88 英翻中 (以賽章六章)
CHAPTER SIX Isaiah 28—31 STORM CLOUDS OVER JERUSALEM The name “Jerusalem” means “city of peace,” but throughout its history it has been associated more with conflict than with peace. Even today, Jerusalem is a focal point for concern in the Middle East. “Pray for the peace of Jerusalem,” admonished the psalmist (Ps. 122:6). Why pray for Jerusalem? Why not pray for London or Moscow or Rome? Becausewhen there is true peace in Jerusalem, there will be peace in the whole world (Isa. 52:7; 66:12); so we had better take the psalmist’s words to heart. Chapters 28—31 record a series of five “woes” (28:1; 29:1, 15: 30:1; 31:1) that focus primarily on Jerusalem. A sixth “woe” is found in 33:1, and inter spersed with these “woes” of judgment are promises of restoration and glory. Isaiah is attempting to get the rulers of Judah to stop trusting “power politics” and international treaties and start trusting the Lord. The Lord Warns Jerusalem (28:1–29) Like all devout Jews, Isaiah loved Jerusalem, the Holy City, the City of David, the place of God’s dwelling (Ps. 122; 137). But Isaiah saw storm clouds gathering over the city and announced that trouble was com ing. It was time for the nation to turn to God in repentance. He began his message by announcing God’s judg ment on Ephraim (Isa. 28:1–6). Surely their neighbor’s fall would serve as a warning to the people of Judah and Jerusalem! If Assyria conquered Samaria, then Judah was next on the list. The northern kingdom was proud of its capital city, Samaria, that sat like a beauti ful crown (or wreath) at the head of a fruitful valley. But their arrogance was detestable to God, for they thought their fortress city was impregnable. Samaria reigned in luxury and pleasure and had no fear of her enemies. The Lord was also appalled by their drunkenness. To the Jews, wine was a gift from God and a source of joy (Judg. 9:13; Ps. 104:15). The law did not demand total abstinence, but it did warn against drunkenness (Deut. 21:18–21; Prov. 20:1; 23:20–21, 29–35). The prophet Amos denounced the luxurious indulgences of the people in both Judah and Samaria (Amos 6:1–7), and Isaiah also thundered against such godless living (Isa. 5:11–12, 22). A government official in Washington, D.C., once quipped, “We have three parties in this city: the Democratic Party, the Republican Party, and the cock tail party.” Indeed, Washington, D.C., ranks high on the list of cities noted for alcohol consumption. Many people don’t realize that alcohol and nicotine, America’s favorite legal narcotics, do far more damage than all the illegal drugs combined. According to Dr. Arnold Washton, alcohol and nicotine kill 450,000 people annually, while illegal drugs kill about 6,000 (Willpower’s Not Enough, Harper & Row, 1989; 13). This does not make illegal drugs acceptable, but it does help us put things in perspective. What hope is there for our affluent, pleasure-loving society that gives lip service to religion and ignores the tragic consequences of sin and the judgment that is sure to come? Samaria was proud of her beauty, but that beauty was fading like a cut flower (28:1, 4) that could never stand before the coming tempest. God was sending a storm across the land, and their proud city would be destroyed by wind, rain, hail, and flood—the Assyrian army! Conquering Samaria would be as easy as pluck ing a fig from a tree! On that day of judgment, Samaria would learn too late that Jehovah, not Samaria, is the “crown of glory” and “diadem of beauty” (v. 5) and that He is a God of justice (vv. 5–6). The reference here is to God’s deliverance of Jerusalem from Assyria, even when the enemy was at the very gates (chaps. 36—37). Perhaps the people of Judah rejoiced to hear Isaiah announce the fall of their rival kingdom, but their cel ebration was short-lived; for the prophet announced that Judah was guilty of the same sins as Samaria and therefore was in danger of judgment (28:5–8). The priests and the prophets, who should have been exam ples to the people, were staggering drunk around the city and carousing at tables covered with vomit. Their counsel to the people did not come from the Spirit of God but from their own drunken delusions (see Eph. 5:18). They not only swallowed wine, but were “swal lowed up on wine” (Isa. 28:7). This reminds us of the Japanese proverb: “First the man takes a drink, then the drink takes a drink, and then the drink takes the man.” But pride and drunkenness were not Judah’s only sins; they also mocked God’s prophet and rejected God’s Word (vv. 9–13). Verses 9–10 are the words of the drunken prophets and priests as they ridiculed Isaiah. “He talks to us as though we were little chil dren,” they said. “He keeps saying the same things over and over again and uses the vocabulary of a child. There is certainly no need to take anything he says seriously!” Society today often takes a similar attitude toward God’s servants and God’s Word. People are so intoxi cated by intellectual pride that they laugh at the simple message of the gospel presented by humble witnesses (1 Cor. 1:18–31). The prophet Amos was ejected from the king’s chapel because he was a simple farmer and not a member of the religious elite (Amos 7:10–17). Evangelist D. L. Moody was often laughed at because his speech was not polished, but God used him to bring many thousands to the Savior. What was Isaiah’s answer to this supercritical crowd of religious drunks? “If you will not listen to my sim ple speech in your own language, God will speak to you with a language you do not understand. He will send the army of Assyria, whose language is foreign to you.” This happened to both Ephraim and Judah. The Assyrians completely destroyed the southern kingdom in 722 BC; and in 701 BC, after devastating the land of Judah, they came to the very gates of Jerusalem. This leads to Isaiah’s third announcement: God offers His people rest (Isa. 7:4; 8:6–8), but they will not obey (hear) His Word (28:12–20). The prophet had given them a plain message that everybody could understand, but they rejected it. Their faith was in their political alliances and not in God (vv. 15, 18). In the days of King Ahaz, they made a secret treaty with Assyria, and in the days of King Hezekiah, they turned to Egypt for help (30:1–5; 31:1). But these “covenants with death and the grave” were destined to fail because 1173 Isaiah 28—29 God was not in them. The enemy would come like a flood, a storm, a whip (scourge), and there would be no escape. Ephraim would be destroyed, and Judah would be saved by the skin of her teeth. The bed they had made (their alliances) could not give them rest (see 28:12), and the covering they made (their treaties) would not cover them (see 31:1). Their only hope was in the tried and true founda tion stone (28:16), the “Rock of ages” (26:4; 8:14; 17:10). This is definitely a reference to the Messiah and is so interpreted in the New Testament (1 Peter 2:4–7; Rom. 9:33; Mark 12:10; see Ps. 118:22). If they had faith in Jehovah, they would not be rushing here and there, trying to forge alliances, a practice that only leads to shame and failure (Rom. 10:11). A solid rock is better protection than a flimsy covering of lies! Isaiah’s final announcement was that their confi dence that God would not judge them was a delusion (Isa. 28:21–29). “But God defended His people in the past!” they argued. “What about David’s victory over the Philistines at Mount Perazim [2 Sam. 5:17–21], or Joshua’s victory over the Amorites at Gibeon [John. 10]?” But Joshua and David were godly leaders who trusted Jehovah and obeyed His Word. What Isaiah’s scoffing opponents did not realize was that God would do a “strange work”: He would use the enemy to fight against His own people! Just as a farmer has different tasks to perform and must adapt himself to each task, whether plowing or threshing, so God must do the work that is necessary to bring about His eternal pur poses. He knows just what tool to use and when to use it. Jerusalem watched the northern kingdom fall to the Assyrians, but this judgment did not bring them to repentance. When we start saying to ourselves, “It can never happen to me!”—it is sure to happen! The Lord Humbles Jerusalem (29:1–14) “Ariel” is a code name for Jerusalem and means “lion of God.” The lion was a symbol of Assyria, so the prophet may have been saying, “Assyria is now God’s lion, and Jerusalem is God’s lion in name only.” But the Hebrew word also means “an altar hearth,” where the burnt offerings were sacrificed (Ezek. 43:13–18). “It [Jerusalem] shall be unto me as Ariel [an altar hearth]” (Isa. 29:2). In other words, it would become a place of slaughter. God was going to humble the proud city. Instead of roaring and frightening the enemy, the lion would only whisper from the dust (v. 4). Instead of their sacrifices being accepted by God (v.1), the entire city would become an altar, and God would make His people a sacrifice. When did these things happen? God began to “turn up the heat” in 701 BC when Assyria marched tri umphantly through Judah and almost took Jerusalem. God defeated Assyria in an instant (37:36), “suddenly” (29:5), like blowing away dust or chaff (v. 6). This dis cipline should have brought Judah back to the Lord, but after the death of Hezekiah, they returned to their sins. So in 586 BC God sent the Babylonians, who conquered Jerusalem and destroyed it, taking thou sands of Jews into captivity. God did His “strange work” and permitted His own people to be slain by the enemy. The city indeed was like an altar hearth, and thousands were sacrificed to the wrath of the enemy. But Isaiah looked far down the highway of history to the end times when Jerusalem would be attacked by the armies of the world (vv. 7–8; Zech. 14:1–3). This is what prophetic students call “the battle of Armageddon,” though that title is not used in Scripture (Rev. 14:14–20; 16:13–21). When it looks as though the city is about to fall, and the enemy armies are sure of victory, Jesus Christ will return and deliver His people (19:11–21). The enemy victory will vanish. Why were the people of Jerusalem so ignorant of what was going on? Their hearts were far from God (Isa. 29:13). They went through the outward forms of worship and faithfully kept the annual feasts (v. 1; 1:10ff.), but it was not a true worship of God (Matt. 15:1–9). Going to the temple was the popular thing to do, but most of the people did not take their worship seriously. Therefore, God sent a “spiritual blindness” and stupor on His people so that they could not understand their own law. Such blindness persists today (Rom. 11:8; 2 Cor. 3:13–18). If people will not accept the truth, then they must become more and more blind and accept lies. (See John 9:39–41; 2 Thess. 2:1–12.) The Lord Appeals to Jerusalem (29:15–24) This “woe” exposed the devious political tactics of the rulers of Judah, who thought that God would not hold them accountable for what they were doing. They were trying to turn things upside down, the clay telling the potter what to do. (See 45:9; 64:8; Jer. 18; Rom 9:20.) If only people would seek the counsel of the Lord instead of depending on their own wisdom and the fragile promises of men! In Isaiah 29:17–24, Isaiah asked the people to look ahead and consider what God had planned for them. In their political strategy, they had turned things upside down, but God would one day turn everything around by establishing His glorious kingdom on earth. The devastated land would become a paradise, the dis abled would be healed, and the outcasts would be enriched and rejoice in the Lord. There would be no more scoffers or ruthless people practicing injustice in the courts. The founders of the nation, Abraham and Jacob, would see their many descendants all glorifying the Lord. In light of this glorious future, why should Judah turn to feeble nations like Egypt for help? God is on their side, and they can trust Him! Abraham went to Egypt for help and got into trouble (Gen. 12:10–20), and Isaac started for Egypt but was stopped by God (26:1–6). God cared for Jacob during all of his years of trial, and surely He could care for Jacob’s children. It is 1174 Isaiah 29—31 tragic when a nation forgets its great spiritual heritage and turns from trusting the Lord to trusting the plans and promises of men. At the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia in 1787, Benjamin Franklin said, “I have lived, Sir, a long time, and the longer I live, the more convincing proofs I see of this truth—that God governs in the affairs of men. I therefore beg leave to move that hence forth prayers imploring the assistance of heaven and its blessings on our deliberations be held in this Assembly every morning.…” Isaiah sought that attitude in Jerusalem; but instead he found only scoffing and unbelief. The Lord Rebukes Jerusalem (30:1–33) This fourth “woe” begins with God’s rebuke of the nation’s rebellion (vv. 1–17). Isaiah opened his prophecy with this accusation (1:2, 20, 23), and he ended it on that same note (63:10; 65:2). After all that God had done for His people, they turned away from Him and sought the help of feeble Egypt. Unlike the leaders of old—Moses (Num. 27:21), Joshua (Josh. 9:14), David (1 Sam. 30:7–8), and Jehoshaphat (1 Kings 22:7ff.)—the rulers of Jerusalem did not seek the will of God. Egypt was but a shadow, and what could a shadow do against the great Assyrian army? Isaiah then uttered an oracle (burden) concerning the caravan that was then traveling from Jerusalem to Egypt with treasures to buy protection against Assyria (Isa. 30:6–7). He saw the burdened animals making their way through the difficult and dangerous terrain of the Negev (the south), and he cried, “It is all to no profit! It is useless! The Egyptians will help in vain!” In verse 7, which should be read in a recent translation, Isaiah gives a nickname to Egypt: “Rahab-hem-she beth,” which means “Rahab the do-nothing.” (Rahab is one of the names for Egypt in the Old Testament.) It was bad enough that Judah rebelled against God by trusting Egypt instead of trusting Jehovah, and depending on money instead of on God’s power, but they even went so far as to completely reject the Word of God (vv. 8–11). God told Isaiah to make a placard that said, “This is a rebellious people, lying children, children that will not hear the law of the Lord” (v. 9). He carried this sign as he walked around Jerusalem, and no doubt most of the people laughed at him. The leaders did not want to hear God’s truth; they wanted “pleasant words” from the false prophets, sermons that would not disturb their comfortable way of life. Is this situation much different today? (See Jer. 6:14; 8:11; 1 Kings 22:1–28.) Decisions have consequences, and Isaiah told the people what would happen to Judah and Jerusalem because they were trusting their lies: Their wall of pro tection would suddenly collapse, shattered to pieces like a clay vessel (Isa. 30:12–14). When Assyria invaded the land, Egypt lived up to her nickname and did nothing. It was not till the last minute that God stepped in and rescued His people, and He did it only because of His covenant with David (37:35–36). During Assyria’s invasion of Judah, the Jews were not able to flee on their horses imported from Egypt (30:16–17; Deut. 17:16), and one enemy soldier was able to frighten off a thousand Jews! What humiliation! (See Deut. 32:30.) Their only hope was to repent, return to the Lord, and by faith rest only in Him (Isa. 30:15; 8:6–7; 26:3; 28:12), but they would not listen and obey. The prophet then turned from the subject of rebel lion to the subject of restoration (30:18–26). “Yet the Lord longs to be gracious to you,” he told the people; “he rises to show you compassion” (v. 18 niv). God’s grace is His favor toward those who do not deserve it, and it is only because of His grace that we have any blessings at all. Isaiah described that future day when Israel would be restored to her land to enjoy the bless ings of the kingdom. They would be like liberated prisoners of war (v. 19). Instead of scoffing, they would listen to God’s Word and put away their foolish idols. The land would be restored and become pros perous again, and God would bind up the bruises and heal the wounds of His people (v. 26; see 1:5–6). The “great slaughter” of verse 25 is the battle of Armageddon, which will occur just before the return of the Lord to deliver His people and establish His kingdom (Rev. 19:11–21). His final theme in this “woe” is retribution (Isa. 30:27–33), the announcement that God will defeat the Assyrians. God used Assyria to discipline Judah, but He would not permit the Assyrians to take the city of David. Isaiah used several images to describe God’s judgment of Assyria: a storm of fire and hail, a flood, the sifting of grain (see Amos 9:9), and the har nessing of a horse so that the enemy is led off like a farm animal. Just as sheol was prepared for the king of Babylon (Isa. 14:9ff.), so Topheth was prepared for the king of Assyria. Topheth was a site outside Jerusalem where the worshippers of Molech sacrificed their children (2 Kings 16:3; 21:6; Jer. 7:31–32; 19:6, 11–14). It was defiled by Josiah (2 Kings 23:10), turned into a garbage dump, and named “Gehenna,” which comes from ge-ben-hinnom, meaning “valley of the son of Himmon.” That was the location of Topheth. “Gehenna” is the New Testament word for “hell.” The funeral pyre for the great king of Assyria would be a garbage dump! How humiliating! The Jews would rejoice greatly at the defeat of Assyria, not unlike their rejoicing at Passover to com memorate the defeat of Egypt. When the Jews celebrate Passover, they still have “a song in the night” (Matt. 26:30), and the “timbrels and harps” (Isa. 30:32) remind us of the songs of Miriam and the Jewish women at the Red Sea (Ex. 15:20–21). The Lord Defends Jerusalem (31:1–9) This fifth “woe” is a brief summary of what Isaiah had already told the people. Indeed, he was teaching them 1175 Isaiah 31—32 A King Will Reign (32:1–20) “line upon line, here a little, and there a little” (28:10), and yet they were not getting the message. Their faith was in men, not in God. They trusted in the legs of horses and the wheels of chariots, not in the hand of the Lord. God warned the Jewish kings not to go to Egypt for horses and chariots (Deut. 17:14–16), but Solomon ignored this warning (1 Kings 10:28–29). Going to Egypt for help had always been a temptation to the Jews (Ex. 13:17; 14:11–12; Num. 11:5, 18; 14:3ff.). Why should the Lord fear the Assyrians? Does a lion fear a flock of sheep and their shepherds? Do the eagles fear as they hover over their young in the nest? God will pounce on Assyria like a lion and swoop down like an eagle, and that will be the end! In one night, the Assyrian army was wiped out (Isa. 37:36). Think of the money Judah would have saved and the distress they would have avoided had they only rested in the Lord their God and obeyed His will. All their political negotiations were futile and their treaties worthless. They trusted the words of the Egyptians but not the Word of God! As God’s church today faces enemies and challenges, it is always a temptation to turn to the world or the flesh for help. But our first response must be to examine our hearts to see if there is something we need to confess and make right. Then we just turn to the Lord in faith and obedience and surrender to His will alone. We must trust Him to protect us and fight for us. A friend of mine kept a card in his office desk that read, “Faith Is Living Without Scheming.” In one statement, that is what Isaiah was saying to Judah and Jerusalem, and that is what he is saying to us today.
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