is why God is jealous for us (<a href='B:20 20:15'>Exo 20:15</a>; <a href='B:20 34:14'>Exo 34:14</a>; <a href='B:50 4:24'>Deu 4:24</a>; <a href='B:50 5:9'>Deu 5:9</a>; <a href='B:50 6:15'>Deu 6:15</a>)- because His undivided love for us is so exclusive. He expects us to be totally His.</p><p>Baal Berith is literally the Baal of the covenant. Israel went wrong because they reasoned that serving Baal was a form of worshipping Yahweh and keeping covenant relationship with Him.</p>


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<p>The Israelites didn’t remember Yahweh their God Who had delivered them out of the hand of all their enemies on every side- </p><p>They never formally abrogated Yahweh nor their covenant with Him, and would never have considered themselves atheists. Just as many of us never would. But they didn't "remember" Him nor His great salvation of them by grace; this was not constantly in their minds. And so it can be with us. This is why the breaking of bread service plays an important role in helping us not to forget these things.</p>


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<p>neither did they show kindness to the house of Jerubbaal, that is, Gideon, according to all the kindness which he had showed to Israel- </p><p>Gideon loved Israel. We recall how he showed kindness to them by not becoming their king but leaving Yahweh as their king. God had delivered the enemy into Gideon's personal hand (<a href='B:70 7:9'>Jdg 7:9</a>), but Gideon speaks of the enemies having been given into Israel's hand (<a href='B:70 7:15'>Jdg 7:15</a>; <a href='B:70 8:3'>Jdg 8:3</a>). Gideon was not out for personal justification, but for the victory of Israel. But ingratitude and failure to lastingly perceive such love toward us is sadly a feature of human nature.</p>


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<p>Abimelech the son of Jerubbaal went to Shechem to his mother’s brothers, and spoke with them and with all the family of the house of his mother’s father saying- </p><p>Abimelech means 'my father is king'. And indeed Abimelech did try to become King of all Israel (<a href='B:70 9:2'>Jdg 9:2</a>). As discussed on :2, Gideon overcame the temptation to become king, but only on an external level. In reality his behaviour was as if was a king in all but name. His weakness in this matter was repeated to a stronger degree in his son. Just as our weaknesses will be repeated and magnified in our children, as David's were in Solomon's love for horses and women.</p>


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<p>Please speak to all the men of Shechem and say, ‘Is it better for you that all the sons of Jerubbaal, seventy persons, should rule over you, or that one rule over you?’ Remember also that I am your bone and your flesh- </p><p>There is no evidence that the other sons were seeking to be king. Their father Gideon had been offered the kingship for himself and his sons, and he had refused it. Abimelech was likely responding to the fear that they might stop him from his plan, and so many crimes and sins are committed on the basis of eliminating possible opposition.</p><p>Time and again, the Bible is full of warnings against doing what seems right before God, when our motives are far from Him. Take the way that Gideon was invited to be king over Israel, but he refused, citing the fact that Yahweh is Israel's King. All well and good::. but the record goes on to record how he made an idolatrous ephod in his home town, to which all Israel came (<a href='B:70 8:22-24'>Jdg 8:22-24</a>). And he had a son, Abimelech- which means 'my father is king'!. And indeed Abimelech did try to become King of all Israel (<a href='B:70 9:2'>Jdg 9:2</a>). Our behaviour smacks of this time and time again. We do what is externally right, but our inward motives are impure. There's an urgent need for self-examination at depth within each of us::. and yet the busyness of our lives, our poor time management and lack of rigorous regime in spiritual life, so easily leads us not to seriously attempt this. And we end up doing things which are only externally right.</p>


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<p>His mother’s brothers told all the men of Shechem all these words, and their hearts inclined to follow Abimelech, for they said, He is our brother- </p><p>Shechem was apparently in the hands of the Hivites, so these men may not have been true Israelites. The idea is that their hearts were inclined (by God) to follow him (the same Hebrew phrase is in <a href='B:110 11:3'>1Ki 11:3</a>; <a href='B:230 119:36'>Psa 119:36</a>; <a href='B:230 141:4'>Psa 141:4</a>). Just as God inclined the hearts of the men of Shechem to follow Abimelech (<a href='B:70 9:3'>Jdg 9:3</a>), so He put an evil spirit / attitude of mind between them and Abimelech (:23). Clearly God can work directly upon the human heart according to His will. This is the basis of the way that the evil spirit (from the Lord) and the holy spirit work upon the hearts of men.</p>


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<p>They gave him seventy pieces of silver out of the house of Baal Berith, with which Abimelech hired reckless adventurers who followed him- </p><p>Abimelech was apparently an idolater. And yet <a href='B:70 10:1'>Jdg 10:1</a> implies that he was also a judge who saved Israel. His work for Israel isn't much recorded, and therefore we sense that as with the record of Samson, we have here the down points in his life.</p>


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<p>He went to his father’s house at Ophrah and killed his brothers the sons of Jerubbaal, seventy persons, on one stone; but Jotham the youngest son of Jerubbaal escaped, for he hid himself- </p><p>Tragically it was probably upon the rock upon which Gideon first sacrificed to Yahweh (<a href='B:70 6:20'>Jdg 6:20</a>) that his seventy sons were to be slain by Abimelech, with the help of men who worshipped Baal Berith</p>


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<p>All the men of Shechem assembled themselves together, and all the house of Millo, and went and made Abimelech king by the oak of the pillar that was in Shechem- </p><p>Oaks and pillars are associated with idolatry throughout the Old Testament. "The house of Millo" is likely also a reference to an idol temple. Yet <a href='B:70 10:1'>Jdg 10:1</a> implies Abimelech was a saviour and defender of Israel. At some point he must have repented of all this and done work for God. His proclamation as king was however a rejection of Yahweh as king; the very thing his father Gideon had refused to do. Yet even such a spiritually weak man was used to save His people:&nbsp;</p>


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<p>When they told Jotham he went and stood on the top of Mount Gerizim and shouted to them, Listen to me, you men of Shechem, so that God will listen to you- </p><p>God listens to those who hear His word, there is a mutuality between God and man. We hear His word, He listens to us. This implies Jotham's words were Divinely inspired. Mount Gerizim was the scene of the reciting of the curses and blessings, and Jotham is surely reminding the people that they are breaking covenant with God and can only be cursed.</p>


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<p>The trees went out one day to anoint a king to be over them; they said to the olive tree, ‘Reign over us’- </p><p>The trees refer to the people who wanted a king, one of themselves, a tree like them, but with superior qualities. Gideon had remonstrated that God was their king, and so they should not seek a human leader, another tree like them, but accept Yahweh as king.</p>


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<p>But the olive tree said to them ‘Should I give up my oil with which they honour God and man to go and hold sway over the trees?’- </p><p>These trees refused the other trees' desire for their rulership. This perhaps refer to unrecorded times when the sons of Gideon had been approached and asked to be king; and they had each refused, in line with how their father refused to be king, and refused the invitation to his sons also (<a href='B:70 8:23'>Jdg 8:23</a>). It was the priests who were to offer oil in order to honour God (<a href='B:30 2:1-16'>Lev 2:1-16</a>), and used it to anoint men for special purposes. Thus the olive who honoured both God and man with oil might possibly refer to a priest who was asked to become king, but refused it. It was more important to honour God and people, then to "hold sway over" people. And this is the point which those who desire leadership so often forget.</p>


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<p>The trees said to the fig tree, ‘Come and reign over us’- </p><p>These continual requests to men to "reign over us" reflect the basic tendency within human nature, to want to be submissive; to desire a human leader. The fact Israel were specifically not given a king, because the invisible God was their king, was in fact right against human nature.</p>


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<p>But the fig tree said to them, ‘Should I give up my good, sweet fruit to go to hold sway over the trees?’- </p><p>A good fig tree bears good fruit. But this wouldn't be possible if the tree was "promoted" (AV) to sway around over the other trees. Leadership positions so often mean that a person cannot quite be the person they were intended to be; something of their real self is lost and compromised. And this is why we should never seek leadership over others, because God has a specific role for us; and we will only become true leaders as a result of His guiding hand, rather than our seeking it.</p>


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<p>The trees said to the vine ‘Come and reign over us’- </p><p>Olive, vine and fig tree are all trees representative of Israel. But they each refused the invitation to be king. The idea would be that the true Israel would not seek to be king over itself. For Yahweh was their true king.</p>


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<p>The vine said to them, ‘Should I give up my new wine, which cheers God and man, to go to hold sway over the trees?’- </p><p>Wine was part of the offerings to God (<a href='B:40 15:7'>Num 15:7</a>; <a href='B:40 15:10'>Num 15:10</a>) which cheered God in that He was pleased with Israel's drink offerings.</p>


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<p>Then all the trees said to the thorn bush, ‘Come and reign over us’- </p><p>This refers to Abimelech, the illegitimate son of Gideon; and we recall that thorns were part of the curse. The people were so desperate for human leadership, and so insistent that they didn't want God's invisible leadership, that they would have even a symbol of the curse to reign over them.</p>


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<p>The thorn bush said to the trees, ‘If in truth you anoint me king over you, then come and take refuge in my shade; if not, let fire come out of the thorn bush and devour the cedars of Lebanon’- </p><p>But the thorn bush offers no shade. The Kingdom of God is likened to a tree giving shade (<a href='B:480 4:32'>Mar 4:32</a>), but the thorn bush cannot do this. Abimelech's pretension at being king is therefore presented as at best unhelpful. He demanded miserable submission to himself, and if he didn't get it, he would burn up the fine cedars of Lebanon- possibly a reference to Gideon's sons whom he slew. This is where bad leadership leads- the destruction of that which is beautiful. This very figure is used in <a href='B:450 11:1'>Zec 11:1</a>, of how the house / temple of the cedars of Lebanon was to be "devoured" (<a href='B:450 11:1'>Zec 11:1</a>)- as a result of Judah's corrupt, spiritually illegitimate leadership.</p>


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<p>Now therefore, consider whether you have done what is true and right in making Abimelech king, and whether you have done justly to Jerubbaal and his house as he deserves- </p><p>This was an appeal for their repentance. Jotham however makes no mention of how they had thereby rejected Yahweh as their king. He doesn't repeat that argument of his father Gideon, and lacked Samuel's spiritual insight; for he saw that this was the worst implication of desiring any human king. Instead he argues that Gideon's family were worth more respect than to slay his sons at the whim of the worthless king whom they had chosen. Yet he calls Gideon "Jerubbaal", in allusion to how Gideon had put down the Baal worship which they indulged in (:4).</p>


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<p>(For my father fought for you and risked his life and delivered you out of the hand of Midian-</p><p>As noted on :16, Jotham lacks spiritual insight here. For Gideon himself clearly saw the deliverance as worked by Yahweh and not himself. It was Yahweh's sword which had been his sword. And instead of emphasizing his father's human bravery as the basis for the deliverance, surely he ought to have stressed Gideon's faith in Yahweh. Yet despite this, Jotham was clearly a spiritual person; although as always with God's people at this time, his spirituality was very compromised by his humanity.</p><p>"Fought for you and risked his life" is the phrase Jonathan uses about David (1 Samuel 19; 1 Samuel 5). Yet Jonathan seems to have seen Gideon as his hero [compare <a href='B:90 14:10-20'>1Sa 14:10-20</a> with <a href='B:70 7:3'>Jdg 7:3</a>; <a href='B:70 7:10-11'>Jdg 7:10-11</a>; <a href='B:70 7:14'>Jdg 7:14</a>; <a href='B:70 7:22'>Jdg 7:22</a>. Jonathan's son was called Merib-baal (<a href='B:130 9:40'>1Ch 9:40</a>), meaning 'rebellion against Baal', an epithet for 'Gideon']. Yet in <a href='B:90 19:5'>1Sa 19:5</a> he says that "David put his life in his hand", exactly as Gideon did (<a href='B:70 9:17'>Jdg 9:17</a>). In other words, Jonathan saw David as the perfect fulfilment of all he spiritually wished to be, he felt that David&nbsp; lived up to the example of his hero Gideon, whereas he did not.</p>


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<p>yet you have risen up against my father’s house this day and have slain his sons, seventy persons, on one stone, and have made Abimelech the son of his female servant king over the men of Shechem, because he is your brother)- </p><p>So many times has this been repeated in the history of God's people, to this day. Petty nepotism, the support of a close relative within the church, leads to the destruction and exclusion of other far more spiritual families. However Jotham reasons as if Gideon had in fact been king, and therefore his successor ought not to have been his illegitimate son, but one of his legitimate sons. I noted on <a href='B:70 8:23'>Jdg 8:23</a> that although Gideon turned down being king, he effectively set himself up as king in all but name. He took the wealth of Israel, clothed himself in kingly purple clothes and had a son called "My father is king", i:e. Abimelech. And Jotham appears to go along with this in how he reasons:&nbsp;</p>


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<p>If you have done what is true and right with Jerubbaal and with his house this day, then rejoice in Abimelech and let him also rejoice in you- </p><p>As discussed on :18, Jotham implies that the right thing would have been to appoint one of Gideon's legitimate sons as king in his place. For he keeps on about how they should have treated his family / house far differently than they had. Doing what was "true and right" is a quotation from <a href='B:60 24:14'>Jos 24:14</a>, where doing this involved quitting idolatry; which they evidently hadn't done (:4). So although Jotham reveals much human reasoning, his heart was very much with Yahweh rather than Baal worship.</p>


text:
<p>But if not, let fire come out from Abimelech and devour the men of Shechem and the house of Millo, and let fire come out from the men of Shechem and from the house of Millo and devour Abimelech- </p><p>The end result would be self destruction, of the kind which had characterized his father Gideon's great victory against the Midianites. Fire coming out of a thorn bush uses the very words of <a href='B:20 22:6'>Exo 22:6</a>; and the one who did that was to make restitution and bear guilt. Jotham was aware of Bible verses and yet not all of his reasoning was completely spiritual.</p>


text:
<p>Jotham ran away and fled and went to Beer and lived there, for fear of Abimelech his brother-</p><p>Beer may be Beeroth in Benjamin's highlands (<a href='B:60 9:17'>Jos 9:17</a>). Often the Bible leaves us with limited information about a person, such as Jotham, and we are to imagine how his life in exile ended, and whether, given the evidence we have, he held on in faith or not.</p>


text:
<p>Abimelech was prince over Israel for three years- </p><p>It appears to have&nbsp; been in this period that he judged Israel and saved them from their enemies (<a href='B:70 10:1'>Jdg 10:1</a>), although he had not been a very spiritual person before that. The implication really is that he must have repented to some degree.</p>


text:
<p>God sent an evil spirit between Abimelech and the men of Shechem, and the men of Shechem dealt treacherously with Abimelech-</p><p>Although God created the division between Israel and Judah as a punishment for their apostasy (cp. how He gave Egypt and the Shechemites a spirit of disunity likewise, <a href='B:290 19:1-2'>Isa 19:1-2</a>; <a href='B:290 19:14'>Isa 19:14</a>; <a href='B:70 9:23'>Jdg 9:23</a>), God never essentially recognized that division; for there was one Israel, one body. But division is indeed a sign of Divine judgment upon a community. Their hearts had been inclined (by God) to follow him (:3; the same Hebrew phrase is in <a href='B:110 11:3'>1Ki 11:3</a>; <a href='B:230 119:36'>Psa 119:36</a>; <a href='B:230 141:4'>Psa 141:4</a>). But just as God inclined the hearts of the men of Shechem to follow Abimelech (<a href='B:70 9:3'>Jdg 9:3</a>), so now He put an evil spirit / attitude of mind between them and Abimelech. Clearly God can work directly upon the human heart according to His will. This is the basis of the way that the evil spirit (from the Lord) and the holy spirit work upon the hearts of men.</p>


text:
<p>so that the violence done to the seventy sons of Jerubbaal might be avenged, and that their blood might be laid on Abimelech their brother who killed them, and on the men of Shechem who helped him to kill his brothers- </p><p>God punished this massacre by putting a divided attitude in the hearts of those responsible, so that they killed each other. Just as He had destroyed the Midianites in the time of Gideon. Turning people against themselves is a common way God has brought about destruction of those under judgment; so division is indeed a sign of Divine judgment upon a community.</p>


text:
<p>The men of Shechem set an ambush for him on the tops of the mountains, and they robbed all who came along that way. This was reported to Abimelech- </p><p>They didn't catch Abimelech himself, but robbed others. The division and falling out between Abimelech and the men of Shechem was revealed in the way they took to highway robbery, apparently against Abimelech's wish, and refused his authority. The mountain top road would have been that between Shechem and Ophrah, Gideon's town, which Abimelech would have treated now as his own, seeing he had slain all Gideon's sons and Jotham was in exile. Again we marvel at the internal corroboration of the Biblical records.</p>


text:
<p>Gaal the son of Ebed came with his brothers and went over to Shechem, and the men of Shechem put their trust in him- </p><p>Gaal, "loathing", was son of a slave. He may well have been a local Canaanite. That the men of Shechem wanted such a man as their leader says much about them.</p>


text:
<p>They went out into the field and harvested their vineyards, trod the grapes and held a festival, and went into the house of their god, ate and drank and cursed Abimelech- </p><p>We note how pagan worship was associated with eating and drinking wine, getting drunk. The church at Corinth mixed Christianity and paganism to the extent that the breaking of bread service was turned into a time of feasting and getting drunk.</p>


text:
<p>Gaal the son of Ebed said, Who is Abimelech and who is Shechem, that we should serve him? Isn’t he the son of Jerubbaal and Zebul his officer? Serve the men of Hamor the father of Shechem, but why should we serve Abimelech?- </p><p>GNB suggests: "Gaal said, "What kind of men are we in Shechem? Why are we serving Abimelech? Who is he, anyway? The son of Gideon! And Zebul takes orders from him, but why should we serve him? Be loyal to your ancestor Hamor, who founded your clan!". But I think the idea is probably not this. Rather, Gaal is saying that Gideon and Zebul were servants to Hamor, the ancient father of the town of Shechem (Genesis 34), whereas it was about time that Shechem became independent. They should no longer be under the thumb of Abimelech, through his servant Zebul whom he had appointed over the city (:30). Or he may mean 'Let us show our loyalty to ancient Hamor who founded this city, whom Jacob's sons wickedly destroyed- and I will be your leader, and let us shake off the yoke of the sons of Jacob'. This would make sense if indeed Gaal was a Canaanite and not an Israelite, and the population of Shechem was largely Canaanite.</p>


text:
<p>If only this people were under my hand! Then I would remove Abimelech. He said to Abimelech, Increase your army and come out!- </p><p>These things may all have been said whilst drunk (:27,28). Abimelech was apparently not in Shechem at the time, having left Zebul to govern Shechem (:30,31).</p>


text:
<p>When Zebul the ruler of the city heard the words of Gaal the son of Ebed, his anger was kindled- </p><p>We wonder if Zebul was also in the idol temple, and heard these words himself there (:27,38). Abimelech and his men are not portrayed as exactly spiritual people.</p>


text:
<p>He sent messengers to Abimelech secretly saying, Look, Gaal the son of Ebed and his brothers have come to Shechem and they are inciting the city against you- </p><p>"Secretly" could be “in Tormah”, the name of a place, perhaps another name for Arumah in :41. For Abimelech was clearly not living in Shechem.</p>


text:
<p>Now therefore, go up by night, you and the people who are with you, and lie in wait in the field- </p><p>"Up by night" is the same words as found in the Divine command to his father Gideon, to "arise" by night and attack the Midianites (<a href='B:70 7:9'>Jdg 7:9</a>). But he was only imitating his father on a surface level; see on :34.</p>


text:
<p>In the morning, as soon as the sun is up, you can rise early and rush on the city, and when he and the people who are with him come out against you, then may you do to them as you see fit- </p><p>The battle strategy of Abimelech, setting an ambush (<a href='B:70 9:32'>Jdg 9:32</a>), rising early and rushing upon the city of his one time brethren (<a href='B:70 9:33'>Jdg 9:33</a>), was replicated by the Israelites in <a href='B:70 20:37'>Jdg 20:37</a>. The same Hebrew words are used. But it was a case of copying an example just because it was recorded in Divine history, following precedents which were in fact not at all good. Hollow imitation of the behaviour of others is an abiding temptation for us today.</p>


text:
<p>Abimelech and all the people who were with him got up by night and they laid wait against Shechem in four companies- </p><p>We get the impression he was trying to imitate his father Gideon, who made an attack upon the Midianites in three companies at night, having been bidden arise or 'get up' by night (s:w. <a href='B:70 7:9'>Jdg 7:9</a>). And he certainly imitates Gideon in :48. But he was totally missing the point- he was trying to make a cardboard copy of another man's faith, following only the externalities, without Gideon's faith and humility.</p>


text:
<p>Gaal the son of Ebed went out and stood in the entrance of the gate of the city, and Abimelech and the people who were with him got up from the ambush- </p><p>The men of Shechem had earlier tried to ambush Abimelech, and now he ambushes them- continuing the theme of wicked men destroying themselves.</p>


text:
<p>When Gaal saw the people he said to Zebul, Look, people are coming down from the tops of the mountains. Zebul said to him, You are seeing the shadows of the mountains as if they were men- </p><p>This may be as if to say to Gaal 'you're drunk, you're not seeing straight'. Perhaps Zebul remained in a drunken stupor for some days after the massive drinking session of :27.</p>


text:
<p>Gaal spoke again and said, Look, people are coming down by the middle of the land, and one company is coming by the way of the oak of Meonenim- </p><p>Oaks are usually associated with idolatry in the Hebrew Bible. "Meonenim" is the word for magician, sorcerer etc. These pagan place names should have been removed and renamed. Even in secular history, a new entity which comes to power renames the previous cities and streets, to eradicate the memory of the philosophy, history and culture which they have replaced. The USSR did this when they took over the republics. But Israel just didn't do this in the land- because they themselves believed in the idols of those whom Yahweh had given them victory over.</p>


text:
<p>Then Zebul said to him, Now where is your boast when you said ‘Who is Abimelech, that we should serve him?’ Isn’t this the people that you have despised? Go out now and fight with them- </p><p>This again suggests Zebul had been in the idol temple when Gaal had made his drunken boast (:27). Abimelech and his men are not portrayed as exactly spiritual people.</p>


text:
<p>Gaal went out before the men of Shechem and fought with Abimelech- </p><p>Gaal going "before the men of Shechem" suggests he got his brief moment of power and leadership which he had so craved- but just for a morning.</p>


text:
<p>Abimelech chased him and he fled from him, and many fell wounded, up to the entrance of the gate- </p><p>The same phrase is in <a href='B:130 5:22'>1Ch 5:22</a>: "For there fell many slain [wounded], because the war was of God". This was indeed "of God", but it doesn't make Abimelech thereby righteous. He was used to judge the Canaanites living in Shechem and their would be leader Gaal, and perhaps that is one of the ways in which Abimelech was a judge of Israel who saved them from their enemies (<a href='B:70 10:1'>Jdg 10:1</a>). In this sense we see a similarity with Samson, whose following of his own natural desires was used in order to save Israel from their enemies:&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>


text:
<p>Abimelech lived at Arumah, and Zebul drove out Gaal and his brothers, so that they should not dwell in Shechem- </p><p>As often in the Hebrew Bible, this is a summary of the situation, and we will now read how this came about.</p>


text:
<p>Next day the people went out into the field and told Abimelech- </p><p>The men of Shechem who had succeeded in entering the gates of the city of Shechem (:40) now came out into the field, where they were attacked by Abimelech (:44). They truly hated him, and it was surely only Abimelech's pride which was leading him to punish them like this. See on :40.</p>


text:
<p>He took the people and divided them into three companies and laid wait in the field, and when he saw the people coming out of the city, he rose up against them and struck them- </p><p>This division of his men into three companies was exactly what his father Gideon had done, in his legendary victory against the Midianites. But as noted on :34,48, he was totally missing the point- he was trying to make a cardboard copy of another man's faith, following only the externalities, without Gideon's faith and humility.</p>


text:
<p>Abimelech and the companies that were with him rushed forward and stood in the entrance of the gate of the city, and the two companies rushed on all who were in the field and struck them- </p><p>LXX gives "the company that was with him", singular. This sandwiching of the enemy against their own city gate recalls the strategy used to take Ai. But Abimelech's spirituality and imitation of the righteous, as noted on :43, was apparently of a purely surface level nature.</p>


text:
<p>Abimelech fought against the city all that day, and he took the city and killed the people who were in it, and he beat down the city and sowed it with salt-</p><p>This was an attempt to claim that he had executed Divine judgment against an apostate city (<a href='B:50 29:23'>Deu 29:23</a>), although Abimelech and Zebul were far from righteous themselves. We note how attractive it is to men to condemn others:&nbsp;</p>


text:
<p>When all the men of the tower of Shechem heard of it, they entered the stronghold of the house of Elberith- </p><p>Elberith was presumably a form of their god Baal Berith (:4). Their trust in their false god was to be their destruction. Although Abimelech was hardly spiritual, and Zebul was apparently present in the idol temple (:27), he seems to have rejoiced in the idea of punishing them for idolatry. And we see the same personality types amongst God's people today.</p>


text:
<p>It was told Abimelech that all the men of the tower of Shechem were gathered together- </p><p>These "men of the tower of Shechem" were perhaps the priests; it seems the tower was part of the pagan temple of Elberith (:46).</p>


text:
<p>Abimelech went up to Mount Zalmon, he and all the people who were with him, and Abimelech took an axe in his hand and cut down a branch from the trees, took it up and laid it on his shoulder, and he said to the people who were with him, What you have seen me do, hurry and do the same!- </p><p>Abimelech here quotes the words of his father Gideon in <a href='B:70 7:17'>Jdg 7:17</a>; and the carrying of tree branches and then rushing down from a height upon the enemy recalls Gideon with his three companies of men holding pitchers. See on :34.</p>


text:
<p>All the people likewise each cut down his branch and followed Abimelech, and they put them at the base of the stronghold and set the stronghold on fire on them, so that all the people of the tower of Shechem died, about one thousand men and women- </p><p>"The people of the tower", as suggested on :47, were apparently those committed to idolatry. "The stronghold" of idolatry is equated with the tower (:46). This was the house of Millo which was to be destroyed by Abimelech's fire (:20). Their destruction by fire would have been designed by Abimelech as some kind of destruction of the apostate as required by the law of Moses, as if he were Joshua conquering Canaan and burning the cities of the Canaanites. But Abimelech's spirituality comes over as so compromised that it was merely a surface level imitation of the true.</p>


text:
<p>Then Abimelech went to Thebez and encamped against Thebez and took it- </p><p>Abimelech had an apparent run of success, and it led him to think he was invincible. This is seen so often amongst men; from sports stars to evangelists to businessmen. The Biblical histories are all so absolutely psychologically credible, unlike the uninspired histories of the time.</p>


text:
<p>But there was a strong tower within the city, and all the men and women of the city fled to it and shut themselves in, and went up to the roof of the tower- </p><p>Abimelech assumed that as he had destroyed the tower in Shechem so he could that in Thebez. See on :50. Maybe Thebez had also been subject to Abimelech but had likewise rebelled against his authority.</p>


text:
<p>Abimelech came to the tower and fought against it and drew near to the door of the tower to burn it with fire-</p><p>I suggested on :49 that destruction by fire would have been designed by Abimelech as some kind of destruction of the apostate as required by the law of Moses, as if he were Joshua conquering Canaan and burning the cities of the Canaanites. But Abimelech's spirituality comes over as so compromised that it was merely a surface level imitation of the true. He felt that because he was punishing apostacy with fire, he was himself invincible; and therefore he was judged harshly. And we see such things amongst the children of God today.</p>


text:
<p>A woman cast an upper millstone on Abimelech’s head and broke his skull- </p><p>This obviously was a fulfilment of the seed of the woman hitting the seed of the serpent upon the head (<a href='B:10 3:15'>Gen 3:15</a>). And yet Abimelech had been about to burn her to death for supposed apostacy. We also note that a man who ended up judged like this was also used as a judge / saviour of Israel (<a href='B:70 10:1'>Jdg 10:1</a>).</p>


text:
<p>Then he called hastily to the young man who carried his armour and said to him, Draw your sword and kill me, so that men will not say of me, ‘A woman killed him’. His young man thrust him through and he died- </p><p>Saul's armourbearer would not slay Saul because he was Yahweh's anointed king. Although Abimelech claimed to be king, and was accepted by some as king, he clearly was not recognized as king by God nor his own people.</p>


text:
<p>When the men of Israel saw that Abimelech was dead they departed each man to his place- </p><p>The tower was not burnt with fire, because it was God's intention that Abimelech should do this to Shechem- not Thebez (:20). And so Thebez was not burnt as Abimelech had intended.</p>


text:
<p>Thus God rewarded the wickedness of Abimelech which he did to his father, in killing his seventy brothers-</p><p>Sometimes the Biblical record is vague, other times exact. This reflects how God is not seeking to cover His back against critics. He is of an altogether higher nature than that. There are times when the Spirit uses very approximate numbers rather than exact ("about the space of four hundred and fifty years", <a href='B:510 13:20'>Act 13:20</a> cp. <a href='B:110 6:1'>1Ki 6:1</a>). The reference to "seventy" in <a href='B:70 9:56'>Jdg 9:56</a> also doesn't seem exact, for Jothan escaped out of the 70. Seven and a half years (<a href='B:100 2:11'>2Sa 2:11</a>) becomes "seven years" (<a href='B:110 2:11'>1Ki 2:11</a>); three months and ten days (<a href='B:140 36:9'>2Ch 36:9</a>) becomes "three months" (<a href='B:120 24:8'>2Ki 24:8</a>). And <a href='B:110 7:23'>1Ki 7:23</a> gives the circumference of the laver as “thirty cubits”, although it was ten cubits broad. Taking ‘pi’ to be 3:14, it is apparent that the circumference would have been 31:4 cubits; but the Spirit says, summing up, “thirty”.</p>


text:
<p>and all the wickedness of the men of Shechem God repaid on their heads, and on them came the curse of Jotham the son of Jerubbaal- </p><p>As noted on :55, the tower of Thebez was therefore not burnt with fire, because it was God's intention that Abimelech should do this to Shechem- not Thebez (:20). And so Thebez was not burnt as Abimelech had intended.</p>


text:
<p>After Abimelech, Tola the son of Puah, the son of Dodo, a man of Issachar arose to save Israel, and he lived in Shamir in the hill country of Ephraim- </p><p>God Himself 'arose and saved' Israel from Egypt (<a href='B:230 76:9'>Psa 76:9</a>, s:w. "raised up a saviour"), and the phrase is also used of Moses in <a href='B:20 2:17'>Exo 2:17</a>. But the people didn't want this radical deliverance from their enemies, because like the generation saved from Egypt, they were with their enemies in their hearts, and worshipped their gods as Israel had taken the idols of their Egyptian enemies with them, through the Red Sea (<a href='B:330 20:17'>Eze 20:17</a>). So the potential possible in these raised up saviours / judges was never totally realized.</p><p>This verse implies Abimelech was a saviour and defender of Israel. At some point he must have repented of all this and done work for God. His proclamation as king (<a href='B:70 9:6'>Jdg 9:6</a>) was however a rejection of Yahweh as king; the very thing his father Gideon had refused to do. Yet even such a spiritually weak man was used to save His people.</p><p>"Tola" means 'worm', continuing the theme that the judges all had something about them which made them despised of men. The left handed, the son of a whore or of a concubine, etc. And it is exactly this kind of person whom God uses.</p>


text:
<p>He judged Israel twenty-three years and died, and was buried in Shamir- </p><p>'Shamir' is the word for "brier" or "thorn", and is often used in Isaiah in a very negative place. This man called "worm", Tola, lived in a place of briers / thorns, wasteland, bearing God's curse. But from such a place arose a man used by God to save His people.</p>


text:
<p>After him arose Jair the Gileadite, and he judged Israel twenty-two years- </p><p>"Jair" means 'enlightener', or possibly 'light', which would fit with him being described as 'arising'. Like all the judges / saviours of Israel, he looked ahead to the rising of the light of Christ in Israel's darkness. There was another Jair who had liberated large tracts of land from the Canaanites during the conquest. Perhaps he was named after him. I have often noted the similarities between the lives of God's servants as recorded in the Bible; Jair judged for 22 years, and the previous judge for 23 years (:2), about the same period.</p>


text:
<p>He had thirty sons who rode on thirty donkey colts, </p><p>To ride on a colt, an animal not yet broken in, was unusual. The idea surely is that they all rode on such colts at one time, perhaps the time when they received their thirty cities. It was as if they had to break in their city, as they were breaking in the colt, representing how they had to subdue the local inhabitants. And they look forward, as do all the judges, to the Lord Jesus; who also rode on a donkey colt as He entered the city of His inheritance, Jerusalem.</p><p>And they had thirty cities, which are called Havvoth Jair to this day, which are in the land of Gilead- </p><p>I would consider the book of Joshua to have largely been written by Joshua, under Divine inspiration, although edited [again under Divine inspiration] for the exiles. And the book of Judges likewise. For the exiles too were set to reestablish God's Kingdom in the land and to inherit it again as the Israelites first did. The phrase "to this day" occurs several times in Joshua / Judges, and appears to have different points of historical reference (<a href='B:60 4:9'>Jos 4:9</a>; <a href='B:60 5:9'>Jos 5:9</a>; <a href='B:60 6:25'>Jos 6:25</a>; <a href='B:60 7:26'>Jos 7:26</a>; <a href='B:60 8:28-29'>Jos 8:28-29</a>; <a href='B:60 9:27'>Jos 9:27</a>; <a href='B:60 10:27'>Jos 10:27</a>; <a href='B:60 13:13'>Jos 13:13</a>; <a href='B:60 14:14'>Jos 14:14</a>; <a href='B:60 15:63'>Jos 15:63</a>; <a href='B:60 16:10'>Jos 16:10</a>; <a href='B:60 22:3'>Jos 22:3</a>; <a href='B:60 23:8-9'>Jos 23:8-9</a>; <a href='B:70 1:26'>Jdg 1:26</a>; <a href='B:70 6:24'>Jdg 6:24</a>; <a href='B:70 10:4'>Jdg 10:4</a>; <a href='B:70 15:19'>Jdg 15:19</a>; <a href='B:70 18:12'>Jdg 18:12</a>). I would explain this by saying that the book was edited a number of times and the remains of those edits remain in the text. For God's word is living and made relevant by Him to every generation.</p>


text:
<p>Jair died and was buried in Kamon- </p><p>Kamon can mean simply the rising, referring to elevated land. But given the belief in the resurrection of the body, we wonder if there was not also the idea of burying a man from where he would finally rise from the dead. In the same way as Joshua was buried in the border of his inheritance, to rise again and enter it.</p>


text:
<p>The people of Israel again did what was evil in the sight of Yahweh, and served the Baals and Ashtaroth, the gods of Syria, the gods of Sidon, the gods of Moab, the gods of the Ammonites and the gods of the Philistines; they forsook Yahweh and didn’t serve Him- </p><p>"The children of Israel did evil in the sight of Yahweh" is a refrain which occurs seven times in Judges (<a href='B:70 2:11'>Jdg 2:11</a>; <a href='B:70 3:7'>Jdg 3:7</a>; <a href='B:70 3:12'>Jdg 3:12</a>; <a href='B:70 4:1'>Jdg 4:1</a>; <a href='B:70 6:1'>Jdg 6:1</a>; <a href='B:70 10:6'>Jdg 10:6</a>; <a href='B:70 13:1'>Jdg 13:1</a>), recalling how Israel both over history and in the last days were to be punished "seven times" for their sins (<a href='B:30 26:23-24'>Lev 26:23-24</a>).</p>


text:
<p>The anger of Yahweh was kindled against Israel and He sold them into the hand of the Philistines and into the hand of the people of Ammon- </p><p>Yahweh sold them, but the record often says that they sold or prostituted themselves to the idols of the nations. He will confirm men in the path they wish to go.</p>


text:
<p>They troubled and oppressed the Israelites that year. For eighteen years they oppressed all the Israelites that were beyond the Jordan in the land of the Amorites, which is in Gilead- </p><p>The first sentence of this verse is omitted by LXX and many versions, hence GNB "For eighteen years they oppressed and persecuted all the Israelites who lived in Amorite country east of the Jordan River in Gilead".</p>


text:
<p>The Ammonites passed over the Jordan to fight also against Judah and Benjamin and against the house of Ephraim, so that Israel was very distressed- </p><p>This "distress" is the word used of the distress of the historical Jacob / Israel in this same area (<a href='B:10 32:7'>Gen 32:7</a>), when like Israel he was confronted with his sins and led to cast himself upon God's grace.</p>


text:
<p>The Israelites cried to Yahweh saying, We have sinned against You because we have forsaken our God and have served the Baals-</p><p>This was how Yahweh felt. They themselves didn't think they had forsaken Him. The Bible at times speaks from God's viewpoint, at others from the perspective of the people whose actions are being described. To forsake Yahweh was to break covenant with Him (<a href='B:50 31:16-17'>Deu 31:16-17</a>). Israel did forsake Yahweh (<a href='B:70 2:13'>Jdg 2:13</a>), but still He remained faithful to them, as Hosea remained faithful to Gomer despite her infidelity to their marriage covenant. Instead of forsaking them as He threatened, He instead by grace sent them saviours, judges, looking forward to His grace in sending the Lord Jesus, Yah's salvation.</p><p>The punishment for forsaking Yahweh was that "Yahweh will send on you cursing, confusion and rebuke in all that you put your hand to do, until you are destroyed and until you perish quickly, because of the evil of your doings by which you have forsaken Him. Yahweh will make the pestilence cleave to you until He has consumed you from off the land into which you now go in to possess it" (<a href='B:50 28:20-21'>Deu 28:20-21</a>). We expect these things to therefore happen at this time; but we note God's amazing patience and gentleness in not bringing these things immediately, and instead raising up judges as saviours for this wayward people.</p>


text:
<p>Yahweh said to the Israelites, Didn’t I save you from the Egyptians, and from the Amorites, from the Ammonites, and from the Philistines?- </p><p>The salvation from the Egyptians was at the Red Sea, long ago (<a href='B:20 14:30'>Exo 14:30</a>). The Israelites were repeatedly reminded of this (<a href='B:70 2:1'>Jdg 2:1</a>; <a href='B:70 6:8'>Jdg 6:8</a>; <a href='B:70 10:11'>Jdg 10:11</a>). But they failed to perceive that God's actions in history were in fact their personal salvation, an act of grace shown to them also. David grasped that point, and his Psalms often thank God for the exodus, as if it had happened to him personally. But the problem is that Israel like all people tended to only see what was before their face at that moment. They had no sense of God's historical salvation of them, and the guarantee that He would likewise come through for them, if they remained faithful to Him.</p>


text:
<p>The Sidonians also and the Amalekites and the Maonites oppressed you, and you cried to Me, and I saved you out of their hand- </p><p>"Maonites" is the word for the Midianites, alluding to the great deliverance from them worked by God through Gideon. "Oppress" is the word used of how Israel were oppressed in Egypt (<a href='B:20 3:9'>Exo 3:9</a>). But the intention, as with Israel's latter day oppression, is that it would lead them to cry out for Yahweh's salvation, 'Jesus': "For they will cry to Yahweh because of oppressors, and He will send them a saviour and a defender, and He will deliver them" (<a href='B:290 19:20'>Isa 19:20</a> s:w:). All the judges were therefore types of the ultimate deliverance of Israel by the Lord Jesus in the last days.</p>


text:
<p>Yet you have forsaken Me and served other gods; therefore I will save you no more- </p><p>God told Israel straight "I will save you no more". But they begged Him, and He did. And likewise in Hosea, He said He would give them up completely, but just couldn't bring Himself to do it. God changing His mind is a theme that runs through Hosea. This is not caprice nor instability, but rather a window into the way that the pole of God's saving grace works out stronger than that of His necessary judgment of an awful, sinful people.</p>


text:
<p>Go and cry to the gods which you have chosen. Let them save you in the time of your distress!- </p><p>They had doubtless done this already, and were turning to Yahweh only as a last resort, rather than the first and only resort.</p>


text:
<p>The Israelites said to Yahweh, We have sinned; do to us whatever seems good to You, only deliver us, please, this day- </p><p>This confession of sin before asking for deliverance was apparently from the heart, for God responded to it (:16).</p>


text:
<p>They put away the foreign gods from among them and served Yahweh; and His soul was grieved for the misery of Israel-</p><p>God's soul, His very person, was grieved (Heb. cut down, reaped- as in harvest, s:w. "his soul was vexed unto death", <a href='B:70 16:16'>Jdg 16:16</a>) for the misery / grief of Israel (<a href='B:70 10:15-16'>Jdg 10:15-16</a>). The Hebrew word translated "misery" is also translated "grief". The soul of Almighty God so far away from us grieved for their grief. Their pain elicited in Him a response, no matter that their pain was totally their fault.</p><p>In the death of Jesus we see the rejection of the Son whom God had so dearly hoped His people would reverence- but they rejected Him. As something of each of us dies in the death of those we love, so "God was in Christ", sharing in His sufferings and death. It was not of course that God died. But He fully shared in the sufferings of His Son unto death. God was so hurt by Israel's sufferings that in sympathy with them, "His nephesh ["soul"] was shortened" or expended. The phrase is used in <a href='B:40 21:4'>Num 21:4</a> and <a href='B:70 16:16'>Jdg 16:16</a> about death or the diminishment of life. God's pain was such that this was how He felt, because He so internalized the sufferings of His people. And how much more in the death of His Son? He even feels like that for the sufferings of Gentiles- in the same way as Moab would weep for their slain sons, so God says that His heart would cry out for Moab, "therefore I weep [along] with the weeping of Jazer::. my soul moans like a lyre for Moab" (<a href='B:290 15:5'>Isa 15:5</a>; <a href='B:290 16:9'>Isa 16:9</a>; <a href='B:290 16:11'>Isa 16:11</a>). God "pitied" Nineveh- a Hebrew word meaning to pity with tears (<a href='B:390 4:11'>Jon 4:11</a>). The mourning of the prophets over Tyre (<a href='B:330 27:1'>Eze 27:1</a>) and Babylon (<a href='B:290 21:3-4'>Isa 21:3-4</a>) was an embodiment of God's grief even over those not in covenant with Him. And how much more does He weep and suffer with His people Israel in their sufferings (<a href='B:300 12:12'>Jer 12:12</a>; <a href='B:300 23:10'>Jer 23:10</a>; <a href='B:350 4:2-3'>Hos 4:2-3</a>); "my heart yearns / moans for him" (<a href='B:300 31:20'>Jer 31:20</a>).</p><p>God grieved over the carcasses of those wretched men whom He slew in the wilderness for their thankless rebellions against Him their saviour (<a href='B:650 3:17'>Heb 3:17</a>). The apostle makes the point: "With whom was He grieved?". Answer: with the wicked whom He slew! A human God or a proud God would never grieve over His victory over His enemies. Even in the fickleness of Israel's repentance, knowing their future, knowing what they would subject His Son to, "His soul was grieved for the misery of Israel". He delays the second coming because He waits and hopes for repentance and spiritual growth from us. But He praises the faithful for patiently waiting for Him (<a href='B:290 30:18'>Isa 30:18</a>; <a href='B:230 37:7'>Psa 37:7</a>). Here we see the humility of God's grace, and His ability to have absolute humanity.</p>


text:
<p>Then the Ammonites were gathered together and encamped in Gilead. The Israelites assembled themselves and encamped in Mizpah- </p><p>Effectively this begins a new chapter or theme; this summarizes the situation which came about after the events of <a href='B:70 11:1-4'>Jdg 11:1-4</a>. Israel had repented:&nbsp;"The children of Israel said unto the Lord, We have sinned:&nbsp;do thou unto us whatsoever seems good unto You;&nbsp; deliver us only::. and His (God's) soul was grieved for the misery of Israel" (<a href='B:70 10:15-16'>Jdg 10:15-16</a>):&nbsp;Straight after this, "the children of Ammon were gathered together" to attack:&nbsp; The people were "sore distressed" after an extended period of devastation at the hands of these people (<a href='B:70 10:8-9'>Jdg 10:8-9</a>), as they will be in the last days before they come to repent:&nbsp;It would appear from this type that after their repentance they will be faced with a final onslaught, and then tested as to whether they will really put their faith in Jephthah - Jesus.</p><p>This 'gathering together' is spoken of in latter-day passages - <a href='B:450 14:2'>Zec 14:2</a> and <a href='B:730 16:14'>Rev 16:14</a>. The previous Arab invasions which typify those of the future, also mention this 'gathering together': Sisera's forces did this (<a href='B:70 4:13'>Jdg 4:13</a>), as did those of Ammon (<a href='B:70 10:17'>Jdg 10:17</a>; <a href='B:130 19:7'>1Ch 19:7</a>), the Amorites (<a href='B:70 11:20'>Jdg 11:20</a>), the Arab powers with Assyria in Hezekiah's time (<a href='B:400 4:11'>Mic 4:11</a>), Gog's forces (<a href='B:330 38:7'>Eze 38:7</a>), the Arab-Canaanite tribes (<a href='B:10 34:30'>Gen 34:30</a>) and especially the Philistines (<a href='B:90 13:5'>1Sa 13:5</a>; <a href='B:90 13:11'>1Sa 13:11</a>; <a href='B:90 17:1'>1Sa 17:1</a>; <a href='B:90 25:1'>1Sa 25:1</a>; <a href='B:90 28:1'>1Sa 28:1</a>; <a href='B:90 29:1'>1Sa 29:1</a>; <a href='B:100 23:11'>2Sa 23:11</a>). This is quite some emphasis. Thus while we can expect to see greater potential unity amongst Israel's enemies, developing around the Israel issue and perhaps a common allegiance to a charismatic 'Nebuchadnezzar' figure for a brief period, their complete meeting of minds will not be until the final push against Jerusalem.</p>


text:
<p>The people, the princes of Gilead, said one to another, Who will begin to fight against the Ammonites? He shall be head over all the inhabitants of Gilead- </p><p>The end result of Israel's suffering at the hand of Ammon was that they realized their desperate need for a firm leader. Both the ordinary people, and what remains of their leadership in the last days, will be unanimous in this same conclusion: "The people and princes of Gilead said one to another, What man is he that will begin to fight against the children of Ammon? he shall be head over all the inhabitants of Gilead" (<a href='B:70 10:18'>Jdg 10:18</a>):&nbsp;The fact that they then asked Jephthah to be this "head" (<a href='B:70 11:8'>Jdg 11:8</a>) would suggest that secretly they knew all along who they should follow.</p>


text:
<p>Now Jephthah the Gileadite was a mighty man of valour, and he was the son of a prostitute; and Gilead was the father of Jephthah- </p><p>He was a "man of valour" (<a href='B:70 11:1'>Jdg 11:1</a>), a word also translated "virtue", and coming from a root meaning 'to whirl around':&nbsp; This may possibly suggest a connection with the cherubim, as if through their righteousness ("virtue"), Jephthah and Jesus were a manifestation of God. We see a purposeful juxtaposition between him being a man or valour / virtue, and being the son of a prostitute. Just as "Tola" means 'worm', we see continued the theme that the judges all had something about them which made them despised of men. The left handed, the son of a whore or of a concubine, etc. And it is exactly this kind of person whom God uses:&nbsp;</p>


text:
<p>Gilead’s wife also bore him sons, and when his wife’s sons grew up they drove out Jephthah, and said to him, You shall not inherit in our father’s house because you are the son of another woman- </p><p>He was despised as "the son of a strange woman" (<a href='B:70 11:2'>Jdg 11:2</a>) as Jesus was accused of being born out of wedlock (<a href='B:500 8:41'>Joh 8:41</a>). All the judges / saviours look forward to Him.</p>


text:
<p>Then Jephthah fled from his brothers and lived in the land of Tob, and a group of adventurers gathered to Jephthah, and they went out with him- </p><p>Having been rejected by his brethren, Jephthah " dwelt in the land of Tob" (<a href='B:70 11:3'>Jdg 11:3</a>), a word which can mean 'heaven':&nbsp;Our Lord's return from heaven in response to Israel's plea for help clearly echoes this.</p>


text:
<p>After a while the Ammonites made war against Israel- </p><p>The summary of the whole situation was given in <a href='B:70 10:17'>Jdg 10:17</a>, and <a href='B:70 11:1-4'>Jdg 11:1-4</a> have explained how this came about.</p>


text:
<p>When the Ammonites made war against Israel, the elders of Gilead went to get Jephthah out of the land of Tob-</p><p>Rejected by his brethren, he had been forced to live the life of a brigand and outlaw, and his military exploits and bravery were perhaps well known to all. Should he have resorted to robbery in order to stay alive? Perhaps not, but the experience was used by God in order to prepare him to deliver His people. The elders of Gilead likely included his brothers who had rejected him. The&nbsp; whole incident looks forward to Israel's desperation leading them to repent of their rejection of the Lord Jesus; see on :7.</p>


text:
<p>and they said to Jephthah, Come and be our chief, so that we can fight the Ammonites- </p><p>We see developed further the theme that Israel, and people generally, need a visible leader. It came to a head in their rejection of Yahweh as their invisible king in Samuel's time. And we likewise see the tendency of all religions to provide a visible 'king'; for personal faith in the invisible kingship of Yahweh, recognizing ourselves thereby as part of His Kingdom or Kingly dominion, demands real faith.</p>


text:
<p>Jephthah said to the elders of Gilead, Didn’t you hate me and drive me out of my father’s house? Why have you come to me now when you are in distress?- </p><p>The Lord Jesus was 'thrust out' from His native town (<a href='B:490 4:29'>Luk 4:29</a>) as Jephthah was driven out from Gilead. It was "the elders" who were also responsible for the Lord's rejection. Jephthah's questions were rhetorical. The answer was 'Because we failed to have your faith in Yahweh and are suffering for it, so we need you, as a believer in Yahweh whom we rejected, to lead us. You have what we don't have'.</p>


text:
<p>The elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, Therefore we have turned again to you now- </p><p>This really was what they had done to God. And they saw Jephthah as manifesting God to them; they responded to his rhetorical questions of :7, as discussed there.</p><p>So that you may go with us and fight the Ammonites, and you shall be our head over all the inhabitants of Gilead- </p><p>The end result of Israel's suffering at the hand of Ammon was that they realized their desperate need for a firm leader:&nbsp;&nbsp; Both the ordinary people, and what remains of their leadership in the last days, will be unanimous in this same conclusion:&nbsp; "The people and princes of Gilead said one to another, What man is he that will begin to fight against the children of Ammon? he shall be head over all the inhabitants of Gilead" (<a href='B:70 10:18'>Jdg 10:18</a>):&nbsp;&nbsp; The fact that they then asked Jephthah to be this "head" (<a href='B:70 11:8'>Jdg 11:8</a>) would suggest that secretly they knew all along who they should follow:&nbsp;&nbsp;</p><p><a href='B:350 1:10-11'>Hos 1:10-11</a> alludes back to Israel's choosing of Jephthah as their head, implying that their choosing of Christ will be at the time of their national acceptance by God:&nbsp; "It shall be said unto them, You are the sons of the living God:&nbsp;Then shall the children of Judah and the children of Israel be gathered together (cp. "the children of Israel assembled themselves together" to choose a leader to fight Ammon, <a href='B:70 10:17'>Jdg 10:17</a>), and appoint themselves one head, and they shall come up out of the land (Exodus language - as if their suffering in their own land will match what they experienced in Egypt):&nbsp;for great shall be the day of Jezreel" - where Gideon won his great victory over the Midianites, which prefigured that of the last days (<a href='B:70 6:33'>Jdg 6:33</a>). This confirms our view that the final Ammonite attack prefigures the very last threat to Israel, which will come immediately after their repentance.</p>


text:
<p>Jephthah said to the elders of Gilead, If you bring me home again to fight the Ammonites and Yahweh delivers them to me, shall I be your head?- </p><p>Perhaps men like Jephthah (<a href='B:70 11:9'>Jdg 11:9</a>) and Samson (<a href='B:70 14:4'>Jdg 14:4</a>) were not wrong to seek to be the judges who delivered Israel from the Philistines. For we sense here that being the "head" was attractive to Jephthah. Paul seems to want to inculcate the spirit of ambition in preaching when he told Corinth that they should be ambitious to gain those Spirit gifts which would be most useful in public rather than private teaching of the word (<a href='B:530 14:1'>1Co 14:1</a>; <a href='B:530 14:12'>1Co 14:12</a>). In similar vein Paul commends those who were ambitious (from the right motives) to be bishops (<a href='B:610 3:1'>1Ti 3:1</a>).</p>


text:
<p>The elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, Yahweh shall be witness between us; certainly we will do as you say- </p><p>They swear by Yahweh, when previously they had been serving other gods; and also because they knew that Jephthah was devoted to Yahweh.</p>


text:
<p>Then Jephthah went with the elders of Gilead, and the people made him head and chief over them, and Jephthah spoke all his words before Yahweh in Mizpah- </p><p>We note that the word "king" is not used. Perhaps they had learned the lesson from Gideon's refusal of the offer to be king, and had learned too from the tragic demise of Abimelech, the man who wanted to be king.</p>


text:
<p>Jephthah sent messengers to the king of the Ammonites saying, What have you against me, that you have come to me to fight against my land?- </p><p>The land was God's, and those who fight against God's people, fight against Him. Jephthah is very aware that as a leader of God's people, he is manifesting Yahweh. This rhetorical question, as his question to his own people in :7, was intended to elicit their repentance. And this fulfilled the Mosaic command to ask enemies to surrender before fighting them.</p><p>As Jephthah briefly appealed to the surrounding enemies to see&nbsp; Biblical sense before destroying them, will the Lord Jesus Christ do likewise? He will "plead with them" in the valley of Jehoshaphat (<a href='B:360 3:2'>Joe 3:2</a>):&nbsp;A remnant of repentant Philistines will apparently repent (<a href='B:450 9:5-7'>Zec 9:5-7</a>);&nbsp;other hints that some of the latter day enemies will repent are found in <a href='B:290 19:23-25'>Isa 19:23-25</a> ("Assyria the work of my hands" implies they will be the subjects of a new spiritual creation);&nbsp; <a href='B:290 14:1-2'>Isa 14:1-2</a> (those who took Israel captive will willingly be their slaves in the Kingdom age).</p>


text:
<p>The king of the Ammonites answered the messengers of Jephthah, Because Israel took away my land when he came up out of Egypt, from the Arnon to the Jabbok and to the Jordan; now therefore restore that territory again peaceably- Ammon justified their invasion by a quasi-Biblical argument, based on their claim that "Israel took away my land, when they came up out of Egypt":&nbsp;Jephthah replied by saying that because God had dispossessed Ammon then, they should not keep raising this old land question (<a href='B:70 11:23'>Jdg 11:23</a>):&nbsp;Yet this issue of who really owns the land of Israel is as live now as it was then, and indicates once again how the final latter day invasion will use this sort of argument to justify it.</p>


text:
<p>Jephthah sent messengers back to the king of the Ammonites- </p><p>His answer is very Biblical and reflects a thorough acquaintance with the scriptures he had access to. This man who had to make a living as a highwayman and robber, the son of a whore who had been rejected by his father's sons, had turned to the scriptures because of his experiences. We cannot judge people. We simply don't know who deep down is searching for God, nor what thief or lowlife is secretly reading the Bible on their phone.</p>


text:
<p>and said to him, This is what Jephthah says: Israel didn’t take away the land of Moab, nor the land of the Ammonites- </p><p>The lengthy argument which follows will come to its conclusion in :21- it was really Yahweh and not Israel who had taken the land. To cavil at this was to effectively fight against Yahweh, and Jephthah doesn't wish even his enemies to do this:&nbsp;</p>


text:
<p>but when they came up from Egypt Israel went through the wilderness to the Red Sea and came to Kadesh- </p><p>Jephthah's knowledge of the scriptural record seems very impressive, and he quotes verbatim fragments from passages like <a href='B:40 13:26'>Num 13:26</a>; <a href='B:40 14:25'>Num 14:25</a>. Against him, the Ammonites stood no chance of twisting scripture and history to justify themselves:&nbsp;</p>


text:
<p>Then Israel sent messengers to the king of Edom saying, ‘Please let me pass through your land;’ but the king of Edom didn’t listen. In the same way he sent to the king of Moab, but he would not, and Israel stayed in Kadesh- </p><p>The lesson is that if we are unreasonable to God's people, there will be eternal consequences. The Ammonites considered that all this was mere history. And that is the trouble with human attitudes to God's word, much of which is history. We tend to focus on the immediate, the situation before us at this moment; and consider that the passage of time works a kind of pseudo atonement for our previous failings. It doesn't, and we need to therefore repent as soon as we perceive our sins. See on :28.</p>


text:
<p>Then they went through the wilderness and skirted around the land of Edom and the land of Moab and came by the east side of the land of Moab, and they encamped on the other side of the Arnon, but they didn’t come within the border of Moab, for the Arnon was the border of Moab- </p><p>This is all careful quotation from <a href='B:40 21:4'>Num 21:4</a>; <a href='B:40 21:11-20'>Num 21:11-20</a>; <a href='B:50 2:1'>Deu 2:1</a>. See on :16.</p>


text:
<p>Israel sent messengers to Sihon king of the Amorites, the king of Heshbon, and Israel said to him, ‘Please let us pass through your land to our place’- </p><p>This is all careful quotation from <a href='B:40 21:21-24'>Num 21:21-24</a>; <a href='B:50 2:24'>Deu 2:24</a>; <a href='B:50 2:26'>Deu 2:26</a>. See on :16.</p>


text:
<p>But Sihon didn’t trust Israel to pass through his border, but Sihon gathered all his people together and encamped in Jahaz and fought against Israel- </p><p>Jephthah is hereby appealing for the Ammonites to learn a lesson from history; for they too had 'gathered together against' Israel. The whole narrative of the book of Judges is that the lessons from history are simply not learnt. And so man stumbles on in darkness, ever seeking to be the empirical learner until it is too late, without the guidance of Divine principles and the precedents set in His word. See on :29.</p>


text:
<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>


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<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>


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<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>


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<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>


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<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>


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<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>


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<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>


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<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>


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<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>


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<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>


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<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>


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<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>


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<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>


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<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>


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<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>


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<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>


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<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>


text:
<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>


text:
<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>


text:
<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>


text:
<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>


text:
<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>


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<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>


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<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>


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<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>


text:
<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>


text:
<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>


text:
<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>


text:
<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>


text:
<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>


text:
<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>


text:
<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>


text:
<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>


