Another hard word of judgment. This is what we're coming to expect as we come to the Isaiah. We know that there are these oracles one after the other, and there is a lot of speaking of the judgment that is coming in the first few verses of this chapter, we see that there is a judgment from God in the screen of crops. The cities are going to have these issues. We read that further down as well. There's going to be... As I've been saying, as we've been going through these previous 15 chapters, it's always important for us to remember that there is an end goal to what God is doing in these judgments.

As we come to this passage, we again see another word judgment. These can be difficult. Because we just read a lot of text, I'm probably going to have limited commentary to keep this relatively short. But there's a few things that I wanted to speak about here. First thing that we see is this idea that he's gone up to the temple. The idea here is not that this the temple of the Lord, but this is pagan worship. Let's see here, as you probably know, a reference to the high places is a reference to pagan worship, male and actual worship, or whatever the God of the Moabites was, the false God of the Moabites was, they are filled with idolatry. We see here that there is also this idea of mourning.

This prophetic word that we keep seeing in the Book of Isaiah is always seeming to be one of judgment. This again can be hard to hear, but the overarching message is that God is in control. And for those who are his people, is that not a message of good news? Despite judgment that is coming, God is in control, and he is the one who is doing it. If we believe that God is good and that God is holy and that God is just, we know that His judgments are all of this. So here I want us to draw out some of the language that is used here, but the power and the Majesty and the certainty of God's plans.

We are back to talking about Babylon. We see here again that Babylon is going to fall. They have been the ones who have come and brought this judgment upon Judah because of their turning away from God. But they have come to believe that they are great. They have put themselves in the place of God, even though God has, in fact, been using them to judge Judah, their pride has gotten the best of them. They are not seeking God. They have become the instrument of God, but they are not God's people. We see that Jacob will restore, that Israel will come back to Judah, will return to God.

Well, if that isn't just sunshine, you need to start day. This is some pretty severe language, and there's hard parts. It was hard for me to read out loud, These parts down here, their infants will be dashed to pieces before their eyes. Their houses will be plundered and their wives ravaged. This is hard language. As we come to it, it's difficult for us to know what to do with this. We've been dealing with a lot of judgment here in Isaiah. I'm guessing, as we've been reading through it together, as you've heard it read aloud, you're having some of the same experiences that I am.

This is one of those passages that I read, and I just want to say, Well, I'm going to skip on the commentary today because it's just that good. You don't need me to add anything to it, but here we are. I'm going to do it anyway. We have this repeated statement here in the Psalm. You will say in that day, this idea of this is coming, that's repeated here in verse one and verse four, this idea that this is a coming thing and there is something that you are going to say, there is going to be something that is going to come out of you in praise to God. And we see what that is here, right? I'll give thanks to you, Lord.

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.