Isa.18
Message to Cush, which is Ethiopia.
18:4 "... For thus the Lord has told me, "I will look from My dwelling place quietly..."
What do you think it means for God to look quietly?
Isa.19
Message to Egypt.
2 - God will incite civil war.
5-10 Significant problems with water supply.
14 "...The Lord has mixed within her a spirit of distortion; They have led Egypt astray in all that it does, As a drunken man staggers in his vomit..." How did God confound Egypt? From where do American distortions come?
15 No work? High Unemployment?
18-25 Prediction of Egypt turning to the Lord and finding salvation.
Isa.20
2-3 Isaiah goes naked for? [3 yrs]. A sign of what Assyria will do to Ethiopia and Egypt - lead captives away in shame.
Isa.21
1-10 Babylon will fall.
11-17 Edom and Arabia will face destruction.
Isa.22
1-11 God's people don't recognize Him or depend upon Him and will therefore face panic, subjugation, and confusion.
12-14 What is God looking for? [Repentance] How do people respond? [Partying].
25 - "...In that day," declares the Lord of hosts, "the peg driven in a firm place will give way; it will even break off and fall, and the load hanging on it will be cut off, for the Lord has spoken." Don't expect anything or anyone, other than God, to reliable hold you during the stresses and strains of life.
Isa.23
Tyre is to be forgotten for 70 years, then visited by God.
This is the length of time of the Babylonian captivity, indicating that trade would resume when the captivity of God's people was over.
Isa.24
Judgment - not a popular word in modern Christianity.
1 - "...Behold, the Lord lays the earth waste, devastates it, distorts its surface and scatters its inhabitants..."
3 - "...The earth will be completely laid waste and completely despoiled, for the Lord has spoken this word..."
5 - "...The earth is also polluted by its inhabitants, for they transgressed laws, violated statutes, broke the everlasting covenant..."
Has He done this before?
Will He do this again?
21,22 "...So it will happen in that day, That the Lord will punish the host of heaven on high, And the kings of the earth on earth. They will be gathered together Like prisoners in the dungeon, And will be confined in prison; And after many days they will be punished..."
Who is to be punished? [above and below]
What is the confinement? [held for judgment - Sheol?]
Final punishment? [Great White Throne?]
Isa.25
8 - "...He will swallow up death for all time, And the Lord God will wipe tears away from all faces, And He will remove the reproach of His people from all the earth; For the Lord has spoken..."
Isa.26
12 - "...Lord, You will establish peace for us, Since You have also performed for us all our works..."
20-21 "...Come, my people, enter into your rooms And close your doors behind you; Hide for a little while Until indignation runs its course. For behold, the Lord is about to come out from His place To punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity; And the earth will reveal her bloodshed And will no longer cover her slain..."
Isa.27
The coming deliverance.
Isa.28
Ephraim has some trouble on the way.
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..."
Isa.29
Punishment is coming.
6 - "...From the Lord of hosts you will be punished with thunder and earthquake and loud noise, With whirlwind and tempest and the flame of a consuming fire..."
10 - "...For the Lord has poured over you a spirit of deep sleep, He has shut your eyes, the prophets; And He has covered your heads, the seers..."
13,14 "...Then the Lord said, "Because this people draw near with their words And honor Me with their lip service, But they remove their hearts far from Me, And their reverence for Me consists of tradition learned by rote, Therefore behold, I will once again deal marvelously with this people, wondrously marvelous; And the wisdom of their wise men will perish, And the discernment of their discerning men will be concealed..."
Isa.30
1 - "...Woe to the rebellious children," declares the Lord, "Who execute a plan, but not Mine, And make an alliance, but not of My Spirit, In order to add sin to sin;..."
2 - "...Who proceed down to Egypt Without consulting Me, To take refuge in the safety of Pharaoh And to seek shelter in the shadow of Egypt!..." The way of the world!
9 - "...For this is a rebellious people, false sons, Sons who refuse to listen To the instruction of the Lord;..."
10 - People want what people want!
What's the correct way?
15 - "...For thus the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel, has said, "In repentance and rest you will be saved, In quietness and trust is your strength." But you were not willing,..."
21 - "...Your ears will hear a word behind you, "This is the way, walk in it," whenever you turn to the right or to the left..."
26 - "...The light of the moon will be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun will be seven times brighter, like the light of seven days, on the day the Lord binds up the fracture of His people and heals the bruise He has inflicted..."
30 - "...And the Lord will cause His voice of authority to be heard, And the descending of His arm to be seen in fierce anger, And in the flame of a consuming fire In cloudburst, downpour and hailstones..."
Isa.31
1 - Again a reference to turning to Egypt (the world) for help.
Isa.32
15,16 - When does righteousness and justice come? [When the Spirit is poured out]
To what does righteousness lead? 17 - "...And the work of righteousness will be peace, And the service of righteousness, quietness and confidence forever..." FOREVER?
Isa.33
Is there anything stable in life? 6 - "...And He will be the stability of your times, A wealth of salvation, wisdom and knowledge; The fear of the Lord is his treasure..."
Who can live in God's presence? 14,15 "...Sinners in Zion are terrified; Trembling has seized the godless. "Who among us can live with the consuming fire? Who among us can live with continual burning?" He who walks righteously and speaks with sincerity, He who rejects unjust gain And shakes his hands so that they hold no bribe; He who stops his ears from hearing about bloodshed And shuts his eyes from looking upon evil;..."
22 - "...For the Lord is our judge, The Lord is our lawgiver, The Lord is our king; He will save us..."
Isa.34
8 - "...For the Lord has a day of vengeance, A year of recompense for the cause of Zion..."
Isa.35
3,4 - "...Encourage the exhausted, and strengthen the feeble. Say to those with anxious heart, "Take courage, fear not. Behold, your God will come with vengeance; The recompense of God will come, But He will save you..."
What do 5-7 Imply? "...Then the eyes of the blind will be opened And the ears of the deaf will be unstopped. Then the lame will leap like a deer, And the tongue of the mute will shout for joy. For waters will break forth in the wilderness And streams in the Arabah. The scorched land will become a pool And the thirsty ground springs of water; In the haunt of jackals, its resting place, Grass becomes reeds and rushes..." [things will be made right] Is there anything not right now?
10 - "...And the ransomed of the Lord will return And come with joyful shouting to Zion, With everlasting joy upon their heads. They will find gladness and joy, And sorrow and sighing will flee away..."
Isa.36
Another telling of the story of Sennacherib, king of Assyria, whose commander taunted Hezekiah in a siege of Jerusalem.
7 - Don't trust in God.
18 - The Lord won't deliver.
Isa.37
1 - Hezekiah humbled himself.
6 - Isaiah relays the message that he is not to worry about those who blaspheme God.
18-20 - Hezekiah prays for deliverance
28,29 - God's word to Sennacherib (hook, bridle, turn).
32 - God at work - "...the zeal of the Lord will perform this..."
Proper sequence:
Humbled himself.
Received a Word from God.
Prayed through.
Angel of the Lord struck 185,000.
Sennacherib's sons killed him.
How does the zeal of the Lord work? Do people see it?
Isa.38
1 - Hezekiah is mortally ill.
2 - He prayed.
5 - He gets 15 more yrs "...Go and say to Hezekiah, 'Thus says the Lord, the God of your father David, "I have heard your prayer, I have seen your tears; behold, I will add fifteen years to your life..."
How does God do this? Do people see it?
8 - The earth's rotation backs up.
Hezekiah was very advanced for someone who lived 2700 years ago. You won't realize this if you're reading the wrong translation 14 - "...Like a swallow, like a crane, so I twitter..."
21 - "...Now Isaiah had said, "Let them take a cake of figs and apply it to the boil, that he may recover..."
Isa.39
Hezekiah foolishly shows off his treasures to a Babylonian prince.
END of 39 chapters of Judgment. BEGINNING of 27 chapters of Comfort.
Isa.40
1,2 - Why the kind words? "...Comfort, O comfort My people," says your God. "Speak kindly to Jerusalem; And call out to her, that her warfare has ended, That her iniquity has been removed, That she has received of the Lord's hand Double for all her sins..."
3-5 - Familiar words, quoted in the gospels "...A voice is calling, "Clear the way for the Lord in the wilderness; Make smooth in the desert a highway for our God. "Let every valley be lifted up, And every mountain and hill be made low; And let the rough ground become a plain, And the rugged terrain a broad valley; Then the glory of the Lord will be revealed, And all flesh will see it together; For the mouth of the Lord has spoken..."
On what can we count? 8 - "...The grass withers, the flower fades, But the word of our God stands forever..."
21-23 "...Do you not know? Have you not heard? Has it not been declared to you from the beginning? Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth? It is He who sits above the circle of the earth, And its inhabitants are like grasshoppers, Who stretches out the heavens like a curtain And spreads them out like a tent to dwell in. He it is who reduces rulers to nothing, Who makes the judges of the earth meaningless..."
Are there people who haven't heard?
Are there people who don't know that He sits above the earth and rules in the affairs of men?
28 - "...Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth Does not become weary or tired. His understanding is inscrutable..."
Isa.41
God is in charge of all generations (boomers,X,Y,etc)
4 - "... Who has performed and accomplished it, Calling forth the generations from the beginning? 'I, the Lord, am the first, and with the last. I am He.'..."
10 - "...'Do not fear, for I am with you; Do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, surely I will help you, Surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand...'
Isa.42
9 - "...Behold, the former things have come to pass, Now I declare new things; Before they spring forth I proclaim them to you..." New things? Advance notice?
21 - "...The Lord was pleased for His righteousness' sake To make the law great and glorious..." Is it?
Isa.43
11-13 "...I, even I, am the Lord, And there is no savior besides Me. "It is I who have declared and saved and proclaimed, And there was no strange god among you; So you are My witnesses," declares the Lord, "And I am God. "Even from eternity I am He, And there is none who can deliver out of My hand; I act and who can reverse it?..."
24-25 "...You have bought Me not sweet cane with money, Nor have you filled Me with the fat of your sacrifices; Rather you have burdened Me with your sins, You have wearied Me with your iniquities. "I, even I, am the one who wipes out your transgressions for My own sake, And I will not remember your sins..."
Isa.44
3 - "...For I will pour out water on the thirsty land And streams on the dry ground; I will pour out My Spirit on your offspring And My blessing on your descendants;..."
9-20 People really are blind and foolish.
21-24 Yet God is so willing to Redeem.
Isa.45
1-7 This is the prediction about Cyrus made 150 years before his rule.
18b "...I am the Lord, and there is none else..."
21 "...There is no other God beside Me..."
22 "... Turn to Me and be saved, all the ends of the earth; For I am God, and there is no other..."
23 "...I have sworn by Myself, The word has gone forth from My mouth in righteousness And will not turn back, That to Me every knee will bow, every tongue will swear allegiance..."
Isa.46
9 - "..."Remember the former things long past, For I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is no one like Me.."
10 - "...Declaring the end from the beginning, And from ancient times things which have not been done, Saying, 'My purpose will be established, And I will accomplish all My good pleasure';..."
11 - "...Calling a bird of prey from the east, The man of My purpose from a far country. Truly I have spoken; truly I will bring it to pass. I have planned it, surely I will do it..."
Isa.47
Discussion of Babylon. God gave His people to them and they weren't treated with mercy.
10 - "...You felt secure in your wickedness and said, 'No one sees me,' Your wisdom and your knowledge, they have deluded you; For you have said in your heart, 'I am, and there is no one besides me..."
11 - "...But evil will come on you Which you will not know how to charm away; And disaster will fall on you For which you cannot atone; And destruction about which you do not know Will come on you suddenly..."
Isa.48
1 - "...Hear this, O house of Jacob, who are named Israel And who came forth from the loins of Judah, Who swear by the name of the Lord And invoke the God of Israel, But not in truth nor in righteousness..." What does this mean?
17-19 "...Thus says the Lord, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel, "I am the Lord your God, who teaches you to profit, Who leads you in the way you should go. "If only you had paid attention to My commandments! Then your well-being would have been like a river, And your righteousness like the waves of the sea. "Your descendants would have been like the sand, And your offspring like its grains; Their name would never be cut off or destroyed from My presence..."
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