Day 212: Isaiah 34-36

(The previous post covered prophecies specific to the Tribulation. We are now halfway through the Book of Isaiah.)

Isaiah 34
1 Come near, ye nations, to hear; and hearken, ye peoples: let the earth hear, and the fulness thereof; the world, and all things that come forth from it.

(Armageddon: All the nations will be called to hear God's judgments.)

2 For Jehovah hath indignation against all the nations, and wrath against all their host: he hath utterly destroyed them, he hath delivered them to the slaughter.
3 Their slain also shall be cast out, and the stench of their dead bodies shall come up; and the mountains shall be melted with their blood.

(The nations will be destroyed.)

4 And all the host of heaven shall be dissolved, and the heavens shall be rolled together as a scroll; and all their host shall fade away, as the leaf fadeth from off the vine, and as a fading leaf from the fig-tree.

(This verse was thought to mean that stars or meteors will be dissolved.)

5 For my sword hath drunk its fill in heaven: behold, it shall come down upon Edom, and upon the people of my curse, to judgment.

(God's Sword will come down upon Edom (from Esau). This may have been referring to one of the places that the armies of the Antichrist will be stationed, hence its destruction.)

6 The sword of Jehovah is filled with blood, it is made fat with fatness, with the blood of lambs and goats, with the fat of the kidneys of rams; for Jehovah hath a sacrifice in Bozrah, and a great slaughter in the land of Edom.

(Bozrah was a town in Edom (from Esau).)

7 And the wild-oxen shall come down with them, and the bullocks with the bulls: and their land shall be drunken with blood, and their dust made fat with fatness.
8 For Jehovah hath a day of vengeance, a year of recompense for the cause of Zion.

(This physical Day of the Lord begins with Christ's second coming at the end of the Tribulation, the battle of Armageddon.

There were two "days of the Lord/Jehovah":
-One was a spiritual day that will occur at the end of our current dispensation (6th) with the Rapture of the Church.
-The second "day of Jehovah" was a physical day that will occur at the end of the dispensation of the Law (5th), which is at the end of the Tribulation and the beginning of the Millennium.)

9 And the streams of Edom shall be turned into pitch, and the dust thereof into brimstone, and the land thereof shall become burning pitch.
10 It shall not be quenched night nor day; the smoke thereof shall go up for ever; from generation to generation it shall lie waste; none shall pass through it for ever and ever.

(This land will be desolate forever. Nothing will grow there again.)

11 But the pelican and the porcupine shall possess it; and the owl and the raven shall dwell therein: and he will stretch over it the line of confusion, and the plummet of emptiness.
12 They shall call the nobles thereof to the kingdom, but none shall be there; and all its princes shall be nothing.

(There will no longer be rulers of Edom in the land. Israel will have the Promised Land once again.)

13 And thorns shall come up in its palaces, nettles and thistles in the fortresses thereof; and it shall be a habitation of jackals, a court for ostriches.
14 And the wild beasts of the desert shall meet with the wolves, and the wild goat shall cry to his fellow; yea, the night-monster shall settle there, and shall find her a place of rest.
15 There shall the dart-snake make her nest, and lay, and hatch, and gather under her shade; yea, there shall the kites be gathered, every one with her mate.
16 Seek ye out of the book of Jehovah, and read: no one of these shall be missing, none shall want her mate; for my mouth, it hath commanded, and his Spirit, it hath gathered them.

(This was a challenge to search and read God's Word and try to find one prophecy unfulfilled. God's Word is Right and Just and His prophecies come to pass.)

17 And he hath cast the lot for them, and his hand hath divided it unto them by line: they shall possess it for ever; from generation to generation shall they dwell therein.

(This chapter focused on the end of the Tribulation. The next chapter picked up with the next event: the beginning of the Millennium.)




Isaiah 35
1 The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad; and the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose.
2 It shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice even with joy and singing; the glory of Lebanon shall be given unto it, the excellency of Carmel and Sharon: they shall see the glory of Jehovah, the excellency of our God.

(During the Millennium, the land will be restored, it will blossom abundantly (profitable). Lebanon was known for its great cedars, Carmel for its beauty, and Sharon for its fertility.)

3 Strengthen ye the weak hands, and confirm the feeble knees.
4 Say to them that are of a fearful heart, Be strong, fear not: behold, your God will come with vengeance, with the recompense of God; he will come and save you.
5 Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped.

(People will be strengthened, healed, and saved because of God and His judgment.)

6 Then shall the lame man leap as a hart, and the tongue of the dumb shall sing; for in the wilderness shall waters break out, and streams in the desert.
7 And the glowing sand shall become a pool, and the thirsty ground springs of water: in the habitation of jackals, where they lay, shall be grass with reeds and rushes.

(The land will also be restored.)

8 And a highway shall be there, and a way, and it shall be called The way of holiness; the unclean shall not pass over it; but is shall be for the redeemed: the wayfaring men, yea fools, shall not err therein.

(There will be a highway built from Egypt through Palestine to Assyria. Those who use this highway will do so to go to Jerusalem to worship the Lord. This highway will be called "The Way of Holiness.")

9 No lion shall be there, nor shall any ravenous beast go up thereon; they shall not be found there; but the redeemed shall walk there:
10 and the ransomed of Jehovah shall return, and come with singing unto Zion; and everlasting joy shall be upon their heads: they shall obtain gladness and joy, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.

(Israel will occupy the land.)




Isaiah 36

(This chapter began an historical interlude that continued through chapter 39.)

1 Now it came to pass in the fourteenth year of king Hezekiah, that Sennacherib king of Assyria came up against all the fortified cities of Judah, and took them.

(The king of Assyria came against Judah while Hezekiah was king. He was successful. See 2 Kings 18:13.)

2 And the king of Assyria sent Rabshakeh from Lachish to Jerusalem unto king Hezekiah with a great army. And he stood by the conduit of the upper pool in the highway of the fuller's field.

(Rabshakeh was Sennacherib's head cupbearer. He was sent to lead the Assyrian army against Jerusalem.)

3 Then came forth unto him Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was over the household, and Shebna the scribe, and Joah, the son of Asaph, the recorder.

(Eliakim, Shebna, and Joah were sent out of Jerusalem to meet with the Assyrians.)

(Verses 4-10: the message carried by Rabshakeh for Hezekiah.)

4 And Rabshakeh said unto them, Say ye now to Hezekiah, Thus saith the great king, the king of Assyria, What confidence is this wherein thou trustest
5 I say, thy counsel and strength for the war are but vain words: now on whom dost thou trust, that thou hast rebelled against me?

(Hezekiah rebelled against the king of Assyria by refusing to pay a tribute to him that was imposed during the reign of Ahaz (2 Kings 18:7). Hezekiah had also received help from Egypt.)

6 Behold, thou trustest upon the staff of this bruised reed, even upon Egypt, whereon if a man lean, it will go into his hand, and pierce it: so is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all that trust on him.
7 But if thou say unto me, We trust in Jehovah our God: is not that he, whose high places and whose altars Hezekiah hath taken away, and hath said to Judah and to Jerusalem, Ye shall worship before this altar?

(This verse showed the ignorance of these Assyrians. They believed that Hezekiah taking down the high places was Hezekiah taking down altars to God.)

8 Now therefore, I pray thee, give pledges to my master the king of Assyria, and I will give thee two thousand horses, if thou be able on thy part to set riders upon them.

(Hezekiah was appealed to by possessions.)

9 How then canst thou turn away the face of one captain of the least of my master's servants, and put thy trust on Egypt for chariots and for horsemen?
10 And am I now come up without Jehovah against this land to destroy it? Jehovah said unto me, Go up against this land, and destroy it.
11 Then said Eliakim and Shebna and Joah unto Rabshakeh, Speak, I pray thee, unto thy servants in the Syrian language; for we understand it: and speak not to us in the Jews' language, in the ears of the people that are on the wall.

(Eliakim, Shebna, and Joah asked for Rabshakeh to speak to them in the Syrian language. They did not want the other Jews to hear the words Rabshakeh was speaking.)

12 But Rabshakeh said, Hath my master sent me to thy master, and to thee, to speak these words? hath he not sent me to the men that sit upon the wall, to eat their own dung, and to drink their own water with you?

(The king of Assyria's messenger (Rabshakeh) told the men in Judah that they would eat their own dung and drink their own "water." Clearly Rabshakeh ignored their request.)

13 Then Rabshakeh stood, and cried with a loud voice in the Jews' language, and said, Hear ye the words of the great king, the king of Assyria.

(Rabshakeh began speaking to the crowd…)

14 Thus saith the king, Let not Hezekiah deceive you; for he will not be able to deliver you:
15 neither let Hezekiah make you trust in Jehovah, saying, Jehovah will surely deliver us; this city shall not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.

(Rabshakeh tried to weaken the trust/faith the men had in Hezekiah.)

16 Hearken not to Hezekiah: for thus saith the king of Assyria, Make your peace with me, and come out to me; and eat ye every one of his vine, and every one of his fig-tree, and drink ye every one the waters of his own cistern;

(The people were appealed to by short term comforts.)

17 until I come and take you away to a land like your own land, a land of grain and new wine, a land of bread and vineyards.
18 Beware lest Hezekiah persuade you, saying, Jehovah will deliver us. Hath any of the gods of the nations delivered his land out of the hand of the king of Assyria?

(So far the Assyrian's had no problems with the other nation's gods and they thought the same of Jehovah.)

19 Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? where are the gods of Sepharvaim? and have they delivered Samaria out of my hand?
20 Who are they among all the gods of these countries, that have delivered their country out of my hand, that Jehovah should deliver Jerusalem out of my hand?
21 But they held their peace, and answered him not a word; for the king's commandment was, saying, Answer him not.

(The men answered no word to Rabshakeh, according to Hezekiah's command.)

22 Then came Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, that was over the household, and Shebna the scribe, and Joah, the son of Asaph, the recorder, to Hezekiah with their clothes rent, and told him the words of Rabshakeh.

(The men told Hezekiah the words of Rabshakeh. When would Isaiah enter the scene?)

(This post covered prophecies specific to the Tribulation and Millennium, as well as the beginning of the historical interlude.)

Day 213

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