As we move into chapter 11, we still have this idea of coming judgment, but here we see some good news. We have seen glimpses of good news as there is a promise of one who will come and restore things. But here we see something specific, and we see this idea that it is someone who is going to come from the royal line of David. And we see this here with this line in verse 1 that says, There shall come forth a shoot from the stub of Jesse, and a branch from his root shall bear fruit.

We should have known what to expect when we came to the Book of Isaiah. It's a prophetic book. It speaks of judgment, but it just keeps coming at us. Even when it talks about the judgment of Judah and of Israel, it then rebounds and there's a reversal where God is judging those that He used to judge Judah and Israel. There's judgment after judgment after judgment here. We see here, as we look at this text, that God is giving comfort to His people. He's saying, Yes, I am coming in judgment, but there will be a judgment on those that I used and those who came in and overtook you.

Another very harsh passage here in Isaiah. More words judgment. This time it's not on the people of God. It's not on the people of Judah or Israel. This time, the statement from God is against Syria. Now God is using Assyria to judge His people, right? He is sending in this godless nation to bring judgment upon them, to overtake them. And it's rather interesting, even the statements here are talking about the idolatry of Samaria and of the people of Israel and the people of Judah.

As we come to this passage, we see the people have had the beginnings of judgment, but they think that it isn't that big of a deal. We see this here in verse 10, The bricks have fallen, but we'll build with dressed stones, the sycamores have been cut down, but we'll put cedars in their place. Essentially, they see that this stuff has happened, but they're seeing it as an opportunity to rebuild better, to make things nicer. The fullness of judgment has not yet come

As we come to Isaiah 9 here, we see more words from Isaiah that we truly know. They're baked in us from Advent readings, perhaps, Christmas readings, obviously, and definitely from Handel’s, Messiah. These are the words of the prophetic promise of the Messiah that we probably know best. For to us a child is born, us a son is given, and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called wonderful counselor, mighty God, everlasting Father, Prince of peace. These are the things that are promised, and this one who's going to be around when things are restored. Now, remember, we've been looking at these prophetic words that are bringing judgment upon Judah.

And so, we have quite a few verses that we are looking at today, but there is an overarching theme that I want us to come away with here. We see here, Isaiah going into his wife, who he refers to as the Prophetess, because he's been told he'll have a child and that there will be judgment before this child is able to speak, before the child is able to speak, father or mother. Well, the imagery that is used here is the idea of a flood. And so, back in this day, the Euphrates would flood and would go to the edge of the banks. It was very damaging, like any flood, right?

This is a passage that is a little bit of a struggle for us because we're looking to have a quick reading and some quick devotional thoughts. But with a prophetic book, it can be easy to get in the weeds, or in this case, to get into the Briars and Thorns. Now, as we come to the beginning of this, we see some words that are quite familiar to us. We recognize this passage in this prophetic word.

So, here we see this prophetic word that God is sending to King Ahas through Isaiah. And we see that there is some conspiring going on. Now we need to remember, there is a divided kingdom here. It's tough for us to talk through this because when we think of Israel, we think of all 12 tribes, unified together. But we have to remember there was a divided kingdom after Solomon.

In the first part of Isaiah 6, we saw his response to the absolute holiness of God. He said that it wasn't just the people around him who had unclean lips. He himself was a man with unclean lips, and God cleansed him. He brought that coal from the fire, did the cherubim, and made him clean, sin was atone for. So, we see something important here that Isaiah responds to what God has done. God says something here.

Well, here we are in Isaiah 6, and just like a few days back, I have a memory of a song from 90s Christian music to remind me of this passage. Just a few days back, I mentioned the song Women of Zion by Johnny Q-Public. Well, today the song is Isaiah 6 from the punk band called One Bad Pig. Yes, that was their name. They even had a little mascot who was a pig dressed in leather and it had spikes and stuff. Yeah, it was interesting.

Once again, we have a story of God judging the people of Jerusalem, people of Judah, people of Israel for their unfaithfulness. We see here God describing what this is going to be through the Prophet, Isaiah. We read these woes and these things that we see that they are doing. We see some interesting stuff. Now, some of you, perhaps when I read verse 11, heard the words, Woe to those who rise early in the morning. You thought, That's right. You need to sleep in. You need to get plenty of sleep.

And so, we see this theme continuing in what we have seen in the Book of Isaiah so far, this idea that God is not happy with the way the people of Judah have been living, that they have not been doing justice, that they have been living in sin and rejecting Him. And so now we are getting an illustration, and God is using, through the Prophet, Isaiah, this idea of a vineyard. So, we see here that they're speaking of this vineyard that his beloved has, a vineyard on a very fertile hill.

As you remember, on Monday, we heard about the Daughters of Zion. Remember, they were the bald women. I shared with you that I remembered the Johnny Q. Public song from the late 90s or maybe the mid-90s, whenever alternative was a big thing, the song Daughters of Zion. And that was the theme, the idea that those who had affluence, those who had money, were going to be brought low by the judgment of the Lord.

I told you that this was an interesting passage, and I didn't lie, right? This is an interesting passage in many ways, a fun memory for me. There was an official alternative band in the mid-nineties, late '90s maybe, called Johnny Q-Public that had a silly, funny song on their first album called a Bald Women. No, it was Women of Zion. As I was reading this, that song was going through my head.

In the first part of Chapter Two, we read about this time where everyone is going towards God and there will be peace. It's the whole famous beat their swords and plowshares passage, right? Then the tone turns to a tone of judgment. The idea here is that there is idolatry, there is rebellion against God, and that has to be punished. And once again, we see another example of the way that idolatry is spoken of

This is probably one of the better-known passages from the beginning of the Book of Isaiah. Maybe Isaiah 6, we know a little bit better, but I don't think so. I think this passage with going to the mountain of the Lord and people beating their swords into plowshares, that is a very well-known part of this beginning of Isaiah. Now notice what it says here, It shall come to pass in latter days.

Well, we see here that Isaiah isn't messing around, is he? Isaiah is using strong language. Notice how this chapter starts out, verse 21. This is difficult for us to say, difficult for us to hear, how the faithful city has become a whore. She who was full of justice, righteousness lodged in her, but now murderous.

As we start out here in Isaiah 1, we see some beautiful language. You can tell, by the way, this is laid out here that this is more poetic language. It is a prophetic word. It is a prophetic statement. There's a poetic nature to this, and it's beautiful language and it's powerful. As you read it, maybe as you heard me read it, you get a sense of the gravity of these words and the way that they are brought together, the images that it brings to our minds.