The ancient prophecies/histories of the nations of the Middle East provide background to the conflicts there today. The same adversarial relationships describe Israel's neighbors and herself.
Ezek 12—Ezekiel is instructed about making God’s words relevant, and no more to be postponed
1 The word of the Lord also came unto me, saying,
2 Son of man, thou dwellest in the midst of a rebellious house, which have eyes to see, and see not; they have ears to hear, and hear not: for they are a rebellious house. [Compare Deut 29:4, Isa 6:10, Isa 29:10, Mark 8:14-21, Luke 8:10, Rom 11:8, Eph 4:18, 2 Thes 2:10-12]
The Lord instructs Ezekiel to communicate with the people using a sort of combination of object/symbolic/demonstration lessons . . . lessons that would SIT well, that is, they were Surprising, Interesting, and Troubling.
1. Ezekiel is to pack up during the day and move, in plain sight of all, with the hope the Israelites will take notice and consider
2. Next he is to remove his stuff in the people’s sight, as a person taken into captivity
3. He is to dig a hole in the wall and carry his stuff out through it
4. Further, he is to carry his stuff on his shoulders in the twilight, with his face covered, so he can’t see the ground; all this as a sign/symbol/representation to the Israelites
The next morning the Lord asks Ezekiel if the people didn’t ask him what he was up to. He is to explain that all this was essentially a visual parable of what is to happen to the prince/ruler, the people of Jerusalem, and the Israelites among them. They will be removed and brought into captivity. Their prince will bear his stuff on his shoulder and leave at twilight (an ignominious flight). They’ll dig through the wall for their escape, and the prince’s face will be covered so he can’t even see the ground before him. He will be taken as in a net or with snares/traps and brought to Babylon, but he’ll never see it, even though he’ll die there (Zedekiah fled when Jerusalem fell, but his pursuers caught up with him: he was blinded after they killed his sons before his eyes, and then taken captive to Babylon).
Continuing, the Lord says He will scatter all the king’s helpers to the winds, and his armies will be chased & killed by the sword. The people will acknowledge the Lord, and that He was behind all that happened to them, when they are scattered/dispersed among other nations. God will spare a few Israelite survivors of the wars, famine, and pestilence/disease, to testify of their abominations when they are carried away among the heathen. They will acknowledge their God.
Ezekiel is to eat and drink with quaking and trembling, and fear. It’s a representation of how the residents of Jerusalem and the land of Israel will do as their nation is destroyed because of their violent lifestyles.
The Lord asks, What’s this saying so prevalent in the land of Israel that Life goes on as usual, and all the dire prophecies fail to come about? He says to Ezekiel, Tell them “I will make this proverb to cease, and they shall no more use it as a proverb in Israel . . .” the days are quickly coming when the prophecies will be fulfilled. There won’t be any more foolish “visions” and flattering false prophecies among the House of Israel.
“For I am the Lord: I will speak, and the word that I shall speak shall come to pass; it shall be no more prolonged [delayed]: for in your days, O rebellious house, will I say the word, and will perform it, saith the Lord God.”
While people are saying Ezekiel’s prophecies are a long way off in coming, the Lord says, None of My words are to be postponed any longer. All I [God] have said will be done.
(Ezek 17 is covered in part 2, the riddle or parable of the eagles & the cedars; it touches on king Zedekiah’s hopes for an Egyptian alliance which will cause his downfall before the Babylonian king.)
Ezek 19—a parable of lions, and a parable of a vine: the strong taken captive; no rulers left
A “lamentation for the princes of Israel” . . .
What is your mother? A lioness with cubs. One cub grew to a strong young lion, catching prey and devouring people. But the nations heard of him, caught him in a pit. and he was taken in chains to Egypt.
The lioness lost hope in that cub, and took another of her cubs to grow into a strong young lion. He learned to hunt prey, and devoured people. He laid waste to the cities, the palaces, and the land. The land was full of his roaring.
But then the nations all surrounded him on every side, and took him in a net and put him in a pit in chains. They brought him to the king of Babylon to be imprisoned. His voice would no more be heard in the mountains/hills of the land of Israel.
A second parable: thy mother is like a fruitful vine full of branches, planted by the waters. This vine had strong branches that bore rule. She was exalted in her multitude of lofty branches. But then she was plucked up in fury. She was thrown down, and the east wind dried up her fruit. Her strong branches were broken and withered. They were consumed in fire. “ And now she is planted in the wilderness, in a dry and thirsty ground.” The fire of one of her branches has destroyed all her fruit. She is left without a strong branch to bear rule. This is the lamentation.
The first parable (of the lions) would appear to refer to the rule/leadership of Joseph who was taken into Egypt as a slave, yet he (and probably his line) essentially ruled the Children of Israel there. But the leadership/rule of the Children of Israel eventually passed to the tribe of Judah, King David’s line. Under the rule of Judah Israel prospered. But Israel’s jealous neighbors conspired to destroy him, and he was carried away to Babylon. Similarly, in the 2nd parable: Israel prospered like a well-watered (grape) vine by a stream or body of water. But she was pulled up, her branches broken and burned. She is left without an heir to her throne. (Zedekiah, the last king of Judah, saw his heirs killed before his eyes; other Jewish royalty had been imprisoned in Egypt and Babylon.)
Ezek 20—the Lord likens His future rescue of His people to what He did in the Exodus from Egypt
In the 7th year (presumably of captivity, that is, of Zedekiah’s reign—while Ezekiel and the first captives were already in Babylon), the elders of Israel come to the prophet Ezekiel to inquire of the Lord. But the Lord replies, “Are ye come to inquire of me? As I live, saith the Lord God, I will not be inquired of by you.” He then lists their history . . .
The language of this chapter is so beautiful and powerful, the following is a just poor summary:
The Lord made Himself known to Jacob/Israel’s posterity in Egypt, and brought them out of slavery. He told them to throw away the idols of Egypt, and gave them the Law of Moses (a law of Justice and Mercy) to live by, including Sabbaths as a sign of the covenant between them and God. But they rebelled against Him in the wilderness, continuing to worship Egypt’s gods (“for their heart went after their idols”), despising His laws, and polluted His Sabbaths. Nevertheless, the Lord yet cared for them (that His name would not be profaned by the heathen nations, who knew He had rescued Israel from Egypt) and brought them into a land the Lord had chosen for them, a land “flowing with milk and honey, which is the glory of all lands”. See
https://www.gotquestions.org/Israel-milk-honey.html
https://www.penn.museum/sites/canaan/Climate%26Fauna.html
The Lord admonished Israel not to follow the idolatry of their fathers in Egypt, nor follow their old traditional codes of law, but to follow/keep His laws of Justice and to keep His Sabbaths holy. Still, they rebelled against/despised His laws and polluted His Sabbaths. He warned them of His anger, yet He held back for the sake of His reputation among the heathen. He left them to their abominations (including sacrificing their children in fire to idols).
“Thus saith the Lord God; Yet in this your fathers have blasphemed me . . .” for when He brought them into the Promised Land (by His hand they were able to settle there), they made every hill and all the large trees places of idolatry/idol worship. The Lord asks “Are ye polluted after the manner of your fathers? and commit ye whoredom after their abominations?” Aren’t you still going on in those ways? Why should I [God] listen to/answer your inquiries [pleas for care & protection, good fortune—just as the Greeks would go to their oracles]?
And yet, the Lord promises after all that He will bring/gather His people out of captivity among the nations, as He did when He rescued them from Egypt. In the “wilderness of the people” He will plead with His people face to face to put away all their wicked ways and serve Him. In this wilderness/captivity He will purge the rebels and sinners from among them. “For in mine holy mountain, in the mountain of the height of Israel, saith the Lord God, there shall all the house of Israel, all of them in the land, serve me: there will I accept them, and there will I require your offerings, and the firstfruits of your oblations, with all your holy things.” [Note the great work that Ezra and Nehemiah did among the people to bring them back to God, when He had brought them back {through Cyrus) to their land, Israel].
Then will the Lord accept their sacrifices, and they will honor Him with holiness of thought and behavior before the heathen. Israel will acknowledge and loathe themselves for the evils they [their fathers] committed. They will know the Lord is their God, and has dealt with them in mercy, despite what they as a people deserved.
Ezekiel is to prophesy against the forests south of him (as he was in Mesopotamia, Israel would be south of him), that the Lord would start a fire in those forests to devour all the trees, living or dead, Thus all people will know that the Lord was behind the destruction.
Ezekiel answers, Lord, they say I’m speaking in parables. [Implying either that he is not being direct and clear, or that his stories are like folktales.]
Ezek 36—the gathering of Israel (see also Ezek 28:24-26)
Because Israel’s neighbors considered the conquest of Israel their chance to encroach on Israel’s territory, the Lord says He will bring them to shame. Note that after the Assyrian conquest, Israel & Judah were once again one kingdom (as they had been in the days of King David), ruled by David’s lineage.
6 Prophesy therefore concerning the land of Israel, and say unto the mountains, and to the hills, to the rivers, and to the valleys, Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I have spoken in my jealousy and in my fury, because ye have borne the shame of the heathen . . .
8 But ye, O mountains of Israel, ye shall shoot forth your branches, and yield your fruit to my people of Israel; for they are at hand to come . . .
The Lord promises to prosper Israel. The cities will be repopulated. What had become wasteland will be rebuilt. “And I will multiply upon you man and beast; and they shall increase and bring fruit: and I will settle you after your old estates, and will do better unto you than at your beginnings: and ye shall know that I am the Lord.”
Before, the House of Israel defiled their own land with their iniquities and idolatries (like an unclean, separated woman), so the Lord poured out His fury on them. He scattered them among the heathen. But then the Lord had pity on them, not for their own sakes (because they profaned/disrespected God’s name among the heathen), but for His own name’s sake. He will make His name holy/reverenced again. He promises to gather them out of all the nations where they are scattered and bring them back to their own land. He will cleanse them from their filthiness and idolatries (He speaks of clean water, as if in washing away their sins, like in baptism).
26 A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.
27 And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes [what is legal and what is not] and ye shall keep my judgments [establishing innocence or guilt, and sentencing Laws], and do them.
28 And ye shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; and ye shall be my people, and I will be your God.
Ezek 25—vs Ammonites, Moab, Seir/Edom, Philistines
4 Behold, therefore I will deliver thee [Ammonites] to the men of the east for a possession, and they shall set their palaces in thee, and make their dwellings in thee: they shall eat thy fruit, and they shall drink thy milk.
5 And I will make Rabbah a stable for camels, and the Ammonites a couchingplace for flocks: and ye shall know that I am the Lord.
6 For thus saith the Lord God; Because thou hast clapped thine hands, and stamped with the feet, and rejoiced in heart with all thy despite against the land of Israel . . .
11 And I will execute judgments upon Moab; and they shall know that I am the Lord.
12 ¶ Thus saith the Lord God; Because that Edom hath dealt against the house of Judah by taking vengeance, and hath greatly offended, and revenged himself upon them . . .
14 . . . I will lay my vengeance upon Edom by the hand of my people Israel: and they shall do in Edom according to mine anger and according to my fury; and they shall know my vengeance, saith the Lord God.
15 ¶ Thus saith the Lord God; Because the Philistines have dealt by revenge, and have taken vengeance with a despiteful heart, to destroy it [the land of Israel] for the old hatred . . . [remember the stories of Samson & Delila, David & Goliath, etc]
17 And I will execute great vengeance upon them with furious rebukes; and they shall know that I am the Lord, when I shall lay my vengeance upon them.
https://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/ancient-cultures/ancient-near-eastern-world/ammonites-moabites-edomites-in-the-bible/ Ammonites, Moabites, Edomites
https://www.gotquestions.org/mount-Seir.html Mt Seir belonged to Edom
https://bibleatlas.org/mount_seir.htm map, scriptures, & Encyclopedia entries for Mt Seir/Bozrah
Ezek 35—prophecies vs Mt Seir (Edom) & Idumea
2 Son of man, set thy face against mount Seir, and prophesy against it,
3 And say unto it, Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, O mount Seir, I am against thee, and I will stretch out mine hand against thee, and I will make thee most desolate.
4 I will lay thy cities waste, and thou shalt be desolate, and thou shalt know that I am the Lord.
5 Because thou hast had a perpetual hatred, and hast shed the blood of the children of Israel by the force of the sword in the time of their calamity, in the time that their iniquity had an end . . .
The Lord chastises Edom for gleefully anticipating taking advantage of Israel’s troubles, thinking to take over the land of Israel. Edom will be destroyed and will know that God is the Lord. In the last verse of the chapter Idumea is included in the desolation. Likewise, Idumea is only hardly mentioned in Ezekiel 36 (verse 5) “Therefore thus saith the Lord God; Surely in the fire of my jealousy have I spoken against the residue of the heathen, and against all Idumea, which have appointed my land into their possession with the joy of all their heart, with despiteful minds, to cast it out for a prey.” Idumea, like Edom, joyfully considers the conquest of Israel as a chance to take over the land.
https://www.biblestudy.org/meaning-names/idumea.html valuable info about Idumea & its history
Ezek 26-27—prophecies vs Tyre
In the 11th year (of the Jewish king Zedekiah, and the captivity of the first group carried/taken to Babylon) the Lord speaks to Ezekiel against Tyre. Tyre had a long history with Israel. The king of Tyre was friends with Kings David & Solomon of Judah. But by the time of the Babylonian conquest Tyre had an adversarial relationship to the land & people of Israel.
https://www.worldhistory.org/Tyre/ background info & history of Tyre, a wealthy Phoenician city
2 Son of man, because that Tyrus hath said against Jerusalem, Aha, she is broken that was the gates of the people: she is turned unto me: I shall be replenished, now she is laid waste:
3 Therefore thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I am against thee, O Tyrus, and will cause many nations to come up against thee, as the sea causeth his waves to come up.
4 And they shall destroy the walls of Tyrus, and break down her towers: I will also scrape her dust from her, and make her like the top of a rock.
5 It shall be a place for the spreading of nets in the midst of the sea: for I have spoken it, saith the Lord God: and it shall become a spoil to the nations.
6 And her daughters which are in the field shall be slain by the sword; and they shall know that I am the Lord.
7 ¶ For thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I will bring upon Tyrus Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, a king of kings, from the north, with horses, and with chariots, and with horsemen, and companies, and much people.
Chapter 27 is a lament for Tyre . . . speaking of her rich trade among the islands of the Mediterranean, as well of Egypt, Persia, Syria, Judah, and other lands of the Middle East. “Tyrus, O thou that art situate[d] at the entry of the sea, which art a merchant of the people for many isles, Thus saith the Lord God; O Tyrus, thou hast said, I am of perfect beauty. Thy borders are in the midst of the seas, thy builders have perfected thy beauty.” This chapter is abundant with details about the products and trade goods of various ancient lands and peoples of the Middle East.
https://bibleatlas.org/tarshish.htm Tarshish, located in what is now Spain
https://biblehub.com/ezekiel/27-13.htm Javan, Tubal, and Meshech (scroll down for commentary)
https://biblehub.com/topical/t/togarmah.htm Togarmah
https://bibleatlas.org/dedan.htm Dedan, in Arabia/Persian Gulf
Ezek 28—prophecies vs Tyre & Sidon
Prophesy against & lament for Tyre (Note the mention of Daniel)
2 Son of man, say unto the prince of Tyrus, Thus saith the Lord God; Because thine heart is lifted up, and thou hast said, I am a God, I sit in the seat of God, in the midst of the seas; yet thou art a man, and not God, though thou set thine heart as the heart of God:
3 Behold, thou art wiser than Daniel; there is no secret that they can hide from thee:
4 With thy wisdom and with thine understanding thou hast gotten thee riches, and hast gotten gold and silver into thy treasures:
5 By thy great wisdom and by thy traffick hast thou increased thy riches, and thine heart is lifted up because of thy riches:
6 Therefore thus saith the Lord God; Because thou hast set thine heart as the heart of God;
7 Behold, therefore I will bring strangers upon thee, the terrible of the nations: and they shall draw their swords against the beauty of thy wisdom, and they shall defile thy brightness.
Tyre is described as a garden like Eden, with all sorts of precious stones: sardius, topaz, diamond, beryl, onyx, jasper, sapphire, emerald, carbuncle, gold. Finely crafted musical instruments: tabrets and pipes (tambourines or small drums, and flutes) that would be played for joyous occasions. But the prosperity of trade brought violence (no doubt robbery & theft).
Prophesy vs Zidon/Sidon (sister Phoenician city to Tyre)
22 And say, Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I am against thee, O Zidon; and I will be glorified in the midst of thee: and they shall know that I am the Lord, when I shall have executed judgments in her, and shall be sanctified in her.
23 For I will send into her pestilence, and blood into her streets; and the wounded shall be judged in the midst of her by the sword upon her on every side; and they shall know that I am the Lord.
Ezek 29-32—prophecies vs Egypt
In the 10th year (of King Zedekiah in Judah, and the 1st group of Captives in Babylon, where Ezekiel was), the Lord gives a prophesy against Pharaoh and all Egypt:
3 Speak, and say, Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I am against thee, Pharaoh king of Egypt, the great dragon that lieth in the midst of his rivers, which hath said, My river is mine own, and I have made it for myself.
4 But I will put hooks in thy jaws, and I will cause the fish of thy rivers to stick unto thy scales, and I will bring thee up out of the midst of thy rivers, and all the fish of thy rivers shall stick unto thy scales.
5 And I will leave thee thrown into the wilderness, thee and all the fish of thy rivers: thou shalt fall upon the open fields; thou shalt not be brought together, nor gathered: I have given thee for meat to the beasts of the field and to the fowls of the heaven.
6 And all the inhabitants of Egypt shall know that I am the Lord, because they have been a staff of reed to the house of Israel.
7 When they took hold of thee by thy hand, thou didst break, and rend all their shoulder: and when they leaned upon thee, thou brakest, and madest all their loins to be at a stand.
The kingdom of Judah had hoped for help from Egypt against Babylon, and Pharaoh didn’t come through. “Therefore thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I will bring a sword upon thee, and cut off man and beast out of thee. And the land of Egypt shall be desolate and waste; and they shall know that I am the Lord: because he hath said, The river is mine, and I have made it.” The prophesy is that Syene to Ethiopia will be wasted & desolate for 40 years, perhaps other cities as well, but after 40 years the Lord will gather them from where they have been scattered and bring them back to their land, though they will not be so high and mighty. Pathros is a name for southern Egypt.
https://bibleatlas.org/syene.htm interesting info about Syene, including a Jewish colony there; click on the map to enlarge it.
In the 27th year the Lord tells Ezekiel that Nebuchadrezzar and his army’s wages for their service against Tyre, He will give them the land of Egypt and its spoil. All this to convince God’s people that He is Lord [when these prophecies come to pass].
Not only Egypt, but her allies to the south (Ethiopia, Libya, Lydia, various mixed peoples, and Chub) will fall by the sword of the Babylonians. Zoan (in the Nile delta) and other cities will be burned and destroyed.
https://bibleatlas.org/lud.htm an explanagion of Lydia/Lud in Ezek 30:5
https://bibleatlas.org/memphis.htm about Noph (Memphis)
https://bibleatlas.org/dispersion.htm interesting info about the scattering of Israel over the centuries
https://bibleatlas.org/zoan.htm about Zoan (Tanis) in the Nile Delta
https://biblehub.com/ezekiel/30-14.htm No is the city of Thebes
https://biblehub.com/ezekiel/30-15.htm Sin is another city in the Nile Delta
In the 11th year the Lord says metaphorically that He has broken Pharaoh’s arm(s) and it (they) won’t be bound and healed in order to hold a sword. God will scatter the Egyptians among the nations. He will strengthen the king of Babylon and allow him to conquer Egypt. Even the Egyptians will recognize that God is Lord (Ruler, Master, the Superior Authority).
Two months later, in the 11th year, the Lord gives Ezekiel a parable about Assyria for Egypt to take heed: Assyria was a cedar in Lebanon (famous for exceptional trees). He was tall and thick with long branches. He grew in a well-watered place. The birds of the air made nests among his branches, and raised their young. In the shade of his branches all the beasts of the field gave birth to their young. The great nations lived in his shadow. The firs and the chestnut trees were nothing next to him. He was so beautiful that all the trees in the Garden of Eden envied him. But because he was so full of himself, God brought his downfall at the hand of a heathen [the Babylonian Empire], who would drive him out for his wickedness. “I made the nations to shake at the sound of his fall, when I cast him down to hell with them that descend into the pit: and all the trees of Eden, the choice and best of Lebanon, all that drink water, shall be comforted in the nether parts of the earth.” All of his allies will fall with him. (Compare the fall of Babylon: Rev 14:8, Rev 18, Isa 13:19, Isa 14, Isa 21:9, Isa 47:5) Egypt/Pharaoh’s egotism is like Assyria’s before his fall.
Near the end of the 12th year Ezekiel is to take up a lament/mourning for Pharaoh: You are like a young lion among the nations, a whale in the sea. You walked through their rivers and befouled them. But God will spread His net over you by the hands of many people. You’ll be brought up onto the land, tossed out in an open field where you will be food for the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth. Your flesh will lay on the mountains, your blood will fill the valleys. Your blood will water the land where you used to swim, and the land and rivers will be full of you. God will blanket the heavens to darken the stars and moon, and cover the sun with a cloud [likely a description of the smoke of burning cities when Babylon conquers Egypt]. “Yea, I will make many people amazed at thee, and their kings shall be horribly afraid for thee, when I shall brandish my sword before them; and they shall tremble at every moment, every man for his own life, in the day of thy fall . . .”
A couple weeks later the Lord again tells Ezekiel to make a wailing for Egypt. Egypt will join other nations in hell, who were or would be conquered/destroyed by Babylon’s armies: Asshur (Assyria), Elam (Persia), Meshech, Tubal, Edom, and Zidon/Sidon (sister Phoenician city of Tyre).
https://biblehub.com/ezekiel/32-26.htm regarding Meshech & Tubal, click back & forward for the other nations listed.
Category: metaphor
Ezekiel part 2—False Prophets, Wickedness, Destruction vs Repentance
Ezek 4—Ezekiel is to portray the history of Israel’s wickedness, and the destruction of Jerusalem
The Lord has Ezekiel portray the siege of Jerusalem on a tile. He’s to build a fort and a mound against it, and a camp against it with battering rams. He’s to set an iron pan between him and the city to separate himself from the city, and the plight of its destruction.
Ezekiel is to lay on his left side for 390 days, symbolizing the years of the iniquity of the House of Israel, then he’s to lay on his right side 40 days, symbolizing suffering for the iniquity of the House of Judah. These appear to refer to the northern kingdom of Israel, and the southern kingdom of Judah. From the days of Jeroboam, I don’t recall a righteous king of the northern kingdom. The kings of Judah seemed to alternate between good and evil. The kingdom of Judah lasted another 125 years after the northern kingdom was destroyed and carried away by the Assyrians, more or less. King David reigned 40 years, and Solomon reigned 40 years. If we subtract the 80 years of David & Solomon from the 464 of the kingdom of Judah, we have 384 years. But Solomon built temples for the idols of his foreign wives when he was old, so that might account for the discrepancy of about 6 years.
https://bible-history.com/old-testament/kings-israel Kings of Israel reigned 208 years, all evil
https://www.jewishhistory.org/review-of-the-judean-kings/ Judean Kings, abt 464 yrs, both good & evil
About the 40 years: Josiah reigned in righteousness 30 years, and righteous Hezekiah reigned 6 years before Assyria captured the northern kingdom of Israel (2 Kings 18) . . . one might say they suffered for the wickedness of the unrighteous kings of both Israel & Judah. The other 4 years could refer to when wicked Manasseh returned repentant to his kingship in Judah. All this is speculation.
Through the 390 days Ezekiel is to eat 20 shekels’ weight (perhaps abt 10 oz) of bread made with wheat/barley/beans/lentils/millet/fitches (another type of grain). His water allowance was perhaps between 1-2 cups a day. His bread is to be prepared like a barley cake, baked over a fire made with human waste. This would be considered as defiled, and Ezekiel recoils from the idea, as he has kept the Law of Moses strictly all his life. The Lord relents and allows him to use cow “patties” as his fuel. All this is representative of the famine that the people of Jerusalem would suffer while besieged by Babylon for 30 months.
https://biblehub.com/commentaries/ezekiel/4-10.htm
https://biblehub.com/commentaries/ezekiel/4-11.htm
https://bible-history.com/map-babylonian-captivity/timeline-of-events from 612 to 516 BC (in years)
https://www.biblestudy.org/bibleref/antiquities-of-jews/babylon-destroys-jerusalem-temple.html re: Josephus’ account, and notes on the Babylonian attacks on the kingdom of Judah
Ezek 5—the Israelites will suffer for their sins: 1/3 die of famine & pestilence, 1/3 by the sword, 1/3 will be scattered
The Lord tells Ezekiel to shave his head and beard, an extreme cultural taboo for an Israelite. One third of the hair is to be burned, another third is to be cut to bits with a knife, and the last third is to be scattered in the wind. All this is to symbolize the burning of Jerusalem (at the end of the siege), death by the sword of many of the inhabitants, and the scattering/captivity of the rest.
The Lord accuses the inhabitants of Jerusalem of being worse than their neighboring countries, in that while their population has grown more than their neighbors, they have refused to keep the commandments and laws given through Moses. In fact, they have changed the Lord’s laws into wickedness worse than the other nations. In consequence, the Lord will treat them as never before or in future: fathers will eat their sons and sons will eat their fathers (no doubt because of the famine caused by war), those left after the war will be scattered in every direction. Because they have defiled the temple with abominations (idol worship), the Lord will show no pity. A third will die from pestilence and famine, another third will fall by the sword (in battle), and a third will be scattered to the winds and chased by the sword. Thus will they know that the Lord is in charge, and He will find comfort in executing Justice for their misdeeds. The Lord will see their nation wasted, and they will be seen as a reproach/taunt/instruction/astonishment to all their neighboring countries and those who see them.
Ezek 6—a prophecy of the destruction of the idols & worshippers, and the land of Israel; yet a remnant will be saved, captive among the nations, where they will come to know the Lord and be disgusted with themselves for their abominations.
Ezekiel prophecies to the mountains, hills, rivers, and valleys of Israel, that is, to the land of Israel, the destruction of the idols and those who worship them (generally in “high places”). “Then shall ye know that I am the Lord, when their slain men shall be among their idols round about their altars, upon every high hill, in all the tops of the mountains, and under every green tree, and under every thick oak, the place where they did offer sweet savour to all their idols. So will I stretch out my hand upon them, and make the land desolate, yea, more desolate than the wilderness toward Diblath, in all their habitations: and they shall know that I am the Lord.” (This is the only mention of Diblath in the Bible, an unknown place).
The House of Israel will be slain by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence. “He that is far off shall die of the pestilence; and he that is near shall fall by the sword; and he that remaineth and is besieged shall die by the famine: thus will I accomplish my fury upon them.” Yet the Lord will save a remnant of Israel, scattered captives among the nations, who will remember Him and loathe themselves for their sins and abominations.
Ezek 7—a reiteration of God’s recompense to the Israelites for their wickedness/abominations
This chapter is seems a poetic one; it doesn’t say anything new, but uses imagery to make the predictions more memorable. An end is come to the 4 corners/quarters of the land of Israel (all the land of the 2 kingdoms, Israel & Judah), the Lord will not have pity on the people, and they will know that it is the Lord that is doing this to them.
Ezekiel uses the image of dawn turning to day, and of a budding tree branch, describing wicked developments and violence in the land. None will express mourning (by wailing) for them. The buyer won’t rejoice in the bargains he finds, the seller won’t bemoan losing money on the deal (as in ordinary commerce): all will feel the wrath of God, and none of them will be able to return to, nor strengthen their financial position through their wickedness.
A trumpet is blown to call the soldiers to battle, but none are able to go (because God has wreaked havoc on them). Warfare is outside the city (any out there are killed by the sword) and famine & pestilence inside. Any who do manage to escape to the mountains will sound like Mourning Doves for their iniquities.
All will have feeble hands and be weak in the knees (see Heb 12:12, and the link below that speaks of paralysis: people will be paralyzed with fear). People will dress in sackcloth (as for mourning), and be in shame (baldness would be considered a state of shame for the people at that time & place).
https://biblehub.com/hebrews/12-12.htm
Gold and silver will be useless to save the people from starvation (because their riches were their stumbling blocks in iniquity, keeping them from turning to God). Their beautiful ornaments they used for idolatry/abominations, so God has taken them away from them and given them to their enemies as spoil (which enemies will pollute them with their own abominations). The conquering enemies will enter the inner recesses of the Temple (which were kept sacred, separate from other nations) and rob them and defile them.
In response to the bloody crimes and violence of the city(ies) of Jerusalem (Judah & Israel), the people will be taken in chains by the worst of the heathen, who will take possession of the Israelites’ houses. The pomp/pride of the powerful will cease, and their holy places will be defiled. Destruction will come, and despite their efforts to find peace/allies, there will be none. One mischief, one rumor (of bad news) will follow another. They’ll seek for help/vision/counsel from prophets, priests, and elders, but none will be able to give them good news. The king and his retinue will mourn and be de-solate (incapable of solace). People will be too troubled to know what to do. The Lord will give them what they deserve, and they will know that He is God.
Ezek 13—vs false prophets, both male & female
2 Son of man, prophesy against the prophets of Israel that prophesy, and say thou unto them that prophesy out of their own hearts, Hear ye the word of the Lord;
3 Thus saith the Lord God; Woe unto the foolish prophets, that follow their own spirit, and have seen nothing! . . .
6 They have seen vanity and lying divination, saying, The Lord saith: and the Lord hath not sent them: and they have made others to hope that they would confirm the word . . .
10 ¶ Because, even because they have seduced my people, saying, Peace; and there was no peace . . .
17 ¶ Likewise, thou son of man, set thy face against the daughters of thy people, which prophesy out of their own heart; and prophesy thou against them . . .
22 Because with lies ye have made the heart of the righteous sad, whom I have not made sad; and strengthened the hands of the wicked, that he should not return from his wicked way, by promising him life:
23 Therefore ye shall see no more vanity, nor divine divinations: for I will deliver my people out of your hand: and ye shall know that I am the Lord.
Ezekiel reproves the false prophets of Israel for not protecting the nation with Truth, like a hedge or a wall without gaps/holes. The false prophets will be excommunicated from Israel and deleted from their records. When this comes to pass all will recognize the supremacy of God. He likens them to wall builders whose work will be destroyed before it sets up. Whether the storm, winds, and hailstones are figurative or literal, I’m not sure, but the image is what is important: what false prophets build will be destroyed.
Likewise, I’m not sure what the pillows sewn to the armholes of women prophesying falsely, or how the kerchiefs figure, but the important message is that they will be punished for seducing Israel away from the true God. God will at last save His people from the wiles of these cons.
Ezek 14—when people ask for counsel or help from the Lord, He will answer them as they deserve
A group of elders comes to Ezekiel for counsel from the Lord. But the Lord accuses them of setting up idols in their hearts and iniquity before their faces, blocking them from communion with the Lord. The Lord asks, Why should I listen to their inquiries? The Lord will answer them as they deserve:
“Repent, and turn yourselves from your idols; and turn away your faces from all your abominations . . . [all those who separate themselves from God by setting up idols in his heart, and block themselves from seeing/believing/living for God] . . . I will set my face against that man, and will make him a sign and a proverb, and I will cut him off from the midst of my people; and ye shall know that I am the Lord.”
The Lord says He will destroy false prophets from among His people. “That the house of Israel may go no more astray from me, neither be polluted any more with all their transgressions; but that they may be my people, and I may be their God, saith the Lord God.”
When a nation sins against God, He will send famine upon them, and noisy carnivores (making people afraid to even pass through the land), or warfare, or pestilence/pandemic. Then though 3 of the greatest prophets were among them (Noah, Daniel, and Job), those 3 would only save their own souls, by their own righteousness. Such is a warning to Jerusalem.
And yet, there will be a remnant that will return, and they will be comforted after all the afflictions the Lord has caused them to suffer. They “shall know that I have not done without cause all that I have done in it, saith the Lord God.” In other words, they will come to recognize that God had reason for sending/allowing all these troubles.
Ezek 15—Jerusalem is likened to a woody vine that is useless but for burning as a fuel
The wood of a woody vine is worthless for building useful things. It is tossed in the fire for fuel and is burned. Before it was burned it was useless, and afterward even moreso. The Lord will give Jerusalem to be burned, because its people were just as useless as the woody vine. They will escape one fire to be devoured by another. He will make the land desolate because of their sins, “and ye shall know that I am the Lord, when I set my face against them.”
Perhaps these words seem harsh, but how often have we seen people who do nothing worthwhile with their potential, but waste their lives and end up destroying themselves and sometimes they take others down with them. How frustrating it must be to God! It’s no use pretending that God doesn’t have emotions, as the scriptures speak of them often.
We have already seen how the Lord judges every individual for the choices s/he makes, and in the end, all will be made right. He offers His mercy to all, as all are given the chance to change/repent/be forgiven. Justice demands consequences for choices: good consequences for good choices (obedience and repentance—both implying humility), and dreadful consequences for disobedience and refusal to repent (both implying self-conceit, egotism, arrogance, insolence and a host of like traits).
Ezek 16—the Lord through Ezekiel likens Jerusalem’s history in terms of a child the Lord rescued and cared for, but she became an adulterous wife, even a whore
Jerusalem was a Jebusite/Amorite city in the land of Canaan. It would appear from the text that it allied itself with the ancient Hittites. Thus, Jerusalem is spoken of as having an Amorite father and a Hittite mother. See Judges 1:21, Deut 7:1, and 1 Chron 1:13-14, Gen 10:16 which list the various peoples living in Canaan before the Israelites.
https://biblehub.com/genesis/10-16.htm
https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jerusalem-from-canaanite-city-to-israelite-capital
https://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/ancient-cultures/ancient-near-eastern-world/who-were-the-hittites/ note that not all academic or scientific theories turn out to be true
https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/hittites
Ezekiel writes that Jerusalem was not given the ordinary care that a newborn would get. The Lord saw her, took pity on her, raised her, and took her in a marriage covenant (note the reference to spreading His skirt over her, as Boaz did Ruth, a sign of taking a woman under his protection). He clothed and fed her richly (prospered Jerusalem). But then she/Jerusalem was enamored with her own beauty (prosperity), and played the harlot with anyone passing by (such as neighboring gods). She used her riches for idolatry. She even sacrificed her children to idols. “Is this of thy whoredoms a small matter, That thou hast slain my children, and delivered them to cause them to pass through the fire for them?” She has forgotten where she came from and who rescued her.
An alternate understanding is that Jerusalem here is used as a symbol of the Israelites or Jews, whom God rescued from Egyptian neglect & abuse.
Now Jerusalem has idols in every street. She prostitutes herself to all, including the Egyptians and/or their gods. The Lord has allowed the Philistines, who hate her, to take out their despite on Jerusalem. Jerusalem played the whore with the Assyrians and the Chaldeans, and still wasn’t satisfied. (Note that Israelite & Jewish kings had sought alliances with the Assyrians & Babylonians, and no doubt brought their gods back to their people).
And yet, the Lord says, Jerusalem was not like a harlot who takes money for her services, but like an adulterous wife, who gives her husband’s gifts to her lovers. Because of this, the Lord will gather all her lovers and bare/shame her before them all. He will treat her as a woman who breaks her wedding vows. Her lovers will break her down, strip her of her goods, leave her destitute. They will stone her and thrust her through with swords. They will burn her houses with fire. “Because thou hast not remembered the days of thy youth, but hast fretted me in all these things; behold, therefore I also will recompense thy way upon thine head, saith the Lord God . . .” Only then will the Lord be quiet and no more angry.
The proverb “As is the mother, so is her daughter” will be used to describe Jerusalem. That is, Jerusalem is like her Hittite mother. She and her sisters, Samaria and Sodom are alike. Since Sodom was destroyed in Abraham’s era, this seems to be calling a city of Ezekiel’s time by that name (probably one that was known for the same indecent behavior as Sodom). Their daughters are probably reference to nearby suburban cities or villages that were settled by, or subject to, them. But Jerusalem is even worse than those cities. Samaria wasn’t guilty of half Jerusalem’s sins. Those cities felt justified in their behavior because of Jerusalem, and that merits even more the condemnation of Jerusalem.
This Sodom and her daughters were guilty of pride/haughtiness, abundance of food, idleness (remember the “Idle hands” proverb), and not caring for their poor, beside their abominable behavior. So the Lord had them carried away captive.
Yet one day, the Lord will bring back Jerusalem and her two sisters. He will make an everlasting covenant with Jerusalem and make her sister cities her daughters, though not of the covenant. That is, Jerusalem will reign over those other cities. Jerusalem will be properly humble, and the Lord will be pacified toward her.
Ezek 17—a riddle/parable: the eagles & the cedars
3 And say, Thus saith the Lord God; A great eagle with great wings, longwinged, full of feathers, which had divers colours, came unto Lebanon, and took the highest branch of the cedar:
4 He cropped off the top of his young twigs, and carried it into a land of traffick; he set it in a city of merchants.
5 He took also of the seed of the land, and planted it in a fruitful field; he placed it by great waters, and set it as a willow tree.
6 And it grew, and became a spreading vine of low stature, whose branches turned toward him, and the roots thereof were under him: so it became a vine, and brought forth branches, and shot forth sprigs…
Then a 2nd similar eagle comes along. The vine [we might call it a low shrub] shot branches up toward him, hoping the eagle would water her. She was planted in good soil, with good access to water. Then the Lord asks a startling question: will He not pull up the shrub, cut off the fruit [did the branches become a grape vine? Another well-known product of Lebanese hills. He speaks of furrows and agricultural workers.] and let the leaves wither when the hot east wind off the desert comes?
What does the parable mean? Ezekiel is to tell the rebellious House of Israel: the King of Babylon is come to Jerusalem and takes the king and princes back with him to Babylon [represented by the eagle taking the top branches to his city, a city of trade]. The Babylonian king made a covenant, took an oath, of the heir (seed) and the powerful he had taken captive. The Babylonian king would keep these captives low, like vines or shrubbery, but he would allow them to live. However, the Jewish king sent ambassadors to Egypt to ally with him in rebelling against Babylon, breaking his oath.
The Lord declares that the king will die in Babylon, and Pharoah will not come with his armies to rescue the Israelites. The Lord takes the breaking of this oath personally, perhaps because the Jewish king made the oath using God’s name (taking the name of the Lord in vain). Again, the king is to be recompensed for his sins. The Lord uses the metaphors of a net and a snare, which are used in hunting, for capturing the king/kingdom of Judah. In Babylon the Lord will make His case against the Jewish king for his trespass against Him (probably by violating the oath he made in God’s name). And all those who flee against captivity will be killed by the sword, and scattered to the winds. The Lord has spoken it, so it will come to pass.
The Lord seems to be the 2nd eagle, who takes the highest branches from the cedar and plants it in a high/eminent mountain of the land of Israel. There it will bring forth more branches and bear fruit. It will be a goodly cedar, tall enough for all kinds of birds to live in its shadow. All the other trees of the orchard will know that it was the Lord that brought down (humbled) the high tree, and exalted (raised up) the low tree or shrub. He is the One that dried up the greeItn/living tree, and made the dry/dead tree to flourish. “I the Lord have spoken and have done it.” That is, the Lord does what He says.
About the Cedars of Lebanon (a species of pine, which would bear pine cones & nuts)
https://www.greenactitude.com/en/characteristics-and-properties-of-the-cedar-of-lebanon-a-legendary-tree
https://cedarscamps.org/inspiration/article/cedars-of-lebanon/
http://pnwplants.wsu.edu/PlantDisplay.aspx?PlantID=254
Ezek 21—prophecies against Jerusalem/Israel
Ezekiel is to prophesy against Jerusalem (seat of the kingdom of Judah, and at this point, Israel, since the loss of the northern kingdom, “the 10 tribes”). The Lord says He will draw His sword and cut off both the righteous and the wicked. Now after many times saying that each person is judged by his own behavior, and receives the consequences for it, this may seem unreconcilable. Yet in life we know that good people sometimes suffer because of or along with the wicked. We know that children do at times suffer for the mistakes of their parents (remember the Lord warning the wicked that He would punish [or allow the consequences] down to the 3rd & 4th generation). God knows His own mind and purposes, of course, but I have two thoughts on the matter: 1) in the final Judgment, all will be put right, and each person will receive the recompense of their attitudes and behaviors, and 2) though we suffer from the mistakes, even ill treatment of others in this life, when we continue to trust in the Lord, He will help us through them, as he did David who became king of Israel after years of afflictions.
The Lord says He has drawn His sword from its sheath and it will not return any more. We know from other times the Lord has promised that He will quit His anger and deal with Israel in kindness. So this can’t be taken literally. It’s obviously meant to last until He decides enough is enough.
Ezekiel’s sighs in dismay at the things to come will cause people to inquire why he is sighing. His reply is to be that the coming disaster will cause “every heart shall melt, and all hands shall be feeble, and every spirit shall faint, and all knees shall be weak as water: behold, it cometh, and shall be brought to pass, saith the Lord God.”
Next, the metaphor of a sword being sharpened & polished is to signify the coming conquerors. This sword holds posterity (rods/branches in the family tree) in contempt. There’s no reason to make merry. A picture of the opposite is in the words: crying out, howling, terrified people. The sword will even enter the private rooms of the powerful. When the Lord claps His hands together (as one sees rulers in the movies giving emphasis/immediacy to their orders), either His fury will rest/calm itself, or His fury will rest upon whom He will.
Ezekiel prophesies (at the Lord’s behest) that the Babylonians will come in two routes to attack Jerusalem, beside the Ammonites. The Lord shows the Babylonian king using soothsayers/fortune tellers (who employ animal livers) to decide which way to go. On the one hand (choice) Babylonian armies would use battering rams against Jerusalem, and earthworks, and a fort. But they will consider that a false sign.
The day is come for the contemptuous wicked ruler in Jerusalem. He will lose his crown and diadem (symbols of his authority). He’ll lose his high place, and people considered of low birth will rule instead, until the Messiah, whose right it is to the throne of Israel.
Re: son of man/Son of Man (one could also research and compare when the scriptures speak of a son of a specific person)
https://biblehub.com/ezekiel/21-19.htm uses the word ben for son, scroll down to the Hebrew
https://biblehub.com/ezekiel/28-2.htm uses the word ben, scroll down to the Hebrew
https://biblehub.com/ezekiel/33-12.htm uses the word ben, similarly Ezek 33:2, 44:5, 8:12, 37:16
https://biblehub.com/ezekiel/43-7.htm uses the word ben, scroll down to the Hebrew
https://biblehub.com/matthew/24-30.htm uses the word Huiou, scroll down to the Greek
https://biblehub.com/mark/14-21.htm uses the word Huios, similarly Mark 8:38
https://biblehub.com/luke/9-26.htm uses the word Huios, scroll down to the Greek
https://biblehub.com/john/12-34.htm uses the word Huion, scroll down to the Greek
It is unclear to me in verses 28-32 whether the Lord is talking about the Ammonites in a similar vein as He has just spoken of the Babylonians as the wielders of the burnished/polished sword, or whether He is speaking of them eventually getting their own taste of Babylon’s sword. I think it’s ok to just let it rest, and perhaps at a future time it will become clear. The Lord has enjoined us to study the scriptures essentially on a daily basis all our lives, and that could become either boring or overwhelming if we understood everything all at once. I think it a sign of His genius that He has given us scriptures that require a lifelong study. We must have patience.
Ezek 22—Jerusalem has earned the mocking of herself by nations near and far through her sins, as listed
Jerusalem is called a bloody city for the abominations committed therein:
--idols are made and worshipped
--the princes/elite abuse their position to shed blood, disrespect parents, oppress foreigners (probably people of other nations who live/work in the city), vex the fatherless & widows (probably those who have lost their fathers/husbands in war)
--the people of the city despise what is holy and dishonor the Sabbaths
--people give information to those that shed blood (no doubt similar to snitches/informers to the Mafia), eating upon the mountains refers to idol worship, within the city are those that commit lewdness (could be in worship of idols, or through prostitution, which sometimes are the same)
--there is disregard for the laws of incest in the Law of Moses (the Law of God), such as having sexual relations with a father’s wife or his daughter (not necessarily one’s own mother or her daughter), pressing upon a menstruous woman to have sex (which would be a humiliation to her), committing adultery
--bribes are taken so that the innocent are killed
--interest is charged on debts (forbidden in the Law of Moses)
--ill-gotten gains come by extortion
--in all these things the people have forgotten the Lord and His laws
The Lord requires redress/reparations for these dishonest gains and the bloodshed. The Lord asks poignantly, “Can thine heart endure, or can thine hands be strong, in the days that I shall deal with thee? I the Lord have spoken it, and will do it.” The people will be scattered among the heathen nations, and Jerusalem will burn like a refiner’s fire.
Rain is given as an image of washing a land clean, but that will not be the case with Jerusalem when the Lord shows His indignation for her (her people’s) sins. Her prophets conspire to devour souls like lions, taking the wealth as their prey and making widows through their policies (possibly referring to corrupting justice and warfare). They pretend to speak for the Lord when He has not spoken through them. Jerusalem’s priests have violated the Law of Moses and disrespected the holy things (of the Temple). In this they have used God’s name in vain. The princes/elites behave like wolves coming in for the kill in order to prosper dishonestly. The people oppress and rob, vex the poor and needy, and mistreat foreigners that live/work among them (probably as low-income labor).
The Lord looked for someone who would turn away His indignation (recall when He said He would spare Sodom from destruction if there were only 10 good people living there). So similarly, the Lord will rain down His wrath upon Jerusalem in requital for the sins her people.
Ezek 23—the 2 Israelite kingdoms are likened to 2 promiscuous, whorish sisters
Samaria (capital of the northern kingdom of Israel, the “10 tribes”) and Jerusalem (capital of the kingdom of Judah, which included the tribe of Benjamin) are likened to 2 sisters that committed whoredoms even in their youth in Egypt.
Samaria played the harlot with her neighbor Assyria (made alliance with Assyria until it was too late). She was so impressed with the finery of Assyria, when Assyria was rising in power, and sought to benefit thereby (Assyria grew rich through trade and then it became a military power, plundering and causing others to pay tribute). Samaria took up the Assyrian gods, who seemed so beneficent, beside the gods of Egypt. So the Lord left her to her lovers, the gods/power of the Assyrians, who exposed and exploited her in conquest and despoil. They took her children captive and destroyed her in warfare. Her fall became famous.
Jerusalem saw all this, and yet became even more corrupt. She also was bedazzled with the wealth and power of Assyria’s neighbor, Babylon/Chaldea. She saw (or heard of) the walls of Babylon on which were depicted all the glories of their empire. She sent embassies to profit from an alliance. She adopted Babylonian gods, which God saw as committing whoredoms with idol worship. Her mind was alienated from God by them, so God alienated Himself from her. Jerusalem, like her sister Samaria, went right back to her behavior in Egypt, going after the idols of that land. It was like breeding donkeys to horses, producing either mules or hinnies (a more horse-like crossbreed).
https://www.helpfulhorsehints.com/hinny-vs-mule-facts/
As Samaria was conquered by Assyria, Jerusalem will likewise be taken by her “lovers”, Babylonians, Chaldeans, Pekod, Shoa, Koa, and Assyrians (meaning the nations of Mesopotamia). The engines/weapons of war were chariots, wagons, wheels, armies, and armor. The conquerors will cut off noses and ears, killing others. The sons & daughters will be taken captive, and the rest will be consumed when the cities are burned. They will take away their clothes and jewelry as booty. The memory of their sufferings in Egypt will be swallowed up in the afflictions of the Babylonian conquest. The admiration for the empires/kingdoms of Mesopotamia will change to hatred. The Lord will turn the people over to their enemies because Jerusalem/the kingdom of Judah behaved just as foolishly, as abominably as Samaria/the northern kingdom of Israel. It is likened to drinking of the same cup. As her sister was, so Jerusalem will be “laughed to scorn and had in derision . . .” The picture of a depressed drunk is conjured.
The 2 sister kingdoms committed adultery (vs their true husband, the Lord) with their idols, even sacrificing their children to their idols (for which any true husband/father would become incensed). And then in the same day people would come to God’s temple to worship, showing utter contempt/sacrilege toward the Lord’s Sabbaths. The Lord paints a vivid picture of a whore preparing for her lovers. But the righteous will judge her (the whorish wife) for what she is, and she will be dealt with as spoken in the Law (stoning, like when catapults are used in a siege, and other enactments of death). Thus will idolatries be cleansed/cleared away from the land.
All this will cause the people to know/acknowledge that the Lord God is in charge.
Ezek 24—9th year of Zedekiah Babylon lays siege to Jerusalem, parable of the pot, Ezekiel can’t mourn
Near the end of the 9th year (of Zedekiah’s reign in Jerusalem), the Lord tells Ezekiel to note the day as the one in which the king of Babylon decides to come against Jerusalem.
Here’s the parable: a pot of water is set over a fire, and meat & bones are added to it, as if making a stew. Bones are also added to the fire, to get it burning hot and boil the meat. Jerusalem is likened to such a pot wherein the cooked blood rises as scum to the top. The blood should have been poured out on the ground and covered with dirt. Instead, the blood is set on a rock out in plain sight for all to see, to their disgust. After the scummy water is poured out, the pot is to be set on the fire empty in order to burn it out (as one would burn out a Dutch oven over the fire to clean it). But the Lord will not purge the filthiness of Jerusalem until He causes His fury to come upon the city (in full). He affirms in the strongest terms that He will do it.
The Lord tells Ezekiel of the impending death of his wife, the desire of his eyes (that is, the love of his life). But he is not to mourn for her. This would have been truly counter to his culture as well as his feelings. He is not even to shed any tears for her, let alone any of the usual signs of mourning.
People question Ezekiel about not mourning his wife. He explains that the Lord has told him to tell them that the things they hold most dear (the Temple and their children) will be destroyed but they, like Ezekiel, will not be able to mourn them. Instead, they will be mourning their sins (and the sins of the nation). And when it comes to pass, they will know that the Lord knew/caused it to happen. When it happens and a person escapes to tell Ezekiel, then Ezekiel will be able to speak once again.
With what pathos we read, “in the day when I take from them their strength, the joy of their glory, the desire of their eyes, and that whereupon they set their minds, their sons and their daughters . . .”
Jeremiah–part 2, Jer 11-19
Jer 11—God offers a renewal of His covenant under the Law of Moses
The Lord tells Jeremiah to go to the men (people) of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem and offer/proclaim/remind them of His covenant to obey Him/His commandments—which if they did, they would be His people, He would be their God, and they would be given a land flowing with milk and honey: symbolizing a prosperous land, producing abundant agriculture (animals & crops, the basis of any nation’s prosperity). Otherwise, they will be cursed. It is a reiteration of the Exodus covenant, which included a blessing and a cursing—the natural consequences of obeying the Law of God given through Moses, or the disobedience/rejection of God’s laws. For what reason does God give commandments? Because in His wisdom/intelligence and compassion, He knows and tells us what will bring us happiness, peace, and prosperity, and what will bring our downfall/destruction/misery.
A couple notes: Jeremiah is to speak to the men, because they had charge/responsibility of/for the nation and its people (including their families, wives and children). In our culture we are more likely to speak of consequences rather than of curses, it’s a difference in our way of understanding life, the world, and even of God.
The people not only didn’t obey, didn’t listen, went after their own disparate goals, they conspired/agreed to do so. They were the ones who broke the covenant/sacred contract, so God is not obligated to fulfill His promises to them. He will allow bad/”evil” things to come, which they will not be able to escape (in olden times people considered anything bad as “evil”). Where is God’s mercy? God has worked with His people, been merciful to them, for hundreds of years—enough is enough. It is not Merciful not to be Just. A parent who is endlessly giving “2nd chances” (and 3rd, 4th, etc) is essentially an enabler, and isn’t doing his/her child any favors. A good parent must set boundaries and stick by them. Of course, mistakes can be made and repented of, if it is true repentance. But to pretend to repent merely to get a reprieve isn’t really repentance. Repentance means a change of heart, a change of behavior. Of course, we are imperfect beings, and God has offered means to make atonement for those imperfections, as much then as now.
When God doesn’t help the people of Judah they will go to their false gods, who can’t help them. Every city has had its favorite god, and Jerusalem has had altars to different gods in every street, and worse yet, to the particularly evil Baal (Jezebel’s god).
Again, God tells Jeremiah not to pray for the people. He’s not going to listen to their false pleas. He likens them to an adulterous wife with many lovers, who rejoices in them. He likens the nation to an olive tree that will be broken down and burned. He was the one that planted the tree, and He will be the one who will take it out, because of their worship of Baal.
Jeremiah speaks of his personal experience, in that God showed Him all this, and because he has spoken God’s word, they conspire to “sacrifice” him to their own devices (leading him like a lamb or bull to the slaughter). They intend to cut him down like a tree, so that he will not be remembered (perhaps that he will have no descendants). Jeremiah prays that God, who judges righteously, and tests every person’s heart (intentions, character, what one values and desires, as well as faithfulness to Him), will hear his cause, which he has laid out, and punish his adversaries for their wickedness—who tell him not to prophesy in the name of the Lord, or they will kill him. God answers Jeremiah that He will indeed punish them, in particular the men of Anathoth. Their young men will be killed in war, and their children will die from famine. The men of Anathoth (Jeremiah’s hometown) will have no descendants.
https://bibleatlas.org/anathoth.htm about Anathoth
Jer 12—God will punish Jeremiah’s kin for betraying him
Jeremiah acknowledges God’s righteousness, and yet, he wonders why wicked people prosper, and treacherous ones are happy. Perhaps we have all wondered, or felt that frustration. Jeremiah says, You know me, you know my heart . . . “How long shall the land mourn, and the herbs of every field wither, for the wickedness of them that dwell therein? the beasts are consumed, and the birds; because they said, [God isn’t going to punish us, in the end].” It sounds like they were suffering a dearth/drought, and God was not revoking it.
Jeremiah uses figurative words that perhaps would have been proverbial in his time, that if someone is weary from running along with footmen carrying a VIP’s litter how can they keep up with a horse-drawn carriage? Likewise, if one trusts in the peace of the river (Jordan), what will one do during the season of flooding? This seems to have some reference to the betrayal of Jeremiah by his kin, “though they speak fair words” they harbor ill for him.
Jeremiah, and/or God, has turned his back on his people/kin. They are like a lion roaring after him with threats of devouring him, so he renounces his inheritance (see the end of the previous chapter). He likens his inheritance to a speckled bird, referring either to a small songbird (or possibly an imperfect specimen not suitable for a sacrifice unto the Lord, but the next sentence seems to make it about the former). Other, presumably larger, birds fly about her menacingly. Wild beasts come to devour her.
Many pastors (who should be tending the flock or fields) have destroyed them, or have oppressed the people (pastors and flocks used as a metaphor, like today, for the religious leaders and their congregations). These leaders don’t take it to heart when they despoil the people. In consequence, the whole land from one end to the other will be spoiled/destroyed by conquest. In another figure the Lord speaks of the leaders of the people sowing wheat (as they suppose to get rich thereby), but will reap thorns. All their efforts will go for nought (nothing), and their revenues will be embarrassing. This because the Lord is angry at them. God will pluck His people out of their land, but He will again have compassion on them, and return them to their heritage/inheritance. He is speaking, in particular, of the leaders/pastors of the people, who instead of teaching the people of God, have taught them of Baal. If those leaders would turn to God, and turn the people to God, they will be prospered among the people. If not, God will destroy the entire nation (God will allow the conquest of the nation, but it’s actually the people and their leaders who have destroyed the nation morally, which causes the material destruction of the nation.)
Jer 13—Can a leopard change its spots?
Prophets anciently often used theatrics to make their message powerful in the minds of the people. The Lord instructs Jeremiah to dramatize the relationship between Himself and Israel by taking a piece of intimate clothing and burying it in the bank of the Euphrates River, later digging it up again, and showing how it has become worthless. Likewise, Israel was close to the Lord: “This evil people, which refuse to hear my words, which walk in the imagination of their heart, and walk after other gods, to serve them, and to worship them, shall even be as this girdle, which is good for nothing.” 'Girdle' is a term that could mean something like a loincloth.
Using wine as a metaphor, Jeremiah speaks of Jerusalem as being so drunken that even fathers & sons will be slammed together in destruction. Next is the warning that Israel should turn to God, rather than stumble around in the darkness looking for light, but finding the shadow of death. “But if ye will not hear it, my soul shall weep in secret places for your pride; and mine eye shall weep sore, and run down with tears, because the Lord’s flock is carried away captive.” [God weeps for our suffering, even (or moreso) when it is the consequence of our own bad behavior/choices. He pleads with the king & queen to humble themselves before they are forcefully humbled, when armies from the north come and carry away their people captive like stolen flocks. They’ll be hurting like a woman giving birth. When you ask, Why? You can know that the greatness of your iniquities has uncovered you to shame.
Famous saying: Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? If so, then even you that are accustomed to behaving badly can become good. Jeremiah uses the metaphor of the stubble of a harvested field blown away in the wind to the wilderness, and the visualization of a person caught with their skirts up in an adulterous act. Remember that in those days even men wore robes/skirts.
Jer 14—Jeremiah pleads to God vs a serious drought
A description of famine due to drought:
--the people mourn
--the wealthy send their young ones out of town into the countryside for water, but they find none
--the ground is parched for lack of rain
--farmers are embarrassed/ashamed by the failure of their crops
--domesticated animals leave their newborns to die in the field because there is no grass/feed for the females to produce milk to nourish their young
--donkeys sniff for water/grass from upon the hills, but there is none
Jeremiah prays/pleads for mercy, though Israel has sinned. “O the hope of Israel, the saviour thereof in time of trouble . . .”, don’t just be a visitor or a sojourner that only stays for a night! We are called by Your name, don’t leave us! The Lord answers that the people have loved to stray from Him, and He will recompense them for their sins. He tells Jeremiah once again not to pray for them. He will not listen to their cries, nor take notice of their fasts and offerings. They’ll be devastated by war, famine, and disease.
Jeremiah replies that the prophets are promising the people peace and no famine. The Lord disavows those prophets who speak lies in His name. He denies that He has sent them; they are deceivers. The Lord says that those who say there will be no war and famine will be consumed by war and famine. Those that listen to them (eg rulers/leaders) will be tossed (dead) into the streets, and no one will bury them, not even their families. The Lord enjoins Jeremiah to tell them, “Let mine eyes run down with tears night and day, and let them not cease: for the virgin daughter of my people is broken with a great breach [as in the wall of a city breached/broken through in a siege], with a very grievous blow.” If he goes into the country, he sees those killed in fighting, if he comes back into the city he sees people dying of famine. The prophets and priests are to be carried away to a foreign land. [A nation weakened by drought/famine would be easy prey for a marauding army, if they have their own supply line secure.]
Jeremiah again pleads with the Lord: Have You utterly rejected Judah? Do you loathe Zion/Jerusalem? Why have You hit us so hard that we can’t be healed? We looked/hoped for peace, and there’s nothing good in sight. We looked for healing and see only trouble. “We acknowledge, O Lord, our wickedness, and the iniquity of our fathers: for we have sinned against thee. Do not abhor [hate] us, for thy name’s sake, do not disgrace the throne of thy glory: remember, break not thy covenant with us.” Jeremiah is pleading with the Lord that for His own reputation He shouldn’t abandon His people. Jeremiah continues, None of the foolish/false gods of the Gentiles can cause rain [remember the showdown between Elijah and wicked queen Jezebel’s priests]. Even nature is subject to the will of God in giving rain. Jeremiah affirms “therefore we will wait upon thee . . .” for God is the Creator of all. Jeremiah's we doesn't mean everyone.
Jer 15—the Lord to Jeremiah respecting the evils of King Manasseh and Jeremiah’s own cause
The Lord says, Even if Moses or Samuel (the epitome of righteous leaders who had pull with God) pled for the nation, His mind wouldn’t change for the sake of the people. If the people ask, Where shall we go? Tell them those slated for death to death; those for the sword (death in battle) to the sword, those for famine to famine, those for captivity to captivity. People will come to 4 ends: death in battle (by the sword), or predators/scavengers—dogs, birds, or beasts (either from war or famine). And they will be scattered to all the kingdoms of the earth, because of what king Manasseh did. Jeremiah’s calling came during the reign of good King Josiah, who was after wicked King Manasseh. But after Josiah the people returned to the wickedness of King Manasseh, led by their pastors/rulers.
Who will have pity on Jerusalem, or bemoan her, or ask after her welfare? The nation has forsaken the Lord, and He is weary of their pretenses to repentance. God will destroy them and take away their posterity because they haven’t really changed their ways. He will fan them in the gates of the land, perhaps a reference to the fan of a metallurgist getting the fire superheated to melting temperatures. There will be more widows than the sand of the sea, and even women with as many as 7 sons will lose them all to the sword (warfare).
Jeremiah speaks of his anguish in being born as a controversial person. Though he has neither lent nor borrowed, it seems like everyone curses him. (Perhaps one reason God forbad Israelites to lend with interest to their fellow Israelites was because of the bad feelings that tend to ensue between borrowers and lenders—each cursing the other as being dishonest/robbers). But the Lord promises good things for Jeremiah’s posterity, and that even his enemies will come to him in time of affliction.
Then the Lord returns to bad news for the nation of Judah, that it will be conquered, and its riches be despoiled, because of sin. The people will be taken captive to a land they haven’t heard of. He returns to the analogy of fire, as a symbol of His anger.
Jeremiah pleads again for himself. In that the Lord knows him, would He remember him, avenge him of his persecutors? He pleads for the Lord’s longsuffering/mercy, that he be not carried away captive, because he has suffered reproaches for God’s sake. Jeremiah internalized God’s word, “and thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart: for I am called by thy name, O Lord God of hosts.” Jeremiah reminds the Lord that he did not join those who mocked Him or His ways/commandments, and was alone because of it. He was indignant with those mockers. He cries out, Why must I be wounded and in perpetual pain, without healing? God, wilt Thou be a liar and like a dried up spring?
The Lord responds, If you’ll come back to me, I will bring you back again [perhaps out of their clutches] to stand before me. If you separate the good from the bad, you will be able to speak for me. They can come to you, but don’t you go to them [perhaps God is speaking of the king’s court]. I will make you like a brass fence/wall, and though they fight against you, they will not prevail, “for I am with thee to save thee and to deliver thee, saith the Lord…I will deliver thee out of the hand of the wicked, and I will redeem thee out of the hand of the terrible.”
Possibly Jeremiah, in his efforts to persuade the powerful of his day, got caught up in their life. Perhaps God was telling him to bring those who would listen into his circle, and not to return to those who would not listen. They might come to him, but he was not to return to their company. Eventually, when the end did come, Jeremiah was indeed saved from captivity, because he was known for his opposition to those in positions of power in the nation of Judah (Jer 39:11-18).
Jer 16—the Lord tells Jeremiah not to have a family in the wicked land, that is to be destroyed
The Lord tells Jeremiah not to marry and have a family where he was, for they would die terrible deaths, unlamented and unburied. They would be like excrement, killed by sword and famine, their bodies food for birds and beasts (scavengers). The Lord tells Jeremiah not to mourn for the dead: “for I have taken away my peace from this people, saith the Lord, even lovingkindness and mercies.” The Lord lists the cultural ways of mourning at the time, indicating there would be none left to do so. The Lord tells Jeremiah not to go to feasts, including weddings, “For thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will cause to cease out of this place in your eyes, and in your days, the voice of mirth [merriment], and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride.”
The Lord lets Jeremiah know ahead of time what people will say when he passes on what He tells him: Why is the Lord pronouncing all this terrible stuff on us? What have we done that’s so bad? Jeremiah is to say, Because your forebearers have forsaken me for other gods, and not kept my law, and you have done worse than them. Therefore, I [God] will throw you out of this land [the Land of Promise], to a land neither you nor your ancestors knew, and there you will have to serve their gods, and I won’t do you any favors.
One day, instead of saying, The God who brought the Children of Israel out of Egypt still lives, they’ll say “The Lord liveth, that brought up the children of Israel from the land of the north, and from all the lands whither he had driven them: and I will bring them again into their land that I gave unto their fathers. Behold, I will send for many fishers, saith the Lord, and they shall fish them; and after will I send for many hunters, and they shall hunt them from every mountain, and from every hill, and out of the holes of the rocks.”
The Lord sees all the people’s wicked ways, and He promises to requite them double for their sins, because they have defiled the Promised Land, and filled it with “the carcases of their detestable and abominable things.” No doubt the evidence of idol worship, including child sacrifice.
Jeremiah replies, “O Lord, my strength, and my fortress, and my refuge in the day of affliction,” the Gentiles from the ends of the earth will say it’s because they inherited lies and foolishness [a false faith/religion]. But God counters rhetorically, Should a person make his own false gods? They will know my power and what I do, and that I am [the True God].
Jer 17—Jeremiah’s teaching and prayer, particularly a re-emphasis on the Sabbath
This chapter continues regarding the sins of the kingdom of Judah, and its consequences, as well as Jeremiah’s prayer for God’s help and grace, and God’s call for Jeremiah to stand at the gates of the city and reteach them about keeping the Sabbath holy. But here are some other gems/highlights:
5 ¶ Thus saith the Lord; Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the Lord.
7 Blessed is the man that trusteth in the Lord, and whose hope the Lord is.
8 For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out her roots by the river, and shall not see when heat cometh, but her leaf shall be green; and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit. [deep roots provide water to the tree even through drought]
10 I the Lord search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings. [The Lord tests our mettle, not that He needs to know what we are made of, but that we need to know.]
11 As the partridge sitteth on eggs, and hatcheth them not; so he that getteth riches, and not by right, shall leave them in the midst of his days, and at his end shall be a fool. [presumably a partridge caught for food]
13 O Lord, the hope of Israel, all that forsake thee shall be ashamed, and they that depart from me shall be written in the earth, because they have forsaken the Lord, the fountain of living waters.
14 Heal me, O Lord, and I shall be healed; save me, and I shall be saved: for thou art my praise.
Jer 18—God is like a potter, totally in charge, but He will change His intentions according to behavior
The Lord sends Jeremiah to a potter’s shop, and likens Himself to the potter, in that He has total power over the pot. And yet, even after He has pronounced bad things for a wicked nation, if they repent, He will change how He treats them. Likewise, if He has promised good things to a nation, but that nation go bad, He will refuse to bless them.
The Lord appeals to Judah & Jerusalem (and to every person) to return from their wicked ways. They say, Our lot is hopeless, so we’re going to rely on our own devices. Rhetorically the Lord asks whether it would make sense for a person to forsake a fresh spring in the mountain, implying that God’s people have forsaken the living waters that spring from Him. Because they have turned from Him, causing people to whistle and shake their heads at His inheritance, the Lord will blow them away. [As in previous instances, the Lord intends to wipe out the old inhabitants and start rebuilding afresh. Examples: the Flood, Abraham, Sodom & Gomorrah, the Canaanites, the Children of Israel wandering for 40 years in the desert until all the older generation had passed away . . . ]
Jeremiah recounts the opposition he has been facing, then prays to the Lord to witness what his enemies say and to remember that he prayed for them, that the Lord would turn away His anger from them [compare Matt 5:11 & 44]. Now he prays that as God has foretold, His will be done, in recompense for the way they have treated His prophet [not merely as a man, but as the mouthpiece of God].
Jer 19—with a pot as a teaching device/visual aid, Jeremiah is sent to prophesy destruction
Jeremiah is to get a pot from the potter, take it and the elders of the people and priests, and go to the valley of the son of Hinnom. There he is to prophesy desolation because of “the blood of innocents; They have built also the high places of Baal, to burn their sons with fire for burnt offerings unto Baal … Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that this place shall no more be called Tophet, nor The valley of the son of Hinnom, but The valley of slaughter.” The famine in the siege to come will be so bad that people will eat their own children and friends. Then to punctuate the point, Jeremiah is to break the earthenware bottle in front of his audience. Refer back to Jeremiah 7.
Jeremiah–part 1, chapters 1-10
The book of Jeremiah has 52 chapters, and his book of Lamentations has 5–thus, it will take me a few posts to cover his writings. Part 1 covers Jeremiah 1-10. For background on Jeremiah, see
https://www.biblestudytools.com/jeremiah/ https://www.britannica.com/biography/Jeremiah-Hebrew-prophet https://www.insight.org/resources/bible/the-major-prophets/jeremiah https://lifehopeandtruth.com/prophecy/prophets/prophets-of-the-bible/jeremiah-the-prophet/
Jer 1 Jeremiah called in the 13th year of Josiah, serves through Zedekiah & the Babylonian captivity
1 The words of Jeremiah the son of Hilkiah, of the priests that were in Anathoth in the land of Benjamin:
2 To whom the word of the Lord came in the days of Josiah the son of Amon king of Judah, in the thirteenth year of his reign.
3 It came also in the days of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah, unto the end of the eleventh year of Zedekiah the son of Josiah king of Judah, unto the carrying away of Jerusalem captive in the fifth month.
I think there’s a strong indication that Jeremiah’s father was a counselor to young King Josiah, the priest spoken of in 2 Kings 22, and a part of the reformation of the kingdom of Judah. Jeremiah seems to have had a position/access to the king’s court. It’s possible that the priest Hilkiah “who was over the household” and “the chief priest” was the (or one of the) influence(s) that made an impact on young Josiah to turn him to God. Remember that the priests/Levites were sent to live among each of the tribes in order to be teachers and civil leaders among them long ago under Moses. King Josiah may have sent his right hand man, the priest Hilkiah, as an overseer in the land of Benjamin. Or, Hilkiah’s ancestors may have been assigned to the land of Benjamin, and his talents may have brought him to the notice of the court so that he might have been called into service there. See various references at
https://biblehub.com/topical/h/hilkiah.htm
Jeremiah served as prophet to the Kingdom of Judah for about 40 years, from the good years of King Josiah, through the Babylonian destruction of Jerusalem and the captivity of the Jews. He lived beyond that, and continued to counsel those that were left, but they didn’t listen to him either—though he did have some good and loyal friends. It’s no wonder that he wrote Lamentations, after having seen the great reforms of King Josiah, and then the utter wickedness and destruction that followed.
4 Then the word of the Lord came unto me, saying,
5 Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.
6 Then said I, Ah, Lord God! behold, I cannot speak: for I am a child.
7 ¶ But the Lord said unto me, Say not, I am a child: for thou shalt go to all that I shall send thee, and whatsoever I command thee thou shalt speak.
8 Be not afraid of their faces: for I am with thee to deliver thee, saith the Lord.
9 Then the Lord put forth his hand, and touched my mouth. And the Lord said unto me, Behold, I have put my words in thy mouth.
10 See, I have this day set thee over the nations and over the kingdoms, to root out, and to pull down, and to destroy, and to throw down, to build, and to plant.
The verses above make clear that God had a plan for Jeremiah even before he was born. Jeremiah, as Moses and others before, was overwhelmed with the role God was calling him to play. When he says he is but a child, I don’t think that meant that he was literally a boy like Samuel, though he might have been in his late teens or early 20s (considering he was prophet to the nation/kings for 40 years). What he is expressing is that he doesn’t feel adequate (like Moses at his call) in his speaking abilities. But God reassures him, as He did Moses and Joshua, that He would give him the words to say, and back him up in his assignment. As we will see, that doesn’t mean Jeremiah didn’t have hard things to go through and to suffer, but God would deliver him in the end. Jeremiah would not only pull down the corrupt, he would also build or plant the basis of a better kingdom or kingdoms (consider what his words have meant for God’s true followers since his time, and even now).
In vision God shows Jeremiah an almond branch, probably opening its blossoms, as God says that it represents the quickening of His work. Then God shows him a boiling pot facing the north. God says that it represents bad things to come from the north (probably the pot was boiling over, representing the spread of the ills of conquest over all the Middle Eastern lands). The ruling/military families will come against Jerusalem and all the cities of the kingdom of Judah—and this because of their wickedness and idolatry. God sends Jeremiah out with the warning that if he shows fear, he’ll lose his gift of speaking effectively. God reaffirms His backing with the word picture of protecting Jeremiah like an impenetrable city of defense. He forewarns Jeremiah that he’ll face opposition, but reiterates that He will be with him and deliver him.
Jer 2—Israel has turned from the all powerful God to sticks and stones
God sends Jeremiah out with a message to Jerusalem. He reminds them of their sojourn in the wilderness during the Exodus. It’s a little different picture of Israel than the Torah (5 books of Moses) paints, but I suppose God is referring to the 2nd generation, who had learned to live the Law of Moses (the Law of God). But then God accuses the ancestors of Jeremiah’s contemporaries of turning their backs on Him (as if they had found some fault in Him). God pleads with them, and their descendants. He says that no other nation has switched gods (who aren’t true gods), and yet the Israelites have. It’s astonishing! Poetically, verbally visually, He says, “For my people have committed two evils; they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water.” (note Jesus’ declaration about Living Waters: John 4:4-26, John 7:37-39)
Rhetorically God asks if Israel is a servant (instead of a son). That is, why should he be mistreated? (speaking of the difference between the way servants were treated, vs sons) But the nation of Israel has brought this on themselves. “Thine own wickedness shall correct thee, and thy backslidings shall reprove thee: know therefore and see that it is an evil thing and bitter, that thou hast forsaken the Lord thy God, and that my fear is not in thee, saith the Lord God of hosts.”
God reminds them that He has saved them before, and they have promised not to misbehave (for example the covenants under Hezekiah and Josiah). But here they are again dirtying themselves, and the strongest cleaners can’t wash them clean. Like camels or donkeys they take off to do as they like. Only when they are experiencing their cycle can they be found. They’ve had a taste of infidelity, and they choose their lovers instead of God.
You call rocks and sticks your gods, every city has their own, yet they can’t save you in time of trouble. Why do you come to Me, when you have sinned against Me? You won’t learn from my corrections. You kill the prophets like lions kill those in their paths. You proudly claim to be powerful in and of yourselves, and see no reason to come unto Me. Rhetorically God asks, does a young girl or a bride forget her jewelry or pretty clothes? Yet you have forgotten Me for “days without number.” Your sins are obvious as the blood of the innocent on your clothes. You claim to be innocent, (but I know better). You’ll be ashamed of trying to make Egypt an ally, just as you were shamed in making Assyria an ally (remember when the Israelites invited Assyria into partisanship when Israel & Judah were adversaries, and a few year later when Assyria became a super power they came to rue the day). Your confidence in your policies will not turn out well . . . you’ll be arrested (that is, stopped) and walk forth with your hands on your head.
Jer 3—Israel has played the harlot
In the days of Josiah the king was this condemnation made by God through Jeremiah, early in his calling. Perhaps Jeremiah was an influence for good in the life of Josiah. Jeremiah began to prophesy in the 13th year of Josiah. 2 Chron 34:3 says in the 12th year of his reign he began to purge the land of idolatry. If Jeremiah was not the impetus of the purging, he was surely a supporter of it.
Jeremiah paints a clear picture of the adulterous idolatry of Israel in the form of a parable that they would understand. A divorced wife who had remarried (or, worse yet, not remarried, but involved herself with other man/men) would not be taken back by her 1st husband. That would pollute the man’s inheritance (or the nation’s lands). And yet, though Israel had played the harlot with many false gods, God invites, even pleads, that Israel return to Him and He will welcome the one who had strayed. Look at all the high places (places of idolatrous worship) and consider what false gods with whom Israel hasn’t been untrue! Like a harlot sitting by the road in the Arabian wilderness (where travelers far from home would be tempted), Israel has polluted the land (earned the land a bad rep, for instance). For this reason the rains have been kept back. And yet, Israel has refused to be ashamed of infidelity. (Remember the story of Elijah, for example, how even after his powerful demonstration of the true God over the false—the miraculous lighting of the altar and the bringing of rain after a 3 year drought—yet Elijah mourned in a cave that there was no one that was true to God).
Next the Lord refers to the northern kingdom of Israel and the southern kingdom of Judah as sisters. For all Israel’s adulteries God divorced Himself from her (“put her away”: the Assyrian captivity). And yet, her sister kingdom, Judah followed her example. “And yet for all this her treacherous sister Judah hath not turned unto me with her whole heart, but feignedly [pretending], saith the Lord.” King Hezekiah, at the time of the Assyrian captivity, brought those that were left of Israel as well as his kingdom of Judah, to covenant with God, recommit themselves to Him. But Hezekiah’s son & heir Manasseh led the people into worse idolatry than ever.
Jeremiah is sent north to plead with the remnants of Israel to return to God and find His promise of mercy. “Turn, O backsliding children, saith the Lord; for I am married unto you: and I will take you one of a city, and two of a family, and I will bring you to Zion: And I will give you pastors according to mine heart, which shall feed you with knowledge and understanding.” God promises to bless and prosper Israel. They will no longer look back to their history (being led by the ark of the covenant, as in the Exodus), but to Jerusalem for their leadership. The kingdoms of Israel and of Judah will be reunited, and the captives of Assyria will return to join them. Even Jeremiah is led to ask how this could all happen, but is answered that they will call God their father and not turn away from Him (with God all things are possible).
Jer 4—if the Jews would just turn to God, He would save them from the coming conquest from the North; a hint that God is preparing to create something out of the dust
God promises that if His people will just return to Him, destroy all the idolatrous worship, and swear their allegiance to Him, He will protect them from conquest & captivity. He uses the metaphor of farming: prepare the ground that has been left fallow, rather than plant amongst the weedy brambles. He uses the metaphor of circumcision to represent making their hearts tender/feeling toward God, lest they suffer God’s fury like a fire that can’t be quenched (because of their wicked behavior). God instructs His people to blow a trumpet in the land to gather the people into defensed cities, under the banner of Zion/Jerusalem/the kingdom of Judah. Like a lion, conquest is coming from the north, who will lay waste everything. God will allow such predations because He is angry with the wickedness of His people.
Jeremiah complains to God that surely He has deceived His people, promising peace, when like a powerful whirlwind destruction is coming. God pleads that Jerusalem wash herself from wickedness and rebellions against Him. It is her own doings that have brought all this on. Jeremiah voices his deep distress at the destruction and warfare to come. “For my people is foolish, they have not known me; they are sottish [foolish] children, and they have none understanding: they are wise to do evil, but to do good they have no knowledge.”
Interestingly, Jeremiah refers back to the state of the earth before Creation, “I beheld the earth, and, lo, it was without form, and void; and the heavens, and they had no light.” (a premonition of the creation of a new state of Israel/Judah). God details the utter destruction of the land through warfare. He says, No matter what you do to make yourself look attractive to potential “lovers” (allies), they will all despise you. Then Jeremiah uses the metaphor of the pains of a woman giving birth. Such causes one to ponder what is to be created, born, of this clearing away of the debris & deadness of the land—witness the return of the Jews from the Babylonian captivity and the development of the Jewish state from there.
Jer 5—Israel’s pretensions: they have eyes & ears but don’t see or hear who God really is
A challenge: search high and low for someone that looks for the Truth and brings Justice. If any can be found, God will pardon the people. Their words say they believe, but their behavior belies their words. While God has offered correction, they have been incorrigible. Jeremiah believes that the people have been foolish because they have not been taught. He determines to go to the great men (rulers or elites) of the day, because they are educated. But he finds that they have broken away from the restrictions of the Law. Because of this, like a zoo of predators will destruction come upon the land.
How can they be pardoned? Their children swear by false gods. When God had prospered them, they were faithless to Him and assembled in crowds at the licentious places of idol worship. Like well-fed horses they have “neighed” after their neighbor’s wives.
Destruction is coming (yet not in total) for Israel’s treachery with God. They assure themselves that nothing bad will happen, so their prophets are just windbags. Jeremiah’s words, on the contrary, will be like fire devouring wood. An ancient nation speaking an unknown language will come, and like an open grave their arrows will devour the lives of Israelites. They will eat up the food of the land, and leave the cities impoverished.
When people ask, Why is God doing this to us? Jeremiah is to answer, “Like as ye have forsaken me, and served strange gods in your land, so shall ye serve strangers in a land that is not yours.” They have eyes to see, ears to hear, but neither see nor hear. “Neither say they in their heart, Let us now fear the Lord our God, that giveth rain, both the former and the latter [2 rainy seasons, that water the crops], in his season: he reserveth unto us the appointed weeks of the harvest . . . your sins have withholden good things from you.”
Wicked men lay in wait, setting traps and snares to enrich themselves at the expense of others. Like a cageful of birds, their holdings (business dealings) are full of deceit. In their own prosperity they don’t bring justice to the needy poor and the fatherless. The prophets lie, the priests rule through their riches. And the people like things the way they are. What will you do when the consequences follow? What a message for today!
Jer 6—the people will suffer the consequences of their hypocrisy & wickedness
“O ye children of Benjamin, gather yourselves to flee out of the midst of Jerusalem, and blow the trumpet in Tekoa, and set up a sign of fire in Beth-haccerem: for evil appeareth out of the north, and great destruction.” See Jeremiah 1:1, and the following explanations of the place mentioned here:
https://biblehub.com/commentaries/jeremiah/6-1.htm
https://www.bibleplaces.com/tekoa/
https://biblehub.com/commentaries/nehemiah/3-5.htm men of Tekoah
https://bibleatlas.org/beth-haccherem.htm map; Beth-hakkerem south of Jerusalem, Tekoa further south
Commentaries offer a better understanding of verses 2-3: “woman” is an insertion not in the Hebrew, and “comely” is often a reference to a pleasant pasture. That lovely pasture is going to be devoured by armies from the north. In verse 6 trees are hewn down, probably for siege engines. It’s a warning (v. 8), because Jerusalem has spouted/gushed wickedness (violence and plundering, no doubt to get gain, like gangster families) like a fountain or a geyser. As in a grape harvest, where the vines are gleaned clean, and the grapes gathered into baskets, Zion will be left fruitless.
https://biblehub.com/commentaries/jeremiah/6-2.htm
Jeremiah asks, Who can I speak to and warn? Their ears are insensitive and they don’t listen. They don’t want to hear the Lord’s reproaches. Jeremiah feels angry at them. He’s tired of trying to be tactful & politically correct. He’s going to just lay it all out: not just soldiers, but husbands and wives, old people, everyone will be pillaged. Because everyone, rich or poor, powerful or powerless, is greedy of others’ goods, and even prophets and priests are dishonest/liars. They try to soothe people’s fears by saying there will be peace, but there will be no peace. They are shameless.
The Lord tells Jeremiah to remind the people of the old paths, the good way (the Law of Moses) in which they would find peace (compare Matt 11:28-30), but people are not interested in walking in those ways. The Lord set watchmen over the people to warn them of trouble, but they refused to listen.
References to watchmen: Isa 52, 56, 62; Ezek 33; Jer 31 & 51; 2 Kings 18:8 the watchmen on the tower were to warn their citizens of danger approaching; 1 Sam 16 Saul’s scouts(?) see the bold success of his son Jonathan & armor bearer, and the Israelite army is emboldened to fight for their nation & win).
So the Lord says He will bring the fruit (consequences) of their own thoughts upon them. He says, What’s the point of your fancy, expensive incense from Sheba (used in worship of those days)? All your offerings are worthless to Me [because of their hypocrisy]. Fathers, sons, neighbors, friends will all perish by the hands of conquerors from the north [Mesopotamia]. “They shall lay hold on bow and spear; they are cruel, and have no mercy; their voice roareth like the sea [because there are so many of them come shouting in battle]; and they ride upon horses, set in array as men for war against thee, O daughter of Zion.” We’ve heard of their reputation, which strikes trembling fear, anguish, pains like a woman giving birth. Nobody dares go out to the fields or the roads. “O daughter of my people, gird thee with sackcloth, and wallow thyself in ashes: make thee mourning, as for an only son, most bitter lamentation: for the spoiler shall suddenly come upon us.”
The Lord tells Jeremiah that he is set as a tower (like a watchtower, to give warning), and a fortress (a defense against destruction). Jeremiah is to know what they are like, and test them to see what they are truly made of. But God knows they are grievous rebels, companions of slanderers, hard as brass/iron, corrupters. Jeremiah, like a foundry worker tries to purify metal, yet the impurities/the wicked continue. The Lord will toss them out as silver that can’t be purified.
Jer 7—what God told Jeremiah to tell the people as they entered the Temple gate
The Lord tells Jeremiah to stand at the gate of the Temple and proclaim His word: Amend your ways and [God] will cause you to be able to continue living here. Don’t trust in lying promises that the Lord will not destroy this place because of His temple. Execute Justice in the court system. Don’t oppress foreigners, the fatherless, and the widow [those without protectors or recourse]. Don’t shed innocent blood. Don’t follow/worship other gods. Then [God] promises this land to you forever, as He did your ancestors.
But you trust in lies that can’t profit you. Do you think you can steal, murder, commit adultery, commit perjury and the like, burn incense to Baal and other gods you don’t know, and then come and stand here in the Temple thinking you can get away with all that? “Is this house, which is called by my name, become a den of robbers in your eyes?” (No doubt Jesus was referencing this when He said, “ye have made it a den of thieves.” Matt 21:13) Just go check on Shiloh, where God’s tabernacle was at first, and see what He did to it because of the wickedness of the northern kingdom of Israel. Because you have likewise polluted this Temple, while “I spake unto you, rising up early and speaking, but ye heard not; and I called you, but ye answered not . . . ,” God will do the same here, where you trust you are safe because of the promises He made to your forebearers.
The Lord tells Jeremiah not to pray for the people, nor try to intercede for them. He refuses to hear. He asks Jeremiah, Do you see what they do in Jerusalem and the cities of Judah? The kids gather wood, the fathers build a fire, and the women make bread/cakes for the “queen of heaven” (a false god), and they pour out drink offerings to other gods. Are they provoking Me, or causing confusion to their own faces?
The Lord says that when He brought the Children of Israel out of Egypt He didn’t ask for burnt offerings [at first], “But this thing commanded I them, saying, Obey my voice, and I will be your God, and ye shall be my people: and walk ye in all the ways that I have commanded you, that it may be well unto you.” (Remember what Samuel said to Saul, “Hath the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams.” 1 Sam 15:22. The burnt offerings were to keep reminding the people of God and their covenant with Him, they were not the ends, but the means. They didn’t listen, but walked in their own imaginations and ideas. They went backward instead of forward (instead of progressing to a higher law, they were given the Law of Moses, a schoolmaster, to bring them to God. See Gal 3:24 etc). “Since the day that your fathers came forth out of the land of Egypt unto this day I have even sent unto you all my servants the prophets, daily rising up early and sending them: Yet they hearkened not unto me, nor inclined their ear, but hardened their neck: they did worse than their fathers.”
The Lord tells Jeremiah to tell the people all these things (at the Temple gate, as they enter to “worship”), but He says they will not listen. Jeremiah can call to them, but they won’t answer him. The Lord says, “But thou shalt say unto them, This is a nation that obeyeth not the voice of the Lord their God, nor receiveth correction: truth is perished, and is cut off from their mouth.” Jeremiah writes of mourning and lamenting ritual of cutting off one’s hair, because the people of Jerusalem and the cities of Judah have done such evil, even polluting the Temple, and sacrificing their children in Tophet, in the valley of the son of Hinnom. One day that place will be called the valley of slaughter. They will run out of place to bury people, and the corpses will be eaten by beasts and birds. There will no longer be happy songs and glad voices of brides and grooms in Jerusalem and the cities of Judah: the land will be desolate.
Jer 8—things will get so bad that people would rather die than live
Jeremiah, speaking for the Lord, predicts that the bones of the kings, princes, priests, prophets (all of Judah), and the inhabitants of Jerusalem will be brought out of their graves and spread before the altars of the sun, moon, and other gods the people have served/worshipped to show the bones disrespect. “And death shall be chosen rather than life by all the residue of them that remain of this evil family, which remain in all the places whither I have driven them, saith the Lord of hosts.” Presumably the conquerors are the “they” that would do the disrespecting, and the inhabitants of Judah & Jerusalem are ”they” that will wish they were dead.
And will the people then return to God and acknowledge their wrongs, asking/exclaiming to themselves, “What have I done?” No, they continue in their deceipt and refuse to come back to God. Though the creatures of the earth instinctively know their seasons, God’s people don’t recognize His judgments. How can they say they are wise and keep the Law of the Lord, and yet they are ashamed of Him, His words, and His ways.
Therefore, their wives and lands will be given to others (conquerors). Everyone from the least to the most powerful is covetous, the prophets and priests are dishonest. They try to soothe people by claiming “Peace…when there is no peace.” Are they ashamed of their abominations [such as sacrificing their children to false gods]? No. For that, their grape & fig harvests will be consumed [by the conquerors, or by Nature]. Why do we just sit here? We ought to get into (hide in) the walled cities and sit in silence for God has given us over to the consequences of our sins. We hoped for peace, and for health, but nothing came but troubles. We heard only the sounds of war horses as they advanced from the north, and the land is devoured by the conquerors. Like snakes and cockatrices [mythical or uncertain creatures], they won’t be charmed, but bite you. (“charmed, or charming” now has such a mild meaning, like a charming personality. But think in terms of snake charmers who don’t succeed, and get bit by a poisonous snake!)
Verses 18 to the end seem to be the lament of Jeremiah for his people, and their conquest by armies from a far away land. Where is God? They have provoked Him to anger with their idolatry (so He wants nothing to do with them). “The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved . . . Is there no balm [medicine] in Gilead [a proverbial place of healing]; is there no physician there? Why then is not the health of the daughter of my people recovered?”
Jer 9—Jeremiah, and the Lord, lament for the wickedness of the people
“Oh that my head were waters, and mine eyes a fountain of tears, that I might weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of my people!” Jeremiah wishes he had a lodge to stay, away from his iniquitous people, whose lying tongues are like bows (shooting deadly arrows), and they go from one evil to the next. Even brothers and neighbors can’t be trusted. They are all deceptive, speaking peacefully with their tongues, but in their hearts are setting traps for their neighbors.
God claims vengeance on the people for their iniquities. But God’s vengeance is not the same as human vengeance. God requires Justice (even while He sorrows for the people), while humans just want to delight in making people suffer. God weeps for the destruction of the land. “Who is the wise man, that may understand this?” The destruction of the land is a consequence of the people forsaking God’s laws. Not only the land will be destroyed, the people will be scattered among unbelieving nations. The women are invited to mourn for the land and the people. Not only Judah, but Egypt, Edom, the Ammonites, the Moabites, and all that dwell in the region will be conquered for their iniquities.
23 ¶ Thus saith the Lord, Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches:
24 But let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth me, that I am the Lord which exercise lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness, in the earth: for in these things I delight, saith the Lord.
Jer 10—worshipping idols made by men is ludicrous; God is the true & living God, all powerful, Creator
“Hear ye the word which the Lord speaketh unto you, O house of Israel . . .” Don’t fall for horoscopes, nor images made of wood & covered with silver or gold. They can’t speak or move on their own, nor can they do either good or evil. They are just foolish and vain. Compare contemporary veneration of crystals and the like.
In contrast, the Lord has true power. He is the true God, everlasting and living. He created the heavens and earth, and He can destroy all. He has not only the power, but the intelligence/wisdom as the Creator, who formed all.
Yet the Lord laments, and is grieved for the destruction of His people. Reference is made to the tabernacle of Exodus. Jeremiah humbly pleads for God’s correction for himself, but not to be destroyed. He pleads that those who have destroyed God’s people, and who have not believed in Him, be the objects of His anger.
Isaiah part 4–Isa 51-66; Messianic chapters
angeli_coi_simboli_della_passione_e_profeti,_1477_ca.,_profeta_isaia_00.jpg
Isa 51—Look to your ancestry & history to find the goodness of God
Listen to me, you that are trying to find God and to be godly. Look at the examples of your ancestors (and if none of your biological ancestors were good, your spiritual ancestors), Abraham & Sarah (the rock and the quarry from which you are sculpted). I, the Lord, chose him alone for the promised lineage, and blessed him (and in him, you), and increased him (both in wealth and posterity, even though it looked like he wasn’t going to have any posterity). So when it looks like your land is barren and waste, be comforted that it will one day be like Eden, and full of joy and gladness, and grateful songs.
Listen to me (poetic repetition). I will make a law which will enlighten my people about Justice. My righteous judgements have already been decided, and I will save you. Those who wait on Me will trust Me. The heavens and the earth will vanish like smoke, but My salvation and righteousness are forever.
Listen to me (He reiterates), all who understand (and live) righteousness, those who keep Me in their hearts. Don’t be afraid of the condemnation/fault finding and ridicule of people. They will be destroyed like moth-eaten clothes. But My righteousness and salvation will last from one generation to the next.
Isaiah in poetic form calls on God to use His strong arm once again, as He did in the past. He refers to the Exodus, the crossing of the sea. So will God’s people (for whom He has paid the kidnapper’s ransom) return with singing back to Zion/Jerusalem/the Holy City—and there will be no more sorrow and mourning.
For a discussion of “Rahab” and the dragon, see
https://biblehub.com/isaiah/51-9.htm
The Lord responds that He is the one who provides comfort. Then why be afraid of mere mortals? Why forget that the Lord is our Maker, and the Creator of the heavens and the earth (see Gen 1-2)--and fear the oppressor every day as if he is ready and able to destroy? What will happen to the oppressive anger of those that threaten destruction? An exiled person in captivity hastily goes to work, hoping not to die imprisoned, and that his rations won’t be cut. But God divided the sea (in Creation and in the Exodus), which shows Him far more powerful than any mere human. He is called The Lord of Hosts (like millions). The Lord reassures Isaiah that He has put the words in his mouth. He is protecting him in the shadow of His hand. Along with planting the stars in the heavens, and laying the foundations of the earth, He says to Zion/Jerusalem/the Holy City, You are my people. That is, the God who is powerful enough to create the heavens and earth can certainly take care of His people.
Wake up, get up, Jerusalem. Isaiah writes poetically of drunkenness as if Jerusalem is suffering from the debilitating after-effects of overindulging in drink. They have drunk it to the dregs, the bottom of the cup, and wrung the last drops from the leather wine bags. The prostrating intoxicant is the Lord’s anger and the fear of it that has overwhelmed the people.
No one is left to lead Jerusalem, speaking of the city as a woman/mother, of all the sons she bore. None of her grown sons are left to help her in her old age/weakened state. Who will comfort her? Desolation has come by famine, destruction by the sword/warfare. Her sons have fainted in battle, and lie at the head of the streets (the center of the city). They thrash angrily and powerlessly as a bull caught in a net, filled with anger at the Lord and His rebuke.
So listen, you that are drunk from affliction rather than wine, this is what the Lord says (the one who pleads your cause), Look, I have taken the last of my fury against you (and your fears) out of your hand (trembling could have the triple meaning of fear, and of over exhaustion or overindulgence). You’ll never have to drink that again. Instead, I’ll give it to those who made you bow to the ground so they could walk on you. (A terrible prophesy against all those who have abused the Jews or any of God’s people).
Isa 52—How beautiful are those that leave evil and teach the love of God
1 Awake, awake; put on thy strength, O Zion; put on thy beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city: for henceforth there shall no more come into thee the uncircumcised and the unclean.
2 Shake thyself from the dust; arise , and sit down, O Jerusalem: loose thyself from the bands of thy neck, O captive daughter of Zion. [In other words, get up and dust yourself off, sit in a proper seat. Take off the chains, slavery to sin.]
3 For thus saith the Lord, Ye have sold yourselves for nought [nothing]; and ye shall be redeemed without money.
The Lord reminds the people of their sojourn in Egypt before the Exodus, and their howling subservience/captivity to Assyria. People have been speaking ill of Him, but they will know one day that He is the one speaking through Isaiah, His servant.
This chapter is so beautiful, it kills me not to quote essentially the whole thing. My summary can’t do it justice, but I’ll try to put it in terms more understandable to modern readers.
“How beautiful upon the mountains . . .” are the feet (representing the whole body) of those that teach the Gospel/Good Tidings of Salvation, that reassure the people that God reigns over all, especially His chosen. He likens the prophets to watchmen on a tower for defense against enemies, who will joyfully sing in harmony when the Lord frees His people. He invites all who have been wasted to join the joyous singing when they find comfort in the Lord. The Lord rolled up His sleeves, so to speak, before the whole world, so that they could see that Salvation came/comes through the God of Israel.
“Depart . . .” from unclean things, he says, likening it to the requirements of the Law of Moses (the Law God gave through Moses) for the priests that officiate in the Temple rites. When the people of the Lord leave/return from Babylon (symbol of sin’s captivity) they won’t have to escape in a hurry looking over their shoulder, because God will lead them away and “have their backs”.
Verses 13-15 refer to God’s servants, and the Messiah in particular. They’ll be wise, and honored. People are astonished that God’s chosen servants may be nothing to look at (or even ugly). Yet those who rule the nations (no matter how they exercise control/power) will finally have their eyes opened and have to consider what God is able to do.
Isa 53—One of the most beautiful chapters in all scripture, listen also to Handel’s “Messiah”
Who believes the prophets? Who recognizes the works of God? The Messiah will grow up like a tender plant out of dry ground. He won’t be handsome and impressive physically, people aren’t impressed to follow or look up to him. In fact, he’ll be despised and rejected. His life will be full of sorrow and grief; he’s not the kind of guy we’re attracted to, and we figured he was a nothing/loser. (Isaiah writes so powerfully that one would suspect he lived this kind of experience, or at least knew someone close to him that did.)
Speaking in prophetic tense (the future written in past tense, so positive that it will happen), Isaiah writes: He carried the weight of all our sorrows and griefs, and yet we figured it was because he was afflicted by God. He was wounded, he was beaten for our transgressions and iniquities. He suffered for the peace we had no right to enjoy (because of our wickedness). Yet by the lashes of the whip he took for our sake, we are healed/pardoned/let off the hook (as when a foe or a PIC demands that someone suffer the punishment for all, when something is amiss). We have all gone astray like sheep. We’ve all gone our own ways. And God has punished him for our bad behavior.
Again, in prophetic tense: the Messiah/Prophet was oppressed and afflicted, but didn’t make a noise about it. He was brought like a lamb to be slaughtered, or a sheep to be sheared, and didn’t make a sound (This metaphor seems different from what I know of sheep, who bleat about such things, but maybe it was different in Isaiah’s time/place). He was taken out of the prison to the executioner, without having been given a fair trial. Who’s going to speak up in his defense against the people of his time? Because God’s people were bad, he was wounded. He was buried with the rich & wicked although he was not deceitful nor violent.
Some important clarification is found at
https://biblehub.com/isaiah/53-9.htm
Yet it was part of God’s plan to have him beaten and grieved. When he is placed on the sacrificial altar for the wickedness of the people (as in the Temple rites of the time an unblemished animal was sacrificed as a sin offering), he will see his offspring (those that call him father of their souls). His life will be lengthened, and he will be blessed/prospered. God will see the agony of his soul and will be satisfied. The knowledge of this righteous servant will justify many, for he will bear their iniquities (he knows what it’s like to be human). And for all that he willingly bore for others (death and dishonor), he will be given the greatest of honors and rewards (Isaiah is using a metaphor of military heroes’ honors & rewards), and he will intercede for the guilty.
For a discussion about the Jewish view vs the Christian view of this chapter, see
https://www.learnreligions.com/isaiah-53-interpretations-4175126
Isa 54—"Sing O barren,” a song of hope for the hopeless
“Sing, O barren, thou that didst not bear; break forth into singing, and cry aloud, thou that didst not travail with child: for more are the children of the desolate than the children of the married wife, saith the Lord . . .”
Once again, this is such a beautiful, poetic chapter that it’s hard not to just quote the whole thing. But it can be understood on more than one level: 1. with reference to barren women (note Sarah, Rebekah, Rachel, Hannah . . . and every woman who weeps over infertility. In the broader culture of the times, a woman might be put away (divorced) for not providing an heir for her husband/tribe. 2. The House of Israel was often referred to in terms of a wife, and one that was separated/divorced from God. In either case, this chapter offers hope.
Israel is a small country, and sometimes has lost territory. But God promises that one day it will gain land, like a tent that is made larger to accommodate more people, a larger tribe. The nation/posterity of Israel will one day inherit cities the Gentiles (non-Israelites) once inhabited—whether ones they had conquered and taken over, or ones conquered and emptied by other nations/Empires (such as Assyria and Babylon, later other conquerors).
Those embarrassed by infertility will no longer bear that sorrow (whether they feel It only in themselves, or whether others make them to feel that way). The House of Israel will no longer feel the shame of being abandoned by God for her sins. In fact, all those who have felt the shame of youthful mistakes will no longer have to blush over them (remember Isa 1:18, though their sins be as scarlet, they shall be whitened). God will call Israel, and every sinner, back as a loving, forgiving husband. God may cast us off for a time (or, it may feel that way, but He is always willing to show mercy when we come to ourselves and return our hearts to Him), but He will embrace us once again. Things that seem as immovable as the mountains or hills would relocate before God would separate us from His kindness and the promises/covenants He has made.
“O thou afflicted, tossed with tempest, and not comforted, . . .” God will adorn your lives as a home made beautiful with precious stones. “And all thy children shall be taught of the Lord; and great shall be the peace of thy children. In righteousness shalt thou be established: thou shalt be far from oppression; for thou shalt not fear: and from terror; for it shall not come near thee.” Whether the nation of Israel or a woman suffering through a troubled life, God will eventually cause the children/posterity to be taught about Him, wherein they will find peace. Israel, and the woman saved by God, will be settled in righteousness and no longer be oppressed or in fear/terror from those who would torment them. Such is the great hope held out, not only for Israel, but for all who are abused.
People will gather against God’s chosen, but not by Him. Whoever conspires against His chosen will He cause to fall. God creates His own tools to destroy, and all those who think they can create the means to destroy His chosen will be condemned by His chosen. This seems a promise God made to Isaiah, and all His servants: you will be able to put in their places all those who try to destroy you. “This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their righteousness is of me, saith the Lord.”
Isa 55—Oh, every soul that thirsts or hungers, come to the waters . . .
“Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread? and your labour for that which satisfieth not? hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness.”
This is yet another chapter that is a beautiful and poetic entreaty to come to God to find the abundant life: come access precious refreshment for your spiritual hunger and thirst, for free! Why spend money for things that won’t satisfy? Listen and attend to me to find what is good in life. In a time and place where starvation is a reality, fatness is a sign of richness of life.
The Lord again uses King David as an example of a righteous leader, and the covenant God has made with Israel. Allies they never knew will come running to join with them because of the Lord.
“Seek ye the Lord while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near,” the Lord invites the wicked to repent and return to Him, with the promise of forgiveness.
“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord.” While humans may hold grudges, the Lord is above all that. He uses the simile of rain and snow falling and watering the earth and the seeds of the sower, feeding the hungry. (compare Matt 5:45) Instead of weeds, trees will grow--as a sign of God’s everlasting promise.
“For ye shall go out with joy, and be led forth with peace: the mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands [for happiness].”
Isa 56—Those who are righteous and keep God’s commandments will have a place in His Kingdom
“Thus saith the Lord, Keep ye judgment, and do justice: for my salvation is near to come, and my righteousness to be revealed.”
The Lord mentions in particular keeping the Sabbath and not doing evil (respecting God and fellow beings) in order to be blessed. No matter if a person is a foreigner (non-Israelite) or a eunuch (a servant prevented from fathering children, which was so important to people of the past and many today), those who obey His covenant (most especially His Sabbaths) will live and be remembered forever in God’s house. They will be gathered to His Holy House (the Temple or His heavenly residence) and their offerings will be accepted. It seems apparent that the Lord through Isaiah was comforting specific people of Isaiah’s time (a/some foreigner(s), a/some eunuch(s)), but His promises are extended to all who come to Him at any time & place.
The Lord likens the people who should be watching over His people to watchdogs too lazy to rouse themselves and bark a warning of danger. They are greedy shepherds out for their own gain. They foolishly party on, thinking they can continue more and more without consequences.
Isa 57—Woe to those who follow wicked ways, peace to the humble & contrite who trust in Him
“The righteous perisheth, and no man layeth it to heart: and merciful men are taken away, none considering that the righteous is taken away from the evil to come,” that is, nobody cares when good people are lost. They don’t consider that God will protect them from the bad things to come.
But woe to the children of whores, adulterers, workers of sorcery/witchcraft/the black arts, who speak evil or mock the Righteous and worship idols, even to the killing/sacrificing of children. The Lord accuses them of adultery against Him in their idolatry. They have invited/enticed allies from near and far, high (eg the king) and low, and not trusted in the Lord. The Lord asks who made them afraid, so that they lied without taking it to heart. He let it go in the old days, but even their good behavior will not profit them. He leaves them to the protection of their false gods, while He will bless those who put their trust in Him, and they will inherit the Holy Land.
“For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones.”
God says that He will not forever be angry, or people would give up hope. He punished Israel for covetousness and pride. But He will heal Israel, comfort and restore him/her. Yet, “the wicked are like the troubled sea, when it cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt. There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked.”
It is apparent that God recognizes that children raised by the wicked become wicked (they most often live the lives they are accustomed to, the ironic inversion of the admonition to train up a child and he will not depart from his upbringing). Yet those that repent will be healed and forgiven.
Isa 58—Fasting and the Sabbath
“Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and shew my people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins. Yet they seek me daily, and delight to know my ways, as a nation that did righteousness, and forsook not the ordinance of their God: they ask of me the ordinances of justice; they take delight in approaching to God.” They make a show of being religious and caring about God and what He wants, but it’s a hollow pretense.
They say, Why should we fast? God takes no notice (we still suffer troubles).
God does take notice: He sees that while fasting you take your own pleasure, making others work. You use the fast day for strife and debate. You hit people with your wickedness. This is not the way to fast.
“Is it such a fast that I have chosen? a day for a man to afflict his soul? is it to bow down his head as a bulrush, and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him? [Make an outward show of fasting/sorrowing] wilt thou call this a fast, and an acceptable day to the Lord?”
“Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke? Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house? when thou seest the naked, that thou cover him; and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh?” Free the people from their heavy burdens (eg financial & physical overwork). Stop speaking foolishness. Have compassion on the poor and afflicted.
Here are the promises: health & vitality, a righteous rep, the Lord will have your back. When you call on the Lord, He’ll answer. Your career will rise and shine like the noonday sun. God will guide you constantly, and you will live a life of abundance. You will heal and repair the lands of your inheritance.
“If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord, honourable; and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words: Then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.”
Isa 59—It’s not God who is responsible for your troubles, but your own bad choices.
“Behold, the Lord’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear: But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear.”
You’ve got blood on your hands, lies on your lips, perversity on your tongue, mischief on your mind, the Lord complains. The Lord likens them to spiders and snakes (conventions of evil conniving). But they can’t weave a web to hide/clothe their wickedness.
Nobody calls for Justice. They stay in the dark, away from the light. They grope in the dark like blind men or zombies. They know nothing of peace. They roar like angry bears, and coo like mournful doves.
Cross reference verse 17 with Eph 6:11-24, the whole armor of God. God will come with His recompense to everyone who is an enemy to Him. The Lord will raise His flag that it be seen from the west to the east. He will come as a Redeemer of those who turn away from their transgressions. The Lord promises that His covenant, His Spirit will remain with His servant (who speaks His word) and the descendants of His servant forever.
Isa 60—Arise, shine (compare Handel’s “Messiah”)
“Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee. For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the Lord shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee.”
So many peoples/nations will come to the aid of Israel that Israel will be awestruck. They will bring back the dispersed/diaspora, as well as wealth to Israel. Allies will come to rebuild Israel. Even former enemies/antagonists will acknowledge Israel’s right to rule, that Jerusalem is “The Zion of the Holy One of Israel.” Those nations that are against Israel will perish/be destroyed. Though Israel has been hated, God will make her “an eternal excellency, a joy of many generations.” Then Israel will know that the Lord, the Holy One of Israel is Israel’s Savior and Redeemer. Israel will be prospered and will be freed from war. The light of the sun & moon will be darkened by the light, the glory of Israel’s God. Mourning will end. The people of Israel will be righteous. They will inherit the land forever, and though a small nation, it will be powerful. The Lord will bring it to pass in His time.
Isa 61—The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me: Messianic words
1 The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me; because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound;
2 To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn;
3 To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he might be glorified.
When Jesus read these words in his hometown, Nazareth’s, synagogue, and said that he was the embodiment of this prophecy, an incident ensued where he was about to be thrown over a cliff. See Luke 4:16-30. It was a Messianic message, which some would interpret in a political way: the day of vengeance of God must surely be the freeing of Israel/the Jews from all foreign rule. That’s what they were looking for. But Jesus spoke of freeing people from spiritual bondage and mourning. One might extend the meaning of these verses to those captive/imprisoned to sins/addictions, debt, and human cruelty & greed.
The Lord through Isaiah promises that the land of Israel will be healed and repaired. That foreigners will be their servants (perhaps “employees”, in today’s terms). The remnant of Israel, known to us as the Jews, will be considered the teachers about God (which the Bible became, Judeo-Christian values became the saviors of civilization). Israel will be nourished by the riches of the Gentiles (non-Jews). Israel's shame/embarrassment/dishonor will be replaced by twice the honor & everlasting joy.
The Lord says that He loves judgement (Justice), hates robbery (especially as an hypocritical/ironic offering). He will see that His people do His work in honesty, and He will make an eternal covenant/promise with them. Israel’s posterity will be acknowledged as the Lord’s chosen/blessed.
Isaiah then rejoices in the Lord and His goodness to him, and that He will cause righteousness to spring up as buds and a garden.
Isa 62—For Zion’s sake will I not hold my peace
“I have set watchmen upon thy walls, O Jerusalem, which shall never hold their peace day nor night: ye that make mention of the Lord, keep not silence, And give him no rest, till he establish, and till he make Jerusalem a praise in the earth.” The watchmen are the prophets, who will keep preaching, teaching, reaching out, for Israel’s sake, until the people are known for their righteousness. The land of Israel will no longer be called forsaken of the Lord. The land will be like a jewel, a crown, like a bride in whom the husband rejoices. The Lord promises that then the products of the land and the labor of the people will no longer be consumed by Israel’s enemies. Metaphorically a highway will be built for the return of the posterity of Israel, as if signaled to rally ‘round a flag (a standard is a banner or flag). Isaiah prophesies to the end of this world, that Israel’s Salvation/Redeemer is coming to reward those on the Lord’s side, “the holy people.”
Isa 63—the Lord will come clothed in red, it will be a day of vengeance
“I have trodden the winepress alone; and of the people there was none with me: for I will tread them in mine anger, and trample them in my fury; and their blood shall be sprinkled upon my garments, and I will stain all my raiment.”
Since there was no one to join Him, the Lord Himself will bring vengeance in His anger on the wicked and powerful.
7 ¶ I will mention the lovingkindnesses of the Lord, and the praises of the Lord, according to all that the Lord hath bestowed on us, and the great goodness toward the house of Israel, which he hath bestowed on them according to his mercies, and according to the multitude of his lovingkindnesses.
8 For he said, Surely they are my people, children that will not lie: so he was their Saviour.
9 In all their affliction he was afflicted, and the angel of his presence saved them: in his love and in his pity he redeemed them; and he bare them, and carried them all the days of old.
10 ¶ But they rebelled, and vexed his holy Spirit: therefore he was turned to be their enemy, and he fought against them.
Yet where is the God of the Exodus from Egypt? Look down from Heaven with mercy. Even though Abraham and Jacob/Israel passed away (died) before they could know us, the Lord is still our Father, our Redeemer. Isaiah asks why the Lord has made the people err and harden their hearts against reverencing Him. I have previously discussed whether it is the Lord that hardens our hearts , or we ourselves. It was the way of speaking that the ancients had in acknowledging God’s omnipotence. Nothing happens without His permission. But the Old Testament testifies constantly that we can and do choose what we do and become. Otherwise, why would the Lord plead for us to do right, keep the covenants He has made with us, and turn away from evil? Isaiah pleads with the Lord to return the land of Israel to the people of Israel. Those who have taken it away were never His people.
Isa 64--Isaiah’s lament: If only God, you would come!
“Oh that thou wouldest rend [rip open] the heavens, that thou wouldest come down, that the mountains might flow down at thy presence . . .” The description of destruction that follows can be somewhat unnerving to contemplate (things melting and boiling from fire) in real life, especially if it was worldwide. We expect the old earth to pass away and a new heaven & earth to follow (see Isa 65:17) . . . we hope we’ll be caught up to meet the Lord before that. But another way to look at this would be a more localized (or at least not a global) event or chain of events, perhaps like a volcanic or meteoric event. In either case, the nations would be trembling in fear. Those destructions can do away with evil nations. Compare that to the following . . .
“For since the beginning of the world men have not heard, nor perceived by the ear, neither hath the eye seen, O God, beside thee, what he hath prepared for him that waiteth for him. Thou meetest him that rejoiceth and worketh righteousness, those that remember thee in thy ways: behold, thou art wroth [angry]; for we have sinned: in those is continuance, and we shall be saved.” In other words, though the Lord is angry when we behave wickedly, yet when we turn to Him, we will be saved. That is what is implied here.
“But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away. And there is none that calleth upon thy name, that stirreth up himself to take hold of thee: for thou hast hid thy face from us, and hast consumed us, because of our iniquities.” Perhaps a bit of hyperbole, but the point is that none of us is without sin, or the need for Grace/Pardon.
“But now, O Lord, thou art our father; we are the clay, and thou our potter; and we all are the work of thy hand. Be not wroth [angry] very sore [greatly], O Lord, neither remember iniquity for ever: behold, see, we beseech thee, we are all thy people.” While a pot doesn’t have a choice in what It becomes, we do. We may choose iniquity or not. In the context of all God has said about choosing who we serve, the behaviors and attitudes we choose to indulge in, and that we should repent and return to Him, we can’t believe that what Isaiah is saying here is that we have no free will. We are just pleading that God will have mercy on us in our human characteristics and fallibility, because those are God-given. God has not made us infallible or perfect, in His purpose and Plan. Believing that God is the ultimate Good, we have to trust that He has good reason for doing what He does. So often we “learn by the things [we] suffer.”
Isaiah implores the Lord to see the destruction that has made His land/cities desolate/wilderness, the holy house/Temple burned, with the implication of healing them, having mercy on them/His people. He pleads for an end to the afflictions with a question posed in both the positive and the negative—Will You have mercy on us, or will You continue to afflict us so horribly?
Isa 65—God has spread His hands wide constantly while His people refuse His help, yet God foretells a Millennial future happiness
“I have spread out my hands all the day unto a rebellious people, which walketh in a way that was not good, after their own thoughts . . .” Ironically, the Lord is sought by those who were not His people (v. 1, that is, the Gentiles), while His people turn away from Him. He describes their idolatrous worship and their smug attitude of being holier than God. Their posture and behaviors are as obnoxious as smoke in the nostrils all day long. The Lord will serve them right for their and their fathers’ iniquities.
As the old saying goes, Don’t destroy a cluster of grapes because it will be a blessing (will be made wine, which blesses the house), so the Lord will not destroy all. He will save some: His land, and His “elect [chosen] shall inherit it and [those who serve Him] shall dwell there.” Sheep shall there safely graze (comp Zeph 3:13 “they will graze peacefully like sheep”).
The Lord then returns to His accusations against those that forsake Him. He will allow them to be slaughtered, “because when I called, ye did not answer; when I spake, ye did not hear; but did evil before mine eyes, and did choose that wherein I delighted not.”
God will take care of His servants, while those who rejected Him will go hungry. His servants will be joyous, and those who don’t serve Him will be ashamed, cry with sorrowful hearts, howl in misery. Israel will be cursed, and His servants called by another name. But the troubled times of the past will be forgotten (even by God), and people will bless themselves and swear by the God of Truth.
“For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth: and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind.” God will make Jerusalem a cause of Joy, “and the voice of weeping shall be no more heard in her, nor the voice of crying.” No more will an infant only a few days old die. A man will live to be 100 years old (but a 100 year old sinner will be accursed). People will build and enjoy the fruits of their labor, no one will take them away: “and mine elect shall long enjoy the work of their hands.” The Lord will be quick to answer their prayers, even before they ask and while they are yet speaking.
“The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, and the lion shall eat straw like the bullock: and dust shall be the serpent’s meat. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain, saith the Lord.”
Isa 66—The Lord wants contrite spirits who reverence His word. He will recompense the wicked. A new Israel will be born, A New Heaven and Earth will be brought forth
“Thus saith the Lord, The heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool: where is the house that ye build unto me? and where is the place of my rest? For all those things hath mine hand made, and all those things have been, saith the Lord: but to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word.” (Compare Ps 34:18, Ps 51:17, Matt 5:3) In other words, the Lord reigns in Heaven: how pathetic compared to that is a house built for Him by humans. What does humankind have to offer Him? This is what He looks for and appreciates: those with a poor/humble and contrite spirit, who reverence His word.
The Lord lists a group of things considered abominable, and they are those who choose their own ways instead of His. He will leave them to their own delusions & fears, because when He called none of them answered. When He spoke they didn’t hear. They did evil and chose things that God didn’t like.
The Lord encourages those who give heed to His word, and are hated by their brethren/cast out for God’s sake. The Lord will be glorified, and fulfill His words, while the wicked will be ashamed. (comp Matt 5:11-12). The voice of the Lord speaks from His Temple, and He brings recompense on His enemies. Meanwhile He uses the metaphor of a woman giving birth to describe the future birth of His nation, coming before even the pains thereof. He poses the rhetorical question of whether He would bring on the birth pangs and not let the birth happen. “Rejoice ye with Jerusalem, and be glad with her, all ye that love her: rejoice for joy with her, all ye that mourn [at present] for her . . .” The Lord continues the theme with the newborn suckling and the joy all feel at the birth. The Lord promises “peace . . . like a river.”
The Lord consoles those that care for Zion that He will retaliate against those who have been against His servants and His Laws. He will consider not only their behavior, but their thoughts. (comp Prov 23:7, Matt 5:27-28). The Lord says He will gather people from all nations and send those that escape His anger to tell the Gentile nations of God’s glory/power. They will bring scattered Israel back to Jerusalem, who will make an acceptable offering to the Lord (and choose new priests). In this new Heaven and earth everyone will worship God. (The last verse is a yucky ending for those that have transgressed against God).
Isaiah–part 3, chapters 36-50
Isa 36—39 Hezekiah chapters; comp 2 Kings 18-20 & 2 Chron 32
“Now it came to pass in the fourteenth year of king Hezekiah, that Sennacherib king of Assyria came up against all the defenced cities of Judah, and took them.”
The Assyrian army is at the gates of Jerusalem. The Assyrian commander calls out to warn/threaten Hezekiah. Hezekiah’s cabinet officers tell him to speak his own language, rather than the Jewish language, but he wants all Hezekiah’s people to hear his words, weaken their resolve. He says, Don’t rely on Egypt for help, nor on your God. Egypt is worthlessly weak/broken, and it’s your God that has sent me against you. Have any of the gods of other nations saved them? We’ll give you 2000 horses if you can find that many riders. He tells Hezekiah’s forces that if they come and make a deal with the Assyrians they can go home and enjoy their own lands until they are taken away captive to live in a land just like their own, with plenty of resources.
About Rabshakeh, the Assyrian commander:
https://www.gotquestions.org/Rabshakeh-in-the-Bible.html
Hezekiah rips his clothes in signification of his alarm/trepidation, and goes in sackcloth to the Temple. He sends for Isaiah. He hopes that the Lord will be incensed at the blasphemous words of the Assyrian commander and come to Judah’s aid. Isaiah says, Don’t worry about him. I’ll send trouble to Assyria, and their armies will go home. The Assyrian king will be killed in his own land.
Rumors of trouble reach the Assyrian commander, and he leaves with his army, sending a threatening letter to Hezekiah, reminding him of the cruel devastation of Assyrian conquest, and that none of the gods of the other nations saved them from Assyria. Hezekiah puts the letter before the Lord in the Temple and prays for his people. He says, Yes, Assyria has wiped out all the nations with their gods, but they were handmade gods. Lord, save us, so “all the kingdoms of the earth may know that thou art the LORD, even thou only.” Isaiah replies to the Assyrian threat, and tells those left of the House of Israel that the Assyrians will not be a threat to them any longer: God will protect them. For 2 years they’ll eat volunteer crops, then plant in the 3rd year, and they will be prospered. The Lord wipes out the Assyrian army besieging Jerusalem overnight (185,000). King Sennacherib of Assyria goes back to Nineveh, and is assassinated by his sons as he worships his god.
While the Assyrians were still a threat, Hezekiah becomes deadly ill with a boil. Isaiah comes to tell him to put his house in order for his death. Hezekiah turns to God & pleads for his life. The Lord sends Isaiah back to Hezekiah answering that he will live yet another 15 years. Isaiah has them make a plaster of figs to put on Hezekiah’s boil. As a sign of His promise, the Lord causes the shadow on the sundial (king Ahaz had installed in Jerusalem) to go back 10 degrees. Hezekiah writes a poetic thanks to God.
Hezekiah is feeling blessed, feeling good. When the Babylonian king sends an ambassador to congratulate him on his recovery of health, Hezekiah shows off all he has. Isaiah tells him that was a foolish thing to do, and prophesies of the Babylonian captivity. Hezekiah accepts the Lord’s decision but is grateful it isn’t to happen until after he is gone.
Isa 40—one of the most beautiful chapters of the Bible, and part of the text for Handel’s “Messiah”:
“Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God. Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned”
“The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low: and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain: And the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.”
“O Zion, that bringest good tidings, get thee up into the high mountain; O Jerusalem, that bringest good tidings, lift up thy voice with strength; lift it up, be not afraid; say unto the cities of Judah, Behold your God!”
“He shall feed his flock like a shepherd: he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young.”
The whole chapter is so great! And here is just one of God’s promises, “But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.”
Isa 41—God promises His help to the House of Israel, He is their Redeemer; God calls Abraham His friend.
Verses 1-7 are challenging as written in the King James Version. They make more sense when going back to the Hebrew. God addresses the Isles/lands, inviting them to come together to testify, to seek judgment. God righteously called the conqueror from the East (Assyria) and gave him power to pound the nations into dust. From the beginning God has been in charge, first and last. The conquered lands saw this and trembled with fear, but they help and encourage one another, “Be strong!” (Alternatively, the conqueror from the east might be Babylon, that would overthrow the Assyrian Empire) See
https://biblehub.com/isaiah/41-1.htm and links for following verses.
Verses 15-19 use an agricultural motif to reassure the people of Israel that He will hear their cries for help, bring water to the dry land and reforest the wilderness. Verses 21-29 are a challenge for anyone to show that they knew ahead of time what was going to happen.
Highlights of Isa 41: the Lord calls Abraham His friend, He reminds the descendants of Jacob/Israel that He has chosen them and will not cast them off, and tells them, “Don’t be afraid!”
8 But thou, Israel, art my servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, the seed of Abraham my friend.
9 Thou whom I have taken from the ends of the earth, and called thee from the chief men thereof, and said unto thee, Thou art my servant; I have chosen thee, and not cast thee away.
10 ¶ Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness. [comp Joshua 1:9, etc]
13 For I the Lord thy God will hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, Fear not; I will help thee.
Isa 42—God’s promise to Isaiah, His servant
In this chapter God alternately speaks positively, and negatively.
God promises to uphold His servant, whom He has chosen (elected), and in whom He delights. He has put His spirit on His servant to teach righteous judgment to the Gentiles (non-Israelites/non-Jews). His servant will not have to yell to be heard. He won’t have to be tough to bring out the truth. He won’t fail or be discouraged. The lands (see link for Isa 41:1) will await to hear him teach the law of the Lord.
God speaks directly to Isaiah, “Thus saith God the Lord, he that created the heavens, and stretched them out; he that spread forth the earth, and that which cometh out of it; he that giveth breath unto the people upon it, and spirit to them that walk therein: I the Lord have called thee in righteousness, and will hold thine hand, and will keep thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles; To open the blind eyes, to bring out the prisoners from the prison, and them that sit in darkness out of the prison house.” Comp Matt 4:16 and Luke 4:16-19.
God tells Isaiah that what he has spoken before (through him) is now happening. God will tell Isaiah more to come before they happen. God has put up with bad behavior for a long time, but now He is going to cry out like a woman in childbirth. He will destroy the land of His people. Those who trusted in idols will be ashamed. He asks rhetorically, Who is blind, that is my servant? (In other words, God’s servants are not blind or deaf.) The Lord is pleased with the righteous, and will make His law great and honored. But His people have been despoiled and robbed, imprisoned and trapped by Him because of their sins, their refusal to walk in God’s ways and obey His law. And still, His people have not taken the consequences of their behavior to heart.
10 Sing unto the Lord a new song, and his praise from the end of the earth, ye that go down to the sea, and all that is therein; the isles, and the inhabitants thereof.
11 Let the wilderness and the cities thereof lift up their voice, the villages that Kedar doth inhabit: let the inhabitants of the rock sing, let them shout from the top of the mountains.]
12 Let them give glory unto the Lord, and declare his praise in the islands.
16 And I will bring the blind by a way that they knew not; I will lead them in paths that they have not known: I will make darkness light before them, and crooked things straight. These things will I do unto them, and not forsake them.
Isa 43—Jacob is (his descendants are) to be redeemed
God promises that He will be with the Children of Israel as they must wade through deep waters, or walk through fire, that they will not be drowned nor burned. He saved them at the price of Egypt, Ethiopia, and Sheba in their history. The Children of Israel were precious to Him, He loved them, and will pay the price of other nations for their sake in future. He will gather them from the east, the west, the north, and the south. He will bring them back from the ends of the earth—all those that were called by God’s name (His people), for He created them for His glory. Let everyone from every nation come together, and who of them could predict or believe any of this? But by these prophesies you can know God’s servant whom He has chosen, and that there was never any God before Him, nor any after Him. God says, “I, even I, am the Lord; and beside me there is no saviour . . . and there is none that can deliver out of my hand: I will work, and who shall let it?” In other words, when God does something, no one can undo it.
God has taken down Assyria via the Babylonians and the Chaldeans. The Assyrian Empire is extinguished and will not rise again. You can forget the past, He says, I will renew your land. And yet, you don’t call on Me. You are weary/tired of Me. You don’t bring me offerings. I blotted out your transgressions, and will not remember your sins [recall Isa 1:18]. But your leaders and teachers have misled and mis-taught you. Thus I pronounce the priests, heirs of the Temple duties, profaned, and Jacob/Israel cursed and reproached.
Isa 44—God is the only real God, the rise and shepherding of Cyrus is foretold
This chapter begins with poetic parallelisms: Jacob = Israel, and Jacob = Jesurun. Made = formed. “Chosen” is repeated in both verses 1 & 2. Verse 3: pouring water on the thirsty = flooding dry ground. Pouring out His spirit on Jacob’s seed = blessing his offspring. And so it continues. One says he is the Lord’s = another calls himself by the name of Jacob (who was chosen by God to father the chosen people). One signs his name, so to speak, “the Lord’s”, and gives himself the surname of Israel/Jacob (who was chosen).
The Lord sets out a rhetorical challenge for anyone to claim having chosen Israel from days of old and prophesied of things to come. Don’t fear = don’t be afraid. Haven’t I said so? You know I have. “Is there a God beside me? yea, there is no God; I know not any.” That is, there is no other God than the Lord. All these idols made by human hands are worthless, and those that make them will be ashamed/embarrassed at their folly. Isaiah uses figures of speech from forging and carpentry (both used in making idols). The same wood that is used for heat, and cooking is used to make an idol that people worship, and with what irony the worshipper calls on this idol to deliver him! No one seems to see the ridiculousness of it.
Then the Lord calls on the Israelites to remember Him, for He certainly will not forget them. God has wiped out their transgressions and sins, paid the price for them (as someone would pay for damages in a legal suit . . . anciently that would be buying one out of slavery imposed for malfeasance). He calls on the earth itself to sing out for joy in the goodness of God in redeeming the Israelites. God is the Creator of all. He makes liars of those who profess the power to divine the future. God will establish the validity of His servants/prophets that Judah and Jerusalem will once again be inhabited and built up again. God is powerful enough to command the ocean and rivers to dry up. He will raise up Cyrus (of Persia) as a shepherd to His people, who will command the rebuilding of Jerusalem and the Temple.
Isa 45—the Lord speaks to Cyrus, God’s anointed future ruler of Persia, reiterates that He alone is God
God will be behind the rise of Cyrus, for the sake of the Israelites, despite Cyrus not knowing Who is behind his success. “I am the Lord, and there is none else, there is no God beside me,” God proclaims. While the 10 commandments forbid worshipping other gods before Him, He is making clear that there aren’t any other gods beside Him. Those who deny God are as ludicrous as a pot or a piece of clay asking the potter what he’s doing/making, or claiming the potter has no hands. Can a person deny he has parents? In so many words God takes credit for Cyrus’ ascendancy. He foretells that Cyrus will let the captive Israelites return, rebuild the city, without any “payoff”. God will give Cyrus the labor of Egypt, the trade goods of Ethiopia, and Sabean soldiers: they will all acknowledge God’s power behind him. Idol makers (and worshippers) will be ashamed. God is the only God, He has been clear about that. He is Just/Righteous and offers Salvation. Eventually everyone will have to acknowledge who God is, and the right of His servants. “Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else.”
Isa 46—to the House of Jacob: I have always been your God and taken care of you; I AM the only God
Poor animals had to carry the heavy idols of Bel and Nebo, yet those idols not only couldn’t deliver their worshippers, they themselves were taken captive.
Listen to me, o House of Israel! From the womb to old age/the grave I [God] will take care of you. Who do you think is my equal? People spend gold and silver to hire an idol maker. They set up the idol and worship it, call on it for help. But the idol can’t answer nor save its worshipper. “Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me, Declaring [prophesying] the end [outcome] from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure . . . I have spoken it, I will also bring it to pass; I have purposed it, I will also do it,” God promises.
Isa 47—prophesy of the future of Babylon
The Lord prophesies the inglorious end of Babylon. Instead of honor, Babylon/Chaldea will be considered as a woman demeaned by poverty and the necessity of prostituting herself. God says He used Babylon to punish His people for polluting their inheritance, and Babylon thought she would be a lady forever, never a widow, nor lose her children. But both these will occur in a day, because of her sorceries and enchantments. Babylon trusted in wickedness, and thought she could keep it a secret. But her downfall is coming, and she doesn’t know from where. Go ahead and try your enchantments and sorceries, if you think they will help you prevail. Let all your astrologers just try to save you, God says. They won’t be able to save themselves from the flame, nor your merchants that brought you to power through trade. They will desert you.
Isa 48—to the House of Jacob, from God, who is first & last the only true God, who will save Israel
You say you are the Holy City, and trust in God. From days of old have come the prophesies, as well as what would be soon to occur, because I [God] knew you were stubborn. I showed you what would happen far in advance, lest you would say your idol did it. I showed you new things lest you would say you already knew them. You have been a treacherous traitor to me in both.
But I’m going to put off being angry with you or destroying you. Your troubles will be a refining fire. I’m not doing it for your sake, but for Mine: so My name will be recognized and glorified. I am the Creator and the Cause/Person in Charge. Come together and listen—the Lord loves those who tell His truths. Isaiah testifies that it is God (by His Spirit) that has called him, sent him, and given him his errand, truths to tell. God will bring all he has spoken to pass. Israel will return from Babylon with joy and singing that the Lord has redeemed him, as when He brought Israel out of Egypt. And yet, “There is no peace, saith the Lord, unto the wicked.”
17 Thus saith the Lord, thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel; I am the Lord thy God which teacheth thee to profit, which leadeth thee by the way that thou shouldest go.18 O that thou hadst hearkened to my commandments! then had thy peace been as a river, and thy righteousness as the waves of the sea:19 Thy seed also had been as the sand, and the offspring of thy bowels like the gravel thereof; his name should not have been cut off nor destroyed from before me.
Isa 49—Isaiah was called as a prophet to Israel & to the world from his mother’s womb
Isaiah bids the people of the earth to realize that from his mother’s womb he was called to be a prophet, speaking as sharply as a sword, and as “on target” as an arrow. The Lord cares for him as a warrior would keep his weapons.
In discouragement Isaiah says he has labored in vain, and used up his strength for nothing. In other words, he feels like his work is uselessly unsuccessful. And yet God knows he has tried. But then the Lord comforts him, in that though Israel won’t be gathered in his time, the Lord offers him strength and honor. It’s nothing for him to serve Israel, for he will also be a light to the Gentiles and all the world.
But then the Lord promises the gathering of Israel. “Sing, O heavens; and be joyful, O earth; and break forth into singing, O mountains: for the Lord hath comforted his people, and will have mercy upon his afflicted.” Though Zion (God’s people) feel forsaken and forgotten, God would never forget her. As unlikely as it is for a woman to forget her infant, or to not love her child, yet they might forget--God will never forget. It’s as if Israel is written on His hands and walls—they are continually before Him.
When Israel is gathered she will wonder where all her children came from (since they were all destroyed & scattered). The kings and queens of the earth will bring them . . . “and thou shalt know that I am the Lord: for they shall not be ashamed that wait for me.” The Lord asks rhetorically if the prey can be taken from the strong, or the captives delivered. The Lord will deliver them, He will save them. He will give their oppressors their own medicine, “and all flesh shall know that I the Lord am thy Saviour and thy Redeemer, the mighty One of Jacob.”
Isa 50—our own sins divorce us from God; God has the back of Isaiah/His people
The Lord asks, Where are your mother’s divorce papers? To whom have I sold you?, referring to the culture of the times when a man could divorce a woman and sell her children into slavery if he was unhappy with her (especially for adultery). But instead of the Lord selling them or divorcing their mother, the Israelites have sold themselves into slavery for their wickedness, and such have divorced their mother from God, so to speak. (Wickedness is slavery, see John 8:34; Rom 6:18-23)
Where was everyone when I came, and no one answered my call? the Lord asks. Do you think I can’t save/redeem you? The Lord then gives examples of His power.
Isaiah credits the Lord with his speaking and writing abilities. He says it’s the Lord that keeps waking him, giving him the words to say. Yet Isaiah was willing to listen, and to do the Lord’s bidding. He has put up with abuse, because he knows the Lord is backing him. Who wants to have a face-off with Isaiah? Bring them on! The Lord will help him, and no one can put him down. Anyone who fears the Lord and obeys the voice of His servants will not walk in darkness without a light. Let him trust in the Lord, and put his affairs in His hands. Those who think they can light their own path can walk in the sparks they kindle, but they will lie down in sorrow.
Isaiah–part 1
https://www.biblestudytools.com/isaiah/ for background, summary, NIV version of the Book of Isaiah
“The vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.”
Isa 1—the Lord’s complaint & plea
“Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth: for the Lord hath spoken, I have nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against me.”
The language of this chapter, like much of Isaiah’s writing, is so striking that it begs to be read in full. I will try here to summarize without destroying it.
Isaiah invokes images from parenting, husbandry, healthcare, history (Sodom & Gomorrah), textiles, harlotry, metallurgical refining. He references the oaks & gardens wherein they have committed idolatry. Some of my favorite verses:
“Why should ye be stricken any more? . . . [Why keep suffering? What’s the point of your religious observances? Don’t bother me with them, I’m sick of them, I won’t pay any attention to them.] . . .
16 ¶ Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes; cease to do evil;
17 Learn to do well; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge [bring justice to] the fatherless, plead for the widow.
18 Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet [think in terms of the stain caused by red Jello], they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.
19 If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land:
20 But if ye refuse and rebel, ye shall be devoured with the sword: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.
23 Thy princes are rebellious, and companions of thieves: every one loveth gifts [bribes], and followeth after rewards: they judge not the fatherless [don’t bring justice to the orphaned], neither doth the cause of the widow come unto them.
26 And I will restore thy judges as at the first, and thy counsellors as at the beginning: afterward thou shalt be called, The city of righteousness, the faithful city.
27 Zion shall be redeemed with judgment [Justice], and her converts with righteousness.
Isa 2—about Judah & Jerusalem, the future mountain of Lord’s house vs current wickedness & pride
2 And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it.
3 And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. [Note how Judeo-Christian teachings & morality have spread from the Jews to the world.]
4 And he [God] shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more. [They will stop spending their resources on war and destructive doings, and turn them to positive, productive pursuits.]
5 O house of Jacob, come ye, and let us walk in the light of the Lord.
The Lord has withdrawn His help & blessings from the descendants of Jacob/Israel because they seek fulfillment in the false philosophies, pretenders to prophecy, and partnering with pagan nations. Israel is wealthy and full of expensive vehicles. They worship their own works. They are arrogant. But they will be humbled and seek to hide from the Lord and his judgments. A description & message for US today. “For the day of the Lord of hosts shall be upon every one that is proud and lofty, and upon every one that is lifted up; and he shall be brought low . . . In that day a man shall cast his idols of silver, and his idols of gold, which they made each one for himself to worship, to the moles and to the bats; To go into the clefts of the rocks, and into the tops of the ragged rocks, for fear of the Lord, and for the glory of his majesty, when he ariseth to shake terribly the earth.” Quit relying on human means, for of what use are they?
3—The Lord has withdrawn His help because of the oppressions in Jerusalem & Judah
This chapter is another beautifully expressed word of the Lord. I will try to summarize it, but I hope all will read it as it is in the Bible.
The Lord takes away the stores of food and water that a besieged city would rely on, as well as the leaders, both military and civil. Instead, they’ll be ruled by the young and/or inept without wisdom. The people will oppress (take advantage of) one another. The traditional order of society will be upended. Then relatives will come to the most solidly based of their kin and try to get them/him to take the leadership role, but he/they refuse that responsibility because it would be such a heavy burden. In many cultures a tribal leader is responsible for the well-being of the tribe/extended family in every way—see that they have food, financial support, safety, etc. “For Jerusalem is ruined, and Judah is fallen: because their tongue and their doings are against the Lord, to provoke the eyes of his glory.”
Instead of men taking responsible, leadership roles (in the family, in the nation), “children are their oppressors, and women rule over them. O my people, they which lead thee cause thee to err, and destroy the way of thy paths.” Sounds like the nightly news in our nation today!
The Lord pleads (Heb. contends) and judges the people: the elders (traditional leaders of a certain standing and age) and those born to leadership roles, instead of caring for the welfare of the people, have taken advantage of the poor and powerless for their own benefit. “What mean ye that ye beat my people to pieces, and grind the faces of the poor? saith the Lord God of hosts.”
Additionally, women are haughty, walking that certain provocative walk in their showy apparel. The day will come that their hair (a symbol of beauty) will be replaced with sores, and their private parts will also be affected (not all translations include that last part, see https://biblehub.com/isaiah/3-17.htm ). All their fancy dress, jewelry, and perfumes will be taken away, and their beauty will be replaced with mere lust.
The men of Judah & Jerusalem will fall in battle, and Judah/Jerusalem will be left emotionally as well as physically desolate.
Isa 4—those left after the war will become righteous, and the Lord will protect them
Because of the shortage of men (killed in war), 7 women will offer to be self-supporting, if they can just have the name (come under the social protection/standing) of one man. Those that escape the terrible consequences of war will prosper, and the land healed. Those that are left will turn their lives to holiness (living righteous lives). The Lord will have cleansed the wicked from His people. Isaiah refers back to the time of the Exodus when the Lord led and defended Israel with a cloud by day and fire by night. The Tabernacle was symbolic of a shelter from intense weather (troubles).
5—A song of the vineyard, Woe to the wicked, & captivity comes through lack of knowledge of the Lord
1 Now will I sing to my wellbeloved a song of my beloved touching his vineyard. My wellbeloved hath a vineyard in a very fruitful hill:
2 And he fenced 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 made a winepress therein: and he looked that it should bring forth grapes, and it brought forth wild grapes.
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?
7 For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah his pleasant plant: and he looked for judgment, but behold oppression; for righteousness, but behold a cry.
Consequentially, the vineyard is to be destroyed. Isaiah pronounces woe to those who monopolize real estate: their lands will be unproductive. Woe to partiers who spend their days drunk, feasting to the tune of music (only the wealthy could afford to have musicians at their parties), ignoring the Lord. Hell will gorge itself on the proud, the wealthy & powerful will be humbled. Woe to those who promote wickedness, and taunt Let the Lord show Himself and we’ll believe Him. “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!” Woe to those who think they are wise/prudent. Woe to those who corrupt justice for bribes. The Lord is angry, and letting them be destroyed like a wildfire in a field.
But the Lord promises that when Israel is cleansed and He is appreciated for his Justice and Holiness, Righteousness the wasted land will once again support flocks of sheep. The Lord will metaphorically raise a invitational banner and whistle (hiss) to the world (as a dog owner whistles for a pet to come), and the nations of the world will come quickly. Their transportation will be so rapid that people won’t have to sleep—indicating jet flight. The weapons he depicts might be symbols of modern warfare, described as best an ancient could portray a vision of the future, modern life: the speed, the noise, the smoke of battles.
This chapter is so beautifully written it’s a shame not to read it directly. Here’s one of many favorite verses: “Therefore my people are gone into captivity, because they have no knowledge: and their honourable men are famished, and their multitude dried up with thirst.” As Jesus said, the Truth makes us free. People are hungry and thirsting for Truth and Righteousness.
6—the year of King Uzziah’s death Isaiah sees a vision, and is called by the Lord, “Whom shall I send?”
In his vision, Isaiah sees the Lord in His heavenly Temple with symbolically winged seraphim/angels at His throne. Isaiah recognizes his own unworthiness, and that of his people. One of the seraphim symbolically refines him with a live coal from the fire on the sacrificial altar. He hears the Lord asking, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” and Isaiah volunteers himself. The Lord tells him to go tell the people that they hear but don’t understand, they see but don’t apprehend. Their hearts are fat (full of self-gratification, instead of lean and strong; the Hebrew means “calloused”), their ears deaf (Hebrew), their eyes closed. In other words, Isaiah’s teachings will be commonly known but people will quit listening to him. The way this is put is only a manner of speaking. It’s not Isaiah who will make their hearts calloused, and so forth, but the people themselves. The Lord is letting Isaiah know in advance that his contemporaries will ignore the truths he brings, rather than see, hear, understand in their hearts, and convert their lives to be healed (as individual souls and as a nation). This understanding and conversion won’t happen until after the nation is destroyed, the people carried away captive, and only a tenth of them return. (Note the change in the people under leadership of Ezra & Nehemiah).
See https://biblehub.com/isaiah/6-10.htm
Isa 7 Isaiah’s (the Lord’s) message to Ahaz when the kings of Israel & Syria threatened
“And it came to pass in the days of Ahaz the son of Jotham, the son of Uzziah, king of Judah, that Rezin the king of Syria, and Pekah the son of Remaliah, king of Israel, went up toward Jerusalem to war against it, but could not prevail against it.” (King Ahaz: 2 Kings 16:1-20, 2 Chron 28:1-27)
The kingdom of Judah is shaking with fear like windblown leaves. The Lord sends Isaiah and his son to King Ahaz to calm his fears. “Don’t worry about these two enemies who are plotting to set up a puppet king in your place. It’s not going to happen. And within 65 years the kingdom of Ephraim (the northern kingdom of Israel) will be wiped out. Just ask for a whatever sign you want to prove this is God talking.”
Ahaz won’t ask for a sign, in what appears an appreciation for God: “I will not ask, neither will I tempt the Lord.” But Isaiah’s reply sheds a different light on the heart of Ahaz. “Hear ye now, O house of David; Is it a small thing for you to weary men, but will ye weary my God also?” It’s bad enough to weary Isaiah, it’s worse to weary the Lord.
14 Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.
15 Butter and honey shall he eat, that he may know to refuse the evil, and choose the good.
16 For before the child shall know to refuse the evil, and choose the good, the land that thou abhorrest shall be forsaken of both her kings.
Verse 14 is quoted in the context of the Messiah, meaning Jesus Christ. There can be more than one fulfillment of a prophecy. But the following verses seem clear that this is a prophecy of the coming Assyrian conquest (see v. 17). In this case I don’t think the virgin birth means a miraculous conception, only that the young woman was a virgin before conceiving, that is, it’s her firstborn child.
I think a better word for “hiss” would be “whistle”, as a dog owner whistles for his pet to come (see v. 18). The Lord will summon Egypt (symbolized by a fly, harking back to the Exodus experience—the flood cycle of the Nile as well as the wet conditions of the delta no doubt bred flies), and likewise He will summon Assyria (symbolized by a bee). The Assyrian conquest is likened to a man being shaved entirely (Assyria the razor) . . . which would be seen not only as utter conquest, but also as a great shaming (remember the case of King David’s emissaries who were disrespected by shaving). The Lord through Isaiah speaks of a man with a cow and two sheep (a poor farmer) with plenty of milk, eating butter & honey (symbols of plenty). In other words, the wealthy will be killed and carried away, leaving the poor to prosper. The huge vineyards will be destroyed and will be full of weeds. Those that are left in the land after the invasion (armies with bows & arrows) will dig out the weedy brush (briers & thorns) to pasture their animals on the hills. A mattock being a digging tool.
Isa 8—Isaiah has two scribes write his testimony & prophecies; alliance with God vs nations
The Lord instructs Isaiah to get a large scroll and write. So he gets two good men to record the Lord’s words, Uriah the priest and Zechariah. Isaiah fathers a child with a prophetess (perhaps alluding to the virgin in the preceding chapter). Before the child learns to speak, both Damascus (the Syrian capital) and Samaria (the northern Israelite capital) will be conquered by Assyria. The conquest is likened to a flooding river, alluding to Assyria of Mesopotamia . . . a land between the Tigris & Euphrates. Assyria will reach even to the neck of Judah, the gates of Jerusalem. Like a bird of prey glides on huge wings, so Assyria will overshadow the land.
The alliances the nations try to forge to protect themselves from the Assyrian conquest will be broken up. Only God can save His people. The Lord powerfully impresses upon Isaiah that he should not go along with all those who say Judah should ally itself with other nations. Rather, Judah should turn to God as their Savior. Don’t be afraid of conquering armies, instead “fear” the Lord. For those who listen and turn to Him, He will be a sanctuary. Unfortunately, for the preponderance of both Israel & Judah, He is a stone to stumble over and to be affronted by. (Note Isaiah’s poetic parallelism in the stone and the rock). To the majority of the people of Jerusalem God is like a trap in which they are snared. It’s both a sorrow and a warning to us today, that they were faithless & foolish, and let us not be so.
Like the binding up of a scroll so it doesn’t unroll, so let the testimony of God and His law be bound in the hearts of those who study God’s law and follow it/Him. Isaiah promises he will look to the Lord and wait for Him as a defense, while the rest of the descendants of Jacob can’t see Him at work. Isaiah and his children symbolize what God is up to. When people say, Get advice from various soothsayers, shouldn’t people go to God for advice, and for the living to hear from the dead? The dead “speak” to us through the scriptures: the Law and the Testimony. Anyone who says differently is not enlightened.
Isaiah prophesies of the coming troubles, people wandering hungry and angry at their king and their God. Truly dark days. See https://biblehub.com/isaiah/8-21.htm (scroll to the bottom for the Hebrew & translation).
Isa 9—Ahaz is king of Judah, Pekah king of Israel, Rezin king of Syria, and Philistines invaded—see 2 Kings 16:1-20 and 2 Chron 28:1-27)
This is a difficult chapter with problematic verses. We can only take what we can from it, and trust that at some point we will come to understand. Verse 1 refers to trouble brought to northern Israel by Ben-Hadad of Syria (1 kings 15:20), and then Tiglath-Pileser of Assyria (2 Kings 15:29). Whether it means the coming afflictions will be worse (not so lightly vexed as before), or whether that darkness will be dispelled is hard to tell. It is apparent that scholars have wrestled with verse 3 as well. But the verses that follow offer hope for the future. For commentary and translation help see
https://biblehub.com/isaiah/9-1.htm verse 1
https://biblehub.com/isaiah/9-3.htm verse 3
https://biblehub.com/isaiah/9-4.htm verse 4
https://biblehub.com/isaiah/9-5.htm verse 5
Consider these pairings in light of the Hebrew poetic device of chiasmus
v 1 dimness, affliction (war)
v 19 land is darkened through wrath of the Lord
v 2-3 light shines & joy
v 6-7 promise of Hope—a Messiah
v 5 battles heretofore are full of confusion, noise, garments rolled in blood, but in future burning/fire
v 18-19 wickedness burns like fire, people as fuel for fire
vs 20-21 the afflictions of war
Between those verses:
Verses 8-12 Israel thinks to rebuild, but the Syrians on one side, the Philistines on the other will devour them/their resources
Verses 13-17 people refuse to repent, so the Lord will not have mercy on them
Taken as a whole, it seems to me that the message of this chapter is that though Israel had been afflicted before, it will be even worse now. The Lord speaks of the pride, the refusal to repent, the lying leaders, the hypocrisy, the evil doings, the foolish wisdom of Israel. Manasseh & Ephraim (Manasseh east of the Jordan River & Sea of Galilee, Ephraim on the west side, both belonging to the Israelite kingdom) against Judah. See Isa 7 and following.
Favorite verses:
6 For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.
7 Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.
16 For the leaders of this people cause them to err; and they that are led of them are destroyed.
17 Therefore the Lord shall have no joy in their young men, neither shall have mercy on their fatherless and widows: for every one is an hypocrite and an evildoer, and every mouth speaketh folly. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still.
Isa 10—woe to unrighteous (who will you turn to?), and Assyria’s pride & punishment
Woe to those lawmakers that write grievous laws. “To turn aside the needy from judgment, and to take away the right from the poor of my people, that widows may be their prey, and that they may rob the fatherless!” Who are you going to turn to for help when troubles come? (i.e. war, particularly the Assyrian invasion) Where will you hide your wealth/treasures?
The Lord will send Assyria as a punitive rod against Israel, an hypocritical nation. Of course, Assyria thinks it’s through his own might and wisdom that he conquers all these nations. He compares the cities and gods he has already conquered to those he intends likewise to crush. But when the Lord is done with punishing His people and surrounding nations, he will punish the pride of Assyria.
13 For he saith, By the strength of my hand I have done it, and by my wisdom; for I am prudent: and I have removed the bounds of the people [changed the national boundaries], and have robbed their treasures, and I have put down the inhabitants like a valiant man:
14 And my hand hath found as a nest the riches of the people: and as one gathereth eggs that are left, have I gathered all the earth; and there was none that moved the wing [as a hen would try to protect her offspring], or opened the mouth, or peeped.
15 Shall the axe boast itself against him that heweth therewith? or shall the saw magnify itself against him that shaketh [uses] it? as if the rod should shake itself against them that lift it up, or as if the staff should lift up itself, as if it were no wood. [as if a tool boasts in itself, rather than recognizing that it is nothing without the person using it]
After Assyria has been punished, a remnant of Israel (the House of Jacob), those that have escaped Assyria (perhaps by fleeing to Jerusalem) will quit relying on their enemy, and rely instead on “the Lord, the Holy One of Israel” with integrity. Remember that it was a king of Israel that invited Assyria into his foreign policy. Although Israel was numerous before its conquest, there will yet be a remnant that will return.
The Lord enjoins Jerusalem (Zion) not to be afraid of Assyria. He refers to when the Children of Israel were oppressed by Egypt but the Lord broke that yoke off them, and the victory the Lord gave Gideon against the Midianites. There’s a list of the cities Assyria has conquered, but he’ll be stopped at Nob, shaking his fist (threatening) Jerusalem. Then the Lord will cut him down like a forest is clear cut.
The Books of Micah & Joel
Micah was a contemporary of Isaiah. Joel’s lifetime is uncertain, and there are various opinions about when he lived, but his message sounds very much like Isaiah to me, and his mention of the scattering and gathering of Israel & Judah makes it seem likely that he lived in that time period. Joel’s name means “Yahweh/the Lord is God”. It is said that Joel was an accomplished writer, which indicates that he was an educated man, like Isaiah. (The Twelve Minor Prophets translated from Hebrew with commentary by Ebenezer Henderson, pp 90-91 https://archive.org/details/bookoftwelvemino1845hend )
Micah 1
The word of the Lord that came to Micah the Morasthite in the days of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, which he saw concerning Samaria and Jerusalem.
Micah directs his prophecy to everyone, all the world. The Lord God has His eye on what’s going on. When He comes to the earth the mountains will melt like wax and flow down like water. Though this chapter speaks about the sins of Israel & Judah, it’s a caution to everyone everywhere that God is powerful and knows what’s happening, implying that you can’t get away with wickedness.
Micah accuses the 2 capitals of Israel and Judah, Samaria & Jerusalem, for being idolatrous, and in the Lord’s name, prophesies the consequences: the destruction of them and their idols, people & places of idolatrous worship. Micah speaks of his mourning for the two nations, making wailing and mournful sounds like dragons & owls (literally jackals and ostriches, because their vocalizations sound sorrowful). The kingdom of Judah will be injured incurably as Assyria comes even to the gate of Jerusalem. About the mournful noise, see https://biblehub.com/commentaries/micah/1-8.htm
Micah names cities/towns in the Philistine plain, making wordplay of their names. Assyria would conquer towns all around Jerusalem, including these.
Gath—well-known Philistine city (from which Goliath came)
Aphrah—unknown city, meaning of the name is “house of dust”, symbol of destruction
Saphir—“fair”, a village in a mountainous area
Zaanan—“to go forth”, verbal word play on an unknown place
Beth-ezel—“adjoining house”, unknown place; see https://bibleatlas.org/beth-ezel.htm
Maroth—“bitterness”, or “grief”, not far from Jerusalem “mentioned in connection with the invasion of the Assyrian army” https://www.biblestudytools.com/dictionary/maroth/
Lachish—an ancient Canaanite, then Israelite, city in the lowlands of Judea
Zion—can refer to the city of Jerusalem, or the land of Judah, or the whole nation of Israel. https://www.gotquestions.org/Zion.html
Moresheth-gath—“possession of Gath”, Micah’s home https://bibleatlas.org/moresheth-gath.htm
Achzib—“falsehood” or “disappointment”, one of 2 places see https://www.biblestudytools.com/encyclopedias/isbe/achzib.html
Mareshah—“crest of a hill”, city of lowland Judah, fortified by Rehoboam to protect Jerusalem https://www.biblegateway.com/resources/encyclopedia-of-the-bible/Mareshah
Adullam—“justice of the people”, https://www.biblestudy.org/meaning-names/adullam.html
Cutting of the hair would be another symbol of mourning.
Micah 2
1 Woe to them that devise iniquity, and work evil upon their beds! when the morning is light, they practise it, because it is in the power of their hand.
2 And they covet fields, and take them by violence; and houses, and take them away: so they oppress a man and his house, even a man and his heritage.
The picture is of a wealthy, powerful person making plans, even before getting up in the morning, finding ways to defraud others of their fields and homes, their inherited properties. Remember that in the Law of Moses (the Law of God given through Moses) family & tribal land inheritances were carefully protected and honored. The Lord promises to recompense them for their attitude & behavior. They will lament their situation when the Lord takes away what they have taken. They tell people (like Micah) not to prophesy against them, but how will that change what the Lord does? (In Amos we are told that the Lord always warns of what He will do ahead of time, yet people don’t want to hear that.)
An interesting, perhaps more understandable, reworking of this chapter is https://biblehub.com/bsb/micah/2.htm
Micah 3
Micah rhetorically asks the leaders of the House of Israel if they shouldn’t recognize what is right, then he uses some really graphic metaphors for those who “hate the good, and love the evil”—that is, they oppress the people. As a result, he says, the Lord will not hear their cries in their time of trouble.
He decries the (false) prophets that lead the people astray, calling for Peace, while warring against God. Those prophets will lose their vision, and their minds will be darkened. They will be embarrassed because God will not answer them.
Meanwhile, Micah says the Lord has empowered him to tell the transgressions of the House of Israel. He speaks to the leaders of that House “that abhor judgment, and pervert all [justice]”. The leaders, priests, teachers, and prophets work for bribes. Yet they then ironically boast that nothing bad can happen to them because the Lord is with them. Consequently, Zion/Jerusalem will be plowed under, heaped upon with disaster.
Micah 4—a positive promise for the future of the House of Israel
1 But in the last days it shall come to pass, that the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be established in the top of the mountains, and it shall be exalted above the hills; and people shall flow unto it. [Jerusalem is built on hills, Judah is a hill country.]
2 And many nations shall come, and say, Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, and to the house of the God of Jacob [the Temple]; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for the law shall go forth of Zion, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
3 ¶ And he shall judge among many people, and rebuke strong nations afar off; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up a sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.
4 But they shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig tree; and none shall make them afraid: for the mouth of the Lord of hosts hath spoken it.
5 For all people will walk every one in the name of his god, and we will walk in the name of the Lord our God for ever and ever.
6 In that day, saith the Lord, will I assemble her that halteth [stops or walks haltingly], and I will gather her that is driven out, and her that I have afflicted [that is, Zion/the House of Israel];
7 And I will make her that halted a remnant, and her that was cast far off a strong nation: and the Lord shall reign over them in mount Zion from henceforth, even for ever.
In that future time Israel will be ruled again from the strengthened Jerusalem. Right now Israel is in pain, but out of that pain (in Mesopotamia), Israel will be born again, redeemed/bought from her enemies. Right now Israel is being defiled by many nations. But they don’t know God’s plan: they will be like harvested grains threshed/thrashed in preparation for the mill/grinding. He continues that metaphor, comparing Israel/Jerusalem to an ox that would be used to trample the grain in order to separate the grain from the stalks (many people/nations of the earth).
Micah 5—promised future of the remnant of the House of Israel
Don’t be discouraged if this chapter is hard to understand. We aren’t living in those times, so some references will be obscure. It’s not always clear in this chapter who is the subject, who is the object of the prophecy. Ponder, pray for inspiration, get what you can from this chapter, and trust at some point it will all become clear—either in this life or the next. The following might be helpful:
https://biblehub.com/micah/5-1.htm
Though the then present Jerusalem must gather its troops for the siege, in future a ruler would come forth from Bethlehem (the birthplace of King David, thus this would be a descendant of his, a rightful heir of the kingdom). It seems as though God has given up on Israel until that time. As a woman suffers in birth, yet this rule will be the birth of the redeemed, the return of the children of Israel.
The timeframe of this prophecy was when Assyria was the great foe. Israel is promised that one day they will conquer invading Assyrians (now Iraq, and parts of Iran, Kuwait, Syria & Turkey), and other Gentile nations. These nations to this day wish to destroy/wipe out Israel. Though the children of Israel will be scattered among many nations, the Lord promises that one day their enemies’ instruments of and resources for war, as well as the soothsayers, idols, and groves (places where idols were worshipped) will be destroyed from those nations.
My favorite verses:
2 But thou, Beth-lehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting. [NT reference to Jesus Christ]
4 ¶ And he shall stand and feed in the strength of the Lord, in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God; and they shall abide: for now shall he be great unto the ends of the earth.
Micah 6
The Lord calls for the earth to hear his complaint against Israel. He invites Israel to answer how He has mistreated them. He reminds them of His hand in the Exodus . . . Micah says, What good are sacrifices and burnt offerings, no matter how impressive? Here’s what the Lord wants:
8 He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?
The Lord speaks as the rod (punishment), and those that are wise will recognize His voice. The wicked still have abominations in their houses. No matter how small, they can’t be considered pure unless they are measured with corrupted scales. The rich get their riches through violence, and lies, and deceit.
So the Lord (the rod of punishment) will make you pay with being smitten, and the consequences of your sins will be desolation. You’ll find no satisfaction in your efforts, which the Lord will overthrow. You follow the follies of Omri and Ahab (two well-known wicked, idolatrous kings of Israel), and for that you will be destroyed and despised.
Micah 7—although Israel will suffer for its wickedness, yet someday God will pardon and bless
1 Woe is me! for I am as when they have gathered the summer fruits, as the grapegleanings of the vintage: there is no cluster to eat: my soul desired the firstripe fruit.
2 The good man is perished out of the earth: and there is none upright among men: they all lie in wait for blood; they hunt every man his brother with a net.
You can hear the depths of Micah’s mourning! He feels like a man looking forward to the grape harvest and there is nothing there. There’s nobody good left. Everyone is watching for the chance to profit from the losses of even their own kin. They are into it with both hands. The Leaders and the Judges all expect bribes. The powerful says what he wants and it’s handed to him in gift-wrapping. Even the best of them is like a thorny-bush. But the day will come when they’ll have to pay the piper.
You can’t trust a friend or a mentor, nor your own wife. Sons defraud their fathers, daughters are against their mothers . . . “a man’s enemies are the men of his own house.”
Micah says the only one he can trust is God: “Therefore I will look unto the Lord; I will wait for the God of my salvation: my God will hear me.” Don’t gloat over me when I fall, because I’ll rise again: “when I sit in darkness, the Lord shall be a light unto me.” I’ve made mistakes, and will bear God’s displeasure, until He comes to my help like a righteous judge. Then those who said, “Where is the Lord thy God?” (that is, Why isn’t this God you have so much faith in helping you?) will have their faces covered in mud. (Micah puts this in terms of a woman, so that one could wonder if his wife said such words to him. And the consequences are not merely to have mud in the face, but to be trampled into it). In the day of judgment, building plans will be vacated. The Assyrians will come and make the land desolate as a result of the wickedness of the people.
Despite the punishments, one day the Lord will miraculously save Israel as He did when He brought them out of bondage in Egypt. Nations will be amazed, left speechless and afraid. They will crawl like worms, slither away like snakes.
18 Who is a God like unto thee, that pardoneth iniquity, and passeth by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage? he retaineth not his anger for ever, because he delighteth in mercy.
19 He will turn again, he will have compassion upon us; he will subdue our iniquities; and thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea.
20 Thou wilt perform the truth to Jacob, and the mercy to Abraham, which thou hast sworn unto our fathers from the days of old.
Joel 1—a vivid picture of the destruction of the land
Listen, old men. Neither you nor your fathers have seen anything like this. You’ll be telling it to your children, who will tell their children, and the story will be passed down another generation. Joel then describes the destruction of the land in vivid word pictures:
Like insects, what one destroyer leaves, another comes along to destroy. Partiers are left to weep for the loss of their wine. A nation like a fiercely toothed lion is come. The vineyards are made bare, the bark stripped from the fig tree. Mourn like a young widow. The priests mourn for the loss of their job (offering sacrifices in the Temple). The land mourns for the fields laid waste, the grain gone, the wine stores dried up, the [olive] oil gone. The farmers are ashamed of their poor wheat and barley harvest, the workers in the vineyards howl [for lack or work]. The grape vines are dried up, the fig trees weakened (or neglected), the pomegranate, the palm, the apple, and the rest are withered, “because joy is withered away from the sons of men.” It seems none have enthusiasm for their work/agriculture—perhaps it seems hopeless/worthless.
“Sanctify ye a fast, call a solemn assembly, gather the elders and all the inhabitants of the land into the house of the Lord your God, and cry unto the Lord . . .” because the day of judgment has come. There’s no joy in Temple worship. Seeds rot in the fields, barns are empty and broken down because the grain is withered. The farm animals groan and are confused, the sheep are desolate [perhaps uncared for]. Fire has consumed the cultivated fields, all the orchards, and the unfenced pasturelands. The rivers are dried up.
Compare:
Joel 1:15 to Isa 13:6—the day of the Lord is at hand
Joel 2—three parts: utter destruction from an invading army; plea for repentance; God’s merciful deliverance and blessings if the people repent
Joel describes the terror of the imminent invasion: trumpets sound the alarm, everyone is trembling in fear. It’s a dark day when the powerful army comes, such as never was nor ever will be for generations. A place that was like the Garden of Eden will be scorched earth, a desolate wilderness. None will escape. Like the noise of an all-consuming fire, like horses and chariots on the mountain tops will they come. They’ll run like mighty warriors, climb the walls of the cities, march forward without breaking ranks. Like an army of tanks and trucks, the ground will quake at the coming of their armies. Smoke from the fires will darken the sun, moon, and stars. The Lord brings this army in judgment on the House of Israel for their sins.
But (the Lord through Micah pleads), turn to the Lord “with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning: And rend your heart, and not your [clothes, as in a sign of distress or mourning], and turn unto the Lord your God: for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repenteth him of the evil [that is, will change your fate]. Who knoweth if he will return and repent, and leave a blessing behind him; [bring] a meat offering and a drink offering unto the Lord your God?” Blow a trumpet [poetic parallel, for the trumpet now is not in sounding the alarm for war, but . . . ] calling everyone to a fast, a solemn gathering, a sanctifying. Gather everyone, even the nursing baby and the bride & bridegroom (from their wedding or honeymoon). Let the priests weep and plead for the people: (Oh, God,) don’t give excuse for their enemies to reproach them with “Where is your God?”
Then the Lord will take pity on His people. He will prosper you. He will take away your embarrassments among the non-believers. He will drive away the invader/destroyer (in this case Assyria). You won’t have to fear, you’ll rejoice and be glad “for the Lord will do great things” for you. Domesticated animals and plants won’t have to fear destruction and neglect either. The Lord will send rain in season and moderation. The stores of food will be full and overflowing. The Lord will make up for the years of pestilence.
26 And ye shall eat in plenty, and be satisfied, and praise the name of the Lord your God, that hath dealt wondrously with you: and my people shall never be ashamed.
27 And ye shall know that I am in the midst of Israel, and that I am the Lord your God, and none else: and my people shall never be ashamed.
28 ¶ And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions:
29 And also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out my spirit.
30 And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke.
31 The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the Lord come.
32 And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be delivered: for in mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, as the Lord hath said, and in the remnant whom the Lord shall call.
Compare:
Joel 2:28 to Isa 32:15 & Isa 44:3—outpouring of God’s Spirit
Joel 2:28-32 is quoted by Peter on the day of Pentecost, Acts 2:17-21
Joel 3—promises for the return of the Jews, and their conquest of their enemies
When the Lord brings the Jews back from captivity there is to be a showdown in the valley of Jehoshaphat (next to Jerusalem; see https://bibleatlas.org/valley_of_jehoshaphat.htm ). They had scattered the House of Israel among the nations. They had sold the boys into prostitution (note verse 6 mention of Grecians), and sold the girls for the price of wine. The Lord calls out Tyre & Sidon, and all the neighbors of Palestine for pillaging the gold & silver from Judah to adorn the temples of their idols. The Lord promises to return their actions upon their own heads. The Jews will sell their children to the Sabeans afar off. They are called to war, such that they remake their tools of agriculture into tools of warfare. They must prepare their psyches for war. Poetically, war is likened to a harvest. The valley becomes the valley of decision (who will come off victorious). It appears the fires of war will darken the skies, blotting out the sun, moon, and stars. The Lord will roar from Zion/Jerusalem, shake the heavens & earth, and give hope and strength to His people, the children of Israel. Then Israel will know the Lord dwells/abides with them in Zion, His holy mountain. Jerusalem will then be holy, without foreigners.
About the Sabeans, see
https://biblehub.com/topical/s/sabeans.htm
https://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/12969-sabeans
The mountains are spoken of as dropping down new wine, indicating vineyards, and the hills flowing with milk, indicating lactating herds. A fountain/stream will water a dry wadi from the Temple mount. Egypt and Edom will be desolate for their “violence against the children of Judah, because they have shed innocent blood in their land.” Judah & Jerusalem will abide from generation to generation, and the Lord will cleanse them [possibly cleansing their blood means they will become pure-blooded, vs mixed race . . . as Moses had commanded the people not to marry with non-believers, idol worshippers of the time, who would turn their hearts away from God].
Various ideas about “the valley of Shittim”:
https://biblehub.com/commentaries/joel/3-18.htm
https://jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/13593-shittim
Compare:
Joel 3:10 to Isaiah 2:4 and Micah 4:3—plowshares to swords vs swords to plowshares
Joel 3:15 to Amos 5:18, 20 and Isa 13:10—the day of the Lord will be dark (also Joel 2:2, 10, 31)
Joel 3:16 to Amos 1:2—the Lord will roar
Joel 3:18 to Amos 9:13—mountains dripping with wine
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