Isaiah 26
I. (1-39) Condemnation
A. Chapters 1-12 - Prophecies against Judah
B. Chapters 13-23 - Prophecies against the Nations
C. Chapters 24-27 - Prophecies of the Day of the Lord
1. \\#24:1-23\\ The Judgment of the Earth
2. \\#25:1-12\\ A Song - The aftermath of the curse
3. \\#26:1-21\\ A Song - The Future - This is a song that Israel
will sing when all of these prophecies have been fulfilled. It
would be a millennial song.
I. \\#26:1-21\\ A Future Song
A. \\#1-2\\ Judah is our fortress
1. \\#1\\ "In that day shall this song be sung" - The day is the
millennial reign of Christ.
2. \\#1\\ "We have a strong city" - This could refer to Jerusalem
or be a metaphor for the entire nation.
3. \\#2\\ "Open ye the gates" - The Jews will be coming back into
the land during this time.
4. \\#2\\ "the righteous nation" - The Jews will finally have
accepted Christ at that time.
B. \\#3-4\\ The Lord is our peace
(1) \\#3\\ "Thou" - The Lord
(2) \\#3\\ God will keep His people in "perfect peace."
(a) Condition - If they will stay focused on the Lord (i.e.
have faith and trust in the Lord).
(b) Why? Because they are trusting in the Lord.
(c) Faith has always been the key to unlock the power of God.
(3) \\#4\\ So… "trust in the Lord for ever"
(a) If trusting in God moves Him to work on the behalf of His
people, we should trust in Him.
(b) The "Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength" - That is, He
is and always has been a help to those who would call upon
Him.
(c) It is interesting that this often quoted passage is
specifically given to the Jews in this song. No doubt,
this passage will be of great comfort and encouragement
to the Jews during the tribulation.
C. \\#5-6\\ The Lord is our power
(1) \\#5\\ The Lord "bringeth down" man’s powerful cities.
(2) \\#6\\ He uses "the feet of the poor and… the needy" to do it.
D. \\#7-9\\ The Lord is just
(1) \\#7\\ God looks and tends to the ways of the just.
(2) \\#8\\ "we have waited for thee" - The "we" is Israel. Israel
is often pictured as waiting for the Lord. This seems strange
since today most Jews have forsaken the Lord; but even so, there
is a inner hunger in the Jewish people to understand their
heritage and to know the God of the Bible.
(3) \\#9\\ The pronoun goes from plural to singular in this verse.
Perhaps this is Isaiah’s personal testimony or perhaps it is
the secret desire of every Jew.
E. \\#10-11\\ The wicked will not respond to mercy - This chapter is
a future song. While God will subdue and destroy the wicked nations
in the beginning of the millennial, the fact that any unsaved person
would enter into the millennial at all shows God will be merciful.
Isaiah looks ahead to see that those who receive mercy will not
respond well to it.
(1) \\#10\\ "Let favour be shewed to the wicked" - This is a
conditional statement as "If favour is showed to the wicked…."
(2) \\#10\\ "he will not learn righteousness" - A wicked heart does
not learn from mercy. The heart must be converted for any true
change to take place.
(3) \\#11\\ "Lord, when they hand is lifted up" - This is setting a
time. The time is when God’s hand is lifted up, either in
power or mercy. Both will be shown to the wicked world in the
tribulation and as the millennium begins.
(4) \\#11\\ "they will not see" - But the wicked will not see the
Lord’s hand and respond to it as they should.
(5) \\#11\\ In the end, their own fire (the fire of God’s enemies)
shall destroy them. What they plan will be their own demise.
(a) I am not certain of the exact fulfillment of this prophecy.
(b) The most obvious scenario is that the power God showed in
the tribulation does not bring the wicked to repentance.
In the end, the wicked’s hatred for the Jews and rebellion
toward God causes them to be destroyed.
F. \\#12-19\\ The Lord is Master
(1) \\#12\\ The Master’s desire is to do good to His people.
(2) \\#13-14\\ The Master’s desire is to rule over His people.
(a) \\#13\\ The Jews have been ruled over by others. This was,
of course, of their own choosing. If they had sought the
Lord as their Master, no other force could have removed
Him.
(b)\\#14\\ But all of those rulers are gone.
(3) \\#15-19\\ The Master’s desire is to add to the nation.
(a) \\#15\\ Perhaps the increase is a reference to the
boundaries that God has determined the nation of Israel
will reach. However, the context might indicate that what
the Lord had increased was trouble (the tribulation) to
bring Israel back to Himself.
(b) \\#16\\ The "trouble" will cause Israel to "pour out a
prayer to God.
(c) \\#17\\ That the trouble being mentioned would be the
tribulation is confirmed by the common reference to woman
delivering her child.
(d) \\#18\\ "We (Israel) has been with child" - They have been
in pain (the tribulation). During their many days of
existence, Israel had "not wrought any deliverance in the
earth." They had not been a victorious but rather a
defeated nation.
(e) \\#19\\ Israel is described as a dead nation (much like
in \\#Eze 37\\, but they "shall live" and "the earth shall
cast our the dead." This text is not describing a literal
resurrection but the spiritual rebirth of Israel.
G. \\#20-21\\ The earth is to be destroyed - Another description of the
tribulation.
(1) \\#20\\ God’s people are encouraged to hide.
(a) The thought of hiding during the Day of the Lord is
difficult to comprehend for the wrath is surely pictured
as being all encompassing.
(b) Yet, the Jews are told to flee and hide.
Psalms 27:5 For in the time of trouble he shall hide me in his pavilion: in the
secret of his tabernacle shall he hide me; he shall set me up upon a rock.
Psalms 31:20 Thou shalt hide them in the secret of thy presence from the pride
of man: thou shalt keep them secretly in a pavilion from the strife of tongues.
Psalms 143:9 Deliver me, O LORD, from mine enemies: I flee unto thee to hide me.
Zeph 2:3 Seek ye the LORD, all ye meek of the earth, which have wrought his
judgment; seek righteousness, seek meekness: it may be ye shall be hid in the
day of the LORD’S anger.
Mark 13:14 But when ye shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by
Daniel the prophet, standing where it ought not, (let him that readeth
understand,) then let them that be in Judaea flee to the mountains:
(c) Most believe the Jews will flee to Petra, a rock fortress
in the land of Edom.
(d) This fleeing may only render a limited protection.
(2) \\#20\\ "as it were for a little moment" - Though the
tribulation will be violent and deadly, in the scope of time,
it will be short.
(3) \\#21\\ During that time, the Lord will "punish the inhabitants
of the earth for their iniquity."
(4) \\#21\\ Mankind (referred to as the earth here) shall have to
give account for the many unpunished deaths that it is
responsible. (I wonder if this is God holding man accountable
for the many murderers they refused to punish and for the many
infants they sacrificed to abortion.)
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