((Here are pages (1-25) CBR, Chapter IV, (Christian Biblical Reflections.22, the 1st submission or installment) of the Prophetic Books of Isaiah & Jeremiah with Lamentations & Ezekiel. This is the Isaiah section. Christian Biblical Reflections. mjmselim. 2018)) (Links to the PDF Vol.1 of CBR. Chapters 1-3 (pages 1-560) & to Chapter 4 of Vol. 2 pages 1-115 : updated, completed, and further edited, corrected, and renumbered):
CHAPTER IV
Part IV: ISAIAH, JEREMIAH & LAMENTATIONS, & EZEKIEL.
Part IV: ISAIAH – EZEKIEL: Prophetical Books: Three: Major-Greater-Longer Prophets.
Preliminary Note to Volume 2: (We completed Volume 1, some 560 pages, in August of 2018 with intentions of completing Chapters IV & V, Part 4 & 5, by December of 2018, but unforeseen events, one after another prevented my resolution. Increased work in the loss of a trainee-apprentice forcing me to work full time; ongoing medical care for one of our daughters who was hit by a vehicle; personal & family matters; and major health issues; all which conspired to delay my promised Reflections. I made slow progress in the selecting & editing of the books for the Three Great Prophets; but continued to daily prepare my Reflections for the Chapter. From the several hundred books examined I have selected those which were best to help in the understanding of the Prophetical Chapter. But I continued the daily & weekly listening to the Bible books & other literature relevant to our Reflections. I was tempted to post the parts as I completed them, that is, Isaiah, then Jeremiah, & last Ezekiel, but then the Reflections would become repetitious & confused. It became my habit of every week to listen to the Prophets from Isaiah to Malachi two or three times, and to go thru Genesis to Revelation once a month, all to keep fresh in my Reflections the interconnection of God’s Word. And as I have said before, having gone thru Scripture over 200 times in the last 50 years, I am always surprised of new things made clear that has alluded me over the years. Volume 1 will be available in both Word & PDF format, & as always, freely & gladly given, without copyright protection or restrictions, save the request to be properly credited. (A note to the reader of change in the use of single quote marks (‘… ‘) to the grave accent mark (`…`) for italics in simple or basic text format; as in Notepad. In additional punctuations as noted. The use of the archaic singular pronouns: ‘thee, thou, thine’, I have introduced a novelty of a modification of the plural pronouns: ‘you, ye, your(s)’ into ‘yu, yur(s)’ to represent the archaic singular pronouns; being pronounced just like the plural forms now common, having displaced the singular. Further notice is here given that I have introduced colored fonts or texts to indicate the Divine speaking directly or indirectly, using ‘Red, Purple, & Blue’. A final note or apology to the readers having difficulty with the writer’s style & communication of understanding; it may be best expressed & clarified in this way: the Reflections were never intended to be a studied standard work, there being many already available, and written far better than what the writer is able to do. It is a research, exploration, & journal of his studies & searching of the Holy Bible as a Christian scholar cobbler; desiring to freely offer & contribute to the Lord’s people what he has been given, or gained, or learned. It is my habit to read or listen to Scripture daily, weekly, monthly, & yearly to get acquainted with the Divine Text; then to study or research certain interpretations, views, doctrines, & ideas as I encounter them; afterwards continue to compare things with what is written in context; lastly to attempt to relate, share, & teach these things to others whether by speaking or writing. In writing it’s been my habit for almost 50 years to lay before me the English Versions (the old AKJV of 1611, and the newer, usually the ASV of 1910); then the Original Bible Text in Hebrew & Greek; then I open the LXX Septuagint & the Latin Vulgate; finally I at times consult & compare a few of the newer translations or versions in the popular modern languages, mainly for specific or special words. I first digest & summarize as in a synopsis the Text, namely the verse or verses, chapter, or book; finally I reflect, interpret, & comment on the Text; and often repeating myself, and enlarging a doctrine.)
Introductory Foreword & Summary: Chapter Three or Part 3 treated the Poetical Books from Job & Psalms to Solomon’s Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, & Song of Songs. The Books of Ruth, Lamentations, & Esther being often considered related to the Poetical Books as Books of Feasts & Holy Days, were not treated in our Reflections of the Poetry of the Old Testament as proper to the Bible structure & form. We have followed in Reflections the Fingers of the Hands, 5 Right & 5 Left, as the Chapters & Parts of the 10 Key Books of the Bible in the Old & New Testaments. The Poetical Books were the highest summit of the Old Testament and the Book of David’s Psalms the tallest peak. The spirit of biblical poetry & music is the effect of the Historical Books from Genesis to Esther, with Genesis & Deuteronomy governing the history & revelation. God’s interest & His purpose is traced from seed to tree, from root to fruit in the trine themes of Creation, Judgment, & Salvation; in the triple doctrines of the Land, the People, & the Book. We follow the seeds of the Word & of God in their first mention or occurrences or instances of appearance and trace them through their various stages or phases of development & evolution, that is, their growth & maturity as they unfold. We have ventured to share what we see, and what we have come to believe, understand, and discovered in the Scriptures; but also to transmit the teachings of others both past & present who like us are lovers of the Bible & are diligent students of the Word. Christ as Messiah becomes obvious from start to finish in many ways & types as the Center & Heart of the Bible, the very Spirit of God’s Revelation. We demonstrate repeatedly the 10 Key Books govern & bind the other books together in the Scroll to present & display a wondrous picture & story of the Creator & His Creation. We have not tried to produce a commentary, nor an exhaustive study of the Bible. We have labored to testify of the Bible’s message & influence on us in its reading & study. As we have progressed through the pages of the Bible the Messiah-Christ in His trine offices of Prophet-Priest-King in God’s Kingdom has unfolded to us in human history, as well as in doctrinal developments in various philosophical & theological features. The Mirror effect of the Old Testament verses are reflected in the New Testament images to unveil the Divine Truth in God & His Son. And now to proceed to Chapter 4.
ISAIAH: The Book of Isaiah in relations to Genesis, Deuteronomy, & Psalms, with the other books interconnected to them, and with Jeremiah & Ezekiel connected & related to & dependent on Isaiah.
Isaiah has come to us in 66 chapters, as if a mini-Bible, containing two distinct parts, chapters 1-39, and chapters 40-66, 27 chapters. There are 39 Books of our English Bibles in the Old Testament, and the New Testament consists of 27 Books. The New Testament quotes the Old Testament Books most frequently in Psalms (over 65 times), Deuteronomy (some 55 times), & Isaiah (about 45 times). Isaiah in Hebrew is Yesha`yahu meaning Salvation-Jehovah, Savior-Jehovah, & Saves-Jehovah. It is like Joshua or Yehoshua`, & like the Greek-Latin-English-Spanish Jesus. Yehoshua or Jesus means Jehovah-Salvation, Jehovah-Savior, & Jehovah-Saves. Isaiah & Jesus are the same words or names spelt differently, but the meaning is identical; namely the Salvation of the Lord, the Savior Who saves or the Lord’s Salvation of the Saving Savior. Isaiah is well known by all to be the Gospel Book of the Old Testament, the Book of Salvation. The First Division, chapters 1-39, is about the Lord’s Old Testament People, the Old Covenant Israel; and the Second Division, chapters 40-66, is about the Lord’s New Testament People, Messiah’s People of the New Dispensation. In Isaiah Messiah is clearly seen in many Messianic types & signs.
We saw in the Law from Genesis to Deuteronomy to Psalms that Salvation is the ever-ongoing work of God, His work in His Sabbath Rest on the 7th Day. The Work of God was seen in each generation from Adam to Noah to Abram the Hebrew. The nations, the Gentiles, with all the families, tribes, & tongues of mankind needed salvation in every way & details of life. The nation of Israel, formed from the Hebrew patriarchs of Abraham, Isaac, & Jacob in seed or descendants of Israel, were generated as the seed & people of God as promised; and in their captivity found deliverance by their merciful God. In order to save the world in the nations & people on earth, He must save & form His own People in their own Land. This He did by the hands of Moses & Aaron and began the production or generating the Book in the Law. Joshua & the Judges were a continuation of that redemption & salvation from their Egyptian bondage & captivity to the Exodus & Occupation of Canaan till the establishment of the Monarchy & Kingdom. Samuel, Saul, & David established the foundation of the Monarchy of a Divine Kingdom, which was in fact contrary to the Divine Will, yet was allowed & used to fulfill His purpose in the world’s salvation by means of His Holy Spirit in the inspiration & authorship of Holy Scripture, the Old Testament Bible. The Poetic Books brought the Law & the History to the its highest peak, lacking only the Prophetic Books to complete the Divine Hand of the Word. The Scroll of Isaiah commences a new dispensational way of the Kingdom which in the Monarchy failed & declined & deviated in disobedience & division. Divine Judgment limited that Kingdom, then afterwards terminated it in Gentile Exile & Captivity. The Salvation that originated in Genesis was now to be enlarged & extended to all the nations by their interactions with Israel; and the Hebrew Book & the Isaiah Scroll would spread throughout the Gentile world.
Isaiah benAmos opens with a vision related to Judah & Jerusalem during the reign of 4 Kings of Judah: Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, & Hezekiah during a period of some 70 years (about 650-580 B.C.; or in others its 100 years earlier, that is, 8th century, somewhere between 800-700 B.C.). We may compare Hosea benBeeri: “The word of the LORD that came unto Hosea the son of Beeri, in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash, king of Israel.” Reference to Jeroboam is to Jeroboam II benJoash and not to Jeroboam I benNebat; and suggest that Hosea preceded Isaiah by a few years. If we compare the various prophets of Judah & Israel, of Samaria & Jerusalem, of both Kingdoms we discover God’s attempt to speak to His people in judging their condition & relations to His word & law. Isaiah enters to reveal a larger vision of God’s work in Israel. Hosea no doubt pictured their adulteress state as a Harlot, but Isaiah will go way beyond that, and he will add thereto in very universal connections & features. Hezekiah & his great grandson Josiah were the best Kings since Kings David & Solomon, and the Kingdoms were coming to an end, and the Monarchy dissolved. The Prophet Isaiah is introduced as a Seer to reveal the Lord & His Word to His People. His Vision begins: “Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth; for Jehovah hath spoken: “’I have nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against Me’”. Hear we have the first words of God in red cited by Isaiah. As we have seen in our previous exploration of Scriptures that there is variation in inspiration in the Divine Authorship of the Bible; and each author & writer & speaker will display different manifestations & expressions of the Word. We also have been reminding the Bible reader to take notice of those places that God is quoted or cited, both directly & indirectly, and even by allusions. These divine quotes may be placed in red, as is often done in the printed New Testament of the words of Jesus. We give a brief summary of the Isaiah Chapters where red letters occurs: 1: many verses; 3: many verses; 5: many verses; 6: few verses; 7 & 8: many verses; 10: many verses; 11: half a verse; 13 & 14 & 15 & 16: whole chapters except a few verses; 17: many verses; 18: one verse; 19: few verses; 20: most verses; 21: few verses; 22: many verses; 23: one verse; 24: three verses; 27: three verses; 28: many verses; 29: most of chapter; 30: many verses; 31: half chapter; 33: three verses; 37: half chapter; 38: few verses; 39: two verses; 40: three verses; 41: whole chapter; 42: most of chapter; 43-49: all or most of chapters; 50: half chapter; 51: most chapter; 52: half chapter; 53: two verses; 54-58: all or most chapters chapter; 59: two verses; 60: whole chapter: 61: two verses; 62: whole chapter; 63: few verses; 65 & 66: whole chapters. We see that as Isaiah progresses the Divine speaking increases; chapters 1-39 has half of red verses as in 40-66.
The Song of Songs of the Love of the Beloved’s Beloved showed us the Divine love of the Lord God for Israel, and of Israel’s love for Him, as the love of the Beloved for the Shulammite, and her love for the Beloved, the Shepherd King. That Song of Songs now finds home in Isaiah’s Salvation & Judgment. Jehovah’s cruel Jealousy of the provoked Lover by an unfaithful treacherous spouse is to be manifested in terrible acts towards His Beloved. God will deal with Israel, and by that He shows how the Creator deals with His creatures, as He is related to them in so many ways. He will deal with them as His children, His people, as a son & daughter, as virgin (Daughter of Zion) & harlot (Sodom & Gomorrah ), and many such relations & associations (but after the pattern of Psalms 1 & 2). He will reveal their sins & their evil ways in contrast to their noble place with Him. He declares their unhealthy state, status, & condition; their divided kingdom and the failure of both to obey His Law as given in their original deliverance from Egypt. Their worship of God is repulsive, the priesthood & the monarchy corrupt & useless; even His House is polluted. He will seek to reprove her, and to recall her to repentance and a return to Him and His law & word. Both Altar & Throne will be destroyed in judgment if He cannot reform Israel, either as nation or a remnant. They were His love & beloved, dear to him, and were attached to Him reciprocally in faithfulness & righteousness, but have become degenerate in thousands of ways, and now are in enmity against Him. But He is still in love with His People in the little remnant that continue to love & obey Him, who look for & wait for Him, those who long for their God, who endure sufferings at the hands of the enemies of God in Israel, Judah, and the world. His promise to His true lovers is to save them, to redeem them from captivity, to make them a faithful & righteous people. But He must first judge & destroy sin & sinners. Thus, the Vision ends & a new vision is taken up. We add a word concerning the prophetic style in Isaiah & in general all the prophetic books: the Prophet speaks & writes in constant flux between himself & God; he speaks in the first person, then without indication in the second or third person, moving from singular & plural in turn. (We may examine the chapter to discover that Isaiah opens & calls witnesses to the Lord’s Words (as Moses & others had done); the Lord speaks against Israel; Isaiah details Judah’s depravity; the Lord complains against Judah & warns of destruction; Isaiah attests to the Lord’s witness against Judah; at last the Lord declares judgment & predicts redemption by judgment & complete devastation.) As we have seen in Moses from Genesis to David’s Psalms & Solomon’s Song of Songs, and especially in Job, this divine exchange, transaction, & literary device is quite common & natural in human communication. (Compare the Selection 9: Chaldee Paraphrase on Prophet Isaiah. Jonathan benUziel.)
In chapters 2-5 the Word of the Vision of Isaiah benAmos of Judah & Jerusalem: In the distant future the Lord, as the God of Jacob, will establish His Throne & Government on Zion in Jerusalem for the Gentiles to seek God; Who will convert & transform them into peaceful people. Israel’s adultery & idolatry in following the Gentiles will come to an end; the ways of the nations will be terminated. The Lord alone will be exalted by both Jews & Gentiles in all the earth., and He will judge each man & nation as He sees fit according to their deeds & words. The Lord will exile His people in starvation: warriors, judges, prophets, scholars, elders, officers, politicians, craftsmen, & speakers (poets & orators & teachers). He will disrupt their society. The Lord criticizes both the elders, leaders. & rulers; & also the people for their unrighteous ways & sensual acts. The Prophet then illustrates this in 7 women attaching to one man, to take his name to remove their shame. The Promise will be the Lord’s Branch (Tzemach not Netzer, but is synonymous; Gesenius has an interesting comment on the word as found in Isaiah 4:2, seeking to erase Messiah (but E.J. Young is safe, contradicting Gesenius, but agreeing with the Revised Version (ASV, marginal variant) & prefers ‘Sprout’); the Greek translates ‘to shine forth’ (epilampsei, related to or word ‘lamp’); the Latin translate ‘germinate, bare, bring forth, give birth’ (germen, as in ‘germ’ or ‘seed’ ) & the Earth’s Fruit for the surviving Remnant; and He will tabernacle among them. The Lord sings a Song & Parable of His Beloved Vineyard; Israel & the Jews were favored & cared for, but were unfruitful, so He will destroy them in exile, captivity, & death; then they’ll be humbled, & He alone exalted; and He will be against them. He will bring against His people the distant Gentiles to destroy Judah & Jerusalem.
Chapter 6 completes the introductory Visions. The Seer sees the enthroned majestic Lord in the year of Uzziah’s (Azariah’s) death and His Train (His Regal-Priestly processional Robe, the Shul, or His Glorious Skirt, the LXX has ‘doxës’ from ‘doxa’, ‘glory’) filled the Heavenly Temple. The Monarchy was coming to an end, but the Monarch of the Universe is seen in vision to reveal His reign & ministry. The Seraphs, like the Cherubs & Living Creatures, with 6 wings each, announced His Trine Holiness & Glory in all the earth. His Voice shakes the House & it was filled with smoke; Isaiah owns his sinful state along with the condition of Israel; but he is purged by fire & forgiven. The Lord seeks a Messenger to His people saying: “Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us:” Isaiah volunteers; he is sent with this Message: “Go, and tell this people, Hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not. Make the heart of this people fat, and 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.” The Prophet asks for how long? And he is told: “Until cities be waste without inhabitant, and houses without man, and the land become utterly waste, and Jehovah have removed men far away, and the forsaken places be many in the midst of the land. And if there be yet a tenth in it, it also shall in turn be eaten up: as a terebinth, and as an oak, whose stock remaineth, when they are felled; so the holy seed is the stock thereof.“ This then reveals the nature & duration of Isaiah’s ministry. In this divine service Isaiah is a true type of Jesus, and the Christ will fill up this prophecy in the fullest manner. The Prophets that came after Isaiah, like those before him, will share this messianic ministry, but its fulfillment will be in the Messiah. The Introduction now completed of the Vision will take up the unfolding of the Prophecy & Testimony of creation, Judgment, & Salvation; and the Land & People & Book will be manifest.
Chapters 7-13 treats the days of King Ahaz benJotham benUzziah (Azariah) in Prophecy & Type. The reader is reminded to keep one eye & ear on the Message revealed & charged to Isaiah in chapter 6. The reigns of Uzziah & Jotham & Ahaz are recorded in 2nd Kings 15-17 & 2nd Chronicles 26-28. Israel continued to degenerate from King Jeroboam I benNebat to Jeroboam II benJoash, so that the Lord was still determined to terminate the Northern Kingdom of Israel in Samaria, but He allowed a little reprieve by saving them from the Syrians by the hands of Jeroboam II, who reigned for 41 years. In the 27th year of Jeroboam’s reign, Uzziah commenced his reign in Judah in Jerusalem in the Southern Kingdom of Israel; and he reigned for 52 years, from age 15 to 68. He started his reign in a godly way, seeking the Lord during the ministry of the great Seer Zechariah, but later on he became self-willed to defile the Lord’s Altar & House, and became a leper. Uzziah’s grandfather Joash benAhaziah reigned during ministry & office of the Chief Priest Jehoiada who brought about a revival in the Southern Kingdom & influenced the Monarchy up to later years. The Northern & Southern Kingdoms continued in their enmity, depravity, & deals with each other. Jotham was a good King, but was not as great as his father Uzziah. His son Ahaz was very bad, going the corrupt way of the Northern Kingdom in Samaria. Syria confederate with Samaria invaded & afflicted Jerusalem in Judah. Ahaz in desperation turned to the Assyrians for salvation & protection, paying the Assyrians with the gold & silver from the Lord’s House & the King’s Palace. He also polluted the Altar & Temple in Jerusalem with the pollution of Samaria & Syria. In this state of idolatry, harlotry, & depravity Isaiah receives the visions & message from the Lord. The Lord tells Isaiah to prophesy to Ahaz that the northern confederacy of Samaria-Syria against Judah will come to nothing; but in 65 years Ephraim (Samaria) will come to an end. But the Lord desires to take this crisis & occasion to testify to His People of His great heart & intent. The Lord asks a Sign to be given to Ahaz, who refuses & excuses himself from tempting the Lord. The Lord in response, tired of their disobedience, gives the House of David the Sign of the Virgin’s Son Immanuel (God-with-us)): by the time the child grows old enough to refuse evil & choose good, then he will eat butter & honey; but before he becomes of that age the Land of both Kings (Samaria & Jerusalem) will be forsaken; and the days of the Assyrian King will replace the Monarchy. The Lord will bring the Egyptian Fly & Assyrian Bee to invade the land of Israel & Judah. The Lord will permit the Assyrian King to use a hired barber in Israel (far from the Euphrates River); a man shall have a young cow & two sheep that will produce plenty of butter, along honey, for the small remnant in the land; 1,000 vines at 1,000 silver shekels will instead have briers & thorns; an empty barren land for a hunter with bow, good only for oxen & sheep.
This is the Sign given to King Ahaz by Isaiah, to confuse & snare him; a sign of dreadful judgment on Judah, in accordance to chapter 6 as we have indicated to the reader. But the Lord is not done. He tells Isaiah to write on a tablet the Name: Maher-shalal-hash-baz (Speedy-Spoil-Quick-Prey); recorded with witnesses; and after his prophetess wife became pregnant & gave birth to a son, name him with this Name: even before the child is old enough to say “my Mother, my Father, ” the wealth of Damascus & the goods of Samaria will be transported before the Assyrian King. With this the Sign extends to the Northern Kingdom & confederacy; but the Lord is still not finished. The Jews, led by Ahaz, not content with the waters of Jerusalem found pleasure (appeasing them) in Syria & Samaria (Rezin & Pekah), so the Lord will bring the waters of the Assyrian King against the North & South of Israel, against Syria, Samaria & Judah: against Immanuel’s Land; and all peoples will hear of it, and will respond in awe: God-is-with-us (Immanuel). Isaiah explains: “For Jehovah spake thus to me with a strong hand, and instructed me not to walk in the way of this people, saying, Say ye not, A conspiracy, concerning all whereof this people shall say, A conspiracy; neither fear ye their fear, nor be in dread [thereof]. Jehovah of hosts, Him shall ye sanctify; and let Him be your Fear, and let Him be your Dread. And He shall be for a Sanctuary; but for a Stone of stumbling and for a Rock of offence to both the houses of Israel, for a Gin and for a Snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. And many shall stumble thereon, and fall, and be broken, and be snared, and be taken. Bind thou up the Testimony, seal the Law among My disciples. And I will wait for Jehovah, That hideth His face from the house of Jacob, and I will look for Him. Behold, I and the children whom Jehovah hath given Me are for signs and for wonders in Israel from Jehovah of hosts, who dwelleth in mount Zion. And when they shall say unto you, Seek unto them that have familiar spirits and unto the wizards, that chirp and that mutter: should not a people seek unto their God? on behalf of the living [should they seek] unto the dead? To the law and to the testimony! if they speak not according to this word, surely there is no morning for them. And they shall pass through it, sore distressed and hungry; and it shall come to pass that, when they shall be hungry, they shall fret themselves, and curse by their King and by their God, and turn their faces upward: and they shall look unto the earth, and behold, distress and darkness, the gloom of anguish; and into thick darkness [they shall be] driven away.”
The Lord is still not done: The Northern Kingdom of Samaria in the place around the Sea of Galilee of the Gentiles in the tribes of Zebulon & Naphtali west of the Jordan River, though in darkness & death will see a Great Light shining; and the Lord will save His people & judge the enemy as He did with Midian (from Moses to David). Isaiah continues his Prophecy of the Vision of the Virgin’s Son as the most exalted Monarch on David’s Throne & Kingdom, with the Divine Manifold Name, ruling forever by God’s determination. The Prophet returns to the Lord’s judgment on the Northern Confederacy and His intent to disrupt & ruin it. He will judge in anger & fury His people from head to tail, from leaders to common folks; for all are corrupt & depraved. The Prophet continues the divine incrimination against Israel, and justification of the Assyrian invasion; who in pride seek to expand & exploit his power against distant lands & kingdoms; and who exalts his idols above the gods & idols of all peoples. The Assyrian King is mere boastful Axe or Rod or Staff against the Lord the Wielder. The Lord will destroy the land & people of Israel; but He will preserve a Remnant to the House of Jacob for Himself. For this reason His people should have hope, for the judgment will only be for a short time. The Enemy will advance in conquest over the land & the people of Israel; he will assault the cities of Judah; Aiath or Ai till he stops at Nob, city of priests, near Jerusalem. But the Lord will intervene. How? The Shoot or Rod & Branch (Netzer) of Jesse with the sevenfold Spirit of the Lord Who as Israel’s Savior & God’s Messiah, Who will care for His for His people as a Shepherd, He will subdue the earth & the nations in it. Knowledge of the Lord God will spread throughout the earth; He will again rescue His people from their Captivity in all the nations, as in the Exodus from Egypt; and will place the Ensign for the Gentiles, regather & restore Israel, and return the Jews to their land. Messiah as the Root (Shoresh) of Jesse will be Ensign for Israel & Gentiles. Ephraim & Judah will be reconciled on both sides of the Jordan River; and He will divide the Nile at its mouth; He will dry the Euphrates. Dividing it into seven streams at its mouth, making a highway for the returning Exiles as in the Exodus. When He accomplishes this salvation both His People & all the Nations will worship Him, and exalt His Name, and sing His praises, even the Holy One of Israel.
Chapters 13-23-27-35. The Prophet introduces the Burdens (Massah), starting with Babylon & ending with Tyre in this section proper, then continues till the days of Hezekiah. The idea of the load that was carried on the backs of donkeys or on the shoulders of men is used also as the message that burdens the messenger or prophet; thus the burden becomes the message, the stuff becomes the oracle. It was used in the priesthood of the Tabernacle & Temple service of Moses & Aaron, along with those who shared their duties & responsibilities. It was seen in what was offered in sacrifices, what was carried & given. Moses as God’s mouthpiece or prophet, and Aaron as Moses’ spokesman or prophet, carried the responsibility or burden for the Lord and for the people. The Burden was the Word or Message from God to People. As with the Vision concerning Judah & Jerusalem, of Samaria & Israel, so too the Burden & Oracle concerning the Gentiles is for the chosen people & all peoples (the Gentiles). The Prophets like the Priests & Rulers or Judges will have the ministry & burden to reveal the Lord’s Word to the people. Babylon will be the foremost of the burdens. The Lord of Hosts, as General & Supreme Commander-Chief of the armies & universe, is positioning Babylon as an Imperial Power to destroy & subjugate all kingdoms & peoples to its will & service. Babylon is an Ensign to all nations & to Israel in warfare & power. But once Babylon is used to judge the nations, then they too must be judged for their evil & ways; so the Lord will position the Medes to destroy Babylon in turn. Babylon the beauty of the Chaldeans will become like Sodom & Gomorrah, completely desolated as city.
But the Lord will remember His people, He will save them, He will return them to their land; and He will cause them to rule over those who held them captives; He will reverse all His judgment & curse on them; He will make them rejoice over Babylon the Great with parable & song of destruction. Isaiah in spirit continues his Burden of Babylon: Lucifer (Latin, Light-bearer (as Christopher is Christ-bearer) rendering of the Hebrew: Helel ‘Light-bearer, Shining-one, Daystar, Morning-sun, Dawn, Daybreak, Lightning, etc.’; whence ‘Hillel’ the Elder, the Great, the Babli (of Babel, Babylonian) was named; from Halal, ‘shine’ & like Halal, ‘praise’ as in HalleluJah.) is cast out of Heaven & thrown down to Hell (Sheol) in shame & contempt; lower than all other kings of the nations. Babylon will be utterly destroyed of name & remnant; afterwards will the power & burden of the Assyrian be broken in Israel by the Lord’s judgment. The news will be: `the Lord has founded & reestablished Zion: in her the afflicted remnant of His People find refuge & salvation.’
The Burden of Moab follows in like manner; judgment on her is severe, and her ruin is quick & sorrowful; her cities desolated; even her borders are crying for the blood shed all around; the remnant too is not spared. From Heshbon in the north to Zoar in the south, and the Arnon River in between, from its northern borders with Ammon with Reuben & Gad to the south shared with Edom, the land east of the Dead Sea, all of Moab is to be destroyed by Babylon. The Moabite refugees will seek safety in Israel & border nations, but to no avail. The Lord has been saying this for a long while, but now predicts that within three years Moab will be reduced to a very small remnant.
The Burden of Damascus of Syria comes next: The city will be destroyed, like the cities of Aroer of Moab, like the fortress of Ephraim of the Northern Kingdom; the Kingdom of Damascus & the remnant of Syria will be as the glory of Israel & Jacob: made few lean, as harvest in a famine. Men will then look to God their Maker & Savior, and they’ll turn away from their idols. As they have done to His people so it will be done to them: they’ll reap what they sow. Even distant Ethiopia, merchants of the sea, who traded with the nations, are subject Assyria & Babylon. In the midst of war & conquest the Lord sees His dwelling-place in ruin; and the Assyrian will appease the Lord in Zion.
The Burden of Egypt: The Lord will visit Egypt & terrify their idols; He will cause the Egyptians to fight Egyptians in confusion & chaos with all their idolatry & witchcraft. Egypt will be conquered & diminished, subservient even to Canaan & to Israel; their land will be unproductive, including the Nile. The leaders & rulers & scholars of Egypt will all become stupid; they cannot understand what the Lord is doing against Egypt in reducing them to perversity, drunkenness, & anxiety. Judah will traumatize Egypt because of the Lord’s judgment. The Egyptians will worship the Lord subservient to Canaan & Judah; the city of destruction will exist with the Lord’s Altar & Pillar in Egypt to be a Sign & Witness to Him; they will cry to Him as oppressed, and He will send help & a Savior. The Lord will know them, and they will know Him; He will be worshipped, appeased, and will be entreated, and they will be healed in their punishment. A Highway from Egypt to Assyria will be made, the Assyrian & the Egyptian will visit each other, they will worship the Lord together. Israel will be a third member as a blessing in the earth, for the Lord has blessed them saying: “Blessed be Egypt My people, and Assyria the work of My hands, and Israel Mine inheritance.” In the year that the King of Assyria sent Tartan to conquer Ashdod, the Lord told Isaiah benAmoz to go about naked & barefoot for three years, to be a sign & wonder to Egypt & Ethiopia; that they too will be led away captive by the Assyrian in shame: because they trusted in themselves. The coastlands also will be shocked & afraid of the Assyrian.
The Burden of the Wilderness of the Sea: The Prophet-Seer sees a Whirlwind in the Southern Desert from a Land of Terror: Grievous Vision: `the treacherous are treacherous, and the destroyer destroys`; Elam & Media make war; come destroy Babylon with her idols! The Lord will thresh the grain of His people.
The Burden of Dumah of Seir or Edom: Watchman of Seir: `what is coming? The watchman said: morning comes then the night; go & return to inquire again.`
The Burden of Arabia: The Arabians, and the remnants & refugees of Israel, Moab, Syria, will not escape war; rather within one year their glory will fail.
The Burden of the Valley of Vision: The city is in terror, looking & hiding anywhere & everywhere from the housetop to neighboring countries. The destruction of the Daughter of Israel & Judah has come, a treading of the Lord’s feet in the Valley of Vision; Elam & Kir will invade in the valleys, in Judah, in the City of David by Jerusalem’s pools; houses will be torn apart to fortify the walls of Jerusalem; & water will be stored in the city. The Jews trust in their plans & preparations and not in the Lord Who is determined to judge them. The Lord will call for sorrow & suffering in the day of war & calamity & death; saying: “Surely this iniquity shall not be forgiven you till ye die, saith the Lord, Jehovah of Hosts.“ Go ask Shebna the Scribe why he prepares his burial place since he will be violently discarded by the Lord as a shameful thing thrown out of office in dishonor. But the Lord will put the royal robe & girdle on His servant Eliakim benHilkiah the Chief House Steward, the Government will be in his hand; he will be a Father to Jerusalem’s citizens & Judah’s House: “And the Key of the House of David will I lay upon his shoulder; and he shall open, and none shall shut; and he shall shut, and none shall open. And I will fasten him as a Nail in a sure place; and he shall be for a Throne of glory to his father’s House. And they shall hang upon him all the glory of his father’s house, the offspring and the issue, every small vessel, from the cups even to all the flagons. In that day, saith Jehovah of Hosts, shall the Nail that was fastened in a sure place give way; and it shall be hewn down, and fall; and the Burden that was upon it shall be cut off; for Jehovah hath spoken it.“ This too prefigures the Way of Messiah.
The Burden of Tyre: The ships of Tarshish (Spain) destroyed, the land of Kittim (Island of Cyprus of the ancient Phoenicians) deserted, the merchant coasts of Sidon of the Great Sea will cease all trade with the nations & Shihor’s grain harvest of the Nile trade. Sidon will be shamed; Egypt will be depressed at the news of Tyre; from Tarshish in the west to the seacoasts of Sidon & Tyre of the Phoenicians will be tears & agony. The Lord will destroy the Merchant Sea City with all its glory & pride, even to the Nile of Egypt. The Lord is bringing judgment on the Kingdoms of Phoenicia & Canaan (Palestine), they will have no joy or peace. The land of the Chaldeans & Assyrians, the people of Babylonia in the land of Shinar will invade & conquer the nations along the coasts of the Great Sea (Mediterranean Sea). And Isaiah predicts: “And it shall come to pass in that day, that Tyre shall be forgotten seventy (70) years, according to the days of One King: after the end of seventy (70) years it shall be unto Tyre as in the Song of the Harlot. Take a harp, go about the city, thou Harlot that hast been forgotten; make sweet melody, sing many songs, that thou mayest be remembered. And it shall come to pass after the end of seventy (70) years, that Jehovah will visit Tyre, and she shall return to her hire, and shall Play the Harlot with all the Kingdoms of the World upon the face of the earth. And her merchandise and her hire shall be Holiness to Jehovah: it shall not be treasured nor laid up; for her merchandise shall be for them that dwell before Jehovah, to eat sufficiently, and for durable clothing.“ (This will become a model for future prophets & prophecy.)
The Burdens have ended properly, but the relevant & related prophetic doctrines, as reflective on His people, must continue in chapters 24-27-35. The Lord will bring devastation & ruin to the world, to all the peoples of the earth, to all classes of society; all is destroyed ‘because they have transgressed the laws, violated the statutes, broken the everlasting covenant.’ Both country & city are desolated & wasted as a shaken Olive Tree, as Gleanings after Harvest. The Lord’s Name will be glorified in the sea, and the east and the isles; from distant lands songs of glory: “But I said, I pine away, I pine away, woe is me! the treacherous have dealt treacherously; yea, the treacherous have dealt very treacherously. Fear, and the pit, and the snare, are upon thee, O inhabitant of the earth.” Therefore they shall not escape the enemy of their fear; the Lord will punish them, He will make them prisoners of war; a confused moon & a embarrassed sun will witness His ‘reign in mount Zion, and in Jerusalem; and before His Elders shall be glory.‘ Isaiah sighs: The Lord God’s Name be praised for His wonders, faithfulness, & truth; for His judgments make His people glorify Him, and the nations fear Him; for He is a Fortress & Refuge for the poor. He will deal with the strangers, the invaders, the peoples, and the Gentiles. He will swallow death, dry the tears, and remove reproach; those who wait for Him will be saved in joy. In His Mount Moab will be trodden as straw of the dunghill; he will not escape in pride, but be brought low.
The Prophet continues: In the Day of Salvation they will sing a new Song in the land of Judah: Our City is strong; He makes the walls & fortifications; open the gates for the faithful righteous nation; Yu give perfect peace to believers; he is the Everlasting Rock, He humbles the proud; the poor & needy will tread the ground; the upright are led by the Upright God in the way of His judgments; we wait for Him in His Name & memorial. I desire Thee with my soul, my spirit seeks Thee; favor to the wicked does not teach them righteousness, he continues doing wrong, he sees not the Lord’s majesty. Lord Thy uplifted hand they see not, they will see Thy zeal for Thy people; they’ll be shamed & consumed as adversaries. Thou ordained our peace, and work our works; other lords have ruled over us, but we will only mention Yur Name; they shall die in Yur visitation. Yu increased the nation, Thou art glorified; our borders are enlarged; they turn & pray to Thee in trouble & discipline; as a pregnant woman in labor, not giving birth, the world unchanged. The dead will live, their bodies resurrected; the resurrected sing as dew on herbs. “Come, my people, enter thou into thy chambers, and shut thy doors about thee: hide thyself for a little moment, until the indignation be overpass. For, behold, Jehovah cometh forth out of His Place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity: the earth also shall disclose her blood, and shall no more cover her slain.“
“In that day: A vineyard of wine, sing ye unto it: I Jehovah am its Keeper; I will water it every moment: lest any hurt it, I will keep it night and day. Wrath is not in Me: would that the briers and thorns were against Me in battle! I would march upon them; I would burn them together. Or else let him take hold of My strength, that he may make peace with Me; [yea], let him make peace with Me.” Then will Jacob take root, Israel blossom & bud; they’ll fill the world with fruit. He smites the smite, He slays the slayer; he repays them; He removes the by the east wind. Jacob’s iniquity is forgiven, sin removed; the altar destroyed, the Asherim idols demolished. The fortified city deserted, as withered boughs, women’s firewood; senseless people without His favor. “And it shall come to pass in that day, that Jehovah will beat off [his fruit] from the flood of the River unto the brook of Egypt; and ye shall be gathered one by one, O ye children of Israel. And it shall come to pass in that day, that a great trumpet shall be blown; and they shall come that were ready to perish in the land of Assyria, and they that were outcasts in the land of Egypt; and they shall worship Jehovah in the Holy Mountain at Jerusalem.“
We have concluded Isaiah’s prophetic reflections on the Burdens given earlier; their remains the woes & judgment related to the invasion & conquest up to Hezekiah: Chapters 28-35: “Woe to the Crown of Pride of the Drunkards of Ephraim, and to the Fading Flower of his Glorious Beauty, which is on the head of the Fat Valley of them that are overcome with wine!“ The Lord, the Mighty & Strong One, as a Tempest of Hail, a Destroying Storm, Raging Storm, assaults the earth; He will trodden the Crown of Pride of Ephraim, His Fading Flower of His Glorious Beauty on the Head of the Fat Valley, as the First-Ripe Fig before summer which He picks & eats. In that day He will be a Crown of Glory & Diadem of Beauty to the Remnant of His people; a Spirit of Justice in judgment, Strength to the defenders at the gate. The priest & prophet reel & stagger as drunks, in vision & judgment; all is filthy. The Prophet then asks: “Whom will He teach knowledge? and whom will He make to understand the message? them that are weaned from the milk, and drawn from the breasts? For it is precept upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, there a little. Nay, but by [men of] strange lips and with another tongue will He speak to this people; to whom He said, This is the rest, give ye rest to him that is weary; and this is the refreshing: yet they would not hear. Therefore shall the Word of Jehovah be unto them precept upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, there a little; that they may go, and fall backward, and be broken, and snared, and taken.“ He speaks against the leaders & rulers of Jerusalem as scoffers, covenanting with death & hell, taking refuge in lies, hiding under falsehood. “Behold, I lay in Zion for a Foundation a Stone, a Tried Stone, a Precious Corner -[Stone] of Sure Foundation: he that believeth shall not be in haste (shame).“ The Lord will make line of justice & the plummet of righteousness, daily new news, the message painful to understand; the bed is too short for sleep, the sheet too small to cover with. The Lord will rise as in Mt. Perazim (Baal-Perazim with Joshua), rage as in Valley of Gibeon (with Joshua & David): strange miracles. The Lord decree of destruction is temporary, He will thresh for a while then cease; He is wonderful & wise.
The Prophecy & Testimony of Woes continues: Ariel, Ariel, City of David’s Camp: The Lord will distress Ariel, they will mourn & lament, He will encamp & besiege it; till He reduce her to nothing, as those who secretly practice witchcraft; her foes will be as dust, the invaders as chaff: many, quick, fast, & cruel. He will visit her with thunder, earthquake, storm, whirlwind, & flames of devouring fire; those nations who war against Ariel will pass as a night dream; as a hungry man dreams of eating but awakens hungry, or drinks but awakens thirsty & faint. The Lord has poured on them a spirit of deep sleep, on the prophets, leaders, & seers: “And all Vision is become unto you as the Words of a Book that is Sealed, which men deliver to one that is learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee; and he saith, I cannot, for it is sealed: and the Book is delivered to him that is not learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee; and he saith, I am not learned. And the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw nigh [unto Me], and with their mouth and with their lips to honor Me, but have removed their heart far from Me, and their fear of Me is a commandment of men which hath been taught [them]; therefore, behold, I will proceed to do a Marvellous Work among this people, even a Marvellous Work and a Wonder; and the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the understanding of their prudent men shall be hid. Woe to those who hide counsel from the Lord, who work hidden in the dark; they think that the Potter is as the Clay, they mock saying the thing formed is as He Who formed it without understanding; but soon Lebanon will become fruitful, become as a forest: “And in that day shall the deaf hear the Words of the Book, and the eyes of the blind shall see out of obscurity and out of darkness. The meek also shall increase their joy in Jehovah, and the poor among men shall rejoice in the Holy One of Israel. For the terrible one is brought to nought, and the scoffer ceaseth, and all they that watch for iniquity are cut off; that make a man an offender in [his] cause, and lay a snare for him that reproveth in the gate, and turn aside the just with a thing of nought.“ The Lord Who redeemed Abraham instructs the House of Jacob: he will not be shamed, his children will sanctify the Lord’s Name, the Holy One of Jacob the awesome God of Israel. The wayward in spirit will understand, and the complainers will be instructed.
The Prophecy & Testimony continues: “Woe to the rebellious children, saith Jehovah, that take counsel, but not of Me; and that make a league, but not of My Spirit, that they may add sin to sin, that set out to go down into Egypt, and have not asked at my mouth; to strengthen themselves in the strength of Pharaoh, and to take refuge in the shadow of Egypt!” They will be your shame & confusion; their princes of Zoan (Tanis, Ramses, Rameses, in Goshen of East Nile Delta in north Lower Egypt near the Great Sea; see Exodus 1 & 12; from Jerusalem some 250 miles) & their ambassadors of Hanes (south Upper Egypt above the 1st Cataract, perhaps Heracleopolis; ?; Tanis to Hanes some 200 miles); useless shameful refuge. The Burden of the Beasts of the South (Negeb, Negev, Wilderness, Desert, Arabah, between north Egypt & Sinai Peninsula & south Judah, east of the south Dead Sea): Through the land of lions & snakes in peril with loaded donkeys to an unprofitable people; Egypt is helpless as Rahab sitting still (as a waiting harlot or monster). “Now go, write it before them on a tablet, and inscribe it in a book, that it may be for the time to come for ever and ever. For it is a rebellious people, lying children, children that will not hear the law of Jehovah; that say to the seers, See not; and to the prophets, Prophesy not unto us right things, speak unto us smooth things, prophesy deceits, get you out of the way, turn aside out of the path, cause the Holy One of Israel to cease from before us.“ As you sow shall you reap, as a broken useless potter’s vessel; but you refuse to return to be saved; you chose to flee on swift horses, so your pursuers will be swift: 1,000 of you will flee at one of them; 5 of them will chase all of you, till you are a mountain Beacon & Ensign on a hill. But the Lord will wait to be gracious & merciful & just; blessed are those who wait for Him (see Psalm 1 & 2); the people will dwell in Jerusalem’s Zion, without tears, heard by God. The bread of adversity & water of affliction for teachers in your midst no longer hiding; you will hear the word: “This is the way, walk ye in it; when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left.“ The Jews will abolish all idols as unclean; the Lord will give rain for sowing seed, surplus bread, & cattle will feed in large pastures; oxen & donkeys will eat harvested grain; mountains & hills will have streams in wartime; moon will shine as the sun, the sun shine 7 times greater in the day of the Lord’s deliverance. The Lord’s Name comes from afar with anger, indignation, & blazing flames & storms; as a flood to sift the Gentiles & bridle the jaws of the peoples. Jews, with festive songs will celebrate & worship the Lord, the Rock of Israel; His glorious voice heard midst great rage, the Assyrian dismayed by His Rod; His people will celebrate His vengeance; Topheth (Death, Hell, Dump, Fires, Gehenna) is prepared & enlarged for the king, as firewood & brimstone kindled by the Lord’s breath.
The Prophecy continues: Woe to the Jews going to Egypt for help, trusting in many horses & riders. He will bring evil against the evil; against the Egyptians & against those who seek their help; He is as a Lion with his prey, many shepherds will not frighten him; so He comes against Zion. As Birds hover, so He protects Jerusalem; turn to Him Who you rebelled against. Israel will toss away her idols of sin; the Assyrian will be divinely slain, & confounded; “his rock shall pass away by reason of terror, and his princes shall be dismayed at the ensign, saith Jehovah, whose fire is in Zion, and His furnace in Jerusalem.“ King & princes rule in righteousness; man is as shelter, cover, streams, & shade; eyes bright, ears listen, heart understand, tongue stammers not; but the fool speak folly, his heart wicked against the Lord, to starve & famish others; but the noble abide. Women, mothers & daughters, listen in dread: harvest will not come, nothing to do but mourn naked & in pain destitute. The land will be desolate, city sad, palace forsaken; all is a wilderness & home for wild animals; till the Spirit makes the wilderness fruitful as forest; justice & righteousness abounds in peace, quietness, & confidence; His people live in peace & quietness; but in hail the city is destroyed; blessed are the sowers by the waters with livestock. Woe to the destroyer & treacherous, you will be repaid. Lord be gracious to us, our Arm in the morn, our Salvation in trouble. The news of war causes the people to run away, nations scattered, spoils plundered. The Lord is exalted on High; He fills Zion with justice & righteousness, stability, salvation, wisdom, knowledge: His Fear is yur Treasure. The valiant cry & ambassadors weep, highways waste without travelers; covenant is broken & cities despised; the land mourns, Lebanon withers, Sharon as desert, & Bashan & Carmel shaken (all Samaria of the Northern Kingdom). The Lord rises in His exaltation; but you shall conceive calf & give birth to stubble to consume yourself in your flames, one & all. Hear distant people of My Acts; Zion sinners be afraid, godless tremble; who will survive the flames? The godly will survive & flourish, he will on high be protected by rocks, with bread & water. Yur eyes will see the King in His beauty, see distant land, muse on terror; & where is the scribe? Yu will not see the invader; Zion is in solemnities, Jerusalem in peace & safety. The Lord is our Judge, Lawgiver, King & Savior; the seamen will be spoiled by the lame; people are healthy & their sins forgiven. Isaiah continues the Testimony: Listen: nations, peoples, earth, & world: the Lord is indignant against Gentiles & destroyed them; their slaughtered are thrown away, stench & blood. The heavens dissolved & rolled as a scroll, as fading leaves: “For My Sword hath drunk its fill in heaven: behold, it shall come down upon Edom, and upon the people of My Curse, to judgment.“ The Lord’s Sword is satiated with blood, His Sacrifice in Bozrah & Edom (south of the Dead Sea); the Lord’s Day of Vengeance for Zion; streams into pitch, dust into brimstone, & country into flames; unquenchable smoke for many generations & forever. Wild animals will possess it; He will measure it, without the kingdom’s nobles & princes; it will be a wilderness & desert for only beasts like snakes & hawks. “Seek ye out of the Book of Jehovah, and read: no one of these shall be missing, none shall want her mate; for my (Isaiah’s) mouth, it (the Book) hath commanded, and His Spirit, it hath gathered them. And He hath cast the lot for them, and His hand hath divided it unto them by line: they shall possess it forever; from generation to generation shall they dwell therein.“ Isaiah continues: The wilderness & desert will be fertile, with celebration, with Lebanon’s glory & the excellency of Carmel & Sharon (the mountains of Carmel & the Plains of Sharon in Israel or Samaria of the northern Kingdom): “they shall see the glory of Jehovah, the excellency of our God. Strengthen ye the weak hands, and confirm the feeble knees. Say to them that are of a fearful heart, Be strong, fear not: behold, your God will come [with] vengeance, [with] the recompense of God; He will come and save you. Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. Then shall the lame man leap as a hart, and the tongue of the dumb shall sing; for in the wilderness shall waters break out, and streams in the desert. And the glowing sand shall become a pool, and the thirsty ground springs of water: in the habitation of jackals, where they lay, shall be grass with reeds and rushes. And a highway shall be there, and a way, and it shall be called The Way of Holiness; the unclean shall not pass over it; but is shall be for [the Redeemed]: the wayfaring men, yea fools, shall not err [therein]. No lion shall be there, nor shall any ravenous beast go up thereon; they shall not be found there; but the Redeemed shall walk [there]: and the Ransomed of Jehovah shall return, and come with singing unto Zion; and everlasting joy shall be upon their heads: they shall obtain gladness and joy, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.” Thus concluded the section of Isaiah’s Reflections which followed & were relevant to the Burdens.
We reach the last section of Isaiah I (chapters 1-39); the chapters of this section are 36-39 related to the reign of Hezekiah: In the 14th year of King Hezekiah, Sennacherib King of Assyria invaded & captured the fortified cities of Judah; he sent Rabshakeh with a large army from Lachish (30 miles south of Jerusalem) to Jerusalem to King Hezekiah; who stood by the conduit of the upper pool in the highway of the Fuller’s Field. Eliakim benHilkiah the Household Overseer, Shebna the Scribe, & Joah benAsaph the Recorder came out to him; he told them to tell Hezekiah that the Great King of Assyria asks what is yur confidence yu trust? What is yur defense & alliance that yu rebel against me? Yu rely on Egypt & Pharaoh a Bruised Reed, when leaned on pierces the hand. But if yu trust in the Lord your God whose high places & altars Hezekiah removed & demand the Jews to worship only at Jerusalem’s altar. Now if yu guarantee riders, I will give yu 2,000 horses; if not, how can yu resist the least of one of the Assyrian’s Captains; the Lord sent me to destroy Judah. They asked him to speak to them in the Syrian (Aramaic, Assyrian) language, not in the Jew’s language (Hebrew or Canaanite); he replied that he was sent to tell all the Jews who eat their excrement & drink their urine, that the Assyrian King warns them not to be deceived by Hezekiah about trusting the Lord for salvation from the Assyrian conquest. Make peace with me in submission, eat from your vines & figs, & drink from your cistern; till I exile you to Assyria, a country like yours. Hezekiah is deceived, the Lord will not deliver you, just like the gods of the other nations did not stop the Assyrian King; not the gods of Hamath & Arpad (near Damascus), or of Sepharvaim (near Babylon) or Samaria (Israel, northern Kingdom); how can the Lord deliver Jerusalem out of my hand? They kept quite as Hezekiah had commanded them; they tore their clothes and reported these words to the King. King Hezekiah tore his clothes & put on sackcloth, and went into the Lord’s House. He sent those three to the Prophet Isaiah benAmoz to say: the day is disaster: it’s time to give birth but there is no strength; perhaps the Lord will hear the hear the words of Rabshakeh sent from the King of Assyria to defy the living God; and rebuke his words: so pray for the Remnant. Isaiah sent them back to the King with this reply: The Lord says: “Be not afraid of the words that thou hast heard, wherewith the servants of the King of Assyria have blasphemed Me. Behold, I will put a spirit in him, and he shall hear tidings, and shall return unto his own land; and I will cause him to fall by the sword in his own land.” So he returned to the King who had left Lachish to fight Libnah (about 5 miles apart); but he heard that King Tirhakah (some 500-1,000 miles distance to Jerusalem) of Ethiopia was advancing to war against him; so he sent messengers (angels, ambassadors, malakhim) to Hezekiah: warning him not to let the Lord God deceive him to resist & rebel; to remember the Assyrian King’s conquest of other nations, despite their gods: Gozan, Haran, Rezeph, Ben Eden in Telassar; Kings of Hamath, Arpad, Sepharvaim, Hena, & Ivvah (indicating the Assyrian expansion from Mesopotamia westward to Syria then southward to Canaan, Samaria, & Judah; the campaign followed the Euphrates-Tigris Rivers to the Rivers of Syria & Canaan, using trade routes; some 700-1,000 miles at 30 miles per day by foot). Hezekiah took & read their letter, he brought it into the Lord’s House, and unrolled it before the Lord: he prayed: “O Jehovah of Hosts, the God of Israel, That sittest [above] the cherubim, Thou art the God, even Thou alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth; Thou hast made heaven and earth. Incline Thine ear, O Jehovah, and hear; open Thine eyes, O Jehovah, and see; and hear all the words of Sennacherib, who hath sent to defy the living God. Of a truth, Jehovah, the kings of Assyria have laid waste all the countries, and their land, and have cast their gods into the fire: for they were no gods, but the work of men’s hands, wood and stone; therefore they have destroyed them. Now therefore, O Jehovah our God, save us from his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that Thou art Jehovah, even Thou only.” Isaiah replied to Hezekiah: “Thus saith Jehovah, the God of Israel, “Whereas thou hast prayed to Me against Sennacherib king of Assyria, this is the word which Jehovah hath spoken concerning him: The Virgin Daughter of Zion hath despised thee and laughed thee to scorn; the Daughter of Jerusalem hath shaken her head at thee. Whom hast thou defied and blasphemed? and against whom hast thou exalted thy voice and lifted up thine eyes on high? [even] against the Holy One of Israel. By thy servants hast thou defied the Lord, and hast said, With the multitude of my chariots am I come up to the height of the mountains, to the innermost parts of Lebanon; and I will cut down the tall cedars thereof, and the choice fir-trees thereof; and I will enter into its farthest height, the forest of its fruitful field; I have digged and drunk water, and with the sole of my feet will I dry up all the rivers of Egypt. Hast thou not heard how I have done it long ago, and formed it of ancient times? now have I brought it to pass, that it should be thine to lay waste fortified cities into ruinous heaps. Therefore their inhabitants were of small power, they were dismayed and confounded; they were as the grass of the field, and as the green herb, as the grass on the housetops, and as a field [of grain] before it is grown up. But I know thy sitting down, and thy going out, and thy coming in, and thy raging against Me. Because of thy raging against Me, and because thine arrogancy is come up into Mine Ears, therefore will I put My Hook in thy nose, and My Bridle in thy lips, and I will turn thee back by the way by which thou camest. And this shall be the Sign unto thee: ye shall eat this year that which groweth of itself, and in the second year that which springeth of the same; and in the third year sow ye, and reap, and plant vineyards, and eat the fruit thereof. And the Remnant that is escaped of the House of Judah shall again take root downward, and bear fruit upward. For out of Jerusalem shall go forth a Remnant, and out of mount Zion they that shall escape. The zeal of Jehovah of Hosts will perform this.” Therefore thus saith Jehovah concerning the king of Assyria, “He shall not come unto this city, nor shoot an arrow there, neither shall he come before it with shield, nor cast up a mound against it. By the way that he came, by the same shall he return, and he shall not come unto this city, saith Jehovah. For I will defend this city to save it, for Mine own sake, and for My servant David’s sake.” ‘The Lord’s Angel (Messenger) went & struck in the camp of the Assyrians 185,000; in the morning, these were all dead bodies. So Sennacherib King of Assyria departed, and returned, to Nineveh: as he was worshipping in the house of Nisroch his god, Adrammelech and Sharezer his sons struck him with the sword; and they escaped into the land of Ararat. And Esar-haddon his son reigned in his stead.
Isaiah continues with Hezekiah: (We read concerning Hezekiah in 2nd Kings 18-20 & 2nd Chronicles 29-32; & we learn that Hezekiah was enthroned at age 25 & ruled 29 years, dying at age 54 when his son Manasseh was age 12, so he was 42 when his son was born; & since his life was extended by 15 years, then 3 years before Manasseh’s birth he was age 40; so his terminal sickness occurred when he was 40.): King Hezekiah’s terminal illness: Prophet Isaiah’s visit: “Thus saith Jehovah, Set thy house in order; for thou shalt die, and not live. Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall, and prayed unto Jehovah, and said, Remember now, O Jehovah, I beseech Thee, how I have walked before Thee in truth and with a perfect heart, and have done that which is good in Thy sight. And Hezekiah wept sore. Then came the word of Jehovah to Isaiah, saying, Go, and say to Hezekiah, Thus saith Jehovah, the God of David thy father (regal ancestral father), I have heard thy prayer, I have seen thy tears: behold, I will add unto thy days fifteen (15) years. And I will deliver thee and this city out of the hand of the King of Assyria; and I will defend this city. And this shall be the Sign unto thee from Jehovah, that Jehovah will do this thing that he hath spoken: behold, I will cause the shadow on the steps (degrees, marks), which is gone down on the dial of Ahaz with the sun, to return backward ten steps (degrees, marks). So the sun returned ten steps (degrees, marks) on the dial whereon it was gone down. The writing (Prayer, Song, Poem) of Hezekiah King of Judah, when he had been sick, and was recovered of his sickness.”
“I said, In the noontide of my days I shall go into the Gates of Sheol (Hell, Death):
I am deprived of the residue of my years.
I said, I shall not see Jehovah, [even] Jehovah in the land of the living:
I shall behold man no more with the inhabitants of the world.
My dwelling is removed, and is carried away from me as a shepherd’s tent:
I have rolled up, like a weaver, my life; He will cut me off from the loom:
From day even to night wilt Thou make an end of me.
I quieted [myself] until morning; as a lion, so He breaketh all my bones:
From day even to night wilt Thou make an end of me.
Like a swallow [or] a crane, so did I chatter;
I did moan as a dove; mine eyes fail [with looking] upward:
O Lord, I am oppressed, be Thou my Surety.
What shall I say? He hath both spoken unto me, and Himself hath done it:
I shall go softly all my years because of the bitterness of my soul.
O Lord, by these things men live; And wholly therein is the life of my spirit:
Wherefore recover Thou me, and make me to live.
Behold, [it was] for [my] peace [that] I had great bitterness:
But Thou hast in love to my soul delivered it from the Pit of corruption;
For Thou hast cast all my sins behind Thy back.
For Sheol cannot praise Thee, Death cannot celebrate Thee:
They that go down into the Pit cannot hope for Thy truth.
The living, the living, he shall praise Thee, as I do this day:
The father to the children shall make known Thy truth.
Jehovah is [ready] to save me:
Therefore we will sing my Songs (Psalms, Hymns) with stringed instruments:
All the days of our life in the House of Jehovah.”
“Now Isaiah had said, Let them take a cake of figs, and lay it for a plaster upon the boil, and he shall recover. Hezekiah also had said, What is the Sign that I shall go up to the House of Jehovah?”
Isaiah One is concluded with chapter 39: Merodach-baladan benBaladan, Babylon’s King, hearing that Hezekiah recovered from sickness, sent him a letter & gift; he was glad, & showed him the treasures & property of the House (King’s Palace) & the Kingdom. Isaiah asked him of the visitors, what they said & saw; he replied that they came from Babylon, & I showed them everything in my House. Isaiah told him the Lord’s words: “Behold, the days are coming, when all that is in thy House, and that which thy fathers have laid up in store until this day, shall be carried to Babylon: nothing shall be left, saith Jehovah. And of thy sons that shall issue from thee, whom thou shalt beget, shall they take away; and they shall be eunuchs in the Palace (Royal House) of the King of Babylon. Then said Hezekiah unto Isaiah, Good is the word of Jehovah which thou hast spoken. He said moreover, For there shall be peace and truth in my days.“
We come to the Second Division, Isaiah Two, chapters 40-66, where we will see a change of focus & presentation, even a change of style. As we pointed out earlier, the First Division focused on the Old Testament People & Covenant as seen in the Old Testament; but now we will find a new emphasis of the New Testament of Messiah & His People.
Isaiah writes: “Comfort ye, comfort ye My people, saith your God Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem; and cry unto her, that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned, that she hath received of Jehovah’s hand double for all her sins. Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem; and cry unto her, that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned, that she hath received of Jehovah’s hand double for all her sins. The Voice of one that crieth, Prepare ye in the wilderness the way of Jehovah; make level in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low; and the uneven shall be made level, and the rough places a plain: and the Glory of Jehovah shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together; for the Mouth of Jehovah hath spoken it. The Voice of one saying, Cry. And one said, What shall I cry? All flesh is grass, and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field. The grass withereth, the flower fadeth, because the breath of Jehovah bloweth upon it; surely the people is grass. The grass withereth, the flower fadeth; but the Word of our God shall stand forever.” The bringer of good news to the Jews declares: “Behold, your God!” The Lord comes with power & reward, as a Shepherd shepherding His sheep. He is the Creator & Maker of the heavens & earth & all things; with the Spirit of wisdom & knowledge & righteousness. All nations are nothing compared to Him; idols are not His likeness & image; He is eternal, universal, omni-present, omniscient, all knowing, infinite, transcendent, majestic, omnipotent, & more. All things, all places, all peoples, Jews & Gentiles, Israel & mankind are His & He cares for all in general & particular, as a group or individual, one & all. “Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall: but they that wait for Jehovah shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; they shall walk, and not faint.”
Isaiah continues: Distant peoples to be silent & ready to enter judgment; the Lord raises from the distant east the conqueror of nations & kingdoms. He pursues them, He calls many generations; He is the Eternal, the world is awestruck: the idolaters & idol-makers. My servant Israel, elect Jacob, seed of My friend Abraham, the remnant gathered from all the nations. Listen to Me: “Fear thou not, for I am with thee; be not dismayed, for I am thy God; I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the Right Hand of My Righteousness. Behold, all they that are incensed against thee shall be put to shame and confounded: they that strive with thee shall be as nothing, and shall perish. Thou shalt seek them, and shalt not find them, even them that contend with thee: they that war against thee shall be as nothing, and as a thing of nought. For I, Jehovah thy God, will hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, Fear not; I will help thee. Fear not, thou worm Jacob, and ye men of Israel; I will help thee, saith Jehovah, and thy Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel. Behold, I have made thee [to be] a New Sharp Threshing Instrument having teeth; thou shalt thresh the mountains, and beat them small, and shalt make the hills as chaff. Thou shalt winnow them, and the wind shall carry them away, and the whirlwind shall scatter them; and thou shalt rejoice in Jehovah, thou shalt glory in the Holy One of Israel. The poor and needy seek water, and there is none, and their tongue faileth for thirst; I, Jehovah, will answer them, I, the God of Israel, will not forsake them. I will open rivers on the bare heights, and fountains in the midst of the valleys; I will make the wilderness a pool of water, and the dry land springs of water. I will put in the wilderness the cedar, the acacia, and the myrtle, and the oil-tree; I will set in the desert the fir-tree, the pine, and the box-tree together: that they may see, and know, and consider, and understand together, that the hand of Jehovah hath done this, and the Holy One of Israel hath created it. Produce your cause, saith Jehovah; bring forth your strong reasons, saith the King of Jacob. Let them bring forth, and declare unto Us what shall happen: declare ye the former things, what they are, that We may consider them, and know the latter end of them; or show us things to come. Declare the things that are to come hereafter, that We may know that ye are gods: yea, do good, or do evil, that We may be dismayed, and behold it together. Behold, ye are of nothing, and your work is of nought; an abomination is he that chooseth you. I have raised up one from the north, and he is come; from the rising of the sun one that calleth upon My Name: and he shall come upon rulers as upon mortar, and as the potter treadeth clay. Who hath declared it from the beginning, that We may know? and before time, that We may say, [He is] right? yea, there is none that declareth, yea, there is none that showeth, yea, there is none that heareth your words. [I am the] First [that saith] unto Zion, Behold, behold them; and I will give to Jerusalem one that bringeth good tidings. And when I look, there is no man: even among them there is no counsellor, that, when I ask of them, can answer a word.“
Isaiah continues his prophetic word from the Lord in the same style as above in chapters 40 & 41; and will continue so from chapters 42-66. It is one long prophetic monologue, dialogue, & narrative. We will need only to highlight & point out some interesting & critical doctrines, verses, & prophecies. Israel as the Servant of the Lord is the type of the Lord’s Servant, the Lord Messiah, and ideally what is said of Jacob is fulfilled in Christ, Who must take up into Himself all things as presented in Scripture. God desires a Man to execute His will, to exhibit His image, to life His life in human experience. A man like Adam was created, as seen in Abel, in Enoch, Noah, in the patriarchs (Abraham, Isaac, & Jacob), Joseph, Job, Moses Samuel, David, and countless others in part, greater or smaller, more dimly or brightly as it may be in each. Messiah must be a humble Servant, in righteousness & holiness. God will have His Man, and that Man will save His people & restore the land by the Book, that is, by His word, doctrine, & law; creating a Kingdom by His rule & way in the Holy Spirit. As the Lord God was to Israel, so to Messiah will be a Covenant to the People, and a Light to the Gentiles; for unlike the idols of mankind, He will bear the Name, Glory, & Praise of God. All this is new & different. Messiah’s world will be filled with divine praises & celebration, and the earth & world will exhibit His presence & power. All will be new, a new way for His people & mankind; and idolatry will cease because of Him and His righteousness, law & love. But He must first judge the world to save it.
The Lord Who creates, forms, calls, redeems, & preserves His favored people in all their struggles among all nations, seeks to restore them from their dispersion to their homeland. Israel is His Child, His children, distinct from all Gentiles in the world; chosen to witness of God among idolaters, that He alone is Creator, Savior, & Revealer in the universe. He Redeems Israel from Babylon as Creator & King; He creates new things to replace the old; He changes & governs Nature, the earth, & the world, and all in them. Yet all this has not endeared Him to His chosen people, who transgress in ingratitude of His love & forgiveness; therefore He must judge destroy His Sanctuary & His People. Listen to Me Servant Jacob & Chosen Israel: Jeshurun’s children will be redeemed & restored with spiritual blessings, and will be endeared to Me as the Lord God their King & Redeemer. He reveals things old & new that He alone knows; He alone is the Rock. All idol-makers will be ashamed of their useless gods & images; they are stupid, blind, dumb, & lifeless; those who make them are like them. Remember these things Jacob-Israel, you Jews, you servants of the Lord; His people will celebrate His redemption & salvation; Who puts idolaters to shame & confusion. He will confirm His Word, His promise concerning Jerusalem’s restoration by the decree of His Shepherd to rebuild the Temple. The Lord, Israel’s God, to His Anointed Cyrus: I will subdue nations before yu, I will prepare yur way, I will give yu the spoil of the nations; yu will know I have called & chosen yu though yu do not know Me. From the east to the west all will know that I alone is the Lord God; all creation will attest that I alone did this; and no one can question it. No one can resist Me; yu are My creation to do My will to restore My people, to rebuild My city freely, & to free My exiles. I will give yu Egypt, Ethiopia, the Sabeans (ancient Arabs), will submit to yu. “Verily Thou art a God that hidest Thyself, O God of Israel, the Saviour They shall be put to shame, yea, confounded, all of them; they shall go into confusion together that are makers of idols. [But] Israel shall be saved by Jehovah with an everlasting salvation: ye shall not be put to shame nor confounded world without end.“ The Lord God, the Creator, Founder, & Framer of the universe & world says: I have not hid from Israel that they would seek Me in vain; let the remnant come, let idolaters perish; God alone foretells & predetermines, & He is the Hope & Savior of all men; I have said it, My word will come true: all will worship & confess Me; the remnant will glory in Me.
It continues: Idols are carried about on donkeys, they go into captivity. Listen to Me Remnant of Israel, Jews that I preserved from birth to death, from cradle to coffin: What idol & image & likeness will you compare to Me? To idols of the Idol-makers of gold & silver? Remember Me, there is none like Me, you idolaters. My word shall come to pass: a Predatorial Bird from the east: the Man of My Counsel from a distant country; to bring My Righteousness, Salvation, & My Glory in Zion. To the Virgin Daughter of Babylon of the Chaldeans: From the Throne to the Ground you’ll sit, from luxury to poverty & nakedness, from feast to misery & captivity. The Mistress of Kingdoms sits quiet in darkness: I was angry with My people, I judged them by yu; yu showed them no mercy, young or old. Yu boast in pleasures, that yu are an untouchable queen, never to be a widow; but yu will become a widow because of yur idolatry & depravity & perverted conceit. Stand in the hour of calamity, see if yur boast & pride will deliver yu from destruction & calamity. House of Jacob named Israel, listen to Me: yu swear by My Name falsely, yu boast in the Holy City & in the Name of the Lord God of Hosts: I have disclosed to yu divine mysteries, ancient secrets, & hidden things, because I knew yur obstinate & conceited heart; now they come to pass against all yur treachery from yur birth to now. For My Name’s sake & My praise I will defer My anger & mitigate yur punishment; refined in the Furnace of Affliction for My Glory alone. Listen to Me: I am the First & Last, the Creator & Maker of all things; by His Love He brings the Destroyer against the Chaldean Babylon. I have called him, & prepared his way; come near & listen: “from the beginning I have not spoken in secret; from the time that it was, there am I: and now the Lord Jehovah hath sent Me, and His Spirit.“ To Israel He pleads: “Oh that thou hadst hearkened to my commandments! then had thy peace been as a river, and thy righteousness as the waves of the sea: thy seed also had been as the sand, and the offspring of thy bowels like the grains thereof: his name would not be cut off nor destroyed from before Me.“ Escape from Babylon of the Chaldees: with celebration singing declare the Lord has delivered His Servant Jacob; they were not thirsty in the desert; they drank from the Rock; there is no peace for the wicked.
“Listen, O Isles, unto me; and hearken, ye Peoples, from far: Jehovah hath called Me from the womb; from the bowels of My mother hath He made mention of My Name: and He hath made My Mouth like a Sharp Sword; in the Shadow of His Hand hath he hid Me: and He hath made Me a Polished Shaft; in His Quiver hath He kept Me close: and He said unto Me, Thou art My Servant; Israel, in whom I will be glorified. But I said, I have labored in vain, I have spent My strength for nought and vanity; yet surely the justice [due] to Me is with Jehovah, and My recompense with My God. And now saith Jehovah that formed Me from the womb to be His Servant, to bring Jacob again to Him, and that Israel be gathered unto Him (for I am Honorable in the Eyes of Jehovah, and My God is become My Strength); yea, He saith, It is too light a thing that Thou shouldest be My Servant to raise up the Tribes of Jacob, and to restore the Preserved of Israel: I will also give Thee for a Light to the Gentiles, that Thou mayest be My Salvation unto the end of the earth. Thus saith Jehovah, the Redeemer of Israel, [and] His Holy One, to Him Whom man despiseth, to Him Whom the nation abhorreth, to a Servant of Rulers: Kings shall see and arise; Princes, and they shall worship; because of Jehovah That is Faithful, [even] the Holy One of Israel, Who hath chosen Thee. Thus saith Jehovah, In an acceptable time have I answered Thee, and in a day of salvation have I helped Thee; and I will preserve Thee, and give Thee for a Covenant of the people, to raise up the land, to make them inherit the desolate heritages: saying to them that are bound, Go forth; to them that are in darkness, Show yourselves. They shall feed in the ways, and on all bare heights shall be their pasture. They shall not hunger nor thirst; neither shall the heat nor sun smite them: for He That hath mercy on them will lead them, even by springs of water will He guide them. And I will make all My mountains a way, and My highways shall be exalted. Lo, these shall come from far; and, these from the north and from the west; and these from the land of Sinim. Sing, Heavens; and be joyful, Earth; and break forth into singing, Mountains: for Jehovah hath comforted His People, and will have compassion upon His Afflicted.“ But Zion says: The Lord has forsaken & forgotten me; but not true, He can never forget, He has carved us in His Palms, as a nursing child. Open yur eyes to see all these gathered to yu to be yur clothing & ornament as a Bride; no longer desolate but overpopulated by the returned remnant. Yu will ask who has given birth to all these bereaved children in my exile. “Thus saith the Lord Jehovah, Behold, I will lift up My hand to the nations, and set up My Ensign to the peoples; and they shall bring thy sons in their bosom, and thy daughters shall be carried upon their shoulders. And Kings shall be thy nursing fathers, and their Queens thy nursing mothers: they shall bow down to thee with their faces to the earth, and lick the dust of thy feet; and thou shalt know that I am Jehovah; and they that wait for Me shall not be put to shame. Shall the prey be taken from the mighty, or the lawful captives be delivered? But thus saith Jehovah, Even the captives of the mighty shall be taken away, and the prey of the terrible shall be delivered; for I will contend with him that contendeth with thee, and I will save thy children. And I will feed them that oppress thee with their own flesh; and they shall be drunken with their own blood, as with sweet wine: and all flesh shall know that I, Jehovah, am thy Saviour, and thy Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.“
Isaiah continues now with a new prophetic emphasis concerning Messiah the Suffering Servant in chapters 50-55; then in chapters 56-66 we see a new people & a new creation. As we saw in Isaiah’s earlier chapters from 1-49, Messiah appears in various identifications & associations with Israel & the Gentiles; so too the Land & the Book appears in various connections & types. (Notice in chapter 50 the sudden emphatic change in the use of the pronouns, from singular (thee, thou, yu, yur) to plural (you, your, ye); then note Messiah sudden appearance & manifestations. These chapters should be read with remembrance of Palms 2 & the other Messianic Psalms. We will reflect on these & more after chapter 66.)
“Thus saith Jehovah, Where is the Bill of your Mother’s Divorcement, wherewith I have put her away? or which of my creditors is it to whom I have sold you? Behold, for your iniquities were ye sold, and for your transgressions was your Mother put away. Wherefore, when I came, was there no man? when I called, was there none to answer? Is My hand shortened at all, that it cannot redeem? or have I no power to deliver? Behold, at My rebuke I dry up the sea, I make the rivers a wilderness: their fish stink, because there is no water, and die for thirst. I clothe the heavens with blackness, and I make sackcloth their covering. The Lord Jehovah hath given Me the Tongue of them that are taught, that I may know how to sustain with Words him that is weary: He wakeneth morning by morning, He wakeneth mine ear to hear as they that are taught. The Lord Jehovah hath opened Mine Ear, and I was not rebellious, neither turned away backward. I gave My back to the smiters, and My Cheeks to them that plucked off the Hair; I hid not My Face from shame and spitting. For the Lord Jehovah will help Me; therefore have I not been confounded: therefore have I set My Face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be put to shame. He is near that justifieth Me; who will contend with Me? let us stand up together: who is Mine adversary? let him come near to Me. Behold, the Lord Jehovah will help Me; who is he that shall condemn Me? behold, all they shall wax old as a garment, the moth shall eat them up. Who is among you that feareth Jehovah, that obeyeth the voice of His Servant? he that walketh in darkness, and hath no light, let him trust in the Name of Jehovah, and rely upon his God. Behold, all ye that kindle a fire, that gird yourselves about with firebrands; walk ye in the flame of your fire, and among the brands that ye have kindled. This shall ye have of My hand; ye shall lie down in sorrow.“ Listen to Me you Righteous Seekers of the Lord: Remember the Rock & Pit of your Birth; to your Father Abraham & to your Mother Sarah; I called him alone & childless, & now he has countless children. The Lord has changed & comforted Zion from ruin to prosperity, from waste & wilderness to a Garden of Eden with celebration. My Law will go forth, My Justice is Light to the Peoples, My Righteousness near, My Salvation spreads, My Arms judge the Peoples; near & far they will trust in Me. Heaven & earth shall pass away, but my Salvation & Righteousness abide forever. Listen to Me you Righteous with My Law in your hearts: Fear not the ungodly & the wicked, My salvation & righteousness abide all generations. Awake & Rise Arm of the Lord, as in the days & generations of ancient times; when Rahab the Monster was pierced; when the Sea was parted for the Redeemed.
The Lord’s Ransomed will return to Zion with rejoiceful singing without sorrow; be not afraid of mortal man; remember the Lord Maker & Creator; fear not the oppressor; captivity will end. I am the Lord yur God, Who governs nature & the world; I give My words, I cover yu with the shadow of My Hand; Zion yu are Mine. Awake Jerusalem, drunken by the Lord’s Cup of Wrath; yu are bereaved of children, deprived of comfort; but soon I will take yur cup and give it to yur persecutors & subjugators. Awake Zion in strength, Jerusalem in beauty: the Holy City; no longer to be defiled by the ungodly; remove yur shackles; yu were sold for nothing & redeemed without price. My people visited Egypt, & the Assyrian oppressed them for no reason; captured & exiled them; & blasphemed My Name. In that day My people will know My Name: “How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace, that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation, that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth! The voice of thy watchmen! they lift up the voice, together do they sing; for they shall see eye to eye, when Jehovah returneth to Zion. Break forth into joy, sing together, ye waste places of Jerusalem; for Jehovah hath comforted His people, He hath redeemed Jerusalem. Jehovah hath made bare His Holy Arm in the eyes of all the Nations; and all the ends of the earth have seen the Salvation of our God. Depart ye, depart ye, go ye out from thence, touch no unclean thing; go ye out of the midst of her; cleanse yourselves, ye that bear the vessels of Jehovah. For ye shall not go out in haste, neither shall ye go by flight: for Jehovah will go before you; and the God of Israel will be your rearward. Behold, My Servant shall deal wisely, He shall be exalted and lifted up, and shall be very high. Like as many were astonished at Thee (His visage was so marred more than any man, and His form more than the sons of men), so shall He sprinkle many Nations; Kings shall shut their mouths at Him: for that which had not been told them shall they see; and that which they had not heard shall they understand.“
Isaiah continues, [weeping as he writes] concerning the Arm & Servant of the Lord Who suffers & saves: “Who hath believed our Message (Gospel & Revelation & News)? and to whom hath the Arm of Jehovah been revealed? For He grew up before Him as a Tender Plant, and as a Root out of a Dry Ground: He hath no form nor comeliness; and when we see Him, there is No Beauty that we should desire Him. He was despised, and rejected of men; a Man of Sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and as One from Whom men hide their face He was despised; and we esteemed Him not. Surely He hath borne our Griefs, and carried our Sorrows; yet we did esteem Him stricken, Smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was Wounded for Our Transgressions, He was Bruised for Our Iniquities; the Chastisement of Our Peace was upon Him; and with His Stripes we are Healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned everyone to his own way; and Jehovah hath laid on Him the Iniquity of Us All. He was oppressed, yet when he was afflicted He opened not His Mouth; as a Lamb That is led to the Slaughter, and as a Sheep That before Its shearers is Dumb, so He Opened Not His Mouth. By oppression and judgment He was taken away; and as for His generation, who [among them] considered that He was cut off out of the Land of the Living for the Transgression of My People to whom the stroke [was due]? And they made His Grave with the Wicked, and with a Rich Man in His Death; although He had done no violence, Neither was Any Deceit in His Mouth. Yet it pleased Jehovah to bruise Him; He hath put Him to grief: when Thou shalt make His Soul an Offering for Sin, He shall see [His] Seed, He shall prolong His Days, and the Pleasure of Jehovah shall prosper in His Hand. He shall see of the Travail of His Soul, [and] shall be satisfied: by the knowledge of Himself shall My Righteous Servant justify many; and He shall bear their iniquities. Therefore will I divide Him a portion with the Great, and He shall divide the spoil with the Strong; because He poured out His Soul unto Death, and was Numbered with the Transgressors: yet He bare the Sin of Many, and Made Intercession for the Transgressors.“
Isaiah concludes this Messianic section of the Suffering Messiah: Sing & rejoice Barren Woman for yur many Children; enlarge yur land & home for yur Seed which will possess the Gentiles & restore the land & rejuvenate the earth & save the world. Forget yur youthful shame & widowhood: the Lord of Hosts, yur Maker, is yur Husband, the Holy One of Israel, yur Redeemer; He is called the God of All the Earth. He has recalled yu as a God rejected, divorced, & forsaken Young Wife; but with great love, mercy, kindness, & grace, yur Redeemer has desired yu. As the Waters of Noah of the Great Flood never to be repeated, so the Lord will never ever again reject yu; or forget His Covenant of Peace & Mercy. No longer will yu be tossed away or about; yu will be decorated & adorned with precious stones, yur children taught of the Lord in peace & safety, established in righteousness, never again to be terrorized. I will fight against those who fight against yu; I determine warfare: “No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of Jehovah, and their righteousness which is of Me, saith Jehovah.“
We come to the final & closing prophetic section of the 2nd Isaiah, wherein Isaiah must bring the entire Prophecy & Testimony into one grand harmonious whole, and reveal a new people, new way, new order, & new creation.
“Ho, everyone that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread? and your labor for that which satisfieth not? hearken diligently unto Me, and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness. Incline your ear, and come unto Me; hear, and your soul shall live: and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the Sure Mercies of David. Behold, I have given Him for a Witness to the peoples, a Leader and Commander to the peoples. Behold, Thou shalt call a nation that Thou knowest not; and a nation that knew not Thee shall run unto Thee, because of Jehovah Thy God, and for the Holy One of Israel; for He hath glorified Thee. Seek ye Jehovah while He may be found; call ye upon Him while He is near: let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; and let him return unto Jehovah, and He will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon. For My Thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My Ways, saith Jehovah. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My Ways higher than your ways, and My Thoughts than your thoughts. For as the rain cometh down and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, and giveth seed to the sower and bread to the eater; so shall My Word be that goeth forth out of My Mouth: it shall not return unto Me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it. For ye shall go out with joy, and be led forth with peace: the mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing; and all the trees of the fields shall clap their hands. Instead of the thorn shall come up the fir-tree; and instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle-tree: and it shall be to Jehovah for a Name, for an Everlasting Sign that shall not be cut off.“
The Lord continues: Practice justice & righteousness; My salvation is coming; blessed is the sabbath-keeper, & abstains from evil; let not the foreigner or eunuchs lose hope in Me, who keep My sabbaths & do My will & keep My covenant: they will have Memorial & Name in My House better than sons & daughters; foreigners who come to Me, minister to Me, love My Name, keep My sabbaths & covenant will I bring to My Holy Mountain, joyful in My House of Prayer for All Peoples to worship & celebrate Me: the Lord regathers them with His own outcast of Israel. Let the wild animals feast; the watchmen are blind & stupid, like lazy dumb dogs; they are all drunks. He continues: The righteous are taken before calamity comes, to enter peace & rest; but children & seed of witchcraft & adultery & harlot are foolish & false offspring; drunks & murderers & idolaters & harlots & hellish. They never tire of evil, but are weary of Me without fear while I kept silent. Yur righteousness & works are worthless; cry to yur vanities, but let them who take refuge in Me possess the land & My Holy Mount. Prepare the way for My people without impediment. “For thus saith the High and Lofty One That inhabiteth eternity, Whose name is Holy: I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite. For I will not contend for ever, neither will I be always wroth; for the spirit would faint before Me, and the souls that I have made. For the iniquity of his covetousness was I wroth, and smote him; I hid [My face] and was wroth; and he went on backsliding in the way of his heart. I have seen his ways, and will heal him: I will lead him also, and restore comforts unto him and to his mourners. I create the fruit of the lips: Peace, peace, to him that is far off and to him that is near, saith Jehovah; and I will heal him. But the wicked are like the troubled sea; for it cannot rest, and its waters cast up mire and dirt. There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked.“
The Lord continues: Shout aloud My people’s transgression & sins; though they worship in hypocrisy & disobedience; they fast for their pleasure, quarrels, & wickedness, & call their fast My Feast. My Fast is to do what right, to help others, to care & love one’s neighbor, free the oppressed, to feed the hungry, to shelter the poor & homeless, to cloth the naked, to care for yur family; then will yu shine bright in good health, yur righteousness proceeds yur front, the Lord’s glory protects yur back. Yu’ll call & I’ll answer when yu remove slavery, vulgarity, & wickedness; when yu do good the afflicted; the Lord will satisfy yur soul & heal yur body; make yu a watered garden, a spring of water ever flowing,; some will rebuild waste places, raise up ancient foundations & will be called Repairer of the Breach, Restorer of the Paths. If yu honor the Lord & His holy days & holy things, pleasing Him, doing His will, & speaking His words, then He will make ride the high places of the earth: for the Lord has spoken & promised.
Isaiah continues (let the reader of the old versions notice all the changes of the pronouns in chapter 59: plural 2nd persons, plural 3rd persons, plural 1st person; singular 1st, 2nd, 3rd person): The Lord’s Hand & Ear is not the problem: your iniquities & sins alienates from God’s help; you are filled with every kind of evil, as snakes & spiders; your ways & deeds are all evil in every way & everyone; they are destitute of good, helpless in sins in darkness. We are blind & dead, without salvation in transgressions, lies everywhere, all in total depravity. “And He saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was no intercessor: therefore His own Arm brought Salvation unto Him [Himself]; and His Righteousness, it upheld Him [Himself]. And He put on Righteousness as a Breastplate, and a Helmet of Salvation upon His head; and He put on Garments of Vengeance for Clothing, and was Clad with Zeal as a Mantle. According to their deeds, accordingly He will repay, wrath to His adversaries, recompense to His enemies; to the islands He will repay recompense. So shall they fear the Name of Jehovah from the west, and His Glory from the rising of the sun; for He will come as a Rushing Stream, which the Breath of Jehovah driveth. And a Redeemer will come to Zion, and unto them that turn from transgression in Jacob, saith Jehovah. And as for Me, this is My Covenant with them, saith Jehovah: My Spirit that is upon Thee, and my words which I have put in Thy Mouth, shall not depart out of Thy Mouth, nor out of the mouth of Thy seed, nor out of the mouth of Thy seed’s seed, saith Jehovah, from henceforth and forever.”
Isaiah continues: Arise shine: the Lord’s light & glory is on yu, but darkness on the world; and the nations & Kings will seek yur light; yur children return from distant lands; yu’ll celebrate yur children in ships, the wealth of the Gentiles comes to yu. They’ll return by land with riches, with flocks; they’ll be welcomed at My altar & My glorious House; they’ll come from the far west & the north, from the far west & the south; because the Name of the Lord God, & the Holy One of Israel made yu glorious. Foreigners rebuild yur walls, Kings minister to yu: I struck yu in My wrath, but in grace I show yu mercy. Yur gates will always be opened for the Gentiles’ wealth brought to yu, & Kings are made captives; the nations & kingdoms refusing to serve yu will be destroyed; the glory (trees) of Lebanon is yurs to beautify my Sanctuary; yur punishers will worship at yur feet in Zion the Lord’s city; I will enrich & bless yu with peace & righteousness. Violence & desolation will end, yur walls will be called Salvation, yur Gates Praise; the Lord will be yur Eternal Light & God yur Glory forever; yur people righteous, they’ll inherit the land: the Branch of My Planting, the Work of My Hands for My Glory; the least will become a thousand & a strong nation; the Lord will soon do this.
Messiah, the Lord’s Servant, prophecies, preaches, & testifies: “The Spirit of the Lord Jehovah is upon Me; because Jehovah hath anointed Me to preach good tidings unto the meek; He hath sent Me to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening [of the prison] to them that are bound; to proclaim the year of Jehovah’s favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn; to appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them a garland for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they may be called trees of righteousness, the planting of Jehovah, that He may be glorified.” They shall rebuild, repair, & reoccupy the land with Gentile servants; you will be priests & ministers of the Lord God; eating of the wealth of the nations, & you’ll boast in their glory; shame will turn to honor & blessings & joy. The Lord loves justice, hates wickedness, repays in truth, with an everlasting covenant. The Gentiles will say they blessed of the Lord: “I will greatly rejoice in Jehovah, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for He hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, He hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh himself with a garland, and as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels. For as the earth bringeth forth its bud, and as the garden causeth the things that are sown in it to spring forth; so the Lord Jehovah will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before all the nations.“
Isaiah continues: I will not be silent till Zion & Jerusalem is clothed in righteousness & salvation, witnessed by the Gentiles & their Kings; till yu are His Crown of Beauty & Royal Diadem: no longer called Forsaken (Azubah) or Desolate (Shemamah), but called Hephzi-bah & Beulah, the Lord’s Delight & Bride. The Remnant will be joined to Zion, God will marry Jerusalem; watchmen rest not till He makes Jerusalem the Praise in the earth. The Lord swears never again to let yur enemies take yur food & drink; but they who harvest will eat & drink in the Courts of My Sanctuary. Go prepare a way for the Remnant, set a Sign for the peoples: “Behold, Jehovah hath proclaimed unto the end of the earth, Say ye to the daughter of Zion, Behold, thy Salvation cometh; behold, His reward is with Him, and His recompense before Him. And they shall call them The Holy People, The Redeemed of Jehovah: and thou shalt be called Sought Out, A City Not Forsaken.” Isaiah continues concerning Messiah: “Who is this That cometh from Edom, with dyed garments from Bozrah? this That is glorious in His apparel, marching in the greatness of His strength? I That speak in righteousness, mighty to save. Wherefore art Thou red in Thine apparel, and Thy garments like him that treadeth in the winevat? I have trodden the winepress alone; and of the peoples there was no man with Me: yea, I trod them in Mine anger, and trampled them in My wrath; and their lifeblood is sprinkled upon My garments, and I have stained all My raiment. For the day of vengeance was in My heart, and the year of My redeemed is come. And I looked, and there was none to help; and I wondered that there was none to uphold: therefore Mine Own Arm brought salvation unto Me; and My wrath, it upheld Me. And I trod down the peoples in Mine anger, and made them drunk in My wrath, and I poured out their lifeblood on the earth.” Isaiah enraptured beyond himself writes his witness & prayer: “I will make mention of the lovingkindnesses of Jehovah, [and] the praises of Jehovah, according to all that Jehovah hath bestowed on us, and the great goodness toward the House of Israel, which He hath bestowed on them according to His mercies, and according to the multitude of His lovingkindnesses. For He said, Surely, they are My people, children that will not deal falsely: so He was their Saviour. In all their affliction He was afflicted, and the Angel of His presence saved them: in His love and in His pity He redeemed them; and He bare them, and carried them all the days of old. But they rebelled, and grieved His holy Spirit: therefore He was turned to be their enemy, [and] Himself fought against them. Then He remembered the days of old, Moses [and] His people, [saying], Where is He That brought them up out of the sea with the shepherds of His flock? where is He That put His Holy Spirit in the midst of them? That caused His Glorious Arm to go at the right hand of Moses. That divided the waters before them, to make Himself an Everlasting Name? That led them through the depths, as a horse in the wilderness, so that they stumbled not. As the cattle that go down into the valley, the Spirit of Jehovah caused them to rest; so didst Thou lead Thy people, to make Thyself a Glorious Name. Look down from heaven, and behold from the habitation of Thy holiness and of Thy glory: where are Thy zeal and Thy mighty acts? the yearning of Thy heart and Thy compassions are restrained toward me. For Thou art our Father, though Abraham knoweth us not, and Israel doth not acknowledge us: Thou, O Jehovah, art our Father; our Redeemer from everlasting is Thy Name. O Jehovah, why dost Thou make us to err from Thy ways, and hardenest our heart from Thy fear? Return for Thy servants’ sake, the tribes of Thine inheritance. Thy holy people possessed [it] but a little while: our adversaries have trodden down Thy Sanctuary. We are become as they over whom Thou never barest rule, as they that were not called by Thy Name.“ Isaiah continues his testimony with prayer concerning Messiah & Messiah’s people: “Oh that Thou wouldest rend the heavens, that Thou wouldest come down, that the mountains might quake at Thy Presence, as when fire kindleth the brushwood, [and] the fire causeth the waters to boil; to make Thy Name known to Thine adversaries, that the nations may tremble at Thy Presence! When thou didst terrible things which we looked not for, Thou camest down, the mountains quaked at Thy Presence. For from of old men have not heard, nor perceived by the ear, neither hath the eye seen a God besides Thee, Who worketh for him that waiteth for Him. Thou meetest him that rejoiceth and worketh righteousness, those that remember Thee in Thy ways: behold, Thou wast wroth, and we sinned: in them [have we been] of long time; and shall we be saved? For we are all become as one that is unclean, and all our righteousnesses are as a polluted garment: and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away. And there is none that calleth upon Thy Name, that stirreth up himself to take hold of Thee; for Thou hast hid Thy Face from us, and hast consumed us by means of our iniquities. But now, O Jehovah, Thou art our Father; we are the clay, and Thou our Potter; and we all are the work of Thy hand. Be not wroth very sore, O Jehovah, neither remember iniquity forever: behold, look, we beseech Thee, we are all Thy people. Thy holy cities are become a wilderness, Zion is become a wilderness, Jerusalem a desolation. Our holy and our beautiful House, where our fathers praised Thee, is burned with fire; and all our pleasant places are laid waste. Wilt thou refrain Thyself for these things, O Jehovah? wilt Thou hold Thy peace, and afflict us very sore?” Isaiah continues about Messiah: “I am inquired of by them that asked not [for Me]; I am found of them that sought Me not: I said, Behold Me, behold Me, unto a nation that was not called by My Name. I have spread out My Hands all the day unto a rebellious people, that walk in a way that is not good, after their own thoughts; a people that provoke Me to My Face continually, sacrificing in gardens, and burning incense upon bricks; that sit among the graves, and lodge in the secret places; that eat swine’s flesh, and broth of abominable things is in their vessels; that say, Stand by thyself, come not near to me, for I am holier than thou. These are a smoke in My Nose, a fire that burneth all the day. Behold, it is written before Me: I will not keep silence, but will recompense, yea, I will recompense into their bosom, your own iniquities, and the iniquities of your fathers together, saith Jehovah, that have burned incense upon the mountains, and blasphemed Me upon the hills; therefore will I first measure their work into their bosom. Thus saith Jehovah, As the new wine is found in the cluster, and one saith, Destroy it not, for a blessing is in it: so will I do for My servants’ sake, that I may not destroy them all. And I will bring forth a Seed out of Jacob, and out of Judah an Inheritor of My mountains; and My Chosen shall inherit it, and My servants shall dwell there. And Sharon shall be a fold of flocks, and the Valley of Achor a place for herds to lie down in, for My people that have sought Me. But ye that forsake Jehovah, that forget My Holy Mountain, that prepare a table for Fortune, and that fill up mingled wine unto Destiny; I will destine you to the sword, and ye shall all bow down to the slaughter; because when I called, ye did not answer; when I spake, ye did not hear; but ye did that which was evil in mine eyes, and chose that wherein I delighted not. Therefore thus saith the Lord Jehovah, Behold, My servants shall eat, but ye shall be hungry; behold, My servants shall drink, but ye shall be thirsty; behold, My servants shall rejoice, but ye shall be put to shame; behold, My servants shall sing for joy of heart, but ye shall cry for sorrow of heart, and shall wail for vexation of spirit. And ye shall leave your name for a curse unto My Chosen; and the Lord Jehovah will slay thee; and He will call His servants by another name: so that he who blesseth himself in the earth shall bless himself in the God of Truth; and he that sweareth in the earth shall swear by the God of Truth; because the former troubles are forgotten, and because they are hid from Mine Eyes. For, behold, I create New Heavens and a New Earth; and the former things shall not be remembered, nor come into mind. But be ye glad and rejoice forever in that which I create; for, behold, I create Jerusalem a rejoicing, and her people a joy. And I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and joy in My people; and there shall be heard in her no more the voice of weeping and the voice of crying. There shall be no more thence an infant of days, nor an old man that hath not filled his days; for the child shall die a hundred (100) years old, and the sinner being a hundred (100) years old shall be accursed. And they shall build houses, and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and eat the fruit of them. They shall not build, and another inhabit; they shall not plant, and another eat: for as the days of a tree shall be the days of My people, and My Chosen shall long enjoy the work of their hands. They shall not labor in vain, nor bring forth for calamity; for they are the seed of the blessed of Jehovah, and their Offspring with them. And it shall come to pass that, before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear. The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, and the lion shall eat straw like the ox; and dust shall be the serpent’s food. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My Holy Mountain, saith Jehovah.”
Isaiah concludes His Book of Visions & Prophecies: “Thus saith Jehovah, Heaven is My Throne, and the earth is My Footstool: what manner of house will ye build unto Me? and what place shall be My Rest? For all these things hath My hand made, and [so] all these things came to be, saith Jehovah: but to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and that trembleth at My Word. He that killeth an ox is as he that slayeth a man; he that sacrificeth a lamb, as he that breaketh a dog’s neck; he that offereth an oblation, [as he that offereth] swine’s blood; he that burneth frankincense, as he that blesseth an idol. Yea, they have chosen their own ways, and their soul delighteth in their abominations: I also will choose their delusions, and will bring their fears upon them; because when I called, none did answer; when I spake, they did not hear: but they did that which was evil in mine eyes, and chose that wherein I delighted not. Hear the Word of Jehovah, ye that tremble at His Word: Your brethren that hate you, that cast you out for My Name’s sake, have said, Let Jehovah be glorified, that we may see your joy; but it is they that shall be put to shame. A Voice of tumult from the City, a Voice from the Temple, a Voice of Jehovah that rendereth recompense to His enemies. Before she travailed, she brought forth; before her pain came, she was delivered of a man-child. Who hath heard such a thing? who hath seen such things? Shall a land be born in one day? shall a nation be brought forth at once? for as soon as Zion travailed, she brought forth her children. Shall I bring to the birth, and not cause to bring forth? saith Jehovah: shall I that cause to bring forth shut [the womb]? saith thy God. Rejoice ye with Jerusalem, and be glad for her, all ye that love her: rejoice for joy with her, all ye that mourn over her; that ye may suck and be satisfied with the breasts of her consolations; that ye may milk out, and be delighted with the abundance of her glory. For thus saith Jehovah, Behold, I will extend peace to her like a river, and the glory of the Nations like an overflowing stream: and ye shall suck [thereof]; ye shall be borne upon the side, and shall be dandled upon the knees. As one whom his mother comforteth, so will I comfort you; and ye shall be comforted in Jerusalem. And ye shall see [it], and your heart shall rejoice, and your bones shall flourish like the tender grass: and the Hand of Jehovah shall be known toward His servants; and He will have indignation against His enemies. For, behold, Jehovah will come with fire, and His chariots shall be like the whirlwind; to render His anger with fierceness, and His rebuke with flames of fire. For by fire will Jehovah execute judgment, and by His Sword, upon all flesh; and the slain of Jehovah shall be many. They that sanctify themselves and purify themselves [to go] unto the gardens, behind one in the midst, eating swine’s flesh, and the abomination, and the mouse, they shall come to an end together, saith Jehovah. For I [know] their works and their thoughts: [the time] cometh, that I will gather all nations and tongues; and they shall come, and shall see My Glory. And I will set a Sign among them, and I will send such as escape of them unto the Nations, to Tarshish (west), Pul, and Lud (north), that draw the bow, to Tubal and Javan (north-west), to the isles afar off, that have not heard My Fame, neither have seen My Glory; and they shall declare My Glory among the Nations. And they shall bring all your brethren out of all the Nations for an oblation unto Jehovah, upon horses, and in chariots, and in litters, and upon mules, and upon dromedaries, to My Holy Mountain Jerusalem, saith Jehovah, as the children of Israel bring their oblation in a clean vessel into the House of Jehovah. And of them also will I take for priests [and] for Levites, saith Jehovah. For as the New Heavens and the New Earth, which I will make, shall remain before Me, saith Jehovah, so shall your seed and your name remain. And it shall come to pass, that from one new moon to another, and from one sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before Me, saith Jehovah. And they shall go forth, and look upon the dead bodies of the men that have transgressed against Me: for their worm shall not die, neither shall &their fire be quenched; and they shall be an abhorring unto all flesh.“
We have completed the Book of Isaiah; we have discovered its importance to the rest of the Bible, and its unique place in the Old Testament. Our Reflections will now connect its relations & value in the divine revelation. The world of Isaiah was dominated by the Assyrian power of the Mesopotamian
REFLECTIONS 
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