BIBLE STUDY: November 25th

The meeting opened with prayer

In the Scriptures, by the Spirit,
   May we see the Saviour's face,
Hear His word and heed His calling -
   Know His will and grow in grace.
Amen
 

After briefly recalling what we had done last week, we proceeded to read and reflect on the next two chapters of Isaiah.
 

Isaiah 4: 2 to 6
(Verse 1 of chapter 4 really belongs to the last section of chapter 3 and was read last week)

2

On that day, The branch of the LORD will be luster and glory, and the fruit of the earth will be honor and splendor for the survivors of Israel.

3

He who remains in Zion and he that is left in Jerusalem will be called holy: every one marked down for life in Jerusalem.

4

When the Lord washes away the filth of the daughters of Zion, And purges Jerusalem's blood from her midst with a blast of searing judgment,

5

Then will the LORD create, over the whole site of Mount Zion and over her place of assembly, a smoking cloud by day and a light of flaming fire by night.

6

For over all, his glory will be shelter and protection: shade from the parching heat of day, refuge and cover from storm and rain.

This passage looks forward to the redemption and restoration of "the survivors of Israel", but more particularly it looks to the coming of the Messiah, the "branch of the LORD." The image of the Messiah as a branch or shoot is found among the prophets, e.g. in Jeremiah we read "Behold, the days are coming, says the LORD, when I will raise up a righteous shoot to David" (Jer. 23:5), and in Zechariah "Thus says the LORD of hosts: Here is a man whose name is Shoot, and where he is he shall sprout, and he shall build the temple of the LORD" (Zec. 6:12).

The reference in verse 5 to "a smoking cloud by day and a light of flaming fire by night" is to the column of cloud and column of fire by which the LORD guided and protected the Israelites in the exodus from Egypt: "The LORD preceded them, in the daytime by means of a column of cloud to show them the way, and at night by means of a column of fire to give them light" (Exodus 13:21). In his first letter to the Corinthians, St Paul writes that it is Christ Himself who guided the Israelites through the exodus: "our ancestors were all under the cloud and all passed through the sea, and all of them were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea. All ate the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink, for they drank from a spiritual rock that followed them, and the rock was the Christ" (1 Cor. 10:1-4).

We thought of the sorry state of present day Jerusalem, with its divisions and enmities. The redemption and restoration of the true Israel begun with the coming of Christ and in the working of the Church, the 'New Israel', but it awaits its consummation in the second coming of Christ when when there will be "a new heaven and a new earth" and "the holy city, the new Jerusalem" will come "down out of heaven from God" (Rev. 20: 1-2).
 

Isaiah 5: 1 to 7

1

Let me now sing of my friend, my friend's song concerning his vineyard. My friend had a vineyard on a fertile hillside;

2

He spaded it, cleared it of stones, and planted the choicest vines; Within it he built a watchtower, and hewed out a wine press. Then he looked for the crop of grapes, but what it yielded was wild grapes.

3

Now, inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah, judge between me and my vineyard:

4

What more was there to do for my vineyard that I had not done? Why, when I looked for the crop of grapes, did it bring forth wild grapes?

5

Now, I will let you know what I mean to do to my vineyard: Take away its hedge, give it to grazing, break through its wall, let it be trampled!

6

Yes, I will make it a ruin: it shall not be pruned or hoed, but overgrown with thorns and briers; I will command the clouds not to send rain upon it.

7

The vineyard of the LORD of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah are his cherished plant; He looked for judgment, but see, bloodshed! for justice, but hark, the outcry!

As we are told at the end of this passage, 'my friend' is the LORD of hosts (the LORD Sabaoth), the 'vineyard' is the house of Israel (i.e. the Israelites themselves) and 'choicest vines' are the people of Judah. It is among the latter that Isaiah is prophesying and he tells them that they have let God down. They are reminded that God had chosen them and looked after them, since He rescued them from slavery in Egypt and established them as a great nation under David. "What more was there to do for my vineyard that I had not done?" asks God. He looked for right judgment and justice among them and finds only bloodshed and cries of distress. His vineyard has brought forth wild grapes.

We were reminded that centuries later, Jesus used this image from Isaiah and developed it: "At the proper time he sent a servant to the tenants to obtain from them some of the produce of the vineyard. But they seized him, beat him, and sent him away empty-handed. Again he sent them another servant. And that one they beat over the head and treated shamefully. He sent yet another whom they killed. So, too, many others; some they beat, others they killed. He had one other to send, a beloved son. He sent him to them last of all, thinking, 'They will respect my son.' But those tenants said to one another, 'This is the heir. Come, let us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.' So they seized him and killed him, and threw him out of the vineyard" (Mark 12:2-8; see also Matt. 21:34-39 and Luke 20:9-15). The servants represent the prophets that God sent His people and the beloved son is, of course, Christ himself.

But what about ourselves? Have we always been receptive to what God says to us? Will God have cause to ask us what more He could have done for us?
 

Isaiah 5: 8 to 17

8

Woe to you who join house to house, who connect field with field, Till no room remains, and you are left to dwell alone in the midst of the land!

9

In my hearing the LORD of hosts has sworn: Many houses shall be in ruins, large ones and fine, with no one to live in them.

10

Ten acres of vineyard shall yield but one liquid measure, And a homer of seed shall yield but an ephah.

11

Woe to those who demand strong drink as soon as they rise in the morning, And linger into the night while wine inflames them!

12

With harp and lyre, timbrel and flute, they feast on wine; But what the LORD does, they regard not, the work of his hands they see not.

13

Therefore my people go into exile, because they do not understand; Their nobles die of hunger, and their masses are parched with thirst.

14

Therefore the nether world enlarges its throat and opens its maw without limit; Down go their nobility and their masses, their throngs and their revelry.

15

Men shall be abased, each one brought low, and the eyes of the haughty lowered,

16

But the LORD of hosts shall be exalted by his judgment, and God the Holy shall be shown holy by his justice.

17

Lambs shall graze there at pasture, and kids shall eat in the ruins of the rich.

There now begins a section of woes against those who have brought "forth wild grapes", those who have not lived as God would wish. The first woe is against those who are greedy and unjustly buy up their neighbour's property, in other words, those who attempt to build monopolies by whatever means they can. The prophet prophesies ruin for them.

In verse 4, 'one liquid measure' is given as 'barrel' in many translation. It is the ancient Hebrew measure 'bath' and was just under 23 litres (slightly less than 5 Imperial gallons, or about 6 US gallons). Many translations have 'ten bushels' and 'one bushel' instead of 'homer' and 'ephah'. One ancient Hebrew '(h)omer' (it is often spelled without the initial h-) was worth ten 'ephah'. An ephah was slightly more than 21 litres (about 4.6 Imperial gallons or 0.6 US bushel).

The second woe is directed against those who spend the day drinking and making merry - "with harp and lyre, timbrel and flute" - but disregard God. The prophet foresees ruin as the city falls under siege and its people taken into captivity.

The 'nether world' is the Hebrew Sh'ol (שאול) , the 'pit', i.e. the abode of the dead, the common grave of mankind. In other words, we have here a personification of Death opening its throat and swallowing down "their nobility and their masses, their throngs and their revelry." It is a reminder that death awaits us all.

Verse 16 reminds us that God is holy and just, and that it is because of God's holiness and justice that the haughty will be lowered. We are judged against God's justice and holiness; we write our own judgment.

When the land has fallen to its conquerors and the peple taken off into captivity (as indeed they were during the 6th century BC), the land won't be left empty. Nature will take over and "lambs shall graze there at pasture, and kids shall eat in the ruins."
 

Isaiah 5: 18 to 24

18

Woe to those who tug at guilt with cords of perversity, and at sin as if with cart ropes!

19

To those who say, "Let him make haste and speed his work, that we may see it; On with the plan of the Holy One of Israel! let it come to pass, that we may know it!"

20

Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil, who change darkness into light, and light into darkness, who change bitter into sweet, and sweet into bitter!

21

Woe to those who are wise in their own sight, and prudent in their own esteem!

22

Woe to the champions at drinking wine, the valiant at mixing strong drink!

23

To those who acquit the guilty for bribes, and deprive the just man of his rights!

24

Therefore, as the tongue of fire licks up stubble, as dry grass shrivels in the flame, Even so their root shall become rotten and their blossom scatter like dust; For they have spurned the law of the LORD of hosts, and scorned the word of the Holy One of Israel.

This passage begins by proclaiming woe to those people who keep on tugging away at any guilty feelings they may have by using perverse arguments so that by deceiving themselves they remove their guilt; against those who obstinantly draw sin onto themselves like a beast pulling away stubornly at a cartload. Woe also to those who put God to the test for their own selfish ends. 'If God is going to do thse great things, then let us see Him get on with it so we can enjoy them.' There is also surely a hint that they are sceptical and won't believe in God unless gets on and 'proves' His existence.

The next three woes are clear and against sins still prevelant in our own sociiety nearly three millennia later: those who argue that black is white, what is evil is good; against those who, in their own self-satisfied smugness, think themselves wise and prudent; against the binge drinkers of the day; against those who take bribes to give false and unjust judgments. These people have spurned God's moral law and ignored His word. They bring their own judgment upon themselves.
 

Isaiah 5: 25 to 30

25

Therefore the wrath of the LORD blazes against his people, he raises his hand to strike them; When the mountains quake, their corpses shall be like refuse in the streets. For all this, his wrath is not turned back, and his hand is still outstretched.

26

He will give a signal to a far-off nation, and whistle to them from the ends of the earth; speedily and promptly will they come.

27

None of them will stumble with weariness, none will slumber and none will sleep. None will have his waist belt loose, nor the thong of his sandal broken.

28

Their arrows are sharp, and all their bows are bent. The hoofs of their horses seem like flint, and their chariot wheels like the hurricane.

29

Their roar is that of the lion, like the lion's whelps they roar; They growl and seize the prey, they carry it off and none will rescue it.

30

(They will roar over it, on that day, with a roaring like that of the sea.)

The chapter finishes with a description of the Assyrian invasion. The Assyrians have already conquered the northern kingdom of Israel and taken their people captive to disperse them throughout their empire, and they now threaten Jerusalem itself. The prophet reminds them of what the Assyrians are like and what they have done and warns of what they are likely to do against Judah. The prophet sees the Assyrian invasion as punishment for Israel's neglect of God's law. In fact, Jerusalem did not fall to the Assyrians in the end and Judah remained independent for another 100 years or so until the Babylonians captured it and took its people of into captivity. God was patient but his people did not heed the prophet's warning. Do we heed God's warning?

Next week we shall read about Isaiah's call to be a prophet and begin that part of the book known as "The Book of Immanuel."

The meeting closed with prayer.

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Most of the scripture texts on this page are taken from the New American Bible with Revised New Testament and Revised Psalms © 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Washington, D.C.