ISAIAH 27-28: “Apocalyptic Vision, Part 3: Deliverance Of
By
1.
INTRO
1.1.
In our last study we
continued to look at the apocalyptic vision of the end times from chapters 25
and 26, and we saw how that once Israel had repented and turned to Jesus as her
Savior and the Millennial Reign of Christ began, that all over the world God’s
people there would rise up a song of praise and thanksgiving for all of the
benefits and blessings that salvation brings
1.1.1.
God would reveal to His
people at this time
1.1.1.1.The true blessings that come as a result of knowing salvation through
Christ
1.1.1.2.His faithfulness
1.1.1.3.His ability to be strong on their behalf
1.1.1.4.His ability to protect His people as He is their rock of refuge
1.2.
In our study today we are
going to finish looking at the Apocalyptic Vision for the whole world, and see
how that chapter 27 tells us of the deliverance that is coming of
2.
VS 27:1 - “1 In that day the Lord will
punish Leviathan the fleeing serpent, With His fierce and great and mighty
sword, Even Leviathan the twisted serpent;
And He will kill the dragon who lives in the sea.” - Isaiah tells us that in the
day that the Lord establishes His kingdom on the earth He is going to punish
Leviathan and the dragon
2.1.
There are other places in the scriptures
where ‘Leviathan’ is mentioned:
2.1.1.
In Job 3:8
and 41:1, we have another account
of ‘Leviathan’ being used, however in that book, which is possibly the oldest
book in the Bible, we most likely have accounts written of creatures that are
now extinct and which we call “dinosaurs” today, “8 “Let
those curse it who curse the day, Who are prepared to rouse Leviathan…1 “Can
you draw out Leviathan with a fishhook?
Or press down his tongue with a cord?”
2.1.1.1.There
are other accounts recorded in history of creatures such as dragons, etc. which
have been described that seem to resemble some of the dinosaurs whose bones
people have dug up.
2.1.1.2.Also,
occasionally a creature that was once considered to be an extinct dinosaur is
discovered alive somewhere on earth.
2.1.1.3.In
a few of the fossil records there have been found human prints or skeletons
right where dinosaur skeletons have been found, so it appears that contrary to
what many scientists believe, dinosaurs are not nearly as old as what
scientists tells us and they existed on the earth alongside man.
2.1.1.3.1.Scientists
say the dinosaurs existed millions of years before man, however many scientists
have pointed out in recent years that the whole carbon dating method by which
dinosaur bones have been dated has shown itself to be completely unreliable. A number of books document this.
2.1.2.
In Ps. 74:14
and 104:26, we have another account
in the scriptures of ‘Leviathan’, however in those verses it appears that a sea
monster such as a great whale or crocodile is being described, “14 Thou didst crush the heads of Leviathan; Thou didst give him as food for the creatures
of the wilderness…26 There the ships move along, And Leviathan, which Thou hast
formed to sport in it.”
2.2.
The Hebrew word translated ‘Leviathan’ in
this verse has it’s origin described thusly by the New Bible
Dictionary, “It is generally thought to be from a root laµwaÆ, cf. Arab. lawaµ, ‘bend’, ‘twist’. Its literal meaning would then be
‘wreathed’, i.e. ‘gathering itself in folds’. Some scholars have
suggested that it may be a foreign loan-word, possibly of Bab. origin.”
2.3.
‘Leviathan’ in this verse refers to
nations. The New Bible
Dictionary then explains what is the usage of ‘Leviathan’ in
this verse, “It is used twice symbolically in Is. 27:1, referring
to the empires of Assyria (the ‘fleeing’ serpent is the swift-flowing Tigris)
and Babylonia (the ‘twisting’ serpent is the
2.4.
When the Lord moves to judge the nations,
Isaiah is saying in this verse that He is also going to judge and bring down
the Assyrian empire as well as the city of
2.5.
The ‘dragon’ that lives in the sea is most
likely a reference to the serpent of old, the Devil. Christ is going to (‘kill’) remove completely
from power the Devil when He moves to establish His kingdom upon the earth.
3.
VS 27:2-6 - “2 In that day, “A vineyard of
wine, sing of it! 3 “I, the Lord, am its
keeper; I water it every moment. Lest anyone damage it, I guard it night and
day. 4 “I have no wrath. Should someone give Me briars and thorns in
battle, Then I would step on them, I would burn them completely. 5 “Or let him rely on My protection, Let him
make peace with Me, Let him make peace with Me.” 6 In the days to come Jacob will take root,
3.1.
In the scripture
3.1.1.
In Isaiah 5:1-2
we read about Israel as being the Lord’s vineyard, however that instead of
producing good grapes it produced only bad ones, “1 Let me
sing now for my well-beloved A song of my beloved concerning His vineyard. My well-beloved had a vineyard on a fertile
hill. 2 And He dug it all around,
removed its stones, And planted it with the choicest vine. And He built a tower in the middle of it, And
hewed out a wine vat in it; Then He
expected it to produce good grapes, But it produced only worthless ones.”
3.2.
In these verses we see what the Lord’s
vineyard will do when He is tends it Himself.
Then, it will get only the best nurturing and therefore produce the best
grapes. The many ways in which the Lord
says that He will be careful to tend His vineyard should serve as an example
for all of those who are called to be leaders over God’s vineyard and tend His
precious vines:
3.2.1.
He will water it each day.
3.2.1.1.In
Eph. 5:25-28, Paul wrote about how that husbands in their treatment of their
wives are to be like the Lord who sanctifies us by the washing of water by the
word of God. The vineyard of God’s
people need to have their leaders regularly water them with the word of God which
they teach to the people.
3.2.2.
He will guard it night and day so that no one
is able to damage it.
3.2.2.1.As
a shepherd guards his sheep, so a vine-keeper should guard his precious vine,
and so should the shepherd over the
3.2.3.
He will have ‘no wrath’ towards His vineyard.
3.2.3.1.The
Lord disciplines His people not in wrath but in love. He wounds only so that He can gently
heal. The shepherds of God’s people must
not beat the sheep and treat them harshly but rather love them to such an
extent that they are the healthiest and best loved and best fed sheep anywhere.
3.2.4.
Briars and thorns, people who refuse to make
peace with the Lord and let Him be their protection, will be immediately
stepped on and burned up so that they will not be allowed to grow up near the
vineyard and hurt any of the precious grapes on the vine.
3.2.4.1.Harmful
influences must be quickly removed from God’s vineyard. When people come in among God’s people who
would be used of the enemy to lead them astray God’s leaders must stomp out
their attacks immediately so that none of God’s precious vines are damaged.
3.3.
Isaiah tells us that under the Lord’s tender
care of His people
4.
VS 27:7-10 - “7 Like the striking of Him who
has struck them, has He struck them? Or
like the slaughter of His slain, have they been slain? 8 Thou didst contend with them by banishing
them, by driving them away. With His fierce wind He has expelled them on the
day of the east wind. 9 Therefore
through this Jacob’s iniquity will be forgiven;
And this will be the full price of the pardoning of his sin: When he makes all the altar stones like
pulverized chalk stones; When Asherim
and incense altars will not stand. 10
For the fortified city is isolated, A homestead forlorn and forsaken like the
desert; There the calf will graze, And
there it will lie down and feed on its branches.” - Isaiah tells us of how the Lord is planning
to strike
4.1.
God’s disciplining of the people of Judea and
4.1.1.
Isaiah tells us how that the Lord will strike
4.2.
The Lord is planning to banish, drive away,
and expel His people in
4.3.
After God’s discipline is complete against
4.3.1.
Judea went into 70 years of captivity to
4.4.
Jerusalem is ‘the fortified city’, for this
was the effort of Hezekiah, to reinforce her walls and build a covered conduit
for her water source, however because God will not relent His judgment of her
she shall be isolated, forlorn, and forsaken like a desert place.
4.5.
Where once there was a bustling city, when
God moves to judge
5.
VS 27:11 - “11 When its limbs are dry, they
are broken off; Women come and make a
fire with them. For they are not a
people of discernment, Therefore their Maker will not have compassion on them. And their Creator will not be gracious to
them.” - Isaiah sees the city of
5.1.
The city is desolate, cows are grazing where
once the city stood. When the Lord has
moved to judge
5.2.
God will judge them because they are ‘not a
people of discernment’. They refused to
acknowledge or heed the words of the prophets which were sent to them. As we have seen they had the attitude, “Lets
eat, drink, and be merry for tomorrow we shall die.” They should have repented and turned directly
back into the hands of the Lord who was promising to judge and overthrow them.
5.3.
When God moves to judge a people He does not
have mercy upon them, nor as Isaiah tells us here will He now be ‘gracious’ to
them. Grace and mercy will be things of
the past when the Lord moves to judge a people.
6.
VS 27:12-13 - “12 And it will come about in
that day, that the Lord will start His threshing from the flowing stream of the
Euphrates to the brook of Egypt; and you will be gathered up one by one, O sons
of Israel. 13 It will come about also in
that day that a great trumpet will be blown; and those who were perishing in
the land of Assyria and who were scattered in the land of Egypt will come and
worship the Lord in the holy mountain at Jerusalem.” - Isaiah tells us that the Lord
is going to separate His people from the wicked on the earth at the time that
the ‘great trumpet’ is blown, and all of them will come to Jerusalem to worship
the Lord
6.1.
Threshing is what is done at harvest. The good wheat or corn is ‘threshed’ or
picked and brought into the barn. A
“threshing sledge” was driven over grain in Isaiah’s day when it was harvested.
6.1.1.
The Bible Knowledge Commentary brings out
with this word the idea of ‘judging’, as if in the process of picking corn or
wheat the good corn or wheat is kept while the rest is discarded.
6.2.
The idea is that on that Day of Judgment when
the ‘great trumpet’ is blown the Lord is going to bring from all over the
earth, wherever they may be scattered, His people, and His people only, to His
land where they will worship Him. This
day referred to would have to be the Second Coming of Christ at the end of the
7 Year Tribulation of the book of Revelation when Christ will then inaugurate
His Millennial Reign.
6.2.1.
In Matt. 24:31,
Jesus taught us that at the end of the 7 Year Tribulation that the angels will
go all over the earth and gather together God’s people, “31 “And He will send forth His angels with a great trumpet and they will gather together His elect from
the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other.”
6.3.
Which trumpet is the ‘great trumpet’ that is
blown? There are many trumpet blasts
that are written about in the Bible. In Rev. 11:15 we may have the best candidate for this one
mentioned in these verses, for we read that when the seventh and final trumpet
judgment occurs and the angel blows the trumpet that it is announced that the
earth now belongs to the Lord and His kingdom, “15 And the
seventh angel sounded; and there arose loud voices in heaven, saying, “The
kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord, and of His Christ; and
He will reign forever and ever.””
7.
VS 28:1-4 - “1 Woe to the proud crown of the
drunkards of Ephraim, And to the fading flower of its glorious beauty, Which is
at the head of the fertile valley Of those who are overcome with wine! 2 Behold, the Lord has a strong and mighty
agent; As a storm of hail, a tempest of
destruction, Like a storm of mighty overflowing waters, He has cast it down to
the earth with His hand. 3 The proud
crown of the drunkards of Ephraim is trodden under foot. 4 And the fading flower of its glorious
beauty, Which is at the head of the fertile valley, Will be like the first-ripe
fig prior to summer; Which one sees, And
as soon as it is in his hand, He swallows it.” - Isaiah tells of the coming judgment to
Ephraim (symbolizing the northern kingdom of
7.1.
We have now begun the next
section of the book of Isaiah that runs from chapter 28 through 37 and which is
demarked by 6 woes. The purpose of the
section is to show that it is the Lord who is determining and ruling over
history, for He is the one behind the rise and fall of every nation. This knowledge then is determined for giving
us assurance that the Lord will indeed perform everything that He has promised
to perform in His word. Alec Motyer
suggests that the ‘woes’ that separate this next section actually present the
“idea of a summons to the bar of judgment.”
7.2.
In this chapter we begin looking at the ‘woe’
pronounced against Ephraim, symbolizing the northern kingdom. It is a ‘woe’ pronounced against the
‘drunkards’. Drunkenness was common in
7.3.
We know that the nation of Assyria was the
one which took the northern kingdom captive and caused her dispersion amongst the
nations, and that
7.4.
The conquest of Ephraim will be incredibly
thorough and destructive. The Assyrian
kingdom is the strong and mighty agent who will come against the land like a
mighty hail storm, a tempest of destruction, and mighty overflowing waters
which were cast down at the hand of the Lord.
7.4.1.
When we lived in
7.4.2.
We have all seen on television pictures of
mighty floods in South America, India, etc. which come unexpectedly upon
villages and a gigantic wall of water washes away all of the homes, hundreds
and even thousands of people, all animals, etc.
7.5.
The ‘fading flower of it’s glorious beauty’
which is at the head of the fertile valley is the city of
7.5.1.
The Treasury Of
Scripture Knowledge has the following entry concerning the city
of
8.
VS 28:5-6 - “5 In that day the Lord of hosts
will become a beautiful crown And a glorious diadem to the remnant of His
people; 6 A spirit of justice for him
who sits in judgment, A strength to those who repel the onslaught at the gate.” - Isaiah tells us that when the
Lord judges the northern kingdom that He Himself will become the ‘beautiful
crown and diadem’ of His remnant people
8.1.
The northern kingdom had reveled in it’s own
beauty and saw itself as a ‘beautiful crown’, however the Lord will not let any
man take that which belongs to Him, which is all of the glory. Thus, He will bring down Ephraim so that He
may take His proper place in worship among His people.
8.1.1.
We Christians need to realize this principle
from God’s word. We must not take God’s
glory and be filled up with ourselves, our own abilities, our own works, etc.,
or God will also bring us completely down just the way He has already brought
down many mighty nations and one day will bring down every nation.
8.2.
The incredible thing about the Lord however
is that when we humble ourselves and place the Lord first in our life and as
our only object of our worship, He in turn shares with us His glory. We will receive a glorified body just as
Christ’s (1 John 3:2; 1 Cor. 15:43) and we shall even reign with Him (2 Tim.
2:12; Rev. 20:6; Rev. 3:21) the
scriptures teach.
8.3.
What a great promise we have in verse 6, for
the Lord promises to bring ‘justice’ to His remnant people, be their ‘strength’
and ‘repel’ their enemies on the day when He places Himself to be their only
object of worship.
8.3.1.
Even today we can look to the Lord to execute
‘justice’ on our behalf, and to be our ‘strength’ and ‘repel’ those who are our
enemies.
9.
VS 28:7-8 - “7 And these also reel with wine
and stagger from strong drink: The
priest and the prophet reel with strong drink, They are confused by wine, they
stagger from strong drink; They reel
while having visions, They totter when rendering judgment.8 For all the tables
are full of filthy vomit, without a single clean place.” - Isaiah tells us that even the
priests and prophets in Ephraim were drunkards
9.1.
The prophets and priests would reel back and
forth, stagger with strong drink, and be confused while they are supposedly
having ‘visions’ from the Lord and rendering questionable judgments at law
which concern God’s precious people. For
this they will be judged and removed by the Lord.
9.2.
Drunkards tend to vomit when they tie one on,
and here we see that perhaps using some hyperbole (exaggeration to make a
point) as Jesus sometimes did (for instance a ‘log’ in your own eye), he says
that all of the tables in the land are ‘full of filthy vomit’ and that there is
not a ‘single clean place’.
9.2.1.
It could be that the ‘filthy vomit’ actually
is symbolic and refers to the way their deeds appear before the Lord, or, it
could refer to their judgments which they utter from their mouths.
10.
VS 28:9-13 - “9 “To whom would He teach
knowledge? And to whom would He
interpret the message? Those just weaned
from milk? Those just taken from the
breast? 10 “For He says, ‘Order on
order, order on order, Line on line, line on line, A little here, a little
there.’” 11 Indeed, He will speak to
this people Through stammering lips and a foreign tongue. 12 He who said to them, “Here is rest, give
rest to the weary,” And, “Here is
repose,” but they would not listen. 13
So the word of the Lord to them will be, “Order on order, order on order, Line
on line, line on line, A little here, a little there. That they may go and stumble backward, be
broken, snared, and taken captive.” - Isaiah tells us what type of people would be
willing to hear God’s word and how they need to be taught it
10.1.
The people in
10.1.1.This
attitude of the people in
10.1.1.1.People
today often don’t want to become Christians because the gospel message seems to
them to be too simplistic. Just trusting
in the finished work of Jesus upon the cross for their sins doesn’t seem like
it would be enough to save them from their sins and get them to heaven.
10.1.1.2.The
church in our day has in large quit trusting in the Lord to build the work, and
realizing that if they are just where the Lord wants them to be that He will
bless the work and multiply it. Instead
churches are trying to rely on the strength of man-made marketing techniques to
market the church. Often in churches we
see that salesmanship replaces prayer, building ministries based upon
seeker-friendly schemes replaces looking to the admonitions in the word of God
for building the church, preaching a popular prosperity gospel replaces
preaching a gospel of self-sacrifice, etc.
10.2.
Isaiah may be using a play on words or sounds
in his description of the type of teaching that the people need to hear. He uses words that emphasize the most basic
way in which young children are taught, as if in our day he were to say that we
need to learn the ‘ABC’s’ of God’s word.
Isaiah says that the people need to have the most basic foundation of
God’s word inculcated to them and be taught, ‘order on order, order on order,
Line on line, line on line, A little here, a little there’.
10.2.1.Teaching
verse by verse through the word of God as we do in the Calvary Chapel churches
helps us to have the most basic foundation laid for the Christian life.
10.2.2.This
type of teaching does indeed bring ‘rest to the weary’ and ‘repose’, for when
God’s people are taught the milk of the word of God sequentially through the
word, that word does indeed bring peace in their hearts as it gives them a
foundation which becomes an anchor to their souls (Heb. 6:19).
10.3.
Verse 11 is an interesting verse, for it says
that the Lord is going to speak to His people through ‘stammering lips and a
foreign tongue’, and this probably means in this context that a foreign nation
will be the vehicle through which the Lord speaks to His people, for He is
going to use the Assyrian nation to discipline His people as they take them
into captivity.
10.3.1.Interestingly,
in 1 Cor. 14:21 Paul wrote about how that when the church spoke in tongues on
the day of Pentecost that this fulfilled this prophesy from Isaiah as the
speaking in tongues was used as a sign to the people from all nations who each
one heard them speak, each one in his own native language.
10.4.
The latter part of verse 13 is interesting
because it describes how God draws men and women to Himself through His
word. They are taught the word a little
bit at a time, precept upon precept, and then at some point they will stumble
in their lives and that same word of God will be used to break, snare, and take
them captive. God uses His word to
convict men and women of their innate sinfulness, as it reveals the thoughts
and intentions of their hearts, and when people finally realize the true nature
of their hearts and character by stumbling and falling into a season of sin,
then God reveals to them also that they are loved by Him and that He will
forgive, cleanse, and restore them. This
time however they will be built up by the righteousness of Christ, since they
no longer trust in their own self-righteousness, and they will realize that
they need to trust in His strength since their own is insufficient, and they
need to pray for His love in their lives since their love is so shallow and
falls so short, and they need to let Him have complete control of things since
every time they take the throne of their lives they just mess everything up.
11.
VS 28:14-18 - “14 Therefore, hear the word of
the Lord, O scoffers, Who rule this people who are in Jerusalem, 15 Because you
have said, “We have made a covenant with death, And with Sheol we have made a
pact. The overwhelming scourge will not
reach us when it passes by, For we have made falsehood our refuge and we have
concealed ourselves with deception.” 16
Therefore thus says the Lord God, “Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a
tested stone, A costly cornerstone for the foundation, firmly placed. He who believes in it will not be
disturbed. 17 “And I will make justice
the measuring line, And righteousness the level; Then hail shall sweep away the refuge of
lies, And the waters shall overflow the secret place. 18 “And your covenant with death shall be
canceled, And your pact with Sheol shall not stand; When the overwhelming scourge passes through,
Then you become its trampling place.” - Isaiah tells us that the rulers in Jerusalem
are ‘scoffers’ and the covenant that they have made with death (that they will
pledge allegiance to Egypt even to the death if she will protect them) is a
covenant with falsehood as their refuge, and now because they have done this
the Lord is bring about a cornerstone for the foundation of the nation and men
who trust in it will not be disturbed but everyone else shall not stand but be
trampled
11.1.
Being known as a ‘scoffer’ was a serious
offense in
11.1.1.In
Prov. 1:22 Solomon wrote about those
who scoffed at the word and promises of God showing they were akin to the naïve
and fools, “22 “How long, O naive
ones, will you love simplicity? And
scoffers delight themselves in scoffing, And fools hate knowledge?”
11.1.2.In
Acts 13:41, Paul preached to the
Jews at synagogue calling them scoffers as he told them about how that the Lord
was going to do a new work in their midst which they would never believe even
though it should be described to them, “41 ‘Behold,
you scoffers, and marvel, and perish;
For I am accomplishing a work in your days, A work which you will never
believe, though someone should describe it to you.’””
11.2.
The people in Jerusalem had made a pact with
Egypt to pay them tribute if Egypt were to be their protector, however this was
a very foolish covenant they had made for Egypt would not be able to protect
them against Assyria and Babylon (who would take them captive), and therefore
the covenant they had made with Egypt was a covenant of falsehood, for it would
not and could not be kept by Egypt.
11.3.
In Isaiah’s day when buildings were erected
they would place them on a foundation that was anchored upon four huge corner
stones. Some of these cornerstones could
end up being huge. The Messiah to come
is the chief cornerstone upon which God’s kingdom and plans for mankind is
based.
11.4.
The Lord now puts before the people a curse
and a blessing, if they will look for their strength and hope to the Messianic
chief cornerstone which the Lord was committed to bring to them, then no nation
would be able to overrun their land and take them captive. They would live. However, if they chose to disregard this
Messianic chief cornerstone who was prophesied to come for the nation, then
they would be trampled for the Lord would destroy every nation who placed their
hope in the arm of man.
11.4.1.Those
who trusted in the Lord and His coming Messiah to be the hope and strength of
the nation would be undisturbed, however those who did not would face the
justice and righteousness of God who would sweep away the refuge of lies (the
deception involved in trusting in the arm of man), the waters would overflow
even the secret place of people’s trumped up place of refuge, and the
overwhelming scourge would trample them.
11.4.2.Grace
and mercy would be received through faith placed in the Messiah to come,
however for those who refuse the promise of grace and mercy then they will
instead face the justice and righteousness of God, and perish in His wrath.
11.4.2.1.This
is in essence the gospel message when you think about it. It was the message Isaiah was given to preach
to the Jews. They could place their
faith in the Lord and His promised Messiah for their strength, hope, and
righteousness, or they could perish because of their own sins.
11.4.2.2.In
the book of Acts we see that Paul quoted this passage to the Jews at times as a
warning that if they didn’t place their faith in this promised cornerstone that
they would stumble over it and be crushed by it.
12.
VS 28:19-22 - “19 “As often as it passes
through, it will seize you. For morning
after morning it will pass through, anytime during the day or night. And it will be sheer terror to understand
what it means.” 20 The bed is too short
on which to stretch out, And the blanket is too small to wrap oneself in. 21 For the Lord will rise up as at Mount
Perazim, He will be stirred up as in the valley of Gibeon; To do His task, His unusual task, And to work
His work, His extraordinary work. 22 And
now do not carry on as scoffers, Lest your fetters be made stronger; For I have heard from the Lord God of hosts, Of decisive destruction on all the
earth.” -
Isaiah tells us in effect that Israel has made her bed and that now she
is going to have to sleep in it, for the Lord is going to judge her performing
His ‘unusual task’ and ‘extraordinary work’
12.1.
Again, Isaiah could have told us in this
chapter that destruction would occur to the northern kingdom through Assyria
and captivity for the southern kingdom through
12.2.
The nation of Assyria would overrun the
12.3.
The people of
12.4.
Isaiah tells us that when the Lord rises up
to judge His people Israel that it will come about in just as incredible and
powerful a way as a couple of other victories when He fought for Israel:
12.4.1.In
2 Sam. 5:20-21, King David went
up against the Philistines and the Lord provided an incredible victory over the
Philistines there, and thus the place was named Baal-Perazim, “20 So David came to Baal-perazim, and defeated them there; and he
said, “The Lord has broken through my enemies before me like the breakthrough
of waters.” Therefore he named that place Baal-perazim.21 And they abandoned
their idols there, so David and his men carried them away.”
12.4.2.In
Joshua 10:6-14, we read about how
that the Lord powerfully defeated the Amorites when Joshua was leading the
people, even stopping the rotation of the earth when Joshua prayed so that he
could fully defeat them, “6 Then the men of Gibeon
sent word to Joshua to the camp at Gilgal, saying, “Do not abandon your
servants; come up to us quickly and save us and help us, for all the kings of
the Amorites that live in the hill country have assembled against us.”7 So
Joshua went up from Gilgal, he and all the people of war with him and all the
valiant warriors.8 And the Lord said to Joshua, “Do not fear them, for I have
given them into your hands; not one of them shall stand before you.”9 So Joshua
came upon them suddenly by marching all night from Gilgal.10 And the Lord
confounded them before Israel, and He slew them with a great slaughter at
Gibeon, and pursued them by the way of the ascent of Beth-horon, and struck
them as far as Azekah and Makkedah.11 And it came about as they fled from
before Israel, while they were at the descent of Beth-horon, that the Lord
threw large stones from heaven on them as far as Azekah, and they died; there
were more who died from the hailstones than those whom the sons of Israel
killed with the sword. 12 Then Joshua
spoke to the Lord in the day when the Lord delivered up the Amorites before the
sons of
12.5.
The Lord prefers to pour out His mercy and
grace on men and build them up rather than destroy them, however if men
continue on in their rebellion against the Lord He will eventually judge them
because of His just and righteous character.
However, when God moves to judge He is actually doing something that is
unusual or extraordinary for Him.
12.6.
Isaiah warns the ‘scoffers’ in Israel who
didn’t believe in God’s words and promises uttered by the prophets and in His
law, that if they did not heed his words the chains or fetters that held them
would just become tighter and stronger.
This is because destruction is promised from the Lord for the earth and
all the nations, for all of the nations have rebelled against Him.
13.
VS 28:23-29 - “23 Give ear and hear my voice,
Listen and hear my words. 24 Does the
farmer plow continually to plant seed?
Does he continually turn and harrow the ground? 25 Does he not level its surface, And sow
dill and scatter cummin, And plant wheat in rows, Barley in its place, and rye
within its area? 26 For his God
instructs and teaches him properly. 27
For dill is not threshed with a threshing sledge, Nor is the cartwheel driven
over cummin; But dill is beaten out with
a rod, and cummin with a club. 28 Grain
for bread is crushed, Indeed, he does not continue to thresh it forever. Because the wheel of his cart and his horses
eventually damage it, He does not thresh it longer. 29 This also comes from the Lord of hosts,
Who has made His counsel wonderful and His wisdom great.” - Isaiah tells us the lesson of
how the farmer realizes that to plant as well as harvest each type of crop a
unique method must be used
13.1.
The Lord knows how to reach each individual
person, for He knows everything about them, and thus knows how to speak each
person’s language and to avoid offending or pushing away each person. This is a wonderful aspect of God and reveals
how wise and powerful He really is. This
truth is illustrated by the fact that the Lord gives the farmer wisdom about
how to prepare the land, sow, and harvest each different type of crop. Isaiah tells us that farmers know that:
13.1.1.With
some crops the ground is not plowed, but rather leveled.
13.1.2.Dill
and cumin seed are scattered.
13.1.3.Wheat
is planted in rows.
13.1.4.Barley
is planted in its place.
13.1.5.
13.1.6.Dill
is not threshed with a threshing sledge as is corn.
13.1.7.A
cartwheel is not driven over cumin.
13.1.8.Dill
is threshed by being beaten with a rod.
13.1.9.Cummin
is threshed by being beaten with a club.
13.1.10.Grain
for bread is crushed, and you can’t just keep trying to thresh grain to get all
of the grain otherwise it will be destroyed.
13.2.
We Christians ought to ask the Holy Spirit to
give us the discernment to know how to reach each individual person for
Christ. One message will not work for
all, nor will one method. We need that
inspiration from the Holy Spirit each time we talk with someone about
salvation.
13.2.1.Myself
I know that many times I have tried to manipulate a conversation too much when
sharing with someone about Christ and salvation, for I didn’t pick up on the
cues that they were giving me that they didn’t want to hear more. Pushing when a person has not opened up the
door to talk with them about salvation just ends up pushing them away from the
Savior.