Isaiah 36

We have noted that Isa. 36-39 (also recorded in 2 Ki. 18-20 and 2 Chron. 32) bring to a conclusion the time of Assyria’s aggression and transition to the time about 100 years later when Babylon would be the dominating Gentile power.  So these chapters serve a technical purpose we might say.  But let us not miss, as always, the truth God desires for His people Israel and for us by application.  For whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope (Rom. 15:4).

Ch. 36-37 record the arrival of the Assyrian army and their Rabshakeh (commander) at Jerusalem.  They have been used of God to carry off the Northern Kingdom of Samaria/Israel.  Now they have worked their way through northern Judah capturing the walled cities as they are now prepared to do at the capital city.  Hezekiah sends out three officials to speak with the commander (two of those officials we met back in Isa. 22, Eliakim and Shebna).

This meeting is not a two-way discussion.  Rather it involves the Rabshakeh making intimidating statements first to the Judean delegation and then loudly for all the people on the wall to hear.  The question he asks is one we all need to ask of ourselves: what confidence is this in which you trust?  In this case the commander has a good intelligence network.  He known some people trust Egypt (v6,9), others hope Hezekiah will have a good plan (v5).  But the real issue he raises is the thought some have that they should trust the LORD.  He raises three arguments as to why this is not a good idea.

·        In v7 he wonders why God would help them since Judah, under Hezekiah, had destroyed all the high places where they worshipped the LORD.  Of course this shows the typical humanistic view of religion, a failure to understand that Hezekiah did this in obedience to God.

·        In v10 the commander rightfully points that he and his army have been on a mission given them by Israel’s God.  It’s true.  Assyria was God’s instrument of judgment on His idolatrous people.

·        The Rabshakeh’s problem comes when he out-and-out challenges the ability and faithfulness of Israel’s God (v13-20).  He speaks as if the LORD was just another regional or national god, rather than the Creator of heaven and earth.  

The people on the wall kept quiet during all this, as Hezekiah commanded.  But you can imagine for many these words were intimidating and that some might have voted to take the offer of horses and just give up.  But this situation, and similar ones that we face in our lives, are the exact time when we can be sure that God will move to honor His holy Name!  For now I would encourage you to answer the question about confidence.  What is your hope for a bright tomorrow?  Your money?  Your friends?  Your personality?  Or the true God?

Isaiah 34-35

Why is Edom and its important city Bozrah singled out in Isa. 34, a chapter about judgment on all nations?  For one thing, Edom was seen frequently in the prophetic writings as deserving of judgment (e.g. Ezek. 35; Obadiah 1).  As Ezekiel pointed out, these descendents of Esau had harbored an ancient hatred of Jacob/Israel.  Even more than Israel’s other neighbors the Edomites made things difficult.  The last straw came when the Babylonians carried Judah into captivity.  As Ezekiel points out, the Edomites concluded that God was finished with Israel and that the land was theirs for the taking.  That may be one reason for Edom’s place in Isaiah’s prophecy.

But there may be another reason.  In Isa. 63:1-6 there is a Messianic prophecy that pictures Him coming from Edom and Bozrah with His garments stained with blood from treading the winepress of His fury, language reminiscent of Revelation (Rev. 14:17-20; 19:17-21).  Christ’s first action, when He returns, is to judge the nations who rejected Him and have gathered to make war.  Apparently this event involves Edom, in which case, Isa. 34-35 are connected; the judgment of the nations pictured in 34 leads to Messiah’s Kingdom in 35.

Isa. 34:1-4 speaks of the heavens being rolled up like a scroll which is also consistent with the zeal of the LORD involved in bringing salvation to His people.  Powerful events in the heavens occur around the time of His return (Cf. Ps. 102:25-26; Isa. 13:13; Ezek. 32:7-8; Joel 2:31; Mt. 24:29; 2 Pt. 3:10-13).  That day will be an intense day of the LORD’s vengeance (34:8-15) and the closing verses of Isa. 34 make a strong statement: this will absolutely happen.

In contrast to Edom’s desolation when Messiah comes, Israel’s desolation will give way to a wasteland (the Southern desert) that flourishes in a way that rivals some of Israel’s most abundant areas, such as the north near Lebanon, the slopes of Mt. Carmel and the coastal Plain of Sharon.  35:3-4 says that God will answer the cry of His people in Isa. 33: YOUR GOD WILL COME!  What powerful and comforting words.  There will be streams in the desert, the lame will be healed (v5-7) and the dispersed will return on a highway of holiness (v8-10).  The earthly ministry of Christ anticipated this with the healing ministry as well as the gospel of the Kingdom He preached to call men to follow Him.

These chapters conclude the prophetic passages of Isa. 1-39.  The next 4 chapters are a record of events that are critical to the transition from the Assyrian time to the Babylonian time that is the historical context of Isa. 40-66.  Those chapters will highlight the faithfulness of God to abundantly restore Israel to the land and to bring them to salvation.  Thus we can see that today’s passage has a strong connection with the last half of Isaiah’s prophecy.  The time will come when God’s faithfulness will be most clearly evidenced by His deliverance of Israel in the time of Messiah’s return in power and great glory.

Isaiah 33

Isaiah 33 still concerns the Assyrian aggression.  Some people had received Isaiah’s message.  But many had not.  Even in the reign of Hezekiah there would have been people who would have advised seeking an alliance with Egypt.  In this chapter we read of the heart’s desire and prayer of these righteous ones (33:1-9) and then God’s encouraging answer to them (33:10-24).  We will also see, along the way, the lack of hope among those whose faith was in Egypt.

The chapter begins with a woe (characteristic of this part of Isaiah) to you who plunder, though you have not been plundered (v1).  This is directed at Assyria, a confident message from the prophet that God will do as He has promised.  

This pronouncement leads those who are faithful in Jerusalem to lift a wonderful prayer to the LORD.  Verse 2 is a very usable prayer, by application, for us today and I have used it often.  It comes from faithful people in a time of national difficulty.  The prayer is that God will be gracious to those who are waiting for His answer.  Waiting for God’s time is not usually easy for God’s people.  So they pray for salvation in the time of trouble and for God’s arm to be holding them at the beginning of every day in the meantime.

God’s faithful ones know the enemy is strong (v3-4,7-9).  But they are sustained by the realization of who God is (v5a) and of His commitment to Israel (v5b-6).  They know the day is coming, in the time of Messiah if not sooner, when Zion will be full of justice and righteousness.  The nation will be stable because she will be on firm footing with God.  Again, we would say that 33:6 has a strong application to any nation as well as to any family or individual.  The fear of the LORD brings wisdom and knowledge from the LORD and puts us in the place where we can experience the strength of His deliverance.

The words now I will rise (v10) begins the LORD’s answer.  To Assyria He says their plans will not prosper (v11-13).  To the righteous ones He says that, unlike the sinners in Zion (v14) you will dwell on high, in a place of strong defense (v15-16).  They will see the King in his beauty and will meditate on the terror in the past, wondering where it has gone (v17-18).  They will not face the fierce people that the LORD had promised to send upon Judah (Isa. 28:11). 

(33:17 sounds Messianic to some and may refer to the Messiah, Israel’s future glorious King, as God promises they will see the glories of the Davidic King in their own time.  Hezekiah was king when this deliverance came, as we will see in Isa. 36-37, and was gloriously blessed by God as Isa. 38-39 will show.)

The vision of a blessed Jerusalem continues (v20-24), and again, it is based on the fact that the people will be trusting in the LORD.  The stability that comes because Israel fears the Lord (33:6) is a stability that comes because the LORD is every branch of government: the judicial, legislative and executive (33:22).  How blessed any nation would be whose God is the LORD (Psa. 33:12 ).