Today we get a depiction of God’s heavenly throne room, followed by several prophecies about the coming Messiah in the context of the coming Assyrian invasion and the overrunning of the Northern Kingdom of Israel. A lot of these different lines of prophecy are difficult to suss out, as these things did not historically overlap. Many apocalyptic saying in the bible will only be fully understood at the end of days, when all that is hidden will be revealed.
God continues to be enthroned between the cherubim. Christ sits at his right hand. The Holy Spirit continues to comfort and strengthen the hearts of the saints. God’s Word continues to be true. Our scriptures maintain their fidelity in pointing to the Triune God over all. All praise be to the Lord of Hosts!
Isaiah 6
In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted; and the train of His robe filled the temple.
Above Him stood seraphim, each having six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. And they were calling out to one another:
“Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of Hosts;
all the earth is full of His glory.”
At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook, and the temple was filled with smoke.
Then I said:
“Woe is me,
for I am ruined,
because I am a man of unclean lips
dwelling among a people of unclean lips;
for my eyes have seen the King,
the LORD of Hosts.”
Then one of the seraphim flew to me, and in his hand was a glowing coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar. And with it he touched my mouth and said:
“Now that this has touched your lips,
your iniquity is removed
and your sin is atoned for.”
Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying:
“Whom shall I send?
Who will go for Us?”
And I said:
“Here am I. Send me!”
And He replied:
“Go and tell this people,
‘Be ever hearing, but never understanding;
be ever seeing, but never perceiving.’
Make the hearts of this people calloused;
deafen their ears and close their eyes.
Otherwise they might see with their eyes,
hear with their ears,
understand with their hearts,
and turn and be healed.”
Then I asked:
“How long, O Lord?”
And He replied:
“Until the cities lie ruined
and without inhabitant,
until the houses are left unoccupied
and the land is desolate and ravaged,
until the LORD has driven men far away
and the land is utterly forsaken.
And though a tenth remains in the land,
it will be burned again.
As the terebinth and oak leave stumps when felled,
so the holy seed will be a stump in the land.”
Isaiah 7
Now in the days that Ahaz son of Jotham, the son of Uzziah, was king of Judah, Rezin king of Aram marched up to wage war against Jerusalem. He was accompanied by Pekah son of Remaliah the king of Israel, but he could not overpower the city.
When it was reported to the house of David that Aram was in league with Ephraim, the hearts of Ahaz and his people trembled like trees in the forest shaken by the wind.
Then the LORD said to Isaiah, “Go out with your son Shear-jashub to meet Ahaz at the end of the aqueduct that feeds the upper pool, on the road to the Launderer’s Field,
and say to him: Calm down and be quiet. Do not be afraid or disheartened over these two smoldering stubs of firewood—over the fierce anger of Rezin and Aram and of the son of Remaliah.
For Aram, along with Ephraim and the son of Remaliah, has plotted your ruin, saying:
‘Let us invade Judah, terrorize it, and divide it among ourselves. Then we can install the son of Tabeal over it as king.’ But this is what the Lord GOD says:
‘It will not arise;
it will not happen.
For the head of Aram is Damascus,
and the head of Damascus is Rezin.
Within sixty-five years
Ephraim will be shattered as a people.
The head of Ephraim is Samaria,
and the head of Samaria is the son of Remaliah.
If you do not stand firm in your faith,
then you will not stand at all.’ ”
Again the LORD spoke to Ahaz, saying, “Ask for a sign from the LORD your God, whether from the depths of Sheol or the heights of heaven.”
But Ahaz replied, “I will not ask; I will not test the LORD.”
Then Isaiah said, “Hear now, O house of David! Is it not enough to try the patience of men? Will you try the patience of my God as well?
Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call Him Immanuel.
By the time He knows enough to reject evil and choose good, He will be eating curds and honey.
For before the boy knows enough to reject evil and choose good, the land of the two kings you dread will be laid waste.
The LORD will bring on you and on your people and on the house of your father a time unlike any since the day Ephraim separated from Judah—He will bring the king of Assyria.”
On that day the LORD will whistle to the flies at the farthest streams of the Nile and to the bees in the land of Assyria.
And they will all come and settle
in the steep ravines and clefts of the rocks,
in all the thornbushes and watering holes.
On that day the Lord will use a razor hired from beyond the Euphrates —the king of Assyria—to shave your head and the hair of your legs, and to remove your beard as well.
On that day a man will raise a young cow and two sheep, and from the abundance of milk they give, he will eat curds; for all who remain in the land will eat curds and honey.
And on that day, in every place that had a thousand vines worth a thousand shekels of silver, only briers and thorns will be found.
Men will go there with bow and arrow, for the land will be covered with briers and thorns.
For fear of the briers and thorns, you will no longer traverse the hills once tilled by the hoe; they will become places for oxen to graze and sheep to trample.
Isaiah 8
Then the LORD said to me, “Take a large scroll and write on it with an ordinary stylus: Maher-shalal-hash-baz.
And I will appoint for Myself trustworthy witnesses—Uriah the priest and Zechariah son of Jeberekiah.”
And I had relations with the prophetess, and she conceived and gave birth to a son. The LORD said to me, “Name him Maher-shalal-hash-baz.
For before the boy knows how to cry ‘Father’ or ‘Mother,’ the wealth of Damascus and the plunder of Samaria will be carried off by the king of Assyria.”
And the LORD spoke to me further:
“Because this people has rejected
the gently flowing waters of Shiloah
and rejoiced in Rezin
and the son of Remaliah,
the Lord will surely bring against them
the mighty floodwaters of the Euphrates —
the king of Assyria and all his pomp.
It will overflow its channels
and overrun its banks.
It will pour into Judah,
swirling and sweeping over it,
reaching up to the neck;
its spreading streams will cover
your entire land, O Immanuel!
Huddle together, O peoples, and be shattered;
pay attention, all you distant lands;
prepare for battle, and be shattered;
prepare for battle, and be shattered!
Devise a plan, but it will be thwarted;
state a proposal, but it will not happen.
For God is with us.”
For this is what the LORD has spoken to me with a strong hand, instructing me not to walk in the way of this people:
“Do not call conspiracy
everything these people regard as conspiracy.
Do not fear what they fear;
do not live in dread.
The LORD of Hosts is the One
you shall regard as holy.
Only He should be feared;
only He should be dreaded.
And He will be a sanctuary—
but to both houses of Israel
a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense,
to the dwellers of Jerusalem
a trap and a snare.
Many will stumble over these;
they will fall and be broken;
they will be ensnared and captured.”
Bind up the testimony
and seal the law among my disciples.
I will wait for the LORD,
who is hiding His face from the house of Jacob.
I will put my trust in Him.
Here am I, and the children the LORD has given me as signs and symbols in Israel from the LORD of Hosts, who dwells on Mount Zion.
When men tell you to consult the spirits of the dead and the spiritists who whisper and mutter, shouldn’t a people consult their God instead? Why consult the dead on behalf of the living?
To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, they have no light of dawn.
They will roam the land, dejected and hungry. When they are famished, they will become enraged; and looking upward, they will curse their king and their God.
Then they will look to the earth and see only distress and darkness and the gloom of anguish. And they will be driven into utter darkness.
Isaiah 9
Nevertheless, there will be no more gloom for those in distress. In the past He humbled the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the future He will honor the Way of the Sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the nations:
The people walking in darkness
have seen a great light;
on those living in the land of the shadow of death,
a light has dawned.
You have enlarged the nation
and increased its joy.
The people rejoice before You
as they rejoice at harvest time,
as men rejoice in dividing the plunder.
For as in the day of Midian
You have shattered the yoke of their burden,
the bar across their shoulders,
and the rod of their oppressor.
For every trampling boot of battle
and every garment rolled in blood
will be burned as fuel for the fire.
For unto us a child is born,
unto us a son is given,
and the government will be upon His shoulders.
And He will be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Of the increase of His government and peace
there will be no end.
He will reign on the throne of David
and over his kingdom,
to establish and sustain it
with justice and righteousness
from that time and forevermore.
The zeal of the LORD of Hosts will accomplish this.
The Lord has sent a message against Jacob,
and it has fallen upon Israel.
All the people will know it—
Ephraim and the dwellers of Samaria.
With pride and arrogance of heart
they will say:
“The bricks have fallen,
but we will rebuild with finished stone;
the sycamores have been felled,
but we will replace them with cedars.”
The LORD has raised up the foes of Rezin against him
and joined his enemies together.
Aram from the east and Philistia from the west
have devoured Israel with open mouths.
Despite all this, His anger is not turned away;
His hand is still upraised.
But the people did not return to Him who struck them;
they did not seek the LORD of Hosts.
So the LORD will cut off Israel’s head and tail,
both palm branch and reed in a single day.
The head is the elder and honorable man,
and the tail is the prophet who teaches lies.
For those who guide this people mislead them,
and those they mislead are swallowed up.
Therefore the Lord takes no pleasure in their young men;
He has no compassion on their fatherless and widows.
For every one of them is godless and wicked,
and every mouth speaks folly.
Despite all this, His anger is not turned away;
His hand is still upraised.
For wickedness burns like a fire
that consumes the thorns and briers
and kindles the forest thickets
which roll upward in billows of smoke.
By the wrath of the LORD of Hosts
the land is scorched,
and the people are fuel for the fire.
No man even spares his brother.
They carve out what is on the right,
but they are still hungry;
they eat what is on the left,
but they are still not satisfied.
Each one devours the flesh of his own offspring.
Manasseh devours Ephraim,
and Ephraim Manasseh;
together they turn against Judah.
Despite all this, His anger is not turned away;
His hand is still upraised.
Isaiah 10
Woe to those who enact unjust statutes
and issue oppressive decrees,
to deprive the poor of fair treatment
and withhold justice from the oppressed of My people,
to make widows their prey
and orphans their plunder.
What will you do on the day of reckoning
when devastation comes from afar?
To whom will you flee for help?
Where will you leave your wealth?
Nothing will remain but to crouch among the captives
or fall among the slain.
Despite all this, His anger is not turned away;
His hand is still upraised.
Woe to Assyria, the rod of My anger;
the staff in their hands is My wrath.
I will send him against a godless nation;
I will dispatch him against a people destined for My rage,
to take spoils and seize plunder,
and to trample them down like clay in the streets.
But this is not his intention;
this is not his plan.
For it is in his heart to destroy
and cut off many nations.
“Are not all my commanders kings?” he says.
“Is not Calno like Carchemish?
Is not Hamath like Arpad?
Is not Samaria like Damascus?
As my hand seized the idolatrous kingdoms
whose images surpassed those of Jerusalem and Samaria,
and as I have done to Samaria and its idols,
will I not also do to Jerusalem and her idols?”
So when the Lord has completed all His work against Mount Zion and Jerusalem, He will say, “I will punish the king of Assyria for the fruit of his arrogant heart and the proud look in his eyes.
For he says:
‘By the strength of my hand I have done this,
and by my wisdom, for I am clever.
I have removed the boundaries of nations
and plundered their treasures;
like a mighty one I subdued their rulers.
My hand reached as into a nest
to seize the wealth of the nations.
Like one gathering abandoned eggs,
I gathered all the earth.
No wing fluttered,
no beak opened or chirped.’ ”
Does an axe raise itself above the one who swings it?
Does a saw boast over him who saws with it?
It would be like a rod waving the one who lifts it,
or a staff lifting him who is not wood!
Therefore the Lord GOD of Hosts will send a wasting disease
among Assyria’s stout warriors,
and under his pomp will be kindled
a fire like a burning flame.
And the Light of Israel will become a fire,
and its Holy One a flame.
In a single day it will burn and devour
Assyria’s thorns and thistles.
The splendor of its forests and orchards,
both soul and body,
it will completely destroy,
as a sickness consumes a man.
The remaining trees of its forests will be so few
that a child could count them.
On that day the remnant of Israel
and the survivors of the house of Jacob
will no longer depend
on him who struck them,
but they will truly rely on the LORD,
the Holy One of Israel.
A remnant will return —a remnant of Jacob—
to the Mighty God.
Though your people, O Israel, be like the sand of the sea,
only a remnant will return.
Destruction has been decreed,
overflowing with righteousness.
For the Lord GOD of Hosts will carry out
the destruction decreed upon the whole land.
Therefore this is what the Lord GOD of Hosts says:
“O My people who dwell in Zion,
do not fear Assyria,
who strikes you with a rod
and lifts his staff against you
as the Egyptians did.
For in just a little while
My fury against you will subside,
and My anger will turn to their destruction.”
And the LORD of Hosts will brandish a whip against them,
as when He struck Midian at the rock of Oreb.
He will raise His staff over the sea,
as He did in Egypt.
On that day the burden will be lifted from your shoulders,
and the yoke from your neck.
The yoke will be broken
because your neck will be too large.
Assyria has entered Aiath
and passed through Migron,
storing their supplies at Michmash.
They have crossed at the ford:
“We will spend the night at Geba.”
Ramah trembles;
Gibeah of Saul flees.
Cry aloud, O Daughter of Gallim!
Listen, O Laishah!
O wretched Anathoth!
Madmenah flees;
the people of Gebim take refuge.
Yet today they will halt at Nob,
shaking a fist at the mount of Daughter Zion,
at the hill of Jerusalem.
Behold, the Lord GOD of Hosts
will lop off the branches with terrifying power.
The tall trees will be cut down,
the lofty ones will be felled.
He will clear the forest thickets with an axe,
and Lebanon will fall before the Mighty One.
Psalm 149
Hallelujah!
Sing to the LORD a new song—
His praise in the assembly of the godly.
Let Israel rejoice in their Maker;
let the children of Zion rejoice in their King.
Let them praise His name with dancing,
and make music to Him with tambourine and harp.
For the LORD takes pleasure in His people;
He adorns the afflicted with salvation.
Let the saints exult in glory;
let them shout for joy upon their beds.
May the high praises of God be in their mouths,
and a double-edged sword in their hands,
to inflict vengeance on the nations
and punishment on the peoples,
to bind their kings with chains
and their nobles with shackles of iron,
to execute the judgment written against them.
This honor is for all His saints.
Hallelujah!
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