Ezek 1—vision of heaven, or God’s control center It’s the 31st year (of what? Possibly Ezekiel’s life), 5th year of the captivity of the Jewish king Jehoichin. Ezekiel is among the captives settled by the river Chebar. Ezekiel is a priest (tribe of Levi). https://biblehub.com/ezekiel/1-1.htm scroll down to the commentary regarding the year https://www.biblestudy.org/meaning-names/chebar.html about Chebar
Elements of the vision: 1. A whirlwind from the north, including a great cloud and a bright amber colored fire inside 2. 4 humanlike creatures come out of the fire, each has 4 faces and 4 wings; their feet like calves’ feet of burnished brass in color, their hands like humans. They move only straight forward. 3. The 4 faces of each: a man and a lion on the right, an ox and an eagle on the left. Each of the creatures is bright, apparently from the color of coals to that of a lamp, to lightning from one end to the other; the creatures move back and forth as a flash of lightning. 4. A wheel/ring or wheels/rings the color of beryl (principally emerald or aquamarine gemstones), one wheel inside the other (like a wheel hub?), with eyes all around, accompanying each creature whenever it moves. The spirit of each creature is in its wheels/rings. It seems the wheels/rings fold up when they go, like airplane wheels. 5. The sky is on their straight wings (the description sounds more and more like modern jets, the faces perhaps insignias, the eyes all around symbolic of guidance systems). When they move the noise is like great waters or a large army, like the voice of the Almighty in speaking. 6. Above the sky over the heads of the creatures is a throne the color of sapphire. A being in the image/likeness of a man is on the throne. This being is bright as an amber colored fire. This is all overarched by a rainbow. “This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord. And when I saw it, I fell upon my face, and I heard a voice of one that spake.”
Chapters 2-3 follow, the calling of Ezekiel to be a prophet, a watchman to warn Israel of the past, present, and future. See Ezekiel part 1, then parts 2 & 3.
Ezek 8-10 (compare Dan 7, Rev 4:7-9) Ezek 8—Ezekiel is shown the abominable idol worship the Israelites have imported “And it came to pass in the sixth year, in the sixth month, in the fifth day of the month, as I sat in mine house, and the elders of Judah sat before me, that the hand of the Lord God fell there upon me . . .” Ezekiel sees a man whose lower part appears fiery with an upper body of amber colored brightness. This man takes Ezekiel by a lock of hair with his hand and lifts him up between earth and heaven. He brings him to see the north gate of Jerusalem. Ezekiel sees the seat of the image that provoked God to jealousy, and he sees that the “glory of the God of Israel was there”, just like he had seen in his previous vision in the plain. Next this spirit/man (speaking in first person as God) has him look further to the north at the gate of the idolatrous altar, and the worshippers who commit abominations which offend God so that He leaves his sanctuary/Temple. Ezekiel is brought to the door of the court (of the Temple) where he sees a hole in the wall. He is told to dig in the wall, and sees a door. He is bid to go in and witness the abominations committed in the place. He sees idols in the form of all kinds of beasts and creeping things. There 70 ancient Temple workers, led by Jaazaniah, with incense censers/vessels a-smoking thinking they can get away with worshipping in the dark, as if the Lord couldn’t see them, as if the Lord had forsaken the earth. Ezekiel is shown even worse: at the northern gate of the Temple sit women weeping for Tammuz. Tammuz was a Mesopotamian (later Syrian & Phoenician) god associated with the seasons & fertility, whose worship involved mourning followed by “obscene revels”. https://biblehub.com/topical/t/tammuz.htm Even greater abominations are shown to Ezekiel. In the inner court of the Temple (“the Lord’s house”) are 25 men worshipping the sun in the east. “Then he said unto me, Hast thou seen this, O son of man? Is it a light thing to the house of Judah that they commit the abominations which they commit here? for they have filled the land with violence . . .” For all this the Lord is furious with the Israelites, and vows not to spare them, nor have pity when they cry out loudly to Him. He refuses to hear them.
Ezek 9—Six “men” go through the city killing all those who don’t care what the city has become The vision continues: 6 men who have charge over Jerusalem are called to come forward with their destroying weapons. One of these is clothed in linen and has a writer’s inkhorn with him. These 6 stand before the brass altar. The “glory of the God of Israel” leaves His angelic seat and comes before the 6 men. He calls to the linen-clad writer and tells him to go all through the city and set a mark on the foreheads for the men that sigh & cry over the abominations done in the city. The others are to follow him and kill everyone else (old & young, women & children), beginning at the Temple. Compare the Passover story. They are to defile the Temple by filling it with the bodies of the slain. While all this killing is going on, Ezekiel is left and falls on his face crying, Lord, will you kill all the remaining Israelites in your fury? He is answered: The iniquity of the Israelites is so horrible, and the land is full of blood, the city full of perversity (because they say the Lord has left the earth and doesn’t see anything going on here), I will have no pity on them. “I will recompense their way upon their head.” The man in linen reports that he has done as commanded.
Ezek 10—compare this vision to that in chapter 1 This is a very difficult chapter/vision, not unlike chapter 1. We might speculate, but we don’t really know what Ezekiel saw. Most probably we would have described it differently, but maybe not.
The elements of this chapter/vision: 1. In the sky above the head of the cherubims (angels?) is something like a sapphire-colored throne. See chapter 1. 2. The Being on this throne speaks to the man dressed in linen (of chapter 9): Go between the “wheels”, under the cherub, and fill your hand with the coals of fire from between the cherubims, and scatter them [the coals] over the city. Ezekiel sees the linen-clad being go in to do so, and after acquiring the coals comes out. See https://biblehub.com/ezekiel/10-2.htm “the wheelwork” might also be translated a whirlwind, which might be associated with the cloudy pillar as mentioned below. 3. The cherubims (angels? Apparatuses?) are on the right side of the house (presumably the Temple). When the man goes in, a cloud fills the inner court (compare the cloudy pillar that accompanied the Children of Israel in their Exodus from Egypt; this is symbolic of the presence of God). The glory/brightness of the Lord goes up from the cherub (winged creature or the seat of God in the Holy of Holies of the Temple) and was positioned above the threshold of the house/Temple. The entire Temple is filled with the cloud/the bright glory of the Lord. 4. The sound of the cherubims’ wings is heard in the outer court of the Temple, as loud or penetrating as the voice of Almighty God. 5. Under the cherubim’s wings is something in the form/shape of a human hand. Each of 4 cherubs/cherubim has an associated wheel. The wheels are the color of beryl (emerald or aquamarine). The 4 look alike, as if one wheel is inside another. They move “upon their four sides” (directions?); like those described in chapter 1, they go straight in whatever direction they are headed. Their whole bodies, backs, hands, wings, and wheels are full of eyes. Each has 4 faces: a cherub, a man, a lion, and an eagle (compare to chapter 1. A cherub instead of an ox). They are lifted up. 6. If the “creatures” (or apparatuses) of chapter 1 are jets, these sound as if they could be helicopters (maybe drones?). How would an ancient person living 5-600 years before Christ describe such things as modern jets and helicopters, that seemed to be animated by their own spirits? Their whirling blades hardly look solid; they might look similar to the color of a gem. They have mechanisms to grab or to drop things from their underbellies. The coals/embers of fire could refer to fuel/propulsion, but as it is dropped on the city, it could also represent modern bombs. Again, the eyes could symbolize their guidance/detection systems. They certainly cause a whirlwind of air. The question is, are these visions metaphors of the ancient destruction of Jerusalem, or a future destruction, or both? Are these creatures/cherubims strictly metaphoric, or did Ezekiel see tangible creatures/things? 7. The glory/brightness of the Lord leaves the door of the Temple, and overarches the cherubims, which mount/raise themselves up, and come to the east gate of the Temple.
Ezek 11—part of a vision described in Ezek 8-10, the wicked will be recompensed for their sins; the Lord promises to be with those who have been scattered, & gather them back to the land of Israel Ezekiel is taken by the Spirit to the east gate of the Temple and shown 25 men, including 2 particular princes of the people. He is told they are the ones devising mischief and giving wicked counsel to the city. The counsel of verse 3 is difficult to understand without more background than I have, so I refer in deference to the explanations given at the following link: https://biblehub.com/ezekiel/11-3.htm So Ezekiel is commanded to prophesy against these men: I, the Lord, know what you think. You have filled the streets of the city with the slain/killed. They are the flesh in the caldron (cooking pot). You think you are protected from the sword within the walls of the city (the caldron), but I will bring the sword of war into the city. I will bring you out of the city, where you will fall into the hands of your enemies to be killed, and you will know that I am the Lord. You have not kept the Law of Moses, but have gone after the practices of the heathen nations around you [and that’s why you are in this predicament]. When Ezekiel hears that one of the men he prophesied against has died, he falls face down and cries out with a loud voice, My God! Are you going to kill off all of Israel? But the Lord answers, The people of Jerusalem have said to all the rest of the House of Israel that I, the Lord, have given all the land of Israel to them, and I am only for them. But though the Israelites are scattered among other countries, “yet will I be to them as a little sanctuary in the countries where they shall come.” I, the Lord, will gather the Children of Israel from the countries where they have been scattered, and bring them back to the land of Israel. They will cleanse the land from the abominations of idols, while those who have served those abominable idols will be recompensed for their sins. Regarding those whom I will bring home to the land of Israel, “I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within you; and I will take the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them an heart of flesh: That they may walk in my statutes, and keep mine ordinances, and do them: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God.” The rest of the chapter is a bookend to the vision of chapters 8-10.
Ezek 37-39 (Valley of Dry Bones, Gog & Magog, comp Rev 20:7-10) Ezek 37—the vision of the Valley of Dry Bones, and 2 books that will come together Ezekiel is carried away in vision to a valley full of very dry old bones. The Lord asks him whether these bones could live. Ezekiel knows there’s more to the question than he can answer, and says God knows. The Lord tells Ezekiel to prophesy to the bones that God will cause them to breathe again and come to life. God will flesh them out, give them sinews and skin. Thus, they will know that He is the Lord (He is all-powerful and in charge). So Ezekiel prophesies as he has been told, and with noise and shaking the bones of the skeletons come together, gain sinews, flesh, and skin. The Lord tells Ezekiel to prophesy/command the winds (from the 4 directions) to breathe into the bodies the breath of life. All this is done, and they stand as an “exceeding great army.” The Lord explains that this resuscitated army represents the entire House of Israel, who consider themselves dried up old bones without hope. Then the Lord says, “Behold, O my people, I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel. And ye shall know that I am the Lord . . .” He will bring them back to their own land, and they will know that what the Lord says, He does. Metaphorically, the Israelites were buried in foreign lands, which seemed the death of them as a nation.
15 ¶ The word of the Lord came again unto me, saying, 16 Moreover, thou son of man, take thee one stick, and write upon it, For Judah, and for the children of Israel his companions: then take another stick, and write upon it, For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim, and for all the house of Israel his companions: 17 And join them one to another into one stick; and they shall become one in thine hand.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints considers these verses fulfilled, at least in part, by the Book of Mormon (written by descendants of Joseph) and the Bible (written by descendants of Judah) coming together as one witness for Jesus Christ. The Lord instructs Ezekiel to explain to any Israelites who ask the meaning that these represent bringing together the Children of Israel from the lands where they have been dispersed, back to their homeland where they will be one nation, rather than two as they have been. God will cleanse them from their sins, “so shall they be my people, and I will be their God.” A descendant of King David’s lineage will rule them, “and they all shall have one shepherd: they shall also walk in my judgments [do Justice, behave justly] , and observe my statutes [God’s Laws], and do them.” [compare John 10:16] The Lord promises Israel that they will live forever in the land He gave to their ancestor Jacob, and makes an everlasting covenant of peace with them. He will settle them, increase their population, and establish forever His Temple among them. When the heathen [non-believers] see the Lord establish His Temple among them, they will know that it is He who has made them holy. It seems apparent that this final gathering of Israel is not yet complete, with everlasting peace and a Temple. Of course, the peace He speaks of may be between Himself and them, or peace in their hearts despite adversity in their lives (see Luke 2:14 God grants His good will/disposition/inclination to men; and John 14:27 & John 16:33 God’s peace vs tribulations and troubles). When the Samaritan woman (a descendant of the people resettled in Israel after the Israelites were taken captive to Babylon) asked Jesus whether people should worship where the Samaritans had built a temple (which had been destroyed) on Mt Gerizim, or in the Temple at Jerusalem, Jesus replied that, rather than in a Temple built of stone, “a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth, for the Father is seeking such as these to worship Him.” For info about the Samaritan place of worship, see https://www.compellingtruth.org/Mount-Gerizim.html
Ezek 38-39—Gog of Magog, Meshech and Tubal: apparently some future time Gog is spoken of as being from the land of Magog, and the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal. It appears that he has as allies Persia (Iran), Ethiopia, and Libya, Gomer & Togarmah (northern nations). After the Israelites are gathered & returned to their land from being scattered, and are settled peacefully, this confederation of peoples will come against the nation of Israel, “Thou shalt ascend and come like a storm, thou shalt be like a cloud to cover the land, thou, and all thy bands, and many people with thee.” The thought of this invasion force is to “go up to the land of unwalled villages; I will go to them that are at rest, that dwell safely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates . . . take a spoil, and to take a prey; to turn thine hand upon the desolate places that are now inhabited, and upon the people that are gathered out of the nations, which have gotten cattle and goods, that dwell in the midst of the land.” Sheba, Dedan, and the traders of Tarshish question the intention of the confederation, this huge & mighty army, who descends upon Israel and cover it like a cloud. The Lord has foretold from ancient times (more ancient than Ezekiel), by His servants the prophets of Israel this invading force against Israel. Fear would infect all the inhabitants (even the animals) of the land. No doubt such a massive army would scare off the creatures of the earth, as well as the humans. But the Lord will unleash His fury, that the army will turn against itself (“every man’s sword shall be against his brother”), epidemics will rage, blood, flooding, hailstorms, fire & brimstone. Thus the Lord will be recognized/acknowledged by many nations. It sounds like only a sixth of the invaders will survive. Possibly this fire & brimstone could represent a volcanic eruption that not only rains down on the land of Magog, but on the carefree isles of the [prob Mediterranean] sea. (Ezek 39:6) For 7 years the Israelites have no need to gather fuel for their fires/heat/energy from their fields and forests, they will burn their enemy’s implements of war. The Israelites will spoil those that spoiled them, and rob those that robbed them. The stench will afflict all who pass by, so that the multitudes of Gog’s armies will be buried there. (Valley of Hamon-Gog means The Valley of the multitudes of Gog) It will take 7 months to bury them all. Any travelers seeing bones will set up a sign so that all may be buried, and cleanse the land of them. A city will rise from the burial. The Lord likens the destruction of the vast army as a sacrifice for the sake of the scavenging birds and animals. The miraculous salvation of Israel will show them that they can put their trust in God, and He will take care of them “from that day forward.” The unbelievers will realize that Israel went into captivity because the Lord turned from them as they had turned from Him. But now He will have mercy on them, and be watchful of them, attentive to them, in order to keep His name holy. After they have borne the shame for their iniquities, they will live in safety and without fear in their land. They will know that God led them into captivity, and then out of it. “Neither will I hide my face any more from them: for I have poured out my spirit upon the house of Israel, saith the Lord God.” https://biblehub.com/ezekiel/38-2.htm https://biblehub.com/commentaries/ezekiel/39-1.htm https://www.gotquestions.org/Meshech-and-Tubal.html https://biblehub.com/topical/h/hamon-gog.htm https://biblehub.com/dictionary/h/hamonah.htm
Ezek 40-48 vision of a future Temple in Israel, see Rev 21, 22:1-7 1 In the five and twentieth year of our captivity, in the beginning of the year, in the tenth day of the month, in the fourteenth year after that the city was smitten, in the selfsame day the hand of the Lord was upon me, and brought me thither. 2 In the visions of God brought he me into the land of Israel, and set me upon a very high mountain, by which was as the frame of a city on the south. Ezekiel sees a man measuring a City and its Temple in Israel. He is to share what he sees to the House of Israel, I suppose to reassure them that the Lord has future plans for them that are beyond what they might have imagined. One might compare the details of this future Temple to that of Solomon’s Temple (1 Kings 5-8), and the Tabernacle tent they carried with them in the wilderness for 40 years (Exodus 25-31, 35-40), and settled it in Gilgal, then Shiloh a couple hundred years, back to Gilgal, etc. See links below. http://www.biblefellowshipunion.co.uk/2008/Jan_Feb/JourTabr.htm history of the Tabernacle https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/the-first-temple-solomon-s-temple about Solomon’s Temple But it’s not my purpose to detail the city & Temple of Ezekiel’s vision. Perhaps at some point that will be important, but I think not at this point. For those interested, see https://biblehub.com/bsb/ezekiel/40.htm Ezekiel 40, scroll down for info about the chapter https://biblehub.com/bsb/ezekiel/41.htm chapter 41 . . . click to continue forward, if you want https://www.gotquestions.org/Ezekiel-temple.html a general discussion of this vision https://www.esv.org/resources/esv-global-study-bible/chart-26-temple-plan/ plan view drawing https://www.esv.org/about/ abour ESV https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/ezekiel/ Ezekiel from a Jewish perspective https://books.google.com/books/about/Messiah_s_Coming_Temple.html?id=6Y0yVMRxpHgC 1997 book about Ezekiel’s envisioned Temple
To conclude: Ezekiel's visions can be challenging to understand. Perhaps they will become more clear as they are fulfilled. But until then, let us take what we can understand from them and find meaning for them in our lives . . . That God has not abandoned the earth nor His people. He knows all that's going on, and everyone will be recompensed for their choices. He will help & protect those who choose Him, even through troubled times. Though the circumstances of the nation of Israel look hopeless, with enemies gathered against them round about, God will make them victorious. Our own nation is full of sin & wickedness, for which we will be recompensed, but God will save the nation for His sake, and for the sake of those who rely on Him.
Compare Jer 27 (Babylon will conquer all) “In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah came this word unto Jeremiah from the Lord . . .” Jeremiah is to put on yokes (used for carrying burdens, or for animals used in plowing) and fetters. He is to send them to the kings of Edom, Moab, Tyre, Zidon, and the Ammonites via the messengers they have sent to Zedekiah in Jerusalem, along with a message from God: I am the Creator of the earth and all the people and beasts upon it, and I give control of it to whomever I want. I have given all your lands and animals to Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon. All nations will serve him, and his son, and his grandson. When their time is up, other nations and kings will conquer Babylon. Any nation that refuses to serve Babylon will be killed by the sword (war), famine, and pestilence/disease. So don’t listen to your prophets, diviners, dreamers, enchanters, and sorcerers who say it won’t be so. They are prophesying lies to you. But those nations willing to be tributary to Babylon will be able to remain in their own lands.
Jer 22 Jeremiah is sent to the king of Judah, calling for repentance & pronouncing consequences 3 Thus saith the Lord; Execute ye judgment and righteousness, and deliver the spoiled out of the hand of the oppressor: and do no wrong, do no violence to the stranger, the fatherless, nor the widow, neither shed innocent blood in this place.
4 For if ye do this thing indeed, then shall there enter in by the gates of this house kings sitting upon the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses, he, and his servants, and his people.
5 But if ye will not hear these words, I swear by myself, saith the Lord, that this house shall become a desolation.
Though the king’s house is beautiful as Gilead (noted for healing balm) and Lebanon (noted for its cedars), it will become a wilderness and desolate. Passers by will ask one another, Why did God do this to this great city (Jerusalem)? The answer: “Because they have forsaken the covenant of the Lord their God, and worshipped other gods, and served them.”
The Lord says not to weep for those who were killed, but for those that were carried captive, who would never see their native land again. Then he references Shallum the son of Josiah, king of Judah “which reigned instead of Josiah his father, which went forth out of this place; He shall not return thither any more . . .” For a discussion of Shallum, see https://biblehub.com/commentaries/1_chronicles/3-15.htm , which references 1 Chron 3:15, four sons of king Josiah.
The Lord tells the king,
13 ¶ Woe unto him that buildeth his house by unrighteousness, and his chambers by wrong; that useth his neighbour’s service without wages, and giveth him not for his work;
14 That saith, I will build me a wide house and large chambers, and cutteth him out windows; and it is ceiled with cedar, and painted with vermilion.
15 Shalt thou reign, because thou closest thyself in cedar?...
17 But thine eyes and thine heart are not but for thy covetousness, and for to shed innocent blood, and for oppression, and for violence, to do it.
The Lord extols the virtues of king Josiah: “did not thy father eat and drink, and do judgment and justice, and then it was well with him? He judged the cause of the poor and needy; then it was well with him: was not this to know me? saith the Lord.”
Verses 18-19 & 24 specify Jehoiakim, who inherited his father Josiah’s throne. This once again calls into question who Shallum was. Could it have been another name for Jehoiakim? Could either this writer or the writer of 1 Chron 3:15 have confused the identities?
The Lord speaks again of Lebanon and its cedars in verses 20-23. The context seems to be idolatry committed there, as ancients used forested hills (“high places”) for idolatrous parties. Those false gods are often referred to as the lovers whom the wife (the Israelites) committed adultery with. The destruction of the land is often compared in simile or metaphor to the pains of childbirth.
Even if the king’s son was God’s signet ring, the symbol of His authority, he would still not save him from the disaster to come. The king will be given into the hands of his most feared enemy, Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, and his Chaldean warriors. He will be carried away captive, never to return to his birthplace. The king’s son Coniah is as despised as a broken idol or an unwanted piece of pottery. He and his children are to be cast out/taken away to die in a foreign land. The king and his son might as well be childless, as far as having heirs to the throne of Judah.
Jer 23 Woe to the pastors, the shepherds who should have cared for God’s flocks; yet God will gather and save them—the promise of a Messiah 1 Woe be unto the pastors that destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture! saith the Lord.
2 Therefore thus saith the Lord God of Israel against the pastors that feed my people; Ye have scattered my flock, and driven them away, and have not visited them: behold, I will visit upon you the evil of your doings, saith the Lord.
3 And I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all countries whither I have driven them, and will bring them again to their folds; and they shall be fruitful and increase.
4 And I will set up shepherds over them which shall feed them: and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, neither shall they be lacking, saith the Lord.
5 ¶ Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth.
6 In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely: and this is his name whereby he shall be called, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.
One day, instead of looking back at the Exodus as proof of the existence, power, and mercy of God, people will speak of the gathering of the house of Israel from the north, and from all the countries of the diaspora.
9 ¶ Mine heart within me is broken because of the prophets; all my bones shake; I am like a drunken man, and like a man whom wine hath overcome, because of the Lord, and because of the words of his holiness.
10 For the land is full of adulterers; for because of swearing the land mourneth; the pleasant places of the wilderness are dried up, and their course is evil, and their force is not right.
11 For both prophet and priest are profane; yea, in my house have I found their wickedness, saith the Lord.
The Lord through His prophet Jeremiah pronounces the consequences to the false prophets (particularly the prophets of Baal in Samaria) and religious leaders: they will fall as if walking on slippery paths in the dark. “I have seen also in the prophets of Jerusalem an horrible thing: they commit adultery, and walk in lies: they strengthen also the hands of evildoers, that none doth return from his wickedness: they are all of them unto me as Sodom, and the inhabitants thereof as Gomorrah.” They will be fed with bitterness. The Lord warns the people not to listen to these prophets who speak from their own heart/interest, not the word of the Lord. They reassure the wicked that they will have peace and nothing ill will come to them. But the anger of the Lord will fall on the wicked like a whirlwind, and His anger will not die down until His purposes are fulfilled. In the last days people will perfectly understand.
I, the Lord, did not send those prophets, yet they went; I did not speak to them, and yet they prophesied. If they had stood in God’s counsel, and caused the people to hear His words, they would have turned the people from their evil ways. He asks, Am I a God only in the present? “Can any hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him? saith the Lord. Do not I fill heaven and earth?”
The Lord rebukes the prophets that tell lies in His name, claiming to have dreamed dreams from the Lord. “. . . yea, they are prophets of the deceit of their own heart; Which think to cause my people to forget my name by their dreams which they tell every man to his neighbour, as their fathers have forgotten my name [replacing it] for Baal. The prophet that hath a dream [from God], let him tell a dream; and he that hath my word, let him speak my word faithfully. ” (Maybe this was the Lord's word to Jeremiah.) False prophets are as useless as chaff compared to the nutrition of kernels of wheat.
God’s word is like a purifying fire, like a hammer that breaks ore in pieces. He is against prophets that steal their neighbor’s words (Jeremiah’s words), and that say, “The burden of the Lord . . .[as if God had given them the words to say].” He is against those that prophesy false dreams, and in telling those dreams, “cause my people to err by their lies, and by their lightness; yet I sent them not, nor commanded them: therefore they shall not profit this people at all, saith the Lord.” The Lord warns these false prophets/priests/people from pretending to speak for Him, who have perverted “the words of the living God, of the Lord of hosts our God.” “I will bring an everlasting reproach upon you, and a perpetual shame, which shall not be forgotten.”
Jer 24 Jeremiah’s vision after Nebuchadrezzar took Jehoiakim’s son, princes, craftsmen captive Jeremiah’s vision from the Lord: 2 baskets of figs in front of the Temple—one of very good figs, the other inedible. The Jews carried captive to the land of the Chaldeans are symbolized by the good figs. “For I will set mine eyes upon them for good, and I will bring them again to this land: and I will build them, and not pull them down; and I will plant them, and not pluck them up. And I will give them an heart to know me, that I am the Lord: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God: for they shall return unto me with their whole heart.” The inedible figs are symbolic of Zedekiah and those left in Jerusalem/Judah, and those that go to Egypt. “And I will deliver them to be removed into all the kingdoms of the earth for their hurt, to be a reproach and a proverb, a taunt and a curse, in all places whither I shall drive them. And I will send the sword, the famine, and the pestilence, among them, till they be consumed from off the land that I gave unto them and to their fathers." We may be surprised by who the Lord considers the good figs and the bad figs; we may be surprised by what God tells/counsels us to do. What may seem like a disaster may be what God wants us to do (and we know what He asks turns out to be best), and what we think will save us from disaster may prove our foolish insistence that we know better than Him.
Jer 25 The Lord through Jeremiah about the people of Judah, 4th year of Jehoiakim, 70 yrs in Babylon Jeremiah tells all the people of Judah & Jerusalem: from the 13th year of king Josiah to this day (the 23rd year since) “I have spoken unto you, rising early and speaking; but ye have not hearkened.”
4 And the Lord hath sent unto you all his servants the prophets, rising early and sending them; but ye have not hearkened, nor inclined your ear to hear.
5 They said, Turn ye again now every one from his evil way, and from the evil of your doings, and dwell in the land that the Lord hath given unto you and to your fathers for ever and ever:
6 And go not after other gods to serve them, and to worship them, and provoke me not to anger with the works of your hands; and I will do you no hurt.
7 Yet ye have not hearkened unto me, saith the Lord; that ye might provoke me to anger with the works of your hands to your own hurt.
Because they have not listened, the Lord says He will bring “all the families of the north” and Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon (His servant—that is, he serves God’s purpose in this instance) against Judah and all the neighboring nations, and utterly destroy them. The joyous sounds of weddings, of grinding the harvest, and celebrations will no more be heard. The nations will serve the king of Babylon 70 years.
At the end of 70 years the king of Babylon, his nation, and the Chaldeans will be punished for their iniquities with perpetual desolations. “For many nations and great kings shall serve themselves of them also: and I will recompense them according to their deeds, and according to the works of their own hands.”
Jeremiah is to give the cup of destruction for the nations to drink: Jerusalem/Judah, Pharaoh/Egypt, the kings/people of Uz, the Philistines (including Azzah/Gaza, Ekron, Ashdod), Ashkelon (seaport just north of Gaza), Edom, Moab, the descendants of Ammon, Tyre & Sidon/Zidon, kings of Arabia including the city of Dedan, Tema (a city of the Ishmaelites), Buz (possibly people living near Edom), Zimri (possibly a city in the land inheritance of Simeon), Elam (land east of Babylonia), Medes (east of Babylonia), all the kings of the north (around Babylon), all the kingdoms of the [middle eastern] world, including “the kings of the isles which are beyond the sea”. And after all these have drunk from the cup of God’s wrath, Sheshach/Babylon will then be made to drink of it as well. All these will be destroyed in war. He says they will fall and rise no more, but He has promised that eventually the nation of Israel will return and rise again, so perhaps this is a hyperbolic, exclamatory punctuation to emphasize the seriousness of the situation, or refers only to the current kings of those nations. “And the slain of the Lord shall be at that day from one end of the earth even unto the other end of the earth: they shall not be lamented, neither gathered, nor buried; they shall be dung upon the ground.”
https://www.abarim-publications.com/Meaning/Sheshach.html
Jeremiah likens the Lord to a roaring lion, which brings fear to all who hear. He likens the kings of the earth to shepherds, who certainly would fear to hear the roar of a lion. The shepherds will have no way to flee, nor any way to save their flocks (people). The peaceful pastures/lands will be destroyed. Like a lion leaving his den the Lord will come out to wreak destruction on the corrupted nations of the earth.
Jer 30 God promises to bring Israel & Judah back to the land He promised to their Founding Fathers 1 The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying,
2 Thus speaketh the Lord God of Israel, saying, Write thee all the words that I have spoken unto thee in a book.
3 For, lo, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will bring again the captivity of my people Israel and Judah, saith the Lord: and I will cause them to return to the land that I gave to their fathers, and they shall possess it.
The Lord recognizes the fear in the hearts of His people. Interestingly, He asks rhetorically if men give birth, so why are the they acting like women in the throes of labor? He acknowledges the troubled times, but promises that the Israelites will be brought out of it. The yoke of bondage/captivity will be broken off their necks, and they will serve God and the rightful heir of David the king, whom God will raise up.
10 ¶ Therefore fear thou not, O my servant Jacob, saith the Lord; neither be dismayed, O Israel: for, lo, I will save thee from afar, and thy seed from the land of their captivity; and Jacob shall return, and shall be in rest, and be quiet, and none shall make him afraid.
11 For I am with thee, saith the Lord, to save thee: though I make a full end of all nations whither I have scattered thee, yet will I not make a full end of thee: but I will correct thee in measure, and will not leave thee altogether unpunished.
“All thy lovers [false allies andidolatries] have forgotten thee; they seek thee not; for I have wounded thee with the wound of an enemy, with the chastisement of a cruel one, for the multitude of thine iniquity; because thy sins were increased.” But why cry about it? The injury seems incurable, a just injury for the nation’s wickedness.
16 Therefore all they that devour thee shall be devoured; and all thine adversaries, every one of them, shall go into captivity; and they that spoil thee shall be a spoil, and all that prey upon thee will I give for a prey.
17 For I will restore health unto thee, and I will heal thee of thy wounds, saith the Lord; because they called thee an Outcast, saying, This is Zion, whom no man seeketh after.
Israel’s cities will be rebuilt, and “out of them shall proceed thanksgiving and the voice of them that make merry: and I will multiply them, and they shall not be few; I will also glorify them, and they shall not be small. Their children also shall be as aforetime, and their congregation shall be established before me, and I will punish all that oppress them . . . Behold, the whirlwind of the Lord goeth forth with fury, a continuing whirlwind: it shall fall with pain upon the head of the wicked.”
And ye shall be my people, and I will be your God.
Jer 31 God makes a new covenant with Israel & Judah; mention of Ramah, Justice, God in our hearts “At the same time, saith the Lord, will I be the God of all the families of Israel, and they shall be my people . . . The Lord hath appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee.”
The Lord uses the metaphor of a virgin dressed for a party with music and dancing. This is curious, because He has already accused the House of Israel of being metaphorically an adulterous wife. There’s more than one way to explain this, from translating issues to the miracle of God’s forgiveness. One option might be that the adulterous wife will have been put away (divorced), and her youthful daughter (those whom the Lord will gather from afar and return to the land of Israel) will once again be able to find joy, dancing and singing.
Then the Lord paints a picture of the returning Israelites: vineyards will be replanted and produce plentifully. The watchmen (prophets & leaders) of Israel will proclaim, Let’s arise and go to (worship) our God in Jerusalem (where the Temple is). “For thus saith the Lord; Sing with gladness for Jacob, and shout among the chief of the nations: publish ye, praise ye, and say, O Lord, save thy people, the remnant of Israel.” The Lord says He will bring His people from the North and the ends of the earth, and evinces the inclusivity of the gathering by specifying even the blind, the lame, and the pregnant (even those giving birth) . . . all who would find the travel difficult, and might have been left behind if God didn’t insist. It will be a huge gathering.
9 They shall come with weeping [for joy], and with supplications [gentle urging] will I lead them: I will cause them to walk by the rivers of waters in a straight way, wherein they shall not stumble: for I am a father to Israel, and Ephraim is my firstborn [Joseph’s son Ephraim inherited the right of firstborn when Jacob’s firstborn lost his birthright through sin]. 10 ¶ Hear the word of the Lord, O ye nations, and declare it in the isles afar off, and say, He that scattered Israel will gather him, and keep him, as a shepherd doth his flock.
11 For the Lord hath redeemed Jacob, and ransomed him from the hand of him that was stronger than he [Jacob/Israel].
The remnant of Israel will come to the hills of Jerusalem with “the goodness of the Lord, for wheat, and for wine, and for oil, and for the young of the flock and of the herd: and their soul shall be as a watered garden; and they shall not sorrow any more at all.” Young and old alike will dance for joy, and God will take away their sorrows. The people and the priests, who depend upon the people for their sustenance, will be satiated with the goodness/blessings of the Lord (implying the abundant fruitfulness of the land).
Here is found the much quoted scripture, “A voice was heard in Ramah, lamentation, and bitter weeping; Rahel [Rachel] weeping for her children refused to be comforted for her children, because they were not.” Ramah was a place about 5 mi north of Jerusalem (while Bethlehem was about 5 mi south of Jerusalem). Rachel gave birth to her last son Benjamin (Joseph’s only full brother) as the family was traveling to Bethlehem, and Rachel died there in childbirth. Rachel’s name for Bejamin was Ben-oni, “son of my sorrow”, but his father Jacob called him Benjamin. The place Ramah has other importance in the Old Testament story, but my interest here is mainly about Rachel’s symbolic lament. Ramah was part of the tribe of Benjamin’s land inheritance. Apparently either in the Assyrian or Babylonian conquest the place suffered particular destruction. It seems to have been an important defense site for the kingdom of Judah.
https://www.theholyscript.com/where-is-ramah-in-the-bible/ about Ramah
https://www.gotquestions.org/Ramah-in-the-Bible.html about Ramah
https://www.gotquestions.org/voice-heard-in-Ramah.html Ramah vs Bethlehem
https://biblehub.com/commentaries/matthew/2-18.htm Matt 2:18 vs Jer 31:15, Rachel’s death etc
https://biblehub.com/jeremiah/31-15.htm scroll down to the commentaries
But then the Lord says, No longer weep, for they (Rachel’s/Israel’s) children/descendants will be brought back from the land of their enemies. Hope is restored. Symbolically, Ephraim (the northern kingdom of Israel) had been bemoaning the Lord’s chastisement for his iniquity, and says he has repented. The Lord calls Ephraim his dear son, whom He still remembers and will have mercy for him. The Lord tells Israel to again set up the waymarks (road signs, so to speak), for they will use those roads to return to their cities.
The prophet says that the Lord has brought about something new: a woman encompassing a man. This would have reference to the usual way of considering men to be in charge of sex. In other words, human ideas of how things are or how they go will be tossed upside down. No doubt the expectation was that once you were carried away captive, you would never return (including your posterity). When the captives are brought back people will say, “The Lord bless thee, O habitation of justice, and mountain of holiness.” The land and cities of Judah will once again support agriculture, both crops and flocks. The Lord will refresh the weary and worried.
After this happy dream Jeremiah awakens with sweet memories.
The Lord promises that the Israelites & Jews, and their animals, will bear plentiful offspring. Just as the Lord has seen to their destruction, He will see to their re-construction.
29 In those days they shall say no more, The fathers have eaten a sour grape, and the children’s teeth are set on edge.
30 But every one shall die for his own iniquity: every man that eateth the sour grape, his teeth shall be set on edge. [compare Ezek 18]
The Lord will make a new covenant with Israel & Judah, not the old one of the Exodus (which they broke, despite the Lord’s care for them).
“But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the Lord, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people. And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the Lord: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”
The Lord who made the sun to light the day, and the moon & stars to light the night, who causes the storms of the sea to roar, who marshals armies of angels, declares that His power over all those would cease sooner than His decree that Israel will never cease to exist as a nation. It’s just as impossible to measure the Universe or to understand the founding of the earth as for God to cast off Israel, despite all his culpability/guilt.
All the environs of Jerusalem will be holy, and never destroyed again. Though the Jews/Israelites returned from the Babylonian captivity, they were scattered again by Rome. So this prophecy is yet to be fulfilled entirely.
Jer 47 Woes to come to the Philistines, Tyre & Sidon; spoken before the Pharoah attacked Gaza Babylon is likened to a flood inundating all the land. The noise of the horses’ hooves, the rumbling of chariot wheels will put such fear in the people that even fathers will flee without looking back for their children. Gaza & Ashkelon will be made bald (desolate). How long will they be in mourning? (One of the rituals of mourning was to cut oneself.) Poetically Jeremiah asks how long before the Lord’s sword (the king of Babylon) is put back in its scabbard. But it can’t be stilled because the Lord has given it a command against the kingdoms of the coast: the Philistines & the Phoenicians. These are at least in part the modern countries of Gaza and Lebanon.
https://www.britannica.com/topic/Philistine-people
https://www.britannica.com/place/Phoenicia
Jer 48 Woe to the Moabites 4 Moab is destroyed; her little ones have caused a cry to be heard.
6 Flee, save your lives, and be like the heath in the wilderness.
7 ¶ For because thou hast trusted in thy works and in thy treasures, thou shalt also be taken: and Chemosh [the Moabite god] shall go forth into captivity with his priests and his princes together.
8 And the spoiler shall come upon every city, and no city shall escape: the valley also shall perish, and the plain shall be destroyed, as the Lord hath spoken.
9 Give wings unto Moab, that it may flee and get away: for the cities thereof shall be desolate, without any to dwell therein.
10 Cursed be he that doeth the work of the Lord deceitfully, and cursed be he that keepeth back his sword from blood.
11 ¶ Moab hath been at ease from his youth, and he hath settled on his lees [dregs, the bottom of the cup/barrel], and hath not been emptied from vessel to vessel, neither hath he gone into captivity [before] . . .
The chapter mentions various Moabite cities, descriptions and metaphors of the calamities of being conquered, and condemnation for how the Moabites delighted over the ills that happened to Israel, making Israel the subject of their derision. “We have heard the pride of Moab, (he is exceeding proud) his loftiness, and his arrogancy, and his pride, and the haughtiness of his heart . . . Moab shall be destroyed from being a people, because he hath magnified himself against the Lord . . . Woe be unto thee, O Moab! the people of Chemosh perisheth: for thy sons are taken captives, and thy daughters captives..” Yet Jeremiah still mourns over the destruction of Moab as one who cares about the suffering of others. And God promises that in the latter days He will rescue Moab from captivity.
Jer 49 Prophecies against Ammon, Edom, Syria, Kedar, Hazor, Elam (comp Obadiah & Jer 27) Apparently the Ammonites decided to take advantage of Israelite troubles and fill the void, that is, take over territories the Israelites could not hold. But the Ammonites will have their own share of troubles/conquest. “Behold, I will bring a fear upon thee, saith the Lord God of hosts, from all those that be about thee; and ye shall be driven out every man right forth; and none shall gather up him that wandereth.” Yet the Ammonites will also return from captivity one day.
When grapes ae harvested some are left on the vine. Thieves take their limit, but something is still left. “But I have made Esau [Edom] bare, I have uncovered his secret places, and he shall not be able to hide himself: his seed is spoiled, and his brethren, and his neighbours, and he is not [that is, he is annhilated].” Though proud guerillas fight from the hills & caves, they’ll be conquered. Still, the Lord invites the widows to put their trust in Him, and promises to watch over the fatherless.
Damascus, the Syrian capital, has/will become weak “and turneth herself to flee, and fear hath seized on her: anguish and sorrows have taken her, as a woman in travail. How is the city of praise not left, the city of my joy! Therefore her young men shall fall in her streets, and all the men of war shall be cut off in that day, saith the Lord of hosts. And I will kindle a fire in the wall of Damascus, and it shall consume the palaces of Ben-hadad [this famous king of Syria became its symbol].
Kedar, an Arabian tribe descended from Ishmael the half brother of Isaac, will also be conquered. “Their tents and their flocks shall they take away: they shall take to themselves their curtains, and all their vessels, and their camels; and they shall cry unto them, Fear is on every side.”
Counterpoint to Kedar in the south, the ancient Canaanite city of Hazor in the north would be overthrown by Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon. “Arise, get you up unto the wealthy nation [Babylon], that dwelleth without care, saith the Lord, which have neither gates nor bars, which dwell alone. And their [Hazorite] camels shall be a booty, and the multitude of their cattle a spoil: and I will scatter into all winds them that are in the utmost corners; and I will bring their calamity from all sides thereof, saith the Lord. And Hazor shall be a dwelling for dragons [some lizard species], and a desolation for ever: there shall no man abide there, nor any son of man dwell in it.”
Jeremiah prophesies against Elam, Babylon’s neighbor, “I will cause Elam to be dismayed before their enemies, and before them that seek their life: and I will bring evil upon them, even my fierce anger, saith the Lord; and I will send the sword after them, till I have consumed them . . .” The Elamites will be scattered to the 4 winds and into every country. But eventually, they too will return to their lands.
Jer 50 God vs Babylon & Chaldea; Israelites will return to their land 1 The word that the Lord spake against Babylon and against the land of the Chaldeans by Jeremiah the prophet.
2 Declare ye among the nations, and publish, and set up a standard; publish, and conceal not: say, Babylon is taken, Bel [a Babylonian idol] is confounded, Merodach [another god of Babylon] is broken in pieces; her idols are confounded, her images are broken in pieces.
3 For out of the north there cometh up a nation against her, which shall make her land desolate, and none shall dwell therein: they shall remove, they shall depart, both man and beast.
And in those days the Israelites & Jews will go forth weeping for joy, seeking the Lord their God, returning to Zion/Jerusalem, saying, “Come, and let us join ourselves to the Lord in a perpetual covenant that shall not be forgotten.”
God’s people have been lost sheep, and it’s their shepherds that caused them to go astray. All their adversaries justified themselves in doing them harm because they had sinned against the Lord (in whom Justice dwells and the hope of their fathers/ancestors).
But God will raise up an alliance from the north against Babylon. Note that the Persian/Medean empire (“an assembly of great nations”) was north of the Babylonian/Chaldean empire. And why would the Lord turn on Babylon, whom He had called his servant? Because they had grown fat and full of pride. War will come to Babylon, archers will shoot at her, her foundations & walls will be thrown down, her agriculture will fail because the peoples who were forced to work the land will flee to their own countries.
Israel was like a flock of sheep scattered by lions: first the Assyrians, then the Babylonians. Just as the Lord punished the Assyrian king, He will punish Babylonian king. Those who look for sin in Israel and Judah will not find it, for the Lord will pardon those who are left.
Merathaim is another word for Babylon, meaning “double bitterness” and “double rebellion”. Pekod is used to depict the Chaldeans, perhaps meaning “punishment”. Babylon is metaphorically called “the hammer of the whole earth”, but astonishingly, it will be broken. Babylon is caught in a snare by the Lord, in a sense of it’s own making, because it has contended with Him. No doubt this refers to the pride of the Babylonian/Chaldean empire. Babylon is to be recompensed, meaning that it’s not innocent: it will get what it deserves. “Behold, I am against thee, O thou most proud, saith the Lord God of hosts: for thy day is come, the time that I will visit thee.” (Comp Isa 14:4-22, Isa 42:5-25, Rev 14:8) Verse 36 also mentions liars. Verse 38 speaks of Babylon/Chaldea being a land of graven images, and that “they are mad upon their idols.” That is, they go crazy with all kinds of idols and the veneration they give them.
39 Therefore the wild beasts of the desert with the wild beasts of the islands shall dwell there, and the owls shall dwell therein: and it shall be no more inhabited for ever; neither shall it be dwelt in from generation to generation.
40 As God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah and the neighbour cities thereof, saith the Lord; so shall no man abide there, neither shall any son of man dwell therein.
A brief outline of the history & fate of Babylon:
https://history.howstuffworks.com/history-vs-myth/babylon.htm
https://www.worldatlas.com/geography/where-was-babylon-and-what-happened-to-it.html
In light of the history of Babylon through the centuries, as outlined in the links above, the passage “many kings shall be raised up from the coasts [ends] of the earth. They shall hold the bow and the lance: they are cruel, and will not shew mercy: their voice shall roar like the sea [that is, the noise of the battlefield], and they shall ride upon horses, every one put in array, like a man to the battle, against thee, O daughter of Babylon” could refer to Alexander's empire with its one-time capital Babylon. One empire after another conquered Babylon until it became just an archaeological site. No doubt those who had been conquered and carried captive by the Babylonians were anxious to see it never again inhabited, and obliterated as Sodom & Gomorrah (which we are uncertain as to their exact location still), and probably they looked for the fulfillment of that prophecy in the relative short term. We, too, must recognize that God fulfills His word, but not necessarily on our timeline or in our expected timeframe.
Jer 51 the Lord continues against Babylon—prophesied in the 4th year of Zedekiah when he went to Babylon (on an errand to Nebuchadnezzar, presumably, before being taken captive in his 11th year) At the end of this chapter it’s explained that this prophecy was sent with “a quiet prince” when he accompanied Zedekiah to Babylon in the 4th year of his reign. Jeremiah tells this prince that as he reads the prophecy when he gets there, he should exclaim Babylon’s downfall (presumably quietly, to himself), and then tie a rock to it and toss it into the Euphrates, likening it to the eventual destruction of that place. We might wonder why take all the trouble to write the prophecy in a book, send it with a guy to Babylon (a very dangerous thing to do), then toss it in the river. One theory: this quiet prince may have been commanded to be brought as a prisoner/hostage to “ensure” Zedekiah’s compliance to Babylonian demands/suzerainty. One might even speculate that he could have been a companion of the young Zedekiah (who was only in his 20s), or he could have been a disciple of Jeremiah. How discouraged he would be feeling! Jeremiah thus offers him some hope that this will not last forever. And maybe he could even share this hope with the previous captives who had been taken to Babylon under the reign of Jehoiachin, but the actual evidence was destroyed, so that they could not be charged (nor Jeremiah charged) with the damning document.
The conquerors of Babylon are likened to a powerful wind, even those that fan the fire of a furnace/smelting operation. When Babylon is attacked it seems her neighbors whom she had conquered will also rise up against her. This will signify to the Israelites that God has not forgotten them, despite that they had filled their land with sinning against Him. This will be their chance to flee Babylon.
Babylon had served as a golden cup from which the Lord had made the whole earth (the middle easterners would consider that as the middle east) to get “falling down drunk.” But now suddenly Babylon is fallen/destroyed, wounded such that she seeks a remedy for the pain and for her injury. Those who care for her will howl (mourn aloud) for her mortal wounds. They would have healed her, but it’s hopeless, so they go to their own countries with shrugging shoulders that she got what she deserved. Verse 11 foretells that it will be the Medes that will come against Babylon. One might be tempted to see in verse 13 the end of Alexander the Great in Babylon.
The power of the Lord is His wisdom & understanding, by which He created the earth and the heaven or atmosphere, the waters above (as clouds), the volcanic vapors & evaporated waters, the rain/lightning/weather. By comparison men are brutes, worshipping inert/impotent/passive/false gods of their own making.
“The portion of Jacob”, meaning God, is not like those false gods. He created all things. Jacob/Israel is the branch of His inheritance (He has made Israel His heir.) He is called “the Lord of hosts”, that is, He commands hosts/armies of angels. With God’s might He, or Israel/His people, can conquer all other nations and armies.
The Lord is against those conquerors that destroy all the earth. He will destroy them. He references the tendency of people to take the stones of a ruined city or building to build or rebuild, saying there won’t be anything left of Babylon to use for building/re-building. He references setting up a flag, blowing a trumpet to call together the armies of nations to war against Babylon. Ararat, Minni, and Ashchenaz were provinces in the ancient kingdom of Uratu, a particular adversary of Assyria, but also of the Babylonians. It’s an area in the present convergence of Turkey, Armenia, and Iran. The Medes were also north of Babylon. From this chapter we get a view of the end of Babylon by competing countries/empires in which the soldiers were afraid to even come out of their holds. The passes were blocked, the reeds of the wetlands were burned. Babylon’s enemies overflow them like a flood (v. 42).
https://biblehub.com/topical/a/ashchenaz.htm
https://www.worldhistory.org/Urartu_Civilization/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z6F2ZAlVOIc&ab_channel=HistorywithCy 10.5 min video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WsI2EYwrD5A&ab_channel=Saelind 48 min video
Jeremiah speaks for a few verses as the embodiment of the Israelites, saying, “Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon hath devoured me, he hath crushed me, he hath made me an empty vessel, he hath swallowed me up like a dragon [large lizard], he hath filled his belly with my delicates [organs], he hath cast me out. The violence done to me and to my flesh be upon Babylon, shall the inhabitant of Zion say; and my blood upon the inhabitants of Chaldea, shall Jerusalem say.” In response, the Lord promises to advocate for His people, to take vengeance for their sake, to cause drought in the land.
An interesting phrase is “like lambs to the slaughter”, see also Isa 51:40, Isa 53:7, Jer 11:19, Acts 8:32.
“My people, go ye out of the midst of her [Babylon], and deliver ye every man his soul from the fierce anger of the Lord.” Another phrase or thought of interest: “go ye out of the midst” of wickedness, see Isa 6:9-12 (wicked Israel is removed from the land), Is 52:9-12 (Assyria), Jer 6:1 (Jerusalem, fleeing Babylonian destruction thereof), Jer 50:8 (Babylon & Chaldea), Ezek 7:4 (recompense for abominations), Ezek 14:8 (idolaters to be taken out of the midst of God’s people), Ezek 20:10 (Egypt at the Exodus), Micah 6:4 (out of Egypt), Lev 16:16 (atone for uncleanness among God’s people), Psalm 137 (by the rivers of Babylon Israelites wept),
“And lest your heart faint,” the Lord foretells of rumours of wars, violence in the land, leaders contending with each other, violence in the overthrow of wicked Babylon. But these are to be followed by singing in heaven and earth for the conquest of Babylon (symbolic epitome of evil). The Lord enjoins His people to remember Him and the holy city Jerusalem. Although the sanctuary has been defiled by strangers (causing shame to His people), the days will come that God will “do judgment”. No matter how high & mighty Babylon (the wicked) gets, the Lord will bring spoilers to her. Her leaders & rulers, drunken with (power and) lacking (fore-)sight will be put to bed forever by the Lord. Despite her impregnable appearance, she will be broken up and burned.
“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.
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
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.
Isa 11—a Savior descendant of Jesse (King David’s father) & a Messianic age
A branch will shoot forth from the trunk of Jesse (the idea is restated as a poetic device).
2 And the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord;
3 And shall make him of quick understanding in the fear of the Lord: and he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of his ears:
4 But with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth: and he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked.
A Messianic age of peace will be ushered in. (Poetic parallelisms paint an ideal of peace).
Wolf dwells with lamb
Leopard lies down with kid (goat)
Fatted calf & young lion
A child will lead them
Cow & bear feed together, lion will eat grains like an ox (note zoo & pet foods are plant based)
A nursing infant will play on the hole of the asp
A toddler will put his hand on the home of a cockatrice (fabled serpent)
And yet none of these will be hurt in God’s country, for the whole earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord, like the oceans cover most of the earth.
The Messiah will stand like a banner, and the people of the world will seek him, and in him find glorious rest (respite from violence). In that era the Lord will recover the remnant of his people from Assyria, Egypt, Pathros (upper Egypt), Cush (south of Egypt), Elam (Iran), Shinar (Babylon/Southern Mesopotamia), Hamath (a Syrian city), and the islands of the [Mediterranean=in the midst of the lands] sea . . . from every corner of the earth (note the description of the earth as having 4 corners is meant as a language device, not a literal belief about the shape of the earth—the ancients were just as capable as we, perhaps even moreso, of metaphoric thinking. We still reference the cardinal directions of earth as north, south, east, and west: 4). The adversarial relationship between the kingdoms led by the tribes of Ephraim & Judah will be allayed, and they will work together against their enemies. It appears that Egypt will be wiped out and the Nile delta will be dried up. The Children of Israel will make a highway from Assyria back to their land, as they made when they arrived from Egypt in the Exodus.
Isa 12—Israel will praise God for saving the nation from annihilation1 And in that day thou shalt say, O Lord, I will praise thee: though thou wast angry with me, thine anger is turned away, and thou comfortedst me.
2 Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and not be afraid: for the Lord JEHOVAH is my strength and my song; he also is become my salvation.
3 Therefore with joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation.
4 And in that day shall ye say, Praise the Lord, call upon his name, declare his doings among the people, make mention that his name is exalted.
5 Sing unto the Lord; for he hath done excellent things: this is known in all the earth.
6 Cry out and shout, thou inhabitant of Zion: for great is the Holy One of Israel in the midst of thee.Isa 13-14—a prophetic burden, bad news for Babylon
With what powerful poetic language the Lord through Isaiah paints a picture! The Lord calls His holy & mighty ones against Babylon with a banner & a voice from a far country, and they are as a multitude upon the mountains. All will be faint with fear, the sky will be darkened (probably from the smoke of burning cities). So many men will be killed those left will be a precious “commodity”. Everyone will flee to their own lands (no doubt people from many lands served in the seat of Babylon as soldiers, courtiers, and bureaucrats). Men, women, and children will die horrible deaths. Babylon will be overthrown as completely as Sodom & Gomorrah, and left uninhabited from one generation to the next, except for wild beasts and nomads who will camp there.
About the Medes:
https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/medes-and-media
A message for us as well as them:
“And I will punish the world for their evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; and I will cause the arrogancy of the proud to cease, and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible.”
“For the Lord will have mercy on Jacob, and will yet choose Israel, and set them in their own land: and the strangers shall be joined with them, and they shall cleaveto [embrace] the house of Jacob.”
In the year King Ahaz of Judah died came this prophecy:
The allies of the Jews will bring them back to their land, and the captors of the Jews will become their captives, “and they shall rule over their oppressors. And it shall come to pass in the day that the Lord shall give thee rest from thy sorrow, and from thy fear, and from the hard bondage wherein thou wast made to serve”.
A proverb vs Babylon: How hath the oppressor ceased (been stopped)! The wealthy city is gone! The Lord has broken the rule of the oppressor who thrashed/clobbered and ruled the nations in anger (harshness). Now the whole earth is at peace and quiet, and sings in relief. Isaiah uses the metaphor of trees glad that the clearer of forests is gone and none is come to replace him. He uses the picture of Hell being disturbed, making way for Babylon among all the kings there. They taunt him that he is no better than they: you thought you were so great, like a god. Is this the guy who made other nations tremble with fear, destroyed them and made them all like wilderness? They ask in derision. Other kings have been buried honorably, but you will be disrespected, your heirs killed.
Verse 25 suddenly inserts Assyria instead of Babylon. This could be a parallelism, likening the two to each other, or a combining of the two as nations of Mesopotamia, or a different “chapter”. The siege of the Assyrian army is the one that departed from Jerusalem, and Assyrian warfare was even more brutal than that of Babylon. Note in verse 24 that what the Lord intends or proposes to do He will accomplish.
But the Lord warns the nations of Palestine not to get too cocky, because evil/bad news is yet to come: famine and the sword (warfare). The poor will have food and safety because they are the only ones left after the people considered more important (the wealthy & skilled) are taken captive, only the poor are left. The smoke coming from the north refers to the aggression of conquerors from the north (who would, no doubt, burn city after city, causing smoke). When the corrupt leaders of the Jews (or any nation) are gone, the poor of God’s people will be able to trust in the Zion that the Lord has founded.
12 How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!
13 For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north [the most honored seating]:
14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High [God].
More info about these verses at https://biblehub.com/isaiah/14-12.htm
Isa 15 & 16—dire prophecies about Moab
Isa 17—fateful prophecy for Damascus (Syria), & a few comments toward the posterity of Jacob/Israel
Isa 18—prophecy of woe for a land beyond Ethiopia, as well as Jerusalem
Isa 19 & 20—prophecy of bad news for Egypt, followed by conversion to the Lord
Isa 21—Elam & Media vs Babylon, which will fall (a prophet is described as a watchman)
Isa 22—Isaiah mourns for Jerusalem (famous quote: let us eat and drink; for to morrow we shall die)
And a particular prophecy of the fall of one man (the treasurer) and the rise of his successor
Isa 23—vs Tyre & Zidon (they may flee to Tarshish/Spain or Chittim/perhaps Cyprus). Tyre & Sidon were Phoenician cities on the Mediterranean coast, wealthy from shipping and trade, establishing trading colonies all around the Mediterranean. For more info, see https://phoenician.org/phoenician_history/ click links
Isa 24—it seems to Isaiah that the Lord has laid waste to the whole earth (prophetic tense, as if the future has already happened), “The earth also is defiled under the inhabitants thereof; because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, broken the everlasting covenant.” “The pit” would be a place for prisoners.
Isa 25—Isaiah praises God so beautifully (read the chapter!), foretells good for Jerusalem6 ¶ And in this mountain [Zion] shall the Lord of hosts make unto all people a feast of fat things, a feast of wines on the lees, of fat things full of marrow, of wines on the lees well refined.
7 And he will destroy in this mountain the face of the covering cast over all people, and the veil that is spread over all nations . . .
8 He will swallow up death in victory; and the Lord God will wipe away tears from off all faces; and the rebuke of his people shall he take away from off all the earth: for the Lord hath spoken it.
9 ¶ And it shall be said in that day, Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him, and he will save us: this is the Lord; we have waited for him, we will be glad and rejoice in his salvation.Isa 26—A song to be sung in the future: God brings Justice for the poor & the upright
Trust in the Lord, Isaiah pleads. He will bring down the proud and the oppressors. (Comp. Mary's faith in and praise for God in Luke 1:50-55) The poor & needy will walk over the high & mighty. “Yea, in the way of thy judgments, O Lord, have we waited for thee; the desire of our soul is to thy name, and to the remembrance of thee. With my soul have I desired thee in the night; yea, with my spirit within me will I seek thee early: for when thy judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness.” Even when the wicked are shone favors, they still continue in their ways, and don’t learn any better. Isaiah continues the theme of a woman in childbirth, the pain that must be endured before the joy.
Isa 27—The Lord will save Israel from her enemies, and one day Israel will worship the Lord again
The Lord will punish the sea serpent Leviathan. See https://biblehub.com/isaiah/27-1.htm
The Lord will care for & tend Israel like a cherished vineyard. The briars & thorny brush are nothing to the Lord, who will burn them.
Has the Lord been as hard on Israel as upon her enemies? (A rhetorical question). The bad part of the Lord’s “vineyard” will be purged by the rough metaphorical (prob hot, dry) windstorms from the east. By that foreign invasion will the altars, groves, and idolatrous images be destroyed. The cities will be destroyed such that cattle will feed in them. The Lord will not show mercy on those ignorant/foolish worshippers of idols. The Lord will yet call the Children of Israel from Assyria and from Egypt, and they will worship the Lord on the Temple mount in Jerusalem.
Isa 28—woe to Ephraim, and the drunken partiers of both the northern & southern kingdoms
Quotable verse: “For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little . . . But the word of the Lord was unto them precept upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little;” in the context of the people refusing to believe what is in store for them: “Because ye have said, We have made a covenant with death, and with hell are we at agreement; when the overflowing scourge [invading armies] shall pass through, it shall not come unto us: for we have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood have we hid ourselves”. The Lord through Isaiah makes a promise: “Therefore thus saith the Lord God, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste [be on the run].” Isaiah uses the metaphors of building, a small bed, and farming for God’s Judgment/Justice and Wisdom.
Isa 29—woe to Ariel, the city of David (Jerusalem)
Quotable verse: “And thou shalt be brought down, and shalt speak out of the ground, and thy speech shall be low out of the dust, and thy voice shall be, as of one that hath a familiar spirit, out of the ground, and thy speech shall whisper out of the dust” foretelling the destruction of God’s people, and all that’s left is their voice from the grave (the books left behind).
Interesting for readers of the Book of Mormon is the prophecy “Thou shalt be visited of the Lord of hosts with thunder, and with earthquake, and great noise, with storm and tempest, and the flame of devouring fire” which was written about the destructions in America at the time of Christ’s death. And the verses following about a sealed book that the educated could not read, and the uneducated felt inadequate to read. The verses about the hypocrisy of the religious and a marvelous work to come forth is oft quoted regarding the foundation of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, as well as those about the conspirators who work in the shadows to try to destroy God’s work. One day the spiritually deaf and blind will be enlightened, the poor & meek will rejoice in the Holy One of Israel .
Those who fight against God’s people will one day be like a dream that passes away, yet leaves one hungering. “It shall even be as when an hungry man dreameth, and, behold, he eateth; but he awaketh, and his soul is empty: or as when a thirsty man dreameth, and, behold, he drinketh; but he awaketh, and, behold, he is faint, and his soul hath appetite: so shall the multitude of all the nations be, that fight against mount Zion.” The ferocious will become nothing, those who scorn God will be destroyed, those that watch for opportunities to aggrandize themselves at the expense of others will be cut down. Those who try to entrap warning voices by twisting their words against them, as well as corrupting Justice for something worthless is so reminiscent of Jesus’ experience, as well as the prophets before Him, and pretty well the warning voices of any age. But the time will come when the God who saved Abraham will take away the shame and fear that has been thrust upon the posterity of Jacob/Israel. Those who recognize God’s hand in it will hold Him in holy awe. “They also that erred in spirit shall come to understanding, and they that murmured shall learn doctrine.”
Isa 30-31—woe to those who rely on Egypt as an ally, without consulting the Lord
Woe to those who think they can get away with their sins by allying themselves with Egypt (vs the Assyrians & later the Babylonians), rather than repenting. Egypt sees no profit in helping them out, and will be ashamed of attempts to do so.
Isaiah’s prophecies are to be written in books so that those from the future can witness the truth of his words and warnings. The children of Israel are like rebellious, lying children. “Which say to the seers, See not; and to the prophets, Prophesy not unto us right things, speak unto us smooth things, prophesy deceits: [get out of the way and stop talking about God].” Because you despise God’s word, and trust in oppressing others and depend on your own perversity, you’ll be destroyed like a besieged city whose walls are breached, or a pot burst in the fire and broken into such small pieces that it is useless. You could be saved by returning to God, but you refuse. You figure you can get out of town quick, and so you will have to, and all that will be left of you will be your empty ineffective call to arms (metaphorically a flag or beacon).
But the Lord will wait patiently and will have mercy “for the Lord is a God of [righteous] judgment: blessed are all they that wait for him.” Those who dwell in Jerusalem will weep no more. When you cry to Him, He will hear and answer. Though now your lives are filled with adversity and affliction, at long last those that teach righteousness and the way to walk therein will no more be relegated to a corner. You will cast off idolatries like a menstruous cloth (In the days before women’s products, they had to more or less diaper themselves. These cloths would be extremely detested.) And then the Lord will send rain for your crops, and bless your grounds. Your animals used in agriculture will be well fed. Your mountains and hills will be well watered with rivers and streams (when once the conquerors are done). The lights in the sky will seem brighter when the Lord heals the breaches in your walls and the wounds you carry. The Lord will take retribution on Assyria, and you will again sing and pipe with the gladness of a holy feast.
The Egyptians are mere mortals, and their horses (military might) are as well. The Lord is all powerful. He is like a lion against shepherds, fearless in fighting for Jerusalem. He is as invulnerable to capture as birds that fly away, and He will deliver Jerusalem from captivity. Turn back to God, from whom you have revolted, and when you throw away your idols He will cause the downfall of Assyria.
Isa 32—A Righteous King to come and warnings of destruction to careless women before then1 Behold, a king shall reign in righteousness, and princes shall rule in judgment.
2 And a man [the Messiah] shall be as an hiding place from the wind, and a covert from the tempest [troubles]; as rivers of water in a dry place, as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land.
3 And the eyes of them that see shall not be dim, and the ears of them that hear shall hearken.
4 The heart also of the rash shall understand knowledge, and the tongue of the stammerers shall be ready to speak plainly.
5 The vile person shall be no more called liberal [generous], nor the churl said to be bountiful [generous].
6 For the vile person will speak villany, and his heart will work iniquity, to practise hypocrisy, and to utter error against the Lord, to make empty the soul of the hungry, and he will cause the drink of the thirsty to fail.
7 The instruments also of the churl are evil: he deviseth wicked devices to destroy the poor with lying words, even when the needy speaketh right . . .
15 Until the spirit be poured upon us from on high, and the wilderness be a fruitful field, and the fruitful field be counted for a forest.
16 Then judgment shall dwell in the wilderness, and righteousness remain in the fruitful field.
17 And the work of righteousness shall be peace; and the effect of righteousness quietness and assurance for ever.
18 And my people shall dwell in a peaceable habitation, and in sure dwellings, and in quiet resting places . . .”
Isa 33—A prophecy of faith and hope, despite difficulties
Prophecies of good alternate with prophecies of war in this chapter. I’ll collect the bad & the good separate.
Woe to those who treat others cruelly when they have not been treated that way. As silkworms (caterpillars) are gathered, the best of the booty will be plucked & carried off. The plundering will be like locusts attacking, mowing down the crops. The toughest & bravest soldiers will cry out in fear/pain, the ambassadors seeking peace will weep bitterly for the impossibility of success. The highways will be empty, with no travel for trade or pleasure. The covenant between God and Israel is broken, and He despises their cities and pays no attention to their calls for help.
Lebanon, known for its timber, will be ashamed of its baldness. Sharon, known for fruitfulness will be like a wilderness. Bashan & Carmel, hill country known for their vineyards (I think) will be left without their vines. Like chaff and the stubble left after harvest, like lime in the making of cement, and thorny brush, the wicked will be burned. Listen, far and wide, to what the Lord has done, and acknowledge his power. Sinners are suddenly afraid, and hypocrites surprised: who will survive the burning? . . .
The wicked will be terrified. His accountants (scribes) & receivers of goods, and storage towers are gone.
“O Lord, be gracious unto us; we have waited for thee: be thou their arm every morning, our salvation also in the time of trouble . . . And wisdom and knowledge shall be the stability of thy times, and strength of salvation: the fear of the Lord is his treasure.” Once the old is destroyed, people will once again look up to the Lord.
Who will survive the metaphoric (and real wartime) burning of the wicked? Only those who walk and speak (conduct their lives) uprightly: those who despise oppressing others for gain, that wave away bribes, that refuse to listen to plans for prospering through killing, and close their eyes to the temptations of ill-gotten gains (reminds one of mafia tactics). Those are the ones who will find protection and defense from God (rocks would be used as ammunition, bread and water essential staples in wartime and siege). These are the ones who will see that future king coming in beauty, and the peaceful land over which he reigns. They won’t see those fierce, conquering warriors of foreign speech they can’t understand.
Look at Zion/Jerusalem, and see a peaceful place to live and worship, that will not be destroyed by war. The Lord will make His people like a place with broad rivers and streams, where no war ships (which were powered by oars in those days) come. The tackling of the metaphorical or real war ships is made ineffectual, and they don’t capture their prey. “For the Lord is our judge, the Lord is our lawgiver, the Lord is our king; he will save us.” Though His people seem lame, they will win the war. They will no longer feel sick (weak, despondent), the inhabitants of God’s country will be forgiven their iniquities.
Isa 34—The Lord’s warning to all nations
Bozrah is the name of an Edomite city, as well as a city of Moab (descendants of Lot). Idumea was also an area controlled by Edom (descendants of Esau). See https://bibleatlas.org/idumea.htm
For info about unicorns mentioned in the Bible, see https://www.gotquestions.org/Bible-unicorn.html Cormorants are various species of aquatic birds. All these refer to the lands of Israel’s enemies becoming wilderness (similar to a wildlife reserve in our day). While satyrs in Roman mythology were half man half goat, Isaiah was probably referring to a rough haired wild goat. See https://www.biblestudytools.com/encyclopedias/isbe/satyr.html
Although these verses refer specifically to Edom, they may be considered a cautionary tale to all who fight against Zion, the Lord’s people.
Isa 35—Good things are promised to God’s country & people
The desert will blossom as a rose. (Regarding Lebanon, Carmel, & Sharon, see Isa 33 above).
Weak hands and feeble knees will be strengthened (metaphorically, physically)
The fearful of heart can be strong, unfearing. Know that God will save you.
The eyes of the blind will be opened, the ears of the deaf unstopped (those who couldn’t see or hear God’s Truth will come to understand).
The lame will leap like a deer, those unable to speak will sing.
The wilderness, the desert will be well-watered.
An holy highway will be built, and those who travel it, even if fools, will not err.
No predators will haunt that holy highway, the redeemed of Israel will walk it safely.
“And the ransomed of the Lord shall return, and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads: they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.”
I should have created this post before Hezekiah, the previous post. These prophets shed light on the period of time before the Assyrian invasion & capture of the Northern Kingdom. Note how similar to our contemporary culture were their sins. Likewise, God will yet extend His mercy and blessings for us if we turn to Him. If not, we destroy ourselves.
Three prophets mentioned as prophesying during the reign of Jeroboam II, king of Israel, have their own books in the Old Testament: Jonah, Amos, and Hosea. Jonah is only mentioned in the reign of Jeroboam II, and it makes sense that he was sent to Nineveh before the height of the Assyrian glory, as they were still humble enough to repent. There’s an interesting reference to an earthquake while Amos was prophet during the reign of Jeroboam II, and Amos also prophesied during the reign of Uzziah/Azariah, king of Judah. The longest living of the three was Hosea who, like Isaiah, was active during the reigns of the Jewish kings Uzziah/Azariah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah. They would see the northern kingdom of Israel taken captive and carried away by the Assyrian Empire, probably only a little over 100 years after the prophet Elisha died during the reign of king Joash of Israel (see 2 Kings 13)—not to be confused with his contemporary king Joash of Judah.
The Book of Jonah (see reference to Jonah under King Jeroboam II in 2 Kings 14:25)
Most of us are pretty familiar with the story of Jonah. The Lord calls him to go call Ninevah (the Assyrian capital) to repentance. Jonah heads instead to the Israeli seaport of Joppa (35 mi northwest of Jerusalem), to take ship to the Phoenician seaport of Tarshish (on the Spanish coast). There are more interesting sites about Nineveh if you contribute or disable your ad blocker.
• https://www.britannica.com/place/Nineveh-ancient-city-Iraq
• https://www.science20.com/the_conversation/nineveh_when_the_capital_of_assyria_was_the_most_dazzling_city_in_the_world-256377
• https://www.bibleplaces.com/joppa/
• https://www.biblegateway.com/resources/encyclopedia-of-the-bible/Joppa
• https://bibleatlas.org/tarshish.htm
• https://www.gotquestions.org/Jonah-Tarshish-Nineveh.html
A terrible storm comes up on the Mediterranean Sea as they are sailing toward Tarshish, threatening shipwreck. All the sailors take to calling on their various gods for help. They toss the cargo, hoping to lighten the ship. Meanwhile, Jonah is fast asleep below deck. The shipmaster comes and says, “What do you think you’re doing?! Start calling on your God (just one of many, to them) to save us!
The crew decide to cast lots to find out who is responsible for the calamity. Remember that anciently people believed the gods responded to queries through the casting of lots, and that’s not to say that God didn’t answer them in a way they could relate to. The lot falls on Jonah. They start questioning Jonah about his occupation and roots, and who is to blame for their bad fortune. Jonah replies that he is a Hebrew, and his God is Ruler over Heaven and is the Creator. He explains that he’s on the run from God. The men are scared stiff. They ask him what to do. He tells them to toss him overboard. They try to row the ship to land, but at last they cry for forgiveness from God for what they are about to do, and toss him into the sea. The storm calms, and they all sacrifice in thanks and make vows.
“Now the Lord had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.” This fish is usually depicted as a whale, and the writers of the text may not have differentiated between whales and fish as we do. But apparently there are some possible candidates. Remember that the Lord had prepared the creature, so it wasn’t necessarily just any ordinary species or specimen thereof, and some sort of air supply might also have be swallowed.
• https://armstronginstitute.org/315-what-was-the-great-fish-that-swallowed-jonah
Jonah prays to be released from his unpleasant prison (perhaps when he comes to). A poetic version of the plea is recorded in chapter 2.
The Lord reminds Jonah of his mission, and Jonah goes. Nineveh is so huge it apparently takes 3 days to get through it. Probably big traffic troubles, beside the size of the city. Jonah gets a third of the way into the city and predicts its overthrow in 40 days. In a time of various nations vying for predominance, that seems plausible to the inhabitants. They proclaim a fast, put on sackcloth (a sign of great sorrow, humility, or humiliation—likely worn for mourning and/or slavery). The rulers don’t exclude themselves from their edicts. Even the king is in sackcloth & ashes, while he and the nobles proclaim the fast for humans and animals, likewise in sackcloth & ashes, repenting, crying to God—just in case God is willing to grant them mercy.
We have already discussed whether God repents in the way that humans must . . . It is obvious that He changed His decree. To repent is to change.
Jonah is thinking about his own rep (what he said didn’t happen), and no doubt his own feelings toward this superpower potential enemy or threat to his own nation. He complains/explains that this was the reason he headed for Tarshish. He wants to die.
God says, Is this a good thing to be angry about?
Jonah goes out of the city and builds a little shelter to see what will happen. God’s going to teach him something, and causes a gourd vine to grow up and shade him. Jonah’s glad for that. But then God has a worm invade the gourd vine, and then a strong [hot from the desert] east wind to wither the vine. Jonah faints from the sun [or sunstroke?] and wishes to die.
God says, Is this a good reason to be angry? Jonah says, It’s a good enough reason to be angry to death [probably expecting God to strike him down]. God says, You’re feeling sorry about the gourd, which you did nothing to cause to grow, but shouldn’t I feel sorrow over the loss of Nineveh, with more than 120,000 innocents, beside animals?
The Book of Amos—a shepherd called to be a prophet to the Northern Kingdom of Israel
Amos 1:1 “The words of Amos, who was among the herdmen of Tekoa, which he saw concerning Israel in the days of Uzziah king of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash king of Israel, two years before the earthquake.”
Such an intriguing mention! It appears that the reigns of Uzziah & Jeroboam (the second) overlapped for 27 years. Sometime during those years was an earthquake of note, it would seem. Here’s an interesting article about evidence of an earthquake in that time with a cross reference to Zech 14:5 “ye shall flee, like as ye fled from before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah . . .”
• https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/scientists-find-evidence-8th-century-bc-earthquake-described-old-testament-180978385/
Amos 1
Punishments for Damascus (Syrians), and Gaza (Philistines), Tyre (“a major Phoenician seaport from about 2000 BCE through the Roman period” https://www.britannica.com/place/Tyre ), Edom (descendants of Esau, Jacob/Israel’s brother), and Ammon (descendants of Lot). Each of them had transgressed against Judah. The “brotherly covenant” (alliance) between Tyre and Judah was enacted by David & Solomon with Hyrum of Tyre. Edom’s fault in barbarity is noted in that they ripped up pregnant women in Gilead just to enlarge their holdings.
• https://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/ancient-cultures/ancient-near-eastern-world/ammonites-moabites-edomites-in-the-bible/
Amos 2
Punishments are in store for Moab (descendants of Lot), Judah (“because they have despised the law of the Lord, and have not kept his commandments, and their lies caused them to err, after the which their fathers have walked”), and Israel (“because they sold the righteous for silver, and the poor for a pair of shoes; That pant after the dust of the earth on the head of the poor, and turn aside the way of the meek: and a man and his father will go in unto the same maid, to profane my holy name . . .” as well as worshipping false gods). After God had brought the Israelites out of Egypt and cared for them 40 years in the wilderness, gave them the land of the Amorites (giants like the cedars), they have become so wicked the Lord is angry and leaves them to be conquered. He complains, I’ve raised up prophets (to teach you, warn you, bless you). But you’ve given wine to the Nazarites (vs their vow of abstinence), and tried to silence the prophets. You’ve treated me like a cart under a heavy load. So things will get so bad that even the strong & courageous will flee, taking nothing.
Amos 3
The Lord continues His complaint against the House of Israel: you were my chosen people out of all the families of the earth! And I will punish you for your wickedness. We can’t walk together because we don’t agree. Lions don’t roar for nothing (implying that God has reason for roaring against the Children of Israel). Birds aren’t snared if no snare is set (implying that God has set a snare against the Israelites). Trumpets (of war) will blow, city residents will be afraid. When bad things happen to a city, the Lord is behind it. But surely, “the Lord God will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets.” That is, He warns of His punishments. He has roared out His complaints, and shouldn’t everyone pay attention? He has spoken, all I can do is to prophesy as He speaks, Amos says.
Tell the rulers of the Philistines and Egypt to come to Samaria (the capital of the northern kingdom of Israel), and witness the violence and robbery even in the palace. As a shepherd saves whatever he can from the mouth of the lion (even just the legs of the sheep or a piece of an ear), only a small remnant of the people will be saved from the conquerors. The altars (golden calves Jeroboam set up) of Bethel will be destroyed, the winter & summer palaces, the ivory palaces will be destroyed.
Amos 4
Continuing His complaint of the oppression of the poor in Samaria (capitol of the northern kingdom of Israel) the Lord says they’ll be like fish caught on hooks. Their city walls will be breached. They have brought their sacrifices and offerings to the false worship in Gilgal (where Jeroboam had set up a golden calf, beside that at Bethel).
Clean teeth are an indication of having no food to eat.
Despite warnings of famine and drought, city by city (people of one city had to go to another to find food and water), the Israelites still didn’t return to God. Despite blights and diseases, pestilences like Egypt suffered (during the Exodus), wars that killed the young men and horses, the destruction of cities (as Sodom & Gomorrah were destroyed), the Israelites still didn’t return to God. So, prepare to meet your God (at the bar of Judgment), the Creator and Ruler of the earth, who has an army of angels at His command. Yet He deigns to let mankind know what He’s thinking.
Amos 5
The Lord pleads with the House of Israel to return to Him, to quit worshipping false gods at Bethel, Gilgal, and Beersheba, lest destruction break out like a fire and cities of 1000 are left 100, and cities of 100 are left with 10. (The house of Joseph refers to the rival kingdom of Israel that Jeroboam set up, vs the kingdom of Judah). God is ruler over the stars above and the earth & sea beneath. He can strengthen even the conquered to attack a fortress.
The Israelites hate those that call them to repentance, and who speak Truth and Righteousness. They walk all over the poor, taking all they have. The oppressors have built expensive homes and planted vineyards, but they won’t be able to enjoy them. They have persecuted the just, taken bribes, ignored the rights of the poor. The “prudent” keep their lips shut, lest they suffer as well. The Lord implores, “Seek good, and not evil, that ye may live: and so the Lord, the God of hosts, shall be with you, as ye have spoken. Hate the evil, and love the good, and establish judgment in the gate: it may be that the Lord God of hosts will be gracious unto the remnant of Joseph [leader of the northern kingdom of Israel].”
But because they refuse to repent, there will be wailing and mourning. They that yearn for the coming of the Lord will find that a day of darkness, not light. It’s like a man running from a lion and is met by a bear, or when he reaches the safety of his home he’s bit by a snake (like Jonah, you can't escape God). God hates their religious observances because of their hypocrisy. Rather He wants righteous judgments. They have worshipped false gods, and they will be taken captive, God promises.
Amos 6
“Woe to them that are at ease in Zion . . . ! [the kingdom of Judah]” And those “that trust in the mountain of Samaria . . .” [the northern kingdom of Israel].
Calneh—one of 4 cities founded by Nimrod (Gen 10:10), along with Babel, Erech, and Accad, that is, Babylonia
Hamath—a Syrian city straddling the Orontes River, surrounded by hills
Gath—a major Philistine city
Take a look at these impressive cities, Amos says. Are they any better than you? (Implying they have been conquered, and so will you be). You sit around ignoring the dangerous situation, while you practice violence on others. You lie on ivory beds, eat lambs and calves, chant to the music, drink bowls of wine, anoint yourselves as the rich, but don’t care about the troubles in your land [the land of Joseph, that is, the northern kingdom of Israel].
As a result, you’ll be first to go into captivity. The Lord hates all your [self-centered, corrupted] palaces. The houses of both the rich and poor will be destroyed, not defended by their own relatives. You’ve boasted in yourself, and you are nothing. You’ve taken justice away from judging and turned it to bitterness. God will raise up a nation to conquer you.
Amos 7
The Lord showed me a vision of a plague of grasshoppers eating up the fields of grain, and I pled for the sake of Jacob/Israel. He said that wouldn’t happen.
The Lord showed me a vision of fire consuming the land, and I pled for Jacob/Israel—how would the nation recover such a thing? He relented that possibility.
The Lord showed me a vision of Him standing on a wall with a plumbline [an instrument for measuring]. He said that would be the limit of His protection from the sword. The descendants of Isaac (of Jacob/Israel and Esau/Edom), the holy places of Israel, the kingdom of Jeroboam (the norther kngdom of Israel) will fall.
Bethel was the rival place of worship Jeroboam I had set up to keep his people from going to Jerusalem of Judah to worship, and maybe be drawn back into the kingdom of Judah. It was still the place of that idol worship (of a calf), along with Gilgal, in the time of Jeroboam II. The priest of Bethel, named Amaziah, sends word to Jeroboam II accusing Amos of conspiracy and speaking against his own country. Amaziah says Amos prophesies your death by the sword and that your kingdom will be carried away captive.
Amaziah tells Amos he’d better flee to the land of Judah, and not prophesy against Bethel any more (the king’s chapel and court). Amos replies, I wasn’t a prophet nor the son of a prophet. I was merely a shepherd when God called me to prophesy to His people Israel. So listen to what God says to you: You say not to prophesy against Israel and the descendants of Isaac (Edom & Israel). Here’s what will happen to you: your wife will be a harlot in the city, your children will fall by the sword, your land will be divided among others, and you will die in a desecrated land, while Israel is carried away captive.
Amos 8
The Lord showed me in vision a basket of summer fruit. It was a symbol of the consumption of Israel. God is done with protecting them. The songs of worship in the temple will become the howling of misery and death. Then the dead will be removed in silence.
Listen, you that oppress the poor and needy . . . You can hardly wait for the holy days to be over so you can get back to commerce, with corrupted measuring apparatus. You take advantage of the poor and take all they have in return for the worst of the wheat. God has sworn that He will not forget your evil, and your land will be conquered like a flood in Egypt overtakes all the land. The sun will go down at noon and darkness will take over the clear day.
10 And I will turn your feasts into mourning, and all your songs into lamentation; and I will bring up sackcloth upon all loins, and baldness upon every head; and I will make it as the mourning of an only son, and the end thereof as a bitter day.
11 ¶ Behold, the days come, saith the Lord God, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord:
12 And they shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east, they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the Lord, and shall not find it.
13 In that day shall the fair virgins and young men faint for thirst.
Those that swear by the false gods of Samaria (at Bethel, Gilgal/Dan, and Beersheba) will fall and never rise again.
Amos 9
Amos says, I saw in vision the Lord standing on the altar. He told me to hit the doorway hard enough to shake it, and cut them all. He said he would kill them all [presumably the worshippers], even those that try to escape. Those that try to dig their way to safety, or climb to the heights, will all be taken. Those that try to hide at the top of Mt Carmel, or even if they could hide at the bottom of the sea—the Lord would send a monster to eat them. Though they go into captivity of their enemies, they will still be killed by the sword. The Lord will see that they suffer bad things, not good.
It is the Lord that makes the land melt as if by fire. Sorrows will rise like an Egyptian flood drowning all in its path. The Lord has power over all the earth and sea. Israel is like the Ethiopians . . . He brought Israel out of Egypt, the Philistines from Caphtor (Crete), and the Syrians from Kir (an Assyrian city—see also 2 Kings 16:9, Amos 1:5, Isa 22:6). “Behold, the eyes of the Lord God are upon the sinful kingdom, and I will destroy it from off the face of the earth; saving that I will not utterly destroy the house of Jacob, saith the Lord.” The house of Israel will be scattered throughout all nations. The sinners who think nothing bad will happen will die by the sword.
The Lord promises, One day I will bring back my people, and bless their land with abundance, and rebuilding of the cities and ruins. They will never be taken from their land again. [Though the Jews returned under Cyrus and following, they were yet carried away captive again, under the Romans. So this had yet to be fulfilled after the completion of the Biblical texts.]
The Book of Hosea—written before the Assyrian captivity of the northern kingdom of Israel
Hosea 1:1 The word of the Lord that came unto Hosea, the son of Beeri, in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash, king of Israel.
Hosea’s calling from God began with the command to take a whore as a wife, and her children, as a strong statement that Israel had behaved as a whore in her relationship to God. His calling began under the king Jeroboam II of the northern kingdom of Israel.
Hosea’s whorish wife bears him a son the Lord says to name Jezreel, a sign that the Lord would avenge Jezreel upon the house of Jehu (king of Israel). Next a daughter is born, the Lord says to name Lo-ruhamah “for I will no more have mercy upon the house of Israel; but I will utterly take them away. But I will have mercy upon the house of Judah, and will save them by the Lord their God, and will not save them by bow, nor by sword, nor by battle, by horses, nor by horsemen.” The kingdom of Israel would be carried away captive by Assyria, and though Assyria threatened even the capital city Jerusalem, the Lord saved the kingdom of Judah under Hezekiah.
Hosea’s wife bears a second son, “Then said God, Call his name Lo-ammi: for ye are not my people, and I will not be your God.” But the Lord offers a promise for the future, “Yet the number of the children of Israel shall be as the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured nor numbered; and it shall come to pass, that in the place where it was said unto them, Ye are not my people, there it shall be said unto them, Ye are the sons of the living God.” The kingdoms of Judah and Israel would be united under one ruler. After the Assyrian captivity this was essentially true, and this prophecy would, like others, be fulfilled more than once. (Note Jesus’ self-defense when accused of blasphemy in John 10:24-42; see also Psalm 82:6, and https://bible.knowing-jesus.com/topics/Believers-As-Sons-Of-God ).
Hosea 2
Using the names of Hosea’s children, Ammi (that is, “my people”) and Ruhamah (“having obtained mercy’) the Lord pleads with Israel (symbolized by Hosea’s whorish wife), to put away their whoredoms & adulteries (that is, their worship of idols/false gods), or they will suffer being stripped of resources and rain. They will appeal to these false gods/idols (whom they credit with their prosperity), but they don’t save Israel. Then they decide to go back to the Lord for help (whom they had not recognized as the Giver of their blessings), but He will leave them to their embarrassment and their hollow religious holidays & observances.
Yet He holds out hope for a future time of blessings. Israel (symbolized as a wife) will yet call the Lord Ishi (“my husband”) instead of Baali (“my master”). Note the root of the word Baal (false god) and Baalim (false gods). Instead of worshipping Baalim, they will return to the Lord. And when they do, the Lord will bless (increase) the animals of the land, and take away wars. “And I will betroth thee unto me for ever; yea, I will betroth thee unto me in righteousness, and in judgment, and in lovingkindness, and in mercies.” The Lord will listen to the prayers of Israel, and Israel will listen to the Lord. The Lord will once again call Israel His people, and Israel will once again call the Lord their God.
Hosea 3
The Lord tells Hosea to take an adulteress as a wife as a symbol of the Lord making a covenant with Israel (who love other gods for the drunken parties involved in their worship). Hosea pays a bride price of 15 pieces of silver and about ¾ bushel (or about 45 lbs) of barley. He tells her she must be faithful to him, and he will be faithful to her. Israel will go a long time without rulers and statehood, but will in the end return to the Lord and the Davidic lineage of kings (the kingdom of Judah). Again, after the Assyrian captivity the remnant of Israel were left to Jewish leadership.
Hosea 41 Hear the word of the Lord, ye children of Israel: for the Lord hath a controversy with the inhabitants of the land, because there is no truth, nor mercy, nor knowledge of God in the land.
2 By swearing, and lying, and killing, and stealing, and committing adultery, they break out, and blood toucheth blood.
6 ¶ My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children.
7 As they were increased, so they sinned against me: therefore will I change their glory into shame.
Beside all the corruption and crime, Israel worships idols. Consequently, their wives will commit adultery, their daughters fornication, because the men are committing such in the worship of idols (which involved engaging with harlots). The Lord warns Judah not to join in that worship (centered in Gilgal and Bethel). Ephraim is another name for the northern kingdom of Israel, because their first king (Jeroboam) was from the tribe of Ephraim. They will one day be ashamed of their sacrifices to false gods.
Hosea 5
Hosea decries the wickedness of both the kingdoms of Israel & Judah, and foretells their punishment/consequences. Mizpeh (“watchtower” or “lookout”) was the place at which Laban & Jacob agreed not to cross the line against each other (Gen 31:49). Tabor was a mountain in the Jezreel valley (6 mi east of Nazareth, 11 mi sw of the Sea of Galilee. It’s only 2000’ above sea level, but looks taller because the valley of Jezreel is flat. https://www.gotquestions.org/Mount-Tabor.html The kings of Israel have not kept the truce of Mizpeh, and have entrapped/exploited the bounty of the harvest of Jezreel. They have been bloody rulers, despite the Lord’s rebuke. They refuse to limit their actions, nor turn to the Lord. They are proud of what they’ve done. They will fall in their wickedness, and so will the kingdom of Judah. When they seek the Lord, they won’t find Him. Their children are strangers to the Lord (haven’t been taught about Him). The cornet and trumpet announce battle. The possessions of both Israel & Judah will be spoiled, as if a moth got in the closet, or rottenness in the pantry (frig in modern terms). Israel sent to Assyria for help, but Assyria couldn’t fix the problems. Note the reference to lions, symbols of Assyrian kings.
“I will go and return to my place, till they acknowledge their offence, and seek my face: in their affliction they will seek me early.”
Hosea 6
Hosea pleads for Israel to return to the Lord. “O Ephraim, what shall I do unto thee? O Judah, what shall I do unto thee? for your goodness is as a morning cloud, and as the early dew it goeth away.” In other words, whatever good they do is fleeting.
“For I desired mercy, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.” Compare what Samuel said to King Saul (“to obey is better than sacrifice” 1 Sam 15:22 ) and Jesus in Mat 9:13 & 12:7.
The Lord likens the behavior of Israel to treachery/betrayal/treason . . . as in violating the covenants made in Moses’ time between God and the Children of Israel. Robbers ambush people for gain, and the priests murder the faith of people by committing lewdness. The kingdom of Israel is defiled, and Judah will benefit from an increase in population when the Lord brings His people out of captivity.
About Gilead:
https://www.gotquestions.org/land-of-Gilead.html
https://www.biblestudytools.com/dictionary/gilead/
https://www.biblegateway.com/resources/encyclopedia-of-the-bible/Gilead
Hosea 7
Hosea uses an oven metaphor to talk about the corrupt princes of the kingdom of Israel. They have degraded their king with lies, ill-gotten gains, wine, scorning righteousness, evil plans & preparations . . . a cake/bread not turned would burn on one side and not be done on the other. The kingdom of Israel doesn’t see itself for what it is. They foolishly turn to Egypt and Assyria, instead of the Lord. They behave like a silly dove, and they’ll be caught in the Lord’s net for it.
“Woe unto them! for they have fled from me: destruction unto them! because they have transgressed against me: though I have redeemed them, yet they have spoken lies against me.” They howl in misery for their troubles from their beds rather than turn their hearts to the Lord; they gather to eat and drink and (encourage one another to) rebel against the Lord. Despite the help the Lord has given them in battle, they think up ways to foment insurrection against Him. Egypt (whom they had sought for help) will just ridicule them.
Hosea 8
The Lord, through Hosea complains of Israel/Ephraim’s worship of idols, and the calves set up by Jeroboam. He proclaims the consequential Assyrian captivity. A trumpet signals the battle, an eagle swoops in and seizes its prey.
“For they have sown the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind”
Hosea 9
Because of Israel’s infidelity with other gods, and their other sins, their feast days will be full of sorrow rather than joy. Either symbolically or actually, they will return to their Egyptian bondage. The corruption of Gibeah refers to the incident In Judges 19-21 when the men of the town not only behaved like the men of Sodom (Gen 19: instead of offering the culturally expected hospitality, demanded to be given the traveler for their sexual pleasure), they brutalized the man’s concubine all night to death. The kingdom of Israel will pay for their sins.
The prophet (symbolized as a watchman) and the spiritual man are considered fools or madmen, and hated for catching Israel in their sins. The Lord had cherished Israel like grapes found in the wilderness, or a newly producing fig tree. But Israel went after the worship of the Moabite god (Baal) worshipped at Peor (reference to what happened as the Israelites were about to cross the Jordan River into the Promised Land under Joshua). As a result, Israel’s glory will abandon her. When the Lord ceases to be a Protector of Israel their children will be destroyed. Like Tyre, Israel was planted in an advantageous place, but Israel’s children will be murdered. Instead of reproductive fertility, they’ll have miscarriages and lack of lactating breasts. Gilgal was one of the locations for the worship of the calves that Jeroboam set up.
“My God will cast them away, because they did not hearken unto him: and they shall be wanderers among the nations.”
Hosea 10
The more Israel prospered the more idols were set up. The Lord will destroy all those. They figured if their king was removed because of their unbelief (they had lost the Lord’s protection, so the king was removed by foreign powers), what could any king do to them? They have made contracts they didn’t intend to honor. Judgment will come upon them. Weeds growing up in the field are pesky, but a hemlock having taken root in a field could become indestructible. Such would be their fate.
The calves of Beth-aven refers to one of the places of false (calf-god) worship set up by Jeroboam. Whereas it was prosperous, it will be impoverished, shamed, destroyed. Samaria, as the capital of the northern kingdom of Israel, will see her king disappear as easily as foam on water. The place of calf-worship will be destroyed such that thorny weeds will overtake it. The destruction will be so bad the people will wish they could be buried under mountains.
Once again Gibeah is referenced (see Hosea 9), when the tribes of Israel all came and destroyed the city of Gibeah for the wickedness of its men.
Hosea invokes the metaphor of cattle obediently/dutifully working the land and in the harvest to implore “Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground: for it is time to seek the Lord, till he come and rain righteousness upon you.” Instead of that, Israel has cultivated wickedness. Israel has trusted her own judgment and her armies rather than God.
About Shalman, see https://biblehub.com/topical/s/shalman.htm
Hosea 11When Israel was a child, then I loved him, and called my son out of Egypt.
The Lord rescued the Children of Israel from bondage in Israel. He brought the child Jesus back from a sojourn in Egypt when his family fled Herod’s murderous rampage against anyone who might be a competitor to him or his family. God calls/rescues us, His children, from bondage to modern idolatries.
But the Children of Israel turned to idol (Baalim) worship. The Lord had a prophet anoint a king (Jeroboam) from the tribe of Ephraim to lead the northern kingdom of Israel, but they (led by king Jeroboam) didn’t acknowledge His help. God was like the owner of a horse or other beast of burden leading his animal lovingly, and releasing it from its bridle to feed (“The word ‘meat,’ when our English version was made, meant food in general; or if any particular kind was designated, it referred to meal, flour or grain.” https://www.biblestudytools.com/dictionaries/smiths-bible-dictionary/meat.html ).
Israel won’t return to bondage in Egypt, but be captive of Assyria, because they would not return to the Lord. War will continue on Israel’s cities and consume them, devour them, because of their unrighteous decisions. They were called to come to the most High, but they were unwilling to praise Him or consider Him as exalted.
As a loving Father, the Lord laments, “How shall I give thee up, Ephraim? how shall I deliver thee, Israel? how shall I make thee as Admah? how shall I set thee as Zeboim? mine heart is turned within me, my repentings are kindled together.” Admah & Zeboiim were 2 cities near Sodom & Gomorrah, and were destroyed with them. But, “I am God, and not man”, He says. He feels sorrow, but doesn’t have to repent in the same way that humans do. In these verses He says He won’t punish Israel (as He has already said He would), but in context, that would be if Israel returned to Him. If they would return to Him, He would be in their midst (not enter the cities, implying in battle). If they would walk in the ways of the Lord, He would protect them like a lion against enemies from the west (or anywhere). Israel’s enemies would tremble like birds in Egypt and Assyria. He would settle them in their homes in safety. But in contradiction to that vision of what could be, Ephraim/Israel is full of lies and deceits. As of yet, Judah is ruled by the God-fearing and faithful as the holy men/women of old.
Hosea 12
Ephraim/Israel, instead of seeking things substantial, gulps the wind. Everyday he increases lies and destruction (of the truth, or his own land). They try to make alliances with Assyria and Egypt, implying that these alliances will be as insubstantial as wind, or will lead to the destruction of their land.
The Lord is not satisfied with behavior of the Jews either, and will punish all of Jacob/Israel in recompense of their choices. He refers to the birth of Jacob & Esau, when Jacob took Esau by the heel. Jacob was strengthened by God. Jacob struggled with an angel and won. Jacob sought and found the Lord in Bethel. The Lord spoke to Israel (the nation through the man). The Lord keeps Israel in His memory. So, Hosea implores Israel, “Therefore turn thou to thy God: keep mercy and [righteous] judgment, and wait on thy God continually.”
But the Israelites are like a deceitful merchant with false balances (means of measure), who loves oppressing/stepping on others to succeed. Ephraim/Israel boasts that he’s become wealthy with all he’s done, and no one calls him out or holds him to judgment/accountability for his crimes. The Lord reminds them that He brought them out of Israel. That the Lord will make the Israelites live in booths might be either that their houses are destroyed, or that they will begin to celebrate the feasts/Holy Days that the Lord called for. The Lord has spoken to Israel through prophets, visions, and symbolisms. Yet the people sacrifice vainly everywhere—as ubiquitously as piles of rocks in a field (anyone who has farmed in a rocky region will recognize this picture). About Gilead, see https://www.compellingtruth.org/land-of-Gilead.html
Hosea returns to references of Jacob’s life, when Jacob fled to his uncle Laban (who lived in land ruled by Syria), and worked as a shepherd for him to earn the bride price of a wife. Remember that the Lord had covenanted to be with Jacob. By the prophet Moses the Lord brought the Children of Israel out of Egypt, and took care of them. But Ephraim/Israel provoked the Lord “most bitterly”, and will receive the consequences of that.
Hosea 13
When Jeroboam, of the tribe of Ephraim, was yet insecure, he managed to become king. But he offended the Lord by turning the people to idols. An now the Israelites worship more and more idols, which are made by craftsmen. Jeroboam set up the worship of calves, wherein either physically or metaphorically people would kiss them. Therefore, Israel will disperse like a morning cloud, or the early dew. They’ll be like chaff blowing in the wind or whirlwind, or as ephemeral as smoke.
But eventually Israel will recognize that the Lord is the only God, the only savior. He took care of them in the wilderness, the desert. He gave them pasture (see Psalm 23), fed them, lifted up their hearts. And yet they have forgotten all He did for them. Like a lion or a leopard watches its prey, the Lord has His eye on Israel, and will attack them as furiously as a mother bear whose cubs have been killed or taken away.
“O Israel, thou hast destroyed thyself; but in me is thine help.”
The Lord offers to be Israel’s king. Can anyone else save them? He gave them a king when they asked (under Samuel the prophet, and later Jeroboam was anointed king over the northern tribes), and took away the king(s) when he was angry with them (eg Saul and other kings through their history). He offers to bind up (as a wound) their iniquities and cover their sins. But because of their rebellion against the Lord, they will be hurting as a woman in birth. The Israelites are like a foolish son, who hangs around in the birthing room.
The Lord offers to pay off their debt (in that they are worthy of destruction), and save them from destruction (death & the grave). The Lord will not change His mind, if they will just return to Him.
But despite such a bounteous land they have enjoyed, it will be as if an east wind (off the desert) brings drought & famine, dries up the springs, and the crops are all spoiled. In this case, that the wind comes from the east can be metaphorical as well as physical, the “wind” from the east meaning also Assyria. All the beautiful containers full of treasures (agricultural or financial wealth) will be spoiled/despoiled. Samaria (the capital city, representing the northern kingdom of Israel), will be ruined, because she rebelled against God. They will fall by the sword, their children dashed to pieces, and their pregnant women ripped up. (Such barbarity causes us to shudder for them even to this day).
Hosea 14—a plea and promises for Israel to return to the Lord1 O Israel, return unto the Lord thy God; for thou hast fallen by thine iniquity.
2 Take with you words, and turn to the Lord: say unto him, Take away all iniquity, and receive us graciously: so will we render the calves of our lips. [Remember the promises of Moses if they repent.]
3 Asshur [Assyria] shall not save us; we will not ride [in pride] upon horses: neither will we say any more to the work of our hands, Ye are our gods: for in thee [God] the fatherless findeth mercy.
4 ¶ I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely: for mine anger is turned away from him.
5 I will be as the dew unto Israel: he shall grow as the lily, and cast forth his roots as Lebanon [known for its cedars].
6 His branches shall spread, and his beauty shall be as the olive tree, and his smell as Lebanon.
7 They that dwell under his shadow shall return; they shall revive as the corn [grain], and grow as the vine: the scent thereof shall be as the wine of Lebanon.
8 Ephraim shall say, What have I to do any more with idols? I [God] have heard him [Israel], and observed him: I am like a green fir tree [which offers great shade and wood products, symbolizes strength and wealth]. From me is thy fruit [or nuts] found.
9 Who is wise, and he shall understand these things? prudent, and he shall know them? for the ways of the Lord are right, and the just shall walk in them: but the transgressors shall fall therein.
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