The Mystery of Ephraim

The Scriptures are often shrouded in cryptic languages; as usual a prophecy of Isaiah will start with the house of Judah and Jerusalem then spread to the house of Israel and soon it includes many prophecies concerning other nations surrounding the region. Our challenge is to decrypt them, especially as it relates to the latter days, our days.

Isaiah 7

¹ And it came to pass in the days of Ahaz the son of Jotham, the son of Uzziah, king of Judah, that Rezin the king of Syria and Pekah the son of Remaliah, king of Israel, went up toward Jerusalem to war against it, but could not prevail against it. — and it came to pass in the days of Alias, the son of Jotham, the son of Uzziah, king of Judah, II Kings 15:37; II Kings 16:5-6; II Chronicles 28:5-6, that Rezin, the king of Syria, and Pekah, the son of Remaliah, king of Israel, who had formed an alliance, II Kings 15:37;

— and went up toward Jerusalem to war against the house of Judah, but could not prevail against it. According to the historical accounts this war took place about 743-739 BC with the preliminary advantage entirely on the side of the northern allies; for Rezin took the harbor of Elath on the Elanitic Gulf, and Pekah gained a victory over a large army of Judah. Nevertheless, Jerusalem was not taken, very likely because the allies did not even find occasion to lay siege to it; their plans were overthrown.

² And it was told the house of David, saying, “Syria is confederate with Ephraim.” And his heart was moved, and the heart of his people, as the trees of the wood are moved with the wind. — and it was told the house of David, the reigning monarch of that line, in this case Ahaz, the princes of the blood, his court and counsellors; saying, Syria is confederate with Ephraim, the ten tribes; depending upon the northern kingdom as a faithful ally, its armies having joined Israel’s forces to strengthen them, or being supported by them. 

— and the king’s heart was moved together with the heart of his people, both King Ahaz and all the people of Judah being frightened by the invasion, as the trees of the wood are moved with the wind, their terror being intensified by their feeling of fear. Q: would such fear strike the modern states of Judah and the house of Israel today?

³ Then said the Lord unto Isaiah, “Go forth now to meet Ahaz, thou and Shearjashub [that is, The remnant shall return], thy son, at the end of the conduit of the upper pool in the highway of the Fuller’s Field, — then the Lord said unto Isaiah, Himself taking charge of affairs in this emergency, Go forth now to meet Alias, thou and Shear-jashub (“A remnant returns”), thy son, at the end of the conduit of the upper pool, one of the reservoirs where the water of the city was stored, Isaiah 36:2, 

— in the highway of the fuller’s field, which was also situated west of the city, near the pool, this highway apparently being the main caravan road leading from Jerusalem to Joppa;

⁴ and say unto him: ‘Take heed, and be quiet. Fear not, neither be fainthearted at the two tails of these smoking firebrands — at the fierce anger of Rezin and Syria, and of the son of Remaliah. — and say unto him, who was probably engaged in having the fortifications strengthened, Take heed and be quiet, perfectly unconcerned and without worry; 

— fear not, neither be faint-hearted, literally, “and thy heart, not be soft with despondency,” for the two tails of these smoking fire-brands, burned-out and quenched stumps of torches, for the fierce anger of Rezin with Syria, with his whole great army, and of the son of Remaliah, as Pekah, king of Israel, is contemptuously called.

⁵ Because Syria, Ephraim, and the son of Remaliah have taken evil counsel against thee, saying, — because Syria, or Aram, with its confederates, Ephraim, and the son of Remaliah, the northern kingdom and its ruler, have taken evil counsel against the house of Judah, saying,

⁶ “Let us go up against Judah and vex it, and let us make a breach therein for us, and set a king in the midst of it, even the son of Tabeel,” — let “a confederation of Syria with Ephraim” go up against Judah and vex it, throw it into consternation, fill it with terror, and let the Syria/Ephraim alliance make a breach therein, take the capital, and set the king of Judah in the midst of the battle, even the son of Tabeal, an unknown man, to be the vassal king of Judah, for such was the plan of the alliance:

⁷ thus saith the Lord God: It shall not stand, neither shall it come to pass. — thus saith the Lord God, It shall not stand, that is, the counsel they had taken against Judah to vex it, make a breach in it, and set a king of their own liking over Judah; that counsel shall not stand; neither shall it come to pass, since He Himself had decided to hinder it.

⁸ For the head of Syria is Damascus, and the head of Damascus is Rezin; and within threescore and five years shall Ephraim be broken, that it be not a people. — for the head of Syria, its capital and metropolis, is Damascus, and the head of Damascus is Rezin; and within sixty-five years, Ephraim, the northern kingdom, shall be broken that it be not a people, that it would cease to exist as a nation.

⁹ And the head of Ephraim is Samaria, and the head of Samaria is Remaliah’s son. If ye will not believe, surely ye shall not be established.’” — and the head of Ephraim, its capital and chief city of Ephraim is Samaria, and the head of Samaria is Remaliah’s son. The meaning of this somewhat enigmatic saying is evidently this, that both Syria and the kingdom of Israel would be confined to the territory now occupied by them, since their schemes of conquest would fail;

— moreover, Ephraim would be destroyed within the next sixty-five years, Shalmanezer of Assyria taking the majority of his people into exile in the year 722 BC and the downfall of the country being completed with the settling of the captives, about 675 BC II Kings 17:24; Ezra 4:2

— if ye will not believe, surely ye shall not be established, that is, if Judah, both its king and its people, would not firmly cling to God’s Word and promise, they would also cease to exist, too; they would be destroyed.

¹⁰ Moreover the Lord spoke again unto Ahaz, saying, — moreover, the Lord, through the prophet Isaiah, spoke again unto Ahaz, who had not answered upon the consoling message of the Lord’s messenger, since he had already made arrangements to get the assistance of Assyria, saying, in an earnest endeavor to have him place his trust in the help of the Lord,

¹¹ “Ask thee a sign of the Lord thy God; ask it either in the depth or in the height above.” — ask thee a sign of the Lord, thy God, this offer to perform a miracle being intended to confirm the promise just made; ask it either in the depth, in the underworld, in hell, or in the height above, in heaven.

— the Targum says, “ask that a miracle may be done for thee upon earth, or that a sign may be shown thee in heaven” the Lord permitted Ahaz to attach his faith to a condition named by himself, so that every excuse of unbelief would be taken from him.

¹² But Ahaz said, “I will not ask, neither will I tempt the Lord.” — but Ahaz, in wicked unbelief and hypocrisy, said, I will not ask, neither will I tempt the Lord. Having already decided upon enlisting Assyria’s help, he rejected the offer of God the Almighty with a hypocritical pretext; trusting in an earthly ally; this was the very climax of obduration. When unbelief assumes the garments of piety, the effect is much more loathsome than open blasphemy and mockery.

¹³ And Isaiah said, “Hear ye now, O house of David! Is it a small thing for you to weary men, but will ye weary my God also? — and Isaiah, through whom the Lord was addressing the apostate king, said, Hear ye now, O house of David, not only the present monarch being addressed, but all his associates as well: 

— is it a small thing for you to weary men, making the prophet, who had labored so long and faithfully in trying to win him for the truth, both disgusted and weary, but will ye weary my God also? so that He also becomes filled with weariness and turns from the reprobate people in disgust and delivers them into the destruction they so deliberately sought.

¹⁴ Therefore the Lord Himself shall give you a sign: Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel. — in a significant revelation of His almighty power, the Lord Himself shall give you a sign, cause a miracle to happen which would have abiding significance. Behold, an exclamation calling attention to the extraordinary prophecy now following, a virgin, literally, “the virgin,” that certain virgin whom the Lord had even now selected for this purpose, not merely an unwed woman of marriageable age as the Masoretic text says, but an undefiled maiden, Psalms 68:25; Matthew 1:25, 

— the Targum says, “Therefore the Lord Himself shall give you a sign: Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and she shall call His name Immanuel.”

— the Septuagint says, “Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; behold, a virgin shall conceive in the womb, and shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name Emmanuel.”

— this is an example of the lying pen of the scribes in Jeremiah 8:8, “How can you say, ‘We are wise, and the law of the Lord is with us’? But behold, the lying pen of the scribes has made it into a lie.'”

— shall conceive, without the carnal knowledge of man, and bear a son, the event being represented as happening now, in the everlasting present of the eternal God, and shall call His name Immanuel, which is correctly interpreted by Matthew as meaning, “God with us.” This name characterizes the person, the essence, and the work of the Messiah. The son of the virgin, conceived and born a true human being, yet without sin, is at the same time true, almighty, eternal God. It is the great mystery of godliness: God manifest in the flesh, the Messiah, the true Savior, Creator, Protector and Redeemer of all men;

— and finally, it is a sign of present deliverance to Judah from the confederacy of the two kings of Syria (representing the Gentiles) and Israel (representing the ten-tribes house of Israel); and of future safety, since it was not possible that this kingdom should cease to be one until the Messiah was come, who was to spring from Judah, and be of the house of David; wherefore by how much the longer off was his birth, by so much the longer was their safety.

¹⁵ Butter and honey shall He eat, that He may know to refuse the evil and choose the good. — butter, the thick curdled milk, which is a favorite in the Orient, and honey shall the Messiah eat, that He may know to refuse the evil and choose the good, such would be His food beginning with the age of discretion and throughout His life, partaking, as a true human being, of the food of a desolate country.

¹⁶ For before the Child shall know to refuse the evil and choose the good, the land that thou abhorrest shall be forsaken of both her kings. — for before the Child shall know to refuse the evil and choose the good, before He would reach the age of adolescence, the land that thou abhorrest shall be forsaken of both her kings, rather, “desolate will be the land, of the face of whose two kings thou hast a horror,” the judgement of the Lord having been carried out upon it.

¹⁷ The Lord shall bring upon thee and upon thy people and upon thy father’s house days that have not come since the day that Ephraim departed from Judah: even the king of Assyria.” —the Lord shall bring upon thee; these words are directed to Ahaz to show that though he and his kingdom would be safe from the two kings that conspired against him, yet evils should come upon him from another quarter, even from the Assyrians he sent to for help, and in whom he trusted; in which the Lord himself would have a hand, and permit them in his providence, in order to chastise him for his unbelief, stubbornness, and ingratitude in refusing the sign offered him;

— even the king of Assyria, this kingdom being introduced here as the representative of the great world powers which finally overthrew upon “thy father’s house” that is, Israel (and certain parts of Judah II Kings 18:13); but Judah was spared a hundred years over; and her disintegration began soon after with the captivity of Babylon and continued for centuries.

¹⁸ And it shall come to pass in that day that the Lord shall hiss for the fly that is in the uttermost part of the rivers of Egypt and for the bee that is in the land of Assyria. — and it shall come to pass in that day, at the time when He would send His judgement, first upon Israel then Judah;

— that the Lord shall hiss for the fly that is in the uttermost part of the rivers of Egypt, the various canals of the Nile, and for the bee that Is in the land of Assyria; that is, the Assyrian army, so called because the country abounded with bees; and because of the number of their armies, their military order and discipline, and their hurtful and mischievous nature;

— the Targum paraphrases the whole thus, “and it shall be at that time that the Lord shall call to a people, bands of armies, of mighty men, who are numerous as flies, and shall bring them from the ends of the land of Egypt; and to mighty armies, who are powerful as bees, and shall bring them from the uttermost parts of the land of Assyria,” and with what swiftness and readiness those numerous and powerful armies should come; and the allusion is to the calling of bees out of their hives into the fields, and from thence into their hives again, by tinkling of brass, or by some musical sound, in one way or another.

¹⁹ And they shall come, and shall rest all of them in the desolate valleys and in the holes of the rocks, and upon all thorns and upon all bushes. — and they shall come and shall rest, all of them as a scourge to his people in the desolate valleys, rather, in the valleys of the declivities, and in the holes of the rocks, in the clefts of the mountains, and upon all thorns and upon all bushes, in all the rich meadow-lands, with the object of devouring and destroying everything in sight;

— the Targum of the whole verse is, “and they shall all of them come and dwell in the streets of the cities, and in the clifts of the rocks, and in all deserts full of sedges, and in all houses of praise,” the sense is, that they should be in all cities, towns, and villages, whether fortified or not, and in all houses of high and low, rich and poor, in cottages and in palaces; there would be no place free from them, nor no escaping out of their hands; all caught in a snare: Ezekiel 12:13, My net also will I spread upon him, and he shall be taken in My snare.

²⁰ In the same day shall the Lord shave with a hired razor (namely, by those beyond the river, by the king of Assyria) the head and the hair of the feet, and it shall also consume the beard. — in the same day shall the Lord shave with a razor that is hired, through an army which He placed in His service, to carry out His will, namely, by them beyond the river, by the king of Assyria, the head, and the hair of the feet; and it shall also consume the beard, the land being depopulated and the entire body of the nation destroyed by the heathen power summoned by the Lord;

— the Targum says, “in that time the Lord shall slay them as one is slain by a sharp sword, by clubs, and by saws, by those beyond the river, and by the king of Assyria; the king, and his army, and even his rulers, together shall he destroy.”

²¹ And it shall come to pass in that day that a man shall nourish a young cow and two sheep; — and it shall come to pass in that day that a man shall nourish a young cow and two sheep; this seems to denote both the scarcity of men and cattle, through the ravages of the army of the Chaldeans; that there should not be large herds and flocks, only a single cow, and two or three sheep; and yet men should be so few, and families so thin, that these would be sufficient to support them comfortably.

²² and it shall come to pass, for the abundance of milk that they shall give, that he shall eat butter, for butter and honey shall every one eat that is left in the land. — and it shall come to pass for the abundance of milk that they shall give; the cow and the two sheep, having large pastures, and few cattle to feed upon them, those few would give such abundance of milk, that the owner of them would make butter of it, and live upon it, having no occasion to eat milk; and there being few or none to sell it to;

— he shall eat butter; for butter and honey, which was abundant in the wild state, shall everyone eat that is left in the land, signifying that though they would be few, they would enjoy a plenty of food as their small flocks and herds would furnish them with. The Targum interprets this of the righteous that shall be left in the land; but it is rather to be extended unto all, righteous and unrighteous.

²³ And it shall come to pass in that day in every place where there were a thousand vines worth a thousand silverlings, that it shall be even for briers and thorns. — and it shall come to pass in that day, at the time when God’s judgment would be carried out, that every place shall be, it shall even be for briers and thorns for want of persons to stock the ground and cultivate it.

²⁴ With arrows and with bows shall men come thither, because all the land shall become briers and thorns. — with arrows and with bows shall men come thither, for fear of wild beasts, serpents, and scorpions to hunt wild beasts in the former orchards, because all the land shall become briers and thorns. Q: is this a prophecy or an historic account?

²⁵ And on all hills that shall be dug with the mattock, there shall not be a coming thither for fear of briers and thorns, but it shall be for the sending forth of oxen and for the treading of lesser cattle. — and on all hills that shall be digged with the mattock, which ordinarily were hoed and cultivated, there shall not come thither the fear of briers and thorns, that is, there shall be now no fences made of briers and thorns which deter cattle from entering into fields and vineyards thus fenced; 

— but it shall be for the setting forth of oxen, and for the treading of lesser cattle; there being no fence of briers and thorns to keep them out, cattle both of the greater and lesser sort should get into the corn, and feed upon it, and make such places desolate, where much pains were taken to cultivate them. The Targum says, “it shall be for a place of lying down of oxen, and for a place of dwelling of flocks of sheep.”

Isaiah 8

¹ Moreover the Lord said unto me, “Take thee a great scroll, and write in it with a man’s pen concerning Mahershalalhashbaz.” — moreover the Lord said unto Isaiah, ”Take thee a great roll,” evidently this is another prophecy, a large writing-tablet of the kind usually employed, and write in it with a man’s pen, the stylus making impressions on the wax covering the tablet in such a way that the ordinary man could read the script;

— concerning Mahershalal-hash-baz (“Make speed to the spoil Hasten to the prey”). The inscription, as made by Isaiah, was purposely enigmatic, the purpose being to arouse the interest and curiosity of the people, to make them feel that the announcement contained in these mysterious words was very important;

— the Targum says, “write in it a clear writing;” that is, very plain, explicit and legible.

² And I took unto me faithful witnesses to attest: Uriah the priest and Zechariah the son of Jeberechiah. — and Isaiah took unto himself faithful witnesses to record concerning the spoiling of Syria and Israel; this the Lord Himself choosing them through the prophet to be present and to testify to Isaiah’s preparing the tablet, Uriah, the priest, II Kings 16:10, and Zechariah, the son of Jeberechiah. These men could later, when the prophecy was fulfilled, vouch for the fact that Isaiah had written concerning the future. But in close connection with this event there was another.

³ And I went unto the prophetess, and she conceived and bore a son. Then said the Lord to me, “Call his name Mahershalalhashbaz. — and I went unto the prophetess, his own wife, so called not because she prophesied but because she was the wife of a prophet; and she conceived and bare a son. Then said the Lord to Isaiah, Call his name Maher-shalal-hash-baz, the same mysterious words which had been written on the tablet almost a year before, the word signifying either “Make speed to the spoil; Hasten to the prey,” or “The spoil hastens Robbery hastens forward.”

⁴ For before the child shall have knowledge to cry ‘My father,’ and ‘My mother,’ the riches of Damascus and the spoil of Samaria shall be taken away to the king of Assyria.” — for before the child shall have knowledge to cry, “My father,” and “My mother,” that is, before the passing of another year;

— the riches of Damascus (Syria) and the spoil of Samaria (Israel; II Kings 17:6) shall be taken away before Assyria, so that all their wealth would be borne as a trophy before their king. This happened about the year 739 BC; Syria being entirely overthrown, together with that part of the northern kingdom which was east of the Jordan and the beginning of Israel’s destruction.

⁵ The Lord spoke also unto me again, saying, — the Lord spoke unto Isaiah again, in a series of prophecies whose final object was rich comfort to the true believers in Judah, saying,

⁶ “Inasmuch as this people refuseth the waters of Shiloah that flow softly, and rejoice in Rezin and Remaliah’s son, — forasmuch as this people refuseth the waters of Shiloah, the same with Siloam, the spring and tiny brook which sprang up at the foot of the Temple-mount and with another spring, the Gihon, fed the pool Siloam;

— that go softly, with none of the boisterousness of a large stream, such as the Euphrates, the people despising the quiet manner in which the kingdom of God works in the midst of men, and rejoice in Rezin and Remaliah’s son, the latter statement referring chiefly to the people of the northern kingdom with their trust in the strength of men and in the power of huge armies;

— the Targum paraphrases the words thus, “because this people loathed the kingdom of the house of David which ruled them quietly, as the waters of Shiloah which flow softly.”

⁷ now therefore, behold, the Lord bringeth up upon them the waters of the river, strong and many, even the king of Assyria and all his glory; and he shall come up over all his channels and go over all his banks. — now, therefore, behold, the Lord bringeth up upon the Euphrates, usual for mighty kings, kingdoms, and armies to be signified by such waters, for their multitude and strength; typical of an entire heathen power bent upon the destruction of Israel;

— strong and many, even the king of Assyria and all his power; he shall come up over all his channels and go over all his banks, like a mighty river overflowing at the time of the spring freshets;

— the Targum says, “therefore behold the Lord shall bring and cause to ascend upon them, the army of the people, who are many as the waters of a river, strong and mighty, the king of Assyria, and his army; and he shall come up upon all his rivers and shall overflow all his banks.”

⁸ And he shall pass through Judah; he shall overflow and go over, he shall reach even to the neck. And the stretching out of his wings shall fill the breadth of thy land, O Immanuel.” — and, he shall pass through Judah, penetrating to its remotest ends; he shall overflow and go over, he shall reach even to the neck, that is, to Jerusalem: the whole land is compared to a body, of which Jerusalem was the head; the Assyrian army, comparable to the waters of a great river, overflowed the whole land, took all the fenced cities of Judah, and came up even to Jerusalem, so that the whole was in great danger of being drowned and destroyed; threatening Judah’s very life; 

— and stretching out of his wings, as the streams overflow the main channel of the river on either side, shall fill the breadth of thy land, O Immanuel, Judea, called Immanuel’s land, because the Messiah would be born there. Thus the judgement would begin in Israel and progress southward to encompass Judah as well, threatening its existence. Therefore the end of the sentence is a call for help addressed to Immanuel, the Messiah, not to forsake His people, but to remember them in his redemption.

⁹ Associate yourselves, O ye people, yet ye shall be broken in pieces! And give ear, all ye of far countries. Gird yourselves, and ye shall be broken in pieces; gird yourselves, and ye shall be broken in pieces! — associate yourselves, O ye people, both of Syria and Israel, whose two kings were confederate against Judah; and ye shall be broken in pieces, for all enemies directing their attacks against the people of God will finally be destroyed; 

— and give ear, all ye of far countries, the nations inhabiting distant parts of the earth; gird yourselves, in preparing for battle, and ye shall be broken in pieces. The double imperative in the Hebrew and the repetition of the command makes it all the more impressive; it places the majesty of God in contrast to the feeble endeavors of men to overthrow His power.

¹⁰ Take counsel together, and it shall come to nought; speak the word, and it shall not stand, for God is with us. — take counsel together, against the Lord and against His people, Psalms 2:2, and it shall come to naught; speak the word, in discussing the attack, and it shall not stand, it will most certainly be frustrated; for God is with us. With Immanuel on their side, the children of God have a refuge against all enemies. Even if all the powers of this world combine to attack the Church, they are bound to suffer defeat.

¹¹ For the Lord spoke thus to me with a strong hand, and instructed me that I should not walk in the way of this people, saying, — for the Lord spoke thus to Isaiah with a strong hand, literally, “while His hand became strong,” while His Spirit came upon the prophet with power, and instructed Isaiah that he should not walk in the way of this people, saying, namely, in warning the prophet and those who adhered to his people against the great mass of reprobates in Israel and Judah,

¹² “Say ye not, ‘A confederacy,’ to all those to whom this people shall say, ‘A confederacy’; neither fear ye their fear, nor be afraid. — say ye not, “A confederacy,” to all them to whom this people shall say, “A confederacy,” literally, “Do not call conspiracy all that this people calls conspiracy,” the prophet and his disciples should not be filled with apprehension on account of the conspiracy and confederation of Syria with the northern kingdom; 

— neither fear ye their fear nor be afraid, let not the same fear possess you as does them, on account of Syria and Israel combining together against Judah; nor be afraid of their two kings as they were; since there was nothing to fear from them.

¹³ Sanctify the Lord of hosts Himself; and let Him be your fear, and let Him be your dread. — sanctify the Lord of hosts Himself, giving Him the honor, setting Him apart for adoration as the almighty Ruler of the universe, and let Him be your fear and let Him be your dread, that is, the object of fear and dread; not of a servile fear and dread, but of a holy reverence and godly fear; standing in awe of Him and taking care not to make Him angry by a show of little faith, for He wants the believer’s full confidence, their undivided trust.

¹⁴ And He shall be for you a sanctuary, but for a stone of stumbling and for a rock of offense to both the houses of Israel, for a trap and for a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. — and the Lord of hosts shall be for a sanctuary, a safe, sheltering, holy asylum to all believers; but for a stone of stumbling and for a rock of offense to both the houses of Israel, causing them to fall, for a gin, a trap set in the way, and for a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, namely, to those who do not truly fear Him.

— Although Isaiah 8:14 refers to “both houses of Israel” or the “two houses of Israel” it implies the two houses of Jacob, the full twelve tribes. But more often the names of the two houses are seperated, namely the 10-tribes “house of Israel” and the 2-tribes “house of Judah.”

¹⁵ And many among them shall stumble and fall and be broken, and be snared and be taken.” — and many among them, all those who persist in their enmity toward the Lord, shall stumble, by their own fault, and fall, and be broken, and be snared, and be taken; and so die in captivity for their sins and even to perish eternally. The allusion is to birds being taken in a snare or trap or with bird lime and therein or thereby held and detained.

¹⁶ Bind up the testimony, seal the law among my disciples. — bind up the testimony, so the Lord says to Immanuel, the Messiah, or directly to Isaiah, seal the Law among My disciples, so that the Word of the Lord is sealed and kept safe through the power of the Savior exerted through the Gospel message; which is the testimony from the Son of God.

¹⁷ And I will wait upon the Lord, who hideth His face from the house of Jacob, and I will look for Him. — and Isaiah will wait upon the Lord, so Immanuel or the prophet calls out in cheerful confidence, that hideth His face from the house of Jacob, by rejecting the great mass of unbelievers among the people, and Isaiah will look for Him, trusting in the riches of His mercy, in the certainty of the salvation of His chosen people.

¹⁸ Behold, I and the children whom the Lord hath given me are for signs and for wonders in Israel from the Lord of hosts, who dwelleth in Mount Zion. — behold, the Messiah and the children whom the Lord hath given Him, all those who have accepted the Don of God in true faith, who belong to the elect of the Lord, are for signs and for wonders in Israel, placed before the eyes of all men of the whole world, as a remarkable evidence of God’s love;

— from the Lord of hosts, which dwelleth in Mount Zion; the Son and Mediator, Yeshua, through His Word, as proclaimed by the mouth of His servants, gains those whom the Father has given Him and will, on the Last Day, present this entire host to the Father in the temple of heaven. Cf Hebrews 2:13. We are kept by the power of God, through faith, unto salvation. The prophet now adds a strong warning against necromancy and spiritism.

¹⁹ And when they shall say unto you, “Seek unto those who have familiar spirits and wizards, who peep and who mutter,” should not a people seek unto their God? For the living, to the dead? — and when the unbelieving people shall say unto you, in endeavoring to coax the faithful away from the truth of the revealed Word, Seek unto them that have familiar spirits, those asserting that they possess the ability of interviewing departed souls;

— and unto wizards that peep and that mutter, that is, to those given to sorcery and the magic world, said of the murmuring noises made in imitation of the shades in the realm of death and of the whispering of magical formulas which they claimed to have received from disembodied spirits, just as the modern tribe of spiritists does: should not a people;

— so the Lord indignantly asks, seek unto their God? turning to Him for counsel and assistance in every emergency in life, for the living to the dead? How can men be so foolish as to seek help from the dead? as the spiritists insist that they are quoting the spirits of the departed. Over against this blasphemous foolishness the Lord places His urgent summons:

²⁰ To the law and to the testimony! If they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them. — to the Law and to the testimony! Turn to the Word and the promises of the Lord alone; search the Scriptures, trust in His Message, in the glorious assurance of salvation contained therein; make the clear exposition of His Word the one guide of your lives!

— if they, the unbelieving majority, speak not according to this word, if they do not join in this call and invitation nor heed its summons, it is because there is no light in them, of the punishment that should be inflicted on the Jews for their neglect of the prophecies of the Old Testament and their rejection of the Messiah.

²¹ And they shall pass through it sorely beset and hungry; and it shall come to pass that, when they shall be hungry, they shall fret themselves and curse their king and their God, and look upward; — and they, the unbelievers, shall pass through it, walking about blindly in the land, hardly bestead, oppressed both from within and without, and hungry, being hungry often and earnestly desirous of the coming of their vainly expected Messiah, as a Saviour to them; in the very depths of misery because they couldn’t find him; 

— and it shall come to pass that when these unbelievers shall be hungry, in the midst of tribulation besetting them on every hand, they shall fret themselves, be filled with a helpless rage, and curse their King and their God, blaspheming the Lord and His Son, the true Messiah, who is the King of Israel, and God manifest in the flesh; whom the unbelieving Jews called accursed and blasphemed.

²² and they shall look unto the earth and behold trouble and darkness, dimness of anguish, and they shall be driven to darkness. — and those people in distress, upwards and downwards, they shall look unto the earth, seeking alleviation and deliverance from their affliction, and behold trouble and darkness, dimness of anguish, adversity and miseries of all kinds, not a ray of relief and salvation penetrating the night of their suffering; 

— and these unbelievers shall be driven to darkness, cast out into utter darkness. Such is the punishment of God upon the wicked, upon those who reject the Messiah, even here on earth; how much more terrible, then, will the condemnation of eternity be into which the present punishment will merge!

~ by Joel Huan on February 19, 2022.

Posted in Isaiah