I thought late last night that the Text for today’s Lesson was a “sure thing.” (But now that “sure thing” will not be discussed until tomorrow, the Lord willing!) That’s because I have been “stunned” (maybe “thrilled” is a better word) by the initial paragraph of Isaiah 14.
Talk about the “tables being turned!”
Talk about “poetic justice.”
Talk about the wicked “reaping what they have sown!”
Read with me today’s Bible Passage: “For the LORD will have mercy on Jacob, and will yet choose Israel, and set them in their own land: and the strangers shall be joined with them, and they shall cleave to the house of Jacob. And the people shall take them, and bring them to their place: and the house of Israel shall possess them in the land of the LORD for servants and handmaids: and they shall take them captives, whose captives they were; and they shall rule over their oppressors. And it shall come to pass in the day that the LORD shall give thee rest from thy sorrow, and from thy fear, and from the hard bondage wherein thou wast made to serve.” Isaiah 14:1-3
Up front let me say that this Paragraph is Millennial!
Not history, but (as these words are being written) yet future.
Still we believe they will occur, exactly as promised, and in a literal manner at that!
Verse 1 … “For the LORD will have mercy on Jacob, and will yet choose Israel, and set them in their own land: and the strangers shall be joined with them, and they shall cleave to the house of Jacob.” This Piece is obviously addressed to ALL ISRAEL (including the ten so-called “lost tribes) … “Jacob” (who was of the Tribe of Judah, the Southern Kingdom) and “Israel” (the larger Northern Kingdom)! Reunited again! God is going to turn from Disciplinarian/Judge to Bestower of Grace/Father to His people! (Yes, this occurs in the Millennium, for sure.) “Their own land” means what we often call the “Holy Land,” the “Promised Land.” (Notice God is the real estate Broker here! The verb “will set” is in Hebrew “yanach,” meaning “to cause to rest!”) Then … for “strangers” here, read “foreigners,” (or “aliens”) meaning the (former) enemies of Israel. Old adversaries who have now had a change of heart! Who want “to join” (from the root for “Levi”) Israel … thus “cleaving” (being “glued”) to the Jewish State! (Anti-Semitism becoming very “Pro-Semitism!”)
Wow!
Verse 2 … “And the people (plural in Hebrew, ‘peoples,’ meaning the gentiles) shall take them (the Israelites), and bring them to their place: and the house of Israel shall possess (have as an inheritance) them in the land of the LORD for servants and handmaids: and they shall take them captives, whose captives they were; and they shall rule over their oppressors.” Looks to me like the very people who wanted Israel cast out of her Land … are now trying to resettle Israel in that Land! THEN COMES THE “REVERSAL” OF TODAY’S LESSON TITLE … “and the house of Israel shall possess them in the land of the LORD for servants and handmaids: and they shall take them captives, whose captives they were; and they shall rule (meaning ‘to have dominion’) over their oppressors (taskmasters).” Yes, the once captive Jews now govern their former tormentors! (Using the same verbs once employed to reveal Israel’s oppression by the Egyptians and Assyrians and Babylonians, etc.)
Wow!
Verse 3 … even more reversal … “And it shall come to pass in the day that the LORD shall give thee rest from thy sorrow, and from thy fear, and from the hard bondage wherein thou wast made to serve,” (No more sorrow, no more fear, no more hard bondage! Sound familiar? Revelation 21:4 is coming to mind. “And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.”) And here is the Lord as “Rest Giver” once again! “Give rest” is “nuach” in Hebrew, the very root of the Bible name “Noah!” Peace instead of war! Perpetual victory instead of elongated defeat!
What a Promise!
Isaiah has (nearly covertly) placed this opening thought at the head of his 14th chapter that elsewhere describes the downfall of the King of Babylon. In essence the downfall of all wicked dominion! And in particular (I think, along with a handful of other conservation Bible teachers) the downfall of the Devil (Satan) himself!
Be sure and study with us tomorrow!
— Dr. Mike Bagwell
Today’s Lesson (when compared to tomorrow’s Text, tomorrow’s Study) is almost like eating the “icing” before eating the “cake!” Though I remind you, both are delicious!