Lesson #25

• WE HAVE DISCUSSED THAT THE KINGDOM OF ISRAEL WAS SPLIT INTO TWO NATIONS AFTER KING SOLOMON. THE “NORTHERN KINGDOM”, OFTEN CALLED “EPHRAIM” BECAUSE IT WAS THE TRIBE OF EPHRAIM THAT CAUSED THE SPLIT. THE NORTHERN KINGDOM CONSISTED OF 10 TRIBES OUTSIDE THE WILL OF GOD. THE NORTHERN KINGDOM IS ALSO OFTEN CALLED “ISRAEL” BECAUSE IT CONSISTED OF MOST OF THE PEOPLE. THE NORTHERN KINGDOM IS SOMETIMES CALLED “SAMARIA” BECAUSE THAT WAS THE CAPITAL OF THE NATION.
• THE “SOUTHERN KINGDOM” CONSISTED OF 2 TRIBES, BENJAMIN AND JUDAH. BECAUSE JUDAH WAS BY FAR THE LARGEST TRIBE, THE SOUTHERN KINGDOM WAS OFTEN CALLED “JUDAH”. THE SOUTHERN KINGDOM BEGAN ITS EXISTENCE IN THE WILL OF GOD, BUT SOON SLIPPED OUT OF GOD’S WILL AS WELL. THEREFORE, GOD WILL JUDGE ALL HIS PEOPLE. HE WILL PUT PRESSURE ON THEM TO BRING THEM BACK INTO HIS PERFECT WILL.
• THIS FIRST WOE IS ON THE NORTHERN KINGDOM.

• GOD WOULD BRING THEIR ENEMY, ASSYRIA, TO DESTROY THEM AND TAKE THEM INTO CAPTIVITY IN BABYLON. THEY ARE SPOKEN OF IN VERSE 2 AS:
• “THE STRONG ONE”, “A TEMPEST OF HAIL”, “A DESTROYING STORM”, AND “AN OVERFLOWING FLOOD”.
• THE PROPHECY REFERS TO “DRUNKENNESS” WHICH REFERS TO SPIRITUAL AND LITERAL DRUNKENNESS.
• WE ALL KNOW WHAT IS LITERAL, PHYSICAL DRUNKENNESS, BUT WHAT IS SPIRITUAL DRUNKENNESS?
• A LACK OF CLEAR SPIRITUAL PERCEPTION AND DIRECTION.

• A HIGH LEVEL SOCIETY HAD DEVELOPED IN THE NORTHERN KINGDOM CAPITAL OF SAMARIA WITH GREAT WEALTH EXEMPLIFIED IN ITS OUTWARD ARCHITECTURAL BEAUTY IN HOMES AND GARDENS, (1KI 15:24) WHICH GOD SAYS HE WILL DESTROY IN ISA 28:4.
• THE HILL OF SAMARIA, ONE OF THE MOST BEAUTIFUL LOCATIONS IN THE PROMISE LAND, WAS A LOVELY HILLTOP WHERE KING OMRI AND HIS SON, EVIL KING AHAB, BUILT AN EXQUISITE PALACE. THIS IS WHERE KING AHAB LIVED WITH HIS EVIL PHOENICIAN QUEEN, JEZEBEL.
• FROM THIS LOCATION, ONE COULD SEE THE MEDITERRANEAN OCEAN, SNOW-COVERED MT. HERMON TO THE NORTH, AND TO THE SOUTH DOWN THE JORDAN VALLEY TO JERUSALEM.

• READ JOHN 4:5-26
• WHAT WERE THE RELIGIOUS BELIEFS OF THE SAMARITAN WOMAN BEFORE JESUS TAUGHT HER A NEW WAY?
• THEY CHANGED FROM THE WORSHIP OF JEHOVAH IN JERUSALEM TO THE WORSHIP OF THE GOLDEN CALF IN SAMARIA.
• THEY THOUGHT IT WAS THE RIGHT WAY TO WORSHIP.

• THE SECOND FULFILLMENT:
• “IN THAT DAY” (5) INDICATES A SECOND FULFILLMENT IN THE FUTURE AT THE LAST DAYS.
• VERSES 5-6 REFER TO THE MILLENNIUM WHEN CHRIST COMES AND HE BECOMES THE “CROWN OF GLORY” THAT THEY WILL WEAR INSTEAD OF THEIR PRIDE WHICH WAS THEIR GLORY.
• THE LINK BETWEEN LITERAL DRUNKENNESS AND SPIRITUAL DRUNKENNESS (6-7)
• FOR THE JEW, WINE WAS A GIFT FROM GOD AND A SOURCE OF JOY. (JUDG 9:13 PSA 104:15) HOWEVER, DRUNKENNESS WAS FORBIDDEN. (DEU 21:19-21 PRO 20:1 PRO 23:20-21, 29-35)
• LITERAL, PHYSICAL DRUNKENNESS LEADS TO A LACK OF WISDOM IN MAKING DECISIONS. THOSE ADDICTED TO ALCOHOL ARE LED TO SHORT-SIGHTED VISION. BECAUSE OF THAT, THEY STUMBLE IN THEIR DECISIONS.
• IT IS EASY TO UNDERSTAND THIS LACK OF WISDOM IN MAKING DECISIONS WHEN A PERSON IS DRUNK. BUT THE IDEA HERE IS THAT GENERALLY ACROSS THE BOARD, HIS WISDOM IS IMPAIRED EVEN WHEN HE IS NOT INTOXICATED WHILE MAKING THAT DECISION.

• THOSE WHO WERE DRUNK LITERALLY AND SPIRITUALLY WERE THE GOVERNMENT LEADERS, THE PROPHETS (FALSE ONES), AND THE RELIGIOUS PRIESTS. (7)

• IN OUR SOCIETY, WASHINGTON DC IS HIGH ON THE LIST OF CITIES WELL KNOWN FOR ITS ALCOHOL CONSUMPTION.
• IN OTHER WORDS, IN OUR NATION’S CAPITAL WE HAVE THE REPUBLICAN PARTY, THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY, AND THE COCKTAIL PARTY.
• GOD’S LONGSUFFERING MERCY AND FAITHFULNESS: (13)
• GOD HAD TRIED TO TEACH HIS PEOPLE. HE REPEATED THE SAME LESSONS OVER AND OVER, BUT THEY DID NOT LEARN THEM. HE WARNED THEM THROUGH MANY PROPHETS OF COMING JUDGMENT, BUT THEY WOULD NOT LISTEN TO THE TRUE PROPHETS OF GOD. THEREFORE, GOD WILL USE THE ASSYRIANS TO TEACH THEM. THEY HAVE TO LEARN THE HARD WAY.
• AN IMPORTANT SPIRITUAL TRUTH:
• LEARNING THE WORD OF GOD IS A SLOW PROCESS. THERE IS NO FAST WAY TO GO FROM A BABY CHRISTIAN TO A MATURE CHRISTIAN. THERE IS NO FAST WAY TO LEARN THE BIBLE. IT IS BY PERSISTENT, CONSISTENT STUDY AND APPLICATION TO YOUR LIFE. YOU LEARN LITTLE BY LITTLE. THE HOLY SPIRIT USES THE BIBLE TO BUILD TRUTH IN US, BUT IT IS DONE GRADUALLY AS YOU EXPERIENCE DIFFERENT EVENTS ALONG YOUR LIFE’S PATH.

• THE PRIESTS, FALSE PROPHETS, AND GOVERNMENT LEADERS MOCKED ISAIAH’S PROPHECIES (9-11) BUT THEY WOULD NOT TAKE HIS MESSAGE TO HEART.
• ISAIAH PROMISED THE REFRESHING AND “REST” OF THE LORD. (12) BUT THE LEADERS CRITICIZED ISAIAH FOR TREATING THEM LIKE LITTLE CHILDREN IN SCHOOL.
• THE WRITER OF THE BOOK OF HEBREWS HAD THE SAME PROBLEM WITH BELIEVERS THAT ISAIAH HAD WITH GOD’S PEOPLE.
• READ HEB 5:11-14

• READ ISA 28:14-29 WARNING TO JUDAH, THE SOUTHERN KINGDOM
• JUDGMENT ON THE NORTHERN KINGDOM WAS TO BE A WARNING TO THE SOUTHERN KINGDOM. (14)
• THE COVENANT WITH DEATH AND HELL (15)
• THERE WERE 2 TREATIES MADE BY THE KINGS OF THE SOUTHERN KINGDOM TO PROTECT THEM FROM THE THREAT OF ASSYRIA.
• KING AHAZ MADE A SECRET TREATY WITH ASSYRIA THAT THEY WOULD NOT ATTACK JUDAH.
• GREAT BRITAIN DID THE SAME THING WITH HITLER BEFORE WORLD WAR II WHICH PROMPTED CHAMBERLAIN’S FAMOUS SPEECH ABOUT “PEACE IN OUR TIME”.
• KING HEZEKIAH MADE AN UNWISE TREATY WITH EGYPT FOR MUTUAL PROTECTION.
• BECAUSE GOD DID NOT GUIDE THE JEWS TO MAKE THESE TREATIES THEY WOULD FAIL.
• BECAUSE OF THE EXTREME NATURE OF THE TITLE GOD USED TO CHARACTERIZE THESE 2 TREATIES, IT WOULD SEEM THAT THE SECOND FULFILLMENT IS IN VIEW HERE.
• AT THE BEGINNING OF THE TRIBULATION PERIOD, THE JEWS WILL MAKE A TREATY WITH THE ANTI-CHRIST. IT WILL BE A TREATY OF PROTECTION FOR THE STATE OF ISRAEL AS WELL AS PERSONAL PROTECTION FOR THE JEWS TO ALLOW THEM TO REBUILD THEIR TEMPLE AND BEGIN ANIMAL SACRIFICE IN JERUSALEM.

• THIS TREATY WILL BE A TRAP FOR THE JEWS WHO COME TO VIEW THEIR PROTECTOR, THE ANTI-CHRIST, AS THEIR MESSIAH. THEREFORE, IT IS CALLED “A COVENANT WITH DEATH AND HELL”

• THE COMING OF THE “ROCK OF AGES”, JESUS CHRIST (16)
• THERE ARE MANY BIBLE VERSES THAT REFER TO JESUS CHRIST AS THE ROCK: THE STONE OF STUMBLING, THE FOUNDATION STONE, A TESTED STONE, A PRECIOUS CORNERSTONE, AND A SURE FOUNDATION. (1PET 2:4-7 ROM 9:33 BAR 12:10 PSA 118:22 )
• IT IS BETTER TO TRUST IN HIM THAN IN TREATIES BUILT ON LIES AND DECEPTIONS WRITTEN ON PAPER.
• GOD’S STANDARD, THE PLUMMET AND THE LINE (17)
• USED IN SURVEYING FOR THE CONSTRUCTION OF A BUILDING, THE PLUMMET (A PIECE OF LEAD WEIGHT ATTACHED TO A LINE) CAUSED THE LINE TO FALL PERFECTLY PERPENDICULAR TO THE GROUND. IN THIS WAY ONE COULD BE SURE THAT THE WALL HE BUILT WOULD BE PERFECTLY PERPENDICULAR TO THE FOUNDATION STONE.
• GOD’S STANDARD ON WHICH TO BUILD A LIFE AND A NATION IS THE BIBLE, THE WORD OF GOD WHICH IS THE STORY OF THE FOUNDATION STONE, JESUS CHRIST.
• THE PARABLE OF THE SHORT BED AND THE NARROW COVER (20)
• ALL THE PEACE TREATIES OF THE PAST IN ISAIAH’S DAY (THE FIRST FULFILLMENT) AND THE PEACE TREATY IN THE LAST DAYS BY THE ANTI-CHRIST WILL BE DISCOVERED TO HAVE BEEN WORTHLESS (ANNULLED) WHEN CHRIST COMES AND ESTABLISHES HIS PEACE IN HIS MILLENNIAL KINGDOM. THEN EVERYTHING THAT MAN TRIED TO DO ON HIS OWN AND IN HIS OWN WAY WILL APPEAR TOO SMALL AND TOO SHORT.
• “THE STRANGE WORK” AND THE “STRANGE ACT” (21)
• THE STRANGE WORK IS THE FACT THAT GOD USES AN ENEMY TO PUNISH HIS PEOPLE.
• FIRST FULFILLMENT: ASSYRIA AND BABYLON
• SECOND FULFILLMENT: THE ANTI-CHRIST
• THE STRANGE ACT IS THE SECOND COMING OF CHRIST IN THE MIDDLE OF THE BATTLE OF ARMAGEDDON.

• APPLICATION:
• WHAT ARE THE CHARACTERISTICS OF LEADERS THAT GOD WILL JUDGE?

HOMEWORK
ISAIAH 28:23-29 ISAIAH 29
This is a self-study. Please do not send homework answers to the teacher forcorrection.

• APPLICATION OF ISA 28:1-22
• WHAT CHARACTERISTICS THAT GOD SAYS HE WILL JUDGE ARE PART OF YOUR PERSONALITY AND LIFESTYLE?

• IF THE HOLY SPIRIT IS PROMPTING YOU CONCERNING ANY OF THESE CHARACTERISTICS, ASK GOD’S FORGIVENESS AND PRAY THAT HE WILL HELP YOU TO GAIN VICTORY OVER THEM THROUGH THE BLOOD CHRIST AND THE POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT.

• PREPARATION FOR ISA 28:23-29 AND ISA 29
• READ THE PARABLE OF TESTING IN ISA 28:23-29.
• ALSO READ THE PARABLE OF THE SOWER AND THE SEED IN MAT 13:1-9 AND COMPARE THE TWO PARABLES.

• READ ISA 29:1-24
• MAKE A LIST OF THE REASONS FOR GOD’S DISCIPLINE:

MEMORY VERSE: ISAIAH 28:29