Isaiah Tonight we conclude the first part the of Book of Woes and into the story of Hezekiah

Transcription

1 Isaiah Tnight we cnclude the first part the f Bk f Wes and int the stry f Hezekiah But befre we g int Isaiah, let s take a mment t revisit a scene in Revelatin 19 Rev. 19:11 And I saw heaven pened, and behld, a white hrse, and He wh sat n it is called Faithful and True, and in righteusness He judges and wages war. Rev. 19:12 His eyes are a flame f fire, and n His head are many diadems; and He has a name written n Him which n ne knws except Himself. Rev. 19:13 He is clthed with a rbe dipped in bld, and His name is called The Wrd f Gd. Rev. 19:14 And the armies which are in heaven, clthed in fine linen, white and clean, were fllwing Him n white hrses. Rev. 19:15 Frm His muth cmes a sharp swrd, s that with it He may strike dwn the natins, and He will rule them with a rd f irn; and He treads the wine press f the fierce wrath f Gd, the Almighty. Rev. 19:16 And n His rbe and n His thigh He has a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS. Rev. 19:17 Then I saw an angel standing in the sun, and he cried ut with a lud vice, saying t all the birds which fly in midheaven, Cme, assemble fr the great supper f Gd, Rev. 19:18 s that yu may eat the flesh f kings and the flesh f cmmanders and the flesh f mighty men and the flesh f hrses and f thse wh sit n them and the flesh f all men, bth free men and slaves, and small and great. Rev. 19:19 And I saw the beast and the kings f the earth and their armies assembled t make war against Him wh sat n the hrse and against His army. Rev. 19:20 And the beast was seized, and with him the false prphet wh perfrmed the signs in his presence, by which he deceived thse wh had received the mark f the beast and thse wh wrshiped his image; these tw were thrwn alive int the lake f fire which burns with brimstne. Rev. 19:21 And the rest were killed with the swrd which came frm the muth f Him wh sat n the hrse, and all the birds were filled with their flesh. As we knw, this is the mment f Christ s Secnd Cming t set up His kingdm His return ccurs in the midst f the Antichrist s attack n Jerusalem With his armies made up frm the Gentile natins assembled against Israel And the Lrd destrys thse armies in a mment 2010 Verse By Verse Ministry f San Antni ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.

2 Isaiah 34-36! 2 This scene will mirrr the earlier ne we ve been studying frm Isaiah s day, when Assyria attacks Jerusalem but is defeated by the angel f the Lrd With that scene frm Revelatin 19 fresh in ur minds, let s return t Isaiah 34 Is. 34:1 Draw near, O natins, t hear; and listen, O peples! Let the earth and all it cntains hear, and the wrld and all that springs frm it. Is. 34:2 Fr the LORD S indignatin is against all the natins, And His wrath against all their armies; He has utterly destryed them, He has given them ver t slaughter. Is. 34:3 S their slain will be thrwn ut, And their crpses will give ff their stench, And the muntains will be drenched with their bld. Is. 34:4 And all the hst f heaven will wear away, And the sky will be rlled up like a scrll; All their hsts will als wither away As a leaf withers frm the vine, Or as ne withers frm the fig tree. Isaiah describes a destructin cming fr all natins We ve been watching Isaiah draw parallels between the cming destructin f Assyria and the future destructin f the Antichrist s armies And by the cntext here we knw we re lking at the Antichrist The references reflect a massing f natins, nt simply the ne natin f Assyria There is a slaughter unlike anything else It s reminiscent f Rev 14, where we hear f the Antichrist s defeat in passing terms Rev. 14:19 S the angel swung his sickle t the earth and gathered the clusters frm the vine f the earth, and threw them int the great wine press f the wrath f Gd. Rev. 14:20 And the wine press was trdden utside the city, and bld came ut frm the wine press, up t the hrses bridles, fr a distance f tw hundred miles. Tremendus bld letting takes place at the Lrd s return 2010 Verse By Verse Ministry f San Antni ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.

3 Isaiah 34-36! 3 Further evidence that this is a unique time is fund in verse 4 In cnjunctin with this mass death, there are remarkable signs in the heavens Signs cnsistent with the events f Tribulatin S we knw Isaiah is lking frward t the events f that day Nw we have even mre specifics cncerning the Lrd s battle in that day Is. 34:5 Fr My swrd is satiated in heaven, Behld it shall descend fr judgment upn Edm And upn the peple whm I have devted t destructin. Is. 34:6 The swrd f the LORD is filled with bld, It is sated with fat, with the bld f lambs and gats, With the fat f the kidneys f rams. Fr the LORD has a sacrifice in Bzrah And a great slaughter in the land f Edm. Is. 34:7 Wild xen will als fall with them And yung bulls with strng nes; Thus their land will be saked with bld, And their dust becme greasy with fat. The Lrd s swrd is satiated in heaven means the Lrd s desire fr judgment will descend frm heaven And it descends upn the land f Edm And upn a peple Gd has devted t the end f destructin And it is used t institute a sacrifice in Btzrah, r Petra This is same place that the Jewish remnant is hiding under prtectin It s apparent that the slaughter taking place in this lcatin is assciated with the descriptins we ve just seen f Tribulatin Apparently, the Lrd s return invlves a tw-part battle He battles frces at Btzrah and armies arund Jerusalem Remember when we lked ahead t Isaiah 63, we heard this: 2010 Verse By Verse Ministry f San Antni ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.

4 Isaiah 34-36! 4 Is. 63:1 Wh is this wh cmes frm Edm, With garments f glwing clrs frm Bzrah, This One wh is majestic in His apparel, Marching in the greatness f His strength? It is I wh speak in righteusness, mighty t save. Is. 63:2 Why is Yur apparel red, And Yur garments like the ne wh treads in the wine press? Is. 63:3 I have trdden the wine trugh alne, And frm the peples there was n man with Me. I als trd them in My anger And trampled them in My wrath; And their lifebld is sprinkled n My garments, And I stained all My raiment. Is. 63:4 Fr the day f vengeance was in My heart, And My year f redemptin has cme. Is. 63:5 I lked, and there was n ne t help, And I was astnished and there was n ne t uphld; S My wn arm brught salvatin t Me, And My wrath upheld Me. Is. 63:6 I trd dwn the peples in My anger And made them drunk in My wrath, And I pured ut their lifebld n the earth. As we mentined the last time we tk a peek at these verses, the Lrd is seen frm Isaiah s perspective as he stands in Jerusalem Jesus is walking nrthwest tward the city f Jerusalem And He s already bldy frm battle And He fught this battle entirely by Himself And as we studied earlier, Christ leads His peple ut f the gate frm Btzrah and brings them t Jerusalem And then in Jerusalem anther battle takes place t save that city Zech. 14:1 Behld, a day is cming fr the LORD when the spil taken frm yu will be divided amng yu. Zech. 14:2 Fr I will gather all the natins against Jerusalem t battle, and the city will be captured, the huses plundered, the wmen ravished and half f the city exiled, but the rest f the peple will nt be cut ff frm the city. Zech. 14:3 Then the LORD will g frth and fight against thse natins, as when He fights n a day f battle Verse By Verse Ministry f San Antni ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.

5 Isaiah 34-36! 5 Zech. 14:4 In that day His feet will stand n the Munt f Olives, which is in frnt f Jerusalem n the east; and the Munt f Olives will be split in its middle frm east t west by a very large valley, s that half f the muntain will mve tward the nrth and the ther half tward the suth. Zech. 14:5 Yu will flee by the valley f My muntains, fr the valley f the muntains will reach t Azel; yes, yu will flee just as yu fled befre the earthquake in the days f Uzziah king f Judah. Then the LORD, my Gd, will cme, and all the hly nes with Him! Zech. 14:6 In that day there will be n light; the luminaries will dwindle. Zech. 14:7 Fr it will be a unique day which is knwn t the LORD, neither day nr night, but it will cme abut that at evening time there will be light. Zech. 14:8 And in that day living waters will flw ut f Jerusalem, half f them tward the eastern sea and the ther half tward the western sea; it will be in summer as well as in winter. Zech. 14:9 And the LORD will be king ver all the earth; in that day the LORD will be the nly ne, and His name the nly ne. Zech. 14:10 All the land will be changed int a plain frm Geba t Rimmn suth f Jerusalem; but Jerusalem will rise and remain n its site frm Benjamin s Gate as far as the place f the First Gate t the Crner Gate, and frm the Twer f Hananel t the king s wine presses. Zech. 14:11 Peple will live in it, and there will n lnger be a curse, fr Jerusalem will dwell in security. Clearly, there is war waged in mre than ne spt during the Lrd s return, and it cncludes at Jerusalem And this judgment is specifically as a day f vengeance fr injustices against Israel And it will fall particularly heavy n Edm itself Is. 34:8 Fr the LORD has a day f vengeance, A year f recmpense fr the cause f Zin. Is. 34:9 Its streams will be turned int pitch, And its lse earth int brimstne, And its land will becme burning pitch. Is. 34:10 It will nt be quenched night r day; Its smke will g up frever. Frm generatin t generatin it will be deslate; Nne will pass thrugh it frever and ever. Is. 34:11 But pelican and hedgehg will pssess it, And wl and raven will dwell in it; And He will stretch ver it the line f deslatin And the plumb line f emptiness Verse By Verse Ministry f San Antni ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.

6 Isaiah 34-36! 6 Is. 34:12 Its nbles there is n ne there Whm they may prclaim king And all its princes will be nthing. Is. 34:13 Thrns will cme up in its frtified twers, Nettles and thistles in its frtified cities; It will als be a haunt f jackals And an abde f striches. Is. 34:14 The desert creatures will meet with the wlves, The hairy gat als will cry t its kind; Yes, the night mnster will settle there And will find herself a resting place. Is. 34:15 The tree snake will make its nest and lay eggs there, And it will hatch and gather them under its prtectin. Yes, the hawks will be gathered there, Every ne with its kind. Remember the racle against Edm we studied in chapter 21? This was ne racles f judgment fr the neighbrs that surrund Israel And the racle against Edm was particularly harsh It said that Edm wuld enter a deathly silence, the silence f eternal death And even when the rest f the wrld is brught int the Light f Christ s return, this place is kept in perpetual darkness Here we see Isaiah cnfirming again this bleak future fr the land f Edm There is a special judgment reserved fr this land Thugh the name Edm isn t mentined in these verses, the earlier mentin makes clear this is the regin in view Rivers run dry, the land turns t burning sulfur A perpetual burning N ne ever passes thrugh it again Only wild desert creatures dwell there 2010 Verse By Verse Ministry f San Antni ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.

7 Isaiah 34-36! 7 Ntably in verse 11 the phrase used is the same phrase t describe the creatin in it s earliest mment in Gen 1:2 There is sme reasn t believe that the strange creatures described in in verse 14 are actually euphemisms fr demns The gat head is the symbl used by the satanic church even tday And the night mnster is the wrld lilith in Hebrew It means ne wh wanders in night places, like Jesus cmments in Matt 12: Matt. 12:43 Nw when the unclean spirit ges ut f a man, it passes thrugh waterless places seeking rest, and des nt find it. And in Jewish talmudic teaching it meant female demn Finally, the reference t snakes in verse 15 seem t add mre evidence that we re talking abut the demnic realm That if s, it wuld mean the demnic realm is held in Edm during the time f the kingdm Is. 34:16 Seek frm the bk f the LORD, and read: Nt ne f these will be missing; Nne will lack its mate. Fr His muth has cmmanded, And His Spirit has gathered them. Is. 34:17 He has cast the lt fr them, And His hand has divided it t them by line. They shall pssess it frever; Frm generatin t generatin they will dwell in it. The chapter ends with a cnfirmatin that these demns will be separated ut and gathered int this place and remain there frever The frever reference wuld seem t suggest that this abde becmes the Lake f Fire eventually Fllwing this judgment, the next chapter explains the jy that fllws fr thse saved at Christ s return 2010 Verse By Verse Ministry f San Antni ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.

8 Isaiah 34-36! 8 Is. 35:1 The wilderness and the desert will be glad, And the Arabah will rejice and blssm; Like the crcus Is. 35:2 It will blssm prfusely And rejice with rejicing and shut f jy. The glry f Lebann will be given t it, The majesty f Carmel and Sharn. They will see the glry f the LORD, The majesty f ur Gd. Is. 35:3 Encurage the exhausted, and strengthen the feeble. Is. 35:4 Say t thse with anxius heart, Take curage, fear nt. Behld, yur Gd will cme with vengeance; The recmpense f Gd will cme, But He will save yu. Is. 35:5 Then the eyes f the blind will be pened And the ears f the deaf will be unstpped. Is. 35:6 Then the lame will leap like a deer, And the tngue f the mute will shut fr jy. Fr waters will break frth in the wilderness And streams in the Arabah. Is. 35:7 The scrched land will becme a pl And the thirsty grund springs f water; In the haunt f jackals, its resting place, Grass becmes reeds and rushes. Is. 35:8 A highway will be there, a radway, And it will be called the Highway f Hliness. The unclean will nt travel n it, But it will be fr him wh walks that way, And fls will nt wander n it. Is. 35:9 N lin will be there, Nr will any vicius beast g up n it; These will nt be fund there. But the redeemed will walk there, Is. 35:10 And the ransmed f the LORD will return And cme with jyful shuting t Zin, With everlasting jy upn their heads. They will find gladness and jy, And srrw and sighing will flee away. The land itself is seen cming t life as a result f the Lrd s return And all the gegraphical references relate t Israel They will see the glry f the Lrd 2010 Verse By Verse Ministry f San Antni ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.

9 Isaiah 34-36! 9 The feeble and exhausted will be strengthened t see the Lrd cming t defend and rescue them Ntice that imprtant phrase in v.5 The ears and eyes are pened A reference t the Spirit s pening f the Israel s spiritual senses s that they might knw and receive the Lrd In v.6 the Lrd s arrival results in a cmplete physical regeneratin f Israel as well Which makes sense since we knw that all Jews receive their new immrtal bdies In v.7 we see the land becme prsperus again In v.8 there is a radway n which the righteus f Israel walk int the hly city The ransmed f Israel, thse purchased by Christ s bld They are walking this highway int Jerusalem And with that, Isaiah transitins t an accunt f the histry f Hezekiah and the events surrunding the attack f Assyria Is. 36:1 Nw in the furteenth year f King Hezekiah, Sennacherib king f Assyria came up against all the frtified cities f Judah and seized them. This chapter begins an imprtant transitin fr Isaiah Prir t this chapter, the bk is written in Hebrew petry But here is becmes prse at least until the stry f Hezekiah is cncluded in chapter 39 Chapter 39 als marks the end f Isaiah s interest in Assyria In chapter 40, the fcus mves t the Babylnian judgments Remember we said that the bk has a tw part divisin much like the Bible itself The first 39 bks f the bible are fund in the OT The remaining 27 bks make up the NT 2010 Verse By Verse Ministry f San Antni ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.

10 Isaiah 34-36! 10 A similar spit is ccurring here in Isaiah The first 39 bks are speaking t the judgments under the hands f the Assyrians Cncluding with the stry f Assyria cming against Jerusalem in The final 27 chapters will fcus n the Babylnian perid We ll lk at hw these tw sectins reflect the Bible later in this curse In Ahaz s day, the Assyrians had invaded Judah in respnse t Ahaz s refusal t trust in the Lrd, as we studied at the beginning f Isaiah Nw Ahaz s sn Hezekiah is ruling and the Assyrians are still in the land f Judah In 703 BC Hezekiah leads a revlt against Assyria expecting the Egyptians t jin him having entered int a cvenant Hezekiah built a a half mile tunnel undergrund t cnnect the city t it s primary water supply This prtected the city s water supply frm the Assyrian blckade In 701 BC, King Sennacherib invaded t put dwn Hezekiah s rebellin Egypt made a half-hearted effrt t help defend Israel, but they were rundly defeated, leading Israel t fight Assyrian alne As Assyrian advanced tward Jersualem and it was bvius that Hezekiah wasn t pwerful enugh t defeat Assyria, Hezekiah sues fr peace The Assyrian King makes demands, including expensive war reparatins and a tribute, which Hezekiah pays But the Sennacherib demands that the city f Jerusalem surrender and the citizens be deprted Hezekiah refused, and s the siege f the city began Is. 36:2 And the king f Assyria sent Rabshakeh frm Lachish t Jerusalem t King Hezekiah with a large army. And he std by the cnduit f the upper pl n the highway f the fuller s field. Is. 36:3 Then Eliakim the sn f Hilkiah, wh was ver the husehld, and Shebna the scribe, and Jah the sn f Asaph, the recrder, came ut t him Verse By Verse Ministry f San Antni ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.

11 Isaiah 34-36! 11 Is. 36:4 Then Rabshakeh said t them, Say nw t Hezekiah, Thus says the great king, the king f Assyria, What is this cnfidence that yu have? Is. 36:5 I say, Yur cunsel and strength fr the war are nly empty wrds. Nw n whm d yu rely, that yu have rebelled against me? Is. 36:6 Behld, yu rely n the staff f this crushed reed, even n Egypt, n which if a man leans, it will g int his hand and pierce it. S is Pharah king f Egypt t all wh rely n him. Is. 36:7 But if yu say t me, We trust in the LORD ur Gd, is it nt He whse high places and whse altars Hezekiah has taken away and has said t Judah and t Jerusalem, Yu shall wrship befre this altar? Is. 36:8 Nw therefre, cme make a bargain with my master the king f Assyria, and I will give yu tw thusand hrses, if yu are able n yur part t set riders n them. Is. 36:9 Hw then can yu repulse ne fficial f the least f my master s servants and rely n Egypt fr charits and fr hrsemen? Is. 36:10 Have I nw cme up withut the LORD S apprval against this land t destry it? The LORD said t me, G up against this land and destry it. The man sent ut was a chief f the army And they send a large army with him t ensure he intimidated Hezekiah And standing at the same place that Hezekiah s father, Ahaz, made the errr that resulted in the Assyrians cming int the land, they meet Hezekiah s representatives Twenty years earlier Ahaz had disregarded Isaiah s wrd frm Gd and nw his sn was suffering the cnsequences f that mistake The Assyrian representative begins by stating the bvius Hezekiah had relied n a weak ally in his rebellin And nw where did that leave Israel in the face f a superir enemy? All this was true and in accrdance with Gd s wn prmises cncerning Egypt But then he ges further and declares that Israel can t depend n the Lrd their Gd either In v.7 the representative says that Gd wn t help them because Hezekiah remved the high places and altars arund Israel 2010 Verse By Verse Ministry f San Antni ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.

12 Isaiah 34-36! 12 They assumed that these high places were wrshipping the same Gd We knw that Hezekiah remved the high places that praised false gds, which pleased the Lrd S the Assyrians were making a wrng assumptin abut the Lrd Then t mck Israel s weakness, the fficial ffers t give Israel 2,000 war hrses if Israel even has the men t munt them The is the equivalent t smene challenging anther runner t a race by ffering t give them a head start The Assyrians are s cnfident f their strength, they are suggesting that they culd spt Israel 2,000 hrses and nt lse the advantage Finally in v.10, the fficial even acknwledges that Gd brught them in the first place But as we ve already studied, Gd brught Assyria t the nrthern kingdm f Israel, nt t Judah Assyrian s venturing int Judah was against Gd s decree Is. 36:11 Then Eliakim and Shebna and Jah said t Rabshakeh, Speak nw t yur servants in Aramaic, fr we understand it; and d nt speak with us in Judean in the hearing f the peple wh are n the wall. Is. 36:12 But Rabshakeh said, Has my master sent me nly t yur master and t yu t speak these wrds, and nt t the men wh sit n the wall, dmed t eat their wn dung and drink their wn urine with yu? Is. 36:13 Then Rabshakeh std and cried with a lud vice in Judean and said, Hear the wrds f the great king, the king f Assyria. Is. 36:14 Thus says the king, D nt let Hezekiah deceive yu, fr he will nt be able t deliver yu; Is. 36:15 nr let Hezekiah make yu trust in the LORD, saying, The LORD will surely deliver us, this city will nt be given int the hand f the king f Assyria. Is. 36:16 D nt listen t Hezekiah, fr thus says the king f Assyria, Make yur peace with me and cme ut t me, and eat each f his vine and each f his fig tree and drink each f the waters f his wn cistern, Is. 36:17 until I cme and take yu away t a land like yur wn land, a land f grain and new wine, a land f bread and vineyards. Is. 36:18 Beware that Hezekiah des nt mislead yu, saying, The LORD will deliver us. Has any ne f the gds f the natins delivered his land frm the hand f the king f Assyria? 2010 Verse By Verse Ministry f San Antni ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.

13 Isaiah 34-36! 13 Is. 36:19 Where are the gds f Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gds f Sepharvaim? And when have they delivered Samaria frm my hand? Is. 36:20 Wh amng all the gds f these lands have delivered their land frm my hand, that the LORD wuld deliver Jerusalem frm my hand? Is. 36:21 But they were silent and answered him nt a wrd; fr the king s cmmandment was, D nt answer him. Is. 36:22 Then Eliakim the sn f Hilkiah, wh was ver the husehld, and Shebna the scribe and Jah the sn f Asaph, the recrder, came t Hezekiah with their clthes trn and tld him the wrds f Rabshakeh. This is an intriguing exchange The Jewish delegatin asks the Assyrian t speak in Aramaic, the language f diplmacy in that day But bviusly their real cncern is t avid panic amng the peple f Israel In respnse the Assyrian cntinue t speak in Hebrew and even luder t ensure the citizens n the wall hear every threat And they make a demand fr surrender He ffers a blessing fr surrender, the pprtunity t return t the field Fllwed by deprtatin t a gd land Finally, he argues that ther peples culdn t trust in their gds t deliver them, s why shuld Israel trust their gd t d any better But the peple fllw King Hezekiah s rders and give n respnse t the demand Instead, the delegatin returns t the palance in murning fr what they assume will be their fate 2010 Verse By Verse Ministry f San Antni ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.