Judgment begins with the house of God, 1 Peter 4:17, but judgment doesn’t end there. Because the earth is the Lord’s and everything in it, Psalm 24:1, God instructs all of the rulers on the earth,
…you kings, be wise; be warned, you rulers of the earth. Serve the Lord with fear and celebrate his rule with trembling. Kiss his son, or he will be angry and your way will lead to your destruction for his wrath can flare up in a moment. Blessed are all who take refuge in him. Psalm 2:10-12
The Old Testament speaks with unmistakable clarity: Civil rulers must promote true religion. That’s how you evaluate kings. If a king promotes true religion he is a good king. If he promotes false religion then he is an evil king. God requires civil rulers to use their government powers to promote true religion. When rulers do this God is pleased. When thy do not, God is angry…Gentile kings were to “serve the Lord with fear.” Psalm 2:11 James Baird, King of Kings
God expects and actually even requires unbelieving nations to recognize basic human rights and to govern with compassion. That is the basis of Paul’s argument in Romans 1:18-20
The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness…They are without excuse.
To understand the misery of much of the “Third world” we need to look first at its ungodly religion and culture. The Edenic blessings of abundance will never be theirs until they repent and believe the Gospel. David Chilton, Paradise Restored
Many nations in the Western world reject both God’s natural and moral Law under the guise of tolerance. Instead of finding lasting peace and joy, because they promote the immorality, normalize abortion, greed, murder, deceit, envy, depravity, promote false religions, and ignore the Sabbath, they find emptiness and longings that only God’s truth can fulfill.
That we are made in the image of God implies affirmation rather than negation of life. The Christian life should be viewed as life and liberty, recovery and restoration. Therefore, when I seek to obey God’s commands, I am not working against myself, but for myself. I am acting in accordance with my true identity: I free myself! Hence Jesus says, “If you continue in my word you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free: John 8:31-32. Ranald Macaulay, Being Human
When Christians refuse to teach the Gospel and the beauty of living within God’s Law the lawless fill the void. In God’s world there is no neutral ground. When the rulers of the nations refuse to uphold and promote God’s truth their nations will sink deeper and deeper into darkness until God finally comes in judgment. God has warned the nations that they are without excuse. God will accept no excuses when he comes in judgment. They should serve the Lord with fear and celebrate his rule with trembling. Psalm 2:10
God ordered and structured his creation and governs it by his Word, his verbal command or Law. Human laws are derived from God’s supreme Law. This is why at his trial, Jesus can unequivocally tell the magistrate, Pontius Pilate, “You would have no authority over me unless it had been given to you from above.” John 19:11 This is also why the Apostle Paul can say unequivocally in Romans 13:1 that rulers derive their authority from God and are to be servants—not saviors—applying God’s standards to instantiate God’s life-giving ordered liberty. Dr Jeffery Ventrella, 3-4-2016, Institute for Faith and Culture
When we look at world events and the corrupt politicians and tyrants that guide those events we can easily fall into despair if we forget that God reigns over the nations. Psalm 47:8. We may think that we are helpless to affect any meaningful change. But that is not true. We are to pray as Christ taught his disciples to ask the Father, Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, on earth [just] as it is done in heaven, Matthew 6:10, believing that God oversees and controls all events.
In this next section God proceeds, starting with Babylon, to judge the nations because God expects, even unbelievers to rule justly.
Isaiah 13:1 The burden of Babylon, which Isaiah the son of Amoz saw.
2 Set up a banner on the bare mountain! Lift up your voice to them! Wave your hand, that they may go into the gates of the nobles. 3 I have commanded my consecrated ones; yes, I have called my mighty men for my anger, even my proudly exulting ones. 4 The noise of a multitude is in the mountains, as of a great people; the noise of an uproar of the kingdoms of the nations gathered together! Yahweh of Armies is mustering the army for the battle. 5 They come from a far country, from the uttermost part of heaven, even Yahweh, and the weapons of his indignation, to destroy the whole land.
6 Wail, for Yahweh’s day is at hand! It will come as destruction from the Almighty. 7 Therefore all hands will be feeble, and everyone’s heart will melt. 8 They will be dismayed. Pangs and sorrows will seize them. They will be in pain like a woman in labor. They will look in amazement one at another. Their faces will be faces of flame. 9 Behold, the day of Yahweh comes, cruel, with wrath and fierce anger; to make the land a desolation, and to destroy its sinners out of it. 10 For the stars of the sky and its constellations will not give their light. The sun will be darkened in its going out, and the moon will not cause its light to shine. 11 I will punish the world for their evil, and the wicked for their iniquity. I will cause the arrogance of the proud to cease, and will humble the arrogance of the terrible. 12 I will make people more rare than fine gold, even a person than the pure gold of Ophir. 13 Therefore I will make the heavens tremble, and the earth will be shaken out of its place in Yahweh of Armies wrath, and in the day of his fierce anger. 14 It will happen that like a hunted gazelle and like sheep that no one gathers, they will each turn to their own people, and will each flee to their own land. 15 Everyone who is found will be thrust through. Everyone who is captured will fall by the sword. 16 Their infants also will be dashed in pieces before their eyes. Their houses will be ransacked, and their wives raped.
The fall of Babylon is represented as the sun, moon, and stars going dark. This is standard apocalyptic language used by the prophets when speaking of the Day of the Lord, in other words the day that Yahweh comes to judge a nation.
The day of Yahweh comes, cruel, with wrath and fierce anger; to make the land a desolation, and to destroy its sinners out of it. 10 For the stars of the sky and its constellations will not give their light. The sun will be darkened in its going out, and the moon will not cause its light to shine.
For example, Egypt’s demise is described in terms as the sun, moon, and stars being darkened. Ezekiel 32:7-8 Similarly, Edom’s stars will dissolve and the heavens will be rolled up like a scroll. Isaiah 34:3-4 Unfortunately, many Christians today have not been taught how Yahweh used this language throughout the Old Testament to describe God’s judgment. As a result when they read this language in the New Testament they begin looking for the sun, moon, and stars to literally go dark.
Do you remember how at the tower of Babel, Genesis 11:1-9, Yahweh disinherited mankind confusing their language and dividing them into seventy different nations? Thousands of years later in Acts 2 at the celebration of Pentecost we see the reversal of Babel. On the day of Pentecost the disciples are speaking in different languages so that the people visiting Jerusalem from every nation under heaven, Acts 2:5, could hear and understand the Gospel news of the risen Savior in their native languages. Many of the people hearing languages they didn’t understand accused the disciples of being drunk. Peter answered the accusation by explaining that they were witnessing the fulfillment of the prophecy in Joel 2:28-32.
“In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people…The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood…everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” Acts 2:17-21
The nations who had been disinherited at Babel were now being invited back into the kingdom in their own language. They were being offered the free gift of salvation, in effect re-inheritance.
In other words all of the Old Covenant system of worship, the sacrifice of the lamb, the design of the temple, and the priesthood that Yahweh had given to his nation, Israel, had all been fulfilled in Christ. The Old Covenant was now coming to an end. Using a familiar Old Covenant idiom that all of the people understood Peter explained that the lights of the former Covenant were going out because they had served their purpose in pointing to Christ.
By calling this a Covenant New, he has made the first one obsolete; what is obsolete and outdated will soon disappear. Hebrews 8:13
Christ, the true Lamb of God, to whom the Old Covenant pointed, was now inaugurating his New Covenant, offering salvation to all of the nations and pouring his Spirit on all who call on his name.
Isaiah 13:17 Behold, I will stir up the Medes against them, who will not value silver, and as for gold, they will not delight in it. 18 Their bows will dash the young men in pieces; and they shall have no pity on the fruit of the womb. Their eyes will not spare children. 19 Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldeans’ pride, will be like when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah. 20 It will never be inhabited, neither will it be lived in from generation to generation. The Arabian will not pitch a tent there, neither will shepherds make their flocks lie down there. 21 But wild animals of the desert will lie there, and their houses will be full of jackals. Ostriches will dwell there, and wild goats will frolic there. 22 Hyenas will cry in their fortresses, and jackals in the pleasant palaces. Her time is near to come, and her days will not be prolonged.
When Yahweh judges Babylon, when Yahweh turns their lights out, the devastation will be epic. Yahweh compares his coming against Babylon to his judgment against Sodom and Gomorrah, which was no small thing, akin to nuclear annihilation. Genesis 19:24-25
Isaiah 14:1 For Yahweh will have compassion on Jacob, and will yet choose Israel, and set them in their own land. The foreigner will join himself with them, and they will unite with the house of Jacob. 2 The peoples will take them, and bring them to their place. The house of Israel will possess them in Yahweh’s land for servants and for handmaids. They will take as captives those whose captives they were; and they shall rule over their oppressors.
3 It will happen in the day that Yahweh will give you rest from your sorrow, from your trouble, and from the hard service in which you were made to serve, 4 that you will take up this parable against the king of Babylon, and say, “How the oppressor has ceased! The golden city has ceased!” 5 Yahweh has broken the staff of the wicked, the scepter of the rulers, 6 who struck the peoples in wrath with a continual stroke, who ruled the nations in anger, with a persecution that no one restrained. 7 The whole earth is at rest, and is quiet. They break out in song. 8 Yes, the cypress trees rejoice with you, with the cedars of Lebanon, saying, “Since you are humbled, no lumberjack has come up against us.”
By bringing judgment against Babylon Yahweh shows that he has compassion on Jacob and will choose Israel. With Babylon under God’s judgment the whole world, the nations oppressed by Babylon, will break out in song.
Isaiah 14:9 Hell from beneath is excited to meet you at your coming. It stirs up the departed spirits for you, even all the rulers of the earth. It has raised up from their thrones all the kings of the nations. 10 They all will answer and ask you, “Have you also become as weak as we are? Have you become like us?” 11 Your pomp is brought down to Sheol, with the sound of your stringed instruments. Maggots are spread out under you, and worms cover you.
Hell itself is excited to see that the one who caused so much misery on earth is brought low. The kings of the nations that Babylon defeated will ask, “Have you also become as weak as we are?”
Isaiah 14:12 How you have fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the dawn! How you are cut down to the ground, who laid the nations low! 13 You said in your heart, “I will ascend into heaven! I will exalt my throne above the stars of God! I will sit on the mountain of assembly, in the far north! 14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds! I will make myself like the Most High!” 15 Yet you shall be brought down to Sheol, to the depths of the pit. 16 Those who see you will stare at you. They will ponder you, saying, “Is this the man who made the earth to tremble, who shook kingdoms, 17 who made the world like a wilderness, and overthrew its cities, who didn’t release his prisoners to their home?”
Next Isaiah identifies Lucifer as the destructive power that was behind the evil that Babylon rained down on the nations of the world. And just as the king of Babylon was brought to Hell, Lucifer will be cut down to the ground, brought down to Sheol.
Christ revealed to the disciples that he saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. Luke 10:18 Isaiah says that Lucifer has fallen from heaven. Satan will no longer have access to heaven. Job 1:12, Zechariah 3:1 He will be restricted to earth, Revelation 12:9, where he will be bound, Revelation 20:2, Matthew 12:29, until he is cast into Hell for eternity. Revelation 20:10 Judgment is complete.
Isaiah 14:18 All the kings of the nations sleep in glory, everyone in his own house. 19 But you are cast away from your tomb like an abominable branch, clothed with the slain who are thrust through with the sword, who go down to the stones of the pit; like a dead body trodden under foot. 20 You will not join them in burial, because you have destroyed your land. You have killed your people. The offspring of evildoers will not be named forever.
21 Prepare for slaughter of his children because of the iniquity of their fathers, that they not rise up and possess the earth, and fill the surface of the world with cities. 22 “I will rise up against them,” says Yahweh of Armies, “and cut off from Babylon name and remnant, and son and son’s son,” says Yahweh. 23 “I will also make it a possession for the porcupine, and pools of water. I will sweep it with the broom of destruction,” says Yahweh of Armies.
It was a great honor for kings to receive a proper burial but Babylon’s king will be cast away from [his] tomb and his family name will be cut off.
Why was Babylon judged?
Babylon had grown proud. They had ruthlessly attacked God’s people, Israel. Everyone who is found will be thrust through. Everyone who is captured will fall by the sword. 16 Their infants also will be dashed in pieces before their eyes. Their houses will be ransacked, and their wives raped. Those who survived were carried off into captivity and made slaves. As a result Yahweh decreed;
I will punish the world for their evil, and the wicked for their iniquity. I will cause the arrogance of the proud to cease, and will humble the arrogance of the terrible.
It is one thing to fight warriors in battle but Babylon had been merciless, dashing infants into pieces and raping women and killing them with the sword. Therefore they were judged.
Next Isaiah pronounces God’s judgment on Assyria.
Isaiah 14:24 Yahweh of Armies has sworn, saying, “Surely, as I have thought, so shall it happen; and as I have purposed, so shall it stand: 25 that I will break the Assyrian in my land, and tread him under foot on my mountains. Then his yoke will leave them, and his burden leave their shoulders. 26 This is the plan that is determined for the whole earth. This is the hand that is stretched out over all the nations. 27 For Yahweh of Armies has planned, and who can stop it? His hand is stretched out, and who can turn it back?” 28 This burden was in the year that King Ahaz died.
God’s thoughts turn into irrepressible actions. As I thought, so shall it happen. Because Assyria rose up against Israel God sent the angel of the Lord to kill 185,000 Assyrians in one night.
Isaiah 14:29 Don’t rejoice, O Philistia, all of you, because the rod that struck you is broken; for out of the serpent’s root an adder will emerge, and his fruit will be a fiery flying serpent. 30 The firstborn of the poor will eat, and the needy will lie down in safety; and I will kill your root with famine, and your remnant will be killed.
31 Howl, gate! Cry, city! You are melted away, Philistia, all of you; for smoke comes out of the north, and there is no straggler in his ranks.
32 What will they answer the messengers of the nation? That Yahweh has founded Zion, and in her the afflicted of his people will take refuge.
Philistia had frequently attacked Israel. 1 Samuel 4, 17, 31 With God’s coming discipline of Israel God announced that he would humble Philistia so they would not be tempted to boast in Israel’s downfall.
Assyria had a plan to destroy God’s people. Philistia had historically attacked Israel. God expects even unbelievers to humble themselves before him. He expects unbelievers to respect human rights.
Isaiah 15:1 The burden of Moab.
For in a night, Ar of Moab is laid waste, and brought to nothing. For in a night Kir of Moab is laid waste, and brought to nothing. 2 They have gone up to Bayith, and to Dibon, to the high places, to weep. Moab wails over Nebo and over Medeba. Baldness is on all of their heads. Every beard is cut off. 3 In their streets, they clothe themselves in sackcloth. In their streets and on their housetops, everyone wails, weeping abundantly. 4 Heshbon cries out with Elealeh. Their voice is heard even to Jahaz. Therefore the armed men of Moab cry aloud. Their souls tremble within them. 5 My heart cries out for Moab! Her nobles flee to Zoar, to Eglath Shelishiyah; for they go up by the ascent of Luhith with weeping; for on the way to Horonaim, they raise up a cry of destruction. 6 For the waters of Nimrim will be desolate; for the grass has withered away, the tender grass fails, there is no green thing. 7 Therefore they will carry away the abundance they have gotten, and that which they have stored up, over the brook of the willows. 8 For the cry has gone around the borders of Moab, its wailing to Eglaim, and its wailing to Beer Elim. 9 For the waters of Dimon are full of blood; for I will bring yet more on Dimon, a lion on those of Moab who escape, and on the remnant of the land.
Isaiah 16:1 Send the lambs for the ruler of the land from Selah to the wilderness, to the mountain of the daughter of Zion. 2 For it will be that as wandering birds, as a scattered nest, so will the daughters of Moab be at the fords of the Arnon. 3 Give counsel! Execute justice! Make your shade like the night in the middle of the noonday! Hide the outcasts! Don’t betray the fugitive! 4 Let my outcasts dwell with you! As for Moab, be a hiding place for him from the face of the destroyer. For the extortionist is brought to nothing. Destruction ceases. The oppressors are consumed out of the land. 5 A throne will be established in loving kindness. One will sit on it in truth, in the tent of David, judging, seeking justice, and swift to do righteousness.
6 We have heard of the pride of Moab, that he is very proud; even of his arrogance, his pride, and his wrath. His boastings are nothing. 7 Therefore Moab will wail for Moab. Everyone will wail. You will mourn for the raisin cakes of Kir Hareseth, utterly stricken. 8 For the fields of Heshbon languish with the vine of Sibmah. The lords of the nations have broken down its choice branches, which reached even to Jazer, which wandered into the wilderness. Its shoots were spread abroad. They passed over the sea. 9 Therefore I will weep with the weeping of Jazer for the vine of Sibmah. I will water you with my tears, Heshbon, and Elealeh: for on your summer fruits and on your harvest the battle shout has fallen. 10 Gladness is taken away, and joy out of the fruitful field; and in the vineyards there will be no singing, neither joyful noise. Nobody will tread out wine in the presses. I have made the shouting stop. 11 Therefore my heart sounds like a harp for Moab, and my inward parts for Kir Heres. 12 It will happen that when Moab presents himself, when he wearies himself on the high place, and comes to his sanctuary to pray, that he will not prevail.
13 This is the word that Yahweh spoke concerning Moab in time past. 14 But now Yahweh has spoken, saying, “Within three years, as a worker bound by contract would count them, the glory of Moab shall be brought into contempt, with all his great multitude; and the remnant will be very small and feeble.”
Moab worshiped false gods with human sacrifice in their high places. Because they followed false gods they were a wicked people, oppressing and extorting others.
They have gone up to Bayith, and to Dibon, to the high places, to weep … the extortionist is brought to nothing. Destruction ceases. The oppressors are consumed out of the land.
We have heard of the pride of Moab, that he is very proud; even of his arrogance, his pride, and his wrath. His boastings are nothing.
They rejected their Creator for other gods. They were arrogant. They were proud boasting of their sins. We see again that Yahweh warns even unbelieving nations to act with integrity or face consequences.
Isaiah 17:1 The burden of Damascus.
“Behold, Damascus is taken away from being a city, and it will be a ruinous heap. 2 The cities of Aroer are forsaken. They will be for flocks, which shall lie down, and no one shall make them afraid. 3 The fortress shall cease from Ephraim, and the kingdom from Damascus, and the remnant of Syria. They will be as the glory of the children of Israel,” says Yahweh of Armies.
4 “It will happen in that day that the glory of Jacob will be made thin, and the fatness of his flesh will become lean. 5 It will be like when the harvester gathers the wheat, and his arm reaps the grain. Yes, it will be like when one gleans grain in the valley of Rephaim. 6 Yet gleanings will be left there, like the shaking of an olive tree, two or three olives in the top of the uppermost bough, four or five in the outermost branches of a fruitful tree,” says Yahweh, the God of Israel. 7 In that day, people will look to their Maker, and their eyes will have respect for the Holy One of Israel. 8 They will not look to the altars, the work of their hands; neither shall they respect that which their fingers have made, either the Asherah poles or the incense altars. 9 In that day, their strong cities will be like the forsaken places in the woods and on the mountain top, which were forsaken from before the children of Israel; and it will be a desolation. 10 For you have forgotten the God of your salvation, and have not remembered the rock of your strength. Therefore you plant pleasant plants, and set out foreign seedlings. 11 In the day of your planting, you hedge it in. In the morning, you make your seed blossom, but the harvest flees away in the day of grief and of desperate sorrow.
12 Ah, the uproar of many peoples who roar like the roaring of the seas; and the rushing of nations that rush like the rushing of mighty waters! 13 The nations will rush like the rushing of many waters, but he will rebuke them, and they will flee far off, and will be chased like the chaff of the mountains before the wind, and like the whirling dust before the storm. 14 At evening, behold, terror! Before the morning, they are no more. This is the portion of those who plunder us, and the lot of those who rob us.
Isaiah 18:1 Ah, the land of the rustling of wings, which is beyond the rivers of Ethiopia; 2 that sends ambassadors by the sea, even in vessels of papyrus on the waters, saying, “Go, you swift messengers, to a nation tall and smooth, to a people awesome from their beginning onward, a nation that measures out and treads down, whose land the rivers divide!” 3 All you inhabitants of the world, and you dwellers on the earth, when a banner is lifted up on the mountains, look! When the trumpet is blown, listen!
4 For Yahweh said to me, “I will be still, and I will see in my dwelling place, like clear heat in sunshine, like a cloud of dew in the heat of harvest.” 5 For before the harvest, when the blossom is over, and the flower becomes a ripening grape, he will cut off the sprigs with pruning hooks, and he will cut down and take away the spreading branches. 6 They will be left together for the ravenous birds of the mountains, and for the animals of the earth. The ravenous birds will eat them in the summer, and all the animals of the earth will eat them in the winter. 7 In that time, a present will be brought to Yahweh of Armies from a people tall and smooth, even from a people awesome from their beginning onward, a nation that measures out and treads down, whose land the rivers divide, to the place of the name of Yahweh of Armies, Mount Zion.
Damascus, a beautiful and wealthy city, was the capital of Syria. Ephraim, representing the Northern kingdom of Israel, had joined with Syria to invade Judah the Southern kingdom of Israel.
You have forgotten the God of your salvation, and have not remembered the rock of your strength.
Why did these nations sin?
They had forgotten the God of their salvation. They simply forgot. They stopped paying attention to the Laws of God, Laws designed for their flourishing. Without God’s guardrails, they did whatever they pleased, which included treachery against their neighbors and kinsman. Yahweh expects honesty even from unbelievers. Because of this treachery, Yahweh was going to judge Syria and Ephraim.
But even in the midst of judgment Yahweh offers hope. One day the Ethiopians will come bringing gifts in worship of the Lord. We see this fulfilled, in part, when the Ethiopian ambassador worshipped God after reading from Isaiah. Acts 8:26-40
Isaiah 19:1 The burden of Egypt.
“Behold, Yahweh rides on a swift cloud, and comes to Egypt. The idols of Egypt will tremble at his presence; and the heart of Egypt will melt within it. 2 I will stir up the Egyptians against the Egyptians, and they will fight everyone against his brother, and everyone against his neighbor; city against city, and kingdom against kingdom. 3 The spirit of the Egyptians will fail within them. I will destroy their counsel. They will seek the idols, the charmers, those who have familiar spirits, and the wizards. 4 I will give over the Egyptians into the hand of a cruel lord. A fierce king will rule over them,” says the Lord, Yahweh of Armies.
5 The waters will fail from the sea, and the river will be wasted and become dry. 6 The rivers will become foul. The streams of Egypt will be diminished and dried up. The reeds and flags will wither away. 7 The meadows by the Nile, by the brink of the Nile, and all the sown fields of the Nile, will become dry, be driven away, and be no more. 8 The fishermen will lament, and all those who fish in the Nile will mourn, and those who spread nets on the waters will languish. 9 Moreover those who work in combed flax, and those who weave white cloth, will be confounded. 10 The pillars will be broken in pieces. All those who work for hire will be grieved in soul.
11 The princes of Zoan are utterly foolish. The counsel of the wisest counselors of Pharaoh has become stupid. How do you say to Pharaoh, “I am the son of the wise, the son of ancient kings”? 12 Where then are your wise men? Let them tell you now; and let them know what Yahweh of Armies has purposed concerning Egypt. 13 The princes of Zoan have become fools. The princes of Memphis are deceived. They have caused Egypt to go astray, those who are the cornerstone of her tribes. 14 Yahweh has mixed a spirit of perverseness in the middle of her; and they have caused Egypt to go astray in all of its works, like a drunken man staggers in his vomit. 15 Neither shall there be any work for Egypt, which head or tail, palm branch or rush, may do. 16 In that day the Egyptians will be like women. They will tremble and fear because of the shaking of Yahweh of Armies’s hand, which he shakes over them. 17 The land of Judah will become a terror to Egypt. Everyone to whom mention is made of it will be afraid, because of the plans of Yahweh of Armies, which he determines against it. 18 In that day, there will be five cities in the land of Egypt that speak the language of Canaan, and swear to Yahweh of Armies. One will be called “The city of destruction.”
Yahweh warned that because Egyptians seek the idols, the charmers, those who have familiar spirits, and the wizards. 4 I will give over the Egyptians into the hand of a cruel lord. Demons are described as familiar spirits. Because demons are immortal they are able to deceive and influence nations and families for generations. For example, while it is appointed unto men once to die, Hebrews 9:27, many today believe in reincarnation because familiar spirits, who have been around for generations are able to deceive. Similarly, mediums, in contact with demons, receive enough information from them to make their readings appear to be legitimate.
In saying that the idols of Egypt will tremble at his presence; and the heart of Egypt will melt within it, Yahweh is reminding Egypt of the days proceeding The Exodus when he methodically destroyed Egypt’s gods.
God displayed superiority over the gods of the Nile, Khnum, Hapi, Osiris, by turning the water to blood. God defeated Heat, the frog-goddess of fertility with a plague of frogs; Hathor, the cow mother goddess with a plague on livestock; Imhotep, the god of medicine with a plague of boils; Nut, the sky goddess with a plague of hail; Seth, the protector of crops with swarms of insects and a plague of locust; Ra, the sun god with a plague of darkness; and finally Osiris, the giver of life was unable to protect the firstborn sons of Egypt. Despite displaying his power Egypt continued to worship false gods.
This time Yahweh says that Egypt will be destroyed from within by civil war.
I will stir up the Egyptians against the Egyptians, and they will fight everyone against his brother, and everyone against his neighbor; city against city, and kingdom against kingdom.
In fact, in 660BC Egypt was divided into 12 kingdoms as a result of the civil war.
Isaiah 19:19 In that day, there will be an altar to Yahweh in the middle of the land of Egypt, and a pillar to Yahweh at its border. 20 It will be for a sign and for a witness to Yahweh of Armies in the land of Egypt; for they will cry to Yahweh because of oppressors, and he will send them a savior and a defender, and he will deliver them. 21 Yahweh will be known to Egypt, and the Egyptians will know Yahweh in that day. Yes, they will worship with sacrifice and offering, and will vow a vow to Yahweh, and will perform it. 22 Yahweh will strike Egypt, striking and healing. They will return to Yahweh, and he will be entreated by them, and will heal them.
23 In that day there will be a highway out of Egypt to Assyria, and the Assyrian shall come into Egypt, and the Egyptian into Assyria; and the Egyptians will worship with the Assyrians.
24 In that day, Israel will be the third with Egypt and with Assyria, a blessing within the earth; 25 because Yahweh of Armies has blessed them, saying, “Blessed be Egypt my people, Assyria the work of my hands, and Israel my inheritance.”
Isaiah 20:1 In the year that Tartan came to Ashdod, when Sargon the king of Assyria sent him, and he fought against Ashdod and took it; 2 at that time Yahweh spoke by Isaiah the son of Amoz, saying, “Go, and loosen the sackcloth from off your waist, and take your sandals from off your feet.” He did so, walking naked and barefoot. 3 Yahweh said, “As my servant Isaiah has walked naked and barefoot three years for a sign and a wonder concerning Egypt and concerning Ethiopia, 4 so the king of Assyria will lead away the captives of Egypt and the exiles of Ethiopia, young and old, naked and barefoot, and with buttocks uncovered, to the shame of Egypt. 5 They will be dismayed and confounded, because of Ethiopia their expectation, and of Egypt their glory. 6 The inhabitants of this coast land will say in that day, ‘Behold, this is our expectation, where we fled for help to be delivered from the king of Assyria. And we, how will we escape?’”
However, a strange and wonderful thing happens in the middle of the prophecy against Egypt. Yahweh gives the nations a message of hope. After striking Egypt the nations will return to Yahweh…Yes, they will worship with sacrifice and offering, and will vow a vow to Yahweh, and will perform it.
And not only will Egypt return to Yahweh but also the most feared nation in the world, Assyria, will return to Yahweh. In that day there will be a highway out of Egypt to Assyria, and the Assyrian shall come into Egypt, and the Egyptian into Assyria; and the Egyptians will worship with the Assyrians.
And as amazing as that sounds there is more. In that day, Israel will be the third with Egypt and with Assyria, a blessing within the earth; 25 because Yahweh of Armies has blessed them, saying, “Blessed be Egypt my people, Assyria the work of my hands, and Israel my inheritance.”
This prophecy was fulfilled after the resurrection of Christ, the Messiah. Historic enemies were reconciled through Christ. The wolf will live with the lamb. Isaiah 11:6 Christianity became well established, not only in Egypt and Israel, but also in the lands that were included in the ancient kingdom of Assyria; Iraq, Syria, Turkey, Armenia, Lebanon, Ethiopia, and parts of Iran. These remained Christian lands for 700 years until Islam began their brutal conquests. Although under Muslim rule, despite unspeakable persecution, Christians have remained in these lands to this day.
Isaiah 21:1 The burden of the wilderness of the sea.
As whirlwinds in the South sweep through, it comes from the wilderness, from an awesome land. 2 A grievous vision is declared to me. The treacherous man deals treacherously, and the destroyer destroys. Go up, Elam; attack! I have stopped all of Media’s sighing. 3 Therefore my thighs are filled with anguish. Pains have seized me, like the pains of a woman in labor. I am in so much pain that I can’t hear. I am so dismayed that I can’t see. 4 My heart flutters. Horror has frightened me. The twilight that I desired has been turned into trembling for me. 5 They prepare the table. They set the watch. They eat. They drink. Rise up, you princes, oil the shield! 6 For the Lord said to me, “Go, set a watchman. Let him declare what he sees. 7 When he sees a troop, horsemen in pairs, a troop of donkeys, a troop of camels, he shall listen diligently with great attentiveness.” 8 He cried like a lion: “Lord, I stand continually on the watchtower in the daytime, and every night I stay at my post. 9 Behold, here comes a troop of men, horsemen in pairs.” He answered, “Fallen, fallen is Babylon; and all the engraved images of her gods are broken to the ground.
10 You are my threshing, and the grain of my floor!” That which I have heard from Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel, I have declared to you.
In ancient times the wilderness sea referred to the marshy, lake filled region of Babylon. In this vision the watchmen hear the fate of Babylon. “Fallen, fallen is Babylon; and all the engraved images of her gods are broken to the ground. Historically this happened in 539 BC when the Persian Empire conquered Babylon.
11 The burden of Dumah.
One calls to me out of Seir, “Watchman, what of the night? Watchman, what of the night?” 12 The watchman said, “The morning comes, and also the night. If you will inquire, inquire. Come back again.”
Dumah is the ancient name for Edom the descendants of Esau. The book of Obadiah is a prophecy about the destruction of the nation of Edom because of their treachery. Obadiah 1:10-14 The watchmen are on the lookout for enemies coming to conquer the kingdom.
13 The burden on Arabia.
You will lodge in the thickets in Arabia, you caravans of Dedanites. 14 They brought water to him who was thirsty. The inhabitants of the land of Tema met the fugitives with their bread. 15 For they fled away from the swords, from the drawn sword, from the bent bow, and from the heat of battle. 16 For the Lord said to me, “Within a year, as a worker bound by contract would count it, all the glory of Kedar will fail, 17 and the residue of the number of the archers, the mighty men of the children of Kedar, will be few; for Yahweh, the God of Israel, has spoken it.”
As Yahweh continues to pronounce judgment against the nations he warns, within a year Arabia, all the glory of Kedar, will fail.
Isaiah 22:1a The burden of the valley of vision.
Because Jerusalem was the home of many prophets it was referred to as the valley of vision. In this next prophecy Yahweh calls out Jerusalem for acting sinfully just like their neighboring nations.
Isaiah 22:1b What ails you now, that you have all gone up to the housetops? 2 You that are full of shouting, a tumultuous city, a joyous town, your slain are not slain with the sword, neither are they dead in battle. 3 All your rulers fled away together. They were bound by the archers. All who were found by you were bound together. They fled far away. 4 Therefore I said, “Look away from me. I will weep bitterly. Don’t labor to comfort me for the destruction of the daughter of my people.
5 For it is a day of confusion, and of treading down, and of perplexity from the Lord, Yahweh of Armies, in the valley of vision, a breaking down of the walls, and a crying to the mountains.” 6 Elam carried his quiver, with chariots of men and horsemen; and Kir uncovered the shield. 7 Your choicest valleys were full of chariots, and the horsemen set themselves in array at the gate. 8 He took away the covering of Judah; and you looked in that day to the armor in the house of the forest. 9 You saw the breaches of David’s city, that they were many; and you gathered together the waters of the lower pool. 10 You counted the houses of Jerusalem, and you broke down the houses to fortify the wall. 11 You also made a reservoir between the two walls for the water of the old pool. But you did not look to its Maker, neither did you have respect for him who planned it long ago.
12 In that day, the Lord, Yahweh of Armies, called to weeping, to mourning, to baldness, and to dressing in sackcloth; 13 and behold, there is joy and gladness, killing cattle and killing sheep, eating meat and drinking wine: “Let’s eat and drink, for tomorrow we will die.” 14 Yahweh of Armies revealed himself in my ears, “Surely this iniquity will not be forgiven you until you die,” says the Lord, Yahweh of Armies.
15 The Lord, Yahweh of Armies says, “Go, get yourself to this treasurer, even to Shebna, who is over the house, and say, 16 ‘What are you doing here? Who has you here, that you have dug out a tomb here?’ Cutting himself out a tomb on high, chiseling a habitation for himself in the rock!” 17 Behold, Yahweh will overcome you and hurl you away violently. Yes, he will grasp you firmly. 18 He will surely wind you around and around, and throw you like a ball into a large country. There you will die, and there the chariots of your glory will be, you disgrace of your lord’s house. 19 I will thrust you from your office. You will be pulled down from your station.
20 It will happen in that day that I will call my servant Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, 21 and I will clothe him with your robe, and strengthen him with your belt. I will commit your government into his hand; and he will be a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to the house of Judah. 22 I will lay the key of David’s house on his shoulder. He will open, and no one will shut. He will shut, and no one will open. (Revelation 3:7) 23 I will fasten him like a nail in a sure place. He will be for a throne of glory to his father’s house. 24 They will hang on him all the glory of his father’s house, the offspring and the issue, every small vessel, from the cups even to all the pitchers. 25 “In that day,” says Yahweh of Armies, “the nail that was fastened in a sure place will give way. It will be cut down and fall. The burden that was on it will be cut off, for Yahweh has spoken it.”
Expecting a siege Jerusalem prepared by fortifying the city, building walls and diverting water into the city, 2 Chronicles 32:1-4, 2 Kings 20:20, but in all of their preparations they forgot their God.
But you did not look to its Maker, neither did you have respect for him who planned it long ago. In that day, the Lord, Yahweh of Armies, called to weeping, to mourning, to baldness, and to dressing in sackcloth.
They should have turned in repentance to God pleading that he would have mercy and spare the city, but instead they remained in their sin and tried to defend themselves without God’s help.
Perhaps realizing their dire predicament too late they resigned themselves to death. Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die!
Then it was revealed in my hearing by the LORD of hosts,
“Surely for this iniquity there will be no atonement for you, Even to your death,” says the Lord GOD of hosts.
Yahweh pronounced the most terrible and final judgment on Jerusalem, there will be no atonement for you. Modern archeologists have discovered a tablet on which King Sennacherib’s scribes recorded that the king took home 200,150 captives from the siege of Jerusalem.
Isaiah 23:1 The burden of Tyre.
Howl, you ships of Tarshish! For it is laid waste, so that there is no house, no entering in. From the land of Kittim it is revealed to them. 2 Be still, you inhabitants of the coast, you whom the merchants of Sidon that pass over the sea have replenished. 3 On great waters, the seed of the Shihor, the harvest of the Nile, was her revenue. She was the market of nations. 4 Be ashamed, Sidon; for the sea has spoken, the stronghold of the sea, saying, “I have not travailed, nor given birth, neither have I nourished young men, nor brought up virgins.” 5 When the report comes to Egypt, they will be in anguish at the report of Tyre. 6 Pass over to Tarshish! Wail, you inhabitants of the coast! 7 Is this your joyous city, whose antiquity is of ancient days, whose feet carried her far away to travel?
8 Who has planned this against Tyre, the giver of crowns, whose merchants are princes, whose traders are the honorable of the earth? 9 Yahweh of Armies has planned it, to stain the pride of all glory, to bring into contempt all the honorable of the earth. 10 Pass through your land like the Nile, daughter of Tarshish. There is no restraint any more. 11 He has stretched out his hand over the sea. He has shaken the kingdoms. Yahweh has ordered the destruction of Canaan’s strongholds. 12 He said, “You shall rejoice no more, you oppressed virgin daughter of Sidon. Arise, pass over to Kittim. Even there you will have no rest.”
13 Behold, the land of the Chaldeans. This people didn’t exist. The Assyrians founded it for those who dwell in the wilderness. They set up their towers. They overthrew its palaces. They made it a ruin. 14 Howl, you ships of Tarshish, for your stronghold is laid waste! 15 It will come to pass in that day that Tyre will be forgotten seventy years, according to the days of one king. After the end of seventy years it will be to Tyre like in the song of the prostitute. 16 Take a harp; go about the city, you prostitute that has been forgotten. Make sweet melody. Sing many songs, that you may be remembered. 17 It will happen after the end of seventy years that Yahweh will visit Tyre. She will return to her wages, and will play the prostitute with all the kingdoms of the world on the surface of the earth. 18 Her merchandise and her wages will be holiness to Yahweh. It will not be treasured nor laid up; for her merchandise will be for those who dwell before Yahweh, to eat sufficiently, and for durable clothing.
Tyre, a port city to the north of Israel, was the economic hub of Phoenicia. They traded merchandise worldwide but with all of their wealth they had grown prideful. Ezekiel 28 Because they had forgotten Yahweh he declared, “Yahweh of Armies has planned it, to stain the pride of all glory, to bring into contempt all the honorable of the earth.” After Tyre is humbled God promises a beautiful hope. Her merchandise and her wages will be holiness to Yahweh. In fact, in Acts 21:4 we learn that there was an early thriving Christian community in Tyre.
Isaiah 24:1 Behold, Yahweh makes the land empty, makes it waste, turns it upside down, and scatters its inhabitants. 2 It will be as with the people, so with the priest; as with the servant, so with his master; as with the maid, so with her mistress; as with the buyer, so with the seller; as with the creditor, so with the debtor; as with the taker of interest, so with the giver of interest. 3 The land will be utterly emptied and utterly laid waste; for Yahweh has spoken this word. 4 The land mourns and fades away. The world languishes and fades away. The lofty people of the earth languish. 5 The land also is polluted under its inhabitants, because they have transgressed the Laws, violated the statutes, and broken the everlasting Covenant. 6 Therefore the curse has devoured the land, and those who dwell therein are found guilty. Therefore the inhabitants of the land are burned, and few men are left. 7 The new wine mourns. The vine languishes. All the merry-hearted sigh. 8 The mirth of tambourines ceases. The sound of those who rejoice ends. The joy of the harp ceases. 9 They will not drink wine with a song. Strong drink will be bitter to those who drink it. 10 The confused city is broken down. Every house is shut up, that no man may come in. 11 There is a crying in the streets because of the wine. All joy is darkened. The mirth of the land is gone. 12 The city is left in desolation, and the gate is struck with destruction. 13 For it will be so within the earth among the peoples, as the shaking of an olive tree, as the gleanings when the vintage is done.
14 These shall lift up their voice. They will shout for the majesty of Yahweh. They cry aloud from the sea. 15 Therefore glorify Yahweh in the east, even the name of Yahweh, the God of Israel, in the islands of the sea! 16 From the uttermost part of the earth have we heard songs. Glory to the righteous!
But I said, “I pine away! I pine away! woe is me!” The treacherous have dealt treacherously. Yes, the treacherous have dealt very treacherously. 17 Fear, the pit, and the snare are on you who inhabit the land. 18 It will happen that he who flees from the noise of the fear will fall into the pit; and he who comes up out of the middle of the pit will be taken in the snare; for the windows on high are opened, and the foundations of the earth tremble. 19 The land is utterly broken. The land is torn apart. The land is shaken violently. 20 The land will stagger like a drunken man, and will sway back and forth like a hammock. Its disobedience will be heavy on it, and it will fall and not rise again.
21 It will happen in that day that Yahweh will punish the army of the high ones on high, and the kings of the earth on the earth. 22 They will be gathered together, as prisoners are gathered in the pit, and will be shut up in the prison; and after many days they will be visited. 23 Then the moon will be confounded, and the sun ashamed; for Yahweh of Armies will reign on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem; and glory will be before his elders.
Isaiah has just given us a whirlwind tour of God’s judgment on the nations of the world. Notice this affects everyone, the people, so with the priest; as with the servant, so with his master; as with the maid, so with her mistress; as with the buyer, so with the seller; as with the creditor, so with the debtor; as with the taker of interest, so with the giver of interest. They have rejected Yahweh’s rule because they have transgressed the Laws, violated the statutes, and broken the everlasting Covenant. Therefore the curse has devoured the land, and those who dwell therein are found guilty.
In many ways Isaiah 24 anticipates the warning that Christ gave to Jerusalem in Matthew 24 about the destruction of Jerusalem in 70AD. Here Isaiah warns that Jerusalem along with Babylon, Assyria, Philistia, Moab, Damascus, Egypt, Arabia, Tyre, and all of the nations that refuse to follow Yahweh’s Laws and statutes will face judgment.
Scripture consistently affirms that justice, truth, and the restraint of violence are good for any society. Praying for moral clarity and public righteousness is a fitting expression of love for neighbor and concern for the common good. In Jonah 3 a pagan city hears a warning from God, humbles itself, turns from violence, and is spared from immediate destruction. From the king to the commoner, Nineveh responds with fasting and repentance, and God relents from the judgment he had announced. Jonah 3:6-10 This repentance was real and meaningful. God’s mercy toward Nineveh displays his patience and compassion, even to nations outside the Covenant. Scripture clearly affirms that repentance from wickedness is good, and God may, in his kindness, restrain judgment in response. Erik Warren O’Dell, The Heidelblog, 1-13-26
After detailing the judgment of the nations Yahweh proceeds to give the nations a renewed hope.
Isaiah 25:1 Yahweh, you are my God. I will exalt you! I will praise your name, for you have done wonderful things, things planned long ago, in complete faithfulness and truth. 2 For you have made a city into a heap, a fortified city into a ruin, a palace of strangers to be no city. It will never be built. 3 Therefore a strong people will glorify you. A city of awesome nations will fear you. 4 For you have been a stronghold to the poor, a stronghold to the needy in his distress, a refuge from the storm, a shade from the heat, when the blast of the dreaded ones is like a storm against the wall. 5 As the heat in a dry place you will bring down the noise of strangers; as the heat by the shade of a cloud, the song of the dreaded ones will be brought low.
6 In this mountain, Yahweh of Armies will make all peoples a feast of choice meat, a feast of choice wines, of choice meat full of marrow, of well refined choice wines. 7 He will destroy in this mountain the surface of the covering that covers all peoples, and the veil that is spread over all nations. 8 He has swallowed up death forever! The Lord Yahweh will wipe away tears from off all faces. He will take the reproach of his people away from off all the earth, for Yahweh has spoken it. (1 Corinthians 15:54, Revelation 21:4)
9 It shall be said in that day, “Behold, this is our God! We have waited for him, and he will save us! This is Yahweh! We have waited for him. We will be glad and rejoice in his salvation!” 10 For Yahweh’s hand will rest in this mountain.
Moab will be trodden down in his place, even like straw is trodden down in the water of the dunghill. 11 He will spread out his hands in the middle of it, like one who swims spreads out hands to swim, but his pride will be humbled together with the craft of his hands. 12 He has brought the high fortress of your walls down, laid low, and brought to the ground, even to the dust.
The nations are shown praising God’s name.
Why would the nations praise God?
Just like Yahweh purified Isaiah in Chapter 6 Yahweh will take the reproach of his people away from off all the earth. In other words Yahweh will take away the sins of the people and swallow up death forever, wipe away tears, and provide them with a feast of choice meat, a feast of choice wines.
During the feasting a song will be sung.
Isaiah 26:1 In that day, this song will be sung in the land of Judah:
“We have a strong city.
God appoints salvation for walls and bulwarks.
2 Open the gates, that the righteous nation may enter:
the one which keeps faith.
3 You will keep whoever’s mind is steadfast in perfect peace,
because he trusts in you.
4 Trust in Yahweh forever;
for in Yah, Yahweh, is an everlasting Rock.
5 For he has brought down those who dwell on high, the lofty city.
He lays it low.
He lays it low even to the ground.
He brings it even to the dust.
6 The foot shall tread it down,
even the feet of the poor
and the steps of the needy.”
7 The way of the just is uprightness.
You who are upright make the path of the righteous level.
8 Yes, in the way of your judgments, Yahweh, we have waited for you.
Your name and your renown are the desire of our soul.
9 With my soul I have desired you in the night.
Yes, with my spirit within me I will seek you earnestly;
for when your judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world learn righteousness.
10 Let favor be shown to the wicked,
yet he will not learn righteousness.
In the land of uprightness he deals unjustly,
and will not see Yahweh’s majesty.
11 Yahweh, your hand is lifted up, yet they don’t see;
but they will see your zeal for the people and be disappointed.
Yes, fire will consume your adversaries.
12 Yahweh, you will ordain peace for us,
for you have also done all our work for us.
13 Yahweh our God, other lords besides you have had dominion over us,
but we will only acknowledge your name.
14 The dead shall not live.
The departed spirits shall not rise.
Therefore you have visited and destroyed them,
and caused all memory of them to perish.
15 You have increased the nation, O Yahweh.
You have increased the nation!
You are glorified!
You have enlarged all the borders of the land.
16 Yahweh, in trouble they have visited you.
They poured out a prayer when your chastening was on them.
17 Just as a woman with child, who draws near the time of her delivery,
is in pain and cries out in her pangs,
so we have been before you, Yahweh.
18 We have been with child.
We have been in pain.
We gave birth, it seems, only to wind.
We have not worked any deliverance in the earth;
neither have the inhabitants of the world fallen.
19 Your dead shall live.
Their dead bodies shall arise.
Awake and sing, you who dwell in the dust;
for your dew is like the dew of herbs,
and the earth will cast out the departed spirits. (Matthew 27:50-54)
20 Come, my people, enter into your rooms,
and shut your doors behind you.
Hide yourself for a little moment,
until the indignation is past.
21 For, behold, Yahweh comes out of his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity.
The earth also will disclose her blood, and will no longer cover her slain.
The song compares two cities, two ways of life, two ways of worship.
First, there is the strong city, the city of salvation, the New Jerusalem, (Revelation 21) whose gates are open for the righteous. This is the city of Yahweh, the everlasting Rock who grants perfect peace. It is the city of resurrection where the dead shall live in gratitude.
Next, the lofty city is destined for ruin, because that city refused to learn righteousness. The city does not know justice for it deals unjustly. Those who call the lofty city home will be brought down…low even to the ground, even to the dust. And those whom the lofty city treated unjustly, even the feet of the poor, even the feet of the needy…shall tread it down. Yahweh decrees that for those who have rejected righteousness there will be no resurrection. The dead shall not live. The departed spirits shall not rise. Therefore you have visited and destroyed them, and caused all memory of them to perish.
God has revealed his eternal power and divine nature in creation, Romans 1:20, and God has revealed himself in his Word given to the prophets. Exodus 20:1-17, 2 Timothy 3:16-17 Because of this two-pronged revelation, we are advised to trust in Yahweh forever! As Paul explains in Romans 1:20, no one has a plausible excuse for rejecting God. As Yahweh has revealed himself to the nations, his Laws are given to be obeyed by believers and unbelievers alike. Societies that disregard God and his revelation will normalize all manner of idolatry and degeneracy. God is patient, but his patience is not unlimited. God implores everyone to come to him to experience true life but nations that reject God will collapse because they rejected God’s offer of life. Romans 2:4-5
Isaiah 27:1 In that day, Yahweh with his hard and great and strong sword will punish leviathan, the fleeing serpent, and leviathan, the twisted serpent; and he will slay the dragon that is in the sea.
2 In that day, sing to her, “A pleasant vineyard! 3 I, Yahweh, am its keeper. I will water it every moment. Lest anyone damage it, I will keep it night and day. 4 Wrath is not in me, but if I should find briers and thorns, I would do battle! I would march on them and I would burn them together. 5 Or else let him take hold of my strength, that he may make peace with me. Let him make peace with me.”
6 In days to come, Jacob will take root. Israel will blossom and bud. They will fill the surface of the world with fruit. 7 Has he struck them as he struck those who struck them? Or are they killed like those who killed them were killed? 8 In measure, when you send them away, you contend with them. He has removed them with his rough blast in the day of the east wind. 9 Therefore by this the iniquity of Jacob will be forgiven, and this is all the fruit of taking away his sin: that he makes all the stones of the altar as chalk stones that are beaten in pieces, so that the Asherah poles and the incense altars shall rise no more. 10 For the fortified city is solitary, a habitation deserted and forsaken, like the wilderness. The calf will feed there, and there he will lie down, and consume its branches. 11 When its boughs are withered, they will be broken off. The women will come and set them on fire, for they are a people of no understanding. Therefore he who made them will not have compassion on them, and he who formed them will show them no favor.
12 It will happen in that day that Yahweh will thresh from the flowing stream of the Euphrates to the brook of Egypt; and you will be gathered one by one, children of Israel.
13 It will happen in that day that a great trumpet will be blown; and those who were ready to perish in the land of Assyria, and those who were outcasts in the land of Egypt, shall come; and they will worship Yahweh in the holy mountain at Jerusalem.
The serpent is coiled and ready to strike. Throughout history the twisted serpent has tried to defeat God’s plan to save his fallen image bearers by destroying the bloodline through which the Promised Messiah-Redeemer would arise. Cain murdered Abel; the sons of God intermarried with mortal women prompting the universal flood; Pharaoh murdered the Jewish male children; Pharaoh chased Israel into the sea; there were numerous attacks on the stump of Jesse; Isaiah 6:13, David’s line, 2 Chronicles 21&22, Isaiah 36&38, Esther 3, seeking to destroy the Messiah. Herod murdered the children at Christ’s birth; in the wilderness Satan tempted Christ to give up his mission; the Sanhedrin sought to kill Christ. However, at the crucifixion of Christ, instead of the great victory that he had envisioned, the twisted serpent was utterly defeated. Though defeated Satan was unwilling to give up. He appeared as an angel of light, Galatians 1:8, to Muhammad in 610AD teaching anti-Semitism, commanding Muslims to kill Yahweh’s chosen people in the attempt to thwart God’s plan to bring salvation to the world.
The stone behind which a Jew will be hiding will say, “O Muslim! There is a Jew hiding behind me, so kill him.” Sahih Bukhari 4:52:177
The news of the Messiah’s resurrection and the promise of victory over death spread from Yahweh’s vineyard, Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, to the ends of the earth. Acts 1:8 And everywhere the truth of the resurrection and the promise of everlasting life took root the old gods of the lofty city were abandoned, destroyed, and forgotten. Christ’s kingdom flourished. The old false gods and their idols were defeated, beaten in pieces, so that the Asherah poles and the incense altars shall rise no more.
In days to come, Jacob will take root. Israel will blossom and bud. They will fill the surface of the world with fruit. As Hebrews 11:17 explains, in keeping with God’s original promise to Abraham, even the Gentile nations will be grafted into Christ’s kingdom; a wild olive shoot has been grafted in among others now share the nourishing sap of the olive root.
And just like in Isaiah’s vision, Hebrews 11:26 looks forward to a day when all Israel will be saved.
If you were to go into the streets of almost any city today…and ask people, “Do you believe in God?” No one would ask what you mean by God or which deity do you have in mind. Even modern atheists presume that there is only one God to doubt! But in the larger and wider context of human history, this is a curious assumption. Its prevalence in the world today is due to the impact of Christianity. Larry Hurtado, ‘Destroyer of gods’
In this regard, what was unimaginable before the coming of Christ when only Yahweh’s chosen nation, the Jews had the Word of God, after Christ’s ascension, with the promised coming of the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Power, God’s Word spread everywhere. Although not everyone believes God’s Word, the message of Jesus Christ has made its way to every nation in the world.
The earth [is] full of the knowledge of Yahweh as the waters cover the sea. Isaiah 11:9