You Who Dwell in the Dust
Will Wake Up and Shout for Joy
26: 19

You who dwell in the dust will wake up and shout for joy DIG: Why the vineyard symbolism? How had Isra’el failed to bear fruit in the past? Why do you think the Ruach Ha’Kodesh inspired Isaiah to write this verse? In what ways are ideas about the afterlife in the B’rit Chadashah foreshadowed here?

REFLECT: What hope is held out to you here as you consider your failure in life? How might this hope affect your view of yourself? Your willingness to take risks? Your sense of God’s call on your life and ministry? How does ADONAI’s Word lift your spirits when you are discouraged or down in the dumps?

In the previous section (to see link click Ff – LORD, You Established Peace for Us), Isaiah declared that in the far eschatological future Isra’el would become the fruitful vineyard that ADONAI had intended (27:2-6). One day Messiah will be crowned on Mount Tziyon and invite all believers to feast with Him. But the hearers of Isaiah’s message centuries before the Second Coming of Messiah probably thought, “But what about me and my loved ones? How is that supposed to offer me any hope today when my life looks so bleak with no relief in sight?” At that time, the Ruach Ha’Kodesh inspired the human author to write a response to such a poignant question: the dead will rise from the grave with shouts of joy to share in the festivities of God’s final triumph.

Again and again the Scriptures appeal to us to endure hardship, contradictions and unanswered questions in this life because of what is laid up for us beyond this life (Romans 8:18-25; First Corinthians 15:20-28; Hebrews 12:1-2; Revelation 2:7, 10-11, 17, 26-29 and 14:13). So be encouraged and encourage others with these words. Your struggles, hardships, disappointments and tragedies are not in vain.

This verse is one of the few that specifies a coming resurrection of the righteous of the TaNaKh, at the end of the Great Tribulation (see the commentary on Revelation Fd – The Resurrection of the Righteous of the TaNaKh). Because the Rapture includes only New Covenant believers and Tribulation martyrs, the righteous of the TaNaKh, the holy ones (Deuteronomy 33:2-3; Job 5:1; Psalms 16:3 and 34:9; Zechariah 14:5) will not be resurrected until after the Great Tribulation.

Elsewhere, the resurrection of the righteous of the TaNaKh is found in only a few places: first, in Dani’el 12:2, and secondly, in Hosea 13:14 and Ezeki’el 37:1-14, where it describes the restoration of the nation and not a resurrection of individuals per se. It was because of the scarcity of such passages that when we get to the New Covenant, the Sadducees debated and doubted that there would be such a thing as a resurrection. The Pharisees believed it, but the Sadducees did not (Acts 22:30 to 23:10).

Even though Isra’el was not a fruitful vine in his day (5:1-7), Isaiah saw a time in when she would bear fruit. He was probably so excited that he spoke directly to the LORD, saying: But your dead will live. “Those who believe in You will not be abandoned. They still belong to You.” Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of His holy ones (Psalm 116:15). Their bodies will rise when they are resurrected (26:19a).

You who dwell in the dust (26:19b) is a common description of the underworld in the ancient Near East. Not only was it in the dust, in the sense of being underground, it was also a gray, shadowy, dusty place (Job 21:26; Psalm 22:15). But those who love the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob need not worry. The stillness of the grave will give way to jubilant singing. For all the stale, crumbling dust of the tomb, there is the fresh, hopeful dew of the morning (Job 14:7-12). The most the pagans could hope for was to be remembered fondly by those left behind, but biblical faith states that we are important to God and live forever in His memory (Psalm 1:6; Isaiah 49:16; Malachi 3:16; Philippians 4:3; Revelation 3:5).

Isaiah saw a day when God will declare to his faithful nation: Wake up and sing (26:19c KJV). The previous verse talked about the dead, now they are spoken to. The message progresses from theory to fact. ADONAI is our Promise Keeper. When they are resurrected they will be refreshed in the way the morning dew refreshes the grass (Hosea 14:5). Darkness is death; light is life (Job 3:16; Psalms 49:19, 56:13) and salvation (Psalms 27:1 and 104:2; Second Samuel 23:4; Isaiah 9:2, 59:9, 60:1 and 3). That is, they will experience God’s blessings during the Messianic Kingdom.

And the earth will cast forth the shadows (26:19d KJV). The righteous of the TaNaKh that have been mere shadows of existence in sh’ol will take on flesh and blood again by means of the resurrection. Or, as the NIV says: the earth will give birth to her dead, or shadowy ones (26:19e), like the dew of the morning, literally lights. God’s dew will rest upon the dead as He will force the earth to give them up to life in His presence forever. The principle is this: God brings the dead to life as the dew revives vegetation. The rabbis teach that there is a “dew of life,” a supernatural dew, which will descend on the dead and bring them back to life.

Not only will Isra’el be revived, but also this future renewal will remove the internal schism that resulted in the splintering of the nation in 931 BC into the two kingdoms of the northern kingdom of Isra’el and the southern kingdom of Judah (First Kings 11:26-40). This aspect of the prophecy is not being fulfilled today but will be fulfilled in conjunction with the national regeneration (Ezeki’el 37:20-23). This will be when national Isra’el recognizes that Jesus was and is her promised Messiah.⁹¹

Isaiah tells the nation to awake and sing (KJV). The resurrection will lead to a new spiritual life; the resurrected engaging in devotional exercises and in the singing of hymns and praises to God. Early believers sang a song using this verse, which the inspired Rabbi Saul summarized when he wrote: For it is light that makes everything visible. This is why it is said: Wake up, O sleeper, rise from the dead, and the Messiah will shine on you (Ephesians 5:14).

LORD, You Establish Peace for Us
26: 7-18

Lord, you establish peace for us DIG: How is God contrasted to the other lords (of Assyria and Egypt)? What image of faith is projected over these foreign powers? Contrast 26:14 to Dani’el 12:12. Are these other lords to be awakened to everlasting contempt, or to everlasting life? Why? What does the imagery of the pain of childbirth add to your understanding of faith – its pain and purpose (Ezeki’el 37:11-12)?

REFLECT: When has God smoothed your path? While you are waiting on the LORD, who has their hands on the steering wheel of your life? The LORD spoke to Moses as His friend (Exodus 33:11). How does God speak to you? When has the pain in your life caused you to seek the LORD with all your heart? Israel was supposed to be a blessing to the nations around her. Who are you blessing in your sphere of influence?

The poem now moves from thanksgiving to an expression of dependence. Isaiah declares that it is only as ADONAI demonstrates His power on the earth that mankind learns the level path of righteousness. Anticipating the lament in 26:18, the prophet insists that it is only through the LORD’s grace that peace and understanding can come. The righteous of the TaNaKh can only wait for Him.

The image of the feet of the poor and the needy (25:6) naturally lead to a discussion of the road they walk. The path of the righteous is level; O upright One, You make the way of the righteous smooth (26:7). In a land where the roads went up and down with grueling regularity, the most pleasant thought was of a road that was level and smooth. So here the righteous remnant confesses that it is good to live righteously, because ADONAI smooth’s out their path. It is smooth because of the character of the One who formed it (40:3-5). That does not mean that righteous people never have any problems. Isaiah was reflecting on the principle that there are eternal consequences for our actions. The possibility of a Job like experience always exists, and Jesus said: In this world you will have trouble (John 16:33). But if we live according to God’s Word, we will generally have favorable consequences; however, if we, like sheep, go our own way (53:6), then we will eventually face dire consequences.

Yes, LORD, walking in the way of your commandments, we wait for You. Your name and renown are the desire of our hearts (26:8). The remnant will walk according to God’s commandments, or God’s Word and yearn for Him. Going back to 24:14-16a, the faithful remnant has been waiting throughout the judgments of the Great Tribulation for Messiah to return. They cry out: Walking in the way of your commandments, we wait for you. On the surface, walking and waiting seem contradictory. However, the biblical concept of waiting is a way of thinking. It is not doing nothing, but it is doing what you know is right while you wait. It is refusing to run ahead of God to try to solve your problems for yourself. In other words, to trust God is to obey Him by following God’s Word. This is what the writer of Proverbs is talking about when he says: Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight (Proverbs 3:5-6).

My soul yearns for You in the night; in the morning my spirit longs for You (26:9a). The Jewish day begins at sundown. So, the believing remnant says, “We eagerly wait for your return all day long.” To trust the LORD is to show we know Him in our paths, that is, by the way we live. We trust in the LORD when we are honest in situations where it would be to our advantage to cheat. We trust in the LORD when we refuse to break faith with our spouse by flirting with someone who is obviously interested. We trust in the LORD when we give valuable time to work for the poor. We wait for the LORD, believing He will act in our behalf in His own best time, by obeying His Word, and not making up our own to serve ourselves as we go along. This is how the believing remnant will wait during the Great Tribulation.

When your judgments come upon the earth, introduces a shift in emphasis. The Holy Spirit now gives us another reason why God will sometimes send judgments. It is by means of judgments that the unbelievers of the earth learn righteousness (26:9b). One of the three purposes of the Great Tribulation is to make an end of wickedness and wicked ones (13:9, 24:19-20). One of the factors that will bring about God’s judgments is a worldwide revival of the 144,000. Those who are righteous will respond, and those who are not righteous will not. The same sun that hardens clay also softens wax. Only one third of the Jews, still alive at the end of the Great Tribulation will respond (Zechariah 13:8-9), two-thirds will have been killed by the antichrist.  And the Gentiles who refuse to take the mark of the beast will be beheaded (see the commentary on Revelation, to see link click Fe – I Saw Those Who Had Been Beheaded Because of Their Testimony for Jesus). But even if God Himself shows grace to the wicked, the unrighteous do not respond. Even if they were living where everyone else is righteous, they will still live sinfully.

Though grace is shown to the wicked, they do not learn righteousness; even in a land of uprightness they go on doing evil and regard not the majesty of ADONAI (26:10). This will be tested and proven to be true after the Great Tribulation, in the Millennial Kingdom. During that time, Satan will be bound and the living conditions on the earth will be perfect. The world says that people rebel against all authority because of their environment. They say if a murderer had just been raised in a different environment that things would have turned out differently. They do not attribute their sin as being evil. But the Millennial Kingdom will dispel that notion. After a thousand years of perfect environment, they will still rebel against the LORD’s authority. Individual responsibility will be the basis for judgment in the Kingdom of God (Ezeki’el Chapter 18). If it were true that our environment was the determining factor in the outcome of our actions then we could not have any responsibility for them. People could say, “It wasn’t my fault that I was born in this place,” or “It isn’t my fault I had this father or this mother.” But if environment is eliminated as the basis for individual sin, what is left? At the end of the Great Tribulation it will be made clear that it is not environment, but wickedness or sin that causes rebellion against ADONAI, His Word, and His plans. There is never enough evidence for unbelief.

As Isaiah looks into the far eschatological future he is troubled. He sees that the wicked are not responding during the Great Tribulation. He declares: ADONAI, Your hand is lifted high against Isra’el’s enemies (Isaiah 26:11; 20-21 and Malachi 3:16-18). But they do not see it (26:11a) because Satan, the Adversary, has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God (Second Corinthians 4:4). The prophet begs: Let them see Your zeal for Your people and are put to shame. In other words, “Give the lost a moment of spiritual clarity so they can see their sin for what it is and be ashamed.” But, if they refuse to see the light of the Gospel, Isaiah concludes, “Treat them as Your enemies and let the fire reserved for those who hate you consume them (26:11b). For anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God (James 4:4).

And while there is war for Isra’el’s enemies, there is peace for Isra’el’s people. LORD, you established peace for us; all that we have accomplished You have done for us (26:12). Although Isra’el’s immediate future was dark, Isaiah was certain of the ultimate outcome. God’s upraised hand would set up holiness and comfort (40:1-3) for His people. Comfort is just as much the product of righteousness as destruction is the result of wickedness (Psalm 1:1-6). More than that, Isaiah realized that God was responsible for everything good that Isra’el had, and He had not lifted them up, to let them down.

ADONAI, our God, other lords besides You have ruled over us, but Your name alone do we honor (26:13). Isra’el has had many other lords, or masters, in the times of the Gentiles (see the commentary on Revelation An – The Times of the Gentiles). But now the LORD will be the only One to rule over them and He will be the only One they will worship. In the past it was Isra’el’s sins that caused her to be dominated by these other lords, but that is over now. They are now dead, they live no more; those departed spirits do not rise. You punished them and brought them to ruin; you wiped out all memory of them (26:14). All these past lords were now dead and they would not live again. The phrase departed spirits is the Hebrew word that means the shades of Sheol. They have been reduced to mere shadows of existence.

In contrast to this, the nation of Isra’el will increase. You have enlarged the nation, O LORD; You have enlarged the nation. You have gained glory for Yourself; You have extended all the borders of the Land (26:15). Because Isra’el had worshiped other lords, her population had decreased. But when God reigns over her, this will be reversed. Isra’el’s new growth involves two things: first, population (anti-Semitism is eliminated) and secondly, for the first time, they will live within all the borders of the Promised Land (see the commentary on Genesis Eg – I AM the LORD, Who Brought You Out of Ur of the Chaldeans).

Today all the trouble in Palestine and Isra’el revolve around a twisting of God’s word by Muslim scholars, motivated by Satan. Lucifer did the same thing in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 3:4), and tried to do so again with Christ in the wilderness after His baptism (Matthew 4:1-11). If the Bible clearly states that the Jews will inherit the Promised Land (Genesis 15:18-19), how can the Muslims claim that Palestine is theirs? They do this by substituting Ishmael for Isaac in the Bible. Because they claim that Ishmael was really the son of promise, they attribute all the promises God made to Isaac to Ishmael and the Muslims. How could they possibly come to that conclusion?

This is what the Muslims teach: Isaac was about two years old when he was weaned. Ishmael was about sixteen years old because Abraham was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore Ishmael and was a hundred years old when Isaac was born according to Genesis 16:16. Then according to the Islamic version (of the story), Abraham took Ishmael and Hagar and made a new settlement in Mecca called Paran in the Bible (Genesis 21:21), because of a divine instruction given to Abraham as a part of God’s plan. Hagar ran seven times between two hills, Sofa and Marwa, looking for water; this then became an Islamic ritual for the annual Pilgrimage in Mecca by millions of Muslims from all over the world. The well mentioned in Genesis 21:19 is still present today, now called Zamzam. Both Abraham and Ishmael later built the holy stone Ka’bah in Mecca. The spot where Abraham used to perform prayers near the Ka’bah is still present, now called Maqom Ibrahim, or the Station of Abraham. During the days of pilgrimage, pilgrims in Mecca and Muslims all over the world commemorate the offering of Abraham and Ishmael by slaughtering cattle.⁸⁹

There are two problems here. First, they obviously have the ages of the boys wrong. This is crucial to their interpretation. The reason it is wrong is that the Bible clearly states that the birth of Isaac happened before Hagar and Ishmael were sent away (Genesis 21). And in Genesis 21:9 it says that Sarah saw that the son whom Hagar the Egyptian had borne to Abraham was mocking Isaac. That is the reason Abraham sent Hagar and Ishmael away. Secondly, this entire episode contradicts the Biblical account, because Genesis 21:14-21 does not mention Abraham going with Hagar and Ishmael. It says: Abraham sent her off with the boy. She went on her way and wandered in the desert of Beersheba. Abraham did not go with them; he sent them off. But even more obvious, it says in Genesis that it was Isaac that was sacrificed, not Ishmael. Then God said: Take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love, and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about (Genesis 22:2). With this being so clear, how could this be misinterpreted?

This is what the Muslims teach: The Islamic version (of the Bible) states that the covenant between God, Abraham, and his only son Ishmael was made and sealed when Ishmael was supposed to be sacrificed. But the Bible teaches that on the same day Abraham, Ishmael and all men of the household were circumcised while Isaac was not even born yet (Genesis 17:24-27). Muslims say the descendants of Ishmael, including the Prophet Muhammad [PBUH], and all Muslims remain faithful even today to this covenant of circumcision. In their prayers at least five times a day, the Muslims include the praise of Abraham and his descendants with the praise of Muhammad [PBUH] and his descendants. But if you say Genesis 22 says Isaac was to be sacrificed, they will say, “I know it, but you will see the contradiction there. It is mentioned there: your only son, Isaac. Should it not be written: your only son, Ishmael because Ishmael was thirteen years old and Isaac was not yet born? As I said, they obviously have the ages of the boys wrong. Muslims say that because of chauvinism (or prejudice) the name Ishmael was changed to Isaac in all of Genesis 22! They say that God has preserved the word only to show us that it should have said Ishmael and not Isaac.⁹⁰

Therefore, the Muslims take all the promises for Isaac, the son of promise, and credit them to Ishmael. And they believe the land of Palestine was promised to Ishmael. This is the basis of the argument that the Jews are on their land. They count on ignorance of the Bible and deception to promote this point of view.

One of the three purposes of the Great Tribulation is to break the stubbornness of the Jewish nation (Dani’el 11-12; Ezeki’el 20:34-38). It is through the crucible of the Great Tribulation, the distress that it brings being compared to childbirth, that Isra’el will be brought to repentance. LORD, Isra’el came to you in their distress; when You disciplined them, they could barely whisper a prayer (26:16).

As a woman with child and about to give birth writhes and cries out in her pain, so were we in Your presence, O LORD (26:17). It is Isra’el’s prayer at the end of the Great Tribulation that brings about the Second Coming of Christ. The actual words of this prayer are found in four key passages of Scripture, first in Psalm 79, secondly in Psalm 80, thirdly in Isaiah 53:1-9, and lastly in Isaiah 63:7 to 64:12. The agony of the times is compared with the agonizing pains of a woman in travail. Other prophets also use this comparison (Hosea 8:13 and Micah 4:10).

In the past, Isra’el has failed to produce a delivery. We were with child, we writhed in pain, but we gave birth to wind. We have not brought salvation to the earth; we have not given birth to people of the world (26:18). ADONAI had told Abram that all the peoples on earth will be blessed through you (Genesis 12:3b). She has had birth pains, and birth pains and birth pains (see the commentary on Revelation, to see the first of ten birth pains, click Bq – For Seven Months the house of Isra’el Will Bury Them in Order to Cleanse the Land), but has failed to produce what God had intended for her. But that would change in the far eschatological future.

The hearers of Isaiah’s message centuries before the coming of the Messiah might have thought to themselves, “That’s great for those Jews living then. But what hope is there for me and my loved ones today?” That question is answered next.

We Have a Strong City;
God Makes Salvation It’s Walls
26: 1-6

We have a strong city, God makes salvation it’s walls DIG: How does this city of God contrast with the cities of the world mentioned in 24:10-12 and 25:2-3? What characterizes the inhabitants of God’s city (see verses 3-4 and 7-9)? What qualities mark those upon whom judgment comes (see verses 5 and 10-11)? What makes the LORD worthy of our trust? Does this reversal of human fortune underscore, or undermine either God’s justice or His love? What do you learn about faith from the images of the ramparts (26:1), the gates (26:2), a steadfast mind (26:3), the Rock (26:4), level paths (26:7), walking, waiting, and yearning (26:8-9)? With these images in mind, is faith active, passive or both? How so?

REFLECT: Of the qualities of God’s people (26:3-4 and 7-9), what one or two do you yearn for now? How might you go about having them? What would it be like to always be a credit to God’s name and reputation? What things do you do that you’d just as soon not have the LORD’s name dragged into? What are some current examples of the reversal in 26:5-6? Why are these examples of ADONAI’s judgment ultimately a cause for joy? How might this prophecy serve as a model for how you could pray for oppressive governments today? When you pray the Lord’s Prayer, do such judgments come to mind? Why or why not? How would you feel about God if He did not answer prayer in that way?

What will this victory in the far eschatological future mean for Isra’el? In a sense, the Little Apocalypse of Isaiah (24:1 to 27:13), is like a tale of two cities: the millennial Jerusalem and mystery Babylon (Revelation 17:5). In place of the city of confusion, God has another City, whose walls are salvation, one whose gates are open to all who will enter, a City whose might is not arrogant (24:10, 25:2) but humble (26:5). As always, ADONAI destroys the false, only to rase up the true. The first city that the Holy Spirit describes is the millennial Jerusalem.

In that day, a new song will be sung in the land of Judah (26:1a), and rejoicing over the strong city that the righteous will enter in. Throughout the world the redeemed will live in cities and towns, but the strong city of Jerusalem is where the Messiah will live and reign during the thousand years of His millennial reign (to see link click Db – The Nine Missing Articles in the Messiah’s Coming Temple). The city is so strong that Isaiah says that salvation actually protects it, and in fact, because of Messiah’s presence there, the city is figuratively said to have salvation for its walls and ramparts (26:1b). Millennial Jerusalem will need no material defenses, for God will be its guardian and protector.

Open the gates that the righteous nation may enter, the nation that keeps faith (26:2). The inhabitants of the city are the righteous nation that has kept the faith. Because the millennial Jerusalem first has to be built before it can be occupied, it is initially empty. But the Jews who survive the Great Tribulation eventually inhabit it. The strong city pictured here has now been opened up so that the remnant of Isra’el can inhabit it. The Gentiles will have their nations to live in during the Messianic Kingdom, but Jews will live in the land of Isra’el (see Ge – Your Eyes Will See the King in His Beauty).

The means of their living in this strong city is their trust in the LORD. Isaiah says: You will keep the believing remnant in perfect peace, those whose mind is steadfast, because the steadfast person trusts in You (26:3). The phrase perfect peace is just a doubling, shalom, shalom. And because the faithful remnant trusted in the LORD, and the mind of the remnant focused on Him in spite of what was happening around them, they will enter the millennial Jerusalem. Principles can be taken out of this verse and applied to us today, but the context dictates that Isaiah has the Jewish remnant in mind here.

Since it is true that trust in God results in a steadfast mind that is kept in perfect peace, then everyone should be urged to trust in Him. Isaiah says: Trust in the LORD forever, for the LORD, the LORD (again a doubling to emphasize the point), is the Rock (26:4a). Here Isaiah uses the proper name in its most emphatic form. Many times in the TaNaKh, the use of the word the Rock is a picture of the Messiah (Genesis 49:24; Exodus 17:6; Numbers 20:8; Deuteronomy 32:4 and 13; Second Samuel 22:2; Psalm 18:2, 10:14, 40:2, 61:2, 92:15; Isaiah 8:14). And the Rock is eternal (26:4b). The Bible teaches that Messiah Yeshua is at the right hand of God and is actually pleading on our behalf (Romans 8:34 CJB).

The contrasting city is Babylon. In contrast with Jerusalem, the City that will be rebuilt, Babylon will not be rebuilt. He humbles those who dwell on high, He lays the lofty city of Babylon low; He levels it to the ground and casts it down to the dust (26:5). It will be leveled to the ground and cast down to the dust never to rise again (see the commentary on Revelation Er – Babylon Will Never Be Found Again). This is the third time Isaiah has made reference to a city that will not be rebuilt again (24:10-12, 25:2-3, and here).

The very ones that Babylon sought to destroy, the faithful remnant, are the ones that will end up trampling her down (see Di – I Have Commanded My Holy Ones). The sages teach that the poor in 25:6 is an allusion to the Messiah. Feet trample it down – the feet of the oppressed the footsteps of the poor (25:6). Therefore, in words that remind us of the Beatitudes (see the commentary on The Life of Christ Da – The Sermon on the Mount), Isaiah reminds us that it is better to be among the poor and the needy believers that will triumph (see Fa – You Have Been a Refuge for the Poor and the Needy), than to be among the mighty unbelievers who will be thrown down to the dust. This is contrary to all human wisdom, but it is true wisdom nonetheless (James 3:13-18 and 5:1-11).

Here is a true story of a woman and her sister that exemplifies the difference. I squirmed a bit as I forced myself to listen to my friend cataloging her problems. After three hours, I interrupted her gently to ask, “If you were to draw a circle to represent your life, what would be in the center?” She thought a moment, and then said, “My problems.” My friend spoke the truth. A week later, I sat across the hospital bed on which lay my younger sister, Joye, who had just been diagnosed with acute leukemia. Gray and perspiring, with a swath of bandages encasing her throat from a biopsy, Joye talked to a student nurse who was interviewing terminally ill people to see if there was any way she could help them. “Oh, I’m a bit fearful of the pain and process of dying – but I’m not afraid of death! It’ll just be a change of residence for me,” I heard my sister, her face radiant from within, say this to this student nurse. And for forty-five minutes, Joye explained the good news of Jesus Christ to the student nurse. Afterward, I thought, both my friend and sister have serious problems. Yet one’s walking in despair, and the other in joy. What was the difference in their state of mind? Then I realized what it was. My friend’s heart was occupied with her problems; my sister’s heart was occupied with the Living God.

The Song of Salvation in the Land of Judah
26: 1-19

Although Chapters 24-25 focus on the victory for the believing remnant and the feast that follows, Chapters 26-27 reflect soberly on the meaning of this victory for Isra’el. The prophet wrote a song that will be sung by the redeemed when Messiah establishes the Messianic Kingdom. Isaiah was picturing himself standing in the redeemed land with the remnant, listening to the people express their thanks to, and confidence in ADONAI, making special use of the imagery of a vineyard. This chapter is about perseverance in spite of hardship and uncertainty. We in the west know little of this. For two hundred years we have experienced a rarity on the face of the earth: a culture profoundly influenced by biblical ethics from top to bottom. To be sure, there was plenty of corruption. But when such was revealed, it was not winked at or taken for granted. It was reviled and rooted out as much as possible. As a result, we have inherited a culture where courtesy and respecting God’s commandments had been “givens.”

Now, however, since the cultural upheavals of the 1960s and 1970s in America, when parents began to give up their responsibilities, and when the Jesus Movement produced a feel-good revival instead of a moral overhaul, our entire heritage has begun to be quickly eroded. Believers are finding themselves with less and less influence while cultural wise men spend millions of foundation dollars (often earned by hard-working believers) trying to find out what is the missing glue that once held American society together.

How shall believers respond to circumstances like these? There is a degree of escapism involved, because it is hard to keep one’s focus when we are neither popular nor overtly persecuted. So, we fantasize about a time when everything will be perfectly clear, when the lines will be drawn so that everyone can see them. But these verses in Isaiah are written for just such a hazy time as ours, when the lines are not clear. They tell us to do four things: Trust God in an active way (26:8), honor the LORD’s name alone (26:13), believe ADONAI can do what we cannot (26:11, 20-21), and do not let go of the resurrection (26:19).⁸⁸

Surely This Is Our God; We Trusted In Him
25: 9-12

Surely this is our God, we trusted in Him DIG: What will be the effects of Messiah’s reign on those who submit to Him and on those who do not? How is Mo’ab used as an example?

REFLECT: What is your attitude toward Isra’el? Do you pray for the peace of Jerusalem? In whom, or what, have you placed your faith, trust, and belief? How can we keep our lives in true perspective?

This third section is in the form of a song and once again turns to the salvation of some of the nations and to the destruction of others. Mo’ab symbolizes the nations who are destroyed. God does wish to save all the nations, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance (Second Peter 3:9). But this does not mean all will respond to His invitation. For those who refuse to do so, the final grim word is judgment. Those who oppose the will and purposes of the Lord with regard to Isra’el will eventually be crushed. They will live apart from the love of ADONAI for all eternity. There is no other way.

In that day, the believing remnant will be delivered and they will affirm their faith, trust, and belief in the LORD who saved them, saying: Surely this is our God; we trusted in Him and He saved us. There is rejoicing, because salvation had come from God and the enemy of Isra’el had been trampled down. In response they will say: This is the LORD, we trusted in Him, let us rejoice and be glad in the salvation He provided (25:9).

Isaiah referred to Mo’ab as representing those who oppose God and will be judged by Him. The same hand of ADONAI that will lift up Isra’el will strike down Mo’ab (25:10a). This is not the result of favoritism on God’s part, but the result of two different attitudes. Those who put their faith, trust, and belief in YHVH will be lifted up. However, those who lift themselves up against God in their own self-sufficiency will, at some point, be crushed under the power of His hand (Isaiah 16:6; Jeremiah 48:29; Zeph 2:10). Stated another way, God’s deliverance must come to those who trust Him, but those who oppose Him cannot escape His judgment.

Here He centers His attention on Mo’ab; because Mo’ab can be used as a representative of Isra’el’s enemies, because it is characterized as having a continual hatred of Isra’el. Isaiah gets very graphic; he says: Mo’ab will be trampled under Him as a straw is trampled down in the manure (25:10b). Madmen (madmen) is the capital city of Mo’ab mentioned in Jeremiah 48:2; it also rhymes with straw (matben).

They will spread out their hands in it, as a swimmer spreads out his hands to swim (25:11a). As we saw in Chapters 15-16, Mo’ab was known for its pride. The Bible teaches us that pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall (Proverbs 16:18). So here we see Mo’ab’s pride was destroyed. The picture is one of a man trying to swim in a cesspool and the more he struggles, the more he sinks in. God will bring down their pride despite the cleverness of their hands (25:11b). The way to avoid Mo’ab’s fate we must stay humble by continually giving praise to the LORD, and deflecting any glory to Him. Then we can point others to ADONAI and at the same time, keep our lives in true perspective.

He will bring down the high-fortified walls and lay them low; He will bring them down to the ground to the very dust. The change from third person to second person in this verse seems to shift the focus from Mo’ab back to Babylon, the political/economic capital of the antichrist. ADONAI will humble those who dwell on high, He will lay the lofty city of Babylon low. He will level it to the ground and throw it down to the dust (25:5). All its towering pride, with its supposedly unshakable walls will be brought down to the dust (25:12). Only God’s people, both in Isra’el and in the world, will enjoy the LORD’s time of prosperity and blessing.

The LORD Will Provide a Feast of Rich Food for All Peoples
25: 6-8

The LORD will provide a feast of rich food for all peoples DIG: Kings would often hold inaugural and wedding feasts for their subjects. For whom is this feast on Mt Zion given? Who will be excluded from this feast and why? In what ways are New Covenant ideas about the afterlife foreshadowed by 25:8?

REFLECT: What applications does the B’rit Chadashah make of this great feast (see First Corinthians 15:54; Revelation 9:9, 21:4)? What will be the effect of Messiah’s coming in that day? In coping with death, disappointment or disgrace, what does the promise of 25:7-8 mean to you? When has that promise been made real to you? Or does it seem so distant in its fulfillment that it is not much help to you here and now?

After praise for deliverance, our attention turns to the wedding feast of the Lamb (see the commentary on Revelation, to see link click Fg – Blessed and Holy are Those Who Have Part in the Wedding Feast of the Lamb). It will take place on Mount Zion, the millennial Jerusalem, from which Christ will rule, and it will last seven days and inaugurate the Messianic Kingdom. Contrary to popular belief, this celebration does not take place in heaven during the Great Tribulation. The Bible teaches that the righteous of the TaNaKh will take their places at the feast with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the Messianic Kingdom (Mt 8:11). Dani’el teaches us that they will not be resurrected until after a time of distress such as has not happened from the beginning of nations until the Great Tribulation.⁸⁵ The rabbis teach that this banquet celebrates the inauguration of a new and happy era for all mankind. Similar imagery is employed in rabbinic literature of the bliss in store for the righteous in the hereafter.

In addition, the Jewish wedding feast of the first century itself demonstrates the fact that the wedding feast of the Lamb takes place on the earth after the Great Tribulation and not in heaven during the Great Tribulation. In a Jewish wedding, which is always a picture of the Kingdom of God, or the Messianic Kingdom.

As Arnold Fruchtenbaum states in his classic book The Footsteps of the Messiah, “Jewish marriage included a number of steps: first, betrothal (which involved the prospective groom’s traveling from his father’s house to the home of the prospective bride, paying the purchase price, and thus establishing the marriage covenant); second, the groom’s returning to his father’s house (which meant remaining separate from his bride for twelve months, during which time he prepared the living accommodations for his wife in his father’s house); third, the groom’s coming for his bride at a time not known exactly to her; fourth, his return with her to the groom’s father’s house to consummate the marriage and to celebrate the wedding feast for the next seven days (during which the bride remained closeted in her bridal chamber).”

“First, the father of the groom made the arrangements for the marriage and paid the bride price. The timing of the arrangement varied. Sometimes it occurred when both children were small, and at other times it was a year before the marriage itself. Often the bride and groom did not even meet until their wedding day. The second step, which occurred a year or more after the first step, was the fetching of the bride. The bridegroom would go to the home of the bride in order to bring her to his home. In connection with this step, two other things should be noted. First, it was the father of the groom who determined the timing. Second, prior to the groom’s leaving to fetch the bride, he must already have a place prepared for her as their abode. This was followed by the third step, the wedding ceremony, to which a few would be invited. Prior to the wedding ceremony, the bride underwent a ritual immersion for ritual cleansing. The fourth step, the marriage feast, would follow and could last for as many as seven days. Many more people would be invited to the feast than were to the marriage ceremony. In the Marriage of the Lamb all four of these steps of the Jewish wedding ceremony are evident.” Therefore, if you are consistent with what the Bible teaches, the engagement is like the Rapture because the bride goes to the Bridegroom’s home. Then, at the end of the Great Tribulation, the Bridegroom comes with His bride to her home”, the earth, where the wedding feast takes place and the Messianic Kingdom begins (Matthew 22:1-14, 25:1-13). With it, all four stages will be complete.

On this mountain the LORD of heaven’s angelic armies (CJB) will prepare a feast of rich food for all peoples (25:6a). This does not mean that everyone who lives in the Millennium will be saved; instead all peoples means that people from everywhere in the world will be saved. Food will be provided for all peoples, for believers from all over the world who are gathered at the feast. This banquet includes the best of meats so there may not be any animal rights people there: the KJV says a feast of fatness. To the Jews the fat portions were the best. Thus it is not surprising that these were the portions of the sacrifices reserved for God (see the commentary on Leviticus Ak – The Peace Offerings).

This would also be a banquet of aged wine that picture God’s ability to supply the needs of His people during the Messianic Kingdom. A feast of wines on the lees, of fat things full of marrow, of wines on the lees well refined (25:6b KJV). This refers to wines that are kept long with the dregs (lees) mixed with them, and therefore old and strong. They are refined or filtered by being strained through a cloth sieve, thus separating the liquor from the lees. The wine in the East is said to be usually turbid (having foreign particles stirred up or suspended in it), and requires straining before it is fit for use.⁸⁶ The wine was to be strengthened by leaving the lees in the wine after the fermenting process. But what the LORD gives in 25:6 He takes away in 25:7-8.

On this mountain He will destroy, or take away, the shroud that enfolds all peoples, and the sheet that covers all nations (25:7). There is also a play on words between the shroud and the sheet. The difference is one letter. The shroud is shma-neen, and the sheet is shma-non. They sound almost identical. These are not symbols of mourning and affliction, but of spiritual blindness, like the veil upon the heart of Isra’el mentioned in Second Corinthians 3:15. The only difference between the two nouns is that in the shroud the leading idea is that of the completeness of the covering, and in the sheet that of its thickness. The removal of the veil, as well as of death, is summarized in First Corinthians 15:54.⁸⁷

He will swallow up death forever (25:8a). Death is not used just in the sense that every life is stained by sin, but more importantly as the evidence of the curse imposed as consequence of sin (Genesis 2:17; Romans 3:23; Hebrews 2:15; Revelation 21:4). Not only that, but Adonai ELOHIM will wipe away the tears from all faces (25:8b). When compound names of God are used they emphasize His relationship to man or the nation of Isra’el in particular. So here, it’s emphasized with the removal of death and wiping away of tears that will take place at the end of the thousand-year reign of Messiah when death, Satan, and hell will be thrown into the lake of fire (see the commentary on Revelation Fp – The Second Death: The Lake of Fire). At that time, a new heaven and a new earth will be established (see the commentary on Revelation Fr – Then I Saw a New Heaven and a New Earth). Therefore, wherever there is a tear, the Lord wipes it away. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain for the old order of things has passed away. He removes the cause, the sin, as well as the outward symptom, the tear (Revelation 21:4).

In addition, He will remove the disgrace of His people from all the earth (25:8c). Isra’el’s disgrace (reproach KJV) will be removed. In that day, as the nations turn toward Zion, all the shame, failure and loss will be made up for. In fact, it will be known that the salvation of the world exists only through God’s chosen people Isra’el.

You Have Been a Refuge for the Poor and the Needy
25: 1-5

DIG: What mood shift do you sense in this chapter? What leads Isaiah and his people to exclaim: ADONAI, You are my God? The city and fortified town symbolize all the things in which people have placed their pride and confidence. What will be the result of God’s judgment upon these things? How does this relate to 19:23-25? Who are the poor and the needy and how does God shield them?

REFLECT: What is the storm or heat of the desert that is affecting you right now? How has God sheltered you in the past? Where do you need a shelter or cloud cover now? How do you respond to the LORD’s faithfulness to you? When was that last time you did so? Who can you point to His faithfulness?

Speaking in the first person, Isaiah describes the situation that will exist when the Messianic Kingdom is established on the earth. Like Chapter 12, which follows the similar announcements of the destruction of His enemies in Chapters 10 and 11, this song is deeply personal. ADONAI’s righteousness and authority will have been vindicated at that time, and the prophet expresses gratitude on behalf of himself and the one-third of the Israelites who will have survived the Great Tribulation (Zechariah 13:8-9). When Paul says: And so all Isra’el will be saved (Romans 11:26a), he meant the faithful remnant, the righteous of the TaNaKh, or the poor and the needy, that will survive the Great Tribulation. This is the appropriate response to God from a people who know Him personally and are in love with Him.

ADONAI, you are my God. Isaiah’s intensely personal testimony sets the tone for the entire song. He continues: I will exalt You and praise Your name (25:1a). Instead of the rowdy drinking songs of the lost during the Great Tribulation, here we see the true love of the saved for his King. Here Isaiah seems to be saying, “I want someone like you to be my God. You have shown me that You really belong to me because You have not walked out on me when the times got tough. You have been faithful to me when I was so afraid You had not forgotten me.” You are my God. He says he will praise God’s name and he gives three reasons for it.

First, for in perfect faithfulness You have done marvelous things (25:1b). Isaiah praised God because of His wonderful counsels (NKJ), or perfect faithfulness (NIV). The LORD does marvelous things to save His people. In 9:6 the prophet told us that Messiah would be called Mighty Counselor. Here Isaiah is praising Yeshua for His wisdom when He rules as KING of Kings and LORD of Lords (Rev 19:16). During the Millennial Kingdom Jesus will rule and reign the entire world from His Temple in Jerusalem (to see link click Db – The Nine Missing Articles in Messiah’s Coming Temple). Disputes will be brought to His attention and His counsel will be more astounding than that of Solomon (First Kings 3:16-28).

Isaiah praised God for things planned long ago (25:1c). The LORD does not make things up as He goes along. His plan doesn’t include improv. Idols, on the other hand, have no plan. This should not be surprising, because the wind and the rain from which the idols come have no plan. But all believes know a God who, with perfect timing, does something that from our perspective is completely new, but from His perspective was planned before the creation of the world (Eph 1:4). Isaiah knew, and we should know, that He is the only One in whose hands it makes sense to entrust ourselves. No other plan makes much sense.

The second reason Isaiah praises ADONAI is His judgment on the city of Babylon (see Chapters 13, 14, and 24:20). You have made the city a heap of rubble, the fortified town a ruin, the foreigner’s stronghold a city no more; it will never be rebuilt (25:2). It will never be inhabited or rebuilt again. God’s prophet tells us that desert creatures will lie there, jackals will fill her houses; there the owls will dwell, and there the wild goats will leap about (13:21). Hyenas will howl in her strongholds, jackals in her luxurious palaces (13:22a). Her time is at hand, and her days will not be prolonged (13:22b). Wild goats will inhabit it. The Hebrew word means demons in goat form. Goats were used as a form of demon worship in places like Leviticus 17:7 where it says: They must no longer offer any of their sacrifices to the goat idols to whom they prostitute themselves. Jeremiah says the same thing. So desert creatures and hyenas will live there, and the owl will dwell. It will never be inhabited or lived in from generation to generation. As God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah along with their neighboring towns, declares the LORD. So no one will live there; no man will dwell in it (Jeremiah 50:39-40).

These desert creatures, the wild goats, the jackals, owls and hyenas are not literal animals. There is something uncanny about these creatures. In regards to the fall of Babylon, Jeremiah tells us that no one will live in it; both men and animals will flee away (Jeremiah 50:3). After the fall of Babylon, it becomes a home for demons and a haunt for every evil spirit, a haunt for every unclean and detestable bird. But the emphasis is on demons in goat form (see Gi – Edom’s Streams Will Be Turned Into Pitch). The only two places that will never be inhabited again by human beings during the thousand-year messianic Kingdom and Eternal State (see commentary on Revelation Fq – The Eternal State) will be Babylon and Edom (34:13b-15).

Therefore, this will cause the unbelievers who did not die during the Great Tribulation, and the ruthless and rebellious nations of the world, to honor and revere ADONAI during the thousand years of the millennial Kingdom (25:3). Their worship will be mandatory (Zechariah 14:16-19), and those unregenerate peoples will have one hundred years to accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and Master or perish (65:20). Isra’el will be a fruitful vineyard during that time and will fulfill the promise given Abraham that all the world’s people will be blessed through her (Genesis 12:3). This theme of the Gentiles knowing and worshiping God in the messianic Kingdom is common to the prophets (Isaiah 2:3, 11:9, 49:7; 55:6, 66:20-21; Malachi 1:11).

The third reason is for the deliverance of the faithful remnant. You have been a refuge for the poor, a refuge for the needy in His distress, a shelter from the storm and a shade from the heat (24:4a). When the LORD establishes His Kingdom on the earth, a reversal of fortunes will occur. The poor and the needy will be rescued and the ruthless will be stilled. Whenever you see these two groups together, the poor and the needy, it is always a reference to the faithful remnant of believers of the Great Tribulation. But this is true only if they are used together. If they are used separately this principle does not apply. God’s care for the poor and the needy is mentioned many times in both the TaNaKh and the B’rit Chadashah. The reversal of fortunes, in which those who depend on God are helped and those who depend on themselves are judged, is a major theme of Scripture (First Samuel 2:1-10 and James 5:1-6). The ruthless in their harsh treatment of others are like a storm and are oppressive as desert heat. Just like a cloud that slips in between the earth and the sun produces moments of respite, God interposes Himself in hopeless situations so that life can go on. Because if those days were not cut short, no one would survive, but for the sake of the elect those days will be shortened (Matthew 24:22).

During the Great Tribulation there will be four groups of Jews. First, there will be apostate Jews (about two-thirds of the nation) who enter the covenant with the antichrist. Second, the 144,000 will function as the evangelists of the period. Third, there will be messianic Jews who are saved by the 144,000 but not part of that number. And lastly, there will be the faithful remnant (about one-third of the nation) that will go through the Great Tribulation as unbelievers in both Messiah and antichrist. They are the ones who end up in Bozrah (Hebrew) or Petra (Greek) who ask the Messiah to come again (see the commentary on Revelation Ev – The Basis for the Second Coming of Jesus Christ), and are saved. The poor and the needy when used together are a reference to this group.

The theme of God as a refuge is a favorite one in the Bible (Psalm 46:1). The context here is the protection of the faithful remnant of the nation of Israel, which includes the tribe of Judah, through which the Messiah will come. This is part of God’s plan for salvation. But as far as individuals are concerned, once we are saved, the LORD is not obligated to protect us physically from harm. Our salvation is secure (see the commentary on The Life of Christ Ms – The Eternal Security of the Believer), but our safety in this world is not. He is our spiritual refuge, and our physical refuge when He chooses to be. Satan is still the god of this age (2 Cor 4:4a), the prince of this world (Jn 12:31, 16:11), and the whole world is under the control of the evil one (1 Jn 5:19).

In the last analysis, we can only be sure of this: we know that we are children of God, and that the whole world is under the control of the evil one (First John 5:19). What do you say to the believer whose spouse has an affair that destroys the family? What answer is there for the parents whose twelve-year-old boy was sexually abused in a shopping mall bathroom? Where is the LORD when a teenager dies of cancer? The head on collision? The rape? It never ends. It is important to understand that we will never know the answer to these tragedies until we see His face (Revelation 22:4). Neither should we blame God for the work of the devil. Our only response can be: Though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him (Job 13:15)!

The context here, however, is the believing remnant of Isra’el. Isaiah uses two extremes of weather in the Near East to picture the trials from which the LORD longs to defend us. They are the thunderstorm and unrelenting heat. In either the sudden intensity of the cloudburst or the constant, debilitating heat, life is threatened. For the breath of the ruthless is like a storm driving against a wall and like the heat of the desert (24:4b). Therefore, during the Great Tribulation, the ruthless and rebellious nations of the world will be ruthless in their treatment of the faithful remnant. Their persecution of the Jews in the second half of the Great Tribulation will be like a storm or the oppressive heat of the desert. But ADONAI will silence the uproar of those foreigners to the land of Israel. The prince of this world is great, but God is greater (51:12-13). As heat is reduced by the shadow of a cloud, so the song of the ruthless is quickly overcome by the LORD (25:5). Just as a cloud slipping between the earth and the sun produces relief from the scorching heat, so God will intervene on behalf of the faithful remnant just as the armies of the antichrist have them surrounded and closing in for the kill (see Kg – The Second Coming of Jesus Christ to Bozrah).

The Song of Praise
25: 1-12

This chapter puts the choices that face the human race very simply. No matter what we have done to one another, if we turn to God in trust, there is hope for us. Death, the last enemy, has been conquered. But those who refuse the offer of the Lamb, namely Messiah, will go down to a worse fate than death, namely, the second death (see the commentary on Revelation, to see link click Fp – The Lake of Fire is the Second Death). ADONAI offers deliverance from death to all, but those who refuse His offer will find an eternity of torment. But judgment and destruction are never God’s intended last words. Rather, His plan is that those harsh words will pave the way for joy, hope, and redemption. This is the case here. From the silence of the shattered Babylon (see my commentary on Revelation Er – Babylon Will Never Be Found Again) we move to the joy of a feast where God is the host.

Chapter 25 develops a response to the announcement of the destruction of Satan’s capital city of Babylon. This is a psalm that praises the LORD’s deliverance of His people. After YHVH puts an end to wickedness during the Great Tribulation, His glorious Messianic Kingdom will begin. This poetry is written in three parts. First, Fa – You Have Been a Refuge for the Poor and the Needy, is praise for the deliverance of His people. Secondly, Fb – The LORD Will Provide a Feast of Rich Food for All Peoples, is praise for Millennial blessings. Thirdly, in Fc – Surely This Is Our God; We Trusted In Him, is praise for judgment on Isra’el’s enemies.

They Will Be Herded Together Like Prisoners
24: 21-23

They will be herded together like prisoners DIG: Whom does YHVH judge in that day? Why are they herded together like prisoners? What is the ultimate purpose of this judgment? Why, in spite of all the destruction foreseen here, is this really good news? How does your answer relate to 11:10?

REFLECT: What do you learn about ADONAI from considering His past judgments (such as Noah’s Flood, or the fall of specific nations)? In comparison, what do you learn when you consider God’s future glory, which will eclipse even the sun and the moon? Where will Yeshua be? Where will you be?

In that day, at the end of the Great Tribulation, two groups will be judged. First, the LORD will punish the powers in the heavens above, and secondly, the kings on the earth below (24:21). We see a judgment of wicked angels above the earth and wicked men below on the earth. Both are confined in some manner, like prisoners in a prison. The dungeon (pit in the KJV) is for humanity. Tartarus, which was a term used by the Greeks to designate the place where the most wicked spirits were sent to be punished (see the commentary on Genesis, to see link click Cb – But Noah Found Grace in the Eyes of the LORD), or the abyss (Luke 8:33 and Revelation 9:1), is for the fallen angels.

They will be herded together like cattle, or prisoners bound in a dungeon; they will be shut up in prison and be punished after many days (24:22). Their punishment refers to the judgment after the thousand years of the Messianic Kingdom, when all the unrighteous will have to stand before Yeshua who is the Judge (John 5:21-27; Acts 10:42; Phil 2:9-11), and be held accountable for all their evil deeds and lack of faith in Him (see the commentary on Revelation Fo – The Great White Throne Judgment). It will be a glorious day for believers and a horrible day for those judged.

Once again, here the structure of Revelation is like the Little Apocalypse of Isaiah. After the thousand-year Messianic Kingdom (Revelation 20:1-6), and the Great White Throne Judgment, the Eternal State is ushered in (see the commentary on Revelation Fq – The Eternal State). At that time, the moon will be abashed, the sun ashamed; for the LORD of heaven’s angelic armies (CJB) will reign on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem and before its elders, gloriously (24:23). The light of the moon and sun will be decreased in the New Jerusalem because of the brilliance of the Sh’khinah glory, the very presence of God (see the commentary on Revelation Fv – Nothing Impure Will Enter the New Jerusalem). The evil powers in the heavens and on the earth will be vanquished, imprisoned, and punished and God will reign supreme on Mount Zion.

Terror and Pit and Snare Await You,
O People of the Earth
24: 16b-20

Terror and pit and snare await you, o people of the earth DIG: These verses return to the theme of judgment. What is the point of the dilemma that Isaiah presents here? Who is wasting away? Under whose treachery? How would you feel if you were under such persecution? What is happening here? When has something like this happened before? What effect does that have on you and those you love?

REFLECT: When have you tried getting “out of the frying pan” only to find yourself “in the fire?” What did you learn about yourself in that situation? Did that experience drive you toward God, or away from Him? 

In contrast with the future joyful song of glory to the God of Isra’el, the distress of Isaiah’s own day caused him to pronounce woe on himself. He declared: Woe to me! All around him were treacherous, unfaithful people on whom judgment would fall in the near historical future in 687 BC by Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonians. The phrase the floodgates of the heavens are opened, and the foundations of the earth shake, has similar language to the passages concerning the Noahic Flood (Genesis 7:11 and 8:2). This is why we should take the everlasting covenant of 24:5 to be the Noahic Covenant because of the context of the Noahic judgment. The judgment in the days of Noah and the judgment at the end of the Great Tribulation are different, because one is by water and one is by fire, but the totality of destruction around the world is similar.

But, I say, I’m wasting away, I am wasting away! Woe to me! It is as if Isaiah is saying, “I understand what is going to happen in the future, but what happens now?” Dani’el was similarly affected when he saw his visions into the future (Dani’el 7:28, 8:27). Fortunately for Isaiah, he had seen the ultimate victory at the end of the Great Tribulation; but unfortunately, he had also seen what would lead up to it. All he could see around him was treachery. The next five Hebrew words all come from the same root, bgd, which contains the idea of plunder through deceit. Traitors betray! Oh, how the traitors betray (24:16b CJB). Because of the people’s treachery and their other sins, his people would suffer.

But then his focus changes. He projects the destruction of Jerusalem in the days of Jeremiah into the far eschatological future. Again, with a pounding mantra, Isaiah drives home the fate of those who put their trust in the world (First John 2:15-17). As if he could talk to them in the last days, he declared: Terror and pit and snare await you, O people of the earth. There is no reliability in the people of the earth, only treachery. As a result, they would know only terror, the terror of knowing that life is a series of traps from which there is no final escape. Here in a series of images, a strong, dependable earth is broken apart, staggering, and finally collapsing under the weight of its own sin. The earth will not be able to endure the treachery toward each other or toward ADONAI. Whoever flees at the sound of terror will fall into a pit; whoever climbs out of the pit will be caught in a snare (24:17-18). They would fall into a pit used to capture animals or be caught by snare or trap. When they try to escape this future danger, they will be overcome by another disaster, the worldwide judgment of God. Here we see the imagery of the frail hut of the watchman in a vineyard, which sways in the wind under the weight of its transgressions. Moral bankruptcy will bring about its collapse (Amos 5:2).

At the end of the Great Tribulation we finally see the end of wickedness, which is the first of the three purposes of the Seventieth Week of Dani’el (see the commentary on Revelation, to see link click Ch – The Beginning of the Great Tribulation). During the Great Tribulation, the floodgates of the heavens are opened, the foundations of the earth are broken up, the earth is split asunder and the earth is thoroughly shaken (24:18b-19). Notice the Oriental style of repetition for the purpose of emphasis. It literally means: Broken, broken is the earth; shattered, shattered is the earth; shaken, shaken is the earth. In three Hebrew couplets of three words each repetition of sound, word and idea is used to make the thought triply emphatic. John makes a comparable point using similar imagery in Revelation 12-15.

Two more images of insecurity are used, the drunkard (Psalm 107:27; Isaiah 29:9), and the hut (1:8). The earth reels like a drunkard, it sways like a hut in the wind; so heavy upon it is the guilt of its rebellion that it falls – never to rise again (24:20). Like the drunkard staggering from bar to bar, or the temporary lean-to of twigs and leaves being blown apart by a strong wind, the destiny of the earth is clear: collapse. Who could believe what a drunk says, or trust a lean-to for protection? Obviously, no one! The first purpose, then, of the Great Tribulation is to make an end to wickedness and wicked ones. The imagery is one of a drunken man reeling. It is not a very pretty sight, but judgment for sin rarely is.

From the Ends of the Earth We Hear Singing:
Glory to the Righteous One
24: 14-16a

From the ends of the earth we hear singing: glory to the righteous one DIG: Who are the 144,000? Who are they that are rejoicing here? How does their song of glory differ from the sounds of silence in 24:8? How do you account for this flip-side judgment (see 14:4, 16:5, 17:7-8, 18:7, 19:23-25 and 23:18)?

REFLECT: Both joy and sorrow will be the experience of the godly remnant that survives this judgment. When you see or hear about current disaster striking those who deserve it, what do you feel? Can you remember when you were first saved? How did you feel? How grateful were you? Do you still love the LORD as much as you did then? Has your love for Him deepened? Or have you left your first love (see the commentary on Revelation, to see link click Az – The Church at Ephesus)? Can you personally praise ADONAI when everything around you is falling apart?

As stated previously, the structure of the book of Revelation is based upon Isaiah 24:1 to 27:13. In Revelation Chapter 6, John spells out a series of judgments against humanity, known as the Seal judgments (see the commentary on Revelation, to see link click Ck – The Seven Seals of the Lamb). In Revelation Chapter 7, John breaks away from judgment. Then in Revelation Chapters 8 and 9 he continues with another series of judgments known as Trumpet judgments (see the commentary on Revelation Cu – The Seven Trumpets). Between the Seal judgments and the Trumpet judgments there is the worldwide preaching of the 144,000 Jews and all those saved by their ministry (see the commentary on Revelation Cr – Then I Heard the Number of Those who Were Sealed, 144,000 from all the Tribes of Isra’el). The structure there is the structure here. In the midst of judgment passages, there is a small segment where a glorification of God’s name is made by the 144,000 and those Jews and Gentiles saved by their preaching. The sages teach that these are only Israelites. Thus, we are told here that in spite of the pollution of the earth by humanity that brings about the judgments, there is a small believing remnant who is glorifying God’s name and majesty.

Those who survive the catastrophe will from the distant parts of the earth offer hymns and praises to the God of Isra’el. They will lift their voices, singing for joy; shouting from the west, literally from the [Mediterranean] Sea, to honor ADONAI (24:14 CJB). The word they, the believing remnant, is emphasized in the Hebrew. The Adversary had spiritually blinded them. Paul reminds us that the god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God (Second Corinthians 4:4). As a result of the preaching of the 144,000, these new believers will experience the spiritual scales being removed from their eyes and will then sing to the LORD. Despite the obvious danger of being beheaded by the antichrist (Rev 20:4), they nevertheless sing to God out of sheer joy.

So in the east, literally, in the lights, they will sing out in honor of ADONAI; from as far away as the islands of the sea they will honor the name ADONAI, the God of Isra’el (24:15 CJB). The content of their song will be the glory of His name. It will not be His name that will be so glorious, but who He is as Creator, Judge, Redeemer and LORD. They were snatched from the fire and saved. And they were so grateful that they broke out in song. The celebration reaches its climax in the phrase the ends, literally the wing, of the earth (Philippians 2:9-11). Everywhere, in the west, the east, the islands of the sea, and from the ends of the earth, they proclaim the same song: Glory to God, the Righteous One (24:16a). Unlike those in Isaiah’s day who viewed the Assyrian advance as cruel and unfair, the believers during the Great Tribulation will view the earth’s devastation as a righteous act by a righteous and Holy God.

A Curse Consumes the Earth
24: 1-13

A curse consumes the earth DIG: What is the scope of the judgment in 24:1-6? Who gets hit? Who is left? What is the reason for this total devastation that is to come? From God’s point of view, what everlasting covenant did the people break? What subsequent curse have the people brought on themselves? How has this been illustrated by some of the specific judgments (see 14:12-14, 16:6, 17:10, 22:11)? In 24:7-13, what will be the impact of this future judgment on the rural and urban sector? What images does this bring to you? If you have ever walked through a “ghost town” like this, how did you feel?

REFLECT: How does this prospect of universal judgment strike you: (a) An archaic view of a Messianic Jew? (b) Vindictive action on God’s part? (c) Source of hope and joy conveyed by God’s control? (d) A day to be feared by all, regardless of social or religious distinction? How would your view of that day change if you were a powerful, corrupt king? If you were a victim of his oppressive rule?

See, in the far eschatological future, the LORD is going to lay waste the earth and devastate it; He will ruin its face and scatter its inhabitants (24:1). The word see, or behold, used with the active participle indicates the future, with a sense of expectancy. The source of this worldwide judgment is clearly God Himself. The results are devastating. Isaiah tells us that the judgment of the earth (mentioned sixteen times in this chapter) is going to be universal. It will obliterate all class distinction. This is one of the central themes of Isaiah: human pride and ADONAI cannot coexist. He mentions six pairs (the number six for mankind) of opposites. The first three represent the social classes; the last three represent the economic classes. None will fare any better or any worse in the earth’s dying breath than will those who have nothing. It will be the same for the priest as for people, for master as for servant, for mistress as for maid, for seller as for buyer, for borrower as for lender, for debtor as for creditor (24:2).

The earth will be completely laid waste and totally plundered (Revelation Chapters 6, 8-9, 15-16). The effects on the earth will be shocking. The Hebrew tends to be much stronger because of repetition of the main noun. If I were to give a more literal translation, it would be: There will be an emptying, the earth will be emptied; spoiling, the earth will be spoiled. And because God Himself has spoken the word, judgment is certain. Although this is a frequent phrase in Isaiah, its importance cannot be overemphasized. He believed that the LORD had communicated His truth and His will clearly. Therefore, the prophet could make completely dogmatic statements that rested on the sole support that ADONAI has spoken this word (24:3).

The earth dries up and withers, the world languishes and withers, the exalted of the earth languish (24:4). The word for world here means the inhabited earth. There are two Hebrew words for world. One means the world in general and the other means the inhabited world. It is the inhabited world that is affected because the judgment is against humanity. Even the so-called important people suffer. No one will be spared from this judgment in the far eschatological future.

The reason such devastation will come is that the people, up over their heads in sin, will have defiled the earth; they have disobeyed God’s commandments, and violated the statutes (24:5a). In creating the world, ADONAI said it was very good (Genesis 1:31). But because of their sin, people had defiled the good earth, by disobeying God’s commandments and violating His statutes. Hatred pollutes, as does dishonesty. Both of these, just as too many phosphates or too much sewage, make it impossible for us to live. This is because there are spiritual truths that are just as unwavering as the physical ones. And like the physical laws if violated: we do not break them, they break us. As a result, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23) are not merely nice little goals for us to get along in this life, they are necessities if humanity is going to continue on living.

By thus polluting, they broke His everlasting covenant. What is this everlasting covenant? The three most important aspects of biblical interpretation are context, context, and context. In the context here is Isaiah 24:18b, which says: The floodgates of the heavens are opened, the foundations of the world shake. Genesis 7:11 says: the floodgates of the heavens were opened. And Genesis 8:2 says: Now the springs of the deep and floodgates of the heavens had been closed. So, we should take this covenant to be the Noahic Covenant (Genesis 9:11), because there are illusions to the Noahic judgment. Through all four of these chapters there is a tremendous amount of the use of alliteration in the Hebrew text, because Isaiah is a master of Hebrew (God works through the human instrument, yet communicating everything He wants communicated).

Because people will have defiled the earth by their sins, judgment will come. Therefore, a curse consumes the earth; its people must bear the consequences of their guilt. Therefore, earth’s inhabitants will be burned up like a desert. Here we see a judgment of fire (Second Peter 3:10-12). The result of this fiery judgment is that very few will be left (24:6). Once the restraining effect of the Church is gone after the Rapture (to see link click Eu – The Rapture and the Great Tribulation), rampant sin will pollute the environment to the point that it cannot maintain, but begins to destroy life (13:11-12).

The next seven verses should be seen as a unit because of the recurring theme of wine and the harvest (24:7-13). Normally, the grape harvest was a time of joy and laughter. When the grapes were in, the last of the hard summer work was finished, spirits were high and the wine flowed. If the harvest was poor, however, the mood was somber at best. During the first half of the Great Tribulation, there will be great jubilation because those pesky believers will not be around anymore. There will be no restraints. But because people will have defiled the earth by their sins, the verdict will come in the form of seal, trumpet and bowl judgments (see my commentary on the book of Revelation).

All sources of joy and gladness will be cut off. First, their wine is taken away. The new wine will dry up and the vine withers; all the merrymakers will groan. There will be no wine from these grapes. Instead of vulgar jokes and rowdy laughter, there will only be groans and sighs. Secondly, their music is taken away. The gaiety of the tambourines will be stilled, the noise of the revelers will have stopped, and the joyful harp will be silent. When the judgments of ADONAI come upon the earth all artificial partying will melt away. Those who depended upon their own sources of joy will have none. And thirdly, only bitterness remains. No longer do they drink wine with a song; the beer will be bitter to its drinkers (24:7-9). What drinking is there without gladness? Its only purpose is to forget the present, and the experience is a bitter one.

Then Isaiah offers an example of a ruined city, where sadness and desolation prevail everywhere. He uses the definite article, meaning that there is a specific city involved. The Little Apocalypse of Isaiah is really a tale of two cities – the New Jerusalem and Babylon, which will be the political/economic capital of the antichrist during the Great Tribulation. Isaiah looks into the far eschatological future and sees that Babylon, the ruined city, lies desolate and the entrance to every house is barred (24:10). Instead of a jubilant city, alive with music, its streets full of laughing crowds going from house to house, all will be empty with their doors locked tight so that no one could enter. The word desolate is used in Genesis 1:2 means chaos. The context points to this city being Babylon but the rabbis teach that this city is Jerusalem.

Isaiah describes Babylon as being a city where the streets cry out for wine. The city that was used to rivers of wine will only experience thirst. When the LORD pours out His wrath on an unbelieving world in the Great Tribulation, all joy will turn to darkness and all gaiety will be banished from the earth (24:11). As a result, the city will be left in ruins (13:20-22), and its gate is battered to pieces (24:12). Babylon will lay desolate.

God’s prophet declares that what is true of this one city, will be true of the entire earth. Little will be left, as after the harvesting of olives or grapes. The phrase, “So will it be” signals a concluding statement to this part of the poem. Up until this point prophetic perfects have been used to indicate the certainty of the judgment to come. But now imperfect tenses appear to emphasize the fact that these events still lie in the future.

The world will look like an olive orchard or a vineyard after the harvest. So, will it be in the earth and among the nations, as when an olive tree is beaten, or as when gleanings are left after the grape harvest (24:13). When the olives are gathered in the East, a practice that is still around today, the branches are beaten with sticks. It was mercifully ordered that the Israelites should give the trees but one beating, leaving for the poor gleaners all the fruit that did not by this means drop off.⁸³ The Hebrews were directed not to pick their grapes closely, but to leave a few for the poor. Gideon refers to this merciful provision when he says: Aren’t the gleanings of Ephraim’s grapes better than the full grape harvest of Abiezer? (Judges 8:2).⁸⁴ As only a few clusters of grapes or a hand full of olives, so will it be for the world. Despite the worldwide judgment during the Great Tribulation, a small believing remnant of believers will be left. Suddenly, in the midst of this massive judgment, they glorify God’s name.

The Rapture and the Great Tribulation
24: 1-23

The rapture and the Great Tribulation REFLECT: Where does the word “Rapture” come from? How can you make sure you are not left behind? What are the three main purposes of the Great Tribulation? What are your thoughts on the Great Tribulation for you personally? Do you dread it or look forward to it? Why?

When the Bible uses the term mystery (First Corinthians 15:51), it does not use it in the traditional sense of the word. It does not mean, “Is there life on Pluto? No one will really ever know; it’s a mystery!” No, when the Bible uses the term mystery, it means something that was once hidden, but now is revealed and made known (Romans 16:25b-26a). For example, the Church was a mystery to the righteous of the TaNaKh. And because the Church was a mystery, the Rapture was also a mystery to them. The Rapture refers to that event where Jesus Christ snatches the Church out of this world. For the Lord Himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with God’s shofar (CJB), and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. Therefore, encourage each other with these words (First  Thessalonians 4:16-18). The Greek word haroazo is a very forceful word. It means taken by the collar and snatched away violently, and is translated caught up. The Latin equivalent is the word raptus, and is where we get the English transliteration rapture.⁸² Therefore, at the Rapture, both Gentile and Jewish believers will be caught up together to meet the Lord in the air. When the restraining influence of the Holy Spirit on the world is gone, the Great Tribulation will begin suddenly without any notice because the Day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. While people are saying, “Peace and safety,” destruction will come on them suddenly, as labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape (First Thess 5:2-3).

The blessings and judgments prophesied for specific nations in Chapters 13 to 23, forms the backdrop for the Lord’s final judgment of the entire world during the Great Tribulation. There are three main purposes during that time: first, to make an end of wickedness and wicked ones (13:9, 24:19-20); secondly, to bring about a worldwide revival (see the commentary on Revelation, to see link click Cs – God Will Wipe Away Every Tear From Their Eyes); and thirdly, to break the stubbornness of the Jewish nation (Dani’el 11-12; Ezeki’el 20:34-38). In the TaNaKh the most common name for the Great Tribulation is the Day of the Lord. But there are a number of other names, or designations for this time period, found in both Covenants.

Names for the Great Tribulation

The most common name for the Great Tribulation found in various passages in the TaNaKh is the Day of the Lord. In every passage of the Scriptures that the term the Day of the Lord is found it is always, without exception, a reference to the Great Tribulation period. Even though this is the most common name for this period in the TaNaKh, it has many names and it is also found in various passages of the B’rit Chadashah. These names are found in the New International Version.

Names used for the Great Tribulation in the TaNaKh:

• A Time of Trouble for Jacob (Jeremiah 30:7)
• The Seventieth Week of Daniel (Dani’el 9:27)
• The LORD’s Strange Work (Isaiah 28:21)
• The LORD’s Alien Task (Isaiah 28:21)
• The Day of Isra’el’s Disaster (Deuteronomy 32:35; Obadiah 12-14)
• The Distress or Tribulation (Deuteronomy 4:30)
• The Overwhelming Scourge (Isaiah 28:15, 18)
• The Day of Vengeance (Isaiah 34:8, 35:4, 61:2)
• The Year of Retribution (Isaiah 34:8)
• The Time of Distress (Daniel 12:1; Zephaniah 1:15)
• The Day of Wrath (Zephaniah 1:15)
• The Day of Trouble and Ruin (Zephaniah 1:15)
• The Day of Darkness (Zephaniah 1:15; Amos 5:18 and 20; Joel 2:2)
• The Day of Gloominess (Zephaniah 1:15; Joel 2:2)
• The Day of Clouds (Zephaniah 1:15; Joel 2:2)
• The Day of Blackness (Zephaniah 1:15; Joel 2:2)
• The Day of the Trumpet (Zephaniah 1:16)
• The Day of the Battle Cry (Zephaniah 1:16)
• The Day of the LORD Almighty (Isaiah 2:12-21)

Names used for the Great Tribulation in the B’rit Chadashah:

• The Day of the Lord (First Thessalonians 5:2)
• The Wrath of God (Revelation 15:1 and 7; 14:10 and 19; 16:1)
• The Hour of Trial (Revelation 3:10)
• The Great Day of the Wrath of the Lamb of God (Revelation 6:16-17)
• The Coming Wrath (First Thessalonians 1:10)
• The Wrath (First Thessalonians 5:9; Revelation 11:18)
• The Great Tribulation or Distress (Matthew 24:21; Revelation 7:14)
• The Distress or Tribulation (Matthew 24:29)
• The Hour of Judgment (Revelation 14:7)

The Little Apocalypse of Isaiah
24:1 to 27:13

The little apocalypse of Isaiah DIG: How is Isaiah’s Little Apocalypse similar to the book of Revelation? Which of the prophecies in these chapters, which are of global scope, have yet to be fulfilled?

The word apocalypse is the Greek name for the book of Revelation. Because much of what is found in the Revelation is found in these four chapters, it is named The Little Apocalypse of Isaiah. It describes the earth’s devastation and people’s intense suffering during the coming Tribulation and the blessings to follow in the Messianic Kingdom. Like a finale, these chapters can be read by themselves, but their greatest contribution is within the context of the whole book of Isaiah.

In addition to the content, the very structure of these four chapters is also the structure of the Book of Revelation. Another way of saying that is that the book of Revelation is an expansion of these four chapters in the book of Isaiah. These four chapters are divided into four segments: first, The Great Tribulation in Chapter 24; secondly, The Song of Praise in Chapter 25; thirdly, The Song of Salvation in Chapter 26: 1-19; and fourthly, The Redemption of Isra’el in Chapter 26:20 to 27:13. The overriding theme of the segment is the triumph of God, not only over His enemies but also for His people.

In Chapters 13 to 35 Isaiah sought to answer these questions: Can God deliver Isra’el from those who would harm her? Can He be trusted? Or is He just one more god added to all the others? But here in the Little Apocalypse of Isaiah, the question that is specifically answered is this, “Does God merely react to the nations, or is He sovereign over all the world?”

Her Earnings will be Set Apart for the LORD
23: 15-18

Her earnings will be set apart for the LORD DIG: Babylon, the symbol of strength and prestige in the East, was beaten by Assyria in 710 BC and again in 689 BC. What effect would recalling the destruction of both Babylon in the East and Tyre in the West have on Judah as they faced the Assyrian advance? What would they associate with the 70 years? In what sense will the LORD deal with Tyre? What will happen as a result of Tyre’s restoration? How does this compare with what Isaiah said about Egypt and Assyria?

REFLECT: ADONAI is a God of second chances. Read Jonah 3:9-10. As a result of reading the Oracles Against the Nations in Chapters 13 to 23, could any of the nations mentioned by Isaiah have repented and been spared as Nineveh had been? Why or why not? How has God restored you, or things in your life that you thought were gone forever? Was He glorified in it? Why or why not?

After describing the destruction of Tyre, Isaiah now describes its restoration for a season. There is now a change in genre. Up to now he has written in Hebrew poetry, but now he begins writing in Hebrew prose. As in the oracle against Egypt (19:1-25), Isaiah adds a postscript to Tyre’s announcement of destruction (23:1-14). It is an addendum of Judah’s submission to ADONAI. His word is crystal clear. She was not to envy Tyre for her great wealth. Ultimately, everything Tyre owned will be returned to God and enjoyed by His people (2:2-3, 45:14, 49:22, 60:9-11). This section is a fitting summary to the Oracles Against the Nations in Chapters 13 to 23. Judah need not, in fact must not, prostitute herself to the Gentile nations. Instead, she should be true to her Husband, the King of nations. If she will only obey His word, she will find that the nations, in fact, will come to her.

At that time, Tyre will be forgotten for seventy years, the span of a king’s life. After Babylon destroyed Tyre, it was in ruins for seventy years, just as Judah was to be in ruins for seventy years. And during Babylon’s supremacy, for those seventy years, Tyre will be insignificant. But at the end of these seventy years . . . Tyre once again would become a leader of sea trade. Like a prostitute who had been forgotten, she returned to ply her trade singing the song of the prostitute (23:15). The prostitute is an apt symbol of Tyre, where everything she does is for money.

Take up a harp, walk through the city, O prostitute forgotten! Play the harp well, sing many a song, so that you will be remembered (23:16). But then Isaiah says that Tyre will rise again like an old prostitute forced to return to her trade because of hunger, singing to attract her lovers. She will prostitute herself in the sense that she will sell her merchandise to whoever will pay for it. After seventy years, Tyre will again play the part of the prostitute in world trade. She will again regain the supremacy she had before her destruction. And much of this merchandise will be corrupting.

In a figurative way, the music of Tyre will have an effect. After a dormant period she will realize something of her former importance as a trading city of the world. At the end of seventy years, ADONAI will deal with Tyre. She will return to her hire as a prostitute and will ply her trade with all the kingdoms on the face of the earth (23:17). Although she will once again be a prostitute, this time the profits from her trading would somehow benefit those who feared God. There was a new Tyre in the mind of God. Yet her profit and her earnings will be set apart for the LORD (23:18a). To be set apart means to be holy. This was the very word engraved on a plate of pure gold worn by the high priest (see the commentary on Exodus, to see link click Gc – Make a Plate and Engrave On It: Holy to the LORD). A new spirit replaces the old mercenary one, not horded, but given freely. There would be a new harmony between Tyre and Zion for a season. But the island city of unprecedented wealth is gone and there is no mention of the nation of Tyre in the Messianic Kingdom.

The fact that her earnings will be set apart for the LORD seems to go against teaching of the Torah where it says: You must not bring the earnings of a female prostitute . . . into the house of ADONAI . . . because the LORD your God detests it (Deut 23:18). A prostitute’s earnings could not be given as an offering in the Temple. It is important to remember, however, that prostitution is symbolic of Tyre’s business practice of doing anything for money, and that there is nothing inherently immoral about trade or business.

Her earnings will not be stored up or hoarded. Her profits will be for the benefit of those who live before ADONAI, for abundant food and fine clothes (23:18b). Who are those who live before God? They were the Levites in the Temple of the LORD. Both Tyre and Judah (because they both came under the same domination of Babylonia), arise again after seventy years. Tyre arises to rebuild her trade and Judah arises to rebuild her Temple. At that point, they come together and some of the merchandise (not all) of Tyre becomes holy, or set apart for the LORD. Ezra 3:7 tells us that, Then (the Jews) gave money to the masons and carpenters, and gave food and drink and oil to the people of Sidon and Tyre, so that they would bring cedar logs by sea from Lebanon to Joppa, as authorized by Cyrus the King of Persia. The ships of Tyre will bring the cedars of Lebanon to the port of Joppa to be used to rebuild the Temple in Jerusalem. So it was during the period when Zerubbabel came back from the Babylonian captivity that Tyre, for a season, was used by God to rebuild His Temple (see the commentary on Ezra-Nehemiah Ar –The Start of Rebuilding the Temple).

So it is to God that His people should look, not to the nations, for ultimately the Gentiles must look to Him as well. Moreover, all the wealth, which Gentile nations have amassed with such difficulty and effort must eventually be His to reallocate as He pleases. So in the final analysis, if the glory of the nations is nothing (Chapters 13-14), if the scheming of the nations is nothing (Chapters 14 and 18), if the wisdom of the nations is nothing (Chapters 18-19), if the vision of the nation is nothing (Chapters 21-22), and if the wealth of the nations is nothing (Chapter 23), then the questions is: Why trust the nations? The answer is clear. There is no reason to trust the nations.⁸¹

Wail, You Ships of Tarshish;
Your Fortress is Destroyed
23: 1-14

Wail, you ships of Tarshish, your fortress is destroyed DIG: Tyre was the main city of Phoenicia, a prosperous trading country on the Mediterranean Sea. What role did Tyre play in the economy of the surrounding nations? What was the city like before the events of this prophecy? The ships of Tarshish were capable of sailing to the ends of the known world. What message was given to their sailors as they were returning home? Who does Isaiah credit with planning the downfall of Tyre, the kingmaker? How is God’s control over the kings and nations evident here? How much of Tyre is left today? Why is that?

REFLECT: If Babylon represented the height of the world’s culture, and Tyre an apex of its wealth, how would you use Isaiah’s message to challenge people dedicated to power and money? Does this mean power and wealth in themselves are wrong? Why or why not? How does this message serve as an ongoing warning to believers in every age? To your Messianic synagogue, or church, in particular? To you in particular?

With this pronouncement Isaiah concludes his judgments upon the nations surrounding Judah. It is a fitting conclusion. As Babylon, the great city in the east, opened the section, so Tyre, the great city in the west, closes it. This whole section is written in Hebrew poetry.

The near historical prophecy against Tyre took place in several stages over 370 years (to see link click Eq – The Timeline for Tyre). In the first stage, though Sargon II (721 to 705 BC) and Sennacherib (704 to 681 BC) fought against Judah over a period of fourteen years, they did not capture Judah; but Sennacherib defeated 46 of her fortified cities and laid siege to Jerusalem before being turned away by an Angel of ADONAI (see Gw – Then An Angel of ADONAI Put To Death a Hundred and Eighty Five Thousand Men in the Assyrian Camp). In the second stage, Nebuchadnezzar captured and destroyed Tyre after thirteen years, although ADONAI would eventually restore her 70 years later. In the third and last stage, the final destruction of Tyre would be left to the Son of Thunder, Alexander III of Macedon (Alexander the Great).

Alexander the Great accomplished the destruction of Tyre in 332 BC. During his campaign in Canaan he requested supplies from Tyre. When they refused to assist him, his army took the rubble that was left from the ancient city of Tyre, threw it into the sea to build a half-mile causeway, marched out to the island fortress, and defeated the city with the assistance of the navies of surrounding nations. The inhabitants paid dearly for trying Alexander’s patience. It is said that he crucified two thousand of the leaders and sold thirty thousand into slavery. Alexander did in seven months what the Assyrian king Shalmaneser IV could not do in five years, or the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar did in thirteen years. Because it was time for God’s judgment, the city came crashing down. Nothing is left today.

We can learn a great deal from other prophets who prophesied against Tyre. Amos 1:9-10 tells us that Tyre had sold whole communities of Jewish captives to Edom, disregarding a treaty of brotherhood. During the reigns of David and Solomon, Tyre exercised a great influence on the commercial, political, and even religious life of Isra’el. Hiram, king of Tyre, was a devoted friend of David (Second Samuel 5:11), who helped Solomon and him in their building of the Temple (First Kings 5:1-12; First Chronicles 14:1; Second Chronicles 2:3 and 11). But in later years, they drifted apart. Unmindful of the history of friendly relations between herself and Isra’el, she had sold Jews as slaves to the Greeks and Edomites (Joel 3:4-8; Amos 1:9-10). In addition, no king of Isra’el or Judah had ever made war upon Tyre. Arrogant people do not think of others; they merely make decisions based on what is best for themselves, and Tyre was arrogant and ungrateful.

Zechariah 9:3 tells us that Tyre had built herself a stronghold; she has heaped up silver like dust, and gold like the dirt of the streets. The Phoenicians loved money. And the more money they made, the more money they wanted. To those who love money, things become more important than people. They become self-centered and egotistical. The love of money can really destroy us.

Ezeki’el 26:1 to 28:19 treats Tyre more fully than did any other prophet, and the space given to the prophecies against Tyre indicate the importance of the subject from God’s viewpoint (see the commentary on Jeremiah Gl – The Sin and Judgment of Tyre and Tzidon). There are two important aspects from Ezeki’el’s prophecy that help us to understand God’s judgment against Tyre. First, was the fact that she rejoiced over the fall of Jerusalem in 586 BC when she fell to the Babylonians. Tyre looked at Judah’s calamity as a chance to become even wealthier. Judah’s ruin would mean free passage of Tyre’s caravans and greater opportunity in trade. Taxes were doubtless levied by the Jews on caravans and when Judah was strong and had subjugated Edom, she controlled the caravan routes to the Red Sea, thus hindering the Phoenician traders from gaining all the profit they hoped for. So first and foremost, Tyre was motivated by commercial greed. But her sin was that she rejoiced at the calamity of God’s people.

Secondly, the other sin of Tyre was their pride. Every business, state or nation rots from the head down. In this case, the sin of Tyre was modeled by the sin of their king. In short, the king of Tyre had an ego problem. According to Phoenician history, which is confirmed by Josephus, the king at this time was Ithobal II. Riches and power so fed his pride that he claimed that he was a god and assumed he was invincible. When he claimed to be a god, he was displaying the same spirit as the one who promised Adam and Eve that they could be as God (Genesis 3:5; Isaiah 14:13-14; Second Thessalonians 2:4). Kings of Tyre believed they were descended from the gods, but here was an added emphasis of this king’s intolerable pride and self-sufficiency. The seat of God referred to was Tyre itself that the king considered a divine dwelling place. One suggestion says it was an empty throne in the temple of the god Melkarth at Tyre, which the king thought to have claimed. According to the writer Sanchuniathon, Tyre was called the “Holy Island.”⁷⁹

This is an example of double reference, which refers to one person or event, in this case Satan (14:12-15), followed by a second person, here Ithobal II, king of Tyre (Ezeki’el 28:1-19), blended together in such a way that they form a complete picture. In other words, Ezeki’el was not saying that the king of Tyre was Satan or that Satan was the king of Tyre. What he was saying was that he saw the work and activity of Satan being emulated in so many ways by the king of Tyre. When Jesus rebuked Peter in Matthew 16:21-23, He did not mean that somehow Peter had become Satan himself. He was indicating that the motivation behind Peter’s opposition to His going to the cross was from Satan. This appears to be a similar situation.

An oracle concerning Tyre. Wail, O ships of Tarshish (First Kings 10:22, 22:48; Psalm 48;7; Isaiah 2:16; 60:9; Ezeki’el 27:25; Jonah 1:3)! For Tyre is destroyed and left without house or harbor. From the land of Cyprus word has come to them (23:1). Tarshish was the city that was originally colonized by the Phoenicians. The ships of Tarshish learn of Tyre’s destruction while their ships are anchored at Cyprus. There was actually more than one Tarshish; one was on the African coast, south along the route of the Red Sea. A second Tarshish was on the southern coast of Spain. A third Tarshish was all the way up on the British coast. And now there is new evidence that there was a fourth Tarshish on the North African coast. It is believed that Tarshish was originally Carthage. It seems that when Tarshish established these colonies, they gave them all the same name (like McDonalds) because it was Phoenicia’s private colony.

Mourn, you people of the island and you merchants of Sidon, whom the seafarers have enriched (23:2). Sidon was one of the oldest and most important Phoenician city. The Phoenicians greatly benefited by the goods they received in international trade, and in turn, Phoenician trade enriched those other countries, like the island of Cyprus. On the great waters came the grain of the Shihor, a branch of the Nile River (Joshua 13:3; First Chronicles 13:5; Jeremiah 2:18); for the harvest of the Nile was the revenue of Tyre and she became the marketplace of the nations, an exciting and cosmopolitan city (23:3). Grain from Egypt was one of the most important products transported through the Phoenician trading centers of Tyre and Sidon.

Except the wealth of Tyre and Sidon did not come from their own efforts. It came by trading with the nations around the Mediterranean Sea. Be ashamed, O Sidon, and you, O fortress of the sea, for the sea has spoken, “I have neither been in labor nor given birth; I have neither reared sons or brought up daughters” (23:4). Therefore, the sea, personified, could say that Tyre had not gone through the birth experience. She had brought forth quick wealth without going through the pain. But the downfall of Tyre was not only bad news for Phoenicia, it was also bad news for the places where she traded, like Egypt.

When word comes to Egypt, they will be in anguish at the report from Tyre (23:5). For all of her history Egypt had a commercial alliance with Phoenician cities. The bulk of this trade was by sea. As soon as Tyre fell, all sea connections north of her would be cut off and Egypt’s commerce would dry up. The fall of Tyre is not only a loss for Egypt, but it was also Egypt’s pain because Tyre was the key city blocking an invasion from the north against Egypt. Once Tyre fell, it meant that the Assyrians would be coming after Egypt next.

Word spread around the Mediterranean, with the lament being carried as far as Tarshish itself. Then came the evacuation of refugees. Cross over to Tarshish; wail, you people of the island (23:6). In a stunning reversal of fortunes, they traveled in their loss, like they once traveled to make a profit. The citizens of Tyre that had established many colonies were then seeking refuge in Tarshish. A part of the lament was the question, “Could this have actually happened to Tyre?” That city of revelry, always on the move, had ceased to exist.

Is this your city of revelry, the old, old city, whose feet have taken her to settle in far off places (23:7)? Then we see a taunt against Tyre. Today we call Isaiah’s day ancient history. Yet, from Isaiah’s point of view Tyre, which was already 240 years old at the time of his prophecy, was already ancient history even though it would not be destroyed until much later. Tyre was strong enough to withstand Alexander the Great for seven years. So from Isaiah’s standpoint Tyre would not ultimately be destroyed for another 365 years!

It is difficult to accept change. We hold on to the old and the familiar. But no matter how much we try, we are in the midst of endless change. Only God endures. Everything that is not of God is wood, hay, and straw (First Cor 3:10-15) and will be burned up on the Day of Judgment. We need to keep a very light touch on the things of this world.

Tyre’s reversal of fortune is not accidental. It had been ordained and devised by God. His purposes are being worked out in human affairs. The question could be asked: Who planned this against Tyre, the bestower of crowns, whose merchants are princes, whose traders are renowned in the earth (23:8)? Tyre’s destruction was not in order that Isra’el might dominate, as the pagan view might suggest (36:13-20). More accurately, God’s purpose is to show the foolishness of human pride (2:11 and 37:26). Another question comes to mind, “Why did He plan it?” ADONAI answers through His prophet: To bring low the pride of all glory and to humble all who are renowned on the earth (23:9b). God is not opposed to people being lifted up. God lifted up Moses and David. What He opposes is that pride which seeks to not rely on God, but to rely on self. So, the LORD opposes it at every turn, because pride prevents men and women from having a relationship with Him.

Throughout the entire Mediterranean region – from Tarshish in the northwest to the Nile River in the southeast, and to Cyprus in the northeast – people would mourn and weep for the destruction of Tyre. Till your land along the Nile, O Daughter of Tarshish, for you no longer have a harbor (23:10).

It is at God’s command that Tyre falls. He has stretched out His hand over the sea and made its kingdoms tremble (23:11a). The sea, which seemed to be the Phoenicians’ domain, in fact belongs to Ha’Shem. He controls the nations around it. He has given an order concerning Phoenicia that her fortresses be destroyed (23:11b). Because of this, Isaiah was able to declare that God would restore His people from the apparent hopelessness of exile. It is He who orders the universe, not the Gentile nations (11:10-12, 48:14-16).

ADONAI said: No more of your reveling, O Virgin Daughter of Sidon, now crushed (23:12). There would be no escape for the Phoenicians. Although the realization of these things was to be hundreds of years in the future, they seemed already completed in Isaiah’s mind. When the prophet looked at Tyre, he didn’t see a rich, exciting young woman to be envied by those countries around her. Instead, he saw a used-up old lady picking over her ruins. This is the long perspective that believers need to have as we look at this world of ours. As a result of Tyre’s fall, her colonies now became independent. To the Phoenicians it seemed like they “owned the sea” because of all their financial success. But in fact, it belonged to God. In addition, He, not they, controlled the nations surrounding their island fortress. Tyre ultimately fell because of the unshakable purpose of God. As a result, Sidon was also affected because of it.⁸⁰

Look at the land of the Babylonians, this people that is now of no account! The Assyrians have made it a place for desert creatures; they raised up their siege towers, they stripped its fortresses bare and turned it into a ruin (23:13). Keep in mind that Babylon was an empire twice. The first Babylonian Empire was in the days of Abraham, or shortly thereafter, and the Assyrians destroyed it. Then the Assyrians became an empire, but the Babylonians again rose to power and destroyed the Assyrians. One hundred and fifteen years later, which meant that Tyre would then be vulnerable to attack by the Babylonians. So that was the second Babylonian Empire. The LORD would restore Tyre after seventy years, but their final destruction would be left to Alexander the Great.

Wail, you ships of Tarshish; your fortress is destroyed (23:14). The oracle concerning Tyre ends on the same note that it began (23:1a). Zechariah tells us: But the LORD will take away her possessions and destroy her power on the sea, and she will be consumed with fire (Zech 9:4). All her wealth had been thrown into the sea. The implication of all this is clear. Since ADONAI had completed all of this, why should Judah seek refuge in Tyre? It would not make any sense! The LORD is the only refuge. He rules the nations; He is our only Hope. You who live in the shelter of Elyon, the Most High, who spend your nights in the shadow of Shaddai, the Almighty, who say to ADONAI, “My refuge! My fortress! My God, in whom I trust” – He will rescue you from the trap of the hunter and from the plague of calamities; He will cover you with His feathers, and under His wings you will find refuge; His truth is a shield and protection (Ps 91:1-2).

Today there is nothing of any significance on the ancient site of Tyre. The American archaeologist Edward Robinson found forty or fifty marble columns beneath the water along the shores of Tyre. There is no mention of Tyre as a nation in the Millennial Kingdom. Believing in the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob could save individual Phoenicians, but the nation could not be saved. Salvation is personal, not corporate (Ezeki’el 18:1-29). Every individual person living in Tyre could not be condemned any more than every individual Israelite could be saved.

Through Ezeki’el, ADONAI is saying that pride is a destroying sin. It destroyed the glories given to Lucifer when he was yet anointed as a guardian cherub (Ezeki’el 28:14). Did it not also destroy Ithobal II and Tyre? Is there not a warning here for us also?

The Oracle Concerning Edom (Dumah)
21: 11-12

The oracle concerning Edom or Dumah DIG: Dumah, invaded by the Assyrians when they came against Babylon, was an oasis on a major trade route to Seir and an ally of Babylon. In calling to the watchman regarding theses events, what are the Edomites really asking? What’s behind their question? And Isaiah’s puzzling answer? Are there some individual Edomites who have become believers today?

REFLECT: What can the nation of Edom teach you today? How do you feel about God’s promise to Abram? Are you a blessing or a curse to Isra’el and her people? How do you feel about Edom’s ultimate destination? Is that fair? Is that mean? Are the consequences of God’s Word that real? Where does rebellion against God lead?

An oracle concerning Dumah (21:11a). Isaiah plays games with words again. He takes the first “ah” sound in the Hebrew and transposes it to the end so that Edom is switched to Dumah. He does this because he wants to drive home the meaning of Dumah. Edom means red but Dumah means, silence. And this name change from Edom to Dumah is symbolic of Edom’s future fate. Edom is to suffer the death of silence.

The Edomites are the descendants of Esau (see the commentary on Genesis, to see link click In – The Written Account of the Generations of Esau). Although the Edomites were closely related in blood and language to the Israelites, they refused a request by Moses for the Israelites to pass through their territory on their way north (Numbers 20:14-21). Many times, they were at war with the neighboring kings of Isra’el and Judah (Second Kings 8:20; Second Chronicles 28:17). Over the centuries they have opposed the people of God. Long ago ADONAI declared an unchangeable law of the world. He said to Abram: I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse (Genesis 12:3a). The working out of this principle is seen in the nation of Edom.

The word Dumah, or silence, is a different kind of silence than some other Hebrew words that Isaiah could have used. This one means a deep, utter silence. It is a death like silence, a death-like sleep, or a death-like darkness. Look at some Psalms. Let me not be put to shame, O LORD, for I have cried out to you; but let the wicked be put to shame and lie dumah (silent) in the grave (Psalm 31:17). Unless the LORD had given me help, I would soon have dwelt in the dumah (silence) of death (Psalm 94:17). The NKJV does not have of death because it is a word for word translation, but the NIV does have it because it is a thought for thought translation. It is not the dead who praise the LORD, those who go down to dumah (silence) (Psalm 115:17).

Next, we have a common example of something that will happen elsewhere in the Prophets where suddenly, out of nowhere, a little cryptic prophecy is given. It doesn’t seem to say much at all. They are usually limited to one to five verses. This one is limited to two verses (21:11b-12). If it were apart from other passages of Scripture it would be impossible to understand it. If this were all we had, we would never be able to figure this out. But we can glean a lot from other verses to discover its meaning.

There is a sudden call to the Watchman from Mount Seir (say-ear), which is the key mountain range in Edom. In fact, Seir is an alternative name for Edom, because the mountains of Seir were given as a possession to Esau and his descendants (Joshua 24:4). This is where the Edomites settled, in what today is southern Jordan. The question is asked twice: Watchmen, what is left of the night? Watchman, what is left of the night (21:11b)? In Hebrew, the word for night has two forms, a long form and a short form. In these two questions, the first one is the long form, and the second one is the short form. The point is to heighten anxiety and give a sense of urgency and haste. The appeal is, “What part of the night is it?” “How much of the night has passed?” “How much more must be endured before the light of the morning comes?”

Then the watchman replies. Up to this point, the original text has all been written in Hebrew, but now when the watchman answers, it switches to Aramaic. The watchman replies: Morning is coming. The word, is coming, is a perfect word for certainty. But also the night (21:12a) there will be no relief for Edom, and no consolation. While the morning was coming, it is certain that another night would follow. There will be no change; it will still be dark for Edom as a nation. For Edom it is night, total destruction. No one will be left.

But if you would ask, then ask. And come back (turn) yet again (21:12b). The word come back or turn (shuv) means turn in the sense of conversion. The only possible relief for individual Edomites is to turn to the Messiah and to come back after repenting, because there is no possible relief for Edom as a nation. These two verses also serve as a prelude to the far eschatological Edom (see Gi – Edom’s Streams Will Be Turned into Pitch). Other passages that deal with the far eschatological Edom are Jeremiah 49:7-22; Ezeki’el 25:12-14, 35:1-15; Amos 1:11-12; Obadiah 1-21; Malachi 1:2-5.

Edom is going to play the central role in the campaign of Armageddon. Edom will be the place where the final remnant of Isra’el is hiding out during the second half of the Great Tribulation. And also, Edom is the location of the Second Coming of Christ (see Kg – The Second Coming of Jesus Christ to Bozrah). The Jews will not be hiding in Edom because of Edom’s love for them. On the contrary, Edom will do what it can to turn the Jews over to the antichrist and the armies of the world that are trying to destroy Isra’el for the final time. Initially, Messiah first returns to save all of Isra’el (Romans 11:26; Malachi Zechariah 12:7-14; Amos 9:11-12; Jeremiah 31:31-32). After, Christ and the Jews leave Edom it becomes the second burning wasteland of the Millennium. Babylon is one (see Dr – I Will Cut Off from Babylon Her Name) and Edom is the other. So, while the entire world is enjoying the thousand-year millennial reign Yeshua Messiah, these two spots remain a burning wasteland. This will be the death of silence. The oracles concerning Babylon and Edom answer the question, “Where does rebellion against God lead?” The answer is that they both become the home of demons during the entire Millennial Kingdom.

The Timeline for Tyre

Without a timeline, the chronology of events for Tyre is somewhat difficult to understand. Therefore, I have included this timeline for clarification.

• In the days of Abraham, the Babylonians overrun Tyre.
• Therefore, Tyre moves its city from the mainland to a half mile off shore.
• During Isaiah’s day, Assyria was a dominant world power and would conquer the northern kingdom of Isra’el and come very close to conquering the southern kingdom of Judah. Sargon II (721 to 705 BC) and Sennacherib (704 to 681 BC), kings of Assyria, tried for fourteen years to conquer Tyre, but were unsuccessful. Tyre is said by Josephus to have been founded 240 years before Solomon built his Temple in Jerusalem (Antiquities, VIII. iii. I). Its antiquity is also attested to by the classical historians, Herodotus and Strabo.
• During Jeremiah’s day, 115 years later, Babylon had defeated the Assyrians to become the dominant world power. King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon captured and destroyed Tyre after 13 years.
• Babylon, being the dominant world power, destroyed both Tyre and Judah, sending both into exile for 70 years.
• After 70 years, God restores both Tyre and Judah. Tyre arises to rebuild her trade and Judah arises to rebuild her Temple. During this time ADONAI allows the ships of Tyre to bring the cedars of Lebanon to the port of Joppa to be used to rebuild the Temple in Jerusalem. At that point, the LORD allows some of the merchandise of Tyre to become holy, or set apart for ADONAI.
• In 332 BC, or about 370 years after Isaiah’s prophecy, Alexander the Great accomplishes the devastation of Tyre forever.

The Oracle Concerning Tyre
23: 1-18

The oracle concerning Tyre REFLECT: Chapters 13 through 23 reflect upon the foolishness of Judah depending upon alliances with the other nations rather than upon God to protect her from Assyria. What do you see as one implication of that loyalty principle for your life today? To what or to whom have you looked to fill that God-shaped void of insecurity in your life?

Whereas Babylon’s love was for glory and military power, Tyre’s love was for money and the luxury and influence it would buy. As the playwright said, “Diamonds are a girl’s best friend” – and Tyre would have echoed that sentiment. The strange thing about money is that there is never enough. No matter how much we get, we always seem to want more. It is difficult to separate the money from what we think it can buy. How big a house is big enough? How many cars are enough? How many television sets? How much clothing? And how much do we need for a “comfortable” retirement? The idea of moderation has gone out of fashion. What are we looking for? Comfort? Pleasure? Security? These are the things people have been looking for since the beginning of time. And what will give these things to us? Money. Lots and lots of money. In other words, we are little different from Tyre.

We must remember that the money is the LORD’s, not ours. There is the fatal error. We keep thinking how generous we are when we tithe generously to ADONAI. If we are to learn the lesson of Tyre, we must learn to let go of our wealth and relearn the reality of trusting God. Like them, we need to learn that actually we are working for God, and that all our money is set apart for the LORD (23:18).⁷⁷

Tyre was the wealthy capital of Phoenicia. Tyre’s pre-eminence in world trade was due to her geographical situation, with two excellent harbors, one on the mainland, and the other on the offshore island which gave the city its name Tyre, meaning rock. A causeway, built in the tenth century BC by Hiram I, connected the two and this effectively doubled the trading potential of the city. At the same time, when danger threatened, it made it possible to retreat into the island stronghold, which thus became a treasure-chest, warehouse, and impregnable fortress of the Tyrians. As a commercial center, Tyre was famous for her glassware and for her dyed materials, using the purple dye made from the local shellfish. . . Tyre regarded herself as all-powerful, superhuman and virtually eternal; she possessed wealth and wisdom above all other cities, and this led to the incredible arrogance for which Tyre was notorious.⁷⁸

A few centuries before Alexander the Great arrived on the scene, the Babylonians had conquered Tyre. As a result, they moved their city from the mainland to an island a half mile offshore. Although small, the island was seemingly impenetrable. The new Tyre was built on a fortified rock, having a 150-foot wall around the entire island (to see link click Eq – The Timeline for Tyre). Because of their offshore location and the unsurpassed Phoenician navy to defend them, the people, and the king of Tyre believed they were invincible.

Eliakim: the Faithful Steward
22: 20-25

Eliakim was the faithful steward DIG: Eliakim had replaced Shebna as steward at least by the time of the Assyrian invasion of 701 BC (see 36:3). How was he like a peg in a firm place? How do his qualities contrast with those of Shebna? In spite of his good leadership, what will ultimately happen? Why?

REFLECT: Do you see any of Eliakim’s qualities in yourself right now? In what way(s) are you far from being the kind of person that Eliakim was? How can you be more like Eliakim? What qualities make a great leader (see the commentary on Ezra-Nehamiah, to see link click Bt – The Third Return)?

Our attention now shifts to Eliakim, who replaced Shebna. But where Shebna only thought about himself, Eliakim was truly a father to the people of Judah. He was trustworthy and dependable. He was involved in the negotiations with Sennacherib (Second Kings 18:18, 26, 37; Isaiah 36:3, 11, 22 and 37:2). He would also be a respected leader and faithful administrator who would make wise decisions (22:22). But even he would not be able to save the nation single-handedly. Ultimately, the accumulated weight of sin would pull the nation down. Several generations later the Babylonians would destroy Jerusalem in 586 BC (see Em – A Day of Terror in the Valley of Vision). The blindness of the nation was such that a one man would not be sufficient to turn her from her path of destruction.

In that day I will summon My servant, Eliakim son of Hilkiah (22:20). The title of My servant, has great significance in the book of Isaiah. It is first applied to Isaiah in 20:3, then to Isra’el in Chapters 40 to 55, as well as to the unnamed Suffering Servant, and finally, it is applied to Isra’el again in Chapters 65 and 66. Although the term obviously contains a sense of obligation, it goes further than that and expresses privilege. Privilege not implying superiority, but in the sense of it being a privilege to be a servant. Yeshua would say: For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many (Mk 10:46).

Eliakim would wear the badges of honor and authority. I will clothe him with your robe and fasten your sash around him and hand your authority over to him. He will be a father to those who live in Jerusalem and to the house of Judah (22:21). The king’s officers wore distinguishing liveries to mark their respective offices and ranks. The robe is said to have been a long garment made of linen cloth. In the Orient, this was the symbol of power being transferred from one to his successor.

And Isaiah says that Shebna’s successor, Eliakim, will prove to be faithful and points out Eliakim’s authority. He has the power of the keys. And I will place on his shoulders the key to the house of David (22:22a). Oriental keys being unusually large, a long and heavy object, it is often a matter of convenience to carry them on the shoulder. As the possession of a key may be taken as evidence of property or of trust, the key became an emblem of wealth or authority. This idea is expressed beautifully in 9:6, where it is said of the Messiah: For to us a child is born, to us a Son is given, and the government will be upon his shoulders.⁷⁴

What he opens no one can shut, and what he shuts no one can open (22:22b). To hold the keys is to have the authority, because he had total supervision of the royal chambers. The one who held the keys was the one who would decide who could, and who could not, be able to see the king. Through this near historical period, Eliakim would hold the keys to the House of David. Christ gave Peter the keys to the Kingdom (see my commentary on The Life of Christ Fx – On This Rock I Will Build My Church). But who holds those keys now? Revelation 3:7 tells us that Jesus does. These are the words of Him who is holy and true, who holds the key of David. What He opens no one can shut, and what He shuts no on can open.

Lastly, we see Eliakim’s glory and Shebna’s demise. I will drive him like a peg into a firm place; he will be a seat of honor for the house of his father (22:23). Eliakim will be like a peg driven into a firm place, and upon this peg the house of Eliakim will hang its glory. The reference here is not to the tent pins, which are driven into the ground for the purpose of fastening the tent cords, but to wooden pins, or pegs which are put into the wall for the purpose of holding clothing and various household utensils. When these pins are driven into the plastering of a house they are very insecure, and most of the time fall out. To fasten them into a firm place they must be built into the wall as the house is built. They are then firm, and being large, help to strengthen the walls and at the same time afford useful support for anything hung on them.⁷⁵ A beautiful reference to these house-pegs is made in Ezra 9:8, where it speaks of God’s grace which had given the people a firm place in His sanctuary.

All the glory of his family will hang on him: it’s offspring and offshoots – all its lesser vessels, from the bowls to the jars (22:24). Eliakim was so dependable that even the insignificant, not just the influential, could entrust themselves to him. In that light, we should measure ourselves against him and ask whether even the lesser vessels in our lives can depend on us, or whether we, like Shebna, are too busy building our own reputations.

Even though Eliakim and Hezekiah were God-fearing men, the cancer of those like Shebna would eat away at the moral fabric of the nation of Judah. There were not enough Eliakims. When that day comes, the peg fastened firmly in place will give way; it will be cut down and fall, and the weight that was on it will be cut off. For ADONAI has spoken (22:25 CJB). And 115 years later, in that day when God’s patience would run out, He would send King Nebuchadnezzar and his army to destroy Jerusalem. So here, Isaiah warns that eventually even this peg would give way and fall from the weight of spiritual corruption. The nation would be sent off into exile (see the commentary on Jeremiah Gu – Seventy Years of Imperial Babylonian Rule). I am sure Isaiah was saddened and horrified by what he saw and prophesied. But he was a faithful servant.

What does it mean to be an Eliakim rather than a Shebna? Above everything else, it means we have gotten ourselves off our hands. That’s the difference between a David and a Sha’ul, or a Jesus and a Judas. The second person in each of these pairs was always looking out for himself. He was worried about his image, about what other people thought of him, about how he was going to supply his own need, and about how people would remember him. These were the last things the first person in each pair worried about.

I am convinced that these are the kinds of things Jesus had in mind when he said we must become like little children to enter the kingdom of Heaven (Matthew 18:3-4). There are a number of things about children that are not heavenly. They are ignorant and naïve, they can be petty and selfish; and if you are a parent, you know they are not innocent. But, by and large, they lack self-consciousness. It does not occur to them to worry about how they are appearing to others. Status means nothing to them. But how quickly that changes when they grow up. We become absorbed not with the reality but with the image. We are consumed with a need for approval and position, and all too often with the approval of the wrong people and the positions that are worthless. That was Shebna. In his sermon, “The Weight of Glory,” C. S. Lewis says that it matters little what we think of God, but it matters for all eternity what God thinks of us.

That is the kind of person we see in Eliakim. Like Christ, he will care more for the welfare of others then he does for his own. And like Messiah, his greatest joy will be to make it possible for people to enter the throne room of the King. He will be seeking God’s grace so that he can be responsible, reliable, and true in the cesspool of court intrigue. He will be concerned for the needs of others above his own to the extent that he will shoulder loads that are really too heavy to carry. But he will carry them, not because he constantly needs to prove to himself that he is indispensable or that he is really somebody, but because he does not want others to have to bear those loads.

This is the opportunity Yeshua offers each of us. We may choose to be Shebna or Eliakim. We may focus on the temporal (earthly) or the heavenly (eternal). If we focus on the temporal, we and all our works will perish with it. If we choose the eternal, then none of our temporal works will ever be lost (Romans 8:13).⁷⁶ He is no fool who gives up what he cannot keep, to keep what he cannot loose. This is truly Good News.