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Dr. Wegner and host Tyler Sanders discuss Isaiah 2-4, in which the people of Israel rebel and God continues to call them to obedience.
Show Notes
This week on The Study Podcast, Dr. Paul Wegner and host Tyler Sanders walk through Isaiah 2-4. The people of Israel continue to disobey and God continues to call them to obey. The disobedience of Israel brings severe punishment, but the refining discipline leads to a hopeful future.
Creators and Guests
What is The Study Podcast?
The Study Podcast is an in-depth look at the Bible with Dr. Paul Wegner and Dr. Alex Stewart.
Paul Wegner 0:01
Welcome to Study Isaiah, the podcast where we examine the language, historical context, and meaning of the book of Isaiah with Dr. Paul Wegner. I'm Tyler Sanders and across from me is Dr. Wegner, who's going to tell us the Hebrew phrase of the day.
Paul Wegner 0:12
Well, yeah, once again I did it. I cheated. Because I have a phrase, it's "and it will come to pass or come about in the last days." Every time you see that phrase, it's a hint to let you know, we're not talking about the present anymore. We're talking about the future. And usually when it says 'the last days', it's the end times and stuff like that. So not often in the book does that happen, but now, you've got a clear key that's going to tell you; now we're going to talk about that future. And today, we're going to spend quite a bit of time talking about that, because in chapter two, [verses] one through four, or two through four, we've got that. And then at the end in chapter four, we've got it again, so we have both ends of it.
Tyler Sanders 0:58
Yeah. And this phrase comes up in the second verse, right there at the beginning of our section. Today, we're going over chapters two through four, which is a nice little chunk of the second sub section. Last week, we did chapter one, which also is the first subsection of six that we've kind of identified in the book of Isaiah. And the second subsection is, what 2- 12?
Paul Wegner 1:21
Yes.
Tyler Sanders 1:21
Yeah, 2- 12. And this is kind of, not even really a smaller-well maybe it is kind of a smaller section within there. But two through four is a pretty set piece that's going to be good for us to walk through.
Paul Wegner 1:35
Well and it's pretty clear that it is a unit by itself, because it's talking about the future in the beginning, and then talking about future at the end, and then everything in the middle is talking about the present.
Tyler Sanders 1:48
What's the word you use for that?
Paul Wegner 1:50
I called it an inclusio.
Tyler Sanders 1:51
Okay, yeah.
Paul Wegner 1:52
Which means it's got something at the front and something that the end to kind of hold it together. So that's what it means.
Tyler Sanders 1:59
Okay. Yeah. Well, you ready to get into the text?
Paul Wegner 2:02
Oh, yeah. And let me show you another thing. Remember, we had those introductions? See, that's how we know there's subsections. That's how we know that chapter two goes all the way to chapter 12. Because it then has that new introduction in [chapter] 13. All right. If you look at chapter two, verse one, "The word which Isaiah the son of Amos saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem." It's funny, every time Isaiah is mentioned in these introductions, he gives his whole title. Isaiah, the son of Amos. And so it's interesting, we talked the first time that that's not Amos in the Bible, it's a different person. But it gives his whole title and then it tells, concerning Judah and Jerusalem. Well, okay, we pretty much knew that's what it was going to be so why are you bringing it up again? That's what you said last time.
Tyler Sanders 2:48
Yeah. Right. It's very similar, actually, to the first one.
Paul Wegner 2:52
So that's why I think it's a clear unit. That's actually telling us we've got a new introduction here.
Tyler Sanders 2:58
Now, in the first section, the first chapter with that introduction, you also get a little bit more information about timing. I think there's a date, right? You have like the kings, the reigns and everything like that. This one is a little bit more vague.
Paul Wegner 3:12
Generic. Yeah. It just is telling us it's an introduction, but it's not telling us the date anymore. And remember, just like all the other prophets, the date was always at the beginning. So it follows very similar to those other prophets too.
Tyler Sanders 3:28
Okay. Yeah. That's good. Well, let's get into the text.
Paul Wegner 3:32
Okay. Now, the introduction is there, we don't really need to go into it very much. But if you'll look at this, this is the structure. I call it an envelope pattern or an inclusio. So [chapter] 2:1-4 is talking about Zion, or Israel's future. And then 4:2-6 is talking about Israel's future again. And then when you get to Isaiah 2:5, there's no doubt it's talking about the present. This is what they're like right now. So it gives you that contrast; here's what Israel could be, or one day will be with God's help. But in the present, they're really not there. And they're pretty despicable.
Tyler Sanders 4:13
Yeah, it's rough.
Paul Wegner 4:16
Well, let's see what it says. "In the last days, the mountain of the house of Lord will be established as a chief of the mountains," I thought that was kind of interesting. I don't know if you remember last time we talked about Zion, Mount Zion, being on a hill, but the mountains around it are even bigger. I mean, Mount Scopus, which is to the north of Zion, or Mount Zion, is even higher. So this is not, at least I don't think it's a literal thing. I think it's talking about its importance, about it being lifted up and people are going to stream to it. So it contrary to nature, that's not what would be happening. God's going to do this. So the nation is going to be so lifted up and exalted, that nations are going to want to come.
Tyler Sanders 5:04
I thought that was an interesting point you made in the commentary. This idea of stream or flow, because water would flow down a mountain, away from a mountain, really.
Paul Wegner 5:11
Exactly.
Tyler Sanders 5:12
And I think that does play into this idea that it's metaphorical. It's about importance, because everything's moving back up towards the mountain. It's gonna be place of influence, maybe.
Paul Wegner 5:24
Do you remember when I've said, kind of the theme of the whole book is; will Israel ever obey? The answer's yes. Because you see, at some point, there's going to be a remnant that actually obeys God. But I've always said it's going to take a lot longer than they ever thought, and it's going to be a lot smaller group of Israelites. It's not going to be them all, it's going to be that believing remnant. So the answer is yes, though, in the present, it looks pretty unlikely.
Tyler Sanders 5:54
And this would be the result of it. This is the result of Israel obeying, right?
Paul Wegner 5:59
Yes, yeah. Okay, well, let's keep going. So, "the mountain of the house of the Lord will be established," I think it's pretty clear that the house of the Lord is going to be the temple where God's dwelling. Okay, "...Will establish His chief of the mountains, it will be raised above the hills, and all the nations will stream to it." So the idea of them coming up to Zion, and it tells why, "...and many people will come and say, 'Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob, that He may teach us concerning His ways, that we may walk in His paths.'" So these people are coming up there because they want to know what His law is all about, what's His kingdom going to be like? So they're coming because they want to see it. So you know something's happened, right? I mean, people don't want to, usually, come to Israel to see what's going on there. This is going to be a new time when God is going to expand His kingdom, and they're going to want to know it.
Tyler Sanders 7:01
Yeah. It's going to be public. People will be attracted to this.
Paul Wegner 7:05
Yes. Yeah. That's I think that's a good word. They're attracted. They're wanting to come. All right, "...that we may walk in His paths. For the law will go forth from Zion and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. He will judge between the nations and He will render decisions for many peoples." And notice that's plural, many peoples. So that means not just Israel. "And they will hammer their swords into plowshares, their spears into pruning hooks." I don't know if you know what a plowshare is, do you? I mean, that's not something we usually use.
Tyler Sanders 7:36
I'm assuming it's something to do with plowing. Probably for cutting up the ground.
Paul Wegner 7:41
Yeah. And it's almost certainly is that part like the blade. So because they're not going to need them anymore, they're going to make them into tools that are useful for them. And that spears into pruning hooks? My understanding is that those would be like curved things that when you stuck them up on a vine, you could pull it and cut off the branches that you wouldn't need. Because as it gets trimmed, it can grow more and better. So that's what they're doing. So they're making these these weapons into tools that they can use. So obviously, they're not going to need [weapons] anymore, if they're going to do that. So that's giving us a hint of the time of peace it's talking about. So it's talking about nations wanting to come to hear what this God is saying. So that they can follow His laws and follow His commandments. And then it's going to be a time of peace. So that gives you a real clue of what this time is going to be like. And then chapter four will give you even more.
Tyler Sanders 8:46
I mean, this is an image I've heard a lot. It's a really powerful image. Yeah, of course. But I think when I was reading in preparation to talk today, what kind of struck me was the reason there will be peace is, because God is a fair and good leader, judge, you know, a king. Because the implication, I think, here is that He's rendering decisions. It's not like there's no conflict in this kind of setting, but it's like He handles all of it because He's righteous. He handles it well.
Paul Wegner 9:21
And He's making all the right decisions.
Tyler Sanders 9:23
And everyone trusts it. Everyone believes in it because-and maybe even, I may be stepping too far, I don't know. But it's kind of cool to think that people are coming and they're being attracted to this and they're coming here and then this is the end point, all these different peoples come here and there's peace because God is the true king.
Paul Wegner 9:23
Yeah, yeah, I think you're right. Okay, so that's what Israel's got to look forward to, or Zions got to look forward to. There's usually a difference between Zion or Mount Zion and Jerusalem, but in this passage they're in parallel ideas. But usually Mount Zion is the religious capital and Jerusalem's more the political capital. But it sounds like to me, they're both being combined here. It's going to be the religious capital and the political capital, and they're going to be combined. And He's ruling over both of them.
Tyler Sanders 10:18
And you're seeing the parallel in verse three there?
Paul Wegner 10:21
Yes, yeah. "The law will go forth from Zion and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem." Yeah. So it sounds like to me, they're going to be combined there in this time of peace when God is ruling. That gives us some clue of what this time in the future is like. Why don't we go to the next one? Oh, I didn't...so Zion will be exalted, because nations are going to stream to it, nations will want to come to it, to learn about it, and they're going to want to follow Yahweh and His law. Yahweh will judge between the nations, and it will be a time of unprecedented peace. So that's kind of a summary of what those verses are telling us. Because we're talking about a time, when it says in the future, it's talking about a time way beyond this is. I even think the return from Babylon, if anything, it's only a little picture of this. But it's gotta be beyond that even. So that's given us some clue, I wanted to make sure you guys knew that when we're talking about important dates in Isaiah, several times, it goes into that far distant future to talk about what God is going to be doing there. Okay, I wanted to make sure you knew that.
Paul Wegner 11:27
All right, now in chapter four, why don't we read that, so let's go in our passage. And it's not chapter four, verse one. I actually think that's the worst chapter division in the Bible.
Tyler Sanders 11:39
It does seam kind of...
Paul Wegner 11:41
What was the guy thinking, right?
Tyler Sanders 11:42
It is a little weird.
Paul Wegner 11:43
Yeah, when we get to the other part, we will see that. But if you look at verse two, "In that day..." so that's making it real clear, it's connecting it with that end time. Okay. "The branch of the Lord will be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the earth will be for the pride and adornment of the survivors of Israel." Now, that phrase, a lot of times, 'branch' is thought to be the Messiah. But in this parallel phrase, when it says, "And the fruit of the earth will be for the pride and adornment of the survivors of Israel," I think it's actually talking about a great multitude of productivity. So when it says "the fruit of the earth" it's saying that there's going to be so much that the survivors of Israel, the remnant, are going to have plenty of food and stuff like that. So it's not-if you take the branch out, it sometimes is talking about Messiah, and in other places it does that, Jeremiah has some stuff like that. But I don't think this one is. This one in parallel certainly sounds like it's talking about this abundant productivity. Okay. So I've got there, unprecedented productivity, because I think that's what it's getting at.
Paul Wegner 13:00
Okay, now, we'll keep going, verse three, "And it will come about that he who was left in Zion and remains in Jerusalem will be called holy." Now notice, it says, "and he who will remain", so that almost gives you a hint that something has happened, that they're not all remaining. There's a key there. "...will be called holy. Everyone will be recorded for life in Jerusalem." Do you remember in Revelation when it talks about the Book of Life? This almost sounds like it's a little bit of the root of where that idea comes from. Because it's talks about everyone who is recorded for life in Jerusalem and they're all holy. So that seems like it's almost a foundation for whatever that Book of Life is, later on.
Paul Wegner 13:44
Yeah.
Paul Wegner 13:45
Verse four, "When the Lord has washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion..." And that's interesting. Now you know there's been a judgment and a cleansing. "...and purged the bloodshed of Jerusalem from her midst...." Now in this one it says the daughters of Zion, and then the next one doesn't say anything, 'purge the bloodshed of Jerusalem'. But when you look at chapter two, when we looked at it earlier...
Tyler Sanders 14:09
Yeah, that middle section?
Paul Wegner 14:10
Yeah, it's going to show about the bloodshed that these guys have been doing. I don't know if you remember, but in chapter one, remember He says, I'm not listening because your hands are full of blood?
Tyler Sanders 14:19
Yeah, that's right.
Paul Wegner 14:20
So my guess is, that's more highlighting the men rulers and leaders in Jerusalem. So I think what it's doing is it's getting both. It's saying the women are going to be purged and the men are going to be purged. So you know something's going to happen. So, "When the Lord has washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion, and purged the bloodshed of Jerusalem from her midst, by the spirit of judgment and the spirit of burning," that makes it pretty clear, "then the Lord will create over a whole area of Mount Zion and over her assembly, a cloud by day, even smoke, and the brightness of a flame of fire by night." Did you catch the image? Do you remember when God was in the wilderness wanderings? And He was seen as a pillar of smoke? And pillar of fire by night? So obviously what this is doing is it's connecting it with that, so that you know, this is God here.
Tyler Sanders 15:15
Yeah.
Paul Wegner 15:15
Okay. So it's pretty clear. "For over all the glory will be a canopy, and there will be a shelter to give shade from the heat by day, and a refuge and protection from storm and the rain." So it's a time of being protected. And it's real clear. Remember, Israel is a pretty warm country, especially in certain areas. So that idea of having shade by day would be a really important thing for them. And then rain is the other thing that's just crucial for them, but rain can also wash away crops and stuff like that. So you're going to have protection from the rain so that you're not going to be harmed by it. So let's summarize this one. So I've got; it's unprecedented productivity for the survivors of Israel, and that survivors of Israel, that's that remnant terminology again, okay. All left will be righteous, that's remnant again. The nation will be restored or purged. God's presence will be there, God is pictured like in the wilderness wanderings. I've got Exodus 13 there. And then Zion will be a place of protection and refuge. So if you see this, here's a picture of what Zion is gonna be like one of these days. And so God's there, it's righteous, it's amazing. Peace, we learned in the last one, now, all kinds of productivity. So this actually is a beautiful picture of what Israel will be like in the future, and what God's kingdom will be like. I think that might be a better way to call it, because even though it is called Mount Zion, it's usually meaning, God's Kingdom is what it's gonna be like?
Tyler Sanders 16:54
Right. It's fascinating when you have those two pieces together, I think. The beginning of chapter two, and most of Chapter Four there. The other thing I was kind of noticing is a lot in Chapter Two, it may not fully be this way, but it seems like a lot of it is an outside perspective, it's from the people's. It's like what they're gonna say, like; come let us be part of this and they're kind of seeing it. And Chapter Four seems more what it's like inside. It may even be like a group experience versus the personal kind of experience too but there's this sense of the protection. It's from, I guess it's from their own sin in a way, right? Like the purging, getting rid of all this and now there's a shelter in here and the people in here are right and this is a good place.
Paul Wegner 17:51
Isaiah is one of the first ones to talk about what God's Kingdom is going to be like. And it pictures it just beautiful. Later on in the second part of Isaiah, we're gonna see that even in more detail where nations are going to come. It actually says that foreigners are going to be incorporated in this kingdom, and then even mentions eunuchs, which seems funny. But those two groups were something that under the law, they were restricted from being able to do things for God. Well now, they're gonna have open access to this, and so this is a beautiful picture of what God's Kingdom is going to be like.
Tyler Sanders 18:30
Yeah. It's very different from the middle of this passage.
Paul Wegner 18:36
Should we go there? Should we find out what we got? I think one of the ways to help us, because it's a lot of verses, but I think one of the ways to help us pull it together is that there's this word 'key' in Hebrew that means 'for'. And it's going to be scattered throughout. So I've got my first one in verse six. Once it starts in verse five, we're talking now about the middle section, and the middle section is talking about the present. Okay? So it says, "Come house of Jacob, let us walk in the light of the Lord." That's like a statement because they're not doing that. That's why I've made the division here. These guys are anything but walking in the way of the Lord. Because it says, "For you have abandoned your people the house of Jacob." Well, God had to abandon them because they were so wicked. Remember in chapter one, how He says how He had beaten them and all that and there's no place left to beat them because they've been punished so much, or disciplined so much? Well here it's saying, look how bad you guys are. "For you've abandoned your people, the house of Jacob, because they are filled with influence from the east, and they are soothsayer like the Philistines. They strike bargains with the children of foreigners. Their land has been filled with silver and gold, there's no end to their treasures, and their land has also been filled with horses and there's no end to their chariots." Now, God's not against wealth and horses and chariots, but they've been relying on these rather than God to protect them. So they're trying to build up their armies, when God says, that does no good. I'm the one that can protect you, why don't you just come to me? So that's what's going on here. "Their land has been filled with idols." So no wonder God abandoned them. They're despicable. Like that child that had been beaten in chapter one, they've been disciplined and disciplined and disciplined, and they still don't get it.
Paul Wegner 20:32
All right. "They worship the work of their hands and what their fingers have made, so that the common man has been humbled and the man of importance has been abased, but do not forgive them." Man. That is an interesting phrase. You hardly ever see that in Scripture. So here's the Prophet actually saying to God, don't forgive them, because they don't deserve it. They are still just like this. All right. "Enter the rock and hide in the dust from the terror of the Lord, in the splendor of His Majesty. The proud look of man will be abased, in the loftiness a man will be humbled, and the Lord alone will be exalted in that day." That phrase "in that day" is once again going back to chapter two again, or chapter four, where it's talking about that future day when God will be exalted.
Paul Wegner 21:23
Now we're at the second 'for'. If you look at verse 12, "For the Lord of hosts will have a day of reckoning against anyone who's proud and lofty." And then it goes through and talks about just about anything that's high and lifted up. So you've got; against the cedars of Lebanon, against the lofty and lifted up, against all the oaks of Beshan, against the lofty mountains, against the hills and all that. So it's just going to go through and highlight all the things that could be high and exalted, and say that one of these days they're all going to be brought down. That should be scary when it says the Lord will have a day of reckoning. That's one thing you don't want to have happen. Okay, and in verse 12, it highlights it again. "The Lord alone will be exalted in that day." So every once in a while you keep hearing that, that all these people are going to be punished, the Lord alone will be exalted in that day. So you keep hearing that.
Paul Wegner 21:34
Then in verse 20-the first one was in chapter 2, verse 6. Okay. Second one was in verse 12. The third one will be in chapter 3, verse 1, okay. And in my Bible, they all start with 'for', so that helps me. I don't know if yours, if everybody's does that, but that's a key to let you know; this is another reason that they're being punished. Or I've actually talked about them as being results. The first one said that the people have been abandoned. Well, that's the result of their wickedness, right?
Tyler Sanders 23:02
The day of reckoning, kind of the same thing.
Paul Wegner 23:03
Yeah, yep. So I think these are results from their wickedness, that God's going to be punishing them. Now, I thought it was interesting, remember in verse 17, that the Lord alone is going to be exalted in that day? Look at verse 20. "In that day, men will cast away to the moles and the bats, their idols of silver and their idols of gold they've made for themselves to worship in order to go into the caverns of the rocks and the cleffs of the cliff." So it's saying that one of these days when God has this day of reckoning, and that should be pretty scary, but in chapter four, we knew that anyway, right? He said He was going to purge their wickedness and their bloodshed.
Tyler Sanders 23:07
Spirit of burning, right?
Paul Wegner 23:37
Yeah, yeah. So we got the idea they're gonna get it, and so that day of reckoning must be that idea. Okay. And then 'in that day,' he's going to be exalted in that day, they're going to be fleeing and want to get rid of their idols. Now, such an interesting verse is verse 22. Look what it says, "Stop regarding men whose breath of life is in their nostrils for why should he be esteemed?" What do you think that means?
Tyler Sanders 24:11
That's an interesting image. My first thought on that was that it's 'life passes quickly when you're human'. Like if it's in your nostrils, and you breathe it out, then it can be gone.
Paul Wegner 24:22
Let's go one step further. Now remember, God had already been talking about that there's gonna be this day of reckoning. And if they've been worrying about Assyria or Egypt coming through or Babylon, whoever. One of their enemies coming through and wiping them out, He's saying, well, guess what? Their breath of life is in their nostrils and if I plug their nose, guess what? They're gone.
Tyler Sanders 24:23
That's it.
Paul Wegner 24:23
Yeah, it's over. So I think that's what He's getting at when He says, "Stop regarding man whose breath of life is in his nostrils. Why should he be esteemed?" He's nothing. God is the one that we better be afraid of. And He says, why are you worried about men? They're nothing. So I just think that phrase is amazing, that breath of life is in their nostrils. Well, man, because who knows where your next breath is coming from? And it sounds like if God stops it up, there won't be another breath. I just thought that was an interesting phrase.
Tyler Sanders 25:21
Now, chapter two also has a palistrophy in it, right?
Paul Wegner 25:26
Well, I'm trying to not find them everywhere. So I didn't actually pull this one out as a palistroph.
Tyler Sanders 25:35
Yeah. I kind of noticed when I was reading, some of the imagery there that kind of started to match up from [verses] 10 to 19 I think, right?
Paul Wegner 25:42
Yeah. And it could be that these are just parallel ideas. And remember, in a palistroph, you've got in that middle section that is kind of highlighted.
Tyler Sanders 25:51
The key thing.
Paul Wegner 25:51
Yeah. And so I tried not to find one here. That sounds funny, but I don't want to see them everywhere. Because if the author always does that, then it's no longer a unique image that he's trying to highlight. So I try not to find them everywhere. After I got looking for these, and I found quite a few, I thought; Man, well I don't want to find them everywhere or else it takes away the significance of finding them where they are.
Tyler Sanders 26:19
Right, yeah.
Paul Wegner 26:20
All right. Look at chapter three.
Tyler Sanders 26:22
Our next key statement. 'For' statement.
Paul Wegner 26:25
Yep. "For behold, the Lord God of hosts is going to remove from Jerusalem and Judah, both supply and support." And once again, these two Hebrew words sound alike. So there's like a play on words. But you can tell, supply is going to be water, food, and all that.
Tyler Sanders 26:41
Resources, natural resources, kinda?
Paul Wegner 26:43
Exactly. And then support is going to be all the leaders and stuff like that. So if God takes away the food and the leaders, the country is going to fall apart. And that's basically what He's saying is going to happen. It says, "the whole supply of bread, the whole supply of water." So there's your key. Those are pretty key phrases for all the food is going. Okay. "The mighty man and the warrior, the judge and the Prophet, the diviner and the Elder, the captain of 50, the honorable men, the counselor, the expert artisan..." Now, I thought it was interesting. So it's taking away everything that's possibly going to hold the country together. Look at, even artisans, people that can create things. So He's taken those away. "...the skillful enchanter. I will make mere lads their princesses and capricious children will rule over them." In the biblical texts, it always talks about...like a topsy turvy world is when the person who least capable of leading is actually leading them. Or when the buyer and the seller are on the same level, because they're all fleeing from a fear or something like that, or an enemy. So that sounds like what's going on here. He's going to take away anything that can hold the country together. They're gonna fall apart. And it keeps going. "The youth will storm against the Elder, the inferior against honorable. A man will lay hold of his brother and his father's house saying, you have a cloak, you shall be our ruler. And these ruins will be under your charge." That's like a joke.
Tyler Sanders 28:18
It kind of seems that way.
Paul Wegner 28:19
Who wants to rule over ruins?
Tyler Sanders 28:22
You've got the right jacket, so.
Paul Wegner 28:23
Yeah, exactly.
Tyler Sanders 28:25
You're in charge.
Paul Wegner 28:26
Here's the good thing, "But he will protest on that day saying, I will not be your leader, for in my house there's neither bread nor cloak." I think it's funny, even he figures out. He's not qualified, he can't do this. So that was interesting. Usually, that doesn't happen. Usually, the least qualified people actually want to lead people. This one says, it doesn't make sense.
Tyler Sanders 28:48
I almost wondered if it's like, this thing is falling apart, like I don't want to be the last captain on the ship.
Paul Wegner 28:55
The one that's holding it-yeah, right. Well, I think that's what's going on. Yeah. All right. Good. Look at verse eight, here's number four. "For Jerusalem has stumbled and Judah has fallen..." So the stumbling and falling, usually that means the nation is gone. In probably exile and stuff like that. "...because their speech and their actions are against the Lord, to rebel against His glorious presence. The expression on their faces, bears witness against them." That's kind of interesting. 'The expression of their faces' that in Hebrew says literally, the cut on their faces. And that could mean, my NASB has said the expression on their face, and so the cut would be the mouth. So you would see the mouth-sadness and stuff like that, so that would demonstrate it. But the other possibility is that the cut on their faces could be from appeasing Baal, because remember Elijah, when he's up on the mountain and the prophets of Baal are cutting themselves and stuff like that. That would demonstrate also that they're serving these false gods that haven't helped them at all.
Tyler Sanders 30:08
This is why they're in this state.
Paul Wegner 30:10
Yeah, so I'm not quite sure which one it's getting at. But either one is a possibility. Either way, they can tell that they're not serving God.
Tyler Sanders 30:19
Well, and the rest of the verse goes through that. "They display their sin like Sodom, they do not even conceal it." It's outwardly obvious to everybody. Which probably is again, like another good callback to the beginning of chapter two where the righteousness is going to be visible and people are going to be attracted to it.
Paul Wegner 30:40
Yes.
Tyler Sanders 30:40
Here's the opposite of that.
Paul Wegner 30:41
Exactly.
Tyler Sanders 30:43
It's very visable, like everyone can see it.
Paul Wegner 30:44
Yeah, that's good. Yeah. Okay, I've got another 'for' at the end of verse nine, "For they have brought evil on themselves." These seem to be summaries of what God's gonna do and how it's going to fall apart. "Say to the righteous, it will go well with them, for they will eat of the fruit of their actions. Woe to the wicked, it will go badly for him for what he deserves will be done to him. Oh, my people, their oppressors, our children and women rule over them. Oh, my people, those who guide you lead you astray and confuse the direction of your paths." So you can see the nation is basically falling apart. This is gonna sound terrible. But notice it says children and women are ruling over them? Back in the ancient Near East, that wasn't the way it was. Older people would be honored. Men usually the ruled over the nations. So when it says that your children and your women will be ruling over you, this is like the nation is falling apart.
Paul Wegner 31:45
All of that [and] up. And it's building to a climax. You saw, all these things are going to happen. These are the results of their sin. Look at verse 13, and I actually believe this is the climax. And this passage between here, you've got the men in chapters 2:5 through about chapter 3:12, who are going to be punished by God. And then starting after this passage, when you get to verse 16 of chapter three, now you've got the women being punished. So you've got both, and that's really sad. Both peoples. So that'd be virtually everyone in society is wandering away from God. Okay, so that gives you one clue on just how bad it is.
Paul Wegner 32:31
Now, look at verse 13, "The Lord arises to contend and stands to judge the people, the Lord enters into judgment with the elders of His people. It is you who have devoured my vineyard." That's kind of interesting, because that vineyard is talked about in chapter five, and we're going to see later that, I think, this is the passage that links it to that. Okay, so chapter five is talking about the despicable vineyard, the one that the owner is going to destroy Well, it sounds like to me, the leaders have already destroyed it. You know, "It is you who have devoured the vineyard." If you think about it, an owner of a vineyard is supposed to take care of it. Well, these leaders were supposed to take care of God's people. He's given them over to them, they're supposed to take care of it. See, they've devoured it, these poor people. [The leaders] ripped them off, [they've] taken everything they've got. So they're getting rich off these poor people, and that's what He means when He says, "It is you who have devoured my vineyard." And look at this, "The plunder of the poor is in your houses. What do you mean by crushing the face and grinding the face of the poor"-er-"crushing my people and grinding the face of the poor? declares the Lord God of Hosts." That's kinda interesting. Look, that title. That's Yahweh, Lord. But then God of hosts, that means He's the one that controls the heavenly hosts or the angelic hosts, or whoever's out there, He's controlling them. I would be scared to death if I just had that ringing judgment against me, and then it's from the Lord of hosts that's giving that. So it sounds like, remember in chapter one we talked about this being like a law court scene and God's calling the heavens and the earth? Well, here's part of it again and you see Him saying, Okay, here's the charge against you. You're going to be punished for this.
Paul Wegner 34:33
All right. Look at verse 16. Now we're going to go into the women who are going to be punished, okay? "Because the daughters of Zion are proud and walk with heads held high and seductive eyes..." They're trying to make themselves appealing to the men so that the [women] can rule over the [men] and can lead the country I assume. "They go along with mincing steps..." and I assume-because it says "...and the tinkle of the bangles on their feet." So I think that means that they're walking in such a way that men will look at them and desire them. Okay. "Therefore, the Lord will inflict the scalp of the daughters of Zion with scabs, and the Lord will make their foreheads bare." Now, do you see what's happening? They're trying to show how appealing they are, and God says; well guess what, the very thing that you are going to try to do, I'm going to reverse it and make you look as bad as possible, so that no one in the right mind would want to come after you. Okay. So that gives you some clue about what He's doing. Now the rest of this is going to highlight that. "In that day, the Lord will take away the beauty of their anklets, their headbands, or crescent ornaments, dangling earrings, bracelets, veils, headdresses..." some of these things in Hebrew, we have no idea even what they are. You know, because they're words that we're not used to. So these are anything that make them appealing. And God's gonna take them away. So you've got "finger rings, nose rings, festal robes, outer tunics, cloaks, money purses, hand mirrors, undergarments, turbans, and veils." So anything that they would be using to make them look appealing, God's gonna take it away. And I think they're just heaped on here [because] if they're taking [all] that away, He's taking away everything right? So just so you know, He's not just taking away these, it's an image-
Tyler Sanders 36:14
It's everything.
Paul Wegner 36:20
Yeah. And it's hype, it's like, piling on all these images to let you know, it's everything. All right now, "Then it will come about that instead of sweet perfume, there will be putrification. Instead of a belt, a rope. Instead of well-set hair, a plucked out scalp. Instead of fine clothes, a dawning of sackcloth. And branding instead of beauty." Can you just get a picture of that? That's like, everything that would cause them to be desirable, is now reversed.
Tyler Sanders 36:55
Complete opposite.
Paul Wegner 36:14
Yeah. Okay, so that's about their beauty. All right, "Your men will fall by the sword, your mighty ones in battle. Her gates will lament and mourn, and deserted she will sit on the ground." Later on, he's going to talk about the virgin daughter of Babylon, and how she thought she was so great, but God's going to take away her men and her beauty and all that and she's going to go into exile. Well, that sounds like what's going to happen here. It sounds like everything's going to be taken away from them. And my guess is, when it says, "deserted, you will sit on the ground," meaning you've got nothing left. I think that's what's going on. Now, I want to tell you about chapter four verse one, and then we can come back. But [chapter] 4:1, I think it's the worst chapter division in the Bible because everybody can see, it's part of the curse on the women. It's got nothing to do with verse two and the blessings that are coming. "For seven women will take hold of one man in that day saying, 'We will eat our own bread and wear our own clothes, only let us be called by your name, take away our reproach.'"
Tyler Sanders 36:56
They're that desperate.
Paul Wegner 36:59
Yeah, yeah.
Tyler Sanders 37:00
You don't even have to really take care of us just...
Paul Wegner 37:02
Exactly, yeah. And the last part makes that real clear; "Let us be called by your name and take away our reproach." So in ancient Israel, to not be married was an embarrassment. It [meant] something was wrong with you. And so here it says, well in that day...because earlier it said 'your mighty ones are going to fall in battle', so there's going to be no one left. And when it says 'seven women', I don't think it's exactly a number like that. There's some curses in some of the ancient near east that talk about seven's being like a complete number. And like "seven women will take hold of one man" so it's the idea of a complete number of curses, probably. So that gives us some clue of what's going to happen to them.
Tyler Sanders 38:54
So my question, specifically chapter 3 verse 25, "Your men will fall by the sword and your mighty ones in battle." Is that... do you think that's connected into why children and women will be leading the nation?
Paul Wegner 39:08
I do.
Tyler Sanders 39:08
It's like the men are wiped out? Or they're just evil? The ones that are remaining kind of are evil or something like that? Or is it more having to do with like, they're wiped out and so the nation is really children and women?
Paul Wegner 39:20
Yes, I think that's actually it. Because when it says "seven women will take hold of one man..."
Tyler Sanders 39:25
Yeah, there's none left.
Paul Wegner 39:26
So that means you got so few [men], and there are going to be a couple men but they're the dregs of society. They're the ones that didn't go out to battle, that wouldn't fight. So these are what's left over after everybody's been wiped out. That'll let you know what kind of curse this is. This is like the worst of the worst.
Tyler Sanders 39:45
Yeah. It's like societal collapse.
Paul Wegner 39:48
Yeah. And why? Well, he made it real clear, because you're not relying on the Lord anymore, because you've wandered away, you've gone after idols. You've done that, and instead of looking for God, you're looking towards yourself. You're getting these horses and chariots and stuff like that and gathering all this money, but it's not going to save you at the end when when I bring this punishment, I think God is saying.
Tyler Sanders 40:12
And all those things are kind of connected, and this may be an oversimplification, but it's all disobedience and distrust of God really, right? Idols, building up your own wealth and armies to protect yourself, and then probably even like in chapter 3:14, you've devoured the vineyard. Like, you do not actually understand who God is, that this is His vineyard, that's why you've acted so poorly.
Paul Wegner 40:41
Yeah. Let me just mention at this point, Baal worship at that time, had a real draw to it. You know, we look back and say; why did they keep going after it? God punishes them and tells them it's wrong and all this. Well, remember, Baal was supposed to be the dying and rising god. He was supposed to be the one that controlled the rain, too. So the idea of, when a drought was there, something was wrong with Baal, he'd been incapacitated. But when the rain came, now Baal was the one that brought the rain or brought the new crops and brought all that. So Baal worship was often enhanced because they were scared to death. If they didn't have rain, their land dwindled, they needed that. Well, because Baal was in that country before Israel got there, Baal was actually the founding god there. And so Yahweh is a usurper, He's the one that's come in after the land was already there. So I can see why they would want to- and remember, Israel didn't always go just after Baal, a lot of times, they went after both. You know, we'll serve Yahweh in case He can give us something, and we'll serve Baal, because maybe Baal can give us something. So it's a lot of times, syncrestic worship. They're doing both because they just are so desperate-
Tyler Sanders 42:04
What's going to work.
Paul Wegner 42:05
Yeah. And so that was why Baal worship was such a draw. It's because he had been there earlier, once they got there he was already in the land. That's also why he was worshiped on the high places, and they made those high places look...they usually planted trees and gardens up there, so they thought Baal was doing his job. And that's also where the sexual fertility came in, because they thought that if they could enhance the fertility, that maybe Baal would get it and then maybe Baal would then bring rain for them. So it was all interconnected. And that's why Baal worship was such an easy thing for them to fall into.
Tyler Sanders 42:46
So then you think in verse chapter 2:12-16, where God is above everything, is that a subtle reference to Baal worship in a lot of ways? Like all the high places He's gonna kind of bring down?
Paul Wegner 43:03
Could be.
Tyler Sanders 43:04
Could be. Maybe not explicit?
Paul Wegner 43:05
Yeah. Let me just summarize this middle part. So "you've abandoned your people." That's talking about how God has abandoned Israel, right? "For the LORD of hosts will have a day of reckoning." That's in verse 12. The first one is in verse six. "For the Lord will remove both supply and support." That's chapter 3:1. "For Jerusalem has stumbled." [Chapter] 3:8. And "For they brought evil on themselves." [Chapter] 3:9. So that's kind of like a summary of all the results that are happening to them. So now, this in contrast. So here's what Zion is going to be like in the future. Here's what it's like in the present. Well, no comparison, right? But He's letting them know, because you've turned away from Me, this is what's going to happen. And even chapter four, when it talks about what it's going to take to get them up to that, it's going to take a total cleansing. And it's going to hurt, you know, fire in judgment. Taking away the filth of the daughters of Jerusalem. So it lets you know, there's going to be some painful punishment for this to happen. And how it works out is going to be Babylonian captivity, right? They're going to end up being taken away from their land.
Paul Wegner 44:25
I need to tell you this, I think this is brilliant. It lets you know how great God is. You always wonder if God punishes a nation, would me as a Christian be punished with it? But I know that back at that time, when the Babylonian captivity came, they actually took the leaders, the wealthy people, the skillful people that could create things and stuff like that. They actually left in the land, the poorest of the land, because they needed somebody to keep growing the crops and stuff like that. So in actualy fact, it seems like to me, that the ones that deserved it the most, got punished the most. They were the ones that were taken away. The wicked people that had ripped off the poor and stolen their land and all that. The poor people had it better off than ever. So when God judges, He actually knows who to judge the most, and the other people they actually got out pretty much scot free. Now we know that they were wicked, but at least they didn't get the severe punishment that the real wicked people did. So when God judges, He knows how to judge the ones that deserve it the most, the most. Now the other part of it is really interesting, too. How are you going to get people of Israel that are in Babylon, how are you going to get them to come back? And which ones do you want to have come back? Well, here's what He did. He blessed their socks off when they were in Babylon. So much so, that people had lands, some of them were mayors, and often they would send them to a place that was a ruin-tel, tel means ruin and some of the names have tel in it. And so [the Babylonians] sent these people from Israel to those places, and some of them had to lead. So some of those Israelites would become mayors, they'd be be part of that. And then, they'd been there for 50 years so they had families, they had lands, they had crops, and they had stuff like that. The only thing you didn't have was a temple to serve God. So the only ones that are willing to go back are the ones that are willing to give up all the good things they had in Babylon to actually come back to the land. So God actually took the ones that came back and they become the righteous remnant. They're the ones that are willing to give up all that other stuff to go to a ruined city, Jerusalem, and a ruined country and start building the temple again.
Tyler Sanders 46:51
Rebuilding, yeah.
Paul Wegner 46:52
Yeah. So it's brilliant in my mind. If I was gonna do it, I'm sure that's not how I would have thought about it. You bless these people so much that they don't want to leave. They've got all these good things and the only ones that are willing to give those up are the ones that care enough about God, but they need a temple and they want that temple to serve Him. My God is brilliant. I can't believe He did that.
Tyler Sanders 47:14
That's really good. That's very fascinating.
Paul Wegner 47:18
So anyway, we're now through our section. But I think you wanted to ask me why the seam is not here.
Tyler Sanders 47:26
Yeah. This is very fascinating reading through this, because I was looking at some of the charts you've created, and we have seams that separate our subsections. And we've already said in this episode, that this subsection goes from chapter 2 to chapter 12, and here we are in chapter four, at the seam, almost in the middle of the book, a little bit earlier than the middle of the book. But here we are. So what on earth is that doing here?
Paul Wegner 47:51
Yeah. If you look at it, chapter four has, the wicked are going to be punished. That was clear. In chapter four, it said that they're going to be purged from the bloodshed and all that, and the filth of the daughters of Zion. So you've got the wicked being punished. You've got Zion being restored. It was talking about how they're going to be, and that there's going to be a remnant that are saved. So you've clearly got the seam here. And you go to chapter 12, and it's not there at all. And I'm going, what's going on? We know the introduction goes all the way to [chapter] 13. Great, because [chapter] 13 has the new introduction. So what is this? And we'll look at it more next time, but what you've got is, you've got, I think, a palistroph that's got from chapter five through chapter 12. And it looks like to me that the author didn't want to break that up, to put the seam at the end, because he definitely had already created the structure where you've got in the future what's going to happen, and then in the present what it was like. So you want to get to that future. And I think what's happening is...remember I told you about that linking word that he's used?
Tyler Sanders 47:54
The vineyards.
Paul Wegner 48:09
That it's you that have devoured my vineyard. The only time that a devoured vineyard is even talked about is in chapter five. So I actually think he's making the link from verse 13 there to chapter five to help. Because he already had the structure of the inclusio, he already had this palistroph (or he was going to make it, either one) but he didn't want to break that up, so he makes that linking word to join to the beginning of chapter five. And then you see the palistroph there. And rather than break it up and put the seam at the end, he actually put it in chapter four, and then made this chapter five through 12, a separate unit.
Tyler Sanders 49:40
Yeah. So if fits a different kind of structural pattern. It probably flows a little bit better for the rules he's kinda dealing with.
Paul Wegner 49:47
I don't know when [Isaiah] gave these Oracle's and stuff like that, but chapter five through 12 is probably earlier than chapters two through four. Because chapter five through 12, they're talking about his call. You know when you get to chapter six, you've got his call. So there is almost certainly one of the earlier things in the book. So I think what happened is that was a unit he wanted to keep together and so he made that linking jump to it.
Tyler Sanders 49:47
Yeah, yeah, that's cool.
Paul Wegner 50:04
At first I'm thinking, what is going on here? It didn't work at all. But because I'd seen it so clearly in the other places, this one seemed weird. So I think there's an answer for that.
Tyler Sanders 50:27
That's good. We can get into more detail on that next episode. What do we need to do homework wise? How can we prepare for next episode?
Paul Wegner 50:36
Your next chapters, five through 12, I think you should read it over because it is such an interesting structure. We're going to pull each of the pieces apart, and it'll take us several weeks to do that. But it'd be so good if you could see the whole structure. What I want to do is show how like chapter five matches chapter 12. The first one starts with a song of the Vineyard. The only other song in that section is chapter 12, where it's a song of Thanksgiving. The vineyard starts off, how wicked they are, and God's already destroy them, and they almost make that judgment on themselves. He asks, what do you think I should do in my vineyard? And I'm sure they were saying, well go ahead and destroy it. And then He says, well, guess what? You're that vineyard. But then the only other song is a song of Thanksgiving. Well, why would you have a Thanksgiving when they're so wicked? It's because, as they work through the palistroph, they're going to get the answer as to what God is going to do to make them like there deserves to be some Thanksgiving. Remember, you keep going over the same things. Like chapter one, it talked about that same idea that Israel's wicked, God's going to punish them, and there's going to be a remnant left. Well, those same ideas you saw in chapters two through four again, and now you're gonna see it in really big detail in chapters five through 12. So it just keeps going over those themes again and again.
Tyler Sanders 52:05
Okay, that's great. Well, we have our homework. I think we're ready to call it for this one. So thank you, everyone, for listening. Thank you, Dr. Wegner, for being here. And be sure to join us next time as we continue to study Isaiah.
Transcribed by https://otter.ai