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The Story of Isaiah - The Prophet of God_s Judgment and Repentance _ Bible Stories · truthunedited

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  Speaker 1: In ancient times, after the death of King Solomon, the
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  Speaker 1: great Kingdom of Israel was divided into two smaller kingdoms.
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  Speaker 1: The northern kingdom retained the name Israel, with its capital
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  Speaker 1: in Samaria. The southern kingdom became known as Judah, with
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  Speaker 1: its capital in Jerusalem, where the Temple of the Lord
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  Speaker 1: was located. The division occurred due to the harshness of
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  Speaker 1: Solomon's son, Reherboem, who refused to lighten the heavy taxes
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  Speaker 1: his father had imposed, as recorded in First Kings twelve
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  Speaker 1: sixteen nineteen. When the people saw that the king would
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  Speaker 1: not listen to them, they responded, what share do we
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  Speaker 1: have in David? We have no inheritance in the son
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  Speaker 1: of Jesse to your tents, oh Israel. Now look after
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  Speaker 1: your own house, O David. Thus the ten northern tribes
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  Speaker 1: formed their own kingdom, leaving only the tribes of Judah
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  Speaker 1: and Benjamin loyal to the House of David. This division
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  Speaker 1: weakened God's people and made them more vulnerable to the
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  Speaker 1: powerful empires surround them. In the years that followed, both
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  Speaker 1: Israel and Judah went through periods of faithfulness and rebellion
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  Speaker 1: against God, but over all, the tendency was one of
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  Speaker 1: straying from the ways of the Lord. When our story begins,
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  Speaker 1: Judah was ruled by King Ziah, also known as Azariah.
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  Speaker 1: As we read in Second Kings fifteen one to seven
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  Speaker 1: and Second Chronicles twenty six one to fifteen, Usiah ascended
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  Speaker 1: to the throne at sixteen years old and reigned for
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  Speaker 1: fifty two years. In Jerusalem. It was a time of
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  Speaker 1: great prosperity for Judah. Usiah rebuilt the port of Ilath,
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  Speaker 1: strengthened Jerusalem's defenses with towers and advanced weapons, reorganized the army,
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  Speaker 1: promoted agriculture, and expanded the kingdom's borders. In Sad Chronicles
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  Speaker 1: twenty six five, we read he sought God during the
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  Speaker 1: days of Zechariah, who instructed him in the fear of God.
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  Speaker 1: As long as he sought the Lord, God gave him success. However,
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  Speaker 1: this external prosperity did not necessarily reflect the spiritual condition
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  Speaker 1: of the people. For many, religion had become merely a
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  Speaker 1: set of empty rituals, while in their hearts they drifted
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  Speaker 1: further and further from God. Moreover, the shadow of the
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  Speaker 1: Assyrian Empire was already beginning to loom over the entire region.
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  Speaker 1: Including Judah. Assyria, with its capital in Nineveh, was becoming
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  Speaker 1: the superpower of the time, conquering and subjugating nations around it.
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  Speaker 1: Despite his good beginning, King Usia also fell into the
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  Speaker 1: sin of pride. In Second Chronicles twenty six sixteen twenty one,
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  Speaker 1: we read, but after Asia became powerful, his pride led
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  Speaker 1: to his downfall. He was unfaithful to the Lord, his God,
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  Speaker 1: and entered the temple of the Lord to burn incense
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  Speaker 1: on the altar of incense. This was something only the
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  Speaker 1: priests descendants of Aaron, were permitted to do. When the
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  Speaker 1: priests try to stop him, the king became furious. At
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  Speaker 1: that moment, while still holding the censer, leprosy appeared on
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  Speaker 1: his forehead. The priests quickly expelled him from the temple,
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  Speaker 1: and he himself hurried out, realizing that the Lord had
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  Speaker 1: afflicted him. Usiah remained leprous until the day of his death,
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  Speaker 1: living in isolation, while his son Jotham ruled in his place.
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  Speaker 1: The tragic end of a king who had started so
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  Speaker 1: well should have been a lesson to the people of
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  Speaker 1: Judah about the consequences of disobedience to God. The death
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  Speaker 1: of King Usiah around seven hundred forty b c. Marked
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  Speaker 1: an important moment in Judah's history, and it was at
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  Speaker 1: this very time that God called a man named Isiah
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  Speaker 1: to be his prophet. In the year that King Oziah died,
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  Speaker 1: Isiah had an experience that would change his life forever.
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  Speaker 1: He himself records this extraordinary vision in Isaiah six one
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  Speaker 1: to four. In the year that King Aziah died, I
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  Speaker 1: saw the Lord seated on a high and exalted throne,
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  Speaker 1: and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above
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  Speaker 1: him were seraphim, each with six wings. With two they
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  Speaker 1: covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and
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  Speaker 1: with two they were flying. And they were calling to
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  Speaker 1: one another. Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord Almighty. The
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  Speaker 1: whole earth is full of His glory. At the sound
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  Speaker 1: of their voices, the door posts and thresholds shook, and
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  Speaker 1: the temple was filled with smoke. Isaiah saw God himself
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  Speaker 1: on his throne. This was no ordinary vision. Most prophets
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  Speaker 1: received messages from God, but few had such a direct
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  Speaker 1: encounter with his glory. Isaiah saw powerful angels, the seraphim,
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  Speaker 1: heavenly being seemingly designated to proclaim God's holiness. Their voices
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  Speaker 1: were so powerful that they made the very foundations of
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  Speaker 1: the temple shake. The smokeok that filled the temple was
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  Speaker 1: reminiscent of the cloud of God's glory that had descended
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  Speaker 1: upon the Tabernacle and Solomon's Temple when they were dedicated.
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  Speaker 1: For the first time in his life, Isaiah experienced what
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  Speaker 1: it meant to stand before the perfect holiness of God.
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  Speaker 1: Faced with this overwhelming vision of divine glory and holiness,
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  Speaker 1: Isaiah felt the full weight of his sins and those
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  Speaker 1: of his people. In Isaiah six five, he exclaims, woe
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  Speaker 1: to me, I am ruined, for I am a man
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  Speaker 1: of unclean lips, and I live among a people of
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  Speaker 1: unclean lips. And my eyes have seen the King, the
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  Speaker 1: Lord Almighty, in the presence of the thrice Holy God.
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  Speaker 1: Isaiah saw himself as he truly was a sinner. He
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  Speaker 1: knew that, according to the law, no one could see
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  Speaker 1: God and live Exodus thirty three twenty Terror seized him
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  Speaker 1: not only because he was sinful, but also because he
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  Speaker 1: was surround by a sinful people. His specific concern about
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  Speaker 1: unclean lips might indicate that he felt particularly unworthy to
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  Speaker 1: be a spokesman for God, but the vision would not
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  Speaker 1: end in condemnation. God had not revealed his glory to
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  Speaker 1: Isaiah to destroy him, but to purify and commission him.
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  Speaker 1: In Isiah six six seven, we read, then one of
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  Speaker 1: the seraphim flew to me with a live coal in
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  Speaker 1: his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar.
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  Speaker 1: With it, he touched my mouth and said, see, this
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  Speaker 1: has touched your lips. Your guilt is taken away, and
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  Speaker 1: your sin atoned for. The live coal from the altar
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  Speaker 1: symbolized Isaiah's purification by God. The fire from the altar
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  Speaker 1: was the same fire used for sacrifices, which under the
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  Speaker 1: law of Moses, served to make atonement for sins. By
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  Speaker 1: touching Isaiah's lips with this sacred fire, the seraph indicated
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  Speaker 1: that his sins were forgiven and that he was now
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  Speaker 1: prepared to speak God's words. With his lips purified, Isaiah
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  Speaker 1: heard the voice of the Lord for the first time
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  Speaker 1: in his vision. In Isaiah six eight, we read, then
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  Speaker 1: I heard the voice of the Lord, calling whom shall
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  Speaker 1: I send and who will go for us? And I said,
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  Speaker 1: here am I send me. It is noteworthy that God
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  Speaker 1: asks who will go for us? Using the plural Some
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  Speaker 1: see this as a reference to the Trinity. Others believe
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  Speaker 1: that God is speaking as a king, including his heavenly
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  Speaker 1: court in the decision. Regardless, Isaiah did not hesitate. Transformed
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  Speaker 1: by the vision of God's holiness and the experience of
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  Speaker 1: divine purification, he willingly volunteered to be the Lord's messenger.
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  Speaker 1: He did not yet know exactly what he was offering
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  Speaker 1: himself for, but he was willing to go wherever God
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  Speaker 1: sent him, and to say whatever God can demanded him
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  Speaker 1: to say. God's response to Isaiah's eager willingness is both
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  Speaker 1: surprising and challenging. In Isaiah six nine to ten, the
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  Speaker 1: Lord says, go and tell this people, be ever hearing
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  Speaker 1: but never understanding, be ever seeing but never perceiving, make
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  Speaker 1: the heart of this people calloused. Make their ears dull
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  Speaker 1: and close their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes,
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  Speaker 1: hear with their ears, understand with their hearts, and turn
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  Speaker 1: and be healed. This is one of the most difficult
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  Speaker 1: commissions ever given to a prophet. God was telling Isaiah
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  Speaker 1: that his message would not be received. On the contrary,
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  Speaker 1: it would harden the hearts of those who rejected it.
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  Speaker 1: It is important to understand that God's initial purpose was
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  Speaker 1: not to make the people unable to understand and repent,
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  Speaker 1: but he knew that, due to the hardness of their hearts,
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  Speaker 1: Isaiah's message would ultimately make those already determined to reject
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  Speaker 1: it even more hardened. The clearer the prophet spoke, the
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  Speaker 1: more guilty those who rejected him would become. This truth
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  Speaker 1: was confirmed centuries later by Jesus himself, who cited this
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  Speaker 1: passage in Matthew thirteen fourteen fifteen to explain why he
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  Speaker 1: spoke in parables. Isaiah was perplexed by this mission. If
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  Speaker 1: his message would not be received, how long would he
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  Speaker 1: have to preach it. In Isaiah six eleven twelve, he
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  Speaker 1: asks for how long? Lord? The answer was harsh and direct,
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  Speaker 1: Until the cities lie ruined and without inhabitant, until the
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  Speaker 1: houses are left deserted, and the fields ruined and ravaged,
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  Speaker 1: until the Lord has sent everyone far away and the
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  Speaker 1: land is utterly forsaken. God was predicting the destruction of
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  Speaker 1: Judah and the exile of its people. Isaiah's message would
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  Speaker 1: be rejected until judgment came in the form of invasion, destruction,
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  Speaker 1: and dea portation. But amid this terrible prophecy, there was
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  Speaker 1: a glimmer of hope in Isaiah six thirteen. The Lord adds,
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  Speaker 1: and though a tenth remains in the land, it will
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  Speaker 1: again be laid waste. But as the terebinth and oak
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  Speaker 1: leave stumps when they are cut down, so the holy
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  Speaker 1: seed will be the stump in the land. A stump
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  Speaker 1: is the base of a tree that remains after it
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  Speaker 1: has been cut down. Even after a tree is felled,
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  Speaker 1: the stump often sprouts again. God was promising that even
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  Speaker 1: after judgment, a small remnant a holy seed, would survive
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  Speaker 1: and eventually grow again. This theme of the faithful remnant
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  Speaker 1: would be repeated many times in Isaiah's prophecies. With this
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  Speaker 1: difficult mission, Isaiah began his work as a prophet in Judah.
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  Speaker 1: He soon faced a major political crisis. After Usiah's death,
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  Speaker 1: his son Jotham reigned for sixteen years, and after him,
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  Speaker 1: his grandson Ahaz took the throne. In second King sixteen
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  Speaker 1: one four, we read in the seventeenth year of Pekah,
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  Speaker 1: son of Ramalia, AHAs, son of Jotham, King of Judah,
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  Speaker 1: began to reign. Ahaz was twenty years old when he
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  Speaker 1: became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem for sixteen years,
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  Speaker 1: and like David his ancestor, he did not do what
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  Speaker 1: was right in the eyes of the Lord his God.
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  Speaker 1: He followed the ways of the kings of Israel and
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  Speaker 1: even sacrificed his son in the fire, engaging in the
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  Speaker 1: detestable practices of the nations the Lord had driven out
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  Speaker 1: before the Israelites. He offered sacrifices and burned incense at
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  Speaker 1: the high places, on the hilltops and under every spreading tree.
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  Speaker 1: Ahaz was an ungodly king who completely abandoned God and
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  Speaker 1: adopted the most abominable pagan practices, including child sacrifice. During
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  Speaker 1: his reign, Judah faced a severe external threat. The kings
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  Speaker 1: of Israel, the Northern Kingdom and Syria also called Aram,
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  Speaker 1: allied to attack Jerusalem. In Isaiah seven one to two,
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  Speaker 1: we read about this crisis when AHAs son of Jotham,
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  Speaker 1: the son of Usiah, was King of Judah, King Resin
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  Speaker 1: of Aram, and Pecca, son of Rimaliah, king of Israel,
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  Speaker 1: marched up to fight against Jerusalem, but they could not
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  Speaker 1: overpower it. Now the house of David was told Aram
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  Speaker 1: has allied itself with Ephraim. So the hearts of Ahaz
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  Speaker 1: and his people were shaken as the trees of the
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  Speaker 1: forest are shaken by the wind. This alliance between Israel
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  Speaker 1: also called Ephraim, and Syria became known as the Ciro
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  Speaker 1: Ephraimite Crisis. Their goal was to overthrow Ahaz and install
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  Speaker 1: a puppet king named the son of Tabel Isaiah seven six,
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  Speaker 1: who would join them against Assyria. Ahaz was terrified. Instead
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  Speaker 1: of trusting in God, he planned to seek help from
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  Speaker 1: the powerful king of Asirih Tiglathpiles the Thur, even though
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  Speaker 1: he knew this would mean submitting Judah to the Assyrians.
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  Speaker 1: In this critical situation, God sent Isaiah with a specific
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  Speaker 1: message for the king. In Isaiah seven thirty nine, God
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  Speaker 1: instructed Isaiah to take his son sheer Jeshub, whose name
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  Speaker 1: meant a remnant, will return and meet King Ahaz near
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  Speaker 1: the aqueduct of the Upper Pool on the road to
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  Speaker 1: the Washer's field. The message was clear, be careful, keep calm,
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  Speaker 1: and don't be afraid. Do not lose heart because of
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  Speaker 1: these two smoldering stubs of firewood, Aram Ephraim and Ramalia's
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  Speaker 1: son have plotted your ruins, saying, let us invade Judah,
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  Speaker 1: let us tear it apart and divide it among ourselves,
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  Speaker 1: and make the son of Tabil king over it. Yet
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  Speaker 1: this is what the sovereign Lord says. It will not
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  Speaker 1: take place. It will not happen, for the head of
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  Speaker 1: a Rahm is Damascus, and the head of Damascus is
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  Speaker 1: only resin. If you do not stand firm in your faith,
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  Speaker 1: you will not stand at all. This was a message
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  Speaker 1: of hope and challenge. God compared the kings of Israel
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  Speaker 1: and Syria to smoldering stubs of firewood nearly burnt out,
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  Speaker 1: indicating that their power would soon be extinguished. The only
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  Speaker 1: thing AHAs needed to do was trust in God. The
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  Speaker 1: final phrase of Isaiah's prophecy contains a Hebrew wordplay that
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  Speaker 1: is lost in translation, but it could be approximately rendered
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  Speaker 1: as if you do not believe, you will not last.
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  Speaker 1: To strengthen Ahazar's faith, God offered him a sign. In
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  Speaker 1: Isaiah seven ten eleven, we read the Lord spoke to
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  Speaker 1: a has again, saying, ask the Lord your God for
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  Speaker 1: a sign, whether from the depths of the earth or
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  Speaker 1: the heights of heaven. It was an extraordinary offer. God
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  Speaker 1: was willing to provide any sign. Ahaz requested to prove
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  Speaker 1: that his word was true, but Ahaz had already decided
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  Speaker 1: to seek help from Assyria. Pretending to be very religious,
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  Speaker 1: he replied to Isaiah, I will not ask I will
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  Speaker 1: not put the Lord to the test Isaiah seven twelve.
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  Speaker 1: He quoted Deuteronomy six sixteen, where God forbids testing the Lord,
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  Speaker 1: but he was merely using scripture as an excuse. The
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  Speaker 1: truth was that he didn't want a sign because he
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  Speaker 1: had already decided not to trust God. Isaiah was outraged
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  Speaker 1: by the king's false piety. As a representative of the
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  Speaker 1: House of David. Ahaz was rejecting not only Isaiah but
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  Speaker 1: also God himself, who had sent him. In fact, AHAs
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  Speaker 1: had already sent messengers to a Syria seeking help, as
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  Speaker 1: we see in Second King sixteen seven. Isaiah responded to
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  Speaker 1: a Hazis hypocrisy in Isaiah seven to fourteen. Here, now,
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  Speaker 1: you House of David, is it not enough to try
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  Speaker 1: the patience of men? Will you also try the patience
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  Speaker 1: of my God? Therefore, the Lord himself will give you
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  Speaker 1: a sign. The Virgin will conceive and give birth to
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  Speaker 1: a son, and will call him Immanuel. This is one
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  Speaker 1: of the most famous prophecies in Isaiah. The Hebrew word
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  Speaker 1: translated as virgin is alma, which can mean a young
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  Speaker 1: woman of marriageable age or a virgin. The Greek translation
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  Speaker 1: of the Old Testament, known as the Septuageant use the
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  Speaker 1: word parthenos, which more clearly means virgin. Immanuel means God
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  Speaker 1: with us. It was an immediate sign to Ahaz that
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  Speaker 1: God was with his people and would protect them. It
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  Speaker 1: likely referred in the immediate context to the birth of
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  Speaker 1: a child at that time, but it was also a
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  Speaker 1: promise for the distant future, fulfilled centuries later, as we
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  Speaker 1: read in Mathieu one twenty two twenty three, when Jesus
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  Speaker 1: was born of the virgin Mary. Isaiah continued his message
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  Speaker 1: in Isaiah seven fifteen seventeen, saying that before the child
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  Speaker 1: knew how to reject evil and choose good, the two
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  Speaker 1: kings Ahaz feared would already be destroyed. But he also
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  Speaker 1: warned that the King of Assyria, in whom AHAs trusted,
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  Speaker 1: would bring terrible days upon Judah. As Isaiah had predicted.
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  Speaker 1: Ahaz rejected Divine Council and sought help from Tiglath Peliser,
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  Speaker 1: king of Assyria. In Second King sixteen seven to nine,
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  Speaker 1: we read that he sent messengers saying, I am your
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  Speaker 1: servant and your son, Come and save me from the
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  Speaker 1: hand of the King of Aram and the King of Israel,
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  Speaker 1: who are attacking me. He also sent silver and gold
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  Speaker 1: from the temple and the royal palace as a gift.
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  Speaker 1: Assyria accepted the request and attacked Damascus, the capital of Aram.
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  Speaker 1: King Resin was killed and many Aramians were taken captive
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  Speaker 1: to Assyria. Thus the Aramian threat was eliminated, but the
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  Speaker 1: cost was high for Judah. The kingdom became a vassal
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  Speaker 1: of Assyria and had to pay heavy tributes. Where Still,
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  Speaker 1: AHAs began worshiping the gods of Assyria and even ordered
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  Speaker 1: a pagan altar to be built in Jerusalem, copying one
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  Speaker 1: he had seen in Damascus. As we read in Second
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  Speaker 1: Kings sixteen ten to eighteen, the king Ahaz went to
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  Speaker 1: Damascus to meet Tiglath Piliser, king of Assyria. He saw
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  Speaker 1: an altar in Damascus and sent to Uriah the priest
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  Speaker 1: a model of the altar with all its details. Euriah
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  Speaker 1: the Priest built the altar according to all the instructions
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  Speaker 1: King Ahaz had sent from Damascus. The king removed the
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  Speaker 1: movable basins from the stands and took the sea off
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  Speaker 1: the bronze bulls that supported it and placed it on
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  Speaker 1: a stone base. He also moved from the Temple of
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  Speaker 1: the Lord the Sabbath canopy that had been built in
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  Speaker 1: the temple and the royal entrance outside. In order to
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  Speaker 1: please the King of Assyria. King AHAs not only introduced
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  Speaker 1: a pagan altar into the temple, but he also shut
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  Speaker 1: the doors of God's temple, built altars on every street
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  Speaker 1: corner in Jerusalem, and sacrificed to the gods of the
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  Speaker 1: neighboring nations. In Second Chronicles twenty eight twenty four twenty five,
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  Speaker 1: we read AHAs gathered together the furnishings from the Temple
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  Speaker 1: of God and cut them into pieces. He shut the
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  Speaker 1: doors of the Lord's Temple and set up altars at
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  Speaker 1: every street corner in Jerusalem. In every town of Judah,
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  Speaker 1: he built high places to burn sacrifices to other gods
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  Speaker 1: and arouse the anger of the Lord, the god of
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  Speaker 1: his ancestors. Because of these sins, Judah became even weaker,
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  Speaker 1: as Second Chronicles twenty eight nineteen tells us the Lord
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  Speaker 1: had humbled Judah because of Ahaz, King of Israel, for
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  Speaker 1: he had promoted moral decline in Judah and had been
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  Speaker 1: unfaithful to the Lord. During this tragic period, Edom and
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  Speaker 1: the Philistines also attacked Judah and captured several cities. All
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  Speaker 1: this chaos confirmed Isaiah's warning trusting in Assyria instead of
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  Speaker 1: trusting in God would only bring more trouble to Judah.
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  Speaker 1: Throughout this time of political turmoil and spiritual decline, Isaiah
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  Speaker 1: continued to prophesy faithfully. In Isaiah eight, page one four,
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  Speaker 1: God commanded the prophet to take a large tablet and
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  Speaker 1: write on it mahershallal Hashbaz, which means quick to the plunder,
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  Speaker 1: swift to the spoil. This would be the name of
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  Speaker 1: Isaiah's second son and symbolize the speed with which Assyria
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  Speaker 1: would defeat Damascus and Samaria. The prophet had another son,
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  Speaker 1: possibly a third whose name we do not know, who
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  Speaker 1: may have been the child Men mentioned in the Prophecy
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  Speaker 1: of Immanuel in Isaiah seven fourteen. The names of Isaiah's
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  Speaker 1: sons were signs to the people of Judah, living reminders
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  Speaker 1: of God's messages. In Isaiah eight five two eight, the
• 21:15
  Speaker 1: prophet warned that because they had rejected the gentle waters
• 21:19
  Speaker 1: of Shiloah, a symbol of God's soft protection and rejoiced
• 21:23
  Speaker 1: with Resin and the son of Riemalia. The people of
• 21:26
  Speaker 1: Judah would be overwhelmed by the violent waters of the
• 21:29
  Speaker 1: Euphrates River, a symbol of Assyria, which would reach up
• 21:34
  Speaker 1: to the neck. Assyria would invade the land like a
• 21:37
  Speaker 1: flooding river, but it would not completely destroy Judah, for
• 21:41
  Speaker 1: it was the land of Immanuel, God with us. Beyond
• 21:45
  Speaker 1: his messages to Judah, Isaiah also prophesied against many neighboring
• 21:50
  Speaker 1: nations that were enemies of God's people. In Isaiah thirteen one,
• 21:56
  Speaker 1: he begins the prophecy against Babylon, a prophecy against Babylon
• 22:01
  Speaker 1: that Isaiah, son of Amos saw. It is interesting to
• 22:05
  Speaker 1: note that at that time Babylon was not yet the
• 22:08
  Speaker 1: superpower it would later become. It was still under a
• 22:12
  Speaker 1: Syrian rule. But Isaiah foresaw that one day it would rise,
• 22:17
  Speaker 1: dominate the known world, and then fall. In Isaiah thirteen
• 22:21
  Speaker 1: seventeen to nineteen, he predicted that the medes Persians would
• 22:26
  Speaker 1: destroy Babylon. See I will stir up against them, the
• 22:30
  Speaker 1: Meds who do not care for silver and have no
• 22:32
  Speaker 1: delight in gold. Their bows will strike down the young men.
• 22:36
  Speaker 1: They will have no mercy on infants, nor will they
• 22:39
  Speaker 1: look with compassion on children. Babylon, the jewel of kingdoms,
• 22:45
  Speaker 1: the pride and glory of the Babylonians, will be overthrown
• 22:48
  Speaker 1: by God like Sodom and Gomorrah. This is a remarkable
• 22:53
  Speaker 1: example of far reaching prophecy, as Babylons fall to the
• 22:57
  Speaker 1: Persians would happen about two hundred years later in five
• 23:01
  Speaker 1: thirty nine b C. Regarding Assyria, the current oppressor, Isaiah
• 23:07
  Speaker 1: prophesied in Isaiah fourteen twenty four to twenty five, the
• 23:12
  Speaker 1: Lord Almighty has sworn surely, as I have planned, so
• 23:16
  Speaker 1: it will be, and as I have purposed, so it
• 23:18
  Speaker 1: will happen. I will crush the Assyrian in my land,
• 23:22
  Speaker 1: on my mountains, I will trample him down. This prophecy
• 23:26
  Speaker 1: would be fulfilled during the reign of Hezekiah, as we
• 23:29
  Speaker 1: will see later. In Isaiah fifteen and sixteen, we find
• 23:34
  Speaker 1: prophecies against Moab, predicting its destruction within three years. In
• 23:39
  Speaker 1: Isiah seventeen to one three, the prophet declares a prophecy
• 23:44
  Speaker 1: against Damascus. See Damascus will no longer be a city,
• 23:48
  Speaker 1: but will become a heap of ruins, the fortress will
• 23:51
  Speaker 1: disappear from Ephraim and royal power from Damascus. This prophecy
• 23:57
  Speaker 1: was fulfilled when Assyria conquered Damascus in seven thirty two
• 24:01
  Speaker 1: b See and the Northern Kingdom in seven twenty two
• 24:05
  Speaker 1: be See. Isaiah also prophesied against Egypt chapters nineteen to twenty,
• 24:10
  Speaker 1: Edom and Arabia chapter twenty one, and Tire chapter twenty three.
• 24:16
  Speaker 1: These messages demonstrated that God is the judge of all nations,
• 24:21
  Speaker 1: not just Israel and Judah. Even the most powerful empires
• 24:26
  Speaker 1: are under God's sovereign control and must be accountable for
• 24:30
  Speaker 1: their actions. One of Isaiah's greatest challenges was combating the
• 24:34
  Speaker 1: tendency of Judah's leaders to rely on political alliances with
• 24:39
  Speaker 1: other nations. In Isaiah thirty one to five, he condemns
• 24:44
  Speaker 1: those who sought help from Egypt, woe to the obstinate children,
• 24:49
  Speaker 1: declares the Lord to those who carry out plans that
• 24:53
  Speaker 1: are not mine, who form an alliance but not by
• 24:56
  Speaker 1: my spirit, heaping sin upon sin, who go down to
• 24:59
  Speaker 1: eat Egypt without consulting me, who look for help to
• 25:02
  Speaker 1: Pharaoh's protection, to Egypt's shade for refuge, but Pharaoh's protection
• 25:08
  Speaker 1: will be to your shame. Egypt's shade will bring you disgrace.
• 25:12
  Speaker 1: Everyone will be put to shame because of a people
• 25:15
  Speaker 1: useless to them, who bring neither help nor advantage, but
• 25:19
  Speaker 1: only shame and disgrace. In Isaiah thirty one point one,
• 25:24
  Speaker 1: he insists, woe to those who go down to Egypt
• 25:28
  Speaker 1: for help, who rely on horses, who trust in the
• 25:31
  Speaker 1: multitude of their chariots and in the great strength of
• 25:34
  Speaker 1: their horsemen, but do not look to the Holy One
• 25:36
  Speaker 1: of Israel or seek help from the Lord. The message
• 25:41
  Speaker 1: was clear, Judah's security did not lie in political alliances,
• 25:46
  Speaker 1: but in trust in God. Both a Has and many
• 25:49
  Speaker 1: leaders after him ignored this message to their own ruin.
• 25:53
  Speaker 1: In seven twenty two b C. Isaiah's prophecies against the
• 25:57
  Speaker 1: Northern Kingdom Israel dramatically fulfilled. After three years of siege Samaria,
• 26:05
  Speaker 1: the capital, was conquered by the Assyrians. As recorded in
• 26:09
  Speaker 1: Second King seventeen five two six, the king of Assyria
• 26:13
  Speaker 1: invaded the entire land, marched against Samaria, and laid siege
• 26:17
  Speaker 1: to it for three years. In the ninth year of Hoshea,
• 26:21
  Speaker 1: the king of Assyria captured Samarria and deported the Israelites
• 26:25
  Speaker 1: to Assyria. He settled them in Halla, in Gozan, on
• 26:29
  Speaker 1: the Haber River, and in the towns of the Medes.
• 26:33
  Speaker 1: The inhabitants were taken captive and scattered throughout the Assyrian Empire,
• 26:39
  Speaker 1: while other peoples were brought in to inhabit the land.
• 26:42
  Speaker 1: As explained in Second Kings seventeen twenty four, the king
• 26:47
  Speaker 1: of Assyria brought people from Babylon Kutha, Ava, Hamath, and
• 26:52
  Speaker 1: Sephavaim and settled them in the towns of Samaria to
• 26:55
  Speaker 1: replace the Israelites. They took over Samaria and lived in
• 27:00
  Speaker 1: its towns. This resulted in a mixed population that would
• 27:04
  Speaker 1: later become known as the Samaritans, who developed a syncretic religion,
• 27:09
  Speaker 1: part Jewish, part pagan. This was the end of the
• 27:13
  Speaker 1: Northern Kingdom, exactly as God had worn through Isaiah and
• 27:17
  Speaker 1: other prophets such as Amos and Hoseiah. Judah witnessed the
• 27:21
  Speaker 1: fate of their Northern brothers and should have learned the lesson,
• 27:25
  Speaker 1: but they continued in their rebellion against God. After a
• 27:30
  Speaker 1: Haus's death around seven fifteen BC, his son Hezekiah ascended
• 27:35
  Speaker 1: to the throne of Judah. Unlike his father, Hezekiah was
• 27:39
  Speaker 1: a king who sought God wholeheartedly. In Second Kings eighteen
• 27:43
  Speaker 1: three seven, we read he did what was right in
• 27:46
  Speaker 1: the eyes of the Lord, just as his father David
• 27:49
  Speaker 1: had done. He removed the high places, smashed the sacred stones,
• 27:54
  Speaker 1: and cut down the ashera poles. He broke into pieces
• 27:58
  Speaker 1: the bronze snake Moses had made for up to that
• 28:01
  Speaker 1: time the Israelites had been burning incense to it. Hezekiah
• 28:06
  Speaker 1: trusted in the Lord, the God of Israel. There was
• 28:09
  Speaker 1: no one like him among all the kings of Judah,
• 28:12
  Speaker 1: either before him or after him. He held fast to
• 28:15
  Speaker 1: the Lord and did not stop following him. He kept
• 28:19
  Speaker 1: the commands the Lord had given Moses, and the Lord
• 28:22
  Speaker 1: was with him. He was successful in whatever he undertook.
• 28:25
  Speaker 1: He rebelled against the King of Assyria and did not
• 28:29
  Speaker 1: serve him. Hezekiah also restored temple worship, celebrated Passover, and
• 28:34
  Speaker 1: invited the survivors of the Northern kingdom to join Judah
• 28:38
  Speaker 1: in worshiping the True God. As recorded in Second Chronicles
• 28:42
  Speaker 1: twenty nine thirty one, this was a time of true
• 28:45
  Speaker 1: spiritual revival in Judah. Isaiah supported Hezekiah's reforms and developed
• 28:52
  Speaker 1: a close relationship with the king, serving as his adviser
• 28:56
  Speaker 1: in both spiritual and political matters. This partnership between a
• 29:00
  Speaker 1: righteous king and a faithful prophet would be crucial for
• 29:04
  Speaker 1: Judah in the difficult times ahead. During this period, Isaiah
• 29:10
  Speaker 1: wrote many of his most hopeful prophecies, seeing in Hezekiah's
• 29:13
  Speaker 1: reign a glimpse of the future Messianic kingdom that God
• 29:18
  Speaker 1: would one day establish. However, despite this spiritual revival, years
• 29:23
  Speaker 1: of idolatry and social injustice under previous reigns had left
• 29:28
  Speaker 1: deep marks on the people. Many followed Hezekiah's reforms outwardly,
• 29:32
  Speaker 1: but their hearts remained far from God. As Isaiah wrote
• 29:36
  Speaker 1: in twenty nine thirteen, the Lord says, these people come
• 29:42
  Speaker 1: near to me with their mouth and honor me with
• 29:45
  Speaker 1: their lips, but their hearts are far from me. There
• 29:51
  Speaker 1: worship of Me is based on merely human rules. They
• 29:54
  Speaker 1: have been taught. This mixed spiritual condition would make it
• 29:58
  Speaker 1: difficult to face the challenges to come. Hezekiah's revolt against
• 30:02
  Speaker 1: Assyria soon brought sirious consequences. In seven oh one BC,
• 30:07
  Speaker 1: king Senakarib of Assyria, son and successor of Tigleth Pilliser third,
• 30:13
  Speaker 1: launched a major military campaign against Judah. In Second Kings
• 30:17
  Speaker 1: eighteen thirteen, we read in the fourteenth year of King
• 30:21
  Speaker 1: Hezekiah's reign, Senecarib, King of Assyria, attacked all the fortified
• 30:26
  Speaker 1: cities of Judah and captured them. Zenacarib himself, in inscriptions
• 30:31
  Speaker 1: discovered by modern archaeologists, boasted of having taken forty six
• 30:36
  Speaker 1: fortified cities of Judah and capturing more than two hundred
• 30:39
  Speaker 1: thousand people. As the powerful Assyrian army approached Jerusalem, Hezekiah
• 30:45
  Speaker 1: attempted to prevent the attack by paying a heavy tribute,
• 30:49
  Speaker 1: as stated in the Second Kings eighteen fourteen sixteen. So Hezekiah,
• 30:54
  Speaker 1: King of Judah, sent this message to the King of
• 30:57
  Speaker 1: Assyria at Lakish, I have done wrong withdraw from me,
• 31:01
  Speaker 1: and I will pay whatever you demand of me. The
• 31:04
  Speaker 1: King of Assyria exacted from Hezekiah, King of Judah, three
• 31:08
  Speaker 1: hundred talents of silver and thirty talents of gold. So
• 31:13
  Speaker 1: Hezikiah gave him all the silver that was found in
• 31:16
  Speaker 1: the Temple of the Lord and in the treasuries of
• 31:19
  Speaker 1: the royal Palace at that time, Hezekiah stripped off the
• 31:23
  Speaker 1: gold with which he had covered the doors and door
• 31:26
  Speaker 1: posts of the Temple of the Lord and gave it
• 31:29
  Speaker 1: to the King of Assyria. But the payment of this
• 31:31
  Speaker 1: heavy tribute was not enough to satisfy Senacarib. The Assyrian
• 31:36
  Speaker 1: king sent his officials with a large army to demand
• 31:40
  Speaker 1: the complete surrender of Jerusalem. Among these officials was the
• 31:45
  Speaker 1: rab Shakeh, a high ranking Assyrian officer who spoke Hebrew.
• 31:50
  Speaker 1: In dad Kings eighteen seventeen, we read the King of
• 31:53
  Speaker 1: Assyria sent his supreme commander, his chief officer, and his
• 31:57
  Speaker 1: high official from Lakish with a line arj army to
• 32:00
  Speaker 1: King Hezekiah in Jerusalem. They came up to Jerusalem and
• 32:05
  Speaker 1: stopped at the aqueduct of the Upper Pool, on the
• 32:08
  Speaker 1: road to the Washerman's Field. It is interesting to note
• 32:11
  Speaker 1: that they stopped at the same place where Isaiah had
• 32:14
  Speaker 1: met Ahaz years earlier Isaiah seventy three. Standing before the
• 32:19
  Speaker 1: city walls with the people of Jerusalem listening, the Rabshak
• 32:24
  Speaker 1: delivered an intimidating speech trying to convince the people to surrender.
• 32:29
  Speaker 1: In sag Kings eighteen nineteen twenty five, he mocked Hezekiah's
• 32:33
  Speaker 1: trust in God, saying on what are you basing this
• 32:36
  Speaker 1: confidence of yours? You think that mere words are strategy
• 32:40
  Speaker 1: and power for war? In whom are you trusting? That
• 32:43
  Speaker 1: you rebel against me? Look now you are depending on Egypt,
• 32:48
  Speaker 1: that splintered reed of a staff which pierces the hand
• 32:52
  Speaker 1: of anyone who leans on it. That is what Pharaoh,
• 32:55
  Speaker 1: king of Egypt, is to all who trust in him.
• 32:58
  Speaker 1: Then the rab Shaki dire attack the people's faith. But
• 33:02
  Speaker 1: if you say to me we are trusting in the Lord,
• 33:04
  Speaker 1: our God, isn't he the one whose high places and altars?
• 33:08
  Speaker 1: Hezekiah removed, saying to Judah and Jerusalem, you must worship
• 33:13
  Speaker 1: before this altar in Jerusalem. The Assyrian officer even claimed
• 33:18
  Speaker 1: that he was acting under orders from Israel's own God. Furthermore,
• 33:23
  Speaker 1: was it without the Lord's approval that I marched against
• 33:26
  Speaker 1: this land to destroy it? The Lord himself told me,
• 33:30
  Speaker 1: march against this land and destroy it. This claim was
• 33:33
  Speaker 1: a complete lie, but it aimed to shake the people's
• 33:36
  Speaker 1: confidence in God. Hezekiah's officials asked the rabshaka to speak
• 33:43
  Speaker 1: in Aramaic, the international language of diplomacy, so that the
• 33:47
  Speaker 1: common people on the walls would not understand. But the
• 33:50
  Speaker 1: Rabshaka refused, saying, in Second Kings eighteen twenty six to
• 33:55
  Speaker 1: twenty seven, did my master send me to say these
• 33:58
  Speaker 1: things only to you and your man? Was it not
• 34:01
  Speaker 1: also to the men sitting on the wall, who, like you,
• 34:05
  Speaker 1: will have to eat their own excrement and drink their
• 34:08
  Speaker 1: own urine. Then, raising his voice even more, he spoke
• 34:12
  Speaker 1: directly to the people in Hebrew. Do not let Hezekiah
• 34:15
  Speaker 1: deceive you. Do not let Hezekiah persuade you to trust
• 34:19
  Speaker 1: in the Lord. Do not listen to Hezekiah, for this
• 34:23
  Speaker 1: is what the King of Assyria says. Make peace with
• 34:26
  Speaker 1: me and surrender. Then each of you will eat from
• 34:30
  Speaker 1: your own vine and fig tree, and drink water from
• 34:33
  Speaker 1: your own cistern until I come and take you to
• 34:36
  Speaker 1: a land like your own, a land of grain and
• 34:39
  Speaker 1: new wine, a land of bread and vineyards, a land
• 34:43
  Speaker 1: of olive trees and honey. Second Kings eighteen twenty nine
• 34:47
  Speaker 1: to thirty two. The Rabshaki's speech ended with a devastating
• 34:50
  Speaker 1: blow to the people's faith. Has any god of any
• 34:53
  Speaker 1: nation ever delivered his land from the hand of the
• 34:56
  Speaker 1: King of Assyria. Where are the gods of Hammeth and Arpad?
• 35:00
  Speaker 1: Where are the gods of sepharvaim, Hena and IV? Have
• 35:04
  Speaker 1: they rescued Samaria from my hand? Who among all the
• 35:08
  Speaker 1: gods of these nations has been able to save their
• 35:11
  Speaker 1: land from me? How then, can the Lord deliver Jerusalem
• 35:14
  Speaker 1: from my hand? Second Kings eighteen thirty three to thirty five.
• 35:20
  Speaker 1: The people of Jerusalem, following Hezekiah's orders, remained silent and
• 35:25
  Speaker 1: did not answer Hezekiah's officials. Eliakim, Shebnah and Joah tore
• 35:31
  Speaker 1: their robes in distress and reported the Rabshakis words to
• 35:34
  Speaker 1: the king. When Hezekiah heard this, he too tore his robes,
• 35:40
  Speaker 1: put on sacloth as a sign of mourning and humiliation,
• 35:44
  Speaker 1: and went to the temple to pray. In Zengs Kings
• 35:47
  Speaker 1: nineteen one four, we see that he sent messengers to
• 35:50
  Speaker 1: Isaiah dressed in sacloth, saying, this is a day of distress, rebuke,
• 35:56
  Speaker 1: and disgrace. Perhaps the Lord your God will hear all
• 36:00
  Speaker 1: the words of the high official whom his master, the
• 36:03
  Speaker 1: King of Assyria, has sent to ridicule the Living God,
• 36:07
  Speaker 1: and he will rebuke him for the words the Lord,
• 36:10
  Speaker 1: your God has heard. Therefore, pray for the remnant that
• 36:13
  Speaker 1: still survives. The situation seemed hopeless. The Assyrian army was
• 36:18
  Speaker 1: the most powerful of the time, and the fortified cities
• 36:21
  Speaker 1: of Judah had already fallen. But Hazekiah, unlike his father
• 36:25
  Speaker 1: ahaz sought God instead of trusting in human alliances. Isaiah
• 36:30
  Speaker 1: responded with a message of hope. In Second Kings nineteen
• 36:34
  Speaker 1: five seven, when King Hezekiah's officials came to Isaiah, Isaiah
• 36:39
  Speaker 1: said to them, tell your master, this is what the
• 36:42
  Speaker 1: Lord says. Do not be afraid of the words you
• 36:45
  Speaker 1: have heard, those with which the servants of the king
• 36:48
  Speaker 1: of Assyria have blasphemed me listen. I am going to
• 36:52
  Speaker 1: put a spirit in him, so that when he hears
• 36:55
  Speaker 1: a certain report, he will return to his own country,
• 36:58
  Speaker 1: and there I will have him cut down with the sword. Isaiah,
• 37:03
  Speaker 1: who had long warned the people about the consequences of
• 37:05
  Speaker 1: their sins, now offered comfort and a promise of deliverance.
• 37:10
  Speaker 1: This pattern of judgment followed by grace, is a distinctive
• 37:13
  Speaker 1: feature of Isaiah's prophecies, reflecting the character of God, who
• 37:18
  Speaker 1: is both just and merciful. Shortly afterward, Senacharib, who had
• 37:25
  Speaker 1: returned to Lakish, sent new messengers to Hezekiah with a
• 37:29
  Speaker 1: threatening letter reaffirming his intentions to destroy Jerusalem. The letter
• 37:35
  Speaker 1: repeated many of the Rabshaka's arguments. Do not let the
• 37:39
  Speaker 1: God you depend on deceive you when he says Jerusalem
• 37:43
  Speaker 1: will not be given into the hands of the king
• 37:45
  Speaker 1: of Assyria. Surely you have heard what the kings of
• 37:49
  Speaker 1: Assyria have done to all the countries, destroying them completely.
• 37:53
  Speaker 1: And will you be delivered? Did the gods of the
• 37:56
  Speaker 1: nations that were destroyed by my predecessors rescue them? Second
• 38:01
  Speaker 1: Kings nineteen ten to twelve. Hezekiah took the letter to
• 38:04
  Speaker 1: the temple, spread it out before the Lord, and prayed sincerely,
• 38:09
  Speaker 1: as recorded in the Second Kings nineteen fifteen to Saint Kentine, Lord,
• 38:14
  Speaker 1: the God of Israel, enthroned between the Cheribim, you alone
• 38:17
  Speaker 1: are God over all the kingdoms of the earth. You
• 38:20
  Speaker 1: have made heaven and earth. Give ear, Lord, and here
• 38:23
  Speaker 1: open your eyes, Lord, and see Listen to the word
• 38:27
  Speaker 1: Senacharib has sent to ridicule the Living God. Now, Lord,
• 38:31
  Speaker 1: our God, deliver us from his hand, so that all
• 38:34
  Speaker 1: the kingdoms of the earth may know that you alone,
• 38:36
  Speaker 1: Lord are God. God responded to Hezekiah's prayer through Isaiah
• 38:42
  Speaker 1: with a lengthy message recorded in Second Kings nineteen twenty Sat.
• 38:46
  Speaker 1: Thirty four. In it, God rebukes the pride of the
• 38:50
  Speaker 1: Assyrian king. Whom have you insulted, and against whom have
• 38:54
  Speaker 1: you blasphemed? Against whom have you raised your voice and
• 38:59
  Speaker 1: lifted your eyes in arrogance Against the Holy One of Israel.
• 39:03
  Speaker 1: Through your messengers, you have insulted the Lord. And you
• 39:07
  Speaker 1: have said, with my many chariots, I have ascended to
• 39:11
  Speaker 1: the heights of the mountains, to the highest slopes of Lebanon.
• 39:15
  Speaker 1: I have cut down its tallest cedars, the best of
• 39:19
  Speaker 1: its pines. Have you not heard? Long ago? I ordained
• 39:23
  Speaker 1: it in days of old, I planned it. Now I
• 39:27
  Speaker 1: have brought it to pass. I have made you turn
• 39:30
  Speaker 1: fortified cities into heaps of stone. But I know where
• 39:33
  Speaker 1: you dwell when you come and go, and how you
• 39:36
  Speaker 1: rage against me. Because of your rage against me, and
• 39:40
  Speaker 1: because your arrogance has reached my ears, I will put
• 39:43
  Speaker 1: my hook in your noseen my bit in your mouth,
• 39:46
  Speaker 1: and I will make you return by the way you came.
• 39:50
  Speaker 1: Then God promised to defend Jerusalem. He will not enter
• 39:54
  Speaker 1: this city or shoot an arrow here. I will defend
• 39:57
  Speaker 1: this city and save it for my sake, for the
• 40:00
  Speaker 1: sake of my servant David. And that is exactly what happened.
• 40:04
  Speaker 1: In Second Kings nineteen thirty five thirty six we read
• 40:08
  Speaker 1: that night the Angel of the Lord went out and
• 40:11
  Speaker 1: struck down one hundred and eighty five thousand men in
• 40:14
  Speaker 1: the Assyrian camp. When the people got up the next morning,
• 40:17
  Speaker 1: they saw all the dead bodies. So Snacarib, king of Assyria,
• 40:22
  Speaker 1: broke camp and withdrew. He returned to Nineveh and stayed there.
• 40:28
  Speaker 1: It was a miraculous intervention. God fulfilled his promise and
• 40:33
  Speaker 1: saved Jerusalem without a single arrow being shot. This event
• 40:37
  Speaker 1: profoundly marked the history of Judah and confirmed Isaiah's authority
• 40:41
  Speaker 1: as a prophet of the Lord. The defeat of the
• 40:44
  Speaker 1: mighty Assyrian army seemed impossible from a human perspective, but
• 40:49
  Speaker 1: for God, nothing is impossible. In Assyrian inscriptions discovered by
• 40:55
  Speaker 1: modern archaeologists, Senacarib boasts of having shut up Zekiah like
• 41:00
  Speaker 1: a bird in a cage, referring to the siege of Jerusalem. However, curiously,
• 41:06
  Speaker 1: he does not record the conquest of the city, which
• 41:09
  Speaker 1: aligns with the biblical account that he was forced to
• 41:12
  Speaker 1: withdraw without capturing it. Later, just as Isaiah had prophesied,
• 41:19
  Speaker 1: Senecarib was assassinated by two of his sons while worshiping
• 41:23
  Speaker 1: in the temple of his god. In set Kings nineteen
• 41:26
  Speaker 1: thirty seven we Rid, one day, while he was worshiping
• 41:30
  Speaker 1: in the temple of his God, Nisrok, his sons Adramelech
• 41:35
  Speaker 1: and Shariza struck him down with the sword and fled
• 41:38
  Speaker 1: to the land of Ararat, and his son Esarhaddan succeeded
• 41:43
  Speaker 1: him as king. The deliverance of Jerusalem from the Assyrian
• 41:47
  Speaker 1: army was one of the most significant moments in Isaiah's ministry,
• 41:52
  Speaker 1: a dramatic confirmation of his message that trusting in God,
• 41:57
  Speaker 1: rather than in human alliances, was the only secure path
• 42:01
  Speaker 1: for Judah. This event would echo in the minds of
• 42:04
  Speaker 1: the people for generations as an example of God's power
• 42:08
  Speaker 1: to save those who trust in him. Isaiah himself likely
• 42:14
  Speaker 1: composed psalms of thanksgiving for this great deliverance, some of
• 42:18
  Speaker 1: which may be preserved in the Book of psalms or
• 42:22
  Speaker 1: incorporated into his prophetic praises. Some time after this great victory,
• 42:27
  Speaker 1: perhaps even in the same year seven oh one b c.
• 42:31
  Speaker 1: Hezekiah fell gravely ill. In Isaiah thirty eight one, we
• 42:36
  Speaker 1: read in those days Hezekiah became ill and was at
• 42:40
  Speaker 1: the point of death. The prophet Isaiah, son of a
• 42:43
  Speaker 1: Mos went to him and said, this is what the
• 42:47
  Speaker 1: Lord says. Put your house in order, for you are
• 42:50
  Speaker 1: going to die. You will not recover. This news must
• 42:54
  Speaker 1: have been particularly distressing for Hezekiah, as he likely had
• 42:58
  Speaker 1: no son yet to succeed him on the throne. If
• 43:01
  Speaker 1: he died without an heir, the dividic lineage could be interrupted,
• 43:06
  Speaker 1: jeopardizing the Messianic promises. Hezekiah turned his face to the
• 43:11
  Speaker 1: wall and wept bitterly, praying to God and reminding him
• 43:15
  Speaker 1: of his faithfulness. Remember Lord, how I have walked before
• 43:19
  Speaker 1: you faithfully and with wholehearted devotion, and have done what
• 43:23
  Speaker 1: is good in your eyes Isaiah thirty eight three. The
• 43:26
  Speaker 1: Lord heard his prayer, and before Isaiah had even left
• 43:30
  Speaker 1: the palace courtyard, God sent him back with a new message.
• 43:34
  Speaker 1: In Isaiah thirty eight five to six, the prophet declared
• 43:37
  Speaker 1: go and tell Hezekia, this is what the Lord, the
• 43:41
  Speaker 1: God of your father David says. I have heard your
• 43:44
  Speaker 1: prayer and seen your tears. I will add fifteen years
• 43:47
  Speaker 1: to your life, and I will deliver you in this
• 43:49
  Speaker 1: city from the hand of the King of Assyria. I
• 43:52
  Speaker 1: will defend this city. As a sign that he would
• 43:55
  Speaker 1: fulfill this promise, God made the shadow move back ten
• 43:59
  Speaker 1: steps on a stairway built by Ahaz which served as
• 44:03
  Speaker 1: a kind of sun dial as described in Isaiah thirty eighth,
• 44:06
  Speaker 1: seven and eight. Isaiah also prescribed a treatment for Hezekiah's illness,
• 44:11
  Speaker 1: saying prepare a poultice of pigs. They did so, applied
• 44:16
  Speaker 1: it to the ulcer, and Hezekiah recovered Isaiah thirty eight
• 44:20
  Speaker 1: twenty one. This episode highlights the complex interaction between faith
• 44:25
  Speaker 1: and medicine in Hezekiah's healing. God promised healing, but he
• 44:30
  Speaker 1: also used natural means the poultice of phigs to bring
• 44:34
  Speaker 1: it about. After his recovery, Hezekiah composed a beautiful psalm
• 44:38
  Speaker 1: of thanksgiving preserved in Isaiah thirty eight nine ten twenty,
• 44:43
  Speaker 1: in which he expresses his gratitude to God and reflects
• 44:47
  Speaker 1: on his near death experience. News of Hezekiah's miraculous recovery
• 44:52
  Speaker 1: spread throughout the region. The king of Babylon, Meredach Baladan,
• 44:57
  Speaker 1: son of Baladan, sent envoys with letters and a gift
• 45:00
  Speaker 1: for Hezikiah. In Isaiah thirty nine one two, we read
• 45:05
  Speaker 1: at that time Meredach Baladan, son of Baladan, king of Babylon,
• 45:10
  Speaker 1: sent letters and a gift to Hezikiah, for he had
• 45:14
  Speaker 1: heard of his illness and recovery. Hezekiah received the envoys
• 45:18
  Speaker 1: gladly and showed them what was in his storehouses, the silver,
• 45:22
  Speaker 1: the gold, the spices, the fine oil, his entire armory,
• 45:27
  Speaker 1: and everything found among his treasures. There was nothing in
• 45:31
  Speaker 1: his palace or in all his kingdom that Hezekiah did
• 45:35
  Speaker 1: not show them. On the surface, this visit seemed to
• 45:38
  Speaker 1: be merely a diplomatic gesture from one king to another. However,
• 45:43
  Speaker 1: there was a deeper political motive. At that time, Babylon
• 45:47
  Speaker 1: was under a Syrian rule, but frequently rebelled in an
• 45:50
  Speaker 1: attempt to gain independence. Meredach Baladan, a leader of these rebellions,
• 45:56
  Speaker 1: was seeking allies against Assyria, and Hezekiah's successful resistance against
• 46:01
  Speaker 1: the Assyrians made him a potential partner, Hezekiah made a
• 46:05
  Speaker 1: grave mistake by showing all of Judah's treasures to the
• 46:08
  Speaker 1: Babylonian envoys. Driven by pride, he revealed the full extent
• 46:13
  Speaker 1: of Judah's wealth to representatives of a nation that would
• 46:17
  Speaker 1: later become its enemy. Isaiah immediately went to the palace
• 46:22
  Speaker 1: and questioned Hezekiah about the visitors, where they came from,
• 46:26
  Speaker 1: and what they had seen. When Hezekiah confessed that he
• 46:30
  Speaker 1: had shown all his treasures, Isaiah delivered a harsh prophecy
• 46:34
  Speaker 1: in Isaiah thirty nine five seven, hear the word of
• 46:38
  Speaker 1: the Lord of Hosts. Surely the days are coming when
• 46:41
  Speaker 1: everything in your palace, along with all that your ancestors
• 46:45
  Speaker 1: have accumulated until this day, will be carried off to Babylon.
• 46:50
  Speaker 1: Nothing will be left, says the Lord, And some of
• 46:53
  Speaker 1: your own descendants, your own flesh and blood, whom you
• 46:56
  Speaker 1: will father, will be taken away and will become eunuchs
• 47:00
  Speaker 1: in the palace of the King of Babylon. It was
• 47:03
  Speaker 1: a startling prophecy. At that time, Babylon was merely a
• 47:07
  Speaker 1: city state under a Syrian rule, not yet a world power.
• 47:11
  Speaker 1: But Isiah foresaw that one day Babylon would rise, destroy
• 47:16
  Speaker 1: Jerusalem and take the people into exile. This event would
• 47:21
  Speaker 1: occur about a hundred years later, during the reign of
• 47:24
  Speaker 1: nebucud Nezza, when Babylon had conquered Assyria and become the
• 47:28
  Speaker 1: new dominant empire. Hezekiah's response in Isaiah thirty nine eight
• 47:33
  Speaker 1: reveals a humble yet somewhat self centered acceptance. The word
• 47:38
  Speaker 1: of the Lord that you have spoken is good, he thought,
• 47:42
  Speaker 1: at least there will be peace and security in my lifetime.
• 47:45
  Speaker 1: This prophecy concerning the future Babylonian exile marked a turning
• 47:50
  Speaker 1: point in Isaiah's ministry and messages. After proclaiming this judgment,
• 47:55
  Speaker 1: the Book of Isaiah drastically changes in tone. Chapters four
• 48:00
  Speaker 1: to sixty six primarily contain messages of hope and consolation
• 48:04
  Speaker 1: for God's people, looking beyond the exile to a future restoration.
• 48:09
  Speaker 1: Although some scholars question whether Isaiah wrote all these chapters,
• 48:13
  Speaker 1: Jewish and Christian tradition has historically attributed them to him,
• 48:18
  Speaker 1: viewing them as prophecies that look far into the future,
• 48:22
  Speaker 1: beyond the exile Isaiah had just announced. These chapters begin
• 48:26
  Speaker 1: with the Beautiful Words of Isaiah forty one through two,
• 48:30
  Speaker 1: comfort comfort my people, says your God, speak tenderly to Jerusalem,
• 48:35
  Speaker 1: and proclaim to her that her captivity has ended, that
• 48:39
  Speaker 1: her iniquity has been pardoned, and that she has received
• 48:42
  Speaker 1: from the Lord's hand double for all her sins. It
• 48:45
  Speaker 1: is as if Isaiah, after announcing the future exile, was
• 48:49
  Speaker 1: already looking further ahead to the time when the exile
• 48:53
  Speaker 1: would end and the people would return to their land.
• 48:57
  Speaker 1: In Isaiah forty three to five, he continues, a voice
• 49:02
  Speaker 1: cries out in the wilderness, prepare the way for the Lord.
• 49:07
  Speaker 1: Make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
• 49:10
  Speaker 1: Every valley shall be lifted up, every mountain and hill
• 49:14
  Speaker 1: made low. The rough ground shall become level, and the
• 49:17
  Speaker 1: rugged places a plain. And the glory of the Lord
• 49:20
  Speaker 1: will be revealed, and all humanity together will see it.
• 49:24
  Speaker 1: For the mouth of the Lord has spoken. This is
• 49:28
  Speaker 1: a powerful prophecy about the coming of a forerunner who
• 49:31
  Speaker 1: would prepare the way for the revelation of God's glory.
• 49:35
  Speaker 1: In the New Testament, all four gospels apply this passage
• 49:39
  Speaker 1: to John the Baptist, who prepared the way for Jesus.
• 49:43
  Speaker 1: Matthew three three, Mark one three, Luke three four six,
• 49:47
  Speaker 1: John one twenty three. In the following chapters, Isiah develops
• 49:51
  Speaker 1: several key themes, First, the sovereignty and incomparability of God.
• 49:57
  Speaker 1: In Isaiah forty twelve to twenty six, the prophet magnificently
• 50:01
  Speaker 1: describes God's power and majesty with rhetorical questions. Who has
• 50:06
  Speaker 1: measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, or
• 50:10
  Speaker 1: with the breadth of his hand marked off the heavens?
• 50:12
  Speaker 1: Who has held the dust of the earth in a basket,
• 50:15
  Speaker 1: or weighed the mountains on the scales and the hills
• 50:18
  Speaker 1: in a balance? Do you not know? Have you not heard?
• 50:23
  Speaker 1: Has it not been told to you from the beginning?
• 50:25
  Speaker 1: Have you not understood since the earth was founded? He
• 50:29
  Speaker 1: sits enthroned above the circle of the earth, and its
• 50:32
  Speaker 1: people are like grasshoppers. He stretches out the heavens like
• 50:36
  Speaker 1: a canopy and spreads them out like a tent to dwell.
• 50:39
  Speaker 1: In this passage, emphasizes that God is the creator and
• 50:43
  Speaker 1: sustainer of all things, and that the nations are like
• 50:46
  Speaker 1: dust on the scales before him. Therefore, the people should
• 50:50
  Speaker 1: not fear Babylon or any other nation, for all are
• 50:54
  Speaker 1: under God's sovereign control. Another important theme in these prophecies
• 50:59
  Speaker 1: is the coming of Cyrus, the Persian king, who would
• 51:02
  Speaker 1: allow the exiles to return. In Isaiah forty four twenty
• 51:07
  Speaker 1: eight forty five one, Isaiah mentions this king by name
• 51:11
  Speaker 1: about one hundred and fifty years before his birth. I
• 51:15
  Speaker 1: am the one who says of Cyrus, he is my shepherd,
• 51:19
  Speaker 1: and he will accomplish all that I please. He will say,
• 51:22
  Speaker 1: of Jerusalem, let it be rebuilt, and of the Temple,
• 51:26
  Speaker 1: let its foundations be laid. This is what the Lord
• 51:29
  Speaker 1: says to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I
• 51:32
  Speaker 1: take hold of, to subdue nations before him, and to
• 51:36
  Speaker 1: strip kings of their armor, to open doors before him
• 51:40
  Speaker 1: so that gates will not be shut. This is one
• 51:44
  Speaker 1: of the most specific and remarkable prophecies in the Bible. Cyrus,
• 51:49
  Speaker 1: the King of Persia, would conquer Babylon in five and
• 51:52
  Speaker 1: thirty nine b c. And the following year he would
• 51:55
  Speaker 1: issue a decree allowing the Jews to return to Jerusalem
• 51:59
  Speaker 1: and rebuild the temple, as recorded in Ezra one one four.
• 52:05
  Speaker 1: The fact that Isaiah mentioned Cyrus by names so many
• 52:08
  Speaker 1: years in advance is powerful evidence of the divine inspiration
• 52:13
  Speaker 1: of his prophecies. But the deepest and most mysterious theme
• 52:17
  Speaker 1: of these later prophecies is the servant of the Lord.
• 52:21
  Speaker 1: In four passages known as the Servant Songs Isaiah forty
• 52:25
  Speaker 1: two one nine, forty nine one to thirteen, fifty forty eleven,
• 52:29
  Speaker 1: fifty two, thirteen fifty three to twelve, Isaiah describes a
• 52:33
  Speaker 1: servant of God who would fulfill a special mission of redemption.
• 52:38
  Speaker 1: The most famous of these songs is the last one
• 52:40
  Speaker 1: in Isaiah fifty two thirteen fifty three twelve, which describes
• 52:45
  Speaker 1: a suffering servant who would bear the sins of the people.
• 52:49
  Speaker 1: He grew up before him like a tender shoot, and
• 52:52
  Speaker 1: like a roote out of dry ground. He had no
• 52:55
  Speaker 1: beauty or majesty to attract us to him. Nothing in
• 52:59
  Speaker 1: his appearance the we should desire him. He was despised
• 53:03
  Speaker 1: and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering and familiar
• 53:07
  Speaker 1: with pain, like one from whom people hide their faces.
• 53:10
  Speaker 1: He was despised, and we held him in low esteem.
• 53:14
  Speaker 1: Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering.
• 53:17
  Speaker 1: Yet we considered him punished by God, stricken by him,
• 53:21
  Speaker 1: and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions. He
• 53:25
  Speaker 1: was crushed for our iniquities. The punishment that brought us
• 53:28
  Speaker 1: peace was on him, And by his wounds we are healed.
• 53:33
  Speaker 1: We all, like sheep, have gone astray. Each of us
• 53:37
  Speaker 1: has turned to our own way, and the Lord has
• 53:40
  Speaker 1: laid on him the iniquity of us all hunul Isaiah
• 53:44
  Speaker 1: fifty three two six. The identity of this servant has
• 53:48
  Speaker 1: been debated for centuries. Some see him as a representation
• 53:52
  Speaker 1: of Israel, God's chosen people. Others understand him as an
• 53:56
  Speaker 1: individual figure, a future liberator. Christians recognize in this description
• 54:03
  Speaker 1: a prophetic portrait of Jesus, whose centuries later would die
• 54:07
  Speaker 1: for the sins of humanity. The evangelist Matthieu explicitly applies
• 54:12
  Speaker 1: this prophecy to Jesus in Matthew eight seventeen, and Philip
• 54:17
  Speaker 1: uses it to explain the Gospel to the Ethiopian official
• 54:20
  Speaker 1: in Acts eight twenty six to thirty five. This suffering
• 54:24
  Speaker 1: servant would accomplish what the people of Israel, in their disobedience,
• 54:29
  Speaker 1: failed to do, to be a light to the gentiles
• 54:32
  Speaker 1: and bring salvation to the ends of the earth Isaiah
• 54:36
  Speaker 1: forty nine six. Isaiah also prophesied about a future righteous
• 54:40
  Speaker 1: king from the lineage of David. In Isaiah eleven one
• 54:44
  Speaker 1: to five, a shoot will come up from the stump
• 54:47
  Speaker 1: of Jesse. From his roots, a branch will bear fruit.
• 54:52
  Speaker 1: The spirit of the Lord will rest on him, the
• 54:55
  Speaker 1: spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the spirit of council
• 55:00
  Speaker 1: and of might, the spirit of the knowledge and fear
• 55:03
  Speaker 1: of the Lord. He will not judge by what he
• 55:06
  Speaker 1: sees with his eyes, or decide by what he hears
• 55:09
  Speaker 1: with his ears, But with righteousness. He will judge the
• 55:13
  Speaker 1: needy with justice. He will give decisions for the poor
• 55:17
  Speaker 1: of the earth. He will strike the earth with the
• 55:20
  Speaker 1: rod of his mouth, with the breath of his lips,
• 55:23
  Speaker 1: he will slay the wicked. Righteousness will be his belt,
• 55:27
  Speaker 1: and faithfulness the sash around his waist. This messianic prophecy
• 55:31
  Speaker 1: describes a perfect ruler filled with the spirit of God,
• 55:35
  Speaker 1: who would judge with justice and establish a kingdom of peace.
• 55:40
  Speaker 1: It connects with them a promise made to David in
• 55:42
  Speaker 1: Second Samuel seven twelve sixteen, where God declares that he
• 55:46
  Speaker 1: will establish the throne of David's dynasty forever. The Jews
• 55:51
  Speaker 1: expected this prophecy to be fulfilled in a political and
• 55:54
  Speaker 1: military leader who would free Israel from foreign rule. In
• 55:59
  Speaker 1: his later offhces, Isaiah presented a grand vision of a
• 56:03
  Speaker 1: new creation and cosmic restoration. In Isaiah sixty five seventeen
• 56:08
  Speaker 1: to nineteen, he proclaims, see, I will create new heavens
• 56:12
  Speaker 1: and a new earth. The former things will not be remembered,
• 56:16
  Speaker 1: nor will they come to mind. But be glad and
• 56:19
  Speaker 1: rejoice forever in what I will create. For I will
• 56:23
  Speaker 1: create Jerusalem to be a delight and its people a joy.
• 56:27
  Speaker 1: I will rejoice over Jerusalem and take delight in my people.
• 56:32
  Speaker 1: The sound of weeping and crying will be heard in
• 56:34
  Speaker 1: it no more. And in Isaiah sixty six twenty two
• 56:38
  Speaker 1: twenty three, he concludes, as the new heavens and the
• 56:41
  Speaker 1: new Earth that I make will endure before me, So
• 56:45
  Speaker 1: will your name and your descendants endure. From one new
• 56:49
  Speaker 1: moon to another, and from one sabbath to another. All
• 56:52
  Speaker 1: mankind will come and bow down before me. This vision
• 56:56
  Speaker 1: of a renewed universe where suffering, death and in will
• 57:00
  Speaker 1: no longer exist is echoed in the final book of
• 57:04
  Speaker 1: the Bible, Revelation, which describes a new heaven and a
• 57:09
  Speaker 1: new Earth Revelation twenty one one, and declares that their
• 57:15
  Speaker 1: will be no more death or mourning, or crying or
• 57:18
  Speaker 1: pain Revelation twenty one four. Regarding the end of Isaiah's life,
• 57:24
  Speaker 1: the Bible does not provide clear information. According to a
• 57:28
  Speaker 1: Jewish tradition preserved in an ancient book called the Ascension
• 57:31
  Speaker 1: of Isaiah, the prophet was martyred during the reign of Manasseh,
• 57:36
  Speaker 1: the son of Hezekiah. After Hezekiah's death around six hundred
• 57:41
  Speaker 1: eighty seven b C. His son Manassa took the throne
• 57:44
  Speaker 1: at the age of twelve. In Second Kings twenty one
• 57:48
  Speaker 1: one to eighteen, we read that manasse was an ungodly
• 57:51
  Speaker 1: king who reversed all his father's religious reforms. He rebuilt
• 57:56
  Speaker 1: the idolatrous altars that Hezekiah had dis droid, erected altars
• 58:01
  Speaker 1: for bale, made an asheropole, and worshiped the stars. He
• 58:06
  Speaker 1: even built pagan altars inside the very temple of the Lord. Moreover,
• 58:11
  Speaker 1: he shed so much innocent blood that he filled Jerusalem
• 58:15
  Speaker 1: from end to end. Second Kings twenty one sixteen. Tradition
• 58:20
  Speaker 1: says that one of the victims of this bloodshed was
• 58:23
  Speaker 1: Isaiah himself, who was sorn in two by order of
• 58:27
  Speaker 1: the king. Some scholars believe that Hebrews eleven thirty seven,
• 58:30
  Speaker 1: which mentions people of faith who were sorn in two,
• 58:35
  Speaker 1: may be referring to Isaiah. What we know for certain
• 58:39
  Speaker 1: is that Isaiah's writings were preserved by his disciples and
• 58:42
  Speaker 1: became one of the most important books of the Old Testament.
• 58:46
  Speaker 1: Isaiah prophesied for approximately sixty years during the reigns of Usiah, Jotham,
• 58:51
  Speaker 1: ahaz and Hezekiah. His words have transcended centuries and continue
• 58:56
  Speaker 1: to inspire and challenge readers to day. In his book
• 59:00
  Speaker 1: we find some of the most beautiful and poetic passages
• 59:04
  Speaker 1: in the Bible, such as the Vision of the Lord
• 59:06
  Speaker 1: in the Temple Chich six, the Messianic Promises Chas seven,
• 59:11
  Speaker 1: nine eleven, the Song of the Vineyard five, the Song
• 59:15
  Speaker 1: of the Suffering Servant Shakes fifty three, and the Vision
• 59:19
  Speaker 1: of the New Heavens and New Earth Cheches sixty five
• 59:22
  Speaker 1: to sixty six. The New Testament quotes Isaiah more than
• 59:27
  Speaker 1: any other prophet, and Jesus began his public ministry by
• 59:31
  Speaker 1: reading a passage from Isaiah in the Synagogue of Nazareth
• 59:35
  Speaker 1: Luke four sixteen to twenty one. The Book of Isaiah
• 59:39
  Speaker 1: presents a comprehensive vision of God's plan for humanity's redemption,
• 59:44
  Speaker 1: from the judgment of sin to the final restoration of
• 59:47
  Speaker 1: all things. Isaiah's legacy is immense. He is considered the
• 59:52
  Speaker 1: quintessential Messianic prophet, the one who most clearly pointed to
• 59:57
  Speaker 1: the coming of the Messiah. His prophecies about them Virgin
• 1:00:00
  Speaker 1: Birth Isaiah seven fourteen, the Righteous Government Isaiah nine six
• 1:00:05
  Speaker 1: to seven, the Galilean Ministry Isaiah nine one two, the
• 1:00:10
  Speaker 1: Vicarious Suffering Isaiah fifty three, and many others were foundational
• 1:00:15
  Speaker 1: in shaping both Jewish and Christian expectations about the Messiah. Moreover,
• 1:00:21
  Speaker 1: his sublime poetry, rich metaphors, and cosmic vision of history
• 1:00:25
  Speaker 1: profoundly influenced later literature and theology. Isiah challenged the kings
• 1:00:30
  Speaker 1: and the people of his time to trust in God
• 1:00:34
  Speaker 1: rather than relying on political alliances with pagan nations. He
• 1:00:38
  Speaker 1: denounced social injustice and idolatry, calling the people to repentance,
• 1:00:44
  Speaker 1: but he also offered hope, showing that even after judgment,
• 1:00:49
  Speaker 1: God would restore his people. As one scholar put it,
• 1:00:53
  Speaker 1: Isaiah is the Shakespeare of the Prophets, combining profound spirituality
• 1:00:58
  Speaker 1: with extraordinary literary quality. Perhaps the most striking aspect of
• 1:01:03
  Speaker 1: Isaiah's ministry is how he remained steadfast in his calling
• 1:01:08
  Speaker 1: through all circumstances. From the moment he saw the Lord
• 1:01:11
  Speaker 1: in the temple and responded, here am I send me?
• 1:01:15
  Speaker 1: To his final days, Isaiah remained faithful to the mission
• 1:01:19
  Speaker 1: God had given him. He prophesied in good times and bad,
• 1:01:23
  Speaker 1: when kings listened to him and when they rejected him,
• 1:01:27
  Speaker 1: when the people responded, and when they hardened their hearts.
• 1:01:30
  Speaker 1: He announced judgment when it was necessary, even when it
• 1:01:34
  Speaker 1: made him unpopular, and he proclaimed hope when the people
• 1:01:37
  Speaker 1: needed comfort. In his own life, Isaiah exemplified the message
• 1:01:43
  Speaker 1: God gave him for his people, the importance of unwavering
• 1:01:47
  Speaker 1: faith in God even in the most difficult times. His
• 1:01:51
  Speaker 1: life and ministry stand as a testament to the truth
• 1:01:54
  Speaker 1: he himself proclaimed in Isaiah forty toteate. The grass withers
• 1:01:59
  Speaker 1: and the flowers fall, but the word of our God
• 1:02:03
  Speaker 1: endures forever. Nearly two thousand, eight hundred years after his time,
• 1:02:09
  Speaker 1: Isaiah's words continue to inspire and challenge readers around the world.