The Mystery of Ephraim

The whole prophecy of Isaiah starts with Judah and Jerusalem but soon it includes many prophecies concerning the house of Israel and other nations and cities.

Isaiah 3

¹ For behold, the Lord, the Lord of hosts, doth take away from Jerusalem and from Judah the stay and the staff, the whole store of bread and the whole store of water, — a famine is coming as the Lord takes away the whole store of bread and the whole store of water from Jerusalem and from Judah;

² the mighty man and the man of war, the judge and the prophet, and the prudent and the ancient, — also, the Lord takes away men fit to be generals of armies; removed by death before this time, including other staff: wise men, mighty men and honourable men;

³ the captain of fifty and the honorable man, and the counselor and the skilled artificer and the eloquent orator. — again, more staff and counselors taken away; an eloquent orator is one skilful in enchanting serpents, even then these are taken away; 

⁴ “And I will give children to be their princes, and babes shall rule over them. — and only given children and babes to be our leaders, commentators, newsreaders, etc; a reference to the incompetence, weakness and ignorance of the people that will be elevated to places of authority as the decline of Israel continues.

⁵ And the people shall be oppressed, everyone by another and everyone by his neighbour; the child shall behave himself proudly against the elder, and the base against the honorable.” — the arrogant rejection of authority and the utter disregard of God’s law concerning respect for the aged; all respect for the God-given rights of others having vanished; the child shall behave himself proudly against the ancient, without the slightest regard for his superiors, 

— and the base against the honorable, not only by ignoring all distinction of rank, but by setting aside the government instituted by God. In other words, tyranny is followed by mob-rule, and this, in turn, by anarchy so that everything is in a turmoil, every semblance of governmental control has vanished;

⁶ When a man shall take hold of his brother in the house of his father, saying, “Thou hast clothing; be thou our ruler, and let this ruin be under thy hand,” — one of the same kindred and family; or one of their brethren, not one that is most qualified, that might rule over them — nepotism and corruption — thou hast clothing, having saved at least a decent suit of clothes in the general overthrow, be thou our ruler and let this ruin;

⁷ in that day he shall swear, saying, “I will not be a healer, for in my house is neither bread nor clothing: Make me not a ruler of the people!” — in that day shall he refusing to take an obligation upon responsibilities, swear, saying, calling out loudly in protest, I will not be an healer, in trying to save the wreck;

— make me not a ruler of the people; this shows that the state of the nation must be very bad indeed, that men, who are naturally ambitious of power and honour, should refuse government when offered to them; the Targum says, “I am not fit to be a head or governor.”

⁸ For Jerusalem is ruined, and Judah is fallen, because their tongue and their doings are against the Lord, to provoke the eyes of His glory. — for Jerusalem is ruined, and Judah is fallen, outward and inward decay is evident, because their tongue and their doings are against the Lord, their apostasy and blasphemy have reached the limit, to provoke the eyes of His glory, the glorious appearance of His holy essence, for they challenge the wrath of the Lord by deliberately planning and executing evil.

⁹ The show of their countenance doth witness against them, and they declare their sin as Sodom; they hide it not. Woe unto their soul! For they have rewarded evil unto themselves. — for they have rewarded evil unto themselves, they are bound to bring punishment upon themselves. With a few strokes the prophet draws a picture of moral filth, which fills the reader with loathing of such depths of wickedness.

¹⁰ Say ye to the righteous that it shall be well with them, for they shall eat the fruits of their doings. — say ye to the righteous, to the few who are still found in the midst of the general decay, that it shall be well with him; for they shall eat of the fruit of their doings, their good works, the fruit of their faith, do follow them.

¹¹ Woe unto the wicked! It shall be ill with him, for the reward of his hands shall be given him. — woe unto the wicked! it shall be ill with him, his will be a lamentable fate; for the reward of his hands, that which he earned by his evil deeds, shall be given him. The godless will have no one to blame but themselves when everlasting destruction comes upon them.

¹² As for My people, children are their oppressors, and women rule over them! O My people, they that lead thee cause thee to err, and destroy the way of thy paths. — children, incompetent and ruthless youngsters are their oppressors, and women, subject to whims and moods, rule over them. O My people, they which lead thee cause thee to err, the leaders becoming misleading, and destroy the way of thy paths, devouring it by their false, erroneous preaching, so that the way of divine truth is no longer visible.

¹³ The Lord standeth up to plead and standeth to judge the people. — the Lord stands up to plead, to take up the case of the world, and stands to judge the people and nations of the world, to convict them of their wickedness.

¹⁴ The Lord will enter into judgement with the elders of His people and the princes thereof: “For ye have eaten up the vineyard, and the spoil of the poor is in your houses. — the Lord will enter into judgement with the ancients of His people, who were supposed to be their leaders, and the princes thereof, to whose guidance He had entrusted Israel; for ye have eaten up the vineyard, crushing the Kingdom of God; the spoil of the poor, of whom the Kingdom largely consists, is in your houses, due to the persecution of the rulers.

¹⁵ What mean ye that ye beat My people to pieces and grind the faces of the poor?” saith the Lord God of hosts. — what mean ye that ye beat My people to pieces, crushing them with the most severe tyranny, and grind the faces of the poor in trampling them under foot, saith the Lord God of hosts;

— that is a special sign of the time preceding the Last Days: oppression and persecution of the Kingdom of God and for this the Lord will punish the wicked in full measure. However, it is not only the princes and rulers of the people who have brought God’s judgement upon themselves, but also the women of the land.

¹⁶ Moreover the Lord saith: “Because the daughters of Zion are haughty, and walk with stretched forth necks and wanton eyes, walking and mincing as they go, and making a tinkling with their feet, — the daughters of Zion are haughty and walk with stretched-forth necks, proudly thrown back, and wanton eyes, winking in feigned innocence;

— but with hidden invitation, walking and mincing, with affected, tripping steps, as they go and making a tinkling with their feet, the ankle-chains, which brought about the mincing steps, also producing a delicate ringing,

¹⁷ therefore the Lord will smite with a scab the crown of the head of the daughters of Zion, and the Lord will uncover their secret parts.” — the Lord will smite with a scab the crown of the head of the daughters of Zion, where long hair now is decorated handsomely, will be found nothing but loathsome uncleanness, and the Lord will discover their secret parts, exposing them to shame and disgrace before the whole world.

¹⁸ In that day the Lord will take away the bravery of their tinkling ornaments about their feet, and their hair nets and their round ornaments like the moon, — the Targum renders it, “the ornament of the shoes”; these were put about the place where the shoes were tied; and in the Talmud the word is explained by קורדיקייה, “shoes” which the gloss interprets of wooden shoes: the ornament of their clothing; as if this was the general name for the particulars that follow:

— in the form of the moon; they were no other than bracelets, necklaces or golden chains and the word in the Talmud is rendered עונקייה, “chains.”

¹⁹ the chains and the bracelets and the spangled ornaments, — the chains, the ear-pendants and the bracelets or chains worn on wrist or arm and the mufflers, fluttering veils,

²⁰ the bonnets and the ornaments of the legs, and the headbands and the tablets and the earrings, — the bonnets, turban-shaped diadems, and the ornaments of the legs, the step-chains connecting the ankle-bracelets, and the head-bands, beautiful girdles, and the tablets, perfume capsules, the favorite odor being musk and the earrings, small amulets with verses of magic,

²¹ the rings and nose jewels, — the rings on their finger and nose jewels; the same with the jewels on the forehead or nose,

²² the changeable suits of apparel and the mantles and the shawls and the crisping pins, — the changeable suits of apparel, the finest street dresses and the mantles, roomy tunics with sleeves and the wimples, costly shawls, and the crisping pins, beautifully worked hand-bags or boxes,

²³ the mirrors and the fine linen, and the hoods and the veils. — looking glasses by which they dressed themselves,

²⁴ And it shall come to pass that instead of sweet smell there shall be stench; and instead of a girdle, a rent; and instead of wellset hair, baldness; and instead of a sash, a girding of sackcloth; and branding instead of beauty. — and it shall come to pass that instead of sweet smell, the delicate perfume of balsam, there shall be stink and instead of a girdle a rent, nothing but a rope to hold the garments together

²⁵ Thy men shall fall by the sword, and thy mighty in the war. — thy men shall fall by the sword, the defenders of Jerusalem a prey of war and thy mighty in the war.

²⁶ And her gates shall lament and mourn; and she, being desolate, shall sit upon the ground. — and her gates where the chief men of the city were wont to discuss the welfare of the city, shall lament and mourn, because the seats of the men are empty; and she, the daughter of Zion, the city itself, being desolate, shall sit upon the ground, a picture of desolation.

Isaiah 4

¹ And in that day seven women shall take hold of one man, saying, “We will eat our own bread and wear our own apparel; only let us be called by thy name to take away our reproach.” — and in that day, due to the fact that many men have fallen in battle, seven women shall take hold of one man, in an unnatural denial of womanly modesty, saying, We will eat our own bread and wear our own apparel, not depending upon him for support; 

— only let us be called by thy name, that they might be known as his wives, to take away our reproach, for it was considered a disgrace not to be married and bear children. Such are the scenes which preceded the fall of Jerusalem as in the days of Vespasian and Titus, and similar scenes will precede the end of the world.

² In that day shall the Branch of the Lord be beautiful and glorious; and the fruit of the earth shall be excellent and comely for those who have escaped of Israel. — the Targum paraphrases the words thus, “at that time shall the Messiah of the Lord be for joy and glory.”

³ And it shall come to pass that he that is left in Zion and he that remaineth in Jerusalem shall be called holy — even every one who is written among the living in Jerusalem — and it shall come to pass that he that is left in Zion and he that remains in Jerusalem, the elect of the Lord, shall be called holy, consecrated to the Lord and serving Him in a holy life, even every one that is written among the living in Jerusalem, those who are appointed by God unto eternal life, Acts 13:48, whether they be of Jews or Gentiles,

⁴ when the Lord shall have washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion, and shall have purged the blood of Jerusalem from her midst by the spirit of judgment and by the spirit of burning. — when the Lord shall have washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion, namely, the moral uncleanness and sinfulness which no amount of outward ornament can cover before His eyes;

— and shall have purged the blood of Jerusalem, the outstanding acts of wickedness and guilt, from the midst thereof by the spirit of God rebuking the evil and destroying all wickedness by a thorough winnowing and sifting, for conversion is entirely and alone His work.

⁵ And the Lord will create upon every dwelling place of Mount Zion, and upon her assemblies, a cloud and smoke by day and the shining of a flaming fire by night; for upon all the glory shall be a defense. — and the Lord will create upon every dwelling-place of Mount Zion and upon her assemblies, wherever there are congregations of believers, a cloud and smoke by day and the shining of a flaming fire by night;

— these being the vehicle and sign of the merciful presence of Jehovah in the midst of His people; for upon all the glory, in every place of glory where believers are assembled in His name, shall be a defense, a covering, or canopy, the Lord Himself, as the King of Grace, having His throne in every congregation and causing it, by the gifts of His mercy, to be a glory, a place where His glory shines forth.

⁶ And there shall be a tabernacle for shade in the daytime from the heat, and for a place of refuge and for a covert from storm and from rain. — and there shall be a tabernacle for a shadow in the daytime from the heat, the Messiah Himself dwelling in their midst;

— and for a place of refuge and for a refuge where one may hide in safety from storm and from rain; for the Messiah is the Protector of His Kingdom against the manifold dangers with which it is surrounded. In this way the Branch of the Lord serves for glory to His elect, and the believers cheerfully trust themselves to His keeping.

~ by Joel Huan on February 15, 2022.

Posted in Isaiah