Monday, December 12, 2011

Isaiah 3:1


Copyright Ó 2011 J. Neely
Isaiah 3:1

1 For, behold, the Lord, ['adown] the LORD [Yahovah] of hosts, [tsaba'] doth take away [cuwr] from Jerusalem [Yaruwshalaim] and from Judah [Yahuwdah] the stay [mish`en] and the staff, [mish`enah] the whole stay [mish`en] of bread, [lechem] and the whole [kol] stay [mish`en] of water, [mayim] KJV-Interlinear

1 For behold, the Lord God of hosts is going to remove from Jerusalem and Judah Both supply and support, the whole supply of bread, And the whole supply of water; NASB

Carrying on from the previous chapter, the warning to the people is that if they do not change their ways, if they do not stop their reliance on the things of the world, if they continue to ignore truth, which is doctrine, then these things will occur.

Jerusalem is the city of peace.  Judah is the southern kingdom representing the nation of God. Remember that the Northern Kingdom has departed from God and was under their own judgment.  Isaiah addresses Judah primarily, but in warning them he also warns us and all generations throughout history.

So, the Lord God, refers to the person of Jesus Christ, the second person of the Trinity, the Son of God.  It names Him as Lord, meaning deity, and ‘Yahovah,’ is the personal name or designation of God, namely the Son.

Of hosts, means special or supernatural power.  God is the God not of just any given army, but of many armies.  There is no one in history who will ever have an army as numerous of God, let alone the number of armies in numbers or depth or power, as God.

God will remove the ‘stay’ ‘mishen’ and the ‘staff,’ ‘mishenah.’  Both refer to similar things, protector and sustenance.  The first is in the masculine and the second is in the feminine, with the ‘ah’ suffix.  And together this means that God will remove everything that society relies upon.  All kinds of support will be removed.

This is emphasized at the whole stay or logistical support process of bread, as well as the whole logistical support process of water.

In other words, when God judges, all of the conveniences of life will be removed and then the very basics of life likewise will be removed.

The people will be left with utter starvation.

Jer 38:21,9; Lam 4:4, provide further descriptions of the famine that will overtake Judah.  Children will ask for food and water, but none will be available.

When Babylon rode through Judah, the atrocities and sufferings were severe.  But this is also a prophecy of the last days, when by the time of  the Tribulation the, various patterns of past history which have already occurred, and which have provided humanity with many examples of just how bad things can get.

People however, do not pay attention and do not learn from history. 

People have doctrine always with them, but do not pay attention.  People go their own way with either indifference, contempt, or disregard for Gods mandates and doctrine.

In times of prosperity, people forget God. In times of adversity, people complain against God.  And God allows all to have their way, for a time, but then that time runs out and evil increases and brings its own destruction upon society.  And in that, God just helps the inevitable process to accelerate and that is when people cry the loudest.

Jerusalem , peace, is lost.  Judah, the nation or family, is lost.

They have no doctrine, and have no method for regaining Gods attention for relief, as stubborn arrogance stands in the way of their recovery.  People become their own worst enemy and their own barrier to recovery.

This applied to those people way back in history, in Isaiah’s day, and it applies to you today. Without God your life has no good end except destruction, and great loss.  In the future, the worst possible period of history is yet to come, and it will likewise come due to the very same negative attitudes that have been portrayed throughout history.

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