PM Oct 1st Isa 14

October 1st

Isaiah, 14

1: For the LORD will have mercy on Jacob, and will yet choose Israel, and set them in their own land: and the strangers shall be joined with them, and they shall cleave to the house of Jacob. 2: And the people shall take them, and bring them to their place: and the house of Israel shall possess them in the land of the LORD for servants and handmaids: and they shall take them captives, whose captives they were; and they shall rule over their oppressors. 3: And it shall come to pass in the day that the LORD shall give thee rest from thy sorrow, and from thy fear, and from the hard bondage wherein thou wast made to serve, 4: That thou shalt take up this proverb against the king of Babylon, and say, How hath the oppressor ceased! the golden city ceased! 5: The LORD hath broken the staff of the wicked, and the sceptre of the rulers. 6: He who smote the people in wrath with a continual stroke, he that ruled the nations in anger, is persecuted, and none hindereth. 7: The whole earth is at rest, and is quiet: they break forth into singing. 8: Yea, the fir trees rejoice at thee, and the cedars of Lebanon, saying, Since thou art laid down, no feller is come up against us. 9: Hell from beneath is moved for thee to meet thee at thy coming: it stirreth up the dead for thee, even all the chief ones of the earth; it hath raised up from their thrones all the kings of the nations. 10: All they shall speak and say unto thee, Art thou also become weak as we? art thou become like unto us? 11: Thy pomp is brought down to the grave, and the noise of thy viols: the worm is spread under thee, and the worms cover thee. 12: How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! 13: For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: 14: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High. 15: Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit. 16: They that see thee shall narrowly look upon thee, and consider thee, saying, Is this the man that made the earth to tremble, that did shake kingdoms; 17: That made the world as a wilderness, and destroyed the cities thereof; that opened not the house of his prisoners? 18: All the kings of the nations, even all of them, lie in glory, every one in his own house. 19: But thou art cast out of thy grave like an abominable branch, and as the raiment of those that are slain, thrust through with a sword, that go down to the stones of the pit; as a carcase trodden under feet. 20: Thou shalt not be joined with them in burial, because thou hast destroyed thy land, and slain thy people: the seed of evildoers shall never be renowned. 21: Prepare slaughter for his children for the iniquity of their fathers; that they do not rise, nor possess the land, nor fill the face of the world with cities. 22: For I will rise up against them, saith the LORD of hosts, and cut off from Babylon the name, and remnant, and son, and nephew, saith the LORD. 23: I will also make it a possession for the bittern, and pools of water: and I will sweep it with the besom of destruction, saith the LORD of hosts. 24: The LORD of hosts hath sworn, saying, Surely as I have thought, so shall it come to pass; and as I have purposed, so shall it stand: 25: That I will break the Assyrian in my land, and upon my mountains tread him under foot: then shall his yoke depart from off them, and his burden depart from off their shoulders. 26: This is the purpose that is purposed upon the whole earth: and this is the hand that is stretched out upon all the nations. 27: For the LORD of hosts hath purposed, and who shall disannul it? and his hand is stretched out, and who shall turn it back? 28: In the year that king Ahaz died was this burden. 29: Rejoice not thou, whole Palestina, because the rod of him that smote thee is broken: for out of the serpent's root shall come forth a cockatrice, and his fruit shall be a fiery flying serpent. 30: And the firstborn of the poor shall feed, and the needy shall lie down in safety: and I will kill thy root with famine, and he shall slay thy remnant. 31: Howl, O gate; cry, O city; thou, whole Palestina, art dissolved: for there shall come from the north a smoke, and none shall be alone in his appointed times. 32: What shall one then answer the messengers of the nation? That the LORD hath founded Zion, and the poor of his people shall trust in it.

Isaiah, 15

1: The burden of Moab. Because in the night Ar of Moab is laid waste, and brought to silence; because in the night Kir of Moab is laid waste, and brought to silence; 2: He is gone up to Bajith, and to Dibon, the high places, to weep: Moab shall howl over Nebo, and over Medeba: on all their heads shall be baldness, and every beard cut off. 3: In their streets they shall gird themselves with sackcloth: on the tops of their houses, and in their streets, every one shall howl, weeping abundantly. 4: And Heshbon shall cry, and Elealeh: their voice shall be heard even unto Jahaz: therefore the armed soldiers of Moab shall cry out; his life shall be grievous unto him. 5: My heart shall cry out for Moab; his fugitives shall flee unto Zoar, an heifer of three years old: for by the mounting up of Luhith with weeping shall they go it up; for in the way of Horonaim they shall raise up a cry of destruction. 6: For the waters of Nimrim shall be desolate: for the hay is withered away, the grass faileth, there is no green thing. 7: Therefore the abundance they have gotten, and that which they have laid up, shall they carry away to the brook of the willows. 8: For the cry is gone round about the borders of Moab; the howling thereof unto Eglaim, and the howling thereof unto Beer-elim. 9: For the waters of Dimon shall be full of blood: for I will bring more upon Dimon, lions upon him that escapeth of Moab, and upon the remnant of the land.

Today we are reading Isaiah chapters 14 & 15. Chapter 14 continues the section begun in Ch 13v1 – 27v13 in which Isaiah brings to us a series of burdens. In ch 13 he has brought the burden of the Lord regarding Babylon but now in ch 14 he speaks first of the mercy of the LORD toward Israel, v1-3 and then he will continue with the burden of Babylon but this time its about the king of Babylon rather than the people v4-23. In v24-32 he will describe the LORD’s deliverance of Israel. Then from ch 15v1 – 16v14 he will outline his burden for Moab. All of these burdens relate to the Day of the LORD. In the last Isaiah had foretold the destruction of Babylon but not in total contrast he foretells the deliverance of Israel v1-3. In the Day of the LORD the Lord himself will have mercy on Jacob and will choose them and set them in their own land. Gentiles will become attached to Israel. They will dominate those that previously oppressed them. Then Isaiah describes the relief of the oppressor v4-8. The Lord will break the power of the wicked and the rulers. He brings rest to the whole earth even the cedars of Lebanon will rejoice. Even the dead will be moved at the coming of Christ v9-11. Then from v12-15 The Lord describes the fall of Lucifer from heaven to earth. This is not history but prophecy. This will occur in the Day of the LORD, in the day of Israel’s restoration. He is cut down because he wished to lift himself up to the heaven and to exalt himself above the stars of God (The angels) He also desires to sit on the mount Zion in the sides of the north. And he says that he wishes to be like The Most High – Christ. This Lucifer – the morning star was worshipped by the Assyrians as male at sun rise and as female at sunset. Yet he will be brought down to the abyss. From v16-20 Isaiah describes Lucifer as a man, or rather as a male. They will say of him – Is this the man (or the Male) that made the earth to tremble and shock kingdoms. Who made the world a wilderness and destroyed cities. The Kings of the earth are laid in graves yet this one is vomited out of the grave. He will never be joined to the mortal dead. Then Isaiah describes the depopulation of Babylon from the earth, v21-22. The city will be a desolated place inhabited only by fowls. The rest of the chapter is about the total devastation the Babylon will suffer. The LORD’s will be carried out against Babylon. The Assyrian (another name for the Antichrist) will be broken for ever on the mountains of Israel. Israel will be set free from his dominion forever. The Lord will do this and none will ever prevent it. This prophecy came to Isaiah in the year that Ahaz died. Assyria, Palestina will suffer under the hand of the Lord. In Isaiah chapter 15 he begins a new section which is the burden for Moab, it continues to 16v14. Isaiah describes in v1 the total devastation of Moab. The whole area will be laid waste. The people will repent deeply and humble themselves cutting off their hair and beards and sitting in sackcloth and in weeping. Moab will howl to the Lord.

Steve