Isaiah 36-38: The Zeal of the Lord

These chapters tell of the fate that comes to those who doubt God and those who trust Him.  Sennacherib thought he was so smart.  He had already attacked all the fortified cities of Judah and held Jerusalem under siege.  He was sure Hezekiah and his God were no match against his cunning and the strength of his army.  If he didn't sway the Israelites with his words of strength, he would sway them with his promise of a land flowing with bread and wine.

Then the commander stood and called out in Hebrew, "Hear the words of the great king, the king of Assyria! This is what the king says: Do not let Hezekiah deceive you. He cannot deliver you! Do not let Hezekiah persuade you to trust in the LORD when he says, 'The LORD will surely deliver us; this city will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.'

"Do not listen to Hezekiah. This is what the king of Assyria says: Make peace with me and come out to me. Then every one of you will eat from his own vine and fig tree and drink water from his own cistern, until I come and take you to a land like your own—a land of grain and new wine, a land of bread and vineyards. - Is. 36:13-17 NIV

But Sennacherib had not counted on the 'Zeal of the Lord.' and his promise as spoken by the Prophet Isaiah.

"This will be the sign for you, O Hezekiah:
"This year you will eat what grows by itself,
and the second year what springs from that.
But in the third year sow and reap,
plant vineyards and eat their fruit.
Once more a remnant of the house of Judah
will take root below and bear fruit above.
For out of Jerusalem will come a remnant,
and out of Mount Zion a band of survivors
The zeal of the LORD Almighty will accomplish this. - Is. 36: 30-32 NIV

Not only would Sennacherib be defeated, but Jerusalem would produce the very crops he promised he would give them.  Hezekiah and the rest of the Israelites holed up in Jerusalem recognized the difference between threats without any substance and the Zeal of the Lord.  Only the Zeal of the Lord can accomplish the impossible.

Isaiah 32-35: The Redeemed of the Lord Shall Return

These chapters in Isaiah paint a picture of two different highways:

one is a deserted place

Look, their brave men cry aloud in the streets;
the envoys of peace weep bitterly.
The highways are deserted,
no travelers are on the roads.
The treaty is broken,
its witnesses are despised,
no one is respected.
The land mourns and wastes away, - Is. 33:7-9 NIV

and the other is filled with celebration.

And a highway will be there;
it will be called the Way of Holiness.
The unclean will not journey on it;
it will be for those who walk in that Way;
wicked fools will not go about on it.
No lion will be there,
nor will any ferocious beast get up on it;
they will not be found there.
But only the redeemed will walk there,
and the ransomed of the LORD will return.
They will enter Zion with singing;
everlasting joy will crown their heads.
Gladness and joy will overtake them,
and sorrow and sighing will flee away.- Is. 35:8-10

Someday, the world as we know it will be totally desolate, as God has promised.  No nation will escape his wrath.  But out of that barren wasteland will arise a highway for our God.  And those walking on that highway will enter Zion with singing.  The redeemed of the Lord shall return.

Isaiah 30-32: What Matters Most

This is what the Sovereign LORD, the Holy One of Israel, says:
"In repentance and rest is your salvation,
in quietness and trust is your strength,
but you would have none of it.
You said, 'No, we will flee on horses.'
Therefore you will flee!
You said, 'We will ride off on swift horses.'
Therefore your pursuers will be swift!
A thousand will flee at the threat of one;
at the threat of five you will all flee away,
till you are left like a flagstaff on a mountaintop,
like a banner on a hill.
"Yet the LORD longs to be gracious to you;
he rises to show you compassion.
For the LORD is a God of justice.
Blessed are all who wait for him! - Isaiah 30:15-18 NIV

Hidden in these chapters of woe for all of the nations is this one truth.  The Lord longs to be gracious to us.  It has never been the desire of his heart to destroy his people, to send them into captivity, or inflict any other sort of punishment on them.  He longs to be gracious, he rises to show compassion.  But most of the time, throughout history, His people will have none of it.  His people, the ones that he longs to protect, convince themselves that they have to take matters into their own hands.  What kind of God do we serve?  He is not a small god, he is not made of wood or clay.  Instead he is the creator of wood and clay and everything else.  He holds all the power of the universe in his hands, and he longs to be gracious to us.  When it comes to what matters most to Him, it is where we put our trust in all matters.

Isaiah 27-29: A Sure Foundation

What does it mean to be just and righteouess?  Did Isaiah see that God's justice and righteouessness is a lot different from that which man would devise. 

For it is:
Do and do, do and do,
rule on rule, rule on rule;
a little here, a little there." - Is.28:10 NIV
 
So this is what the Sovereign LORD says:
"See, I lay a stone in Zion, a tested stone,
a precious cornerstone for a sure foundation;
the one who trusts will never be dismayed.
I will make justice the measuring line
and righteousness the plumb line;
hail will sweep away your refuge, the lie,
and water will overflow your hiding place. - Is. 28:16-17 NIV

The Lord says:
"These people come near to me with their mouth
and honor me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from me.
Their worship of me
is made up only of rules taught by men.
Therefore once more I will astound these people
with wonder upon wonder;
the wisdom of the wise will perish,
the intelligence of the intelligent will vanish."
Woe to those who go to great depths
to hide their plans from the LORD,
who do their work in darkness and think,
"Who sees us? Who will know?"
You turn things upside down,
as if the potter were thought to be like the clay!
Shall what is formed say to him who formed it,
"He did not make me"?Can the pot say of the potter,
"He knows nothing"?  - Is. 29:13-16

It wasn't just in Isaiah's generation that things were turned upside down. If we could see ourselves as God sees us, we would see that our righteousness is as filthy rags:  our worship is merely repetitious, we treat God as if he were our creation rather than the creator.  Our 'do and do, do and do, rule on rule, rule on rule'; or as the King James puts it 'precept upon precept, line upon line' is merely applying lip service, while at the same time we would place a heavy burden of 'do and do' on our fellow brothers and sisters.  Righteousness is not just following the rules.  It is not just clean living.  It is not just singing the right songs.  It is not just giving to the right organizations.  Righteousness comes from falling on that precious cornerstone, the sure foundation that has been given to us.  Falling and trusting because there is no other alternative.

Isaiah 24-26: Perfect Peace

In Isaiah 24-26, Isaiah paints a very grim picture.  The earth will be completely laid waste and totally plundered. The LORD has spoken this word. - Is. 24:3 NIV 

The devastation will be greater than anything we can comprehend and encompass all of creation from the beginning of time.  It will not be just the inhabitants of a city, or a state, or a nation or even a continent that are destroyed. 

In that day the LORD will punish the powers in the heavens above
and the kings on the earth below. They will be herded together
like prisoners bound in a dungeon; they will be shut up in prison
and be punished after many days.
- Is. 24:21-22 - NIV
 
Yet in the midst of this calamity, there will be reason for praise.  God is bringing to fruition his plan.  It will be just as it was in Egypt with the first Passover.  The Israelites, who had sprinkled the lamb's blood on their door posts, were sheltered in their houses, while the Lord struck down all the first born of the Egyptians.
 
Go, my people, enter your rooms
and shut the doors behind you;
hide yourselves for a little while
until his wrath has passed by.
See, the LORD is coming out of his dwelling
to punish the people of the earth for their sins.
The earth will disclose the blood shed upon her;
she will conceal her slain no longer.- Is. 26:20-21 NIV

Yet those who trust in the Lord God, will be in perfect peace, they will be hiding under the Rock.

You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast,
because he trusts in you.  Trust in the LORD forever,
for the LORD, the LORD, is the Rock eternal. - Is. 26:3-4 NIV

Isaiah 21-23: Morning Comes and So Does the Night

Isaiah's oracles don't hold out a lot of hope for many.  Babylon will fall, the survivors of Arabia will be few, and Tyre will be destroyed.,

"Watchman, what is left of the night?
Watchman, what is left of the night?"
The watchman replies,
"Morning is coming, but also the night. - Isaiah 21:11-12

It's not easy to contemplate, but God's laws are immutable and his justice swift.  It's one thing to look at one's enemies and hope that someday they will get their just reward.  It's another to comprehend the finality of God's judgement.  As we long for the Savior's coming, we must remember that morning is coming, but also the night.

Isaiah 17-20: The Mystery of Prophecy

For we know in part and we prophesy in part, - 1 Cor. 13:9 NIV

What did Isaiah see, what was he prophesying about?  Did he understand it all, or did he write it down by faith, knowing, as the Apostle Paul did, that although the mystery of God and his intentions remains steadfast through the generations, the full knowledge of God's plan remains His alone.

All you people of the world,
you who live on the earth,
when a banner is raised on the mountains,
you will see it,
and when a trumpet sounds,
you will hear it
This is what the LORD says to me:
"I will remain quiet and will look on from my dwelling place,
like shimmering heat in the sunshine,
like a cloud of dew in the heat of harvest."  - Is. 18:3-4 NIV

When the trumpet sounds and the banner is raised, we will know, we will hear, but until then we walk by faith.