Day 202: Isaiah 4-6

(The previous post covered the beginning of the Book of Isaiah which focused on the causes of Israel's and Judah's coming judgment. This prophecy was focused on the time of the Millennium...)

Isaiah 4
1 And seven women shall take hold of one man in that day, saying, We will eat our own bread, and wear our own apparel: only let us be called by thy name; take thou away our reproach.

(This verse expressed the scarcity of males in the last days after the Tribulation and the battle of Armageddon. Many men will die in battle in those days.)

2 In that day shall the branch of Jehovah be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the land shall be excellent and comely for them that are escaped of Israel.

(Again, these days referred to the 7th Dispensation when Christ will reign on earth for 1000 years. The "branch of Jehovah" was Christ.)

3 And it shall come to pass, that he that is left in Zion, and he that remaineth in Jerusalem, shall be called holy, even every one that is written among the living in Jerusalem;
4 when the Lord shall have washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion, and shall have purged the blood of Jerusalem from the midst thereof, by the spirit of justice, and by the spirit of burning.

(Justice will be the cause of the washing and purging of the evil in Jerusalem.)

5 And Jehovah will create over the whole habitation of mount Zion, and over her assemblies, a cloud and smoke by day, and the shining of a flaming fire by night; for over all the glory shall be spread a covering.

(God was, is, and forever will be the Creator.)

6 And there shall be a pavilion for a shade in the day-time from the heat, and for a refuge and for a covert from storm and from rain.

(This act of creation referred to a tabernacle that will be built for protection.)




Isaiah 5
1 Let me sing for my wellbeloved a song of my beloved touching his vineyard. My wellbeloved had a vineyard in a very fruitful hill:

(This chapter started a new prophecy, different from the first four chapters. Isaiah was singing a song to the "wellbeloved," which was Jehovah.)

2 and he digged it, and gathered out the stones thereof, and planted it with the choicest vine, and built a tower in the midst of it, and also hewed out a winepress therein: and he looked that it should bring forth grapes, and it brought forth wild grapes.

(All these things Jehovah did were for the benefit of His "vineyard"…His children. This vineyard was protected and should have brought forth grapes but it brought forth "wild grapes" (representing the wicked). This spoke of Israel during Isaiah's time.)

3 And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah, judge, I pray you, betwixt me and my vineyard.
4 What could have been done more to my vineyard, that I have not done in it? wherefore, when I looked that it should bring forth grapes, brought it forth wild grapes?

(Jehovah asked for Judah to consider what else He could have done to make it possible for His people to grow. Ultimately, this was a rhetorical question. It implied that God had done everything possible for Judah's ability to grow. However, the same could be said for us: God had done everything that was needed for our Salvation.)

5 And now I will tell you what I will do to my vineyard: I will take away the hedge thereof, and it shall be eaten up; I will break down the wall thereof, and it shall be trodden down:
6 and I will lay it waste; it shall not be pruned nor hoed; but there shall come up briers and thorns: I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it.

(For the benefit of the "wild grapes" (wicked) the hedge would be taken away, it would be eaten up, trodden down, not pruned or hoed (digged). This would be a long term benefit with the hope that the "wild grapes" would turn to God through their judgment.)

7 For the vineyard of Jehovah of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah his pleasant plant: and he looked for justice, but, behold, oppression; for righteousness, but, behold, a cry.

(God sought out Justice and Righteousness in His people.)

8 Woe unto them that join house to house, that lay field to field, till there be no room, and ye be made to dwell alone in the midst of the land!
9 In mine ears saith Jehovah of hosts, Of a truth many houses shall be desolate, even great and fair, without inhabitant.
10 For ten acres of vineyard shall yield one bath, and a homer of seed shall yield but an ephah.

(Ten acres of vineyard would not even produce one bath (six gallons) of wine and ten baskets of seed would only produce one ephah (basket of grain). This was a woe of covetousness. The word woe meant "warning; threatening interjection.")

11 Woe unto them that rise up early in the morning, that they may follow strong drink; that tarry late into the night, till wine inflame them!

(A woe to those who made drunkenness a cause...)

12 And the harp and the lute, the tabret and the pipe, and wine, are in their feasts; but they regard not the work of Jehovah, neither have they considered the operation of his hands.
13 Therefore my people are gone into captivity for lack of knowledge; and their honorable men are famished, and their multitude are parched with thirst.

(God's people would be in captivity because they had no knowledge.)

14 Therefore Sheol hath enlarged its desire, and opened its mouth without measure; and their glory, and their multitude, and their pomp, and he that rejoiceth among them, descend into it.
15 And the mean man is bowed down, and the great man is humbled, and the eyes of the lofty are humbled:

(The proud would be humbled.)

16 but Jehovah of hosts is exalted in justice, and God the Holy One is sanctified in righteousness.

(God would be exalted in Justice. All would know that God was Right and Just.)

17 Then shall the lambs feed as in their pasture, and the waste places of the fat ones shall wanderers eat.

(In that day, the "lambs" (God’s sheep) would eat well and the evil would eat among the ruins.)

18 Woe unto them that draw iniquity with cords of falsehood, and sin as it were with a cart rope;
19 that say, Let him make speed, let him hasten his work, that we may see it; and let the counsel of the Holy One of Israel draw nigh and come, that we may know it!

(A woe for iniquities.)

20 Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!

(This was a woe for false belief, also known as apostasy if the person had known the truth.)

21 Woe unto them that are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight!

("...wise in their own eyes..." A woe for the proud.)

22 Woe unto them that are mighty to drink wine, and men of strength to mingle strong drink;
23 that justify the wicked for a bribe, and take away the righteousness of the righteous from him!

(A woe unto those who were unjust.)

24 Therefore as the tongue of fire devoureth the stubble, and as the dry grass sinketh down in the flame, so their root shall be as rottenness, and their blossom shall go up as dust; because they have rejected the law of Jehovah of hosts, and despised the word of the Holy One of Israel.

(These wicked ones would be destroyed because they rejected God’s Law and His Word. Judah would face judgment...)

25 Therefore is the anger of Jehovah kindled against his people, and he hath stretched forth his hand against them, and hath smitten them; and the mountains tremble, and their dead bodies are as refuse in the midst of the streets. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still.

(God was so angry with their actions that even these judgments against them were not enough for God to turn away His anger from them.)

26 And he will lift up an ensign to the nations from far, and will hiss for them from the end of the earth; and, behold, they shall come with speed swiftly.

(God would use other nations (Babylon) to judge the Israelites.)

27 None shall be weary nor stumble among them; none shall slumber nor sleep; neither shall the girdle of their loins be loosed, nor the latchet of their shoes be broken:
28 whose arrows are sharp, and all their bows bent; their horses' hoofs shall be accounted as flint, and their wheels as a whirlwind:
29 their roaring shall be like a lioness, they shall roar like young lions; yea, they shall roar, and lay hold of the prey, and carry it away safe, and there shall be none to deliver.
30 And they shall roar against them in that day like the roaring of the sea: and if one look unto the land, behold, darkness and distress; and the light is darkened in the clouds thereof.

(God provided many warnings/woes to Israel and Judah. Would they hear Him?)




Isaiah 6
1 In the year that king Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and his train filled the temple.

(Uzziah died thirty-eight years before the destruction of the ten tribe nation that made up Israel. This chapter was written during Jotham's reign. It appeared the first five chapters were written before this time. Isaiah saw God on His Throne, high and lifted up, and His Train (robe) filled the temple.)

2 Above him stood the seraphim: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly.

(Above the Throne were the seraphim: burning, serpent like angels that attend to God.)

3 And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is Jehovah of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory.

(The seraphim cried to one another proclaiming God’s Holiness. God is Holy: pure, clean, of one material. The quantitative measure is Just and the qualitative measure is Righteous. In Revelation 4:8, John also stated six winged seraphim proclaim in heaven, "Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord God, the Almighty, who was and who is and who is to come." God's Glory was a direct result of His Holiness. God's Glory was His intrinsic Goodness, the very value and worth within God.)

4 And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke.
5 Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, Jehovah of hosts.
6 Then flew one of the seraphim unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar:
7 and he touched my mouth with it, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin forgiven.

(One of the seraphim brought a live coal in his hand to Isaiah. Notice, this was not a burning coal. A live coal was hot. A burning coal had a fire coming from it. In Proverbs 25:22 loving an enemy heaped burning coals on his head. This passage showed the coals spoken of in Proverbs 25:22 were more than live and not intended to cleanse or heat the enemy. It was meant to consume him. Here, the live coal was a confirmation that Isaiah was cleansed, this was not the method which Isaiah was cleansed.)

8 And I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then I said, Here am I; send me.

(Isaiah heard God ask whom God should send. Isaiah answered quickly and stated he would go. Notice, everything about this vision was logical and involved words. Isaiah did not have an unconscious indescribable vision.)

9 And he said, Go, and tell this people, Hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not.

(Matthew 13:14 – "And unto them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall in no wise understand; And seeing ye shall see, and shall in no wise perceive:")

10 Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and turn again, and be healed.

(God told Isaiah to make the people not hear and not see so they would not understand with their heart, be converted and be healed. John 12:40 referenced this verse when John explained Jesus' triumphant entry during "Palm Sunday." Paul also referenced verses 9 and 10 while he was in Rome near the end of the Book of Acts: Acts 28:27.)

11 Then said I, Lord, how long? And he answered, Until cities be waste without inhabitant, and houses without man, and the land become utterly waste,
12 and Jehovah have removed men far away, and the forsaken places be many in the midst of the land.
13 And if there be yet a tenth in it, it also shall in turn be eaten up: as a terebinth, and as an oak, whose stock remaineth, when they are felled; so the holy seed is the stock thereof.

(This chapter appeared to be the only one written during Jotham's time. The next six chapters were written during Ahaz's reign. The rest of the Isaiah was written during Hezekiah's reign.)

(This post covered Isaiah's commissioning to speak on behalf of God.)

Day 203

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