LESSON 9
GOD’S CLEAR WARNING TO HIS PEOPLE
ISAIAH 28-33
As we begin our study, we are introduced to a new series of prophetic messages. It is important to remember that many of these judgments that God gives through Isaiah have a dual role. Some of the prophecies or woes will soon come into sharp focus while parts of Isaiah’s message will reach yet into the future.
The first woe or judgment is delivered against Ephraim, the northern ten tribes of Israel with Samaria as its capital. Isaiah is using the northern kingdom as a warning to the southern kingdom with Jerusalem as its capital. They were living in luxury and had forgotten the God of Israel who had blessed them and brought them to this point in their nation’s history. How quickly in the lap of luxury are we prone to think that we brought about all the good things we possess, and we forget the God to whom we have prayed for our blessings. Drunkenness and loose living are usually the route taken by those who leave God out of their lives as well as their nations.
As they reel in their drunken state, Isaiah attempts to bring them to their senses. Through Isaiah, God’s view is that they are full of vomit to the point there is no place clean. I wonder if God had a prophet today, what He would say about the meth-labs and drugs of our day and the children who are paying such a high price in our society. Just remember that the laws of God have not changed nor the final punishment. Since Israel would not listen to God, He would use the Assyrians to punish them, and the northern ten tribes have not been a force to this day.
Now Isaiah turns his attention to Judah and the southern kingdom of which Jerusalem was the capital. The primary thought is that Judah was attempting to protect them by having alliances with Egypt as well as pretending loyalty to Assyria. The real problem was that they claimed loyalty to the God of Israel while flirting with the pagan deities of both Egypt and Assyria. Most students of God’s Word feel that chapter 28:16-22 deals with a day yet future when the leader in Jerusalem will make a covenant with the Anti-Christ or Beast out of Daniel Seven, which in chapter 28:18 is called an agreement with Sheol. It is all going to end in judgment as God is about to devastate the whole land.
Isaiah now uses a farmer as a parable to illustrate God’s method of dealing with His people. Having grown up on a farm and worked the land, I know the key is to use the proper tools for each crop and type of soil.
God knows how to deal with His people in order to get the desired results. Notice how the prophet expresses this, “Great is His wisdom and wonderful His counsel.”
In chapter 29 and 30, Isaiah directed by God the Holy Spirit, gives us the immediate future as well as far reaching kingdom truth. Ariel, which means, “the hearth of God,” refers to Jerusalem. The temple was located in Jerusalem, and so the alter on which sacrifices were brought to God holds the meaning. God is about to allow judgment, which will result in groaning and moaning, ending in humiliation. The near judgment would come in one hundred years with Babylon destroying the city. The horde of nations shall be experienced at the battle of Armageddon as outlined in Revelation with the two hundred million man army from the east who comes against Jerusalem.
As in Isaiah’s day, verses 9-12 make it clear that spiritual blindness will affect both the educated and uneducated. This should send a clear warning to God’s people of every age how easy it is to fall into a deep hypnotic sleep which results in God’s punishment. The picture of superficial belief is made clear in chapter 29:13- 14. When worship becomes ritual and insincere, God darkens the intelligence of those who claim to have a relationship with Him.
The third of our six woes or judgments is found in the final verses of chapter 29. Here is a group of political and military leaders attempting to get King Hezekiah to align himself with Egypt against Assyria. Isaiah ridicules such an idea as the clay telling the potter what to do as if we can out think or out maneuver our Creator. Man seems to fall into the idea he can outsmart God. Perhaps this is the reason why when God intervenes in the affairs of men He seems to do it on behalf of the meek and humble and poor. This whole passage seems to be directed against judges and officers of the law. I believe there is a spiritual lesson for our day as we see judges in our land opening the doors of homosexuality as if God is a silent observer as to how we conduct ourselves as a nation. We had better get back to the laws of God, or the judgment of God will fall as surely as it did on Israel who failed to listen to the warnings of Isaiah.
Chapter 30 and 31 find the people of God faced with a serious problem of national security, seeking an alliance with Godless Egypt rather than trusting God for deliverance from their enemies. There is some valuable lesson for all of God’s children, for we seem prone to work our own plans rather than seeking His guidance. There were some in national government who sought to form political ties with Pharaoh, and a delegation was on its way to the Nile Delta. Isaiah looks at this action as rebellion and refusal to hear the instruction of the Lord. In fac, chapter 30:9-11 is one of the strongest passages in Holy Writ, The Torah, revealing that Israel is refusing to listen to the prophets of God. The sad truth is that they could have remained safe and secure by trusting God to fight for them and looking up for deliverance. The heart of man has not changed that much,for in many cases we go down the same pathway. Our heavenly Father waits with outstretched arms only to see us turn from Him to try and work out our own will rather than His.
The good news in all of this is that God is patient and waits for repentance that He may be gracious as revealed in chapter 30:18-26. Those who wait on Him will be blessed, and He will provide our needs. The spiritual lessos for all of God’s children are that He is coming again and that there will be great joy experienced by those who have kept the faith and are looking up. You might liken this to the parable of the prodigal son in Luke 15:11-32, as the Heavenly Father awaits those who are the objects of His love, to come to their senses.
The fifth woe or judgment is in chapter 31 as Isaiah comes down hard on those who go to Egypt for help. Egypt is a type of the world in Scripture, and we can take this message to heart. When you turn from God to materialistic or human help, you are on thin ice. You can turn to the stock market or investments, most of us have some form of Egypt, but the end for the child of God is the same. God promises to defend Jerusalem against the Assyrians in Hezekiah’s day and protect His people. The Lord will repeat the miracle of Passover and rescue His people. One day the nation of Israel will once again show this same confidence and be saved from all her present day distresses. When a person and or a nation turns to God, they can be saved from the consequences of their sins and experience the power of God, Philippians 1:6.
In chapter 32 we continue with hope in a coming Messiah King. There is a rule of righteousness coming, and in the plan of God nothing is going to stop it from happening. As our rock He is our protection and the source of everlasting strength. Spiritual blindness will be removed, and the people of God will listen and understand. Isaiah was a man of God whose life showed integrity and nobility. He represented the prophetic ideal of the perfect gentleman.
Before Messiah returns, there will be a time of trouble, which we understand to be the Great Tribulation of Revelation. He then calls on the women who are living an easy life to hear His voice. Isaiah was a man of great courage because on several occasions he calls on the women to see their life-style was a serious national problem. The carefree, flirtatious and self-indulgent manner of living was bringing down the nation. perhaps God led Isaiah to address the women because He created them to be more sensitive and sense danger quicker than most men. The whole driving purpose is to wake up a sleeping nation as to its true state of affairs. Look around you at our world and what is happening, and consider what God would have you do to sound an alarm as to the outcome of the direction we seem to be headed.
In the last section of this chapter, the promise of the Spirit is being poured out on a repentant people. During the Kingdom age Joel 2:30-31 will take place, and this still has not taken place. We look forward to the future. Since God has so clearly set forth these future events, we should never lose hope. Do not be part of the doom and gloom club, but one in whom the hope of God’s future burns brightly.
Chapter 33 is a final woe on all who spoil the people of God and destroy the land. This is obviously the Assyrian invaders under Sennacherib who God used to punish His people and then in turn punished the Assyrians. Just when the enemy of God’s people think they have victory in sight Isaiah directed by God writes, “Now will I arise, now will I be exalted, now will I lift myself u.” The effect of God’s intervention upon the enemies of God’s people is found in chapter 33:13-24 where there will be terror, and the fires of judgment will come down upon men from the hand of God. Then is revealed the characteristics of the Messianic reign from Jerusalem over the whole earth. Peace will reign with no fear in the hearts of men. The Lord is our King, and He will save us. No one will get sick. There will be no more health insurance worries as the world will be free from sickness. What a day that will be when Messiah rules over all the earth!