Thursday
Evening Bible Study
October
17, 2019
Introduction
The book of Isaiah is the first book in the section of the Old Testament
that we call the “prophets”.
It is the Old Testament book that has the clearest picture of the coming
Messiah.
The New Testament quotes from Isaiah more than from any other prophet.
John, the forerunner of Christ, began his ministry with a quote from Isaiah
(Mat. 3:3).
Jesus preached His first sermon in Nazareth from Isaiah (Luke 4:17-21).
Old Bible critics will say that the book of Isaiah is actually
two books written by different authors, with chapters 1-39 as the first
book, and chapters 40-66 as the second.
The two sections are indeed distinct, but they serve different purposes.
The first half is a book of judgment, the second half is one of comfort.
Better, recent scholarship, including the contribution of the Dead Sea
Scrolls affirms that it is a single book written by a single author.
This is not a book that was written all at once, in a single sitting. There
are various sections of the book, and it is the compiling of the writings of a
man over sixty years.
There will be times that the prophetic message is aimed close to Isaiah’s
time.
There will be times when the prophetic message is aimed far in the future.
There will be times when the message has a double effect with both a near and
far prophecy.
Isaiah has contemporaries.
His ministry overlaps the prophets Hosea and Micah.
His ministry lies roughly between 740-700 BC.
He prophesies during the reigns of the Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah –
all kings of the southern kingdom of Judah.
Keep in mind that in Isaiah’s lifetime, Israel has been split into two
different nations.
The northern ten tribes were called “Israel”, or “Ephraim”.
The southern two tribes were called “Judah”
Isaiah lived in the southern nation, and they are the main
focus of his prophecies.
Two concepts to keep in mind as we study prophecy:
We have seen that some prophecies have “double fulfillments” – they may be
fulfilled inside Isaiah’s day, and then again far in the future (like Is. 7:14
– the virgin).
We are also seeing that when it comes to prophecy, sometimes the prophecy
can skip hundreds or thousands of years between one phrase and the next. This
is called “prophetic telescoping”.
We’ve finished the section known as “Isaiah’s Apocalypse” (chs. 24-27), and now move into a section dealing with more
current events to Isaiah’s day, including the coming Assyrian invasion.
Chapters 28-33 contain a series of “woes” and “burdens”.
Chapters 34-35 are a single package, a prophecy about the end times.
34:1-17 Tribulation
read vs. 1-12
:2 the indignation of the Lord is against all nations
The seven-year Tribulation period is known as the time of God’s wrath.
What we are reading here is a picture of the armies of the world gathering
at Armageddon to wage war with Jesus.
:4 the heavens shall be rolled up like a scroll
John’s record in Revelation 6 mirrors several pictures in this verse,
including.
(Revelation
6:14 NKJV) Then the sky receded as a scroll when it is
rolled up
:6 the Lord has a sacrifice in Bozrah
We’ll see more of this in Isaiah 63, but much of the battle when Jesus
returns will be taking place in modern Jordan, as the small remnant of Jews
will have fled there from the Antichrist.
:7 Their land shall be soaked with blood
(Revelation
14:20 NLT) The grapes were trampled in the winepress
outside the city, and blood flowed from the winepress in a stream about 180
miles long and as high as a horse’s bridle.
:8 it is the day of the Lord’s vengeance
Lesson
Getting Even
We need to be careful in how we respond to people who are not very nice to
us.
There was an old bumper sticker that read,
“I don’t get mad, I get even”
We try play “Rambo”
Video: Rambo – Murdock I’m Coming
To Get You
Yet Paul reminds us:
(Romans
12:19 NKJV) Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather
give place to wrath; for it is written, “Vengeance is Mine, I will
repay,” says the Lord.
We are seeing here just a smidgen of what God’s
“vengeance” looks like.
Summarize vs. 9-15
This section continues to describe the devastation to the land that opposes
God.
read vs. 16-17
:16 Not one of these shall fail
When God promises to do something, He will do it.
Every once in a while some skeptic will pop up his
head and declare that the Bible is a flawed human book.
But slowly in the background archaeology continues to discover one thing
after another that shows this book is true.
And yet if you pay attention, archaeology continues to march along and
discover one thing after another that was spoken of in the Bible.
When you pay attention to the prophecies of the Bible, you will see that
history has only validated what God predicted.
If prophecies of the past can be shown to have happened, what do you think
of the prophecies that are still in the future?
They too will one day happen.
Jesus will return.
35:1-10 End of Tribulation
read vs. 1-10
This chapter will pick up after Jesus has returned and vanquished the
antichrist and all the enemies of God.
:1 the desert shall rejoice and blossom
Modern technology and the genius of the Jews of Israel has already begun to
see this fulfilled. After Jesus returns it will be multiplied.
read
:2 Lebanon … Carmel and Sharon
Lebanon to the north of Israel has always been known for their green trees.
Carmel is on the coast of northern Israel – and it’s beautiful.
Sharon is the beautiful and fruitful coastal plain just south of Carmel.
read
:3 Strengthen the weak hands
When the writer of Hebrews is trying to encourage those of his readers who
are going through “chastening” and difficult times, he writes,
(Hebrews 12:12–13
NKJV) —12 Therefore strengthen the hands which hang down, and the feeble
knees, 13 and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not
be dislocated, but rather be healed.
He is quoting from Isaiah.
The way we strengthen others is to point to our future,
our hope.
read
:6 streams in the desert
There’s an excellent daily devotional that uses this phrase in its title.
It’s a daily reading that is aimed at encouraging those who are going
through difficult times, through the “desert”.
It is interesting to see how God can use those “wilderness” or “desert”
times to help us grow, that He will send “streams” to water us in places where
we are parched.
:8 the Highway of Holiness
When Jesus comes back, the world will have a taste of real holiness.
Until Jesus returns, we need to be giving the world a good example of what
holiness looks like.
(1 Peter 1:15–16
NKJV) —15 but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your
conduct, 16 because it is written, “Be holy, for I am holy.”
36:1-22 Sennacherib’s Threat
Chapters 36-39 will take a break from the prophetic writings of Isaiah, and move into some historical accounts of things
that took place around the time of the Assyrian Invasion.
The Assyrians date back to the founding of the city of Asshur
on the Tigris river around 2000 BC. By 1100 BC, they had become a fierce power
and conquered territory as far west as the Mediterranean Sea in northern Syria.
For the next four hundred years they kept expanding their territory, creeping
further and further south. By 850 BC they had taken Damascus, and by 722 BC
they had wiped out everything north of the little nation of Judah, with its
capitol at Jerusalem.
We’ve been hinting at this invasion throughout the previous 35 chapters. We’ve
seen it pop up its head over and over.
We’ve gotten a glimpse into the spiritual temperature of the nation – there
were a number of people who were backslidden.
(Isaiah 29:13 NKJV) …these people draw near with their mouths And honor Me
with their lips,
But
have removed their hearts far from Me…
We have not talked too much about Hezekiah, the good king when Assyria
invaded.
We’ve talked about some of the preparations that Hezekiah has made – such
as digging that long tunnel through solid rock to bring water into the city as
they prepared for a long siege.
We haven’t talked much about Hezekiah’s own spiritual life.
Hezekiah was a good king who loved the Lord.
He has already made some serious reforms in the nation, including
refurbishing the Temple, restarting Temple worship, and cleaning up idol
worship throughout the land of Israel.
He’s worked hard to clean things up in the Temple, both
physically and spiritually (2Chron. 29).
He restored worship in the Temple because things had come
to a halt (2Chron. 29)
He reinstituted the keeping of the Passover (2Chron. 30)
He cleaned up the idol worship throughout the entire
nation of Israel (2Chron. 31)
The writer of Chronicles sets up our current chapter with this:
(2
Chronicles 32:1 NKJV) After these deeds of faithfulness,
Sennacherib king of Assyria came and entered Judah…
The point? You may be doing all the right things in
serving God, but you are still going to face difficult times. You are still
going to face attacks.
read vs. 1-38
:2 the Rabshakeh
literally, “chief wine-pourer”, “chief cup-bearer”, a high official in
Sennacherib’s government. This is probably not his name, but his title.
The “cup bearer” was the guy who made sure the king wasn’t poisoned. He
would be a trusted counselor to the king. (like Nehemiah)
:2 from Lachish
see map
Lachish is 30 miles from Jerusalem. This is the city that the Assyrian army
is currently trying to conquer, and Rabshakeh is sent from Lachish to threaten
Hezekiah into surrender.
Archaeologists have uncovered Sennacherib’s own account of these things. His
conquest of Lachish is shown in graphic detail in carved panels at his palace
in Nineveh. He says that while he was laying siege to Lachish, an army was sent
up against Jerusalem where he claims that Hezekiah was “made a prisoner ... like a bird in a cage.”
He tells of sending three of his
dignitaries to negotiate a surrender, but Hezekiah refused. His account is
rather vague as to why he withdrew, but he claims that Hezekiah paid an
enormous tribute.
The Bible tells us that Hezekiah did
pay a large tribute to Sennacherib (2Ki. 18:14-16), but it was before Sennacherib laid siege to
Jerusalem. Sennacherib wasn’t satisfied with the tribute money and laid siege
anyway.
read
:3 Eliakim … Shebna
We’ve already heard about these fellows back in Isaiah 22
Shebna was the proud man who would be judged by God.
(Isaiah
22:15 NKJV) Thus says the Lord God of hosts: “Go, proceed to this steward, To Shebna, who is over the house, and say:
Eliakim was the faithful man with the “key of David” who would be exalted.
(Isaiah
22:20 NKJV) ‘Then it shall be in that day, That I will
call My servant Eliakim the son of Hilkiah;
read
:6 You are trusting in the staff of this broken reed, Egypt
Rabshakeh is claiming that Hezekiah is expecting the Egyptians to rescue
them.
What he doesn’t know is that God has already been warning the people
through Isaiah not to trust in either the Ethiopians (Is. 18) nor in the
Egyptians (Is. 19)
read
:7 whose altars Hezekiah has taken away
Lesson
Narrow Minded
We mentioned earlier that this had been part of Hezekiah’s reforms (2Chron.
31).
One of the perennial problems in Israel were the “high places”.
These were the various altars found throughout the land of Israel.
Though some of these altars were dedicated to idols, some
were dedicated to Yahweh.
God had long ago warned Israel to only have ONE central place of worship
(Deut. 12).
It’s kind of like saying that Jesus is the ONLY way to
God.
Hezekiah was the first king to obey God’s command.
(2 Kings 18:4 NKJV) He removed the high places and broke
the sacred pillars…
Rabshakeh thought that the more altars you have, the more your god will
like you.
He didn’t know that God was pleased with Hezekiah.
Some folks think that Christians are narrow minded for believing that Jesus
is the ONLY way to God.
We don’t believe this because we are narrow minded. We believe this because
that’s what Jesus said,
(John 14:6 NKJV) Jesus said to him, “I am the way,
the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.
Sometimes it’s good to be narrowminded.
If you board a plane to Hawaii, don’t you want the pilot to know the exact
compass heading to get you there?
read through v.14
:14 he will not be able to deliver you
Lesson
Lies
One of the greatest attacks the enemy makes on us comes through the lies he
speaks to our minds.
“You are worthless”
God says you are so valuable that He gave up His only Son
to pay for you. (1Jn. 3:16)
“You’ve sinned too many times”
God says that the blood of Jesus cleanses us from ALL sins
(1John 1:7).
“Destroy yourself”
God has NEVER told anyone to destroy themselves. Not a
one. Satan is the one who comes to steal, kill, and destroy (John 10:10). Jesus
gives life.
:16 every one from his own fig tree
This is an ancient picture of a peaceful and prosperous people.
(1 Kings
4:25 NKJV) And Judah and Israel dwelt safely, each man
under his vine and his fig tree, from Dan as far as Beersheba, all the days of
Solomon.
(Micah 4:4 NKJV) But everyone shall sit under his vine and under his fig tree, And no one
shall make them afraid; For the mouth of the Lord
of hosts has spoken.
read
:17 I come and take you away
About 35 years earlier, the Assyrians had begun a new policy under Tiglath
Pileser III towards newly conquered nations. To keep these nations from rising up and rebelling, they would be taken captive and
deported to distant lands that had already been conquered. The thought was that
the conquered nations would be less likely to rise up
and revolt because they were so unstable trying to get used to a new country. They
would then transplant new people in the old place.
The northern kingdom of Israel has already experienced this.
read
:21 Do not answer him
Sometimes the wisest thing you can do is to choose not to answer when
someone is taunting you.
(Proverbs
10:19 NKJV) In the multitude of words sin is not lacking, But he who
restrains his lips is wise.
37:1-38 Deliverance from Assyria
read vs. 1-38
:3 there is no strength to bring them forth
The picture is that of a woman delivering her baby, and having a long,
painful, exhausting labor, and has finally run out of strength.
They’ve done a lot to get to this day of final crisis. They’ve done a lot
of preparation. But now that it’s here, they aren’t sure they can go through with
it.
Lesson
Rope Ends
God knows just what to do when we finally reach the end of our rope.
On April 13, 1970, Apollo 13 was two days into their journey to the moon
when something happened.
Besides losing most of their oxygen, they were also
heading away from earth. It would be a
tense four days as the astronauts worked with the engineers at NASA to figure
out how to get back home safely.
That’s an “end of the rope” scenario. (BTW they made it
back four days later)
Paul was pretty much at the end of his rope with his physical ailment. He
had prayed and prayed and still wasn’t healed.
(2 Corinthians
12:9–10 NKJV) —9 And He said to me, “My grace is
sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities,
that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 10 Therefore I
take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in
distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
You may be feeling like you’re at the end of your rope,
but perhaps you’ve just come to the place where you’re going to see God work
now.
read
:4 Therefore lift up your prayer
Hezekiah is asking Isaiah to pray.
read
:8 found the king of Assyria warring against Libnah
The siege takes a pause while Rabshakeh reports back to his boss.
See map.
He finds that Sennacherib has finished with Lachish and has moved on to Libnah. The Assyrian army is getting closer to Jerusalem.
read
:9 the king heard concerning Tirhakah king of
Ethiopia
Sennacherib hears that the Ethiopians might be marching to ally with Judah.
Hezekiah has already been warned not to put his trust in the Ethiopians.
read
:14 spread it before the Lord
Lesson
Tell Him everything
Don’t make prayer your last resort, make it your first “go-to”.
(Psalm 62:8 NKJV) Trust in Him
at all times, you people; Pour out
your heart before Him; God is a refuge for us.
Hezekiah took the threatening letter and spread it out before the Lord.
Illustration
Tom Monaghan in his book Pizza Tiger shares
an incident that occurred when he was flying his Cessna 172.
“I flew over to Pontiac one day that summer to see Eldon Huff. The ceiling
was very low when I started back, and once again clouds closed in on me. In
trying to ease myself below them, I lost control of the plane. It stalled, and
I found myself in a spin. I pulled back on the control yoke with all my might,
But I couldn’t budge it. Plowed fields were whirling up toward me, and I
realized there was nothing left to do but pray. I released the controls, closed
my eyes, and folded my hands under my chin: “Father in Heaven, please help me”
I began, and I felt a miraculous change take place. The spinning stopped and
suddenly the plane was flying level again.
Great advice when we’re in a tail spin: release
the controls, close our eyes, and pray.”
-- from Tom Monaghan, Pizza
Tiger, New York: Random House, 1986, p. 130.
read
:16 You have made heaven and earth
Lesson
Big God
Some of the greatest prayers in the Bible have one thing in common – they
are addressed to a BIG GOD.
Learn to start your prayers by reminding yourself who you are praying to. Learn
the discipline of recounting to yourself the greatness and power of God.
Question: Give me a word that
describes an attribute of God.
Hezekiah’s prayer has some substance to it.
Illustration
Hudson Taylor, the great missionary to China, said, “Many Christians
estimate difficulty in the light of their own resources, and thus they attempt
very little, and they always fail. All giants have been weak men who did great
things for God because they reckoned on His power and His presence to be with
them.”
-- John Maxwell, Be
All You Can Be (Victor, 1987), p. 15.
read
:20 save us from his hand
Lesson
Keep it short
Considering the incredible things that are about to happen, Hezekiah’s
prayer is pretty short.
We think that we need to pray looooooooong
prayers if we really want something to happen.
Sometimes God is just as impressed with short prayers.
Elijah was a man with powerful prayers. When he prayed, God sent fire from
heaven.
Homework: Look at how long Elijah’s
prayer is in 1Kings 18.
Look at how long his prayer was:
(1 Kings 18:36–37
NKJV) —36 And it came to pass, at the time of the offering of the evening
sacrifice, that Elijah the prophet came near and said, “Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known this
day that You are God in Israel and I am Your servant, and that
I have done all these things at Your word. 37 Hear me, O Lord, hear me, that this people may
know that You are the Lord
God, and that You have turned their hearts back to You again.”
Solomon wrote,
(Ecclesiastes 5:1–2
NLT) —1 As you enter the house of God, keep your ears open and your mouth
shut. It is evil to make mindless offerings to God. 2 Don’t make
rash promises, and don’t be hasty in bringing matters before God. After all,
God is in heaven, and you are here on earth. So let
your words be few.
God is looking at your heart and your faith, not the
number of words you use.
read
:21 Isaiah the son of Amoz sent to Hezekiah
Isaiah wasn’t there when Hezekiah prayed, but he’s the one that got the
answer from God.
read
:29 I will turn you back
Remember this promise…
read
:30 This shall be a sign
The issue isn’t just the initial victory over the Assyrians, but whether or not they will come back.
What if the Assyrians come back in a month or two?
read
:30 the third year sow and reap
In other words, the Assyrians aren’t coming back.
read
:33 He shall not come into this city
The Assyrians won’t step foot into Jerusalem.
read
:36 the angel of the Lord went
out
Who is this? It’s Jesus. He will kill 185,000 Assyrians in a single night.
read
:37 departed and went away
God said He would “turn him back”. I guess losing 185,000 troops would do
that.
read
:38 the land of Ararat
Sound familiar? That’s where the Ark of Noah landed (Gen. 8:4)
(Genesis 8:4 NKJV) Then the ark rested in the seventh month, the seventeenth day of
the month, on the mountains of Ararat.
38:1-22 Hezekiah’s Healing
We now start a new story about Hezekiah that takes place around the same
time as the Assyrian invasion.
read vs. 1-8
:1 Set your house in order
The unspoken issue behind this chapter seems to be the fact that at this
point in Hezekiah’s life, he has no male heir to the throne.
He would be the first male descendant of King David who had not passed on
the rule of the nation to his son.
Josephus tells us that this was the reason why Hezekiah himself was so
upset at the news that he would die
(Antiquities 10:2:1:26).
Lesson
Are you ready?
The real issue is not whether we will die, but whether we are ready.
You don’t have to be faced with a prophet or a doctor telling you that you are
going to die.
The truth is, we will all die.
John wrote,
(1 John 5:11–13
NKJV) —11 And this is the testimony: that God has given us eternal life, and
this life is in His Son. 12 He who has the Son has life; he who
does not have the Son of God does not have life. 13 These things
I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may
know that you have eternal life, and that you may continue to believe in
the name of the Son of God.
read
:5 I will add to your days fifteen years
You can read Hezekiah’s prayer in vs. 9-20. God heard his prayer.
Lesson
Careful what you ask for?
Within three years of that prayer, Hezekiah would have a son who would
reign in his place.
(2
Chronicles 33:1 NKJV) Manasseh was twelve years old
when he became king
Some have suggested that Hezekiah shouldn’t have cried over his own death
and just let things be.
They say this because his son Manasseh would be the most
evil king that Judah ever had. The sins of Manasseh would be the very
thing that would lead to the Babylonian captivity.
And so some have suggested that we should be
careful about what we ask for.
Illustration
There once was this guy that got a dirty old
lamp for his birthday. He cleaned it up and POOF! Out popped a genie! “I shall
give you three wishes. You may have anything you like.” The guys thinks for a minute and says, “I would like a billion
dollars.” “You shall have it,” and the genie grants him the wish. “Anything
else?” The guy thinks for a while. “I would like a fully loaded Ferrari.” “Your
wish is my command. What is your last wish?” “Hmmm. I think I’ll save it for a
rainy day.” “OK, suit yourself,” says the genie. So
the guy gets in his new Ferrari and goes for a drive to show all his friends.
He turns on the radio. There’s an old commercial on. The guy starts singing to
it: “I wish I was an Oscar Meyer Wiener.”
I struggle with this concept of God. Yes, there are times in the Bible where God
will give a rebellious people what they ask for, but Hezekiah is not known for
his rebellion.
I rather think that Manasseh was
responsible for his own sin, not his father.
Jesus said,
(Matthew 7:9–11 NKJV) —9 Or what man
is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or
if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent? 11 If
you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much
more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!
read
:8 ten degrees backward
You can read more about this in 2Kings 20:8-11.
(2 Kings 20:8–11
NKJV) —8 And Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “What is the sign that the Lord will heal me, and that I shall go
up to the house of the Lord the
third day?” 9 Then Isaiah said, “This is the sign to you from the Lord, that the Lord will do the thing which He has spoken: shall the
shadow go forward ten degrees or go backward ten degrees?” 10 And Hezekiah
answered, “It is an easy thing for the shadow to go down ten degrees; no, but
let the shadow go backward ten degrees.” 11 So Isaiah the prophet cried out to
the Lord, and He brought the
shadow ten degrees backward, by which it had gone down on the sundial of Ahaz.
God made the shadow on the sundial go backward.
Did God stop the earth’s rotation? Was there an eclipse?
God is God, and He can do whatever He wants.
Summarize vs. 9-20
This is the prayer that Hezekiah made.
read vs. 21-22
:21 Let them take a lump of figs
A paste made of figs was a common treatment for boils.
God instructs Hezekiah to apply the standard medicine of the day.
39:1-8 Visitors from Babylon
One last story about Hezekiah.
:1 king of Babylon, sent letters and a present
Isaiah just mentions Hezekiah’s healing, but the writer of Chronicles adds
a little more:
(2 Chronicles 32:31
NKJV) …they sent to him to inquire about the wonder that was done
in the land…
Josephus records (Antiquities,
10:2:2:30) that Merodach was looking for allies
against the Assyrians.
Maybe they also heard of the Assyrians’ defeat.
read
:2 showed them the house of his treasures
After the defeat of the Assyrians, Hezekiah became quite rich.
(2 Chronicles 32:23
NKJV) And many brought gifts to the Lord
at Jerusalem, and presents to Hezekiah king of Judah, so that he was exalted in
the sight of all nations thereafter.
Who wouldn’t want to be friend of the only guy who has defeated Assyria?
:2 There was nothing in his house …did not show them
The writer of Chronicles adds:
(2 Chronicles 32:31b
NKJV) …God withdrew from him, in order to test him, that He might know all
that was in his heart.
Lesson
Flying Solo
It seems God wanted to give Hezekiah a little peek at his own heart.
Perhaps it was the pride he had in his new wealth.
Perhaps it was his lack of concern over a potential enemy.
Before you can get your pilot’s license you have to do your “solo”. You have to show that you can fly the plane without help from
anyone else.
It’s not that God actually “leaves us” (He will never leave us), but there
are going to be times when He is a little bit quiet.
It’s a good thing to have friends who can hold you accountable for certain
temptations.
But you can’t always depend on people being there every
time you are tempted.
What do you do when no one is watching?
read
:6 shall be carried to Babylon
Don’t think that the Babylonian captivity was Hezekiah’s fault.
The reason for the captivity would fall on Manasseh.
Hezekiah just determined the destination of the captivity.
read
:7 they shall be eunuchs
I think Daniel the prophet was part of this fulfillment.
He was of royal lineage.
He was likely a eunuch.
read
:8 At least there will be peace and truth in my days
Though this sounds a little callus and self-seeking, that’s not the case.
The writer of Chronicles tells us…
(2 Chronicles 32:26a
NKJV) Then Hezekiah humbled himself for the pride of his heart, he and
the inhabitants of Jerusalem…
I would suggest that Hezekiah was relieved that his people would not be
going through the captivity.