Bible in one year on 11/2 2022 Isaiah 5-7 by Rev. Katherine Liu Bruce

Bible in one year on 11/2 2022 Isaiah 5-7

by Rev. Katherine Liu Bruce

Christian Arts Ministries: Biblical precepts & Gospel music; Pastoral ministry & counseling

 

 Isaiah 5 is the parable of the vineyard. From verse 1 to verse 12 Israel is elsewhere pictured as a vineyard (Jer.12:10;Psalm80:8-19;Matt.21:33-45) to whom God had given every advantage, but which yielded only evil fruit. The inevitable penalty for Israel would be removal of God’s protective hedge, which would result in invasion by her enemies. In verses 8 -25 expressed that there is a six-point indictment of Israel, each point being introduced with “Woe” as follows,

1)      Woe to land grabbers (vv.8-10;Kings 21:3,16), whose mansions will be desolate and whose land will become unproductive, one bath. Equal to about eight gallons; ten acres normally might be expected to produce five hundred baths of wine. One-tenth of a homer, which was fifty-eight gallons (Ruth2:17).

2)      Woe to the drunkard (Isa.5:11-17; 5:22;19:14;24:20;28:1,7) such dissipation brings temporal punishment to nations(5:13) and eternal punishment to individuals(v.14).

3)      Woe to the blasphemous who pull their idol of sin along, taunting God to act if He can.    “ Woe to those who draw sin along with cords of deceit, and wickedness as with cart ropes.” (vv.18-19)

4)      Woe to those who pervert moral distinctions. “Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter. (v.20).

5)      Woe to the conceited. “Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes and clever in their own sight.”(v.21).

6)      Woe to drunken judges. “ Woe to those who are heroes at drinking wine and champions at mixing drinks, who acquit the guilty for a bribe, but deny justice to the innocent…therefore the Lord’s anger burns against his people. (vv.22-25).

From verse 26 to 30 indicate that with a banner and with a whistle, Assyria would be summoned to punish Israel.

 Isaiah chapter 6 unveiled the commission of Isaiah. During the time King Uzziah died in 740.  Isaiah saw the Lord seated on a throne,  “seraphs” (v.2) used here of heavenly angels and in Num.21:6 of fiery serpents. Derived from a verb that means “to burn” the seraphs were agents of cleansing; here they are angelic agents. Compare note on Gen.3:22-24 on cherubim.

 “ Above him were seraphs, each with 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 to one another: “Holy, Holy,Holy is the Lord Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory.” (vv.2-3).

Verse 5 This confessions is similar in Job 42:6 and Luke 5:8.  Verse 6 a live coal…from the altar. Either the altar of incense or the altar of burnt offering. In either case, the coal stood for the full significance of the Temple ritual of cleansing. God took the initiative in cleansing the prophet.

Woe to me! I cried, “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty” then one of the seraphs flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. With it he touched my mouth and said, “See, this has touched your lips, your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for. (Isaiah 6:5-7)

Verse 8  for us. God is seen as a king in council. This phrase certainly allows for the fuller N.T. revelation of the Trinity.

The I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?  And I said, “ Here am I, Send me!” He said, “ God and tell this people: Be ever hearing, but never understanding; be ever seeking, but never perceiving..” Make the heart of this people calloused; make their ears dull and close their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed.  (vv.8-10).

 In the verses 11 and 13 Though the people would not pay attention, Isaiah was to continue to prophesy until the Babylonian deportation. After the seventy years in Babylon, a tenth would return. These would, in turn, be subject again to chastisement (laid waste) but not eradication. Israel would sprout like the terebinth(an oak-like tree from which, when cut, flows a fragrant, resinous juice ) and Oak trees.

             Isaiah  Chapter 7 the coming of Messiah Isaiah unveil from chapter 7:1 to  chapter 12:6.   Chapter 7:1-15 provided the vision and the sign of Immanuel. In the 2 Kings 16:5-18 and 2 Chron. 28:5-21 record the historical background of this chapter. Aram( Syria) and the ten northern tribes of Israel rebelled against their overlord, Assyria, and were attempting to force Judah into their alliance, even if it meant disposing Ahaz and substituting a puppet king, the son of tabeel (Isa.7:6) Isaiah saw a political crisis also, because Ahaz was trusting man’s power rather than God’s.  

 God’s sign to Ahaz was that of a virgin ( when the prophecy was spoken, it probably referred to the woman, a virgin at that time, whom Isaiah took later as his second wife, 8:1-4) and whose son would not be more than twelve to fourteen years old before Syria and Israel would be captured. The virgin of Isaiah’s prophecy is a type of the virgin Mary, who, by the Holy Spirit, miraculously conseived Jesus Christ (Matt.1:23). The Hebrew word that is here translated virgin is found elsewhere in the O.T. in Gen. 24:43;Ex.2:8;Ps.68:25; Prov.30:19; Song of Sol.1:3;6:8 and in those instances refers only to a chaste maiden who is unmarried.  A food of a nomadic people, indicating that the land of Judah would soon be devastated. Reject the wrong and choose the right. An age of moral discrimination. Within twelve years after this prophecy, Damascus was captured by Assyria (732) and Israel had fallen (722).

The sign of Immanuel : 

Then Isaiah said, “hear now, you house of David! Is it not enough to try the patience of men? Will you try the patience of my God also? Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel. (Isaiah7:13-14)

 

Bibliography,

Ryrie, Charles C. The Ryrie study Bible (NIV). Chicago, IL: The Moody Bible Institute, 1986.