One thing I like to do in this book with so much prophecy is circle the word "will".....
The Song of the Vineyard symbolizes how God planted in fertile soil and tended to it, but bad fruit was produced (his chosen people did not listen), so he will have to destroy the vineyard and Isaiah points out in verse 5:7 that the vineyard of the Lord Almighty is the house of Israel and the men of Judah......God will judge, because He is a God of justice.
When you see the word "woe", think of it as "WARNING"...or "how horrible"
Isaiah 6 is amazing....I think the book of Isaiah should have started with this chapter, because it is Isaiah's commission....he gets to see the real throne room of God..God is so big that the train of his robe fills the temple....Isaiah sees the holiness of God and it collides with the unholiness (sinful nature) that Isaiah was created with....the painful cleansing process of the coal to his is necessary before Isaiah can do what God calls him to do. God asks who will go, and Isaiah answers SEND ME... verses 9-13 shows that most people will not listen to Isaiah in his lifetime, but verse 13 which addresses "the tenth" talks about the remnant. This will be the part of the Jewish people that believe and remain and the Lord can keep his covenant with them.
Chapter 7 is setting up how Assyria will be used to defeat the land. If you see "Ephriam" that is the northern part of Israel. Isaiah's son is called Shear-Jashub which means "a remnant will return"....this is the physical sign of remembrance. God tries to use Isaiah to give King Ahaz a chance to listen to God and assure him that God will protect the nation. God even wants to give Ahaz a sign, but Ahaz doesn't want to listen...therefore God is going to use Assyria as a tool of judgment on the nation. God did not want Ahaz to look to a foreign power to save the nation; he wanted King Ahaz to trust Him. Ephriam (Northern Kingdom) had already aligned themselves with Assyria (see 7:2)...and remember that ARAM is ASSYRIA.
Flies and bees are symbols of God's judgement (see Exodus 23:28)...and God foreshadows Jesus/Immanuel (God is with us) and this is Ahaz's sign anyway, even if he didn't want one. A PRETTY MAJOR SIGN......
Chapter 8 has God telling Isaiah that the prophecy needs to be written down so people will "see" the truth-this is prophecy of Isaiah's next son Mather-Shalal-Hash-Baz which means "quick to plunder, swift to the spoil"-you will see how this prophecy relates to Assyria a bit later in our readings......8:3 has Isaiah going to his wife (she is a prophetess) and she conceives the son we just mentioned. 8:16 "bind up the testimony" and "seal up the law" means that these words that are written down will be passed down 8:21 points out that the people of Judah are going to blame God for their trials instead of taking responsibility. We don't ever do that, do we?
Look what comes up from the depths of the sea.
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this is a HARD book to read....would not have a clue if not for your notes.....
ReplyDeleteIt is a tough book to read....I never would have gotten stuff had I not done a Precept upon Precept in depth Bible study...we really had to dig, and it was worth it.
ReplyDeleteThough I do see a typo I made....Aram is SYRIA not ASSYRIA....
ReplyDelete