In the early 1990s, excavators discovered a ninth-century inscription that mentions the House of David, no doubt a reference to the Davids dynasty. No man spoke like the Lord Jesus (v. 4; Jn 7:46). Elsewhere sprinkling is on something, but there is no preposition here. But the Lord cuts down the army like a lumberjack cutting cedars on the mountains of Lebanon (vv. The end-time setting is apparent not only in the Lords coming and the glorification of the land of Israel (v. 7) but in the healing of the blind, deaf, and lame (vv. It could be an unnamed virgin, or it could be Isaiahs wife, since an event about her in 8:1-4 is similar in predicting the defeat of these two kings when the child is small (7:15-16; 8:3-4). The Lord reigning on Mount Zion recalls Isaiah 2:1-4. In response, the king of Judah, Asa, the grandson of Rehoboam, turned for help to Ben-Hadad, king of Aram-Damascus. All kings will see this change as the city receives a new name (62: 2), a new identity, for the world will be focused on attacking Israel. 2b-3), one causing him to weep over its coming destruction (v. 4). Isaiahs vision of the future Babylonian exile (Isa 39:5-7) was part of a larger set of revelations God gave him about the future that focused on the Babylonian threat and the comfort God would give to Israel. The Lord will facilitate the return of Jews from formerly hostile nations, perhaps supernaturally because the action is compared to the Exodus (Isa 11:15-16). Isaiah refers to events and times before his ministry and well into the future beyond his own lifetime. God points out to Zion the ships from the far islands of the Mediterranean, bringing returned Jewish exiles along with the islands monetary gifts to the Lord that will beautify victorious Israel (Isa 60:8-9). Herodotus, the Greek historian, gave two different instances in which Cyrus drained water from a river to access Babylon. God promises to respond with light, healing, righteousness, and glory (v.8). Shalum had an even shorter reignafter only one month he was assassinated by Menahem, who went on to rule for more than a decade (747-738 B.C.E.). Damascus enjoyed its prominent position in the region for about a quarter century, from roughly the 830s to 805 B.C.E. Their dreaming is both laziness and distraction from duty. They failed in their efforts and did not bring salvation or new birth to the world (v. 18). The last woe in the chapter (vv. 17-18) to provide water supernaturally, beautifying nature in the process (vv. But before amity comes, the Lord sends a plague (v. 22) that leads to Egypts repentance and healing. Isaiah was Isaiah speaks of sexual acts of fertility worship (v. 5). Jehoram ruled from 846 to 841 B.C.E. God gave Hezekiah a choice about whether the shadow should go up or down, with the king choosing the less natural path (2 Kgs 20:9-11). The nature of Davids rule is the subject of ongoing debate among historians today. Isaiah 1 can be regarded as a covenant lawsuit against Israel, and it reflects Deuteronomy 32, which also condemned Israel for its rejection of God. The chapter underscores themes already introduced. 1-2). 2 Kings 17-6 records that the Israelites were carried away to Assyria, while 2 Kings 17-24 notes that peoples from Babylon and elsewhere in the east were sent to Samaria. Except for perhaps Moses, there is no greater hero in the Bible than David. Gods favor will never again depart from it (v. 13). His long list of city-states, including the northern kingdom of Israel, had to be impressive (vv.18-20). The Life and Times of Isaiah | BibleTalk.tv Beginning in the wilderness God began to thwart Israelites hopes (v. 10). The poorest of the poor (Isa 14:30) are likely Israelites in contrast to Philistine survivors of the attack described in verse 31, who would die by famine. This growth in literacy may have led in the tenth century to the earliest compilation of Israelite history and religion, which would form one of the major strands of the Bible (and which scholars refer to as the J strand). He was speechless and permanently humbled (v. 15). Isaiah associated Syrias downfall with Ephraims, which came a decade later, for the two kingdoms were allied (see Isa 7:1, 4-6). The Hebrew of the second half of verse 5 may say: and my indignation is a staff in their hand.. The great army outside Jerusalems wall left, bringing temporary relief. Israelites should repent at the promise, for they surely would turn to the Lord, rejecting idols that they made as sin, on the day he saved them from Assyria (vv. God invites them to foretell the future as the Lord alone had done in foretelling this defeat of the nations who fight Israel (v. 21). His unrelenting anger would be life-denying (v. 16). Despite his godly actions, God had sent Isaiah to preach to a rebellious people. They would exceed their authority when they tried to annihilate Jerusalem. God tells Zion to observe the nations coming from everywhere, bringing the people of Israel back to their land (v. 4). If that was indeed their motivation, they badly misjudged the situation; rather than joining the two kings, Jotham turned to Tiglath-pileser for helphelp that came at a price, of course; in the time-honored way of such things, Jotham presented Tiglath-pileser with the gold and silver from the Jerusalem temple and royal palace. Healing for Israel will come in the kingdom (v. 26), when God blesses nature richly (vv. 7-8). Assyria would not again be a significant factor in either Israel or Judah until the middle of the century. Its prophecies of Christ are the most extensive of all OT prophecies of him. God will know Israel has repented when it gets rid of idols (v. 9). The wicked can refer to doomed Babylon but also to the rebellious Israelites through history (48:1-11). They will fulfill a blessing of the Abrahamic and Mosaic covenants to multiply greatly (v. 22; Gen 13:16; 15:5; Lev. The idea of mashiach (messiah) is an ancient one in Judaism The Jewish idea of mashiach is a great human leader like King David, not a savior There is much speculation about when the mashiach will come The Bible identifies several tasks that the mashiach will accomplish It must have been humbling for Shebna to hear the Lord call Eliakim his servant. Matthew 12:15-21 quotes Isaiah 42:1-3 as fulfilled in the Lord Jesus. It includes the full scope of His life: the announcement of His coming ( Isaiah 40:3-5 ), His virgin birth (7:14), His proclamation of the good news (61:1), His sacrificial death (52:13-53:12), and His return to claim . Isaiah 66:18 shows that this vengeance comes with glory. Assyria can picture the end-time enemy, who meets his end outside Jerusalem (Dan 11:45; Rev 14:20). On the hard trip there are not only camels and donkeys, and not only wild animals like lions and adders, but they are bringing the gifts to a monster animal (Egypt), one that will hurt Israel by doing nothing. His desert of reward (v. 4) could envision the coming kingdom. The king was punished with leprosy, which forced him to live apart from others. The verb are haughty in verse 16 can also mean are high/exalted, so the women of Zion, evidently the same ones who rule the men according to verse 12, are an example of what is high that is brought low, as in 2:9-22. Is this another vision of the fall of Babylon in chapter 13, which also mentioned Medes and could refer to 539 B.C. Davids long rulemore than 40 yearsis seen by the Bible as a golden age. Miraculous salvation will come later. Though Shalmaneser eventually captured Samaria in 722 B.C.E., he died a few months later. Jesus quoted the first line of Isaiah 54:13 as being fulfilled in himself (Jn 6:45). The identity of the fierce king who rules over them is unclear. The survivors on earth are like the gleanings after the harvest. Women humbled by judgment will seek to avoid being spinsters, since so many men have died in war (see a similar covenant curse in Lev 26:26). Sargon made Ashdod a province of Assyria. 2 Chronicles 26-11-15 credits Azariah with greatly strengthening the army and with fortifying the towers of Jerusalem with machines that could hurl arrows and large stones against potential attackers. Verse 11 is the opposite of Psalms 116:9 and 27:13. Bread and water were prison rations (see 1 Kgs 22:27) and symbolize the nations divine discipline of suffering. His son Jotham then ruled as co-regent. The Septuagint and Vulgate have idols as the translation of the word for trees. Hezekiah, he said, was deceptive, was incapable of rescuing, and gave false promises of the Lords deliverance (vv. in Thebes at about the time the Assyrians were sacking the city. The Book of Isaiah ( Hebrew: , [s.fr j.a.ja.hu]) is the first of the Latter Prophets in the Hebrew Bible and the first of the Major Prophets in the Christian Old Testament. Most of them left chronological data by which the duration of their ministry can be determined, at least approximately. The only king of Damascus who was a contemporary of both kings is Hazael. Jesus was not strikingly handsome (Isa 53:2). King David lived in the 10th century BCE. Biblical History: From David to Isaiah, c. 1000-700 BCE, Steven Feldman God intended Jesus suffering as a guilt offering for human sin (v. 10). November 6, 2018 I wish like crazy I had discovered David Pawson years ago, but I guess--as the saying goes--when the student is ready the teacher will come. Indeed, after 838, Hazael was able to expand his empire, particularly in southern Syria and then in Israel. Eliakim would wield the power of his office rightly, becoming a support for all his family. Isaiah 1 calls Israel to account by alluding to the Song of Moses. 19, 21). Isaiah 5:26 speaks of God whistling to distant nations at the end of the earth, and in 7:18 God whistles for the flies in Egypt and bees in Assyria, metaphors for the armies of those places. 30-31). Seir, which was another name for Edom, was on a trade route that ran though Dumah. (no Assyrian king died around 715 B.C., with Shalmaneser dying in 722, and Sargon in 705). God invited them to do their best with their astrologers, but such people wore out a nation (v. 13). Nebuchadnezzar put down an invasion from Elam in about 596 B.C., so he may have had Elamites fighting with him. The fact that Isaiah saw himself as undone, a person of unclean lips, suggests that the Lord had not sent him to prophesy before this time. Even if his discipline in the Babylonian conquest seemed harsh, it was to a good end. The severity of Gods discipline is plain in verse 17. 31-32). Isaiah would wait for God to act in fulfillment of his prophecies. He characterized the Assyrian attitude as haughty pride. Isaiah - Prophet, Timeline & Message - Biography Esarhaddons son Ashurbanipal invaded Egypt in 667 B.C. The miracle would be a testimony to the Lord for all nations. 8-9). So direct address may be normal with this word. In Isaiah 10:18 the phrase is literally from soul and as far as flesh: from what is most inward to what is most outward. The Lord had a word for the scoffing leaders of Jerusalem, who thought they could have safety without trusting the Lord and assumed they had an agreement with death. Isaiah adds that its root stock is holy seed, that is, the Israelite survivors, or remnant. These battles raged annually, with Shalmaneser unable to subdue the coalition. Riding the heights signifies success, and feasting implies enjoying the good things of the land (see Deut 32:13). The oracle could be about Babylon when it was captured by Assyria, but there is no mention of Assyria and only the Medes. In either case, there would be few survivors, and Gods judgment would turn the attention of his people back to him rather than idols. In a sudden theophany, God comes with powerful phenomena that sometimes accompany him (v. 6). The idols they worshiped in ignorance had not saved them (v. 20). But Gods promise was to punish the Assyrian arrogance as soon as he had used Assyria to punish Judah. They will know that righteousness and strength come from him (v. 24). Its name Hephzibah means My delight is in her, and Beulah means Married. The reconciliation with God as husband repeats 54:1-8. This is a constant refrain of Ezekiels eschatology (e.g., Ezek 37:14). Even Jezebel, Ahabs widow and Israels queen mother, suffered an ignoble death- She was thrown from a window at her palace in Jezreel and her body was left in the street to be eaten by dogs. Jereboam, for his part, may have feared that if the people of the northern tribes made annual pilgrimages to Jerusalem, their political allegiances might shift to his rival, Rehoboam. They may walk in darkness but can rely on God and his name (v. 10). Jesus quoted Isaiah 61:2 but left out day of vengeance because his first coming was not for vengeance as his second will be. What the Bible describes as an internal coup, the Tel Dan inscription sees as an act orchestrated by Hazael. The second theory allows reconciliation, which the book shows later. Bind and seal up imply protection and preservation. Conquerors from the far east often advanced on Palestine from the north. The first word in Isaiah 18 usually indicates a prophecy of woe associated with judgment and death. By the time Isaiah was called by God, Israel had had centuries to resolve its sin problems. 1, 4, 7) precede two calls to Wake up, wake up (vv. The lands to the east of the Persian Gulf, where Elam was, have stretches of desert. Quora - A place to share knowledge and better understand the world The Lords exaltation naturally follows his scattering of the enemies. The reality of Israel presenting burdensome sins to God rather than offerings could match much of history since Rome destroyed Israel. Isaiah lived in Jerusalem and served King Hezekiah with great distinction. A name like morning star (14:12) did not suit Belshazzar. God describes the Israelites as sons who do not recognize the Father who raised them. Either on his way to or from Tyre, Shalmeneser, in about 725 B.C.E., marched against Israel and laid siege to Samaria, a siege that lasted for three years. Despite the fatigue such ungodliness engendered, the sin continued (v. 10). Related Topics: Introductions, Arguments, Outlines, Harold Holmyard is a member of Fellowship Dallas (Kurt Pressler, pastor, at Park Lane & Central Expressway) and is a weekly chapel speaker at Dallas LIFE, a Christian homeless shelter in downtown Dallas, where he is also a board member. The new things (v. 9) merit a new song (v. 10), one sung in the far corners of the world. God is going to come to Zion bringing his sheep in love. Legislators abused the poor, whom God wanted to receive special care (vv. The shepherds tent conveyed brevity of life and the weavers cut, finality in life (vv. These two chapters are paired accounts that have opposing structures. Neo-Assyrian records refer to the lands of Bit Humri, the House (or Dynasty) of Omri. Jesus at his trial suffered as in verse 6 (Mk 14:65; Mt 26:67; John 19:2-3). 33:21). Acts 8:32-35 applies Isaiah 53:7-8 to Jesus. This action eventually brought Assyria against Judah, however (2 Chron 28:20-21). The imagery of a seven-headed serpent (cf. Superficially, verse 1 compares Jerusalem to barren Sarah versus Hagar, but it could also compare final Israel with Israel before the Lord rejected her. This rescue (vv. 6-7). The messenger preparing the Lords way reappears in Malachi 3:1. At God's direction Samuel found and anointed a young shepherd boy named David. The eternal One, named the First and Last earlier in 41:4 and 44:6, called the nation to listen to the Creator and Sovereign. This was thanks to the relative weakness at the time of Damascus and Assyria. Egypt would grieve because of their great trade with Tyre. 29:9-12). Assyrian royal annals show just this kind of self-congratulatory, boastful speech. 21:23). The prophets proclaimed the coming of a Savior, the Anointed One or Messiah who would rescue His people. Jeremiah 21:13 puts Jerusalem in a valley. The lovers with whom the covenant was made (v. 8) are probably foreign rulers sought out for the favor they could bestow. He calls the people to repent and turn back to him, even the wicked and evil, since he promises to pardon (vv. Noble people will succeed by their noble plans (v. 8). Pss 67:2; 106:8). It was the Fathers will to crush his Son (vv. Because they were under the Mosaic covenant, he would be a trap and snare as they failed to live as he said and so came under the covenant curses. This one would have no physical descendants (Isa 53:8). The shift from Assyrian defeat (31:8) to kingdom blessedness (32:1) is typical of Isaiah, who uses historical events to prefigure end-time ones. These chapters deal with the Assyrian crisis but often look beyond it to the end of the age. In the time of Isaiah, Israel was a little nation often caught in the middle . He may come towards Israel, fielding questions (vv. (1) Isaiah's announcement to Hezekiah. When Azariah died, his disease kept him from being buried in the main part of the royal cemetery; a plaque from the Herodian period suggests, however, that his body was later moved. Not only will the king rule rightly, but those under him. Deut 28:30, 38-40; Lev 26:16, 20, 26). Their figuratively blind stumbling (v. 10) lived out a covenant curse for disobedience (Deut 28:29). As a result, soon after ascending to the throne, The kingdom was established in the hand of Solomon (1 Kings 2-46). He installed his own vassal king Ethbaal when Luli, the king of Tyre and Sidon, fled by boat. It announces the Shepherds coming. The prophecy was written after Samarias ruin (v. 11). Israelite cities in that day would be as abandoned to thicket and undergrowth as the Canaanite cities had become after Joshua conquered the land for Israel. Here is the Lords coming foretold earlier in 40:9-11. They are a brood of evildoers (Isa 1:4), a perverse, sinful generation (Deut 32:5). The Antichrists defeat in Israel will precede Messiahs kingdom (cf. It gives a less positive slant on Immanuel eating curds and honey in Isaiah 7:15. The palm engraving (v. 16) makes one think of Christs nail prints (the Law forbade tattoos: Lev 19:28). King Ahaz had mistakenly relied on Assyria to defeat the northern kingdom of Israel, but Gods defeat of Assyria would teach Judah to trust the Lord (v. 20) and to repent (v. 21). At one point, Baashas forces captured the fortress at Ramah, just north of Jerusalem, and imposed an embargo on Judahs capital city. Isaiah Complains of Zion's Corruption: Isaiah 1 - 5: 739 BC: Isaiah's Vision and Commission: Isaiah 6: Trouble was coming, and God invited the false gods they collected to save them (v. 13). Several theories exist about how the words work in the eighth-century context. They attacked Davids forces twice but were repulsed both times. 42:7; 61:1). To cement good relations between the two kingdoms even further, Jehoshaphat had arranged to marry Jehoram to Athaliah, the daughter of Ahab and Jezebel. The vengeance to uphold Zions cause (34:8) is the same vengeance with which God comes in 35:4. Hab 3:8; Ps 68:17). Sennacheribs god did not protect him from the true God, who used his own sons to kill him. The northern enemy would decimate Moab. God addresses the city under oppression (v. 11) before Gods comfort has come, as the Lord turns back after rejecting it (54:1-8). Absence of justice opens and closes this section. For the One reassuring Israel of help was the Lord, its God (v. 13). People will not face the upending crises of life because God will bless them (65:23). He would have the undistracted focus of a lion on its prey as he came to battle Jerusalems attackers, the Assyrians (v. 8). This second call to Jerusalem (cf. God has asked who is like him (v. 5) several times (cf. ; 2 Kgs 18:1, 9-10). Menahems long rule came at a pricepaying tribute to Tiglath-pileser. The lie they were trusting in could have been the word of Assyria, since that predatory nation probably did not intend to leave Judah untouched when extortion and conquest were its way of life. 3-4): rebellion, treachery toward God, failure to follow him, oppression, falsehood, and lies. Both deal with idolatry (Isa 1:29; Deut 32:16-17, 21, 37-39). The permanence in human society comes from what God injects into it: his word. God summarizes the history of Jerusalem. The nation of Israel will endure forever (v. 22) since Revelation 21-22 imply that the new heavens and earth are eternal. Israel did not need to fear the conqueror, since God would help, strengthen, and preserve the nation (v. 10). But they need to know God will save them. Babylon itself will have no surviving progeny, nor will the city have any future. Matthew 4:13-16 cites Isaiah 9:1-2 as fulfilled in Jesus. Compared to her future, her time of rejection was a brief moment (v. 7), though it has lasted nearly two thousand years. In Hezekiahs thinking, there was no one closer to God within access. 2 Kings 13 4-5 says that the Lord saw the oppression of Israel, how the king of Aram [Damascus] oppressed them. Hazael seems to have had the better of the fight, because Joram was wounded in the battle and had to retreat to Jezreel, where he was soon joined by his ally Ahaziah. 22-24) is about big drinkers who corrupt justice. For ancient Babylon fell when its capital was conquered by invasion, as the end-time Babylon will fall (Revelation 17-18). Ephraim allied itself with Syria to tear Judah apart and depose its king of Judah (7:6), so its portion was to be counted among the many nations and destroyed as not part of us.. God planned it long in advance, to be a refuge for the weak from ruthless worldly strength that he silences. Their caravans may have plied the trade route. The kings grandiose ambitions (vv. Faith comes by hearing, Paul said (Rom 10:17) right after quoting two verses of Isaiah (Rom 10:15-16: Isa 52:7; 53:1). A persons name represented his character (v. 27). The eternal covenant is Gods bond with his people to meet their needs forever through the reign of his Son. After see in Isaiah 53:11, the LXX and all the Dead Sea scrolls of Isaiah have the word light, and this seems strong evidence for its inclusion. Israel would play instruments as God acted (v. 32; cf. 7-8). God had told Israel never to go back to Egypt (Deut 17:16). 5-6). God measures it for destruction (v. 11). The message may refer to the speed with which the wealth of Damascus and plunder of Samaria would be carried off. Isaiah 13 is another chapter that has an eschatological flavor, although it speaks of ancient nations. The LXX does not have Aroer here but rather forever, and the Targum has its cities, with Damascus as the pronominal antecedent. 65:2; Num 22:1; Deut 7:14). Cush designates the lands around the Nile in southern Egypt, that is, Nubia and northern Sudan (from about the Second Cataract south to Khartoum). God will establish for the entire world a cycle of worship like that of Israel. The person grieving in verse 5 seems to be God, based on the speaker soon saying that he will bring lions on Dimon (v. 9). Gods last self-identification was awesome because Cyrus was born 100 years after Sennacheribs attack of Jerusalem. Matters of law were typically resolved within a village by local elders, though sometimes property disputes would require the intervention of royal officials; these more significant cases led at times to grumbling by the locals over what they saw as the high-handedness of the royal court, an unhappiness often captured by the prophets in their condemnations of a kings abuses.