Archive for Judah

Newer Entries »

Isaiah 7:20-22 Razor Close Shave

Posted in Isaiah with tags , , , , , , , , , on March 9, 2013 by paulthepoke

Isaiah 7:20 In that day the Lord will shave with a razor, hired from regions beyond the Euphrates (that is, with the king of Assyria), the head and the hair of the legs; and it will also remove the beard.

God is using the King of Assyria as an instrument. Here is some background as to how Jewish culture viewed a razor, shaving, hair, and a beard. Presentation of hair was important to the Jewish people. During this time, hair was worn long by men and women. People would curl their hair for effect. Baldness was considered humiliating or embarrassing. Bald people were made fun of or insulted. (Holman Bible Dictionary).

The beard was considered an ornament.  The beard was not shaved but trimmed. Size and fullness of beard were symbols of respectability and trustworthiness. The beard was an object of an oath with blessings or shame stated (New Unger’s Bible Dictionary).

The bodies of people were completely shaved from head to toe including the beard. The phrase “hair of the legs” is interesting. Some have interpreted this to be idiomatic language for pubic hair. The idea was total humiliation.

Figurative language is used in verse 20. The “razor” is likely the future king Sennacherib. Judah was flattened in 701 BC. According to the records of Sennacherib, forty-six cities were destroyed in Judah.  Approximately 200,000 people were captured and taken from the land (Wycliffe Bible Commentary).

Isaiah 7:21 Now in that day a man may keep alive a heifer and a pair of sheep;

Each person has limited livestock at this time, three animals. A heifer is a young cow that has not produced off spring. There is no mention of a bull. This could make reproduction and growth of populations difficult.

Isaiah 7:22 and because of the abundance of the milk produced he will eat curds, for everyone that is left within the land will eat curds and honey.

If a person was alive and survived, people will live off of these animals. There is no other food source. The lack of vegetation and crops will be discussed in the next verses.

Leave a comment »

Isaiah 7:17-19 Flies and Bees

Posted in Isaiah with tags , , , , , , , , on March 2, 2013 by paulthepoke

Isaiah 7:17 “The LORD will bring on you, on your people, and on your father’s house such days as have never come since the day that Ephraim separated from Judah, the king of Assyria.”

A warning and judgment from God is coming to your people, Judah, the southern kingdom.  They have not experienced judgment from God since Israel had split. The kingdom split in 1 Kings 12. The event itself is noted in 1 Kings 12:16. When all Israel saw that the king did not listen to them, the people answered the king, saying, “What portion do we have in David? We have no inheritance in the son of Jesse; to your tents, O Israel! Now look after your own house, David!” So Israel departed to their tents. The year of the split was approximately 920-930 BC. God tells them who the instrument of punishment is going to be, the king Assyria.

Isaiah 7:18 In that day the LORD will whistle for the fly that is in the remotest part of the rivers of Egypt and for the bee that is in the land of Assyria.

God causes this to happen.  The Hebrew word for “remotest” is qatesh. It means end, mouth, extremity, border, or outskirts per Strong’s Concordance.  He calls for the Egyptians with a hiss or a whistle from the “mouth” of the rivers. I take it to be from the Nile Delta. Assyria is symbolized as a bee. These two insects or countries will meet in the middle in the land of Judah. The flies will swarm and the bees will sting. Egypt and Assyria clashed in 701 BC (Ryrie Study Notes).

Isaiah 7:19 They will all come and settle on the steep ravines, on the ledges of the cliffs, on all the thorn bushes and on all the watering places.

These forces from Egypt and Assyria come in and take over. The word “all” is used three times in this verse. It refers to the foreign forces, thorn bushes, and water resources. It is the Hebrew word “kol”. It is defined as all, the whole of, any, each, every, anything, totality, everything. Foreign troups are everywhere. They stress out an area that already has depleted resources and limited food.

4 Comments »

Isaiah7:3-9 Be Calm, God Knows

Posted in Isaiah with tags , , , , , , , , on February 10, 2013 by paulthepoke

Isaiah 7:3-4 Then the LORD said to Isaiah, “Go out now to meet Ahaz, you and your son Shear-jashub, at the end of the conduit of the upper pool, on the highway to the fuller’s field, and say to him, ‘Take care and be calm, have no fear and do not be fainthearted because of these two stubs of smoldering firebrands, on account of the fierce anger of Rezin and Aram and the son of Remaliah.

God gives a direct command for Isaiah to take his son with him to meet King Ahaz. Imagine if you were Ahaz and you saw Isaiah and son headed your direction, especially when you take the meaning of their names into account. Isaiah means “Jehovah has saved”, and Shear-jashub means (a remnant will return) according to Strong’s Concordance. This should provide some comfort knowing “Jehovah has saved” and “a remnant will return” is coming your direction as messengers from God.

Isaiah repeats a simple message four times, do not be afraid. Yes, these two adversaries are really ticked but they are losing their fire and just smoking and smoldering. The log is about to burn out.

Isaiah 7:5-6 ‘Because Aram, with Ephraim and the son of Remaliah, has planned evil against you, saying, “Let us go up against Judah and terrorize it, and make for ourselves a breach in its walls and set up the son of Tabeel as king in the midst of it,”

God knows their plans and tells Ahaz. Essentially, God is saying “I know what these guys are up to”. They have plans of being king makers. This northern alliance is looking to replace an enemy with an ally. They look to put a friend in power for political gain. This would be a natural alliance to strengthen their foothold in the region. The idea seems reasonable. They want to put the son of “God is good” (Tabeel) in charge in the south.

They have battle plans in place. They are going to break down the wall in Jerusalem and invade. You can make all the plans you want, God may have other ideas for you.

Isaiah 7:7 thus says the Lord GOD: “It shall not stand nor shall it come to pass.”

Isaiah 7:9 and the head of Ephraim is Samaria and the head of Samaria is the son of Remaliah. If you will not believe, you surely shall not last.”’”

God has a plan for eternal life. The issue for us is the same issue as it was for Ahaz, faith. Do you trust God? Do you believe Him? It is there for the taking, free of charge…

Leave a comment »

Isaiah 7:1-2 Family Feud

Posted in Isaiah with tags , , , , , , , , , on February 2, 2013 by paulthepoke

Isaiah 7:1 Now it came about in the days of Ahaz, the son of Jotham, the son of Uzziah, king of Judah, that Rezin the king of Aram and Pekah the son of Remaliah, king of Israel, went up to Jerusalem to wage war against it, but could not conquer it.

Effectively, the northern kingdom of Israel has formed an alliance with Aram, modern day Syria. The northern kingdom has turned against family, the southern kingdom of Judah. This takes place in roughly 735 BC. The northern alliance decides to go south and attack Jerusalem. The campaign was not a success.

The primary characters are the following. Ahaz is the king of the Judah in the south. His name means “he has grasped”. He was the eleventh king of Judah. Ahaz was a direct ancestor to Jesus Christ. He was not a good king. He was wicked and turned to idolatry. He believed in mulitculturalism and introduced other religions and foreigners. Ahaz also turned against his family in the north. He formed an alliance with the Assyrians and Tiglath-pileser in response to the alliance in the north that was formed against him. Ahaz was king for sixteen years and died when he was 35 (Baker Encyclopedia of Bible People).

Pekah is the king of northern Israel. His name means “opened”. He was the nineteenth king of Israel and he reigned for nine years. He gained power by plotting and executing an assassination of King Pekahiah. He was not a good king. Pekah was power hungry. As God would have it, Pekah lost his life and crown with a conspiracy. Hoshea conspired and killed Pekah (Baker Encyclopedia of Bible People).

Rezin is the king of Aram, modern day Syria. His name means “firm”. He was the last king of Syria. The line ends with him (Baker Encyclopedia of Bible People).

Isaiah 7:2 When it was reported to the house of David, saying, “The Arameans have camped in Ephraim,” his heart and the hearts of his people shook as the trees of the forest shake with the wind.

Ahaz is in the house of David. We know this because of the genealogies documented throughout the Old Testament. Specifically, a complete genealogy of Christ is stated in Matthew 1. Ahaz, David, and Jesus are all documented to be in the same family tree.

The meaning of Aram or Arameans is “exalted”. The exalted ones had moved into the hill country of northern Israel. Ephraim is a name used for the northern kingdom in Isaiah. Ephraim is a tribe of Jews that is from the second son of Joseph back in Genesis.

This action by the northern alliance is clearly unsettling to the king and his people in the south. Their inner soul or being shook. The Hebrew word for shook is nuwa’. According to Strong’s Concordance it means: to wave, quiver, vibrate, swing, stagger, tremble, be unstable, to totter, or go tottering. Bravery was not a strong suit of Ahaz and he was perceived to be weak.

Leave a comment »

Isaiah 17:2-3 Treaties with Enemies

Posted in Isaiah with tags , , , , , , on December 29, 2012 by paulthepoke

Isaiah 17:2 “The cities of Aroer are forsaken; they will be for flocks to lie down in, and there will be no one to frighten them.

Three cities are known by this name in the Old Testament. The first Aroer is located near the Arnon River. The Arnon River flows into the Dead Sea from the east. The river is approximately the midway point of the Dead Sea from north to south. The city is located on the north bank of the Arnon River 13 miles east of the Dead Sea (New Unger’s Bible Dictionary).

The second Aroer is located in Ammon or modern day Jordan.

The third Aroer is in the south of Judah. This city is located 12 miles southeast of Beersheba in modern day southern Israel. Beersheba is due west of the southern tip of the Dead Sea.

There are cities, plural. It is difficult to assess which cities are being discussed.  Regardless of the location, the cities have been destroyed and they are now pasture land for livestock. It will be a place of rest and peace for the animals. The meaning, according to Unger’s Bible Dictionary, of the name “Aroer” is nudity. So literally, the cities of nudity will be stripped.

Isaiah 17:3 “The fortified city will disappear from Ephraim, and sovereignty from Damascus and the remnant of Aram; they will be like the glory of the sons of Israel,” declares the LORD of hosts. 

Ephraim is the northern kingdom of Israel. They had a peace treaty with Damascus. Aram is the region where Damascus was located. Israel’s history was to sign peace treaties with countries or regions they viewed as military powers. Instead of sticking together with their kin, Judah, the northern kingdom had a treaty with Damascus. This treaty was against their family in the southern kingdom of Judah. Israel was divided. They did not trust or have faith in God to protect them.

Some have suggested this prophecy was fulfilled in 732 BC when Tiglath-pileser of Assyria leveled Damascus and surrounding cities. If this prophecy was proclaimed in the Isaiah 14:28 time marker, it was proclaimed in the year of King Ahaz’s death. The king’s death was in the year 715 BC as confirmed by multiple sources. That would mean the oracle would not be prophecy but history. It would be hard for this prophecy to be fulfilled when it had not been written. Damascus and neighboring cities have since rebuilt and are prominent in today’s world. I take it, these events are yet future.

The Lord Himself spoke on this matter.  Simply put, they will cease.

2 Comments »

Isaiah 5:3-5 The Wall of Protection Crumbles

Posted in Isaiah with tags , , , , , , , , on June 18, 2012 by paulthepoke

Isaiah 5:3-5 “And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah, judge between Me and My vineyard. What more was there to do for My vineyard that I have not done in it? Why, when I expected it to produce good grapes did it produce worthless ones? So now let Me tell you what I am going to do to My vineyard: I will remove its hedge and it will be consumed; I will break down its wall and it will become trampled ground.

God is calling on those who live in Jerusalem and the region of Judah to make the judgment. God is asking those who live in the vineyard to make the determination. God is asking with a rhetorical question. He has done all He can do and He has offered up the best He has.

There is expectation and accountability. God had given Israel His best and He expected productive fruit. In our world today, it is no different. God has given us His perfect and blameless Son.  He expects us to respond to what Jesus has done for us on the cross. He paid for our transgressions against God.

Israel’s response to God was stinking, wild grapes. That was their choice. God countered in return. “So now let Me tell you what I am going to do to My vineyard…”

Step one; the hedge of protection will be removed by God. Scripture tells us of another situation in Job where Satan requested the hedge of protection to be removed from around Job. The hedge was allowed to be removed by God. We all know that did not initially turn out well for Job.

Step two; the wall will be broken down. Psalm 80:12-13 points out what happens when the wall comes tumbling down. A boar from the forest eats it away and whatever moves in the field feeds on it.

The result for Israel, it will be consumed and it will become trampled ground. These verses are prophetic as J. Vernon McGee points out in his commentary. Israel was subsequently invaded by Syria, Assyria, and Babylon. The place was a baron wasteland for centuries.

What about us? Does it matter how we respond to what God has given us in the person of Jesus? Does God still hold us accountable?

Leave a comment »

Isaiah 19:17-18 Hebrew Language in Egypt

Posted in Isaiah with tags , , , , , , , on April 5, 2011 by paulthepoke

The land of Judah will become a terror to Egypt; everyone to whom it is mentioned will be in dread of it, because of the purpose of the LORD of hosts which He is purposing against them.

Who and where is the land of Judah? Judah is a son of Jacob/Israel from Genesis. The lineage of Judah becomes the Tribe of Judah (Genesis 46, 49).  Jesus is from this tribe and is called the Lion of the Tribe of Judah (Revelation 5:5). This tribe is synonymous with the southern kingdom in the day of Isaiah. It is modern day southern Israel, the area which shares a border with Egypt and the Gaza Strip.

From previous verses, we know the Nile River is dry during this time. The text does not say if the cause is by drought or if water is being withheld by the Aswan Dam. Time will tell. The following is food for thought in the event the waters of Nile are restrained by the dam.

Recently as 2009, Israel’s foreign minister, Avigdor Lieberman, has stirred controversy with comments about Arab citizens and Egypt. He once suggested Egypt’s Aswan Dam might be bombed. In 2008, he said Hosni Mubarak, Egyptian President at that time, could “go to hell.”

Now if Israel is threatening to bomb the Aswan Dam, this would most certainly cause fear, dread, and terror. The concept of the verse is reeling in terror. This would effectively flood and wipe out Egypt. Granted, God has many options at his disposal in regards to stirring up fear. He has plagues, weather, darkness (Exodus) just to mention a few.  I am not suggesting or claiming to know the mind or purpose of God. It does not say. I do find the scenario worth noting in today’s geo-political world. God can absolutely plant an idea into the mind of a person (see Ezekiel 38, 39 with Gog and note Pharaoh and his hardened heart in Exodus).

In that day five cities in the land of Egypt will be speaking the language of Canaan and swearing allegiance to the LORD of hosts; one will be called the City of Destruction.

There are all kinds of speculation and conjecture as to the symbolism or meaning of the five cities noted in this verse. Some commentators are looking for a hidden meaning. Some are seeking spiritual significance of the number five. Some are allegorizing the number of cities.

I am going to take God at His word and believe that He says what He means. There will be five cities in Egypt where those residents will speak Hebrew. Those people in those five cities will be committed to the God of the Bible.

One of those cities is named. The name of that city is debated with legitimate scholarship, not speculation or allegorical interpretation. The argument lies in which text. Here are the considerations.

The Hebrew text has עִיר הַהֶרֶס (’ir haheres, “City of Destruction”; cf. NASB, NIV).

The Qumran scroll 1QIsaa (Dead Sea Scrolls) and some medieval Hebrew manuscripts read   עִיר הָחֶרֶס (ir hakheres, “City of the Sun,” i.e., Heliopolis). This reading also finds support from Symmachus’ Greek version, the Targum (Aramaic translation of the Bible), and the Vulgate (Latin translation of the Bible).

FYI, Heliopolis is located in northern Egypt on the Nile River where it branches into multiple rivers and streams.

I trust at some point in the future this city name will be clarified and make sense.

Leave a comment »

Newer Entries »