PSA Bible Reading Challenge 2023-2024

Once again a historical event takes place in the oracle concerning Tyre.  Keep in mind that Tyre is a seaside town which used to have quite a powerful navy as the dominant Phoenician town.  Tarshish should sound familiar as it is the same place that Jonah fled to in order to get as far away as possible from the presence of the Lord.   Historically Tyre was allied with Hezekiah as they went up against Assyria, but once Tyre began to fall to Sennacherib then it allied with the enemy leaving Hezekiah all by himself to defend Israel.  

Tyre is said to be prostituting herself as she sells her goods to enemy nations.  But in the end, the oracle states, she will give completely of herself to the Lord.  It will be such a transition that all who love the Lord will be clothed in the garments that came from her store and the food that people eat who are in relationship with the Lord will also come from her.  

It is a great picture of things turning upside down in order for the Lord to take dominion over His people.  It takes time, but we must trust that it will happen.

Even though this says that this is an oracle to the valley of vision, we can tell from the content that it is an oracle against Jerusalem.  It is probably a pun on the name that the valley between the Mount of Olives and Jerusalem has which is Kidron valley.  Kidron means literally darkness or gloom.  So if you call  it the valley of vision you are probably saying that tongue in cheek.  

This is probably a recounting of the withdrawal of Sennacherib’s troops in 701 from Jerusalem after the surrender of Hezekiah.  Now when you read these verses you read that the Lord defeated the army of Sennacherib, which we know historically never took place.  Hezekiah surrendered.  But I guess revisionist history is not unique to our day and age, it was happening some time ago as well.  

One of the neatest places to go in Jerusalem is Hezekiah’s tunnel.  This tunnel which really saved the city of Jerusalem because it provided water into the city is amazing.  It is a narrow, confining passageway, but it is amazing to be able to walk through it to the other side, even while you are wading through water which you know was life giving.  

Interestingly enough this steward who is called Shebna in vs.15ff and is absolutely lambasted is a historical figure.  Isaiah calls him out because he has cut out a tomb for himself when he is going to be losing his position in the kingdom.  This person’s tomb was actually found in the Kidron valley, east of Jerusalem.  I always take great pleasure in being able to read these prophecies of Isaiah and know that they are not just random words which generate discussion, but that they are rooted in historical fact.  This is crucial to understand where Isaiah was going in his prophecies.  

I encourage you to follow the map that I attached when we started to look at Isaiah 13.  Follow along in the reading of chapter 21 and you will see all of the places mentioned in the map.  I wish I could say that there was a neat and orderly system that Isaiah follows which takes us from north to south or east to west, but no, I can’t say that.

It is interesting that the first oracle is concerning the wilderness of the sea.  Keep in mind that the Israelites were terrified of the sea and considered all bad things as having their source in the sea.  You can find in the Psalms many examples of the Leviathan that lives in the sea, and other creatures which describe the sea as a place that is not friendly.  In this oracle we find the demise of Babylon.

These oracles really do give us an insight into Isaiah’s prophecies against the historical sworn enemies of the Israelites and how God would vanquish them and give the Israelites victory…one day.

Merry Christmas!!  I could have probably chosen a better chapter to reflect the birth of our Savior Jesus Christ, but time marches on and we use the verses that are before us.  Here we find Isaiah the prophet who goes around naked, completely naked, for three years to prove a point.  The point that he is proving is that Egypt and Ethiopia will be overcome and their people will be driven out naked and barefoot from their countries for three years.  It is quite an extreme example, and it is one that prophets often showed the messages of the Lord in extreme actions.  

I’m grateful that the Lord has not asked me to do something so extreme in order to prove a point about His actions.  

Think about the history that Egypt has had with the people of the Lord, at least in Scripture.  Keep in mind how we read that Abraham in Genesis goes to Egypt and lies about Sarah because he is afraid that the ruler of Egypt will take her as his wife and in the process kill him.  Then we can move on to Moses and how he grows up as the ruler of Egypt, even as a Hebrew, but then is forced to flee.  He comes back and leads the people out of Egypt to the destruction of so many Egyptians.  

Think about the role that Egypt plays in Jesus’ life.  We read an oracle that is against Egypt from vs.1-15 where we see that Egypt is not considered an ally, but rather a foe.  But that changes then in vs. 16.   Your read in vs. 21 that “the Lord will make himself known to the Egyptians.”  I interpret that in two different ways.  One is found in Matthew 2:14-15 where we read that Joseph took his family into Egypt and by doing so brings the Savior into Egypt.  As a Moses type Jesus comes out of Egypt bringing all that is needed to save the people of Israel.

But there is another passage that I absolutely love in Acts which strikes me as the Gospel being proclaimed in Egypt as well.  If you look at  Acts 8 you see the Ethiopian eunuch who is reading the prophet Isaiah and asks Philip to interpret it for him.  Why would he not have been reading either this chapter or the previous chapter where Ethiopia is discussed?  It is thought that this eunuch once he is baptized is the one who then proclaims the Gospel from Egypt all the way down in Eastern Africa to a people who are receptive to Jesus as Savior.  

This chapter is a bit deceptive because it falls under the previous chapter heading of an oracle concerning Damascus, and yet it seems like it begins an oracle concerning Ethiopia, or as the Scripture calls it, Cush.  It speaks about the rivers beyond Ethiopia and about the messengers who come from up the Nile.  That would definitely not be Damascus which was pretty far North, but rather Ethiopia which was on the other side of Egypt.  

It is interesting how the people of Ethiopia are described, a people who were tall and smooth.  They were also a people who were feared near and far.  Do you notice how in this day and age we describe people many times by the color of their skin.  We don’t read that here in Scripture, even though we know that the people of Ethiopia would have been of darker skin than the people of Israel, or even Isaiah himself, who would have written this passage.  Isaiah himself would have been of darker skin than those of us who are reading this passage.  Yet for some reason we have Isaiah pegged as a white person from European descent speaking to white people of European descent.  That is not at all what it was like.

Isaiah is speaking to the Israelites who were of Middle Eastern descent and so were much darker than we were.  Or as in the words of Isaiah, they would have been much smoother than we would ever hope to be.  You should notice a transition in vs.7 that he states that at one time they will all come to worship the Lord.  They will all come to Mount Zion, even those who are tall and smooth, yes, even those who are feared among all the nations.  What a wonderful image of all people coming to worship the Lord.

It is hard for us to understand what it is like to have an oracle written against a city which has been around for millennia.  Nothing in the Bible was ever written about North America.  Nothing in the Bible was ever written about my European ancestors.  The Bible contains writings that people with Middle Eastern and African descent would be able to understand as addressing them directly.  There is still a city called Damascus and it is still located in the same place where it was located back when Isaiah was writing his prophecy.  Does that ever take your breath away?  If it doesn’t then it should at least humble you to make you realize that our background is so limited compared to that of those in the Middle East.

The passion about the land and the passion about the history is one that we simply cannot understand.  When there is an oracle written about, or against, Damascus, then a Christian living in that land now would be able to understand it at such a different level than we who live in this Western civilization that is so different from what we are reading. 

We begin this chapter with the heading of an oracle concerning Damascus.  If you go back and look at the map you will see that it is north of Israel and in a region that was called Aram.  You see Aram mentioned in vs.3.  You notice in vs.14 that the prophet gives a bit of a vengeful perspective when he describes all the destruction that is to come to Damascus and Aram and gives the reasoning behind it: “This is the fate of those who despoil us, and the lot of those who plunder us.”  I guess Isaiah was not quite into the whole 70×7 thing.  I get it.

This is another oracle against Moab and another (false?) lament for Moab who will be brought into ruin.  Moab is personified as a person who at one time was strong, but now has been brought low along with all of his followers and all of his agricultural yields.  The complete destruction of Moab is described in these verses.  

If you look at the middle of vs.4 through 5 you see the end goal of the writer.  He tells us that “when the oppressor (Moab) is no more and the destruction has ceased, then a throne shall be established in steadfast love in the tent of David, and on it shall sit in faithfulness a ruler who seeks justice and is swift to do what is right.”  He gives a very different juxtaposition between the ruler of Moab, who will be destroyed primarily because he is unjust and not like the ruler who is described, and David.  There can be no greater difference.  

David is describe as a ruler that the Lord would want.  Someone who is established in steadfast love.  This is not normally a description that we might seek after for our ruler.  David as King is described as faithful and whose primary desire is for the good of the nation.  That is an assumption that we make when we think of our ruler, that their primary goal is the good of the nation.  The ruler is someone who is described as seeking justice.  That is definitely an attribute that we would want in our ruler, someone who understood what justice was and would pursue it.  Finally, the ruler is described as someone who is swiftly able to do what is right.  A ruler whose moral compass is not wavering.  A ruler who has all of these attributes is possible, but we sometimes settle for something far less than what is described in these verses.

Once again you can refer to the map in order to understand what is going on.  Moab is that region to the East of the Dead Sea and all of those cities mentioned in this chapter you can see listed in the map.  The beginning inscription to this chapter lets us know that this is an oracle all about Moab.  Moab was not a friend, and yet this sounds like a lament on behalf of Moab.  The Moabites were sworn enemies to both Israel and Judah, and yet here we hear the author say in vs. 5 that their “heart cries out for Moab.”  

It makes me wonder if there is not some sarcasm in this dirge, but I just don’t see it.  It makes we wonder if the author is authentically saddened by the degree of destruction which the Babylonians caused upon Moab.  Is there a certain threshold where even if the nation is our enemy, when they are massacred beyond any kind of humane parameters, does it strike a chord and force us to ask for mercy even for our sworn enemies?

Chapter 16 will continue this oracle.  

We have three nations that are mentioned in this oracle.  Again, this is where you need to look at that map to understand who is involved here.  There was a coordination among the nations which was not to the advantage of Judah and Israel.  Oh, so I say Judah and Israel because it was a divided kingdom, but combined they were still the people of God.  Israel was the northern part of the kingdom and Judah was the southern part of the kingdom.  You can see that on the map.  So both Judah and Israel were considered the good guys.

You see the prophet Isaiah first speaks about a unification in the first verses.  This unification is seen in the Lord having compassion on his people.  This is where it all starts.  Then he begins to speak out against Babylon.  From Babylon in vs.4 he then moves on to speak out against Assyria in vs. 25 who will be  broken.  If you see Assyria on the map it is north of Babylon, so quite some distance from Judah and Israel.  Next we find the Philistines in vs.29.  You can see Philistia was on the shore to the West of Israel and Judah.  

These were all arch-enemies of the people of God and so Isaiah takes pleasure in giving these oracles which inevitably speak of their demise.  There is an underlying current of a desire that the Lord would come quickly to make it happen right away.  Again, this Advent sense of anticipation.  I don’t encourage an anticipation that would forecast the destruction of nations, but I guess we can’t have it all.