Gary Gleans

Nations rise and fall according to the sovereign plan of God.  Isaiah has been given the revelation of God’s will and intent for the nations that surround Israel.  These nations have been a source of fear, judgment and temptation for Israel.  God has used them to call Israel back to Himself or to discipline them for their disobedience.  They were victorious for a time because God was using them to accomplish His will.  However, instead of humbly recognizing the power of God at work in their midst and living in fear of Him, they became proud and even more sinful in their attitudes and actions.  God is now getting ready to call them to judgment. THE JUDGMENT OF BABYLON: Babylon and her leaders were used to take Judah into captivity.  We know that Daniel was taken captive and ended up serving in the highest offices of this kingdom and those that were to come.  However even before they had destroyed Jerusalem and taken the captives into exile, God had already planned their overthrow a

Grasping at straws is an expression we use to describe those who are hopelessly looking to anyone or anything as a source of help.  Unfortunately, like straws, these sources end up being weak and hallow and end up being a greater source of discouragement than help.  The nation of Israel has been living in disobedience and practicing idolatry for generations and God is in the process of judging them through the Assyrian army.  This threat has caused Israel to begin grasping at straws and so instead of repenting and looking to God, they look to Egypt and Ethiopia to rescue them.  Isaiah gives a very graphic message of how God views this misplaced trust. ISAIAH PROPHESIES EGYPT’S AND ETHIOPIA’S FALL: God told Isaiah to take off his shoes and his clothes and to walk through the streets prophesying against Egypt and Ethiopia.  This was a very graphic illustration of his message that these nations would be led away into captivity barefoot and naked.  Nations that seem to be strong and a

God has a way of turning hurts into hopes.  The circumstances of this sin cursed world will often bring us to a point of hurting and pain but God is able to take those hurts and pains and turn them into blessings if we turn to the Lord in our times of need.  Isaiah speaks of a time of destruction and defeat for the nation of Egypt, but he follows that up with a prophecy of Egypt, Assyria and Israel all turning to the Lord and enjoying peace with one another and with God.  Sin brings painful consequences but if those consequences can be used to motivate us to turn to the Lord, the final result will be better than our original condition. ISAIAH FORETELLS THE DESOLATION OF EGYPT: Sin will destroy a nation.  Not only does it bring pain and destruction to the individual sinner, it will bring a nation to its knees.  Isaiah prophesies of a day where the leadership of Egypt will be corrupt and ruthless, the result of which will cause a civil war in which the people will self-destruct.  If

Men and nations futilely put their trust in their own strength and the strength of the alliances that they have made instead of trusting in the Lord and looking to Him for their help.  Isaiah turns his attention to the coming judgment on Cush or what we know of as Ethiopia today.  They sent out messengers of help in hopes of finding deliverance from their enemies through their allies.  What they do not realize is that their allies will be facing the same dreadful plight.  God is judging the nations and there is nothing that any of them can do to escape this judgment apart from submitting to Him and turning to Him in repentance. MEN NATURALLY TRUST IN OTHER MEN: We are all comfortable with the things that we can understand and rationally explain.  We understand the strength of one nation due to the size of its army or the number of weapons they have.  These are things that are easy for us to measure and rationally decide our allegiances based on our observance of the strength of me

The prediction of the impending judgment of the nations surrounding Israel as well as Israel herself continues in this passage.  If there is one thing that is obvious from this portion of Scripture it is that God is sovereign over the nations of the world and He is in complete control of what goes on in all the world.  He sets up leaders and He takes them down.  He establishes a nation and makes it strong according to His will and then He brings that nation to its knees according to His sovereign desire and control.  In the midst of all of this He is at work to honor and glorify Himself and to see mankind turn to Him. DESOLATION ENCOURAGES REPENTANCE: The desolation of both Syria and Israel are foretold in this passage.  These mighty nations who were the fear of all the other nations will be laid to waste and experience disaster.  Their cities will be destroyed.  Their people will be taken captive and those who survive will wander like nomads in the desert because of the devastati

There is always a promise of hope in the midst of the judgment of God.  He longs for men to be reconciled to Him and He does not wish to judge the nations and the people.  His desire is to forgive them and be reconciled to them but He can only do so as people turn from their sin in repentance and humble themselves before Him in faith.  Apart from this turning to the Lord there is no hope and judgment in sure. MOAB IS ENCOURAGED TO MAKE PEACE WITH ISRAEL: God has promised to send a redeemer of mankind through the nation of Israel.  Isaiah calls for Moab to recognize their need of a Savior and do demonstrate that recognition by making peace with Israel.  This of course would have required a major shift in their political agenda and their personal humility and pride.  All of us like to think that we are right.  It takes a great amount of humility to admit that we are wrong and that we need help; but that is exactly what we must do if we are going to be reconciled to Him through Chris

God’s judgment of sin on the nations is necessary because of God’s holiness and man’s sinfulness.  However, we must never forget that God does not want to judge any of the people in any of the nations.  His desire is for the people to repent and for the nations to be reconciled to Him.  The suffering of nations is not God’s desire and it breaks His heart when He must judge them.  God does not want to judge, but He most certainly will as His holiness demands.  It is not pleasant for Him and it will not be pleasant for those being judged. THE PEOPLE WILL CRY IN MOAB: God’s judgment on Moab will bring the nation to its knees, its buildings to the ground and its people to tears.  There will be weeping and wailing in all the nation from both young and old.  From the cities to the country side, from the mountains to the streets men will cry out in tears for the judgment that has fallen upon them.  These tears will come from the physical pain of defeat, from the emotional trauma brought

The children of Israel have been oppressed from generation to generation.  This oppression came upon them because of their disobedience and lack of repentance.  God used the surrounding nations to judge Israel and exact this oppression on the nation of Israel.  The reason God allowed these nations to overthrow Israel and take them captive was not because they were so much godlier than Israel.  In fact, just the opposite was true.  Conquering Israel was not a blessing from God; rather, it was a judgment from God.  When Israel would repent in her captivity, God would extend mercy to her and then that conquering nation would itself be conquered.  Israel holds a special place in the heart of God so He judges her in order to bring her back into fellowship with Him and to judge the nations that oppressed her. THE JUDGMENT OF BABYLON: Babylon was a proud and arrogant nation that made great boasts about its own greatness.  The king had absolute power and could do anything that he pleased.

Sovereignty is a concept that can make us uneasy and is often difficult for us to understand.  We all like to think that we are the authors of our own destiny and that we are in control of our lives.  The will of God and the will of man will always seem mutually exclusive in our minds.  I do not pretend to be able to reconcile these two concepts other than to say that it is clear that we are responsible for the choices we make in life and that God is in complete control of all that happens in the universe.  God’s control is clearly on display in the next several chapters as Isaiah will be prophesying concerning the nations surrounding Israel.  It is clear that God is rising one nation up and tearing another nation down according to his sovereign will.  Today’s chapter is a prophesy concerning the destruction of Babylon. THE DESTRUCTION OF BABYLON IS COMING: At the time of Isaiah’s writing, Babylon had not yet conquered Judah.  However, even before they ascended to domination God i

Praising God is what all of us were created to do.  To praise someone is to speak well of them.  When we praise we usually do it in one of two ways.  The first way is to praise the person by telling them what we appreciate about them and express gratitude to them for the way that they have done for us.  The second way is to talk to other people about what another person has done for us or what we appreciate about them.  Certainly we should praise God in both of these ways and that is exactly what Isaiah says that the children of Israel will do when God saves them and brings them back to their land when Jesus reigns over them.  We too have many motives for praising God in both of these ways. WE MUST TELL GOD OF HIS GOODNESS AND GRACE: When God transforms the heart and history of the nation of Israel, their hearts will overflow with gratitude to the Lord.  This nation has been greatly blessed by God throughout its history but instead of having gratitude in their hearts, they murmure

Promise can describe an oath or a vow to do something or it can describe a state of hopefulness.  Today’s passage describes both types of promise.  God has made many promises to the nation of Israel in the form of covenants that were made with Abraham, David and the nation as a whole.  Those promises have found partial fulfillment, but we have never seen a time in history when those promises have been completely fulfilled.  We must conclude that God is planning to fulfill these promises at some point in the future.  Isaiah seems to be describing those days.  They are days of great promise in the sense that there is more hope in the description of those days than we have seen at any point in the history of the earth since the fall in the Garden of Eden.  These truly will be days of great hope. THE REIGN OF JESUS: A descendant of David will come forth to rule over the nations.  Jesus is obviously the fulfillment of this prophecy as is made clear in all of the genealogies.  Jesus is

Children think that they can hide because they put their hands over their eyes.  They somehow think that because they can’t see us, we can’t see them.  Many people think the same thing about God.  Grown men and women all over the world live under the delusional belief that because they cannot see God; God cannot see them.  They are wrong.  God does see everything and He will judge everything.  He might not do it right away and He might not do it in the way that we He expect Him to but He does see all and in His perfect time will call all men into judgment. GOD JUDGES THE UNJUST: God tells us that basic to living in obedience to Him is to care for widows and orphans.  These are the most helpless people of our society so we are all called upon to give them special care and attention.  Unfortunately there are many wicked and godless men in the world who make it their goal to oppress the widows and orphans and to exploit them for their own gain.  These cowardly people prey on the defe

There is good news and bad news in this passage. When given the choice I usually want the bad news first, but Isaiah decides to start with the good news in order to prevent complete despair during the announcement of the bad news. Bad news is very prevalent in our culture and society today. We see wars all over the world, the decay in values that seems to be infecting our culture and there seems to be an underlying nervousness about the possibility of terrorism. Most of these things are beyond our ability to control so they tend to produce a feeling of anxiety and fear in our lives. That is where the good news needs to come into our thinking. While it is true that many of the circumstances of our lives and the society in which we live are beyond our ability to control; they are not beyond God’s control. The good news is that Jesus has promised to set things right and one day He will reign supreme on this earth in a completely just reign. When we face bad news it is important t

Judgment is a reality that every man will face when he stands before God.  The Lord has always been a just Judge and has consistently judged His people throughout all of history.  God has always been very gracious to warn people of the coming judgment so that they might make preparations for the judgment by repenting and turning to Him in order to avoid the judgment that has been promised.  Isaiah has been given the task of alerting his people to the impending judgment that God will bring upon the nation in the form of the Assyrian nation that is coming to invade.  God will often use godless nations to be His instruments of judgment on His people in hopes that they will awaken to the reality of the sin in their lives and return to the Lord. ISAIAH FOREWARNS ABOUT THE DESTRUCTION OF ISRAEL: God had revealed to Isaiah that the nation of Israel would be overthrown by the Assyrian army.  In the previous chapter Judah had been in fear of Israel invading Judah with the Syrian army, now

Fear can be a powerful emotion that either empowers us to be able to accomplish more than we ever dreamed or cripples us so that we can be easily overcome by that which threatens us.  There are circumstances in life that can promote fear but we must learn to respond to those circumstances with faith in the goodness and the ability of God to deliver us as He sees fit.  No matter how difficult things may become, we must always remember that God is in control and will ultimately determine to outcome of our situation.  When we are tempted to trust in our own strength or on some outside source to deliver us we must turn to the Lord and place our trust solely upon Him. GOD GIVES ASSURANCE IN THE PLACE OF FEAR: Isaiah is sent to king Ahaz in a time of great fear and danger.  The Syrian army and Israel had united to come and overthrow Ahaz and the people of Judah.  The odds were against Judah as there was no human way that his army could stand against this powerful alliance.  Defeat was c

This is one of the most well known passages in all of the Old Testament.  It gives us a unique view of the throne of God in heaven as well as the response of those who are granted a glimpse of this glorious place.  When we get a glimpse of God’s glory our natural response will be to fall on our faces in worship and then recognize our own guilt before Him.  God’s response to our worship and repentance is to purify us through forgiveness and then commission us to communicate His message to the nations of the World.  Those who have no sense of guilt before God and not desire to communicate the message of God have likely never come into the presence of God. ISAIAH ADMIRES GOD’S GLORY: Isaiah has a unique experience that very few people have had.  He was granted a vision of the presence of God.  He sees the Lord high and lifted up and surrounded by glorious angelic creatures that are praising His holy name.  God’s glory is the point of all creation and it is clearly demonstrated and pr

Expectations can be very dangerous things.  Many of us face disappointment because we have expectations that are not fulfilled.  Of course our expectations are flawed because we expect things that are unbiblical and or unreasonable.  However, God also has expectations of man that, due to our sinfulness, are not fulfilled.  This does not surprise God because He knows our hearts and knows all things before they happen.  The problem of man not fulfilling God’s expectations lies with man alone, therefore the consequences of these unfulfilled expectations inflict great suffering on those who fail to meet God’s expectations.  MAN’S PRODUCTION DOES NOT MATCH GOD’S PROVISION: God made great provision for the nation of Israel.  He compares Israel to a vineyard that was plowed, protected, and provided for in every way and yet it only produced sour grapes.  There was no lack of provision for the nation of Israel just like there has never been any lack of provision for any of us.  God has pro

We have a tendency to look at life on earth from a perspective that things will go from bad to worse.  That, in part, is a biblical perspective because the Bible tells us that as we approach the last days the hearts of men will grow ever more distant from God.  However, that is not the end of the story and is certainly not the end of the history of the earth.  God has a glorious plan for this planet and even a more glorious plan for our eternal future.  This should provide us with a great sense of hope and expectation as well as an ability to cope with the distress that sin brings down upon us and the people around us.  Things may be bad and they will likely get much worse but there is a NEW DAY that is coming and it will be glorious. THE DESPAIR OF SIN: The first verse of this chapter is really a continuation of the subject of the previous chapter.  The women of Israel are in the depths of despair because of the sinfulness that has run rampant in nation and in their own lives.  M

Judgment comes in many different forms but usually it is all for the very same reason: sin.  When men and women choose a life of sinfulness and rebellion against God, they open themselves up to the judgment of God.  This judgment may not be immediate but it is certain.  God is patient, loving and kind but He is also holy, just and severe.  God gives man ample opportunity to repent and return to following His Word; but when repentance is not forthcoming, judgment will soon follow.  Israel had been living a life of idolatry and rebellion against God; they were blatant and open in their sinfulness.  Both men and women had been living without scruples and without shame.  God’s patience had worn thin and now they were about to face the consequences of their poor choices and misplaced loyalties. GOD JUDGES MEN WITH POOR LEADERSHIP: When God judges a nation it is complete.  He takes away food and water but perhaps more significantly He removes the blessings of good leadership.  Nations a

The future is always a subject of great interest in the lives of men.  People are always trying to prognosticate about the future.  Whether we are talking of the weather, the stock market or our eternal destiny; we pay very close attention to what we believe the future will hold.  The Bible goes to great lengths to reveal to mankind exactly what God has planned for the future.  God does this in order to adequately prepare us for what He has determined will take place.  The purpose of revealing the future is to transform the way that we live today.  God has already decided what will happen in the future and these realities are unchangeable and unavoidable.  However, we can use the knowledge that God has given us in His Word to adequately prepare for that future reality. REMEMBER THE PROMISE OF GOD: There is a plan for the future of this world that includes all the people and nations of this world coming to the land of Israel for the purpose of worshiping Christ and knowing the Word

Sin is a terrible thing.  It has caused so much pain and suffering on all of humanity.  God has placed Himself directly in opposition to sin and has been working throughout history to abolish the effects of sin.  Part of His plan for redeeming mankind from the fall and sin was the nation of Israel.  Perhaps it is for that very reason that Satan has tried throughout history to destroy and deceive Israel in an attempt to keep man chained to sin.  Isaiah writes to the nation of Israel about a vision that he has received from God for the purpose of calling the nation to recognize their sinful state, repent and then be restored to a right relationship with God. THE CONDEMNATION OF SIN: Israel was chosen by God to be a special nation unto Him.   They are His children and the object of His special revelation.  Despite this special blessed relationship that they had with God, they have rebelled against God and refused to submit to Him.  They have turned their backs on the Lord who called