As Babylon was being attacked by the Persians (Medes, Elamites) … she was apparently having a “wild” party! She as a nation died “sinning egregiously!” My proof? Isaiah 21:4-5, some clauses found there. “The night of my pleasure hath He (God) turned into fear.” Then immediately: “Prepare the (banquet) table, eat and drink ye princes.” (This scene is depicted in much greater detail in Daniel chapter 5 … Belshazzar’s party! The Handwriting on the Wall! The fall of Babylon! Here we have an Isaiah/Daniel nexus!)

Wow!

Next I think we see the role of Isaiah (the Prophet) as a “watchman” to the nations. In Isaiah 21:6 God commands: “Go, set a watchman and let him declare what he seeth.” Then later in verse 11: “Watchman, what of the night?” (Ezekiel also was called “watchman” by the Lord, time and time again! Now we have an Isaiah/Ezekiel nexus!)

Also I have noticed an interesting fact in Isaiah 21:7. “He saw a chariot of asses, and a chariot of camels!” Unusual! Employing assess (donkeys) and camels in warfare? But ancient armies did so … when feasible. Particularly the Persian army, who is here conquering the Babylonians! (One of the thousands of “undesigned coincidences” in the Bible, all of which prove it to be the accurate Word of God!)

Wow!

Thus, God has given another barrage of nations a good “threshing.” Read with me verse 10 of our chapter: “O my threshing, which I have heard of the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel.” Our Lord whipping these enemy nations, mostly due to their many blatant sins … but also due to their hatred for Israel.

Isaiah, a massive Book of Scripture!

— Dr. Mike Bagwell

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If you recall Isaiah chapters 13-23 essentially contain Messages of Judgment … to one nation after another.

But none (so far) have “hit” three nations at once, not like Isaiah chapter 21 does, today’s Text.

The first of those three countries is really not specifically named, not at first … but obviously is a nation conquered by the Medes (the Elamites). “A grievous vision is declared unto me; the treacherous dealer dealeth treacherously, and the spoiler spoileth. Go up, O Elam: besiege, O Media; all the sighing thereof have I made to cease.” Isaiah 21:2

The later we are told: “And, behold, here cometh a chariot of men, with a couple of horsemen. And he answered and said, Babylon is fallen, is fallen; and all the graven images of her gods he hath broken unto the ground.” Isaiah 21:9

Babylon in Scripture always has been a seat of rebellion against God. (Her final “fall” is recorded in Revelation chapters 17 and 18.)

Next, Isaiah 21:11-12 targets Edom. Read it with me. “The burden of Dumah. He calleth to me out of Seir, Watchman, what of the night? Watchman, what of the night? The watchman said, The morning cometh, and also the night: if ye will enquire, enquire ye: return, come.” Both Dumah and Seir are identified with the Edomites. Dumah is a location (city?) in Edom. And Seir is a mountain in Edom’s territory as well. The word “dumah” literally means “silence.” (God often sends silence before the storm, before judgment! As in Revelation 8:1 … “And when he had opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven about the space of half an hour.”)

After judgment falls upon Edom … there will be nothing but quiet, total silence! (A civilization gone!) The lastly Isaiah preaches against Arabia. (“The burden upon Arabia.” Isaiah 21:13a) Verse 14 hints at severe thirst and hunger … by-products of war. Then … “they fled from the swords, from the drawn sword, and from the bent bow, and from the grievousness of war. For thus hath the Lord said unto me, Within a year, according to the years of an hireling, and all the glory of Kedar shall fail: and the residue of the number of archers, the mighty men of the children of Kedar, shall be diminished: for the LORD God of Israel hath spoken it.” Isaiah 21:15-17 (Kedar being an area of Arabia, perhaps even a city.) Then Arabians were well known for their sharpshooters, archers. “Dimishment!”

Wow!

As Isaiah wrote/preached these Oracles … the actions described were yet future. Now looking back on this chapter, we now know it’s all history! The Assyrian Empire attacked these little Lands and fulfilled (the Lord merely using Assyria as His “tool” for judgment) God’s Word!

What a great God we serve!

— Dr. Mike Bagwell

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One of the most unusual behaviors of a man of God, ever!

Isaiah 20 supplies our Text today: “At the same time spake the LORD by Isaiah the son of Amoz, saying, Go and loose the sackcloth from off thy loins, and put off thy shoe from thy foot. And he did so, walking naked and barefoot. ” (Isaiah 20:2-3)

If I take my King James Bible literally, Isaiah here removes all his clothes. Not without reason mind you. His object-lesson sermon illustrates “hard times” coming for the Egyptians and Ethiopians!

Watch the Text … God is speaking to people through Isaiah’s unique act! (Micah the Prophet, did this same thing … grieving over coming judgment! “Therefore I will wail and howl, I will go stripped and naked: I will make a wailing like the dragons, and mourning as the owls.” Micah 1:8)

Wow!

But WHY this specific act, this bizarre procedure … “walking naked and barefoot?”

Watch. God is telling some folks (again, the Egyptians and Ethiopians) of coming doom. Of attack from their arch-enemy (the Assyrian army) who will take them captive! And most ancient (aggressive) nations violently mistreated (persecuted, tortured) the people they conquered! (Assyria being among the worst!)

Read now with me verse 4 of our Text: “So shall the king of Assyria lead away the Egyptians prisoners, and the Ethiopians captives, young and old, naked and barefoot, even with their buttocks uncovered, to the shame of Egypt.” (Clearly Isaiah’s inspired prophecy came true, happened, was fulfilled. And literally so.)

Now here (in two ways) we may have some help interpreting Isaiah’s “action sermon.”

First … the Assyrians would have stripped naked (stark naked in many cases, both men and women) the people they had just overcome. And (forcibly) marched them the many hundreds of miles back to the homeland of the attackers! (Hundreds of miles in this case!)

So Isaiah is just forewarning some people God loves (Egypt and Ethiopia) of coming disaster.

Second … verse 4 (above) may be helping us to interpret this whole idea of going “naked.” It seems to equate it with “uncovered buttocks.” (Still an act of great shame and embarrassment in any Ancient Near East culture.)

We should be impressed with the length with which God will go to save a people from judgment! Isaiah being commanded to “dress” (“undress’) this way for quite some time.

Of course, come to think of it, Jesus hung in shame on the Cross six long hours, either naked on close to it! Making possible our redemption through his precious Blood! (Normally the Romans never considered clothing a crucifixion victim! Such mistreatment added to the condemned person’s agony, shame, exposure to the elements.)

And how long did Isaiah pursue this “sermon,” act (dress) in this fashion? Verse 3 … “three years!”

Thus Isiah (along with Ezekiel and Jeremiah) becomes a Prophet known for what he does as well as what he says!

I just though you all would like to know about the depth to which Isaiah would go (the totality of his obedience) … serving the God he loved so dearly.

Wow!

— Dr. Mike Bagwell

And our obedience, what can be said about that?

When Isaiah wrote the first verse of what has become his sixth chapter (“In the YEAR that king Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple”), he gave us an exact date from which to study his prophecies. (We already know that Isaiah’s “whole ministry” generally covered the reigns of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, Kings of Judah. Isaiah 1:1 clearly tells us this.) But the “death of Uzziah” can ascertained, 740 BC.

Now again today we shall see Isaiah “pin” a date on an event. Onto one of his Sermons. “In the year that Tartan came unto Ashdod, (when Sargon the king of Assyria sent him,) and fought against Ashdod, and took it; at the same time spake the LORD by Isaiah the son of Amoz, saying …” Isaiah 20:1-2, our Text this morning.

“Tartan” is more of a title than a proper name. It means something like “commander, field marshal, general,” a military term. (For that matter, “Pharaoh” is a title as well.) But we know, from our Text, who this particular “Tartan” is … or at least who dispatched him to fight the Philistines (the inhabitants of “Ashdod”). It was “Sargon,” King of Assyria who did so. (This name means “Prince of the sun,” likely a heathen sun-worshipper.)

“Assyria” was the growing national “bully” in the ancient Near East … growing stronger (and more aggressive) every day … while Isaiah preached the Word. (That is, until she fell to Babylon. Then Babylon fell to the Medes and Persians! Then they fell to the Greeks! And they finally succumbed to the Romans! I am thinking of Daniel chapter 2, aren’t you? Nebuchadnezzar’s dream and Daniel’s accurate interpretation!)

So, just when did this attack, war campaign, occur?

In 711 BC, the historians tell us.

Wow!

(The Bible is not primarily a history textbook, of course. But when it does address historical matters, it is accurate! As it is in all areas, infallible we believe, inerrant.)

Why “Ashdod,” that little place? The word means “powerful,” or “destroyer.” And it was one of the leading five cities of Philistia, down by the coast, the Mediterranean. The Philistines, history again tells us, had recently rebelled against Assyria. Now, it is “pay-back” time!

Also, best I can tell, this is the only time King “Sargon” is mentioned in all the Bible. by name. (He is technically Sargon II of Assyria, who reigned from 721 to 705 BC.)

Today the whole “point” of our Lesson may be rather incidental, but I wanted you all to see the “historical anchoring” Isaiah (often) uses to locate his ministry, his preaching, and even his prophecies.

Now to the “context” … it was the year Ashdod fell that God gave Isaiah the Message (still to Egypt) at hand. The Sermon we shall study tomorrow here on the Website, the Lord willing. Namely, Isaiah 20:2-6.

It will surprise you.

Something about Isaiah going “naked” and “barefoot” for three years!

More tomorrow, the Lord willing, Thursday morning …

— Dr. Mike Bagwell

The Bible is such an “interesting” Book!

 

This today is a rare third lesson from one of Isaiah’s amazing chapters!

But Isaiah 19 is worthy of that, and a whole lot more. On my desk is a commentary written by a competent Bible student who has devoted a whole premise in his book to Isaiah 19, all of it.

Here’s the Text: “In that day shall there be a highway out of Egypt to Assyria, and the Assyrian shall come into Egypt, and the Egyptian into Assyria, and the Egyptians shall serve with the Assyrians. In that day shall Israel be the third with Egypt and with Assyria, even a blessing in the midst of the land: whom the LORD of hosts shall bless, saying, Blessed be Egypt my people, and Assyria the work of my hands, and Israel mine inheritance.” Isaiah 19:23-25

Wow!

Talk about being “fresh, innovative, bold” in one’s preaching/writing! (Isaiah is certainly that!)

But first (prior to looking at these three verses) let me give a little background to this Promise. It is partly based on another of God’s thousands of promises related in Scripture.

His name was “Ishmael.” (It means “God will hear.” It simply blends “shama,” a Hebrew verb, and “El,” one of God’s Major Old Testament Names.

And he (Ishmael) is a son of Abraham! That tells us he is Semitic in his bloodline, merely meaning a descendent of “Shem,” the oldest son of Noah. (Genesis 6:10 … “And Noah begat three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth.”) The Jews are also Semitic.

Oh, Ishmael’s Mother is “Hagar,” an Egyptian! (Due to a crazy idea Abraham and Sarah concocted before God sent Isaac into their lives. God to Abraham: “In Isaac shall thy seed be called.” Genesis 21:12)

No doubt.

But … God also made some promises to Hagar regarding her son of Abraham, too!

Now, God to Hagar: “Arise, lift up the lad, and hold him in thine hand; for I will make him a GREAT NATION.” Genesis 21:18

Later Ishmael married a wife from, of all places … Egypt! “And God was with the lad; and he grew, and dwelt in the wilderness, and became an archer. And he dwelt in the wilderness of Paran: and his mother took him a WIFE out of the land of EGYPT.” Genesis 21:20-21

Oh, another (earlier) promise concerning Ishmael, this time made to Abraham himself. (In answer to this prayer of Abraham’s, I suspect. “And Abraham said unto God, O that Ishmael might live before thee!” Genesis 17:18)

Then immediately, the answer from God: “And as for Ishmael, I have heard thee: Behold, I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly; TWELVE PRINCES shall he beget, and I will make him a great nation.” Genesis 17:20 (The Twelve Tribes of Ishmael!)

This is the birth of the “Arab” world! Generally speaking … Ishmael is the father of all the Arab nations.

Who (geographically) settled from Egypt to Assyria … that vast swath of land!

Seems that when God says He is going to bless a people … He does exactly that!

An aside: This has nothing to do with Islam, now. Or Mohammed their prophet. But solely with the Arab people. Fact: many Arabs are NOT Islamic, as you know. Though I would not be surprised to see in that final “ingathering” (Isaiah 19:23-25) lots of previous adherents of Islam.

The foregoing information is essential (I think) to a clearer understanding of today’s Text. Let’s look at it now … “In that day shall there be a highway out of Egypt to Assyria, and the Assyrian shall come into Egypt, and the Egyptian into Assyria, and the Egyptians shall serve with the Assyrians. In that day shall Israel be the third with Egypt and with Assyria, even a blessing in the midst of the land: whom the LORD of hosts shall bless, saying, Blessed be Egypt my people, and Assyria the work of my hands, and Israel mine inheritance.” Isaiah 19:23-25

God is building a “highway!” (Well, it’s still in the future, this road construction, during the Millennium, but “as-good-as-done” in the Bible.)

From Egypt to Assyria, thus including the bulk of the Arab (Ishmaelite) world! And that thoroughfare would of necessity go right through … ISRAEL!

Peace, finally!

Israel numbered right along with these (currently) fierce enemies!

And God calling them all “My people!” 

Dear readers here today … this is GOD’S PEACE PLAN for the Arab Israeli conflict!

By the way, I found this Text last night, corroborating our Text. Still from Isaiah’s pen … “And it shall come to pass in that day … ye shall be gathered one by one, O ye children of ISRAEL. And it shall come to pass in that day, that the great trumpet shall be blown, and they shall come which were ready to perish in the land of ASSYRIA, and the outcasts in the land of EGYPT, and SHALL WORSHIP THE LORD in the holy mount at Jerusalem.” Worshipping the Lord … together … Arabs and Jews!

Wow!

I stand amazed!

What a wonderful, loving God we serve.

— Dr. Mike Bagwell

Yes, finally … Ishmael and Isaac … reconciled!

(Even more miraculous in light of Genesis 16:11-12, God talking to Hagar. “And the angel of the LORD said unto her, Behold, thou art with child, and shalt bear a son, and shalt call his name ISHMAEL; because the LORD hath heard thy affliction. And HE WILL BE A WILD MAN; his hand will be AGAINST EVERY MAN, and every man’s hand against him; and he shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren.”)

A boy named by God Almighty, in advance of his birth! (A pretty exclusive company!)

And a fighter, but one tamed by the Lord!

Dwelling (eternally it appears) with his “brethren,” the Jews!

And all this is found (not in some dreamland) in the inerrant Word of God!

God saving Grace!