(The previous post covered prophecies concerning the Millennial reign of Christ.)
Isaiah 28
1 Woe to the crown of pride of the drunkards of Ephraim, and to the fading flower of his glorious beauty, which is on the head of the fat valley of them that are overcome with wine!
2 Behold, the Lord hath a mighty and strong one; as a tempest of hail, a destroying storm, as a tempest of mighty waters overflowing, will he cast down to the earth with the hand.
(The "mighty and strong one" referred to the king of Assyria who was to destroy Samaria in Israel: 2 Kings 17.)
3 The crown of pride of the drunkards of Ephraim shall be trodden under foot:
4 and the fading flower of his glorious beauty, which is on the head of the fat valley, shall be as the first-ripe fig before the summer; which when he that looketh upon it seeth, while it is yet in his hand he eateth it up.
(The drunkards of Ephraim were progressing towards their own destruction. Their cause was pride.)
5 In that day will Jehovah of hosts become a crown of glory, and a diadem of beauty, unto the residue of his people;
6 and a spirit of justice to him that sitteth in judgment, and strength to them that turn back the battle at the gate.
(The remnant will see Jehovah as a crown of glory and beauty. God will also bring a spirit of Justice to His leaders.)
7 And even these reel with wine, and stagger with strong drink; the priest and the prophet reel with strong drink, they are swallowed up of wine, they stagger with strong drink; they err in vision, they stumble in judgment.
(Those of Judah had also erred as the Israelites (Ephraim) did.)
8 For all tables are full of vomit and filthiness, so that there is no place clean.
9 Whom will he teach knowledge? and whom will he make to understand the message? them that are weaned from the milk, and drawn from the breasts?
(Because of the error of Israel and Judah, God wondered if only children (who were humble) would learn from Him.)
10 For it is precept upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, there a little.
11 Nay, but by men of strange lips and with another tongue will he speak to this people;
(God had to use other nations to speak to His own people. Paul referenced this verse in 1 Corinthians 14:21.)
12 to whom he said, This is the rest, give ye rest to him that is weary; and this is the refreshing: yet they would not hear.
(Some believe verses 11-12, when speaking of "another tongue," were prophecy regarding the gift of tongues.)
13 Therefore shall the word of Jehovah be unto them precept upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, there a little; that they may go, and fall backward, and be broken, and snared, and taken.
14 Wherefore hear the word of Jehovah, ye scoffers, that rule this people that is in Jerusalem:
(Judgment on Judah for their errors…)
15 Because ye have said, We have made a covenant with death, and with Sheol are we at agreement; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, it shall not come unto us; for we have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood have we hid ourselves:
(Judah was at agreement (covenant) with death and Sheol (hell).)
16 therefore thus saith the Lord Jehovah, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner-stone of sure foundation: he that believeth shall not be in haste.
(The "stone" was Christ: the foundation, the tried (Christ was tempted forty days), the precious (brightness, excellence). Those who believe have their trust in God and will not make haste (quick) decisions in their own strength. Paul referenced this verse in Romans 9:33 and Romans 10:11. Also, 1 Peter 2:6 referenced this verse.)
17 And I will make justice the line, and righteousness the plummet; and the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding-place.
(God's Nature is Right and Just and His measures are Right and Just.)
18 And your covenant with death shall be annulled, and your agreement with Sheol shall not stand; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, then ye shall be trodden down by it.
(The judgment against Judah would cause their Covenant with death and hell to cease.)
19 As often as it passeth through, it shall take you; for morning by morning shall it pass through, by day and by night: and it shall be nought but terror to understand the message.
(The judgment will be so terrorizing that understanding it will bring more terror.)
20 For the bed is shorter than that a man can stretch himself on it; and the covering narrower than that he can wrap himself in it.
(Judah will not be able to defend itself against this judgment, God's judgment. It would be as a man trying to cover himself while sleeping with a blanket that was too small and a laying on a bed that was too short.)
21 For Jehovah will rise up as in mount Perazim, he will be wroth as in the valley of Gibeon; that he may do his work, his strange work, and bring to pass his act, his strange act.
(Mount Perazim was a mountain in Palestine.)
22 Now therefore be ye not scoffers, lest your bonds be made strong; for a decree of destruction have I heard from the Lord, Jehovah of hosts, upon the whole earth.
23 Give ye ear, and hear my voice; hearken, and hear my speech.
(God advised them to listen and understand His words.)
24 Doth he that ploweth to sow plow continually? doth he continually open and harrow his ground?
(God wanted Judah to know that there eventually would be fruitful effects of doing the causes. We reap what we sow. You will reap, our lives are not only made of sowing. However, we ought to be focused on the sowing, the reaping will be an effect.)
25 When he hath levelled the face thereof, doth he not cast abroad the fitches, and scatter the cummin, and put in the wheat in rows, and the barley in the appointed place, and the spelt in the border thereof?
26 For his God doth instruct him aright, and doth teach him.
(God teaches man, man does not teach God. This was stated similarly in the Book of Job.)
27 For the fitches are not threshed with a sharp threshing instrument, neither is a cart wheel turned about upon the cummin; but the fitches are beaten out with a staff, and the cummin with a rod.
28 Bread grain is ground; for he will not be always threshing it: and though the wheel of his cart and his horses scatter it, he doth not grind it.
(Verses 27-28 were concerning different methods of threshing grain. The examples used mentioned the way they were supposed to be done and the way they were not supposed to be done...)
29 This also cometh forth from Jehovah of hosts, who is wonderful in counsel, and excellent in wisdom.
(…just as God will teach us and direct us to do the things we ought to do.)
Isaiah 29
1 Ho Ariel, Ariel, the city where David encamped! add ye year to year; let the feasts come round:
(Ariel meant "lion of God" or "lioness of God" and was a name applied to Jerusalem.)
2 then will I distress Ariel, and there shall be mourning and lamentation; and she shall be unto me as Ariel.
(This chapter was a warning to Jerusalem and prophecy about judgment against Judah.)
3 And I will encamp against thee round about, and will lay siege against thee with posted troops, and I will raise siege works against thee.
(This referred to the siege of Jerusalem during the Tribulation, possibly at the battle of Armageddon.)
4 And thou shalt be brought down, and shalt speak out of the ground, and thy speech shall be low out of the dust; and thy voice shall be as of one that hath a familiar spirit, out of the ground, and thy speech shall whisper out of the dust.
(Jerusalem, having been taken over by the Antichrist, would be defeated.)
5 But the multitude of thy foes shall be like small dust, and the multitude of the terrible ones as chaff that passeth away: yea, it shall be in an instant suddenly.
6 She shall be visited of Jehovah of hosts with thunder, and with earthquake, and great noise, with whirlwind and tempest, and the flame of a devouring fire.
7 And the multitude of all the nations that fight against Ariel, even all that fight against her and her stronghold, and that distress her, shall be as a dream, a vision of the night.
(Judgment against Jerusalem's enemies…)
8 And it shall be as when a hungry man dreameth, and, behold, he eateth; but he awaketh, and his soul is empty: or as when a thirsty man dreameth, and, behold, he drinketh; but he awaketh, and, behold, he is faint, and his soul hath appetite: so shall the multitude of all the nations be, that fight against mount Zion.
(…the judgment against Jerusalem will cause confusion.)
9 Tarry ye and wonder; take your pleasure and be blind: they are drunken, but not with wine; they stagger, but not with strong drink.
(The causes of Judah's destruction: they took pleasure in not knowing, they were drunk and staggered because of their foolishness.)
10 For Jehovah hath poured out upon you the spirit of deep sleep, and hath closed your eyes, the prophets; and your heads, the seers, hath he covered.
(Judah was so far in their foolishness that even their leaders and prophets were unaware of what God was trying to make them aware of. Paul referenced this verse in Romans 11:8.)
11 And all vision is become unto you as the words of a book that is sealed, which men deliver to one that is learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee; and he saith, I cannot, for it is sealed:
12 and the book is delivered to him that is not learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee; and he saith, I am not learned.
(All visions to any man were sealed. It did not matter if you were a prophet or not.)
13 And the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw nigh unto me, and with their mouth and with their lips to honor me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear of me is a commandment of men which hath been taught them;
(The people were being hypocrites: they said one thing and did another. This verse was quoted in Matthew 15:7-9 and Mark 7:6.)
14 therefore, behold, I will proceed to do a marvellous work among this people, even a marvellous work and a wonder; and the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the understanding of their prudent men shall be hid.
(The second half of this verse was quoted in 1 Corinthians 1:19.)
15 Woe unto them that hide deep their counsel from Jehovah, and whose works are in the dark, and that say, Who seeth us? and who knoweth us?
(A warning to those who valued appearance. This person was hiding their thoughts and did not want to look like they were without understanding or wisdom.)
16 Ye turn things upside down! Shall the potter be esteemed as clay; that the thing made should say of him that made it, He made me not; or the thing formed say of him that formed it, He hath no understanding?
(Quoted in Romans 9:20-21. Can the creation say to the Creator: You did not make me?)
17 Is it not yet a very little while, and Lebanon shall be turned into a fruitful field, and the fruitful field shall be esteemed as a forest?
(A foretelling of better times in the future…)
18 And in that day shall the deaf hear the words of the book, and the eyes of the blind shall see out of obscurity and out of darkness.
19 The meek also shall increase their joy in Jehovah, and the poor among men shall rejoice in the Holy One of Israel.
20 For the terrible one is brought to nought, and the scoffer ceaseth, and all they that watch for iniquity are cut off;
21 that make a man an offender in his cause, and lay a snare for him that reproveth in the gate, and turn aside the just with a thing of nought.
22 Therefore thus saith Jehovah, who redeemed Abraham, concerning the house of Jacob: Jacob shall not now be ashamed, neither shall his face now wax pale.
23 But when he seeth his children, the work of my hands, in the midst of him, they shall sanctify my name; yea, they shall sanctify the Holy One of Jacob, and shall stand in awe of the God of Israel.
24 They also that err in spirit shall come to understanding, and they that murmur shall receive instruction.
(The better times included people in foolishness who came to understand and learn God's instruction.)
Isaiah 30
1 Woe to the rebellious children, saith Jehovah, that take counsel, but not of me; and that make a league, but not of my Spirit, that they may add sin to sin,
2 that set out to go down into Egypt, and have not asked at my mouth; to strengthen themselves in the strength of Pharaoh, and to take refuge in the shadow of Egypt!
(A warning to those who had taken evil counsel and had taken actions opposing God's Spirit. Specifically, those who left for Egypt. Judah depended on Egypt for help, not God.)
3 Therefore shall the strength of Pharaoh be your shame, and the refuge in the shadow of Egypt your confusion.
(God gave Judah exactly what they wanted, the result was shame from the people they trusted.)
4 For their princes are at Zoan, and their ambassadors are come to Hanes.
(Zoan was a city in lower Egypt where the Pharaoh in the time of the Exodus lived. Hanes was also a city in lower Egypt.)
5 They shall all be ashamed because of a people that cannot profit them, that are not a help nor profit, but a shame, and also a reproach.
(The Egyptians were not only unable to profit the Jews but were unprofitable.)
6 The burden of the beasts of the South. Through the land of trouble and anguish, from whence come the lioness and the lion, the viper and fiery flying serpent, they carry their riches upon the shoulders of young asses, and their treasures upon the humps of camels, to a people that shall not profit them.
7 For Egypt helpeth in vain, and to no purpose: therefore have I called her Rahab that sitteth still.
(Egypt's help was unprofitable and to no purpose. That was why God called Egypt Rahab. This usage of Rahab was concerned with the definition of the word which meant "pride.")
8 Now go, write it before them on a tablet, and inscribe it in a book, that it may be for the time to come for ever and ever.
9 For it is a rebellious people, lying children, children that will not hear the law of Jehovah;
(The rebellious people were liars who would not hear God.)
10 that say to the seers, See not; and to the prophets, Prophesy not unto us right things, speak unto us smooth things, prophesy deceits,
(These people told the prophets to not prophesy right things but things that sound good and were deceitful: a right what with a wrong or no how/why.)
11 get you out of the way, turn aside out of the path, cause the Holy One of Israel to cease from before us.
(The rebellious people went as far as to tell the prophets to turn out of the path of God and to cause God to stop leading them. This was why God stopped speaking to them, they asked for it!)
12 Wherefore thus saith the Holy One of Israel, Because ye despise this word, and trust in oppression and perverseness, and rely thereon;
13 therefore this iniquity shall be to you as a breach ready to fall, swelling out in a high wall, whose breaking cometh suddenly in an instant.
14 And he shall break it as a potter's vessel is broken, breaking it in pieces without sparing; so that there shall not be found among the pieces thereof a sherd wherewith to take fire from the hearth, or to dip up water out of the cistern.
(The judgment would be so severe that compared to breaking a piece of pottery, there would be no pieces left to use.)
15 For thus said the Lord Jehovah, the Holy One of Israel, In returning and rest shall ye be saved; in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength. And ye would not:
16 but ye said, No, for we will flee upon horses; therefore shall ye flee: and, We will ride upon the swift; therefore shall they that pursue you be swift.
(These people not only disobeyed God's counsel but did the opposite.)
17 One thousand shall flee at the threat of one; at the threat of five shall ye flee: till ye be left as a beacon upon the top of a mountain, and as an ensign on a hill.
18 And therefore will Jehovah wait, that he may be gracious unto you; and therefore will he be exalted, that he may have mercy upon you: for Jehovah is a God of justice; blessed are all they that wait for him.
(Even in this judgment, God would wait for His people. Jehovah was a God of Justice and blessed were those who waited for Him.)
19 For the people shall dwell in Zion at Jerusalem; thou shalt weep no more; he will surely be gracious unto thee at the voice of thy cry; when he shall hear, he will answer thee.
(Millennial: Israel will weep no more and God will hear their cry.)
20 And though the Lord give you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, yet shall not thy teachers be hidden anymore, but thine eyes shall see thy teachers;
21 and thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This is the way, walk ye in it; when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left.
(Israel's eyes will be opened. They will hear God and walk in His ways.)
22 And ye shall defile the overlaying of thy graven images of silver, and the plating of thy molten images of gold: thou shalt cast them away as an unclean thing; thou shalt say unto it, Get thee hence.
(Israel's idols will be destroyed.)
23 And he will give the rain for thy seed, wherewith thou shalt sow the ground; and bread of the increase of the ground, and it shall be fat and plenteous. In that day shall thy cattle feed in large pastures;
(Blessings of the Millennium…)
24 the oxen likewise and the young asses that till the ground shall eat savory provender, which hath been winnowed with the shovel and with the fork.
25 And there shall be upon every lofty mountain, and upon every high hill, brooks and streams of waters, in the day of the great slaughter, when the towers fall.
26 Moreover the light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun shall be sevenfold, as the light of seven days, in the day that Jehovah bindeth up the hurt of his people, and healeth the stroke of their wound.
27 Behold, the name of Jehovah cometh from far, burning with his anger, and in thick rising smoke: his lips are full of indignation, and his tongue is as a devouring fire;
(The destruction of Assyria…)
28 and his breath is as an overflowing stream, that reacheth even unto the neck, to sift the nations with the sieve of destruction: and a bridle that causeth to err shall be in the jaws of the peoples.
29 Ye shall have a song as in the night when a holy feast is kept; and gladness of heart, as when one goeth with a pipe to come unto the mountain of Jehovah, to the Rock of Israel.
(Israel will rejoice with song during the judgment of its enemies.)
30 And Jehovah will cause his glorious voice to be heard, and will show the lighting down of his arm, with the indignation of his anger, and the flame of a devouring fire, with a blast, and tempest, and hailstones.
(Not only prophetic about the judgment of Assyria but also the Antichrist…)
31 For through the voice of Jehovah shall the Assyrian be dismayed; with his rod will he smite him.
32 And every stroke of the appointed staff, which Jehovah shall lay upon him, shall be with the sound of tabrets and harps; and in battles with the brandishing of his arm will he fight with them.
33 For a Topheth is prepared of old; yea, for the king it is made ready; he hath made it deep and large; the pile thereof is fire and much wood; the breath of Jehovah, like a stream of brimstone, doth kindle it.
(Topheth meant "place of fire." It was a place south of Jerusalem.)
(This post covered prophecies against Israel and Judah mostly concerning the end times.)
Day 211
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