(The previous post covered chapters that declared God's Power and gave a big picture perspective on God's Plan via Cyrus and Jesus Christ.)
Isaiah 46
1 Bel boweth down, Nebo stoopeth; their idols are upon the beasts, and upon the cattle: the things that ye carried about are made a load, a burden to the weary beast.
(Bel and Nebo were Babylonian gods.)
2 They stoop, they bow down together; they could not deliver the burden, but themselves are gone into captivity.
(These gods not only could not deliver a burden but were also burdensome.)
3 Hearken unto me, O house of Jacob, and all the remnant of the house of Israel, that have been borne by me from their birth, that have been carried from the womb;
4 and even to old age I am he, and even to hoar hairs will I carry you; I have made, and I will bear; yea, I will carry, and will deliver.
(God told all His people (that He had made), He would bear, would carry, and would deliver them. All things the idols couldn't do.)
5 To whom will ye like me, and make me equal, and compare me, that we may be like?
6 Such as lavish gold out of the bag, and weigh silver in the balance, they hire a goldsmith, and he maketh it a god; they fall down, yea, they worship.
7 They bear it upon the shoulder, they carry it, and set it in its place, and it standeth, from its place shall it not remove: yea, one may cry unto it, yet can it not answer, nor save him out of his trouble.
(Idols were not comparable to God. Idols were the work of man's hands and were not self-sufficient.)
8 Remember this, and show yourselves men; bring it again to mind, O ye transgressors.
("Show yourselves men" meant to act like a man. God wanted the men of Israel to be focused on the causes regardless of the effects, which was God's definition of a man.)
9 Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me;
10 declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things that are not yet done; saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure;
(God wanted His people (and you) to remember His counsel, His leadership from the beginning. This would build their faith in God.)
11 calling a ravenous bird from the east, the man of my counsel from a far country; yea, I have spoken, I will also bring it to pass; I have purposed, I will also do it.
12 Hearken unto me, ye stout-hearted, that are far from righteousness:
13 I bring near my righteousness, it shall not be far off, and my salvation shall not tarry; and I will place salvation in Zion for Israel my glory.
(Israel would be restored.)
Isaiah 47
1 Come down, and sit in the dust, O virgin daughter of Babylon; sit on the ground without a throne, O daughter of the Chaldeans: for thou shalt no more be called tender and delicate.
(Babylon's judgment from God. God was calling Babylon down from its rule over other nations.)
2 Take the millstones, and grind meal; remove thy veil, strip off the train, uncover the leg, pass through the rivers.
3 Thy nakedness shall be uncovered, yea, thy shame shall be seen: I will take vengeance, and will spare no man.
(God would take vengeance out on Babylon.)
4 Our Redeemer, Jehovah of hosts is his name, the Holy One of Israel.
(Isaiah intervened in this prophesy to proclaim Jehovah as the Redeemer and Holy One of Israel.)
5 Sit thou silent, and get thee into darkness, O daughter of the Chaldeans; for thou shalt no more be called The mistress of kingdoms.
(Sitting in darkness was symbolic of mourning.)
(Verses 6-11: the causes of Babylon's judgment from God.)
6 I was wroth with my people, I profaned mine inheritance, and gave them into thy hand: thou didst show them no mercy; upon the aged hast thou very heavily laid thy yoke.
(They did not show mercy to the Jews whom God had given in their hand.)
7 And thou saidst, I shall be mistress for ever; so that thou didst not lay these things to thy heart, neither didst remember the latter end thereof.
8 Now therefore hear this, thou that art given to pleasures, that sittest securely, that sayest in thy heart, I am, and there is none else besides me; I shall not sit as a widow, neither shall I know the loss of children:
(Babylon was in pride, she believed she was in need of nothing.)
9 but these two things shall come to thee in a moment in one day, the loss of children, and widowhood; in their full measure shall they come upon thee, in the multitude of thy sorceries, and the great abundance of thine enchantments.
10 For thou hast trusted in thy wickedness; thou hast said, None seeth me; thy wisdom and thy knowledge, it hath perverted thee, and thou hast said in thy heart, I am, and there is none else besides me.
(Babylon's trust/faith was in herself. She made statements about herself that exalted herself.)
11 Therefore shall evil come upon thee; thou shalt not know the dawning thereof: and mischief shall fall upon thee; thou shalt not be able to put it away: and desolation shall come upon thee suddenly, which thou knowest not.
(Babylon would not be able to escape the evil approaching her. She would not know the time of its coming or what it would be.)
12 Stand now with thine enchantments, and with the multitude of thy sorceries, wherein thou hast labored from thy youth; if so be thou shalt be able to profit, if so be thou mayest prevail.
13 Thou art wearied in the multitude of thy counsels: let now the astrologers, the star-gazers, the monthly prognosticators, stand up, and save thee from the things that shall come upon thee.
14 Behold, they shall be as stubble; the fire shall burn them; they shall not deliver themselves from the power of the flame: it shall not be a coal to warm at, nor a fire to sit before.
(The star-gazers, astrologers, etc. would be as stubble: destroyed.)
15 Thus shall the things be unto thee wherein thou hast labored: they that have trafficked with thee from thy youth shall wander every one to his quarter; there shall be none to save thee.
Isaiah 48
1 Hear ye this, O house of Jacob, who are called by the name of Israel, and are come forth out of the waters of Judah; who swear by the name of Jehovah, and make mention of the God of Israel, but not in truth, nor in righteousness.
(Israel had made mention of God but not in truth or Righteousness. They proclaimed a right what but gave no right how or right why.)
2 (for they call themselves of the holy city, and stay themselves upon the God of Israel; Jehovah of hosts is his name):
3 I have declared the former things from of old; yea, they went forth out of my mouth, and I showed them: suddenly I did them, and they came to pass.
4 Because I knew that thou art obstinate, and thy neck is an iron sinew, and thy brow brass;
(Israel was stubborn. They were unwilling to see or hear another perspective.)
5 therefore I have declared it to thee from of old; before it came to pass I showed it thee; lest thou shouldest say, Mine idol hath done them, and my graven image, and my molten image, hath commanded them.
(God declared His Word and made it come to pass so that the Israelites could not justly state their idols did these things.)
6 Thou hast heard it; behold all this; and ye, will ye not declare it? I have showed thee new things from this time, even hidden things, which thou hast not known.
7 They are created now, and not from of old; and before this day thou heardest them not; lest thou shouldest say, Behold, I knew them.
(God showed them new things that they had never heard.)
8 Yea, thou heardest not; yea, thou knewest not; yea, from of old thine ear was not opened: for I knew that thou didst deal very treacherously, and wast called a transgressor from the womb.
9 For my name's sake will I defer mine anger, and for my praise will I refrain for thee, that I cut thee not off.
(God would still be merciful to the Israelites. He was giving them an opportunity to repent before He judged them.)
10 Behold, I have refined thee, but not as silver; I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction.
(God refined (tested/tried) them but nothing good had come of it as it did when silver was refined. The Israelites were not responding well to the refining process.)
11 For mine own sake, for mine own sake, will I do it; for how should my name be profaned? and my glory will I not give to another.
12 Hearken unto me, O Jacob, and Israel my called: I am he; I am the first, I also am the last.
13 Yea, my hand hath laid the foundation of the earth, and my right hand hath spread out the heavens: when I call unto them, they stand up together.
(God created the heavens and the earth.)
14 Assemble yourselves, all ye, and hear; who among them hath declared these things? He whom Jehovah loveth shall perform his pleasure on Babylon, and his arm shall be on the Chaldeans.
(200 years before it was fulfilled, God predicted the destruction of Babylon by Cyrus.)
15 I, even I, have spoken; yea, I have called him; I have brought him, and he shall make his way prosperous.
16 Come ye near unto me, hear ye this; from the beginning I have not spoken in secret; from the time that it was, there am I: and now the Lord Jehovah hath sent me, and his Spirit.
(This verse seemed to change speakers. This could be the Messiah speaking in which this verse would proclaim the Trinity.)
17 Thus saith Jehovah, thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: I am Jehovah thy God, who teacheth thee to profit, who leadeth thee by the way that thou shouldest go.
(God taught His people to profit and led them in the way they should go. God gave understanding so that His people could intentionally live wisely.)
18 Oh that thou hadst hearkened to my commandments! then had thy peace been as a river, and thy righteousness as the waves of the sea:
(God greatly desired His people to do His commandments.)
19 thy seed also had been as the sand, and the offspring of thy bowels like the grains thereof: his name would not be cut off nor destroyed from before me.
20 Go ye forth from Babylon, flee ye from the Chaldeans; with a voice of singing declare ye, tell this, utter it even to the end of the earth: say ye, Jehovah hath redeemed his servant Jacob.
21 And they thirsted not when he led them through the deserts; he caused the waters to flow out of the rock for them; he clave the rock also, and the waters gushed out.
22 There is no peace, saith Jehovah, to the wicked.
(The wicked would have no peace. Eternal damnation would not include harmony but only torture.)
(Part II of the Book of Isaiah could be seen as three sections of nine chapters. At the end of the first two of these sections (48:22 and 57:20-21) it stated there would be no peace for the wicked. The last part of the third section concluded with the why behind the wicked never having peace.)
(This post covered the conclusion of the first of the three sections that made up Part II of the Book of Isaiah. The conclusion stated there would be no peace for the wicked.)
Day 217
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