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Isaiah Unveiled | Judgment, Hope & Redemption (Sept 8) · 1 Year Audio Bible Podcast

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Today we begin the book of Isaiah,
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and Isaiah has 66 chapters.
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It's sort of like it's the whole Bible all in one book.
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There are 66 books in the Bible and 66 chapters
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in the book of Isaiah. Isaiah lived during the time when
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Israel was about to be taken into captivity and go into exile to Babylon,
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and his job as a prophet was to warn the people about
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this impending judgment to see if their hearts might turn and
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they might repent. So he saw the downfall of
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the nation, but he also gave many,
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many promises of hope and consolation and
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comfort. Join us today as we begin the book of Isaiah.
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Welcome to the Daily Audio Torah. Today is September 8th.
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Now let's continue our journey reading through the entire Bible in
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one year. This week we are reading from the Israel Bible for
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the Old Testament and from the King James for the New Testament.
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Deuteronomy 22:16-30.
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And the girl's father shall say to the elders, I gave this man my daughter
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to wife, but he has taken an aversion to her. So he has made
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up charges, saying, I did not find your daughter a virgin.
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But here is the evidence of my daughter's virginity. And they shall spread
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out the cloth before the elders of the town. The elders of that
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town shall then take the man and flog him, and they shall fine him
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100 shekels of silver and give it to the girl's
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father, for the man has defamed a virgin in Israel.
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Moreover, she shall remain his wife; he shall never have the right
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to divorce her. But if the charge proves true, the girl was found
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not to have been a virgin, then the girl shall be brought
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out to the entrance of her father's house, and the men of her town shall
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stone her to death, for she did a shameful thing in Israel,
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committing fornication while under her father's authority.
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Thus you will sweep away evil from your midst.
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If a man is found lying with another man's wife, both of them,
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the man and the woman with whom he lay, shall die.
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Thus you will sweep away evil from Israel.
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In the case of a virgin who is engaged to a man, if a man
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comes upon her in town and lies with her, you shall take
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the two of them out to the gate of that town and stone them to
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death, the girl because she did not cry for help in the town,
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and the man because he violated another man's wife.
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Thus you will sweep away evil from your midst.
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But if the man comes upon the engaged girl in the open country,
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and the man lies with her by force, only the man
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who lay with her shall die, but you shall do nothing to the girl.
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The girl did not incur the death penalty, for this case is like
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that of a man attacking another and murdering him.
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He came upon her in the open. Though the engaged girl cried
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for help, there was no one to save her.
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If a man comes upon a virgin who is not engaged and he seizes
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her and lies with her and they are discovered,
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the man who lay with her shall pay the girl's father 50 shekels
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of silver and she shall be his wife.
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Because he has violated her, he can never have the right to divorce
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her.
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Isaiah 1:1-2:22.
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The prophecies of Isaiah son of Amoz, who prophesied concerning Judah
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and Jerusalem in the reigns of Uzziah,
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Jotham, Achaz,
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Jehoiakim, and kings of Judah. Hear,
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O heavens, and give ear, O earth, for Hashem has spoken: I
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reared children and brought them up, and they have rebelled
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against Me. An ox knows its owner, a donkey its master's
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crib; Israel does not know, My people takes no thought.
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Ah, sinful nation, people laden with iniquity,
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brood of vipers, depraved children! They have
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forsaken Hashem and spurned the Holy One of Israel and turned their backs
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on Him. Why do you seek further
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beatings that you continue to offend? Every head is
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ailing and every heart is sick. From head to foot
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no spot is found. All bruises and
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welts and festering sores, not pressed out, not bound up,
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not softened with oil. Your land is
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a waste. Your cities burnt down before your eyes.
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The yield of your soil is consumed by strangers. A wasteland
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as overthrown by strangers. Bare Zion
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is left like a booth in a vineyard, like a hut in a cucumber field,
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like a city beleaguered. Had not the Lord of Hosts left
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us some survivors, we should be like Sodom,
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another Gomorrah. Hear the word of Hashem, you chiefs
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of Sodom. Give ear to our God's instruction,
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you folk of Gomorrah.
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What need have I of all your sacrifices? says Hashem.
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I am sated with burnt offerings of rams and sway of fatlings
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and blood of bulls, and I have no delight in lambs and
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he-goats. That you come to appear before
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me, who asked that of you? Trample my courts no more.
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Bringing oblations is futile. Incense is offensive to me.
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New moon and Shabbat, proclaiming of solemnities,
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assemblies with iniquity, I cannot abide. Your new
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moons and fixed seasons fill me with loathing.
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They are become a burden to me. I cannot endure
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them. And when you lift up your
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hands, I will turn my eyes away from you. Though you pray
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at length, I will not listen. Your hands are stained with crime.
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Wash yourselves clean. Put your evil doings away from My sight.
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Cease to do evil. Learn to do good.
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Devote yourselves to justice and the wronged.
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Uphold the rights of the orphan. Defend the cause of the widow.
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Come, let us reach an understanding, says Hashem.
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Though your sins be like crimson, they can turn snow
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white. Be they red as dyed wool, they can become
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like fleece. If then you agree and give heed,
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you will eat the good things of the earth. But if you refuse
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and disobey, you will be devoured by the sword.
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For it was Hashem who spoke: Alas, she has become
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a harlot, the faithful city that was filled with justice, where righteousness
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dwelt. But now murderers, Your silver has turned to dross,
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your wine is cut with water. Your rulers are rogues
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and cronies of thieves, everyone avid for presents and greedy
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for gifts. They do not judge the case of the orphan,
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and the widow's cause never reaches them.
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Assuredly, this is the declaration of the Sovereign, the Lord
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of hosts, the Mighty One of Israel: Ah, I will get satisfaction
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from my foes, I will wreak vengeance on my enemies!
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I will turn My hand against you and smelt out your dross as with lye
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and remove all your slag. I will restore your
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magistrates as of old and your counselors as of yore.
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After that you shall be called City of Righteousness, Faithful City.
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Zion shall be saved in the judgment, her repentant
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ones in the retribution. But rebels and sinners shall all be
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crushed, and those who forsake Hashem shall perish. Truly,
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you shall be shamed because of the terebinths you desired,
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and you shall be confounded because of the gardens you coveted.
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For you shall be like a terebinth wilted of leaf, and like
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a garden that has no water. Stored wealth shall become as
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tow, and he who amassed it a spark,
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and the two shall burn together with none to quench.
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The word that Isaiah son of Amoz prophesied concerning Judah
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and Jerusalem: In the days to come, the mount
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of Hashem's house shall stand firm above the
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mountains and tower above the hills, and all the nations shall
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gaze on it with joy. And the many peoples shall go and say,
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Come, let us go up to the mountain of Hashem,
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to the house of the God of Jacob. That He may instruct us
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in His ways, and that we may walk in His paths.
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For instruction shall come forth from Zion, the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
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Thus He will judge among the nations and arbitrate for the many peoples,
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and they shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning
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hooks. Nation shall not take up sword against nation;
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they shall never again know war. O House of Jacob, come,
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let us walk by the light of Hashem. For you have
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forsaken the ways of your people, O House of Jacob.
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For they are full of practices from the east and of soothsaying
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like the Philistines. They abound in customs of the aliens.
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Their land is full of silver and gold, there is no
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limit to their treasures. Their land is full of horses,
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There is no limit to their chariots, and their land is full
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of idols. They bow down to the work of their hands,
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to what their own fingers have wrought. But man shall be humbled
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and mortal brought low. Oh, do not forgive them! Go deep
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into the rock, bury yourselves in the ground before the terror of Hashem and
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his dread majesty. Man's haughty look shall be brought
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low and the pride of mortals shall be humbled. None but Hashem shall
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be exalted in that day. For the LORD of hosts has ready a
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day against all that is proud and arrogant,
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against all that is lofty, so that it is brought
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low; against all the cedars of Lebanon, tall and
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stately, and all the oaks of Bashan; against all the high
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mountains and all the lofty hills; against every soaring tower
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and every mighty wall; against all the ships of Tarshish
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and all the gallant barks. Then man's haughtiness
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shall be humbled and the pride of man brought low.
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None but Hashem shall be exalted in that day. As for
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idols, they shall vanish completely,
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and men shall enter caverns in the rock and
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hollows in the ground before the terror
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of Hashem and his dread majesty when He comes forth
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to overawe the earth. On that day
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men shall fling away to the flying foxes and the bats the
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idols of silver and the idols of gold which they made
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for worshiping, and they shall enter the clefts in the rocks and the
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crevices in the cliffs before the terror of Hashem and His dread
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majesty when He comes forth to overawe the earth.
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O cease to glorify man, who has only a breath in his
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nostrils? For by what does he merit esteem?
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2 Corinthians 10:1-18.
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Now I, Paul, myself beseech you by the meekness and
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gentleness of Christ, who in presence am base among you,
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but but being absent am bold toward you.
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But I beseech you that I may not be bold when I am present with
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that confidence, wherewith I think to be bold against some,
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which think of us as if we walked according to the flesh.
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For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after
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the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not
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carnal, but mighty through God
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to the pulling down of strongholds.
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Casting down imaginations and every high thing that
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exalts itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into
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captivity every thought to the obedience
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of Christ, and having in a readiness
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to revenge all disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled.
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Do you look on things after the outward appearance?
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If any man trusts to himself that he is Christ's,
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Let him of himself think this again, that as he is Christ's,
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even so are we Christ's. For though I should
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boast somewhat more of our authority, which the Lord has given us
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for edification, and not for your destruction, I should
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not be ashamed, that I may not seem as if I would terrify you
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by letters. For his letters, say they, are weighty and
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powerful, but his bodily presence is weak. And his
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speech contemptible. Let such
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a one think this, that such as we are in word by
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letters when we are absent, such will we be also
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in deed when we are present. For we dare not make ourselves of
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the number or compare ourselves with some that commend themselves.
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But they measuring themselves by themselves and comparing themselves among
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themselves are not wise. But we will not
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boast of things without our measure, but according to the measure of the
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rule which God has distributed to us, a measure
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to reach even unto you. For we stretch not ourselves
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beyond our measure, as though we reached not unto you. For we
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are come as far as to you also in preaching the gospel of
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Christ, not boasting of things without our measure,
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that is, of other men's labors, but having hope,
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when your faith is increased, that we shall be enlarged by you
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according to our rule abundantly,
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to preach the gospel in the regions beyond you, and not
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to boast in another man's line of things made ready to our hand.
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But he that glories, let him glory in the Lord. For not he
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that commends himself is approved, but whom the Lord commends.
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Psalm 52.
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1-9. Why do you boast yourself in mischief, O mighty man?
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The goodness of God endures continually. Your tongue
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devises mischiefs like a sharp razor, working deceitfully.
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You love evil more than good, and lying rather than to speak
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righteousness. Selah. You love all devouring
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words, O deceitful tongue. God shall likewise destroy
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you forever. He shall take you away and pluck
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you out of your dwelling place and root you out of the land of the
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living. Selah. The righteous also shall
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see and fear and shall laugh at him. Lo,
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this is the man that made not God his strength but trusted in
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the abundance of his riches and strengthened himself in
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his wickedness. But I am like a green olive
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tree in the house of God. I trust in the mercy of God
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forever and ever. I will praise you forever,
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because you have done it, and I will wait on your name, for it is
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good before your saints.
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Proverbs 22:26-27.
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Be not you one of them that strike hands, or of them that are sureties
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for debts. If you have nothing to pay, why should he
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take away your bed from under you? I'd like
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to speak to you today from the book of Isaiah, and we've just begun the
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book of Isaiah today. We read chapter 1 and chapter 2,
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and I want to share with you the introduction to this book from
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the Israel Bible. It's a very good overview of the book.
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Isaiah is the first and the longest of the books of the Latter
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prophets. Isaiah's prophecies are recorded in both prose and poetry,
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and his imagery is considered among the most beautiful
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in the Bible. Isaiah prophesies during the reigns
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of at least 4 kings of Judah in the second half
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of the 8th century BC: Uzziah,
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Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah.
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It appears that his prophecies also continue into the reign of the
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next king, Manasseh. During his lifetime,
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Isaiah sees the fortunes of the 2 kingdoms in Israel—
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Samaria in the north and Judah in the south— decline dramatically.
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When he begins his prophetic career, the 2 kingdoms live in
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prosperity, harmony, and stability.
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Within 50 years, the 10 tribes of the Northern Kingdom are a distant
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memory, exiled to the edges of the Assyrian Empire
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in 722 BC. The fortunes
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of southern kingdom of Judah are only slightly better. Most of
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its cities are destroyed in the Assyrian invasion of 701 BC.
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Isaiah is given the task of explaining why the tragedies
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are occurring and advising what changes need to
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be made. Although he uttered many pronouncements of rebuke,
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Isaiah is most well-known for his prophecies of consolation
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and hope. Despite the bleak circumstances of the
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present, Isaiah is always able to describe a brighter future
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which features return and redemption, with the Jewish
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people living peacefully in their land. These images
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remain an integral part of Israel's consciousness until
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today. The political quiet that exists at the beginning
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of his life is disturbed with the emergence of the rapacious
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Assyrian Empire in the east. The kings of
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the region face 2 options: either submit to the might of the Assyrians or
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attempt to form alliances to oppose the behemoth rising
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against them. In fact, the kings of Aram
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and Israel invade Judah in 733 in an attempt to pressure
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King Ahaz into, into joining their coalition against
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Assyria. Instead of supporting them,
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Ahaz chooses to ask the Assyrian King Tiglath-Pileser
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for assistance, a decision that would prove nearly
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fatal for the Jewish people. Isaiah condemns this
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decision. More important to Isaiah, however, is his
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attempt to change the the people's focus from politics
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to morality. While they are engaged in political
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intrigue, the people perform their ritual obligations almost
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robotically, without passion, and they fail to maintain a
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just and moral society. Indeed, other prophets
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among Isaiah's contemporaries— Micah, Hosea, and Amos—
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also rail against these failures. Their message
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is clear: if the people can improve their personal lives, live in
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justice and peace with each other, and serve Hashem with sincerity,
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then the political turmoil will disappear.
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The structure of the book reflects these messages. The first section,
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chapters 1 through 6, serves as an introduction to the entire book,
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contrasting the present sinful state of the people with
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the wonderful potential future that awaits them.
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The next section, chapters 7 through 12,
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describes the immediate threat of the Assyrian invasion and
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then its ultimate defeat by a son of David who will bring
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peace and righteousness to Israel. Chapters 13
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to 23 describe a series of judgments against the nations,
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and chapters 24 through 27 describe judgments
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against Judah. After 8 more
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chapters discussing the woes of Israel and other nations,
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there is a 4-chapter historical summary of the events of Isaiah's
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time, chapters 36 to 39.
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Finally, there is a long section of prophecies of
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consolation that spans from the relief
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of immediate troubles into the future beyond the horizon
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when the people of Israel will return from exile and
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dwell again in the land of Israel.
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And that concludes our introduction overview to the book
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of Isaiah. We will continue in Isaiah tomorrow.
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Shalom.
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विहिष्मरे का
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यह है आदुना
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है अनाविलका
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विकुन्य का
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Yisrael Adonai,
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love Eleka,
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v'yeseh leka,
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leka shalom.
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The Aaronic Blessing from Numbers chapter 6, 24 to
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26. Adonai bless you
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and keep you. Adonai make his face to shine
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upon you and be gracious to you. Adonai lift
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up his countenance upon you and give you peace.