Isaiah30: repentance and rest

 

In Isaiah 30 we read about Judah buying protection or alliance from Egypt against Assyria.  The Lord didn't approve this: 

6-7 Egypt is all show, no substance.

    My name for her is Toothless Dragon.

Judah made a wrong decision because it didn't listen to the Lord:

8-11 A people unwilling to listen

    to anything God tells them.

They tell their spiritual leaders,

    “Don’t bother us with irrelevancies.”

They tell their preachers,

    “Don’t waste our time on impracticalities.

Tell us what makes us feel better.

    Don’t bore us with obsolete religion.

That stuff means nothing to us.

    Quit hounding us with The Holy of Israel.”

However, the Lord calls for repentance:

15-17 God, the Master, The Holy of Israel,

    has this solemn counsel:

“Your salvation requires you to turn back to me

    and stop your silly efforts to save yourselves.

Your strength will come from settling down

    in complete dependence on me—

The very thing

    you’ve been unwilling to do.

You’ve said, ‘No way! We’ll rush off on horseback!’

    You’ll rush off, all right! Just not far enough!

You’ve said, ‘We’ll ride off on fast horses!’

    Do you think your pursuers ride old nags?

Think again: A thousand of you will scatter before one attacker.

    Before a mere five you’ll all run off.

There’ll be nothing left of you—

    a flagpole on a hill with no flag,

    a signpost on a roadside with the sign torn off.”

18 But God’s not finished. He’s waiting around to be gracious to you.

    He’s gathering strength to show mercy to you.

God takes the time to do everything right—everything.

    Those who wait around for him are the lucky ones.

The Lord will deal with Assyria:

Oh yes, at God’s thunder

    Assyria will cower under the clubbing.

Every blow God lands on them with his club

    is in time to the music of drums and pipes,

God in all-out, two-fisted battle,

    fighting against them.

Topheth’s fierce fires are well prepared,

    ready for the Assyrian king.

The Topheth furnace is deep and wide,

    well stoked with hot-burning wood.

God’s breath, like a river of burning pitch,

    starts the fire.

Isaiah 29: a lament and a hope for Jerusalem

 In Isaiah 29 we read a lament for Ariel/Jerusalem:

1 Woe to Ariel,[a] Ariel,

the city where David camped!

4 You will be brought down;

you will speak from the ground,

and your words will come from low in the dust.

Your voice will be like that of a spirit from the ground;

your speech will whisper from the dust.

However, the Lord will free Jerusalem from his enemies:

7 All the many nations

going out to battle against Ariel—

all the attackers, the siege works against her,

and those who oppress her—

will then be like a dream, a vision in the night.

The Lord hides a better understanding of his Word :

13 The Lord said:

These people approach me with their speeches

to honor me with lip-service,[h]

yet their hearts are far from me,

and human rules direct their worship of me.[i]

14 Therefore, I will again confound these people

with wonder after wonder.

The wisdom of their wise will vanish,

and the perception of their perceptive will be hidden.

However, there will be a future day, when even the deafs will hear:

18 On that day the deaf will hear

the words of a document,

and out of a deep darkness

the eyes of the blind will see.

19 The humble will have joy

after joy in the Lord,

and the poor people will rejoice

in the Holy One of Israel.

20 For the ruthless one will vanish,

the scorner will disappear,

and all those who lie in wait with evil intent

will be killed—

21 those who, with their speech,

accuse a person of wrongdoing,

who set a trap for the one mediating at the city gate

and without cause deprive the righteous of justice.

23 For when he sees his children,

the work of my hands within his nation,

they will honor my name,

they will honor the Holy One of Jacob

and stand in awe of the God of Israel.

24 Those who are confused will gain understanding,

and those who grumble will accept instruction.

Isaiah 28: Ephraim and Judah

 In Isaiah 27 , in verses 1-6 talks about Ephraim which is compared to a withered flower. The Lord will act against Ephraim (2) but Yahweh Tsebaoth will be like a glorious crown for his few remaining people (5). In verses 6-29, the Lord talks to his people. He is against the priests and prophets who stagger from too much wine (7). They question the Lord: "To whom will they make the message understood?" (9). The Lord will answer by a strange language:

11 Yahweh will speak to these people.

    He will mock them by speaking in a foreign language. 

Isaiah must be refering to the Babylon captivity because Israel/Judah didn't rest in the promised land (12). 

Isaiah talks about Jesus in:

16 This is what Adonay Yahweh says:

I am going to lay a rock in Zion,

    a rock that has been tested,

    a precious cornerstone,

    a solid foundation.

        Whoever believes in him will not worry.

The Lord is against the agreement between Judah and Egypt (inferred):

18 Your treaty with death will be wiped away.

    Your agreement with the grave will not stand.

    When the overwhelming disaster passes by,

    you will be trampled by it.

Israel 27: The Lord takes care of his vineyard

 In Isaiah 27 we read about Israel, the Lord's vineyard:

2 On that day

sing about a desirable vineyard:

3 I, Yahweh, watch over it;

I water it regularly.

I guard it night and day

so that no one disturbs it.

Israel will be a blessing to the whole world:

6 In days to come, Jacob will take root.

Israel will blossom and bloom

and fill the whole world with fruit.

The Lord punished Israel:

8 He punished Israel by sending it away.

    He removed it with a fierce blast from the east winds.[b]

9 In this way the wrongdoings of the descendants of Jacob are covered up.

    This is the way they will turn from their sins—

    when they turn all the altar stones into powdered chalk

        and no poles dedicated to the goddess Asherah

            or incense altars are left standing.

The Lord will gather Israel again:

13 On that day a ram’s horn will be blown loudly.

    Those who are dying in Assyria

        and those who are banished to Egypt

            will come and worship Yahweh

                on the holy mountain in Jerusalem.

Isaiah 26: Resurrection

 In Isaiah 26 we have two kinds of death people: some will live, and some will not live again. 

. Do not live:

14 The wicked are dead.

    They are no longer alive.

        The spirits of the dead won’t rise.

    You have punished them, destroyed them,

    and wiped out all memory of them.

. live:

19 Your dead will live.

    Their corpses will rise.

    Those who lie dead in the dust will wake up and shout for joy,

    because your dew is a refreshing dew,

        and the earth will revive the spirits of the dead.

Isaiah 25: the Lord will swallow up death forever

 In Isaiah 24, the Lord is praised for his right judgments:

3 Superpowers will see it and honor you,

    brutal oppressors bow in worshipful reverence.

They’ll see that you take care of the poor,

    that you take care of poor people in trouble,

Provide a warm, dry place in bad weather,

    provide a cool place when it’s hot.

The Lord will wellcome the faithful:

6 But here on this mountain, God-of-the-Angel-Armies

    will throw a feast for all the people of the world,

A feast of the finest foods, a feast with vintage wines,

    a feast of seven courses, a feast lavish with gourmet desserts.

The Lord will destroy Death:

8 He will swallow up death forever.

    Adonay Yahweh will wipe away tears from every face,

    and he will remove the disgrace of his people from the whole earth.

        Yahweh has spoken.

Isaiah 24: devastation and judgement

 Isaiah 24 tells about a devastation:

1-3 Danger ahead! God’s about to ravish the earth

    and leave it in ruins,

Rip everything out by the roots

    and send everyone scurrying

but some will remain:

14-16 But there are some who will break into glad song.

    Out of the west they’ll shout of God’s majesty.

Yes, from the east God’s glory will ascend.

    Every island of the sea

Will broadcast God’s fame,

    the fame of the God of Israel.

From the four winds and the seven seas we hear the singing:

    “All praise to the Righteous One!”

The Lord will judge the powers of this world (and of the skies):

21-23 That’s when God will call on the carpet

    rebel powers in the skies and

Rebel kings on earth.

    They’ll be rounded up like prisoners in a jail,

Corralled and locked up in a jail,

    and then sentenced and put to hard labor.

Shamefaced moon will cower, humiliated,

    red-faced sun will skulk, disgraced,

Because God-of-the-Angel-Armies will take over,

    ruling from Mount Zion and Jerusalem,

Splendid and glorious

    before all his leaders.

Isaiah 23: Tyre

 

In Isaiah 23, the Lord says what will happen to Tyre. The Lord will place the arrogant Tyre in its place:

8 Who has brought this disaster on Tyre, empire builder and top trader of the world? 9 The Commander of the armies of heaven has done it to destroy your pride and show his contempt for all the greatness of mankind. 

The fall of Tyre will cause problems to Tarshish in verse 1.

The Lord is against the arrogant man and the arrogant nation.

Isaiah 22: Shebna and Eliakim

 In Isaiah 22 we read about Shebna and Eliakim in their positions of treasures over the house, i.e., controller or governor of the palace in the reign of King Hezekiah of Judah. Shebna was arrogant:

15-19 The Master, God-of-the-Angel-Armies, spoke: “Come. Go to this steward, Shebna, who is in charge of all the king’s affairs, and tell him: What’s going on here? You’re an outsider here and yet you act like you own the place, make a big, fancy tomb for yourself where everyone can see it, making sure everyone will think you’re important. God is about to sack you, to throw you to the dogs. He’ll grab you by the hair, swing you round and round dizzyingly, and then let you go, sailing through the air like a ball, until you’re out of sight. Where you’ll land, nobody knows. And there you’ll die, and all the stuff you’ve collected heaped on your grave. You’ve disgraced your master’s house! You’re fired—and good riddance!

Eliakim will replace Shebna:

20-24 “On that Day I’ll replace Shebna. I will call my servant Eliakim son of Hilkiah. I’ll dress him in your robe. I’ll put your belt on him. I’ll give him your authority. He’ll be a father-leader to Jerusalem and the government of Judah. I’ll give him the key of the Davidic heritage. He’ll have the run of the place—open any door and keep it open, lock any door and keep it locked. I’ll pound him like a nail into a solid wall. He’ll secure the Davidic tradition. Everything will hang on him—not only the fate of Davidic descendants but also the detailed daily operations of the house, including cups and cutlery.

We are stawards of the Lord. It is bad when we beahve like Shebna.

Isaiah 21: Babylon, Edom, Arabia

 In Isaiah 21 we see again the fall of Babylon. In Isaiah 14, we saw that the Medes would destroy Babylon, but this time we read: "Elamites and Medes will take part in the siege". I didn´t understand the reaction of Isaiah due to the revelation: "4 My mind reels; my heart races; I am gripped by awful fear. All rest at night—so pleasant once—is gone; I lie awake, trembling.". Why would him be gripped by awful fear? We see a prophecy against Edom: "12 The watchman replies, “Your judgment day is dawning now. Turn again to God, so that I can give you better news. Seek for him, then come and ask again!” and against Arabia: 16 “But a long year from now,” says the Lord, “the great power of their enemy, the mighty tribe of Kedar, will end.

Isaiah 20: Egypt and Ethiopia will be conquered by Assyria

 In Isaiah 20 we read that a commander from Assyria came to a Philistian  city (Ashdod) and took it. In this year, the Lord said to Isaiah:

"Go, take off your clothes and sandals,"

Isaiah did it for three years. The Lord said that he did it "as a warning sign to Egypt and Ethiopia, so the king of Assyria is going to come and take the Egyptians as captives and the Ethiopians as exiles."

The Philistian are closed connected to Egyptians.

People who were protected by Egypt or Ethiopia will be perplexed when they see Egyptians and Ethiopians taken as captives:

‘Look at them! Naked and barefooted, shuffling off to exile! And we thought they were our best hope, that they’d rescue us from the king of Assyria. Now what’s going to happen to us? How are we going to get out of this?’”

Isaiah 19: a prophecy about Egypt

 In Isaiah 19, we read a prophecy about Egypt such as:

civil war:

2-4 God says, “I’ll make Egyptian fight Egyptian,

    brother fight brother, neighbor fight neighbor,

City fight city, kingdom fight kingdom—

    anarchy and chaos and killing!

lack of water:    

5 The River Nile will dry up,

    the riverbed baked dry in the sun.

The canals will become stagnant and stink,

    every stream touching the Nile dry up.

lack of brain:

11-15: There’s not a wise man or woman left in the country.

    If there were, one of them would tell you

    what God-of-the-Angel-Armies has in mind for Egypt.

Judah will overcome Egypt:

Little Judah will strike terror in Egyptians! Say “Judah” to an Egyptian and see panic. The word triggers fear of the God-of-the-Angel-Armies’ plan against Egypt.

18 On that Day, more than one city in Egypt will learn to speak the language of faith and promise to follow God-of-the-Angel-Armies. One of these cities will be honored with the title “City of the Sun.”

Egyptians will worship the Lord:

19-22 On that Day, there will be a place of worship to God in the center of Egypt and a monument to God at its border. 

Peace among nations:

23 On that Day, there will be a highway all the way from Egypt to Assyria: Assyrians will have free range in Egypt and Egyptians in Assyria. No longer rivals, they’ll worship together, Egyptians and Assyrians!

Israel will worship the Lord with now pagan nations:

24-25 On that Day, Israel will take its place alongside Egypt and Assyria, sharing the blessing from the center. God-of-the-Angel-Armies, who blessed Israel, will generously bless them all: “Blessed be Egypt, my people! . . . Blessed be Assyria, work of my hands! . . . Blessed be Israel, my heritage!”