Day 200: Isaiah 28-30 | Read The Bible In A Year | Bible Study with Commentary by Dr. Manny Arango

Hey Bible nerds, this is Dr. Manny Arango. Welcome to the Bible Department podcast powered by ARMA. We are walking through the entire Bible in a year. You can go to the description or thebibledepartment.com to download a reading plan and join the journey. Family, welcome to day number 200. 200 days, that's incredible. We are in Isaiah chapter 28 to 30 today. 28, 29, and 30, three chapters of the Bible and we've got three woe oracles, not w-a, not w-o-a-h, but w-o-e. Woe, like woe is me. If you have done the reading then everything that I'm gonna say is gonna make perfect sense. If you have not done the reading then you're probably gonna be a little confused. So stop the video, stop the audio, do the reading for the day. We're in the book of Isaiah chapter 28 to chapter 30. Like always, I'm gonna give you context clues so that you understand the historical, cultural, linguistic context of what's going on and then I'll give you some nerdy nuggets and like always, I'll give you a timeless truth because the Bible is alive and active. It's not just stuck in history, but we learn context so that we can properly apply the Bible to our lives today. So let's dive in and get some context clues. Okay, so you can remember three chapters and three woe oracles. Okay, the first woe oracle is to Ephraim. That immediately gives us a clue as to when these oracles are written, but we'll get to that in a second. The second woe, and you can think of, and I hope nobody's offended by this, this is, I'm using this in like real biblical context. The word woe could maybe be compared to like, the woe is just not a word that we use anymore. Some translations of the Bible are gonna translate that word as ah, like, which I think is a funny translation. Ah, you know, the woe is gonna get translated as ah in some translations, but I think a solid translation for the word is damned. Okay, so the word is strong, like it's designed to be strong, and it is a judgment word. Okay, so there's a big difference between someone just saying the word damn as like an expletive and someone saying damned am I? Like, like, I have to stand before God, and I already know, like, I'm gonna be counted as a sinner. I'm wrong, and God is going to judge me. Okay, so that word woe is designed to be a really, really, really strong word, and chapter 28, verse 1 starts out.

Woe to the wreath, the pride of Ephraim's drunkards, to the fading flower, his glorious beauty set on the head of a fertile valley, to that city the pride of those laid low by wine. If you've been tracking with us through the book of Isaiah, you can already see that there is this theme of arrogance and pride where God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble. That's a biblical theme, but that's definitely gonna be found all the way through the book of Isaiah. So, like I said, back to the three woes. The first woe is Ephraim. We'll get back to what Ephraim actually is in a bit. The second woe is to Jerusalem, okay? You can scroll to chapter 29, and you may not realize that this is a woe against Jerusalem, because Jerusalem is gonna get called a nickname, and that nickname is gonna be Ariel, Ariel, and we'll talk about why in a moment. And then the last woe, okay, if you scroll or flip or find it on your page, you're gonna go all the way to chapter 30, okay? Woe to the obstinate children or to the stubborn children. So, three woes in three chapters. Chapter 28 is a woe to Ephraim. Chapter 29 is a woe to Jerusalem, and then chapter 30 is a woe to the obstinate children. Three chapters, three woes. It seems like these three oracles are given before the destruction of Israel in 722 BC, because the destruction of Israel that happened in 722 BC is gonna get predicted in chapter 28, okay? So, again, just so that you're kind of aware, biblical prophecy is not moving in chronological order, okay? Biblical prophecy is definitely moving around thematically, and things are getting grouped together, not based on a time, but based on where they belong, um, artistically or thematically. So, uh, we're kind of going around and right now for, for chapters 28 to 30, we are, we're most likely traveling back in time to King Ahaz's reign. Okay. So we already hit Ahaz's death a couple of days ago, but now we're back in Ahaz's reign because again, this is not chronology, but this is an anthology. All right. So that's all the context that we need.

I'm going to rapid fire, give you seven nerdy nuggets that I've pulled from chapter 28, 29, and 30. I think all seven are going to be really, really, really helpful. All right. Why is the Northern kingdom of Israel referred to as the tribe of Ephraim? Fantastic question. Okay. And this entire woe, uh, of chapter 28, um, the woe is directed towards Ephraim. Is the author, is Isaiah meaning to just talk about Ephraim? Or, um, is the author meaning to use the tribe of Ephraim as a microcosm for the entire Northern kingdom of Israel? And the answer is the latter. Okay. Ephraim is the strongest tribe in the North. So Ephraim is the strongest tribe of the Northern tribes. We got Judah and Benjamin in the South, and we've got, uh, Ephraim and all the other tribes in the North. So the whole kingdom of Israel is going to get this moniker, this nickname of Ephraim, uh, Ephraim is going to be the representative tribe of all the tribes of the Northern kingdom of Israel. I want to like, I'll beat the dead horse. Okay. The Northern kingdom of Israel is not the Southern kingdom of Judah. Okay. The Northern kingdom of Israel and the Southern kingdom of Judah, two different political entities, although they are the same ethnic group. Obviously both groups are the same ethnicity. They're all Jewish. Uh, this is like North and South Korea, the same ethnic people group, but, uh, different political nationalities.

All right. So that's our first nerdy nugget. Number two, drunkenness is a massive issue that is being addressed by Isaiah and therefore Yahweh. So you can hear it right in the first line of chapter 28, woe to you wreath. That wreath is like, uh, like, uh, think like Greco Roman worlds, like a victories wreath. The pride of Ephraim's drunkards. All right. We're, we're immediately going into something that God has a problem with. Okay. Uh, to the fading flower, his glorious beauty set on the head of a fertile valley to that city, the pride of those laid low by wine. So God's saying, I don't even, it's not just injustice. It's not just idolatry. Y'all are drunkards. Okay. Wine is consuming you. See, the Lord, um, has one who is powerful and strong, like a hailstorm in a destructive wind, like a driving rain and a flooding downpour. He will throw it forcibly to the ground. That wreath, the pride of Ephraim's drunkards will be trampled underfoot to the destruction of the Northern kingdom of Israel is being prophesied by God through the prophet Isaiah. Uh, that fading flower, his glorious beauty set on the head of a fertile valley will be like figs right before harvest. As soon as people see them and take them in hand, they swallow them in that day. Okay. The day of the Lord, the Lord almighty will be a glorious crown. So now the crown that God has is being juxtaposed with the wreath.

Okay. That's set upon the head of someone who is like, let's say, like think Olympic champion. You should be thinking like a laurel wreath. Okay. Uh, so whereas a laurel wreath of flowers, uh, fades, God is saying, actually I wear a crown that lasts forever. And so drunkenness is going to be a massive problem. Go to verse seven. And these also stagger from wine and reel from beer. Priests and prophets stagger from beer and are befuddled with wine. They reel from beer. They stagger when seeing visions. So this talking about the prophets, they stagger when they're seeing visions. I'm trying to show them visions and they're drunk. They stumble when rendering decisions, which means not only are the people like just drunk, like alcoholism has consumed them. Uh, but Israel's leaders have a problem with alcoholism. This is a massive problem. Why? Because in the Bible, wine is a symbol of covenant. It's a symbol of joy. And so actually for. way, abusing wine is a big deal. It's the equivalent of abusing something that's sacred, okay? And I know some Christians would go to the opposite extreme and won't even consume wine. Well, that's not biblical, although I understand why an extreme measure will get taken. In the Bible, wine is so sacred that it's what Jesus uses as a symbol of the blood of the new covenant. So, for the people to be abusing wine is just absolutely, that would be like abusing the cross or abusing the symbols of the Bible. It's like sacrilegious, okay? Okay, number three. I said I was going to give you these nerdy nuggets rapid fire, and I'm kind of getting bogged down in some

details. But number three, verse 11, I want you to see this because God, Yahweh, has sent prophet after prophet after prophet after prophet to warn the people, hey, you need to repent. Hey, turn back from your evil ways. Hey, put away the idolatry. And so, there's a pun here in verse 11. It says this, very well then, with foreign lips and strange tongues, God will speak to this people. Hey, I tried giving you voices from your own people. I tried using the language that you speak. I tried raising up prophets like Isaiah, who's speaking to you in Hebrew. He's a domestic, native born Jewish prophet. I tried to warn you with a domestic voice, but since you don't listen, very well then, with foreign lips and strange tongues, God will speak to this people, which means the king of Assyria is going to come, and he's going to talk to you. And the king of Assyria is not going to speak to you in Hebrew, and the king of Assyria is not going to prophesy. The king of Assyria is going to put shackles on you. He's going to put chains on you. He's going to lead you out into captivity. Since you can't listen to people who love you and care about you, I'm going to raise up the king of Babylon. I'm going to raise up the king of Assyria, and they are going to come in judgment, and they are going to be my voice. They are going to be my instrument to help bring you back into righteousness. Okay, that's Nerdy Nugget number three. Nerdy Nugget number four is chapter 38, verse 1. Okay, Ariel. No, this is not a prophecy about the little mermaid. Ariel is actually a nickname for Jerusalem, and God is using this nickname really, really, really intentionally. Actually, I mean, you could just look up what it means, but we're going to see what it means right here in verse 2. It says, Yet I will besiege Ariel. She will mourn and lament. She will be to me like an altar hearth. Okay, an altar hearth. Some people say hearth. Some people say hearth. An altar hearth. So, a burning altar. Okay, so the word Ariel means burning altar. Now, this is a double entendre. God is saying, I established Jerusalem. I allowed David to establish the place where the altar would burn sacrifices in the temple. So, I designed Jerusalem to offer sacrifices to me. So, the altar should be burning. There should be a burning altar offering sacrifices to me, but since you don't want to worship me exclusively, I will set Jerusalem on fire. And what's going to happen in 586 BC? The king of Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar, is going to march into Jerusalem, and he's going to set it on fire. And instead of the altar burning sacrifices, now Jerusalem as a city will be the sacrifice. And so, the word here, Ariel, is a double entendre. It's saying, because you neglected your very purpose of being a burning altar, I will now

make you a burning altar. Okay, since you did not do what was required, you will now get judgment. All right. The fifth nerdy nugget that I've got for you is chapter 28, verse 16. So, we're going to go back to chapter 28. And it says this, your covenant with death will be annulled. Your agreement with the realm of the dead will not stand. Yahweh is not referring to the covenant that he's made. Oh, sorry. I said 2816, but then I went to 2818. So, nerdy nugget number five is Isaiah 2818. Okay. Your covenant with death will be annulled. What he's saying is Isaiah is actually that the covenant that, uh, Israel has made with Assyria is not going to last. So this is not, uh, referring to the covenant that the people have made with Yahweh, this is referring to the covenant that the people have made with four nations and those covenants are going to be annulled and Yahweh sees these as covenants of death, your covenant with death will be annulled, your agreement with the realm of the dead will not stand. That by aligning yourself with Egypt or with Assyria or with any other nation, by becoming a vassal and accepting any other nation as a suzerain, you are essentially signing your death certificate. This is not a covenant that I've have approved of this. So therefore it is a covenant of death. It's an agreement with the realm of the dead. Yes, it's a covenant. Yes, it's an agreement, but I'm not involved and I am not in it. Nerdy nugget number six now, uh, will actually go, Oh, also, uh, that same language, um, is found in verse 15. Okay. You boast, we have entered into a covenant with death with the realm of the dead, we have made an agreement. And so that's not actually talking about literal death or Hades or Sheol. That's actually just talking about the covenants that, uh, Israel and Judah have made with four nations. Okay. And God is saying, uh, actually that's a covenant with death.

That's not a covenant of life. That's a covenant of death family. The wait is over. My brand new book, crushing chaos is out now and available everywhere. Books are sold literally today. I walked into a Barnes and Noble and I signed a bunch of copies at a physical location. So you can grab this book at a physical Barnes and Noble, or you can go to a or Amazon or anywhere books are sold and grab a copy. If you enjoy reading the Bible from an ancient perspective, if you understand that the beauty of scripture is actually knowing it in context, then you'll love this book and if there's any chaos in your personal life, I think that reading the Bible from an ancient perspective can actually help to crush the chaos in your life. I think this book is going to be a New York times bestseller. I really do. I think we wrote a good one. I think you should get a copy today. All right. Back to the episode. Next nerdy nugget is in verse 16. So now we can actually go to verse 16. 28, 16 is a, uh, see, I lay a stone in Zion, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone for a sure foundation. God is saying to his people, uh, you think that covenants with foreign nations is going to lead to security because you're scared. So now you're trying to make political alliances because you're scared of the Assyrian army. And so now you're trying to ally yourself with Egypt and you're trying to politically maneuver and politically manipulate the situation.

And you think you're so savvy. You think you got this all figured out, but I'm telling you that I am the only tested stone. I'm the only cornerstone. I'm the only sure foundation. I am a stone in Zion, a tested stone. I'm the only thing that you've ever tested in tribe and never come up failing. And so this is going to become language that the new Testament authors are going to use to talk about Jesus. Okay. But this is the language that we find right here that describes Yahweh in the book of Isaiah. Isaiah chapter, uh, 28, verse 16. See, I lay a stone in Zion, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation. So he gives us four images to describe one idea, a stone in Zion, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation, and what is the idea? Uh, security, security, safety. Okay. That I know where to put my foot. I know that I'm stepping on a shore foundation last nerdy nugget. And this is going to be repeated over and over and over and over and over again in this entire section. Um, that alliances with Egypt are a lack of faith period. Okay. So all throughout this, okay. Chapter 30, verse two, who go down to Egypt without consulting me? Who look for, for help to Pharaoh's protection to Egypt shade for refuge, but Pharaoh's protection will be your shame. Egypt shade will bring you disgrace.

And then we get a reference in verse seven of chapter 30 to Rahab. Rahab is another chaos monster. Don't have time to go into everything that that entails, but Rahab, uh, you can think about Rahab a lot like Leviathan. So God's using a lot of chaos language. You're going to see more chaos. us language in the days to come, um, because God is essentially saying partnering with Assyria in Egypt, this is what's going to bring absolute, uh, chaos into your life. All right. Verse 15 of chapter 30. This is what the sovereign Lord, the Holy one of Israel says in repentance and rest is your salvation. Oh man, I need you to see that. In repentance and rest is your salvation. Your salvation is not found in Egypt. Your salvation is not found in political maneuvering. Your salvation is not found in political manipulation. It's found in repentance and rest. If you rest in me and you repent, you will be saved and quietness and trust is your strength, but you would have none of it. You said, no, we will flee on horses. I need you to realize that horses are connected with Egypt, man. Deuteronomy second Kings, like this actually a theme that's established for a long time that horses are connected with Egypt. So when it says, you said, no, we will flee on horses. Therefore you will flee. You said we'll ride on swift horses. Therefore your pursuers will be swift. All right.

Thomas truth. I'll read it to you. Just like I wrote it. I'd rather burn the fire of sacrifice than the fire of judgment. I'd rather burn the fire of sacrifice than be burned in the fire of judgment. The fire is inevitable. But what burns will be up to me. What will burn on the altar will either be a sacrifice of praise, a sacrifice of obedience, a sacrifice that I place there, or it will be me burning up in judgment. So Ariel is going to happen. I'm either going to be a burning altar of sacrifice unto the Lord. I'm going to, I'm going to live up to the original design that I have as a human, which is to offer unto God, to glorify Him by sacrificing my life, or I will be consumed by the flames. I will be burned. And that is a Thomas truth. That's not just for the people here, but God describes that the end of, of every human life will either end by spending eternity with Him or being consumed by the flames of hell. And so the reality is that I will either, something's going to burn, but I get to decide what burns, and that is the timeless truth of the day, that a sacrifice is inevitable, and so I may as well make that sacrifice of my own accord and with joy. Okay. Then, uh, make that sacrifice at the end of my life and Jerusalem then becomes a picture of how God judges. He gives us a purpose. Hey, you have a purpose to offer something on the altar of sacrifice. And if we choose to not fulfill that purpose, then we become the thing that gets offered on the altar of sacrifice. And we become the thing that gets set ablaze.

All right. That's our Thomas truth for the day. Like always gave you some context clues. I try to rapid fire some nerdy nuggets off and you got a Thomas truth to end the day. Hey, I'll see you right here tomorrow for day two Oh one. We've got another couple of chapters of the book of Isaiah. I can't wait to get into it. I'm proud of you, especially if you're on the street. Love you so much. I'll see you right here tomorrow. Peace. Thanks so much for joining us on the Bible department podcast. If this episode was helpful, how about you leave a comment, share with a friend and subscribe so that you never miss an episode to learn more about the show. Head to the Bible department.com. We'll see you right back here tomorrow.