Isaiah Lesson 2

Isaiah Chapters 1 and 2

• Rebellion confronted with judgment and grace (1:1-2:22)

1. Introduction of the Writing (1:1)
1. Title --- The vision of Isaiah
2. Who --- Isaiah son of Amoz
• Amoz possibly the man of God of 2 Chronicles 25:5-10
3. Subject of Vision --- Judah and Jerusalem
4. When --- in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.
5. Four kings are mentioned; some think Isaiah was killed early in the reign of a fifth king, Manasseh.
2. Judah Charged with Breaking the Covenant (1:2-9)
1. Specific Charges Brought by God Against Judah (1:2-4)
1. I have nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against me.
2. The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master’s crib; but Israel doth not know, my people doth not consider.
2. The Consequence(s) of Their Rebellion (1:5-9)
1. Sickness and sores from their toes to the top of their head.
2. Your country is desolate; your cities are burned with fire;.
3. daughter of Zion (usually refers to Jerusalem) is left:
• “as a booth in a vineyard” --- a shelter for the grape gatherers, temporary, no longer used after the harvest.
  At that time there were many robbers and marauders in the land of Israel. When the grapes became ripe, watchmen had to be placed on guard to prevent theft. After the harvest of the grapes was over, little food would be left. The situation would look desolate. The leaves would fall from the vines. There would be little or no signs of life in the vineyard.
• “as a lodge in a garden of cucumbers” --- a small shelter, usually placed at a high point in the garden, with a watchmen to prevent theft, temporary.
• “as a besieged city” --- temporary. When the countryside around the around city has been devastated by the enemy, it is just a matter of time until the city falls.
• Some of the events
  

  605 BC	The Babylonians invade Judah	597 BC	Ezekiel is taken captive to Babylon
  605	First wave of deportation of Jews to Babylon	597	Zedekiah becomes king of Judah
  605	Daniel is taken captive and begins to prophecy	593	Ezekiel begins to prophecy
  601	Judah decides to realign itself with Egypt; Jeremiah warns	586	The Babylonians destroy Jerusalem and the Temple
  597	Jehoachin becomes king of Judah	586	Jerusalem's walls and gates are burned
  597	Babylonians capture Jerusalem	586	Babylonian Exile begins
  597	Second wave of deportation to Babylon from Judah	586	The end of the monarch in Judah

3. More Charges --- Vain Worship (1:10-17)
1. v. 11 “What unto me is the multitude of your sacrifices? saith Jehovah: I have had enough of the burnt–offerings of rams, and the fat of fed beasts; and I delight not in the blood of bullocks, or of lambs, or of he–goats.”
2. v. 12 “When ye come to appear before me, who hath required this at your hand, to trample my courts?”
• The expression “tread (trample) my courts” implies worship, but in this case it is hollow, heartless service.
3. v. 16 “Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes; cease to do evil; 17 learn to do well; seek justice, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow.”
• In other words, straighten out your life; then your worship will not be vain.
4. Conditional Cleansing (1:18-20)
• It has been said that each of the first 39 chapters contains at least one reference to the coming Messiah. Continue to look for these as we go through these chapters.
• A very beautiful song that we sometimes sing is based on v. 18. (Though Your Sins Be As Scarlet
• There is a choice to be made, and the certainty of the outcome of their choice is promised by none other than Jehovah (v. 19-20).
5. More Charges (1:21-23)
• once faithful, now unfaithful, like a harlot
• purity is gone, like silver once refined but now returned to dross
• Dross is a mass of solid impurities floating on a molten metal.
• It can be skimmed off the surface before pouring the metal into a mold or casting.
• There are more modern methods of refining silver, but the age-old way is by heating.
• Someone once asked a silversmith how he could tell when the silver had been heated enough to remove all the impurities. His reply: “When I can see my face reflected in the silver„.
• Malachi 3:1-3 speaks of God sitting “as a refiner and purifier of silver”.
• no thought given to the plight of orphans and widows
6. Cleansing or Destruction (1:24-31)
• God has made his choice to cleanse us; we must choose cleansing from God.
• A reference to the coming Messiah
• He has promised to smelt away our dross.
• Redemption comes through repentance and righteousness, and the now unfaithful restored to faithfulness and purity.
• But, those who persist in rebellion and sin are destined for destruction, like withering in a garden without water, like the burning of tinder.
7. Things to come in the “latter days” (2:1-4)
1. Isaiah 2:2a … the mountain of the Lord's house ...
• Judah and Israel were familiar with the seat of spiritual government being on a mountain (John 4:19-24).
• One might think of the Temple of Solomon which was built on a mountain in Jerusalem.
• Jeremiah 51:24-26 Babylon is called a “destroying mountain”, indicating a kingdom or government rather than a physical mountain.
• It will be established as the highest of mountains, exalted above all hills …
• There are other interpretations of these things to come in the latter days.
• My understanding is based on the following:
• Daniel 2:44 in the days of those kings (Roman) the God of heaven shall set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed.
• Matthew 16:18 … gates of hell shall not prevail against …
• 1 Timothy 3:14-15 the house of God, the church of the living God
• Luke 22:28-30 appoint unto you a kingdom …
• 1 Corinthians 10:21 table of the Lord, in the Lord's house, the church, the kingdom
• 1 Peter 1:10-13 … the prophets sought and searched diligently ...
• My conclusion: “The mountain of the LORD'S house” refers to the government of the church which now is the LORD'S house – the house of God.
2. Isaiah 2:2b … all nations shall flow unto it.
• Matthew 28:19-20 teach all nations.
• Acts 1:8 to the uttermost part of the earth
• Jeremiah 51:24-26 Babylon is called a “destroying mountain”, indicating a kingdom or government rather than a physical mountain.
• Matthew 11:28-30 Come unto me, all ye that labor ...
• Acts 10:34-35 … in every nation ...
• Colossians 1:23 … gospel … preached in all creation ...
• The spiritual nature of the kingdom seems to be made more clear in that it encompasses all nations.
• I believe that this is the message intended by God rather than the establishment of one physical, global government.
3. Isaiah 2:3a … many peoples shall go and say, ...
• Acts 2:5-13 … many peoples shall go and say …
• Acts 8:4-5 … scattered abroad … Philip went down to ...
• Acts 9:10 … certain disciple at Damascus, named Ananias; ...
• Acts 9:31-32 … throughout all Judaea … Galilee … Samaria … Lydda
• Acts 9:35 … all that dwelt at Lydda and in Sharon saw him,
• Acts 9:38 … Lydda was nigh unto Joppa, the disciples, hearing that Peter was there, sent two men unto him, …
• Acts 10:1ff gospel taken to the Gentile Cornelius
• Acts 11:19 … Phoenicia, Cyprus and Antioch …
• Acts 13:5 Salamis, Cyprus
• Romans 1:7, 13 saints at Rome
4. Isaiah 2:3b … out of Zion … from Jerusalem …
• Luke 24:47 … beginning from Jerusalem …
• Jeremiah 31:31-34 … will make a new covenant …
• Hebrews 12:18-24 … unto mount Zion … heavenly Jerusalem … church of the firstborn …
• The last part of verse 3 is a parallelism:
• “For out of Zion shall go forth the law. And the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.” The elements of this parallelism are reversed. The beginning of the first line corresponds with the end of the second line “Zion” and “Jerusalem” mean the same. And the end of the first line corresponds with the beginning of the second line. “The law” and “word of the LORD” mean the same.
• The law by which those who lived before Moses did not go forth from Zion nor from Jerusalem. Neither did the law of the LORD given through Moses go forth from Zion or from Jerusalem, but from Sinai.
• Therefore Isaiah prophesied regarding a new law.
• The prophet Jeremiah also prophesied regarding a new law in chapter 31 verses 31 - 34. There the prophecy is of a new covenant. However, in that prophecy is the statement, "I will put my law in their minds, and write it in their hearts."
5. Isaiah 2:4 … swords into plowshares … neither shall they learn war anymore ...
• John 12:48-50 word to judge us in the last day
• James 2:12 judged by the law of liberty
• James 2:12 judged by the law of liberty
• Hebrews 5:8-9 … obey him … received eternal salvation ...
8. Judah's future discipline (2:5-22)
1. Isaiah 2:5 … walk in the light of Jehovah.
• After a glimpse into the wonders of the latter days, Isaiah returns to the problems of Judah and Jerusalem with a plea to walk in the light of Jehovah.
2. Isaiah 2:6-10 thou hast forsaken thy people the house of Jacob, … because
• filled with customs from the east
1. enchantment, sorcery, witchcraft, sooth-saying, augury, necromancy, divination in numberless forms, and all kinds of magic articles.
2. Deuteronomy 18:9-14 don't learns the ways of other nations
• soothsayers like the Phillistines
• A soothsayer is a person who claims to speak sooth: specifically one who predicts the future based upon personal, political, spiritual, mental, or religious beliefs rather than scientific principles. Typically, soothsayers include: augurs, clairvoyants, diviners, fortune tellers, haruspices, oracles, shamans
• strike hands with the children of foreigners
• shake hands, make deals
• their (foreigners) land is full of …
• if man is bowed down to worship an idol, Isaiah is asking God to not lift them up (do not forgive)
3. Isaiah 2:10-11
• Habakkuk 1:5-17 Chaldea (Babylon), Habakkuk's protest
• The terror of Jehovah was executed by Babylon
• Hide in the rocks; hide in the dust
4. Isaiah 2:12-22 For there shall be a day of Jehovah of hosts ...
• notable things that were evidently sources of pride
• Cedars of Lebanon
• Up to 130 feet tall, 8 feet in diameter
• (Insert 2 pictures here)
• 1 Kings 5:1-12
• Oaks of Bashan
• Ezekiel 27:5-6
• (Insert 1 picture here)
• Ships of Tarshish
• large ships intended for large voyages whatever their destination
• 1 Kings 10:22-23
• Jonah 1:1-3
• calling upon idols will not save them
• the idols will be destroyed (v. 18)
• idols will be discarded on the way to hide in a cave (v. 20)
• the terror will make them look for places to hide
• Wherever man's pride and trust is placed (other than in God), it will be of no avail when the day of the Lord comes
• Galatians 6:14