ISAIAH Chapter 1 1) The vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, [and] Hezekiah, kings of Judah. a) We see that Isaiah received his prophecy through a vision. Many people today claim to have visions, but only the written word of the Bible can be relied on now. In the days before the completion of the word of God, this is the way God did reveal his word. Nu 12:6 And he said, Hear now my words: If there be a prophet among you, [I] the LORD will make myself known unto him in a VISION, [and] will speak unto him in a dream. 7 My servant Moses [is] not so, who [is] faithful in all mine house. 8 With him will I speak mouth to mouth, even apparently, and not in dark speeches; and the similitude of the LORD shall he behold: wherefore then were ye not afraid to speak against my servant Moses? Ps 89:19 Then thou spakest in vision to thy holy one, and saidst, I have laid help upon [one that is] mighty; I have exalted [one] chosen out of the people. b) vision: Comes from a word which means to see. So it was more than an audible voice that was communicated but a vision. Compare: Isa 13:1 The burden of Babylon, which Isaiah the son of Amoz did SEE. Hence the Jews say, that Moses and Isaiah excelled the other prophets, seeing they understood what they prophesied of. Isaiah perceived what was given to him by the Lord. This vision that Isaiah had was not from his heart, or the product of his heart. Jer 23:14 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. 15 Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts concerning the prophets; Behold, I will feed them with wormwood, and make them drink the water of gall: for from the prophets of Jerusalem is profaneness gone forth into all the land. 16 Thus saith the LORD of hosts, Hearken not unto the words of the prophets that prophesy unto you: they make you vain: they speak a vision of their own heart, [and] not out of the mouth of the LORD. 17 They say still unto them that despise me, The LORD hath said, Ye shall have peace; and they say unto every one that walketh after the imagination of his own heart, No evil shall come upon you. 18 For who hath stood in the counsel of the LORD, and hath perceived and heard his word? who hath marked his word, and heard [it]? 2Pe 1:21 For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake [as they were] moved by the Holy Ghost. Isaiah vision did not contradict the word of God which had gone before: Deut 13:1 If there arise among you a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams, and giveth thee a sign or a wonder, 2 And the sign or the wonder come to pass, whereof he spake unto thee, saying, Let us go after other gods, which thou hast not known, and let us serve them; 3 Thou shalt not hearken unto the words of that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams: for the LORD your God proveth you, to know whether ye love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul. 4 Ye shall walk after the LORD your God, and fear him, and keep his commandments, and obey his voice, and ye shall serve him, and cleave unto him. 5 And that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams, shall be put to death; because he hath spoken to turn [you] away from the LORD your God, which brought you out of the land of Egypt, and redeemed you out of the house of bondage, to thrust thee out of the way which the LORD thy God commanded thee to walk in. So shalt thou put the evil away from the midst of thee. c) Isaiah: Y@sha`yah {yesh-ah-yaw'} or Y@sha`yahuw {yesh-ah- yaw'-hoo} Isaiah or Jesaiah or Jeshaiah = "Jehovah has saved" 1) the major prophet, son of Amoz, who prophesied concerning Judah and Jerusalem during the days of kings Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah of Judah; author of the prophetic book by his name; tradition has it that he was sawn asunder in the trunk of a carob tree by king Manasseh and that this is the incident referred to in Heb 11:37 d) son of Amoz: The name Amoz means "strong". It is a tradition with the Jews, that Amoz, the father of Isaiah, was brother to Amaziah, king of Judah, so that Isaiah was of the royal family. They also say that where a prophet's father is mentioned, it means that his father was also a prophet. But these things cannot be proven and are only tradition. e) which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem: Prophets were men raised up of God in times of declension and apostasy in Israel. The prophetic messages had a twofold character: first, that which was local and for the prophet's time; secondly, that which was predictive of the divine purpose for the future. Judah: Judah is put for the two tribes of Judah and Benjamin. The other ten tribes are commonly referred to as Ephraim. Gill says, "though Ephraim, or the ten tribes of Israel, are mentioned, yet very rarely; and though there are prophecies concerning other nations in it, yet these relate to the deliverance of the Jews from them, or to God's vengeance on them for their sake." So we see that Isaiah prophecy concerns Judah and Jerusalem and not the church age or things concerning it. Many of his prophecies concerned Messiah which would spring forth from the tribe of Judah. f) in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, [and] Hezekiah, kings of Judah: Not that subject of his prophecies we confined to the time that these kings of Judah, but rather that he prophecied during their reign. Isaiah began to prophesy during the reign of Uzziah. Some have thought that it was in the first year of his reign, which means that he would have had to prophecy 113 years. Dr. Lightfoot thinks that he started prophesying in the twenty third year of Uzziah's reign. Isaiah prophesied to Judah before their exile from 760 to 698 B.C. Chronological Order of the Prophets (According to Ussher) I. Prophets Before the Exile (1) To Nineveh Jonah, 862 B.C. (2) To the 10 tribes "Israel" Amos, 787 B.C. Hosea, 785-725 B.C. Obadiah, 887 B.C. Joel, 800 B.C. (3) To Judah Isaiah, 760-698 B.C. Micah, 750-710 B.C. Nahum, 713 B.C. Habakkuk, 626 B.C. Zephaniah, 630 B.C. II. Prophets During the Exile Ezekiel, 595-574 B.C. Daniel, 607-534 B.C. III. Prophets After the Exile Haggai, 520 B.C. Zechariah, 520-518 B.C. Malachi, 397 B.C. g) Scofield says that Isaiah contains 7 great themes: Apart from his testimony to his own time, which includes warnings of coming judgments upon the great nations of that day, the predictive messages of Isaiah cover seven great themes: 1) Israel in exile and divine judgment upon Israel's oppressors. 2) The return from Babylon. 3) The manifestation of Messiah in humiliation (e.g. Chap. 53.). 4) The blessing of the Gentiles. 5) The manifestation of Messiah in judgment ("the day of vengeance of our God"). 6) The reign of David's righteous Branch in the kingdom-age. 7) The new heavens and the new earth. 2) Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth: for the LORD hath spoken, I have nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against me. a) So the first thing that is mentioned is the rebellion of his people. The first verse tells us that it is concerning Judah and Jerusalem. b) The heavens and the earth are to give ear or hear what the Lord has to say concerning his people. It was to be made public. De 32:1 Give ear, O ye heavens, and I will speak; and hear, O earth, the words of my mouth. Ps 50:4 He shall call to the heavens from above, and to the earth, that he may judge his people. c) for the LORD hath spoken: Previously through Moses and other prophets and now here through the prophet Isaiah. d) I have nourished and brought up children: A particular people, namely Judah. Ex 4:22 And thou shalt say unto Pharaoh, Thus saith the LORD, Israel [is] my son, [even] my firstborn: Eze 34:30 Thus shall they know that I the LORD their God [am] with them, and [that] they, [even] the house of Israel, [are] my people, saith the Lord GOD. Ro 9:4 Who are Israelites; to whom [pertaineth] the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service [of God], and the promises; e) they have rebelled against me: The Jews were under a Theocracy according to Gill. Not only was God their Father but also their King who had given them laws to follow. Not only had they rebelled as subjects in His kingdom but also as children to their Father. De 9:22 And at Taberah, and at Massah, and at Kibrothhattaavah, ye provoked the LORD to wrath. 23 Likewise when the LORD sent you from Kadeshbarnea, saying, Go up and possess the land which I have given you; then ye rebelled against the commandment of the LORD your God, and ye believed him not, nor hearkened to his voice. 24 Ye have been rebellious against the LORD from the day that I knew you. rebel = transgress against. The Latin Vulgate has to despise. Young's Literal has to transgress against. This they again manifested when Messiah came. They rejected, despised and rebelled against the one the God had sent to them. Mt 12:41 The men of Nineveh shall rise in judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: because they repented at the preaching of Jonas; and, behold, a greater than Jonas is here. Lu 19:10 For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost. 11 And as they heard these things, he added and spake a parable, because he was nigh to Jerusalem, and because they thought that the kingdom of God should immediately appear. 12 He said therefore, A certain nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom, and to return. 13 And he called his ten servants, and delivered them ten pounds, and said unto them, Occupy till I come. 14 But his citizens hated him, and sent a message after him, saying, We will not have this man to reign over us. 3) The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master's crib: [but] Israel doth not know, my people doth not consider. a) Even the dumb animals such as the ox and the ass know who their owner is. Yet Israel takes no thought about their Father God and King. The ox knows the voice of his master, yet Israel does not know the voice of their God and instead has rebelled against it. When Christ came it was God in the flesh speaking, yet they would have none of His word. The ass knows his master's crib or manger or feeding trough where he is fed, yet Israel knows not who has supplied their every need. They have not considered it. b) consider: to discern, understand, consider. In the Hithpolel stem it means to show oneself discerning or attentive, consider diligently. 4) Ah sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of evildoers, children that are corrupters: they have forsaken the LORD, they have provoked the Holy One of Israel unto anger, they are gone away backward. a) Young's Literal translation has it "sinning nation." Not only was it a sinful nation but it was continually sinning. Thus the prophet says, "a people laden with iniquity, a seed of evildoers, children that are corrupters:" Laden signifies heavy with sin, yet not in their heart. They did not greive in their heart over their sins yet loaded down with sin. Not the offspring of evildoers, but a seed of evildoers. Not the children of corrupters, but children that are corrupters. God is pointing his finger right at them and not their fathers. They had provoked the Holy One of Israel, so much so that His anger is against them. They had turned away from their God and had gone backwards. They had forsaken the Lord and left off worshiping him, just as many in our day have done the same thing and have forsaken the assembling of themselves together, neglected hearing the word of God. They had become backsliders and had forsaken their God. 5) Why should ye be stricken any more? ye will revolt more and more: the whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint. 6 From the sole of the foot even unto the head [there is] no soundness in it; [but] wounds, and bruises, and putrifying sores: they have not been closed, neither bound up, neither mollified with ointment. a) Why: They had not considered why they were striken. That it was the chastisement of the Lord, but revolted more and more. They perhaps thought it was just by chance or some other cause, and had not considered it was from the Lord, so they sinned more and more. b) He compares them as a people and nation ("sinful nation" vs 4) to the human body and said that the whole of it was sick, from the very sole of the foot to the head and all in between. Every member of this body was affected in some way or another. It was not that there was some soundness in it, but rather NO soundness in it. The whole nation, as a collective body, was sick. c) This seems to be looking at their sinful condition more so than the calamities that they had suffered because of their sins, but perhaps both are in view here. Verse 7 speaks of the results of their sins. d) they have not been closed, neither bound up, neither mollified with ointment: Not only was the whole body sick, but nothing had been done about it. No conviction of their evil. No putting it away from them. 7) Your country [is] desolate, your cities [are] burned with fire: your land, strangers devour it in your presence, and [it is] desolate, as overthrown by strangers. 8 And the daughter of Zion is left as a cottage in a vineyard, as a lodge in a garden of cucumbers, as a besieged city. a) This speaks of the calamities that had come upon them and that would come upon them as a nation because of their sinfulness. Gill says that this had it's fulfillment in the Babylonish captivity and the destruction by Rome. It will also have a future fulfillment as we are beginning to see now with what is happening in Israel right now. The whole Islamic world hates the Jewish nation of Israel and wants them exterminated. b) Gill thinks this is prophetic for the future rather than anything that had already happened. So the Arabic version has it, "your land SHALL BE desolate, your cities SHALL BE burnt with fire, and your country strangers SHALL devour before you" All of the translations that I have say "is" rather than "shall be" but God sees the future as the present. He sees the end from the beginning as one. c) a cottage in a vineyard, as a lodge in a garden of cucumbers: What is the meaning of this? Both of these were small booths in the middle of either in a vineyard or a garden in which the keeper of the vineyard or garden would keep watch over until it was harvested. After the harvest it was left and it was an empty and deserted place in the middle of a garden or vineyard that had already been harvested. It became a desolate place. Lu 19:43 For the days shall come upon thee, that thine enemies shall cast a trench about thee, and compass thee round, and keep thee in on every side, 44 And shall lay thee even with the ground, and thy children within thee; and they shall not leave in thee one stone upon another; because thou knewest not the time of thy visitation. d) as a besieged city: The daughter of Zion was left as a besieged city. The word besiege means to guard over and keep. So it must be surrounded from the outside world. In the negative sense the city was being kept or surrounded by the enemies of Israel. A city that is kept in this manner is impossible to escape from. It would be like a prison that is being kept or watched over by the jail keeper. 9) Except the LORD of hosts had left unto us a very small remnant, we should have been as Sodom, [and] we should have been like unto Gomorrah. a) This verse speaks of God's Sovereign Grace towards the nation of Israel. If left alone the nation of Israel would have become as Sodom and Gomorrah, which were two cities that God completely destroyed because of their wickedness. Paul quotes this verse in Romans chapter 9. This shows the prophetic implication of this verse in Isaiah, that is, it was for the future. Ro 9:27 Esaias also crieth concerning Israel, Though the number of the children of Israel be as the sand of the sea, a remnant shall be saved: 28 For he will finish the work, and cut [it] short in righteousness: because a short work will the Lord make upon the earth. 29 And as Esaias said before, Except the Lord of Sabaoth had left us a seed, we had been as Sodoma, and been made like unto Gomorrha. b) It was God's sovereign hand of grace that had preserved a remnant, and had not God acted directly there would have been no faithful remnant. Compare: Ro 11:1 I say then, Hath God cast away his people? God forbid. For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. 2 God hath not cast away his people which he foreknew. Wot ye not what the scripture saith of Elias? how he maketh intercession to God against Israel, saying, 3 Lord, they have killed thy prophets, and digged down thine altars; and I am left alone, and they seek my life. 4 But what saith the answer of God unto him? I have reserved to myself seven thousand men, who have not bowed the knee to the image of Baal. 5 Even so then at this present time also there is a remnant according to the election of grace. 6 And if by grace, then is it no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then is it no more grace: otherwise work is no more work. 7 What then? Israel hath not obtained that which he seeketh for; but the election hath obtained it, and the rest were blinded 8 (According as it is written, God hath given them the spirit of slumber, eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear;) unto this day. Compare with: 1Ki 19:10-18 Verse 5 and 6 or Ro 11 explains God's reservation or leaving of a remnant. READ also: Ro 11:25-32 Other OT scriptures that signify this same thing: Isa 10:22 For though thy people Israel be as the sand of the sea, [yet] a remnant of them shall return: the consumption decreed shall overflow with righteousness. Isa 37:31 And the remnant that is escaped of the house of Judah shall again take root downward, and bear fruit upward: 32 For out of Jerusalem shall go forth a remnant, and they that escape out of mount Zion: the zeal of the LORD of hosts shall do this. Eze 6:8 Yet will I leave a remnant, that ye may have [some] that shall escape the sword among the nations, when ye shall be scattered through the countries. Eze 14:22 Yet, behold, therein shall be left a remnant that shall be brought forth, [both] sons and daughters: behold, they shall come forth unto you, and ye shall see their way and their doings: and ye shall be comforted concerning the evil that I have brought upon Jerusalem, [even] concerning all that I have brought upon it. Joe 2:32 And it shall come to pass, [that] whosoever shall call on the name of the LORD shall be delivered: for in mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, as the LORD hath said, and in the remnant whom the LORD shall call. Zec 13:8 And it shall come to pass, [that] in all the land, saith the LORD, two parts therein shall be cut off [and] die; but the third shall be LEFT therein. 9 And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It [is] my people: and they shall say, The LORD [is] my God. { left or reserved in verse 8 } 10) Hear the word of the LORD, ye rulers of Sodom; give ear unto the law of our God, ye people of Gomorrah. a) Not Sodom and Gomorrah literally. They were destroyed some time back, but in the figurative sense. The rulers of Judea and the people of Judea. They had become as Sodom and Gomorrah and so the LORD through Isaiah calls them rulers of Sodom and people of Gomorrah. b) The name Sodom appears in the book of Revelation only one time and refers to Jerusalem in a spiritual sense: Re 11:8 And their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified. c) give ear unto the law of our God: Which shows that He is speaking to Israel and not literally to the people of Gomorrah, because Jehovah was the God of Israel. It is a call to repentance through the prophet. 11) To what purpose [is] the multitude of your sacrifices unto me? saith the LORD: I am full 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. a) Religion, without Christ! All these things were ordained under the Mosaic Economy, but had become acts of religion, rather than obedience to the God they feared and loved. Religion without repentance. b) They had become hypocrites acting out religious duties yet overlooked the weighter matters of the law as did the Pharisees in Christ's day. Mt 23:23 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone. Isa 66:1 Thus saith the LORD, The heaven [is] my throne, and the earth [is] my footstool: where [is] the house that ye build unto me? and where [is] the place of my rest? 2 For all those [things] hath mine hand made, and all those [things] have been, saith the LORD: but to this [man] will I look, [even] to [him that is] poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word. 3 He that killeth an ox [is as if] he slew a man; he that sacrificeth a lamb, [as if] he cut off a dog's neck; he that offereth an oblation, [as if he offered] swine's blood; he that burneth incense, [as if] he blessed an idol. Yea, they have chosen their own ways, and their soul delighteth in their abominations. c) Without the new birth, all of a man's righteousness is nothing but filthy rags. Isa 64:6 But we are all as an unclean [thing], and all OUR righteousnesses [are] as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away. The hypocrite wants to justify himself: Luke 16:14 And the Pharisees also, who were covetous, heard all these things: and they derided him. 15 And he said unto them, Ye are they which justify yourselves before men; but God knoweth your hearts: for that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God. d) They had no sense of their sin nor the real purpose of the sacrifices, which pointed to the seriousness of sin and the judgement against sin and the need of substitution. They did not realize that the blood of bulls and goats could never take away sin but only point to the true Lamb of God which could, and which Lamb the nation of Israel as a whole rejected, but only a remnant that the Lord had reserved believed. 12) When ye come to appear before me, who hath required this at your hand, to tread my courts? a) At the grand festivals of the passover, pentecost, and tabernacles, at which times all the males in Israel appeared before God, (Exodus 23:17) b) who hath required this: In that unbecoming and hypocritical way they did, and with such wicked hearts and bloody hands. 13) Bring no more vain oblations; incense is an abomination unto me; the new moons and sabbaths, the calling of assemblies, I cannot away with; [it is] iniquity, even the solemn meeting. 14* Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hateth: they are a trouble unto me; I am weary to bear [them]. 15* And when ye spread forth your hands, I will hide mine eyes from you: yea, when ye make many prayers, I will not hear: your hands are full of blood. a) vain oblations: Not that oblations or offerings were evil, but they were vain because they were done hypocrically and not with faith in Christ. Incense instead of a sweet smell was an abomination becuase it was offered in a hypocritical manner. b) new moons: the feasts kept on the first day of the month, at the appearance of the moon. c) sabbaths: observed every seventh day, every seventh year, and every seven times seventh year. d) the calling of assemblies: According to Gill, The new moon and sabbath, did not call a congregation. These assemblies called were the holy convocations on the seventh day sabbath, at the feasts of passover, pentecost, and tabernacles, at the blowing of the trumpets, and on the day of atonement. e) I am weary to bear [them]: When they came before Him iniquity was in their hearts. Ps 66:18 If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me: f) Thus he says in verse 15 because of the iniquity that was in their hearts: "And when ye spread forth your hands, I will hide mine eyes from you: yea, when ye make many prayers, I will not hear" And he adds the particular reason "your hands are full of blood." g) your hands are full of blood: Of the prophets of the past and future, namely the Lord Jesus Christ and his followers. 16) Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes; cease to do evil; 17 Learn to do well; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow. a) This seems to be a call to repentance from their hypocracy. He called for the putting away of the evil of their doings not their doings. The things they were doing were required by the law but it was the evil of their doings where the problem lay. Verse 17 speaks of the weighter matters of the law as Christ had said to the Pharasees. Mt 23:23 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone. b) make you clean: Which could only be done through faith in the antitype of the sacrifices they were offering. 18) Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. a) Though they were wicked and offered sacrifices with wicked hands. Though their offerings were nothing but an abomination before God, though when they prayed He heard none of their prayers, yet though their sins be red as scarlet, yet they could be could be washed white as snow. b) Reason together: His people, the remnant that had an ear to hear, at the bar of mercy and not the bar of justice. If at the bar of justice, none could stand, but all would be condemned. Gill: If he marks iniquity in strict justice, none can stand before him; there is no entering the lists with him upon the foot of justice, or at its bar: but at the bar of mercy, at the throne of grace; there the righteous may dispute with him from his declarations and promises, as well as come with boldness to him; and at the altar and sacrifice of Christ, and at the fountain of his blood: here sinners may reason with him from the virtue and efficacy of his blood and sacrifice; and from the Lord's proclamation of grace and mercy through him; and from his promises to forgive repenting and confessing sinners: and here God reasons with sensible souls from his own covenant promises and proclamations to forgive sin; from the aboundings of his grace over abounding sin; from the righteousness of Christ to justify, his blood to cleanse from sin, and his sacrifice to atone for it; and from the end of his coming into the world to save the chief of sinners. c) sins be as scarlet: scarlet is RED, the color of blood. "Red like crimson" is what our verse says. "... and without shedding of blood is no remission." (Heb 9:22) It required the BLOOD of Jesus Christ to take away sins, so here their sins had stained them red as crimson. In verse 15 God tells them that their hands were full of blood. All sins are mortal in nature, because the "wages of sin is death" (Ro 6:23). All sin requires BLOOD to be shed in order to have remission, and only the blood of Jesus Christ availeth anything. scarlet and crimson: These are interesting words. scarlet: shaniy {shaw-nee'} 1) properly, the insect 'coccus ilicis', the dried body of the female yielding colouring matter from which is made the dye used for cloth to colour it scarlet or crimson. crimson: towla` {to-law'} It was translated "scarlet" 34 times, "worm" 8 times, and "crimson" only 1 time. 1) the dye made from the dried body of the female of the worm "coccus ilicis" 2) When the female of the scarlet worm species was ready to give birth to her young, she would attach her body to the trunk of a tree, fixing herself so firmly and permanently that she would never leave again. The eggs deposited beneath her body were thus protected until the larvae were hatched and able to enter their own life cycle. As the mother died, the crimson fluid stained her body and the surrounding wood. From the dead bodies of such female scarlet worms, the commercial scarlet dyes of antiquity were extracted. What a picture this gives of Christ, dying on the tree, shedding His precious blood that He might "bring many sons unto glory" (Heb. 2:10)! He died for us, that we might live through Him! In Psalm 22, which is a Messianic Psalm, because in verse 18, we read, "They part my garments among them, and cast lots upon my vesture." Looking back to verse 6 of that same Psalm we read, "But I am a WORM, and no man; a reproach of men, and despised of the people." They parted His garments while Christ was nailed to the tree. When he says that He was a worm a reproach of men and despised of the people, it was while he was being crucified. A WORM FIXED TO A TREE! d) How well this shows us that ONLY the BLOOD of Jesus Christ dying on a tree could make us white as snow. It was God's sovereignty that put Christ on the tree, but in a very real sense it was the sins of God's elect throughout the entire world and throughout the entire course of time that afixed Christ to the tree and caused His blood to be shed. If God's people had never sinned then there would have been no need for Christ to shed His blood on the tree. Why did God allow sin to enter into the world? To demonstrate His love and Grace through Jesus Christ! Joh 15:13 Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. 19) If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land: 20 But if ye refuse and rebel, ye shall be devoured with the sword: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken [it]. a) willing and obedient: To God's word. Christ was the "word made flesh." Willingness to the word of God is necessary. Ps 110:3 Thy people [shall be] willing in the day of thy power, in the beauties of holiness from the womb of the morning: thou hast the dew of thy youth. b) good of the land: The land of Canaan, which the Jews held in possession before the times of Christ, by their obedience to the laws of God. c) But if ye refuse and rebel: And do not receive My Word, especially the Word made flesh, which is the Messiah, Jesus Christ, then "ye shall be devoured with the sword." And we all know what happened in 70 AD. Lu 19:41 And when he was come near, he beheld the city, and wept over it, 42 Saying, If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace! but now they are hid from thine eyes. 43 For the days shall come upon thee, that thine enemies shall cast a trench about thee, and compass thee round, and keep thee in on every side, 44 And shall lay thee even with the ground, and thy children within thee; and they shall not leave in thee one stone upon another; because thou knewest not the time of thy visitation. The city of Jerusalem which was the center of worship for the Jewish people. 21) How is the faithful city become an harlot! it was full of judgment; righteousness lodged in it; but now murderers. a) Christ wept over the CITY (Jerusalem) and said it would be laid even with the ground, and here in Isaiah after saying if they rebeled they would devoured with the sword, Isaiah mentions the CITY, and says that it has become a harlot or whore. Gill: The city of Jerusalem, in which were the temple, and the pure worship of God, and was in the tribe of Judah, which ruled with God, and was very faithful with the saints when the ten tribes revolted, and fell in with the sin of Jeroboam; but now, in Isaiah's time, was become like a treacherous wife to her husband, unfaithful to the Lord, went after other lovers, committed spiritual adultery, that is, idolatry, with stocks and stones; and in the times of Christ were a wicked and an adulterous generation, corrupting the word and worship of God. b) This city was the central place of worship. It was a religious city, and was originally righteous, notice he says, "righteousness lodged in it" in which strict justice was exercised being "full of judgment," but it had become wicked and he says of it now, "but now murderers" lodge in it. It had become an whore, but before was a righteous woman. We read of a whore in the Book of Revelation, and the book of Revelation is Jewish, is it not. It is Daniel's 70th week, which concerns the Jews and Jerusalem. Da 9:24 Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy. To Israel God says: Jer 3:1 They say, If a man put away his wife, and she go from him, and become another man's, shall he return unto her again? shall not that land be greatly polluted? but thou hast played the harlot with many lovers; yet return again to me, saith the LORD. La 1:8 Jerusalem hath grievously sinned; therefore she is removed: all that honoured her despise her, because they have seen her nakedness: yea, she sigheth, and turneth backward. 9* Her filthiness [is] in her skirts; she remembereth not her last end; therefore she came down wonderfully: she had no comforter. O LORD, behold my affliction: for the enemy hath magnified [himself]. Lu 13:34 O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, which killest the prophets, and stonest them that are sent unto thee; how often would I have gathered thy children together, as a hen [doth gather] her brood under [her] wings, and ye would not! 35 Behold, your house is left unto you desolate: and verily I say unto you, Ye shall not see me, until [the time] come when ye shall say, Blessed [is] he that cometh in the name of the Lord. Zep 3:1 Woe to her that is filthy and polluted, to the oppressing city! 2 She obeyed not the voice; she received not correction; she trusted not in the LORD; she drew not near to her God. 3 Her princes within her [are] roaring lions; her judges [are] evening wolves; they gnaw not the bones till the morrow. 4 Her prophets [are] light [and] treacherous persons: her priests have polluted the sanctuary, they have done violence to the law. To Jerusalem: READ Ez 16:1-63; Ez 22:1-31; Ez 23:1-49 22) Thy silver is become dross, thy wine mixed with water: a) by silver and wine, is meant not the literal but what they represent spiritually as we can see by comparing scripture. This is not speaking about the riches that were in Israel but their religion. a) dross: The Hebrew word suggests a turning away or going back. Easton's Bible dictionary says of dross, "The impurities of silver separated from the one in the process of melting (Pr 25:4 26:23 Ps 119:119). It is also used to denote the base metal itself, probably before it is smelted, in (Isa 1:22,25). The first use of the word dross in the OT is: Ps 119:119 Thou puttest away all the wicked of the earth like dross: therefore I love thy testimonies. Here it is in reference to the wicked among the righteous in the earth. Pr 25:4 Take away the dross from the silver, and there shall come forth a vessel for the finer. 5 Take away the wicked from before the king, and his throne shall be established in righteousness. Of the word we read: Ps 12:6 The words of the LORD are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times. Gill says of dross in our verse: "Meaning either that such persons, who had the appearance of goodness, looked like genuine silver, were now become reprobate, and, as the wicked of the earth, like dross, (Jer 6:30; Ps 119:119) or that the word of God, which is as silver purified seven times, was now corrupted with false glosses and human traditions, which were as dross." Speaking of the revolters in Israel: Jer 6:27 I have set thee [for] a tower [and] a fortress among my people, that thou mayest know and try their way. 28 They [are] all grievous revolters, walking with slanders: [they are] brass and iron; they [are] all corrupters. 29 The bellows are burned, the lead is consumed of the fire; the founder melteth in vain: for the wicked are not plucked away. 30 Reprobate silver shall [men] call them, because the LORD hath rejected them. b) thy wine mixed with water: While wine mixed with water may still have the appearance of wine, yet it is not the same. They had the appearance of religious men, but had become wicked men with religion. Ho 4:18 Their drink is sour: they have committed whoredom continually: her rulers with shame do love, Give ye. 2Co 2:17 For we are not as many, which corrupt the word of God: but as of sincerity, but as of God, in the sight of God speak we in Christ. Gill says, "The wine of the divine word, which was mixed and blended with the inventions of men..." 23) Thy princes [are] rebellious, and companions of thieves: every one loveth gifts, and followeth after rewards: they judge not the fatherless, neither doth the cause of the widow come unto them. 24 Therefore saith the Lord, the LORD of hosts, the mighty One of Israel, Ah, I will ease me of mine adversaries, and avenge me of mine enemies: 25 And I will turn my hand upon thee, and purely purge away thy dross, and take away all thy tin: a) The content of these verses tell us what the meaning of the dross and wine mixed with water means back in verse 22. b) COMPARE: Eze 22:18 Son of man, the house of Israel is to me become dross: all they are brass, and tin, and iron, and lead, in the midst of the furnace; they are even the dross of silver. 19 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Because ye are all become dross, behold, therefore I will gather you into the midst of Jerusalem. 20 As they gather silver, and brass, and iron, and lead, and tin, into the midst of the furnace, to blow the fire upon it, to melt it; so will I gather you in mine anger and in my fury, and I will leave you there, and melt you. 21 Yea, I will gather you, and blow upon you in the fire of my wrath, and ye shall be melted in the midst thereof. 22 As silver is melted in the midst of the furnace, so shall ye be melted in the midst thereof; and ye shall know that I the LORD have poured out my fury upon you. c) prophetically: Such were the Jewish rulers in the time of Christ who rejected him as Messiah and crucified him. d) companions of thieves: Remember Christ had told the Jews that they had made his Father's house a den of theives. Mt 21:13 And said unto them, It is written, My house shall be called the house of prayer; but ye have made it a den of thieves. Jer 7:11 Is this house, which is called by my name, become a den of robbers in your eyes? Behold, even I have seen it, saith the LORD. ISAIAH Chapter 1 1) The vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, [and] Hezekiah, kings of Judah. a) We see that Isaiah received his prophecy through a vision. Many people today claim to have visions, but only the written word of the Bible can be relied on now. In the days before the completion of the word of God, this is the way God did reveal his word. Nu 12:6 And he said, Hear now my words: If there be a prophet among you, [I] the LORD will make myself known unto him in a VISION, [and] will speak unto him in a dream. 7 My servant Moses [is] not so, who [is] faithful in all mine house. 8 With him will I speak mouth to mouth, even apparently, and not in dark speeches; and the similitude of the LORD shall he behold: wherefore then were ye not afraid to speak against my servant Moses? Ps 89:19 Then thou spakest in vision to thy holy one, and saidst, I have laid help upon [one that is] mighty; I have exalted [one] chosen out of the people. b) vision: Comes from a word which means to see. So it was more than an audible voice that was communicated but a vision. Compare: Isa 13:1 The burden of Babylon, which Isaiah the son of Amoz did SEE. Hence the Jews say, that Moses and Isaiah excelled the other prophets, seeing they understood what they prophesied of. Isaiah perceived what was given to him by the Lord. This vision that Isaiah had was not from his heart, or the product of his heart. Jer 23:14 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. 15 Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts concerning the prophets; Behold, I will feed them with wormwood, and make them drink the water of gall: for from the prophets of Jerusalem is profaneness gone forth into all the land. 16 Thus saith the LORD of hosts, Hearken not unto the words of the prophets that prophesy unto you: they make you vain: they speak a vision of their own heart, [and] not out of the mouth of the LORD. 17 They say still unto them that despise me, The LORD hath said, Ye shall have peace; and they say unto every one that walketh after the imagination of his own heart, No evil shall come upon you. 18 For who hath stood in the counsel of the LORD, and hath perceived and heard his word? who hath marked his word, and heard [it]? 2Pe 1:21 For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake [as they were] moved by the Holy Ghost. Isaiah vision did not contradict the word of God which had gone before: Deut 13:1 If there arise among you a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams, and giveth thee a sign or a wonder, 2 And the sign or the wonder come to pass, whereof he spake unto thee, saying, Let us go after other gods, which thou hast not known, and let us serve them; 3 Thou shalt not hearken unto the words of that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams: for the LORD your God proveth you, to know whether ye love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul. 4 Ye shall walk after the LORD your God, and fear him, and keep his commandments, and obey his voice, and ye shall serve him, and cleave unto him. 5 And that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams, shall be put to death; because he hath spoken to turn [you] away from the LORD your God, which brought you out of the land of Egypt, and redeemed you out of the house of bondage, to thrust thee out of the way which the LORD thy God commanded thee to walk in. So shalt thou put the evil away from the midst of thee. c) Isaiah: Y@sha`yah {yesh-ah-yaw'} or Y@sha`yahuw {yesh-ah- yaw'-hoo} Isaiah or Jesaiah or Jeshaiah = "Jehovah has saved" 1) the major prophet, son of Amoz, who prophesied concerning Judah and Jerusalem during the days of kings Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah of Judah; author of the prophetic book by his name; tradition has it that he was sawn asunder in the trunk of a carob tree by king Manasseh and that this is the incident referred to in Heb 11:37 d) son of Amoz: The name Amoz means "strong". It is a tradition with the Jews, that Amoz, the father of Isaiah, was brother to Amaziah, king of Judah, so that Isaiah was of the royal family. They also say that where a prophet's father is mentioned, it means that his father was also a prophet. But these things cannot be proven and are only tradition. e) which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem: Prophets were men raised up of God in times of declension and apostasy in Israel. The prophetic messages had a twofold character: first, that which was local and for the prophet's time; secondly, that which was predictive of the divine purpose for the future. Judah: Judah is put for the two tribes of Judah and Benjamin. The other ten tribes are commonly referred to as Ephraim. Gill says, "though Ephraim, or the ten tribes of Israel, are mentioned, yet very rarely; and though there are prophecies concerning other nations in it, yet these relate to the deliverance of the Jews from them, or to God's vengeance on them for their sake." So we see that Isaiah prophecy concerns Judah and Jerusalem and not the church age or things concerning it. Many of his prophecies concerned Messiah which would spring forth from the tribe of Judah. f) in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, [and] Hezekiah, kings of Judah: Not that subject of his prophecies we confined to the time that these kings of Judah, but rather that he prophecied during their reign. Isaiah began to prophesy during the reign of Uzziah. Some have thought that it was in the first year of his reign, which means that he would have had to prophecy 113 years. Dr. Lightfoot thinks that he started prophesying in the twenty third year of Uzziah's reign. Isaiah prophesied to Judah before their exile from 760 to 698 B.C. Chronological Order of the Prophets (According to Ussher) I. Prophets Before the Exile (1) To Nineveh Jonah, 862 B.C. (2) To the 10 tribes "Israel" Amos, 787 B.C. Hosea, 785-725 B.C. Obadiah, 887 B.C. Joel, 800 B.C. (3) To Judah Isaiah, 760-698 B.C. Micah, 750-710 B.C. Nahum, 713 B.C. Habakkuk, 626 B.C. Zephaniah, 630 B.C. II. Prophets During the Exile Ezekiel, 595-574 B.C. Daniel, 607-534 B.C. III. Prophets After the Exile Haggai, 520 B.C. Zechariah, 520-518 B.C. Malachi, 397 B.C. g) Scofield says that Isaiah contains 7 great themes: Apart from his testimony to his own time, which includes warnings of coming judgments upon the great nations of that day, the predictive messages of Isaiah cover seven great themes: 1) Israel in exile and divine judgment upon Israel's oppressors. 2) The return from Babylon. 3) The manifestation of Messiah in humiliation (e.g. Chap. 53.). 4) The blessing of the Gentiles. 5) The manifestation of Messiah in judgment ("the day of vengeance of our God"). 6) The reign of David's righteous Branch in the kingdom-age. 7) The new heavens and the new earth. 2) Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth: for the LORD hath spoken, I have nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against me. a) So the first thing that is mentioned is the rebellion of his people. The first verse tells us that it is concerning Judah and Jerusalem. b) The heavens and the earth are to give ear or hear what the Lord has to say concerning his people. It was to be made public. De 32:1 Give ear, O ye heavens, and I will speak; and hear, O earth, the words of my mouth. Ps 50:4 He shall call to the heavens from above, and to the earth, that he may judge his people. c) for the LORD hath spoken: Previously through Moses and other prophets and now here through the prophet Isaiah. d) I have nourished and brought up children: A particular people, namely Judah. Ex 4:22 And thou shalt say unto Pharaoh, Thus saith the LORD, Israel [is] my son, [even] my firstborn: Eze 34:30 Thus shall they know that I the LORD their God [am] with them, and [that] they, [even] the house of Israel, [are] my people, saith the Lord GOD. Ro 9:4 Who are Israelites; to whom [pertaineth] the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service [of God], and the promises; e) they have rebelled against me: The Jews were under a Theocracy according to Gill. Not only was God their Father but also their King who had given them laws to follow. Not only had they rebelled as subjects in His kingdom but also as children to their Father. De 9:22 And at Taberah, and at Massah, and at Kibrothhattaavah, ye provoked the LORD to wrath. 23 Likewise when the LORD sent you from Kadeshbarnea, saying, Go up and possess the land which I have given you; then ye rebelled against the commandment of the LORD your God, and ye believed him not, nor hearkened to his voice. 24 Ye have been rebellious against the LORD from the day that I knew you. rebel = transgress against. The Latin Vulgate has to despise. Young's Literal has to transgress against. This they again manifested when Messiah came. They rejected, despised and rebelled against the one the God had sent to them. Mt 12:41 The men of Nineveh shall rise in judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: because they repented at the preaching of Jonas; and, behold, a greater than Jonas is here. Lu 19:10 For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost. 11 And as they heard these things, he added and spake a parable, because he was nigh to Jerusalem, and because they thought that the kingdom of God should immediately appear. 12 He said therefore, A certain nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom, and to return. 13 And he called his ten servants, and delivered them ten pounds, and said unto them, Occupy till I come. 14 But his citizens hated him, and sent a message after him, saying, We will not have this man to reign over us. 3) The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master's crib: [but] Israel doth not know, my people doth not consider. a) Even the dumb animals such as the ox and the ass know who their owner is. Yet Israel takes no thought about their Father God and King. The ox knows the voice of his master, yet Israel does not know the voice of their God and instead has rebelled against it. When Christ came it was God in the flesh speaking, yet they would have none of His word. The ass knows his master's crib or manger or feeding trough where he is fed, yet Israel knows not who has supplied their every need. They have not considered it. b) consider: to discern, understand, consider. In the Hithpolel stem it means to show oneself discerning or attentive, consider diligently. 4) Ah sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of evildoers, children that are corrupters: they have forsaken the LORD, they have provoked the Holy One of Israel unto anger, they are gone away backward. a) Young's Literal translation has it "sinning nation." Not only was it a sinful nation but it was continually sinning. Thus the prophet says, "a people laden with iniquity, a seed of evildoers, children that are corrupters:" Laden signifies heavy with sin, yet not in their heart. They did not greive in their heart over their sins yet loaded down with sin. Not the offspring of evildoers, but a seed of evildoers. Not the children of corrupters, but children that are corrupters. God is pointing his finger right at them and not their fathers. They had provoked the Holy One of Israel, so much so that His anger is against them. They had turned away from their God and had gone backwards. They had forsaken the Lord and left off worshiping him, just as many in our day have done the same thing and have forsaken the assembling of themselves together, neglected hearing the word of God. They had become backsliders and had forsaken their God. 5) Why should ye be stricken any more? ye will revolt more and more: the whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint. 6 From the sole of the foot even unto the head [there is] no soundness in it; [but] wounds, and bruises, and putrifying sores: they have not been closed, neither bound up, neither mollified with ointment. a) Why: They had not considered why they were striken. That it was the chastisement of the Lord, but revolted more and more. They perhaps thought it was just by chance or some other cause, and had not considered it was from the Lord, so they sinned more and more. b) He compares them as a people and nation ("sinful nation" vs 4) to the human body and said that the whole of it was sick, from the very sole of the foot to the head and all in between. Every member of this body was affected in some way or another. It was not that there was some soundness in it, but rather NO soundness in it. The whole nation, as a collective body, was sick. c) This seems to be looking at their sinful condition more so than the calamities that they had suffered because of their sins, but perhaps both are in view here. Verse 7 speaks of the results of their sins. d) they have not been closed, neither bound up, neither mollified with ointment: Not only was the whole body sick, but nothing had been done about it. No conviction of their evil. No putting it away from them. 7) Your country [is] desolate, your cities [are] burned with fire: your land, strangers devour it in your presence, and [it is] desolate, as overthrown by strangers. 8 And the daughter of Zion is left as a cottage in a vineyard, as a lodge in a garden of cucumbers, as a besieged city. a) This speaks of the calamities that had come upon them and that would come upon them as a nation because of their sinfulness. Gill says that this had it's fulfillment in the Babylonish captivity and the destruction by Rome. It will also have a future fulfillment as we are beginning to see now with what is happening in Israel right now. The whole Islamic world hates the Jewish nation of Israel and wants them exterminated. b) Gill thinks this is prophetic for the future rather than anything that had already happened. So the Arabic version has it, "your land SHALL BE desolate, your cities SHALL BE burnt with fire, and your country strangers SHALL devour before you" All of the translations that I have say "is" rather than "shall be" but God sees the future as the present. He sees the end from the beginning as one. c) a cottage in a vineyard, as a lodge in a garden of cucumbers: What is the meaning of this? Both of these were small booths in the middle of either in a vineyard or a garden in which the keeper of the vineyard or garden would keep watch over until it was harvested. After the harvest it was left and it was an empty and deserted place in the middle of a garden or vineyard that had already been harvested. It became a desolate place. Lu 19:43 For the days shall come upon thee, that thine enemies shall cast a trench about thee, and compass thee round, and keep thee in on every side, 44 And shall lay thee even with the ground, and thy children within thee; and they shall not leave in thee one stone upon another; because thou knewest not the time of thy visitation. d) as a besieged city: The daughter of Zion was left as a besieged city. The word besiege means to guard over and keep. So it must be surrounded from the outside world. In the negative sense the city was being kept or surrounded by the enemies of Israel. A city that is kept in this manner is impossible to escape from. It would be like a prison that is being kept or watched over by the jail keeper. 9) Except the LORD of hosts had left unto us a very small remnant, we should have been as Sodom, [and] we should have been like unto Gomorrah. a) This verse speaks of God's Sovereign Grace towards the nation of Israel. If left alone the nation of Israel would have become as Sodom and Gomorrah, which were two cities that God completely destroyed because of their wickedness. Paul quotes this verse in Romans chapter 9. This shows the prophetic implication of this verse in Isaiah, that is, it was for the future. Ro 9:27 Esaias also crieth concerning Israel, Though the number of the children of Israel be as the sand of the sea, a remnant shall be saved: 28 For he will finish the work, and cut [it] short in righteousness: because a short work will the Lord make upon the earth. 29 And as Esaias said before, Except the Lord of Sabaoth had left us a seed, we had been as Sodoma, and been made like unto Gomorrha. b) It was God's sovereign hand of grace that had preserved a remnant, and had not God acted directly there would have been no faithful remnant. Compare: Ro 11:1 I say then, Hath God cast away his people? God forbid. For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. 2 God hath not cast away his people which he foreknew. Wot ye not what the scripture saith of Elias? how he maketh intercession to God against Israel, saying, 3 Lord, they have killed thy prophets, and digged down thine altars; and I am left alone, and they seek my life. 4 But what saith the answer of God unto him? I have reserved to myself seven thousand men, who have not bowed the knee to the image of Baal. 5 Even so then at this present time also there is a remnant according to the election of grace. 6 And if by grace, then is it no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then is it no more grace: otherwise work is no more work. 7 What then? Israel hath not obtained that which he seeketh for; but the election hath obtained it, and the rest were blinded 8 (According as it is written, God hath given them the spirit of slumber, eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear;) unto this day. Compare with: 1Ki 19:10-18 Verse 5 and 6 or Ro 11 explains God's reservation or leaving of a remnant. READ also: Ro 11:25-32 Other OT scriptures that signify this same thing: Isa 10:22 For though thy people Israel be as the sand of the sea, [yet] a remnant of them shall return: the consumption decreed shall overflow with righteousness. Isa 37:31 And the remnant that is escaped of the house of Judah shall again take root downward, and bear fruit upward: 32 For out of Jerusalem shall go forth a remnant, and they that escape out of mount Zion: the zeal of the LORD of hosts shall do this. Eze 6:8 Yet will I leave a remnant, that ye may have [some] that shall escape the sword among the nations, when ye shall be scattered through the countries. Eze 14:22 Yet, behold, therein shall be left a remnant that shall be brought forth, [both] sons and daughters: behold, they shall come forth unto you, and ye shall see their way and their doings: and ye shall be comforted concerning the evil that I have brought upon Jerusalem, [even] concerning all that I have brought upon it. Joe 2:32 And it shall come to pass, [that] whosoever shall call on the name of the LORD shall be delivered: for in mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, as the LORD hath said, and in the remnant whom the LORD shall call. Zec 13:8 And it shall come to pass, [that] in all the land, saith the LORD, two parts therein shall be cut off [and] die; but the third shall be LEFT therein. 9 And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It [is] my people: and they shall say, The LORD [is] my God. { left or reserved in verse 8 } 10) Hear the word of the LORD, ye rulers of Sodom; give ear unto the law of our God, ye people of Gomorrah. a) Not Sodom and Gomorrah literally. They were destroyed some time back, but in the figurative sense. The rulers of Judea and the people of Judea. They had become as Sodom and Gomorrah and so the LORD through Isaiah calls them rulers of Sodom and people of Gomorrah. b) The name Sodom appears in the book of Revelation only one time and refers to Jerusalem in a spiritual sense: Re 11:8 And their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified. c) give ear unto the law of our God: Which shows that He is speaking to Israel and not literally to the people of Gomorrah, because Jehovah was the God of Israel. It is a call to repentance through the prophet. 11) To what purpose [is] the multitude of your sacrifices unto me? saith the LORD: I am full 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. a) Religion, without Christ! All these things were ordained under the Mosaic Economy, but had become acts of religion, rather than obedience to the God they feared and loved. Religion without repentance. b) They had become hypocrites acting out religious duties yet overlooked the weighter matters of the law as did the Pharisees in Christ's day. Mt 23:23 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone. Isa 66:1 Thus saith the LORD, The heaven [is] my throne, and the earth [is] my footstool: where [is] the house that ye build unto me? and where [is] the place of my rest? 2 For all those [things] hath mine hand made, and all those [things] have been, saith the LORD: but to this [man] will I look, [even] to [him that is] poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word. 3 He that killeth an ox [is as if] he slew a man; he that sacrificeth a lamb, [as if] he cut off a dog's neck; he that offereth an oblation, [as if he offered] swine's blood; he that burneth incense, [as if] he blessed an idol. Yea, they have chosen their own ways, and their soul delighteth in their abominations. c) Without the new birth, all of a man's righteousness is nothing but filthy rags. Isa 64:6 But we are all as an unclean [thing], and all OUR righteousnesses [are] as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away. The hypocrite wants to justify himself: Luke 16:14 And the Pharisees also, who were covetous, heard all these things: and they derided him. 15 And he said unto them, Ye are they which justify yourselves before men; but God knoweth your hearts: for that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God. d) They had no sense of their sin nor the real purpose of the sacrifices, which pointed to the seriousness of sin and the judgement against sin and the need of substitution. They did not realize that the blood of bulls and goats could never take away sin but only point to the true Lamb of God which could, and which Lamb the nation of Israel as a whole rejected, but only a remnant that the Lord had reserved believed. 12) When ye come to appear before me, who hath required this at your hand, to tread my courts? a) At the grand festivals of the passover, pentecost, and tabernacles, at which times all the males in Israel appeared before God, (Exodus 23:17) b) who hath required this: In that unbecoming and hypocritical way they did, and with such wicked hearts and bloody hands. 13) Bring no more vain oblations; incense is an abomination unto me; the new moons and sabbaths, the calling of assemblies, I cannot away with; [it is] iniquity, even the solemn meeting. 14* Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hateth: they are a trouble unto me; I am weary to bear [them]. 15* And when ye spread forth your hands, I will hide mine eyes from you: yea, when ye make many prayers, I will not hear: your hands are full of blood. a) vain oblations: Not that oblations or offerings were evil, but they were vain because they were done hypocrically and not with faith in Christ. Incense instead of a sweet smell was an abomination becuase it was offered in a hypocritical manner. b) new moons: the feasts kept on the first day of the month, at the appearance of the moon. c) sabbaths: observed every seventh day, every seventh year, and every seven times seventh year. d) the calling of assemblies: According to Gill, The new moon and sabbath, did not call a congregation. These assemblies called were the holy convocations on the seventh day sabbath, at the feasts of passover, pentecost, and tabernacles, at the blowing of the trumpets, and on the day of atonement. e) I am weary to bear [them]: When they came before Him iniquity was in their hearts. Ps 66:18 If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me: f) Thus he says in verse 15 because of the iniquity that was in their hearts: "And when ye spread forth your hands, I will hide mine eyes from you: yea, when ye make many prayers, I will not hear" And he adds the particular reason "your hands are full of blood." g) your hands are full of blood: Of the prophets of the past and future, namely the Lord Jesus Christ and his followers. 16) Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes; cease to do evil; 17 Learn to do well; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow. a) This seems to be a call to repentance from their hypocracy. He called for the putting away of the evil of their doings not their doings. The things they were doing were required by the law but it was the evil of their doings where the problem lay. Verse 17 speaks of the weighter matters of the law as Christ had said to the Pharasees. Mt 23:23 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone. b) make you clean: Which could only be done through faith in the antitype of the sacrifices they were offering. 18) Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. a) Though they were wicked and offered sacrifices with wicked hands. Though their offerings were nothing but an abomination before God, though when they prayed He heard none of their prayers, yet though their sins be red as scarlet, yet they could be could be washed white as snow. b) Reason together: His people, the remnant that had an ear to hear, at the bar of mercy and not the bar of justice. If at the bar of justice, none could stand, but all would be condemned. Gill: If he marks iniquity in strict justice, none can stand before him; there is no entering the lists with him upon the foot of justice, or at its bar: but at the bar of mercy, at the throne of grace; there the righteous may dispute with him from his declarations and promises, as well as come with boldness to him; and at the altar and sacrifice of Christ, and at the fountain of his blood: here sinners may reason with him from the virtue and efficacy of his blood and sacrifice; and from the Lord's proclamation of grace and mercy through him; and from his promises to forgive repenting and confessing sinners: and here God reasons with sensible souls from his own covenant promises and proclamations to forgive sin; from the aboundings of his grace over abounding sin; from the righteousness of Christ to justify, his blood to cleanse from sin, and his sacrifice to atone for it; and from the end of his coming into the world to save the chief of sinners. c) sins be as scarlet: scarlet is RED, the color of blood. "Red like crimson" is what our verse says. "... and without shedding of blood is no remission." (Heb 9:22) It required the BLOOD of Jesus Christ to take away sins, so here their sins had stained them red as crimson. In verse 15 God tells them that their hands were full of blood. All sins are mortal in nature, because the "wages of sin is death" (Ro 6:23). All sin requires BLOOD to be shed in order to have remission, and only the blood of Jesus Christ availeth anything. scarlet and crimson: These are interesting words. scarlet: shaniy {shaw-nee'} 1) properly, the insect 'coccus ilicis', the dried body of the female yielding colouring matter from which is made the dye used for cloth to colour it scarlet or crimson. crimson: towla` {to-law'} It was translated "scarlet" 34 times, "worm" 8 times, and "crimson" only 1 time. 1) the dye made from the dried body of the female of the worm "coccus ilicis" 2) When the female of the scarlet worm species was ready to give birth to her young, she would attach her body to the trunk of a tree, fixing herself so firmly and permanently that she would never leave again. The eggs deposited beneath her body were thus protected until the larvae were hatched and able to enter their own life cycle. As the mother died, the crimson fluid stained her body and the surrounding wood. From the dead bodies of such female scarlet worms, the commercial scarlet dyes of antiquity were extracted. What a picture this gives of Christ, dying on the tree, shedding His precious blood that He might "bring many sons unto glory" (Heb. 2:10)! He died for us, that we might live through Him! In Psalm 22, which is a Messianic Psalm, because in verse 18, we read, "They part my garments among them, and cast lots upon my vesture." Looking back to verse 6 of that same Psalm we read, "But I am a WORM, and no man; a reproach of men, and despised of the people." They parted His garments while Christ was nailed to the tree. When he says that He was a worm a reproach of men and despised of the people, it was while he was being crucified. A WORM FIXED TO A TREE! d) How well this shows us that ONLY the BLOOD of Jesus Christ dying on a tree could make us white as snow. It was God's sovereignty that put Christ on the tree, but in a very real sense it was the sins of God's elect throughout the entire world and throughout the entire course of time that afixed Christ to the tree and caused His blood to be shed. If God's people had never sinned then there would have been no need for Christ to shed His blood on the tree. Why did God allow sin to enter into the world? To demonstrate His love and Grace through Jesus Christ! Joh 15:13 Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. 19) If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land: 20 But if ye refuse and rebel, ye shall be devoured with the sword: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken [it]. a) willing and obedient: To God's word. Christ was the "word made flesh." Willingness to the word of God is necessary. Ps 110:3 Thy people [shall be] willing in the day of thy power, in the beauties of holiness from the womb of the morning: thou hast the dew of thy youth. b) good of the land: The land of Canaan, which the Jews held in possession before the times of Christ, by their obedience to the laws of God. c) But if ye refuse and rebel: And do not receive My Word, especially the Word made flesh, which is the Messiah, Jesus Christ, then "ye shall be devoured with the sword." And we all know what happened in 70 AD. Lu 19:41 And when he was come near, he beheld the city, and wept over it, 42 Saying, If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace! but now they are hid from thine eyes. 43 For the days shall come upon thee, that thine enemies shall cast a trench about thee, and compass thee round, and keep thee in on every side, 44 And shall lay thee even with the ground, and thy children within thee; and they shall not leave in thee one stone upon another; because thou knewest not the time of thy visitation. The city of Jerusalem which was the center of worship for the Jewish people. 21) How is the faithful city become an harlot! it was full of judgment; righteousness lodged in it; but now murderers. a) Christ wept over the CITY (Jerusalem) and said it would be laid even with the ground, and here in Isaiah after saying if they rebeled they would devoured with the sword, Isaiah mentions the CITY, and says that it has become a harlot or whore. Gill: The city of Jerusalem, in which were the temple, and the pure worship of God, and was in the tribe of Judah, which ruled with God, and was very faithful with the saints when the ten tribes revolted, and fell in with the sin of Jeroboam; but now, in Isaiah's time, was become like a treacherous wife to her husband, unfaithful to the Lord, went after other lovers, committed spiritual adultery, that is, idolatry, with stocks and stones; and in the times of Christ were a wicked and an adulterous generation, corrupting the word and worship of God. b) This city was the central place of worship. It was a religious city, and was originally righteous, notice he says, "righteousness lodged in it" in which strict justice was exercised being "full of judgment," but it had become wicked and he says of it now, "but now murderers" lodge in it. It had become an whore, but before was a righteous woman. We read of a whore in the Book of Revelation, and the book of Revelation is Jewish, is it not. It is Daniel's 70th week, which concerns the Jews and Jerusalem. Da 9:24 Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy. To Israel God says: Jer 3:1 They say, If a man put away his wife, and she go from him, and become another man's, shall he return unto her again? shall not that land be greatly polluted? but thou hast played the harlot with many lovers; yet return again to me, saith the LORD. La 1:8 Jerusalem hath grievously sinned; therefore she is removed: all that honoured her despise her, because they have seen her nakedness: yea, she sigheth, and turneth backward. 9* Her filthiness [is] in her skirts; she remembereth not her last end; therefore she came down wonderfully: she had no comforter. O LORD, behold my affliction: for the enemy hath magnified [himself]. Lu 13:34 O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, which killest the prophets, and stonest them that are sent unto thee; how often would I have gathered thy children together, as a hen [doth gather] her brood under [her] wings, and ye would not! 35 Behold, your house is left unto you desolate: and verily I say unto you, Ye shall not see me, until [the time] come when ye shall say, Blessed [is] he that cometh in the name of the Lord. Zep 3:1 Woe to her that is filthy and polluted, to the oppressing city! 2 She obeyed not the voice; she received not correction; she trusted not in the LORD; she drew not near to her God. 3 Her princes within her [are] roaring lions; her judges [are] evening wolves; they gnaw not the bones till the morrow. 4 Her prophets [are] light [and] treacherous persons: her priests have polluted the sanctuary, they have done violence to the law. To Jerusalem: READ Ez 16:1-63; Ez 22:1-31; Ez 23:1-49