Lesson8 - October Fourth Week
Prophecies to Jerusalem
Background Reading:
Isaiah 1:2-10; 29:1-4; Jeremiah 6:6; 9:10-12; Ezekiel 4:1-3; Mark 13:14; Luke 21:20; Revelation 1:2
Devotional Reading:
Isaiah 1:4-6
Central Verse:
“Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be white as snow: though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.”
Isaiah 1:18, KJV.
“Come now, let’s settle this,” says the Lord. “Though your sins are like scarlet, I will make them as white as snow. Though they are red like crimson, I will make as white wool.”
Isaiah 1:18, NLT.
Key Terms:
Pivotal– Of, relating to, or functioning as something on which something else turns or depends: a central member, part, or point.
Siege– The placing of an army around a fortified place or city to force it to surrender: a lasting attack (as of illness).
Stumbling Block – An obstacle to belief or understanding: an obstacle to progress.
Introduction:
Jerusalem has always been an important city in the life of the Children of Israel. God showed his concern when He allowed several of His prophets to prophesy to them about the coming siege of Jerusalem, a pivotal event in biblical prophecy. Isaiah, one of the major prophets, whose name means “Salvation of Jehovah,” provided an early warning about the coming siege. The warnings God sent through several of His prophets were a divine warning to the people of Judah and Jerusalem about the impending judgment due to their persistent disobedience and idolatry. Sometimes it may seem like God is silent on some issues that people have and are disobedient to. But He has a time of vengeance that will come forth against His people, because He’s angry with the wicked every day.
God loved Israel, and He constantly showed His love to them. He let them know that He was aware of their disobedience, disrespect, and rebellious spirits, but He yet made preparations for them to get right and prosper. He had Isaiah tell them to come and sit with Him and talk about their sins. Whatever was wrong, he would expect and help them to make it right.
God used the Prophet Jeremiah to let them know that he was aware of their lifestyles, but yet loved them. He was willing to help them and give them time to strengthen their lives.
Discussion:
The Book of Isaiah presents to the believers a very rich and comprehensive look at the kingdom of Judah and Jerusalem. It tells the prophecies of judgment, but yet it gives the people of God the messages of hope and restoration. It gives a picture of the wrath of God but also the love of God for His children. It has many warnings and woes, but it also gives the believers a bird’s-eye view of the coming Kingdom Age.
The Prophet Isaiah calls out the sins of God’s people who were filled with the spirit of rebellion. He started out by crying out to Judah. He called them a sinful nation, people whose guilt was great, a brood of evildoers, and children given to corruption. All these descriptions of them were very negative, the opposite of who they should have been. Because of their negative actions, they were people who had forsaken the Lord, spurned the Holy One of Israel, and turned their backs on Him.
Knowing that this had caused their head to be injured and their entire heart was afflicted. They had wounds, welts, and open sores from the soles of their feet to the crown of their heads, but yet they persisted in their disobedience and rebelliousness. God sent a prophetic plea to them, asking them to return unto them.
Isaiah spent time confronting and condemning his own people for their open defiance against God.
God used Jeremiah to call to Jerusalem in chapter six, when He let them know that if they didn’t change, He would depart from them and leave them and allow them to become a desolate land that would no longer be inhabited.
God gave them opportunity after opportunity to change, but they refused. God told them to stand in the ways and see and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein. He said that He had set watchmen over them and yet said that they would not obey him. Because of their disobedience, God said that he would bring evil upon His people and lay a stumbling block before the people; the fathers and sons shall fall together. He also told them that a cruel, fierce nation would come and lead them into captivity.
Every time Israel was taken into captivity, they suffered and cried unto God for his mercy. God is such a merciful God that after a while he comes back to their rescue and brings them out. But this time, He told the leaders to get ready because he was going to allow them to stay in captivity for seventy years.
The prophet Ezekiel tried to help Israel by prophesying to them. He let them see all kinds of signs before the siege. God told Ezekiel to take a brick and place it before himself and draw a picture of Jerusalem on it. Then take a model of a military siege against the brick, then build siege walls, construct a ramp, set up army camps, and lay a battering ram around it. Then get an iron skillet and place it upright between him and the city-an iron wall.
Face the model: The city shall be under siege and shall be the besieger. This will be a sign to the family of Israel. God then told Ezekiel to lie on his left side and place the sin of the family of Israel on himself; he was told to bear the sins for 390 days. After the 390 days, he was to lie down on his right side and bear the sins of Judah for 40 days. After the forty days, roll up his sleeve, shake his arm, and preach against Israel.
Next, God told Ezekiel that He would tie him up with ropes so that he couldn’t move or turn over until He had finished the siege. God told Ezekiel the type of bread to make, and He said that Israel would eat that and they would not be happy. His last prophecy during this time was that He was going to cut off all food from Jerusalem, and the people would live on starvation rations, worrying where their next meal would come from, scrounging for the next drink of water. They would live in famine conditions, looking like people with nothing but skin and bones, shaking their heads. This is all because of sin. The believers must remember that the sin of rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft.
Conclusion:
Isaiah emphasizes God’s enduring covenant with Jerusalem, portraying it as a holy city destined for divine favor and ultimate redemption. He envisions future glories for Jerusalem as a restored center of worship and righteousness. He tells of a Messianic Age that will be prominent, a place of peace and the divine presence of Almighty God. Isaiah’s visions have influenced believers’ eschatology, highlighting themes of ultimate redemption.
Questions:
1. Who were some of the prophets that God used to prophesy to Jerusalem?
2. What were some of the punishments?
3. Why were some of the punishments so harsh?
4. Why was the sin of being rebellious so bad?
Essential Thought:
Righteousness exalts a nation:
but sin is a reproach to any people.