Monday Morning, April 8, 1974 — Richmond, Virginia
Ministry given through Brother Stephen Kong.
The vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem, in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.
Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth; for the Lord hath spoken:
I have nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against Me.
The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master’s crib;
But Israel doth not know, My people doth not consider.
Ah sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of evildoers, children that deal corruptly!
They have forsaken the Lord, they have despised the Holy One of Israel, they are estranged and gone backward.
Why will ye be stricken any more, that ye revolt more and more?
The whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint.
From the sole of the foot even unto the head there is no soundness in it;
But wounds, and bruises, and fresh stripes: they have not been closed, neither bound up, neither mollified with oil.
Your country is desolate; your cities are burned with fire:
Your land, strangers devour it in your presence, and it is desolate, as overthrown by strangers.
And the daughter of Zion is left as a booth in a vineyard, as a lodge in a garden of cucumbers, as a besieged city.
Except the Lord of hosts had left unto us a very small remnant, we should have been as Sodom, we should have been like unto Gomorrah.
Hear the word of the Lord, ye rulers of Sodom; give ear unto the law of our God, ye people of Gomorrah.
What unto Me is the multitude of your sacrifices? saith the Lord:
I have had enough of the burnt offerings of rams, and the fat of fed beasts;
And I delight not in the blood of bullocks, or of lambs, or of he-goats.
When ye come to appear before Me, who hath required this at your hand, to tread My courts?
Bring no more vain oblations; incense is an abomination unto Me;
New moon and sabbath, the calling of assemblies—I cannot endure iniquity and the solemn meeting.
Your new moons and your appointed feasts My soul hateth; they are a trouble unto Me; I am weary of bearing them.
And when ye spread forth your hands, I will hide Mine eyes from you:
Yea, when ye make many prayers, I will not hear; your hands are full of blood.
Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before Mine eyes; cease to do evil;
Learn to do well; seek justice, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow.
Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord:
Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow;
Though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.
If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land;
But if ye refuse and rebel, ye shall be devoured with the sword:
For the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.
Last night we began with Isaiah’s vision of the Lord in the temple. In the year of the death of King Uzziah, Isaiah entered into the temple, and there he was given a vision of God sitting upon the throne, and His train filled the temple.
Brothers and sisters, I do believe this is where every one of us must begin. We must begin with a vision of the Lord. It is a vision of the Lord upon His throne—the throne of His own house, the throne of each of our hearts, and not only in individuals, but the Lord sitting upon the throne of His own church, His own people.
When you get a vision of the Lord upon the throne in His house, you cannot help but hear the voice: “Holy, holy, holy.” We mentioned last night that holy means uncommon. Nothing is common. In other words, the Lord is unique. The Lord is all alone by Himself.
Do not make Him common. Do not try to make Him as one of us. If you see the Lord on the throne, then you dare not raise up your head; you dare not go your own way. He is holy, and because of that we must be holy. That is to say, we must be different. We cannot be as the world, but we must do His will.
Out of that vision comes the call, and Isaiah said, “Here am I; send me.” So, dear brothers and sisters, we need to begin with such a vision: to see the Lord on the throne and to know that He is holy. Out of that vision, we will be given a mission, a commission, to fulfill.
This morning we would like to go into the second vision in the prophecy: Isaiah’s vision concerning Judah and Jerusalem.
Isaiah lived during the reigns of four kings: Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah. He lived a very long life and prophesied at least forty-seven years. His prophecies touched upon many nations, but the central subject of his prophecy was Judah and Jerusalem.
During that time, the twelve tribes of Israel had already been divided into two kingdoms: the northern kingdom of Israel, consisting of ten tribes, and the southern kingdom of Judah, consisting of two tribes. During the reign of Hezekiah, the northern kingdom of Israel was completely destroyed, and the people were taken into Assyrian captivity.
So far as Israel was concerned, only two tribes remained. Even these two tribes were in danger of entering into Babylonian captivity.
Think of that. The children of Israel were the vessel of God’s testimony on earth. Yet during that time, the vessel was so marred, so corrupted, that the majority of it was already in captivity. What remained of Judah and Jerusalem was in danger of entering Babylonian captivity.
The people of Judah and those who lived in Jerusalem were the remaining part of that vessel which was supposed to bear the testimony of God. When God looked upon Judah and Jerusalem—and, of course, He was thinking of the whole people of Israel—what was the burden in God’s heart?
God looked upon Judah and Jerusalem, and His heart was so burdened. Oh, how He would like to see that, with this remaining nation, with His remaining people, His name would not be corrupted and His testimony might be maintained. He was so concerned that it might be so. Because of that, He gave the vision concerning Judah and Jerusalem, and the word concerning them, to the prophet Isaiah.
These words, the words of the vision, came from the very heart of God to His own people. It was so serious that, when Isaiah began his prophecy, he called heaven and earth to witness.
There was another occasion when Moses, in Deuteronomy 32, called the heavens and the earth to be witnesses because what followed was of great consequence. Isaiah did the same thing. He called the heavens and the earth to witness what God had spoken. God was speaking, and what He spoke was of tremendous significance. Therefore, He called heaven and earth to bear witness; how much more should His people hear it.
Now, brothers and sisters, we are not primarily interested in the history of Israel. The history of Israel is very interesting—indeed, if you read the Bible and the history of Israel, you will find it most fascinating. Even today, the history of Israel is fascinating.
Nor are we concerned merely with the prophecies concerning Israel, however fascinating they may be, especially at this hour. There is something that should interest us even more than the history and prophecies concerning Judah and Jerusalem: the spiritual application of their history and prophecies to us, the heavenly people of God today.
Unless we can enter into that, we are just reading history or studying prophecy. These things do not concern us directly. But if we can enter into the spiritual application of the history and prophecy of Israel, and see that we are the Israel of God in a spiritual sense, then we will find that what God spoke to Israel He is actually speaking to us.
Then there will be a message to us today—not merely a message proclaimed eight hundred years before Christ, but a message relevant to us today. Brothers and sisters, this is what I look to the Lord for this morning, though we can only touch it in a very limited way.
Who is the vessel of the testimony of Jesus in this world? As the children of Israel were the vessel of God’s testimony in the old days, so today the testimony of Jesus is vested in the church—the people of God, those redeemed by the precious blood of Christ.
The church is the lampstand to give forth the light. The church is the vessel of the testimony of Jesus. How will the world know the Lord Jesus? Through the church, as the church lives Christ.
But, dear brothers and sisters, I do believe we are living in the days of Isaiah. So far as God’s people are concerned, most of God’s people today live in captivity. They are the Lord’s, and yet they are captured by the world.
Christianity is in captivity. God’s people are under the captivity of the world as a system—not only the world as such, but even the world as a religious system. We do not need to enlarge upon it. We can simply say that most of God’s people are in captivity, captured by the world in a religious system.
Thank God, there are still people who remain. There are a few people who, by the grace of God, are like Judah and Jerusalem: they are still in the promised land, still standing for the testimony of God. Yet they are in danger of entering into captivity.
If this should happen, what will happen to the testimony of God? We are often more interested in what happens to the people, but what happens to the people results in what happens to the testimony of God, and that is of far greater significance.
Thank God, there are still people who remain in the promised land, who remain there to bear the testimony of Jesus. But what is their condition? As you find in the history of the nation of Judah, they too are in danger of entering captivity.
In a very subtle way, those who desire to stand for the Lord’s testimony are in danger of captivity too. It may not be Assyrian captivity, but it may be Babylonian captivity—and one is not better than the other.
The world as a system is of such subtlety and such strength that it can come and take away God’s people as the testimony of God. Because of that, you find how much God’s interest and concern are centered upon those who remain.
God has a word for us today. Isaiah begins his prophecy: “Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth; for the Lord hath spoken.” Let us listen to what God has spoken.
The first five chapters of the book of Isaiah serve as an introduction to the whole book. They are not only an introduction, but an outline of the whole book. For this morning, we will restrict ourselves to these first five chapters; but remember that they give us the substance of the prophecies found throughout the book.
God has a controversy with His people.
I have nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against Me.
God had a controversy with Judah and Jerusalem. The controversy was this: God had brought them up and nourished them as children, but they rebelled against Him. God was like a Father to the nation of Israel. How He cared for them! And yet they rebelled against God.
Remember, this word was spoken to Judah and Jerusalem. For the world to rebel against God is natural, because the world does not know God. But for God’s people, who have received His nourishment and His training, to rebel against God—that is something unusual. That is the problem with the children of Judah and Jerusalem.
Our relationship with God is a relationship of Father and children. With Israel, God was a Father to the nation, but they did not know God as Father to each individual; that was not revealed in the Old Testament. After our Lord Jesus came to this earth, He brought to us His Father and our Father, His God and our God.
The relationship between us and God is a Father-and-children relationship. The relationship between a father and children is characterized by one word: obedience. What God desires of us, what God requires of us, is only one thing: obedience.
God is not looking for anything else from us. What God looks for in us is only one thing: obedience. That is all. But this is the very thing that we do not give to God. We give God everything else but obedience.
If we do not obey, even though we may give Him everything else, we are in a rebellious state. God has a controversy with us.
The nation of Judah and Jerusalem still had the temple. They still had the priesthood, their feasts and seasons, their festivals and sacrifices. They offered burnt offerings, and they did all these things to God as though they were a godly people.
Yet God said, “You are rebellious. You have rebelled against Me. You do all these things, but you have rebelled against Me because you do not obey.”
There is nothing that God desires more from His people than obedience. The word of Samuel to Saul stands true for us:
Hath the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord?
Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams.
For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry.
God does not desire sacrifices from us. He requires one thing: obedience.
Brothers and sisters, as God’s people who profess to stand for the testimony of Jesus, we need to examine our lives to see whether there is obedience.
Look at the life of our Lord Jesus. His whole life was characterized by obedience. “I can do nothing of Myself.” “I speak because I have heard the Father.” He was obedient even unto death, yea, the death of the cross. Though He was a Son, yet learned He obedience by the things which He suffered.
The whole life of our Lord Jesus is characterized by obedience, and this is the life that we receive. But do we obey God? Do we obey?
This is the controversy. God has given so much grace to us. Whether we have responded to His grace, whether we have received His grace, is shown either in obedience or rebellion. If we rebel, we have wasted His grace. He has brought us up, He has nourished us, and yet we rebel.
But if we obey Him, then we please Him, and it is evidence that grace has not been wasted in our lives.
God’s controversy with the nation of Judah was of such depth that He continued:
The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master’s crib;
But Israel doth not know, My people doth not consider.
Look at the ox. The ox is slow and dull, without much intelligence, yet even a brute like an ox knows its owner. It knows who owns it. The ass may be wild, yet it knows its master’s crib; it knows who feeds it, at least it knows the feeding place.
But God said, “My people do not know. My people have no understanding.” In other words, they were less intelligent than the brute beasts. Is that not sad?
These words were not spoken to the world, nor to the ten tribes already in captivity. They were spoken to Judah and Jerusalem. You should at least know Who feeds you. Even if you do not recognize that God owns you, you should know Who feeds you. Yet they did not know. They rebelled completely against Him.
What a degradation. How far they had fallen.
Yet God loved them so much that He tried to bring them back. God disciplined them. From the sole of the foot even unto the head, there was no soundness in them. Because they were in such a rebellious state, God tried to bring them to their senses.
God allowed discipline and chastening, one after another, to come upon them, hoping that they might be restored to their senses. From the head to the sole of the foot there was no soundness; they were full of sores and wounds. There was almost nowhere left to afflict with further discipline, and yet they would not come back. They would not come back. They were stubborn and hard. There was no repentance.
This should be a warning to us today. Why does God discipline His people? Because He loves. When He sees something in us that is not according to Him, He disciplines us, trying to purify us and bring us to our senses and to Himself.
But oftentimes He disciplines and disciplines, and yet we do not understand. Is it not a warning to us today?
What did Judah do? What did Jerusalem do? They kept their feasts and holy convocations. They offered sacrifices. They shed the blood of lambs, goats, and bullocks. They offered the fat of rams. They burned incense. They even lifted up their hands and prayed.
What was God’s reaction to all this? God said, “Do I want these things? I am tired of these things. I do not want these things. I wish someone would close the door of the temple. I wish these things would all stop. What a mockery to Me!”
“You serve Me with your lips, but your heart is far away from Me. You are very religious, and yet there is no love, no feeling for the Lord. You maintain the form of godliness, but the power thereof is missing.”
Is this not a sign of the last days? We live in an age of Laodicea, and somehow the spirit of the world, which is the spirit of Laodicea, has entered even into our hearts.
How we try to cover up our rebellion with good words and with much activity. We do all these outward religious things, but the Lord says, “I am tired. I do not want these things. I want obedience.”
If you read 2 Timothy, you will find that one sign of the last days is a form of godliness without the power thereof. That is one of the signs of the last days.
God wants obedience from His people. God wants reality. God is not deceived by our outward activities. He wants the real thing from us. Brothers and sisters, do we give that to Him?
He said, “Wash you, make you clean. Do the right thing. Do justice. That is what I want.” Applied to us today, what God wants is something that comes from within—not merely superficial, outward things, but something that comes from the inner life.
It is the power of His resurrection life in us. As we live in the power of His resurrection, we will be children of obedience. We will do His will. We will learn to please Him. This is the one thing God demands from His people.
What constitutes the foundation of the testimony of Jesus? How can we maintain the testimony of Jesus in this world? It is not maintained by our forms. It is not maintained even by outward works. It is maintained by a spirit of obedience.
That is the one thing God requires from His people. Dear brothers and sisters, does God not have a controversy with us today? Are we living in the life of Christ? If we live in the life of Christ, then we will give obedience. To obey is better than sacrifice. This is the one thing God requires.
Because Judah and Jerusalem hardened their hearts, they deceived themselves by continuing their religious routines, thinking that nothing was wrong. The result was God’s judgment. Eventually they were taken into Babylonian captivity.
Yet, even so, God promised that there would be a small remnant that would remain. That is because of the mercy of God.
Thank God, He has never left Himself without a testimony on earth. Throughout the centuries, even though God’s people have failed Him again and again, you can always see that, by His grace, there is a small remnant somewhere.
It is not because they are better. It is the grace of God. He always leaves behind a small remnant to maintain His testimony in a dark world.
That is chapter 1. Now we move on to chapter 2.
Chapter 2 begins in a very different way. When God looked upon the condition of His people, it was a sad thing, and God had to speak strongly in order to recover and restore them. That was chapter 1. Because they resisted Him, judgment came upon them.
But chapter 2 begins in a very different way. The condition of the people had not changed, yet chapter 2 begins with such glory and hope:
And it shall come to pass in the latter days,
That the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established in the top of the mountains,
And shall be exalted above the hills;
And all nations shall flow unto it.
Remember, dear brothers and sisters, the conditions of God’s people had not changed, and yet God could begin with such glory. How could it be? Because in chapter 2 God was looking not upon the condition of the people, but upon His purpose concerning His people.
When you see God’s purpose, it is glory. It is glory. Sometimes we see only the condition, and when all we see is the condition, it is very depressing. It makes us feel depressed.
This is the time when we should lift up our heads and see God’s purpose. God’s purpose concerning Judah and Jerusalem is glorious. In the last days, at the end of days, God’s purpose shall be realized.
One day, when Christ returns, Israel will yet be the center of the nations on earth. During the millennium, all nations will go to Israel for instruction, to be instructed in the ways of the Lord. The mountain of the Lord’s house will be lifted higher than all mountains because God is there.
God’s purpose concerning Israel never changes. God’s purpose is not governed by our condition. On the contrary, His purpose will change our condition. Therefore, there is hope.
These two pictures seem completely opposite. How can you reconcile them? Yet we need to see both. On the one hand, we need to see the condition of God’s people today with the eyes of God. When we see God’s people in this way, it is a terrifying picture. It is very depressing.
But thank God, there is another picture He shows according to His eternal purpose, which He purposed in Christ Jesus concerning His church. If we see that, how glorious it is: a glorious church, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing.
We need to know Romans 1 and 2, but we also need to know Ephesians. How do you reconcile these things? We are living in a time when we cannot live merely by noticing the conditions. We cannot.
We are living in a time when the conditions are such that we must receive a vision of God’s purpose—His purpose concerning His church, the body of Christ, the fullness of Him Who filleth all in all.
If you see that we are seated with Him in the heavenlies, that He has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenlies in Christ Jesus; if you see that we are heirs and joint-heirs with Christ, that we are His inheritance and He is our portion—if we have caught a vision of what the church is, that gives us strength to go on. Otherwise, we will be absorbed by the conditions we see.
For that reason, in Isaiah 2:5 there is an exhortation:
O house of Jacob, come ye, and let us walk in the light of the Lord.
Do not be discouraged in spite of all this depressing scene. The exhortation of the Lord to the house of Jacob is, “Come, and let us walk in the light of the Lord.”
Do not be absorbed by the conditions that you see, but walk by the light of the Lord. This is the light that guides our path. We have to walk in the light as He is in the light; then we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus, His Son, cleanseth us from all sin.
Do we walk in the light of His eternal purpose, or have we fallen back into darkness? It is so easy to give up and give in. It is easy to see the conditions and say, “It is hopeless. Why be different? Why persist? It is impossible.”
But, dear brothers and sisters, if you have caught a vision of God’s purpose, then in spite of all that you may see, you do not walk by the darkness. You walk by the light of the Lord. You can press on, and it shall be accomplished.
In chapter 3, Judah and Jerusalem were under God’s judgment. The Bible says that judgment must begin with the house of God.
For the time is come for judgment to begin at the house of God:
And if it begin first at us, what shall be the end of them that obey not the gospel of God?
—1 Peter 4:17
Judgment must begin with the house of God. The time of judgment for the house of God has come. Do you know that we today, as the house of God, have already entered into judgment?
It is true that one day, when the Lord returns, there will be the judgment seat of Christ, and we shall all appear before Him and be judged. That is true. But that is the consummation of the judgment of the house of God. Actually, the judgment of the house of God has already begun.
How do we know? In chapter 3 there are several signs.
For, behold, the Lord, the Lord of hosts, doth take away from Jerusalem and from Judah stay and staff,
The whole stay of bread, and the whole stay of water.
When God sent famine into the nation, that was a sign that they were under judgment. God took away the stay of bread and the stay of water. He gave them drought. There was famine.
Brothers and sisters, is the church of God under judgment today? What is the sign? In the last days people will go about, not because there is a lack of literal bread or water, but because they are hungry and thirsty for the Word of God.
Because people’s ears are itching and their hearts are dull, they hear and do not hear; they see and do not see. Because of that, there is such a lack of God’s Word.
Just as in the days when Samuel was a boy, the word of the Lord was rare and there was no open vision. When such a thing happens, we are under judgment.
Where can we hear the Word of God? People are hungry and thirsty everywhere. You find people hungry, but where is God’s Word? There is much teaching, yes, but where is God’s Word? Has God spoken? Is God speaking?
You can go to many places and not hear God. You can read many books and not hear His voice. Yet God’s people are hungry. That is a sign of judgment. We have already entered into judgment.
The second sign is the lack of spiritual leadership. God takes away the mighty man, the man of war, the judge, the prophet, the elder, the counselor, and the honorable man. Then children rule over the people.
If God takes the leaders away, there are no mature people—people who really know the Lord—to lead. Instead, children are appointed as princes. Children rule.
Many people set themselves up as leaders, and yet they are only children. Who can lead? He who knows the Lord, he who is mature in Christ. But because there is no maturity, children begin to rule over God’s people.
It is tragic to think how many people today are led here and there by so-called leaders, and they end in tragedy because the leaders do not know what they are doing. There is a lack of spiritual leadership.
When there is not the right leadership, people go astray and the people are oppressed. There is no lack of people who set themselves up as leaders, but for children to be leaders is a tragedy. This is judgment.
The third sign of judgment is worldliness. As you read toward the latter part of chapter 3, you find the daughters of Zion in Jerusalem becoming worldly, competing with the world in worldliness.
We may think that if the church becomes rich, popular, influential, and fashionable, that is wonderful. But when there is worldliness among God’s people, it is judgment. That itself is judgment.
Because the church is no different from the world, God says, as it were, “All right, let you be worldly. If you are not different, then be the same.” That is judgment.
But thank God, when you come to chapter 4, you find that grace restores and brings His people back. The grace is centered upon the Branch.
In that day shall the Branch of the Lord be beautiful and glorious,
And the fruit of the land shall be excellent and comely for them that are escaped of Israel.
So far as the children of Israel were concerned, they were already under judgment. But God’s judgment upon His people was not for full destruction. God’s judgment was to bring them so low that they might be brought to a position where God could lift them up by grace.
This was to come through the Branch, and we know that the Branch is the Messiah, Christ. God promised the children of Israel that when Messiah came, by grace He would restore them to be a holy nation, as God had ordained them to be.
How true this is with us today. Oftentimes God has to allow us to go down and down and down. After we have hit bottom, there is nothing left of us. Then, in Christ, we are restored to the fullness of God’s purpose, so that no man can boast. It is all of grace.
Dear brothers and sisters, we should be greatly encouraged. God’s way with us, even if it is judgment, is not for destruction; it is for restoration. Restoration can come only through Christ.
Restoration does not come from any other source or any other way. It is when God begins to reveal Christ to us that we are restored to the fullness of His purpose.
Chapter 5 concludes what God has spoken in the preceding four chapters. Isaiah concludes with a song—the song of the Beloved touching His vineyard.
The Beloved is God, and the vineyard is Israel. Here you find God, as it were, through His prophet, singing a song to express His feelings.
The first part, from verses 1 through 7, tells how God planted Israel as His vineyard. He used the best seed, put a hedge around it, and prepared everything for the vineyard, expecting to reap good grapes from it. But unexpectedly, He did not get what He purposed; He got wild grapes.
God was disappointed with His people. He said, “Because of this, I will judge. I will take away the hedge. I will allow wild beasts to come in to tread it down and devour it.”
The second part, from verses 8 through 25, describes their condition. God proclaims six woes.
Woe unto them that join house to house, that lay field to field, till there be no place, that they may be placed alone in the midst of the earth!
Here you find that they added house to house and joined field to field. In other words, there was greediness for gain. They tried to gain the things of this world as though they were successful, but because they sought earthly gain, the result was loss.
Spiritually, if our whole life is directed toward what we can get, if we try to gain for ourselves, we will suffer loss. The more you gain, the less you really have. The only real gain is to give all to the Lord.
Woe unto them that rise up early in the morning, that they may follow strong drink; that tarry late into the night, till wine inflame them!
They sought not only gain but pleasure. They simply wanted to enjoy themselves and exalt themselves. That was their condition. Do we seek pleasure, or do we seek to please God?
Woe unto them that draw iniquity with cords of vanity, and sin as it were with a cart rope;
That say, Let Him make speed, let Him hasten His work, that we may see it;
And let the counsel of the Holy One of Israel draw nigh and come, that we may know it!
They were completely given over to the subversion of moral principles. There was no principle, no moral standard, anymore. That is what you find today.
Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil;
That put darkness for light, and light for darkness;
That put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!
Here you find complete reversal. They called darkness light and light darkness. There was no discernment whatsoever—complete blindness.
Woe unto them that are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight!
Though blind, they were proud of themselves.
Woe unto them that are mighty to drink wine, and men of strength to mingle strong drink;
Who justify the wicked for a reward, and take away the righteousness of the righteous from him!
There was perversion of all kinds, including the perversion of justice.
When you read this, you cannot help but think of Matthew 23, where the Lord proclaimed woes against the Pharisees and scribes. It would be good to compare these two passages and see that it is possible for God’s people to fall into such a condition. It is possible. Therefore, we need to be watchful.
The last part of the song, from verse 26 to the end, is judgment. In the case of Israel, God would bring in the Babylonians and take them into captivity. Thus, the song concludes all that has been spoken in the preceding four chapters.
This is the vision that God gave to Isaiah concerning Judah and Jerusalem. I hope we can see also God’s dealings with His people today.
The ultimate purpose and the full realization are yet to come, and it will all be glorious. Remember: it is all in Christ.
Our Heavenly Father, we are studying Thy Word, Thy vision, Thy prophecies concerning Thy earthly people, Judah and Jerusalem. Lord, we do desire to hear what Thou hast to say to us today as Thy people.
Do not allow us to be so deceived as to think that we are better. Lord, humble us before Thee, that it is only by Thy grace that we are kept, and it is only by Thy life that we are able to obey Thee and give Thee what Thou desirest of us.
Deliver us from self-deception. Deliver us from the form of godliness without the power thereof. Deliver us from lip service to Thee.
O Thou Who searchest the heart, bring us to a place where we can touch reality—that reality which can satisfy Thy heart. O Lord, be merciful to us, Thy people, all over the earth.
We ask in Thy precious name. Amen.