Categoria: Isaiah

This chapter is an oracle against Moab: “Ar in Moab is ruined and destroyed in a night… Kir in Moab is destroyed in a night… every head is shaved and every beard cut off… in the streets they wear sackcloth… my heart cries out over Moab… they lament their destruction… the waters of Nimrim are dried up and the grass withered… nothing green is left… their wailing reaches as far as Eglaim… and Dimon’s waters are full of blood!”

Isaiah 14 promises the restoration of post-Babylonic Israel: “Once again God will chose Israel and will settle them in their own land… and the house of Israel will possess the nations… and rule over their oppressors.” The chapter then features a mocking taunt-chant concerning the fall of the Babylonian king: “How the oppressor has come to an end… the grave below is all astir to meet you at your coming… all your pomp has been brought down to the grave… with maggots on top of you and worms beneath… you said you would make yourself like the most high but you are brought down to the depths of the pit… like a corpse trampled under foot… I will sweep Babylon with the broom of destruction.”

The chapter then closes with prophesies against Assyria and the Philistines: “I will crush the Assyrian in my land… his yoke will be taken from my people… do not rejoice all you Philistines… your root I will destroy by famine… melt away all you Philistines… the Lord has established Zion, and in her his afflicted people will find refuge.”

Isaiah 13 is an “oracle concerning Babylon” telling of God’s impending judgement on them in “the day of the Lord” because of their arrogant wickedness. He says: “Listen, a noise on the mountains… God is mustering an army for war… to destroy the whole country… wail, for the day of the Lord is near… terror will seize them… see the day of the Lord is coming – a cruel day, with wrath and fierce anger… I will punish the world for its evil… whoever is captured will be thrust through… their infants will be dashed to pieces… their wives will be ravished… Babylon, the jewel of the kingdoms, the glory of the Babylonians pride, will be overthrown by God like Sodom and Gomorrah… and she will never be inhabited but will be taken over by jackals, hyenas, owls and wild goats”.                                      

Isaiah 12 points to a future time when God’s people will joyfully trust in God after his “anger has turned away… surely God is my salvation; I will trust and not be afraid… with joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation… give thanks to the Lord… proclaim that his name is exalted… sing to the Lord, for he has done glorious things… shout aloud and sing for joy for great is the Holy One of Israel among you”.

 Isaiah 11 is a messianic prophecy about “a shoot that will come from the stump of Jesse… the Spirit of the Lord will rest on him… and he will delight in the fear of the Lord…. with righteousness he will judge the needy… and faithfulness will be the sash around his waist”. In the messianic kingdom predators and pray will live in harmony… “the wolf will live with the lamb… the leopard will lie with the goat… and a little child will lead them… for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord”. And “in that day the Root of Jesse will stand as a banner to reclaim the remnant and gather the exiles”. “There will be a highway of the remnant of his people that is left from Assyria, as there was for Israel when they came up from Egypt”.

Isaias 10 proclaims God’s judgement on wayward leaders. “Woe to those who make unjust laws… who deprive the poor of their rights and rob orphans… making widows their prey”. God therefore uses Assyria as “the rod of his anger” to castigate Israel. “I send him against a godless nation. I dispatch him against a people who anger me… when the Lord has finished all his work against Zion he will punish the king of Assyria because of his pride thinking that he can do what he likes! Then the light of Israel will become a flame and God will keep a faithful remnant of his people… the survivors of the house of Jacob… a remnant will return… O my people do not be afraid of the Assyrians who beat you with a rod… the Lord will lash them with a whip… the yoke will be broken… see the Lord Almighty will lop off the boughs with great power… Lebanon will fall before the Mighty One.”

Isaiah 9 points to a messianic hope: “The people walking in darkness have seen a great light… for to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders… and of it there will be no end… he will reign on David’s throne”. This is followed by a message of judgement against the northern kingdom of Israel. “The Lord will cut off from Israel both head and tail… the elders and prominent men are the head and the prophets who teach lies are the tail… everyone is ungodly and wicked… wickedness burns like a fire… by the wrath of God the earth will be scorched… no-one will spare his brother… each will feed on the flesh of his own offspring!”

Isaiah 8 is a continuation of the Immanuel prophecy in chapter 7:14 and God is with his people during the Assyrian crisis. Isaiah directs Judah to fear him rather than the Syrian-Israel alliance because God told Isaiah that before his new-born son could say Dad and Mum Assyria will defeat Damascus and Samaria. Then God again told Isaiah that because the people of Judah had “rejected the gently flowing waters of Shiloah” (peaceful trust in God) they would face “the mighty flood waters of the River  – the king of Assyria… and this water would flood them up to their necks!” Then God told Isaiah not to adhere to the conspiracy theories of the people but to fear him. Isaiah then seals up the prophecy among his disciples, and then concludes warning against “mediums and spiritists… why consult the dead on behalf of the living… and warning against those who do not speak according to this word”. 

Isaiah 7 describes God ready to back King Ahaz of Judah when faced with the threat of a Syro-Israel alliance between King Rezin of Syria and King Pekah of Israel. God sent Isaiah to go and meet Ahaz telling him to keep calm and not be afraid. God said that the Syro-Israel alliance would not be successful but Ahaz had to stand firm in his faith. God told Ahaz to seek a divine sign, but Ahaz refused. So Isaiah prophesied: “The Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son who will be named Immanuel. However Ahaz trusted in the aid of Assyria rather than God and for this reason Ahaz would suffer the humiliation of having his head and beard shaved by an Assyrian and the land of Judah will be covered by briers and thorns. 

In the year that King Uzziah died (about 740 BC?) the prophet Isaiah had a vision of the holiness of God in which he heard God’s call on his life: “I saw the Lord seated on his throne high and exalted… and the accompanying angels cried Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty… and the temple was filled with smoke… and Isaiah cried out Woe to me… I am a man of unclean lips… but then one of the seraphs touched his lips with an altar coal and purified him… then God asked whom shall I send?… and Isaiah replied Here I am, send me!” God then warns that the people will not heed but that Isaiah should continue prophesying until the houses are deserted and nearly everyone has gone away”. 

Now there comes a parable where God prepares a vineyard representing Israel/Judah with clear links to the branch of the Lord in chapter 4 where righteousness should be its product. However it only produced bad fruit which angered God. Chapter 5 starts talking about the planting of the vineyard which only yielded bad fruit bringing it in line for God’s destruction: “I will break down its wall and it will be trampled… and stop the rain… the vineyard of the Lord Almighty is the house of Israel… woe to you that add house to house… the great houses will become desolate… and they will go into exile… and their men of rank will die of hunger… both low and high will be humbled… the Lord Almighty will be exalted by his justice… woe to those who call evil good and good evil… woe to those who are heroes at drinking wine… the Lord’s anger burns against his people… he lifts up a banner for the distant nations… their arrows are sharp… they roar like lions… in that day they will roar over it”.

Initially verse 1 of chapter 4 concludes what was said in chapter 3, continuing to show the breakdown in societal norms with 7 women per man. The shortage of men is probably due to war. Then Isaiah goes on to talk about “the Branch of the Lord” where branch or shoot is the newly created and sprouting Judah… and those left in Zion will be called holy… the Lord will cleanse the filth of Zion’s women… and God will place a cloud of smoke and a flaming fire over Zion.