Archives for August 2023

OVERVIEW:

Worship in the Millennial Kingdom; praise for the preservation of Israel; woe against the drunkards of Ephraim; woe against Jerusalem; woe against the schemers; woe against those who trust in Egypt; woe against those who trust in Egypt’s military defense.

HIGHLIGHTS & INSIGHTS:

Chapters 26 and 27 describe the worship that will be taking place in the Millennial Kingdom. Chapter 26 begins with the words, “In that day shall this song be sung in the land of Judah”, and then it goes on to give us the actual words of the song! The song is a song of praise to the Lord for His glorious protection. The godly will enter into the “strong city” of Jerusalem, but be aware, the strength of the city is not because of her physical walls; it is the spiritual walls of salvation imparted to its occupants by the Lord Himself! (26:1–2) Because of their trust in the Lord, and their meditation on the Lord, the Lord blesses them with “perfect peace”. (26:3) Don’t miss that verse 3 is also a biblical prescription for experiencing that kind of peace now! Oh, may our minds totally and passionately be “stayed on the Lord” causing us to totally and passionately “trust in the Lord”!

The song continues in chapter 26 with praise for the Lord’s judgment against His enemies. (26:5–11) In verses 12–15, the song declares praise for God’s permanent victory over His enemies; and verses 16-21 declare praise to the Lord for His deliverance from suffering. Isaiah is describing Israel’s suffering in the Tribulation, and is giving to them the glorious promise of resurrection! (26:19)

The song continues in chapter 27, praising God for the slaying of leviathan. Israel’s enemies are pictured here by this slithering creature that is described as a “piercing serpent”, “that crooked serpent” and as “the dragon” that the Lord shall slay. (27:1) As we discussed in our coverage of Job 41, leviathan is none other than that seven-headed, red dragon (Psalm 74:13-14; Revelation 12:3) that is specifically identified in Revelation 12:9 as “that old serpent, called the Devil and Satan”! Israel’s enemies in the Tribulation Period are the nations, but God identifies for us that the actual power that is working behind the scenes through these nations is none other than Satan himself! Revelation 12 lets us know that the “woman” who gave birth to the Christ-child was the nation of Israel. God declared that reality to Satan in Genesis 3:15, and until the birth of Christ some 4000 years later, he relentlessly persecuted the seed that would become (and did become!) the nation of Israel, because she would be the nation that would actually bring Him forth. For the past 2000 years since the birth of Christ, he has mercilessly and relentlessly persecuted the nation of Israel because she was the one that did bring forth the Lord Jesus Christ. Revelation 12 reveals that the persecution against the nation of Israel will only be heightened during the Tribulation Period, until, of course, as Isaiah 27 details, the Lord steps in to defeat Leviathan (Satan). (27:1)

Chapter 27 goes on to praise the Lord for His judgment against the Gentile nations that have been used by Satan to afflict Israel. The chapter ends with Israel worshipping “the Lord in the holy mount at Jerusalem.” (27:12–13) Be aware, this is no small thing! This is exactly what the Father has always longed for His Son to receive. (Psalm 66:4; Philippians 2:9–11) Praise the Lord, it is going to happen sooner, as opposed to later!

In the remaining chapters in today’s reading (28–31), Isaiah pronounces five of six “woes” upon those who scoff at God’s word. (28:1; 29:1, 15; 30:1; 31:1) We will pick up the sixth “woe” in tomorrow’s reading. (33:1) For the most part, God is indicting Israel and Judah for trusting in their wealth, as well as trusting the help from their alliances with foreign nations, rather than trusting Him.

The first woe is directed against Ephraim, the large tribe that was representative of the Northern Kingdom of Israel. It anticipates the Assyrian invasion and subsequent fall of the Northern Kingdom in 722 B.C., but also looks ahead to the day of the Lord (“in that day” 28:5) when the remnant of Israel would repent and receive a “crown of glory” and a “diadem of beauty” which are actually descriptive terms referring to our very Lord Jesus Christ when He returns to the earth to establish His Millennial reign!

In chapter 29, the second woe is given against “Ariel, the city where David dwelt!” (29:1, i.e. Jerusalem). It prophesies the invasion of the Assyrian army under Sennacherib, and describes in an historic sense, as well as in a prophetic sense, how the nations that hunger and thirst for Israel’s destruction will themselves be destroyed.

The third woe appears in 29:15–24, and is directed against those who seek to scheme against the Lord; who foolishly think He doesn’t see them. That may just be the epitome of what we might call, “delusional”!

Chapter 30 opens with the fourth woe, which is directed against Judah for their rebellion against the Lord, and specifically, the rebellion they expressed by trusting in Egypt rather than the Lord Himself. The chapter continues on to describe how their alliance with Egypt would fail, and how Judah would be chastened of the Lord. In 30:18, God begins to point, once again, to that time when the chastening would be over, and He would destroy the nations of the world that set themselves against Israel, and He would bring Israel into the blessings of the Messiah when He rules in His Kingdom.

The fifth woe, revealed in chapter 31, continues the condemnation against Judah for looking to Egypt for help militarily against the Assyrians. The chapter ends with God’s declaration that Assyria would ultimately be defeated, not by MAN but by HIM(!!!) and that they would be defeated, not by MAN’S SWORD but by GOD’S! May I remind you, that you are holding that very sword, God’s word, in your hands at this very moment!  Allow it to defeat and destroy all of the worldliness that is afflicting your life today! 

 SPECIFIC REFERENCES TO “THE DAY OF THE LORD”: 

• 26:1 – “in that day”  
• 27:1 – “in that day”  
• 27:2 – “in that day” 
• 27:12 – “in that day” 
• 27:13 – “in that day” 
• 28:5 – “in that day” 
• 29:18 – “in that day” 
• 30:23 – “it is a day of trouble”  
• 30:25 – “in that day”  
• 30:25 – “in the day of the great slaughter”  
• 30:26 – “in the day”  
• 31:7 – “in that day” 

CHRIST IS REVEALED:

• As the PRECIOUS (CHIEF) CORNER STONE, A SURE FOUNDATION — Isaiah 28:16 (Ephesians 2:20–21; Matthew 1:42; Acts 4:10–12; Romans 9:33; 1^st Peter 2:6–8)

OVERVIEW:

The judgment of Egypt; the judgment of Babylon; the judgment of Edom; the judgment of Arabia; the judgment of Jerusalem; the judgment of Tyre; the establishment of the Millennial Kingdom; the blessings of the Millennial Kingdom.

HIGHLIGHTS & INSIGHTS:

Isaiah prophesies to the judgment of Egypt as we come into chapters 19 and 20 today. He writes of the Lord riding “upon a swift cloud” coming in judgment into Egypt (19:1), wreaking such havoc and upheaval that it sends Egypt into a massive civil war. (19:2) Once again, though there was certainly an historical fulfillment of this prophecy in Isaiah’s day, it is also pointing to a different day, specifically, “THAT day”!  What day? “The day of the Lord”! The day of our Lord Jesus Christ’s Second Coming! 

Recognize that the Assyrian judgment of Egypt, that we are reading about today, is simply a prefigure of the judgment our Lord will execute upon Egypt in the near future! Isaiah sees a time when the land of Judah is preeminent in the world (19:17), and both the Egyptians and the Assyrians will be subject to Israel’s Messiah and worship Him. (19:18–23) During the Millennium, Isaiah sees these three former enemies, Israel, Egypt, and Assyria, all living in harmony, and blessed of the Lord. (19:24–25)

In chapter 20, God uses Isaiah to be a physical object lesson to warn the people of Judah who were seeking an alliance with Egypt against Assyria. God tells Isaiah to remove his outer garment and his sandals to picture what would actually become of the Egyptians and Ethiopians: the fact that they would become humiliated and destitute (“naked” and “barefooted”). He says that the Assyrians would expose the “buttocks” of the Egyptians (20:4), and because Judah had sought an alliance with them, that they, too, would be ashamed, and realize that rather than put their trust in Egypt, they should have trusted the Lord!

As chapter 21 begins, notice that “the desert of the sea” is a reference to the Babylonian plain by the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers. Babylon is identified in 21:9 as the object of this prophecy, and once again, it becomes obvious that there is both an historic and prophetic fulfillment of God’s prophecy through Isaiah, as the words, “Babylon is fallen, is fallen” (21:9) are repeated in Revelation 14:8 and 18:2, to be fulfilled at the time of the Second Coming. Verse 10 lets us know that Babylon’s destruction will spell freedom for God’s people, Israel, who will have been “threshed” (i.e. beaten down, or afflicted). The remainder of chapter 21 deals with the judgment of Edom (21:11– 12) and the judgment of Arabia. (21:13–17)

Having prophesied God’s judgment upon the nations surrounding Jerusalem, in chapter 22, Isaiah prophesies God’s judgment upon Jerusalem. It is called, “the valley of vision” in 22:1 because Jerusalem was surrounded by valleys on three sides. From an historic standpoint, this is the judgment found in 2^nd Kings 25, as Babylon invaded Jerusalem under Nebuchadnezzar in 588–586 B.C. Notice, however, the tell-tale signs of a futuristic fulfillment at the Second Coming of Christ in 22:8, 12, 20, and 25 by the now familiar phrase, “in that day”!

In chapter 23 God prophesies that Tyre, the commercial trading center of the Mediterranean world, would be destroyed because of her pride. This prophecy was fulfilled, in an historical sense, by Alexander the Great in 332 B.C. when he laid waste the city.

Note the word “Behold” in 24:1. The usage of the word “Behold” in scripture always points to a future event. What Isaiah is describing in chapter 24 is the establishment of the Millennial Kingdom. In the first six verses, Isaiah describes a universal judgment of the entire earth. The terms he uses to describe this judgment in verse 1 are tremendously graphic: “Behold, the Lord maketh the earth empty, and maketh it waste, and turneth it upside down, and scattereth abroad the inhabitants thereof.” In verses 13–16, Isaiah points to the fact that the godly remnant that survives the Tribulation Period will praise the Lord for His righteous judgments. The Apostle John sees the same fulfillment in Revelation 7:1–10; 15:3–4; 16:5, 7; 19:2. The remainder of the world will be judged in a horrific fashion, as described in 24:17–23.

In chapter 25, the millennium is described as a feast, or a banquet at which Gentiles from all over the entire world will bow their knee and worship Israel’s king who sits on His throne in Jerusalem, or “in this mountain”. (25:6–7, 10)

 SPECIFIC REFERENCES TO “THE DAY OF THE LORD”: 

• 19:16 – “in that day”  
• 19:18 – “in that day”  
• 19:19 – “in that day” 
• 19:21 – “in that day” 
• 19:23 – “in that day” 
• 19:24 – “in that day” 
• 20:6 – “in that day” 
• 22:5 – “it is a day of trouble”  
• 22:8 – “in that day”  
• 22:12 – “in that day”  
• 22:20 – “in that day”  
• 22:25 – “in that day”  
• 23:15 – “in that day”  
• 24:21 – “in that day”  
• 25:9 – “in that day”

CHRIST IS REVEALED:

• In ELIAKIM, MASTER OF HEZEKIAH’S HOUSEHOLD — Isaiah 22:20–22 (What is said of Eliakim is true of Christ, Who is the Master over the household of faith, and the one Who is the Possessor of the “Key of David” — Revelation 3:7; Hebrews 3:6; Galatians 6:10)

OVERVIEW: 

The judgment of Babylon; the judgment of Assyria; the judgment of Philistia; the judgment of Moab; the judgment of Damascus; the judgment of Ethiopia.

HIGHLIGHTS & INSIGHTS:

As we move into chapter 13 today, we find ourselves in the midst of a transition. Whereas chapters 1–12 dealt with judgments specifically related to Judah and Jerusalem, chapters 13–23 broaden the prophecies of judgment to include the Gentile nations.

Because Babylon was the nation that destroyed Jerusalem and took the people of Judah captive in 586 B.C., it is no coincidence that Babylon is at the top of God’s list of the Gentile nations to receive the execution of His judgment! In 13:1–5, God prophesies concerning those who would actually wield His judgment, saying, “They come from a far country…” In an historical sense, those “from a far country” were the people of Persia, whose nation was positioned approximately 350 miles east of Babylon. In a prophetic sense, those who will “come from a far country” to execute judgment will be none other than the Lord Jesus Christ and the armies of heaven (Revelation 19:11–16) and will take place on this planet, “in that day”; in “the day of the Lord”! (13:6, 9, 13)

Once God has executed His judgment “in that day”, Isaiah says to the nation of Israel in 14:3, “And it shall come to pass in the day that the Lord shall give thee rest from thy sorrow, and from thy fear, and from the hard bondage wherein thou wast made to serve.” Obviously, this is a reference to the peace and rest Israel will experience during the Millennial reign of the Lord Jesus Christ. You just have to love the way God describes what it will be like when His kingdom has finally been established in 14:7: “The whole earth is at rest, and is quiet: they break forth into singing.” Hallelujah! What a day that is going to be! Let us all say with the Apostle John, “…Even so, come, Lord Jesus.”  (Revelation 22:20)

Just as in Ezekiel 28:11–17, where the Lord was not just speaking to the king of Tyrus, but was also speaking to the power that was working in and through him (none other than Eden’s first “king”, Lucifer himself!), Isaiah 14:8–23 does the same basic thing. The passage has application to the king of Babylon, but is obviously also referring to the satanic power working behind and through that earthly king, and provides us with vital information concerning Lucifer’s fall. Notice in 14:13–14, Lucifer’s infamous five “I wills”:

• “I will ascend into heaven.” 
• “I will exalt my throne above the stars of God.”  
• “I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north.”  
• “I will ascend above the heights of the clouds.”  
• “I will be like the most High.”

Each of these blasphemous declarations are tremendously significant and teach us many things about the location of heaven, and the position Lucifer once held. Notice that the presence of our Lord in heaven is way far out in a “northerly” direction (check out Psalms 75:6 and 48:2; Job 26:7 and 37:22), far “above the heights of the clouds”, and “above the stars of God”. Notice also that Lucifer had a “throne”(!!!) and, comparing Isaiah 14:14 with Ezekiel 28:13, that throne just happened to be in “Eden, the garden of God”! Hmmmm. 

Of significant importance is Lucifer’s fifth “I will,” because it foreshadows for us what has been Satan’s mode of operation all through the annals of human history. He is, first and foremost, a “deceiver!” Revelation 12:9 even identifies him as the one “which deceiveth the whole world”! Listen to that! He “deceiveth the whole world”! Satan has been successful in his evil campaign, not by presenting himself as Satan so he can turn the world into a bunch of Satan worshippers, or try to get all the inhabitants of the earth to hate God or to set themselves against God. No, what he seeks to do is COUNTERFEIT God by actually POSING to BE GOD, and, through RELIGION, deceive people into thinking that they are actually following God, loving God, and obeying God! We must be very discerning especially in these last days! (1^st Timothy 4:1; 1^st John 2:18) Don’t ever lose sight of the fact that Satan has always been impassioned to “be LIKE the most High”!

This may sound a little “back-woodsy” to some, but if I had a Bible that didn’t identify “Lucifer” in Isaiah 14:12, I’d get one that did! Satan has done a masterful job of writing himself right out of almost every church history book on the market, and in the past several decades, he’s also written himself out of almost every Bible on the market! Some Bibles refer to him in Isaiah 14:12, not as “Lucifer, son of the morning,” but as the “Morning Star”. Some actually even have cross references in the margin pointing people to 2^nd Peter 1:26, and then to Revelation 22:16, where the “Morning Star” is specifically identified as our very Lord Jesus Christ Himself!!! Again, I say, we must be very discerning, and fully acquainted with how the Bible says Satan operates!

Obviously, in the context, Isaiah 14:27 is talking about what God purposed concerning Babylon and Israel. Devotionally, however, it is a tremendous verse that also applies to anything and everything God has promised that is in accordance with His purposes for us as New Testament believers: “For the Lord of hosts hath purposed, and who shall disannul it? And his hand is stretched out, and who shall turn it back?” 

In chapters 15 and 16, Isaiah prophesies the destruction of Moab. Though it definitely had an application for what would be happening in the near future in Isaiah’s day, don’t miss the fact that it also has application for what would be happening in the far distant future! Isaiah 16:5 refers to the time when Moab will seek refuge in Judah (16:3–4), and the rescue will come from the Lord Jesus Christ as He rises to his throne at His Second Coming, “judging, and seeking judgment, and hasting righteousness.” (Compare Isaiah 16:5 with 9:7; 11:4; 28:6; 32:16; 33:5; 42:1,3–4; 51:5). Recognize, also, that though the prophetic application of this verse was in “the far DISTANT FUTURE” for Isaiah and those living in HIS time, its fulfillment will, no doubt, be “in the NEAR FUTURE” for those living in THIS time!

Chapters 17 and 18 prophesy the destruction of both Damascus and Ethiopia, and yet, is filled with verbal “icons”, as it were, that point to the time of Christ’s Second Coming at the end of the Tribulation Period, and the beginning of His Millennial reign. (17:4, 7, 9, 11; 18:4)

SPECIFIC REFERENCES TO “THE DAY OF THE LORD”: 

• 13:6 – “the day of the Lord” 
• 13:9 – “the day of the Lord” 
• 13:13 – “in the day” 
• 14:3 – “in the day” 
• 17:4 – “in that day” 
• 17:7 – “at that day” 
• 17:9 – “in that day” 
• 17:11 – “in the day” 
• 18:4 – “I will take my rest”

CHRIST IS REVEALED:

• As the ONE WHO WILL SIT ON THE THRONE OF DAVID — Isaiah 16:5 (Luke 1:32–33)