Isaiah 22:1

The Burden of the Valley of Vision. What ails thee now, that thou art wholly gone up to the housetops? Thou that art full of stir, a tumultuous city, a joyous city. Thy slain men are not slain with the sword, nor dead in battle. All thy rulers are fled together; they are bound by the archers. All that are found in thee are bound together, which have fled from afar. Therefore, said I, look away from me. I will weep bitterly; labor not to comfort me, because of the spoiling of the daughter of my people. For it is a day of trouble, and of treading down, and of perplexity, by the Lord God of hosts in the Valley of Vision, breaking down the walls, and of crying to the mountains.

Let's pray. Father, as we look into Your Word tonight, we do ask that You would guide and direct us by Your Spirit, that You would teach us all things, Lord. Give us insight into the passage before us. Lord, not just into the interpretation of this passage, but how it might apply to us living 2,800 years later. So God, we do just ask that You would be the one that is directing. For we pray this in Jesus' name. All God's people agreed, saying, Amen. You can be seated.

As Isaiah continues here with these burdensome judgments spoken against the nations that surrounded the children of Israel, we have seen judgments spoken upon the Babylonians, upon the Assyrians, upon the Moabites, the Philistines, those of Ethiopia, and of Egypt. You go down the list, and there are many different nations that God is speaking against in this passage.

The first twelve chapters of the Book of Isaiah really dealt with God's judgment upon His own people in Jerusalem. Then chapters 13 through 23 deal with God's judgment upon these other nations. Yet, when we come here to chapter 22, we see a prophecy spoken against the Valley of Vision. Most Bible teachers would agree that the Valley of Vision is Jerusalem. We are even going to see, as we continue through this passage tonight, that Jerusalem becomes the primary focus.

Down in verse 4, Isaiah said, "My people," which, of course, refers to the people living in the city of Jerusalem and among the people of Judah. In verse 8, the region of Judah is mentioned, along with the armor of the house of the forest, which was something that Solomon had constructed back in 1 Kings chapter 7. Again, in verse 9, we see the city of David referenced; the city of David is Jerusalem. Jerusalem is mentioned by name in verse 10. Therefore, the Valley of Vision is clearly the city of Jerusalem.

In the midst of all these judgments spoken against nations like Assyria, Philistia, and Babylon, God speaks once again to His own people in Judah and Jerusalem. In reality, the people of Judah and Jerusalem were living no differently than the heathens of the Philistines or the Moabites. The people there had been completely given to idolatry. Although, at this point in their history, they had what the Bible calls a good king under King Hezekiah, for the most part, the people had still departed from the Lord in their hearts and were not following after Him.

As we will see when we continue into Isaiah chapter 56, God will say, "This is a people who worships Me with their mouths, but their hearts are far from Me." Here, the children of Judah and Jerusalem were wholly and completely turned from the Lord. There were some; there was a remnant that still followed God, but God is judging them.

There is, I guess you could say, a kind of contest among some commentators regarding which judgment is being spoken of against Jerusalem in Isaiah chapter 22. We know that the people in the region of Judah were judged by God at the hands of the Assyrians around 701 B.C. However, the city of Jerusalem was not completely destroyed. Most of the cities in Judah were. Forty-six walled cities were destroyed by King Sennacherib in 701 B.C. He came up to the city of Jerusalem, as we will see when we get into Isaiah chapter 36, and he was unable to overtake it because God would protect His people in spite of their wickedness and sin. When Sennacherib came to judge Judah, the Lord had really been the one who dispatched him. Not only did he destroy 46 walled cities, but he took over 200,000 men captive from the region of Judah.

It is often considered that the people of Assyria only took captive the northern ten tribes. That's not the case. They destroyed the northern ten tribes and almost completely destroyed Judah and Benjamin in the south. At this point, the people were very fearful about what was going to come.

Some Bible scholars, teachers, and commentators believe that this passage deals with the judgment of God upon Judah and Jerusalem in 700-701 B.C. by Sennacherib, king of Assyria. Others believe it speaks further to the judgment upon Jerusalem at the hands of Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, in 586 B.C. There is discussion about which group is coming to judge at this point, but I really think it leans towards the Assyrian invasion, as we will see as we continue through the passage tonight.

But why is Jerusalem called the Valley of Vision? If you were to look at a topographical map of the city of Jerusalem, you would see that the topography has changed a little bit in recent times because some of the valleys surrounding Jerusalem have been filled in with rubble from many centuries of building and destroying. The city of Jerusalem is built on two hills, or on the ascent of two different hills.

You have probably heard of Mount Zion. We sing songs about Mount Zion being in the midst of Jerusalem. Mount Zion is on the west side of the city. On the east side is Mount Moriah, where Abraham took his son Isaac to offer him to the Lord in Genesis chapter 22. These two hills make up the main bulk of what was the old city of Jerusalem.

On either side of these two hills are valleys. On the east side, between the Mount of Olives, which is where Jesus ascended into heaven from in Acts chapter 1, you come down into the Kidron Valley. From there, you ascend into the city of Jerusalem at Mount Moriah, where the Temple Mount is located. Then you would go down into another valley called the Teropian Valley, ascend onto another hill, Mount Zion, and then come down into the third valley, which is the Valley of Hinnom.

If you were to look at a satellite image or a topographical map of the city of Jerusalem, you would see two hills with three valleys surrounding them. It was sometimes called the Valley of Vision for that reason, as it was a city built on hills and valleys leading up to the tops of these hills.

The Valley of Vision is significant because this was where God met with His people. It is also where the Temple was located, and many of the prophets of Israel came from the city of Jerusalem. Pastor Chuck believes that there was a literal place in Jerusalem called the Valley of Vision, where Isaiah may have been standing, looking over the city. From that vantage point, he saw certain events taking place, and God spoke to him.

Regardless of the specifics, we know that this region in Jerusalem is important. Josephus, the great Jewish historian, stated that Jerusalem is the seat of divine revelation. It is the place where prophetic vision was chiefly given and where God manifested Himself visibly in the holy place. Thus, it was called the Valley of Vision, God's city, the city of the Lord. In this context, God speaks of the judgment that is to come upon them, saying, "The burden of the Valley of Vision."

He questions, "What ails you now that you are completely or wholly gone up to the housetops?" We may not think much of our housetops today, but among the children of Israel, especially in ancient times, the housetop was more like a patio than a roof. They used the housetop as a place to congregate, and it often served as the highest vantage point for observing what was happening in the city, especially during tumultuous events.

It is as if Isaiah sees all the people rushing out of their homes and coming up onto the housetops, looking around and wondering what is going on. There is a stir taking place in the city. Isaiah describes it as a tumultuous city, a joyous city, saying, "Thy slain men are not slain with the sword, nor dead in battle."

Isaiah witnesses events unfolding in Jerusalem, while at the same time, God gives him a vision of what is to come. He sees the people rushing into the streets and gathering on the housetops, creating a great noise. This noise is indiscernible; it could be a tumultuous stir or a fearful stir among the people, but it also sounds joyous. This situation is reminiscent of the events in the book of Exodus when Moses went up on Mount Sinai to meet with the Lord and receive the law. At one point, God instructed him to descend the mountain because the people had turned away from Him in the valley. As Moses began to go down the hill, he encountered Joshua.

And Joshua says, "There's the sound of war in the camp." He responds, "No, that's not war." When they get down to the valley, they find that the people are having a drunken party. Sometimes the noise is indiscernible regarding what is happening. However, there is a stir taking place in chapter 22 in the city of Jerusalem. Isaiah says, "Your slain men are not slain with the sword, nor dead in battle," which indicates that the people are dying in the city, but it's not the result of war. It is not the result of a sword coming against them; it really leans towards famine in the city.

If you know much about how wars were waged or how cities were taken in ancient times, typically an invading nation would come in and lay siege to a city. That city, knowing the enemy was coming, would prepare. Not all the people lived in the cities; many lived in the outlying areas. The city was really the stronghold, almost like a bomb shelter. When battle was imminent, the people would leave their farmland or their flocks and flee into the city. They would close up the city, and everyone would hunker down, hoping to wait out the invading army.

The cities would have provisions, and ideally, they would have stores of water or springs to take care of them. An invading army would come and lay siege to the city, waiting the people out. We see these grand Hollywood films like "The Lord of the Rings," where a city is besieged, and they hurl great rocks, destroying it in that way. However, when you read about a siege against a city in biblical times, it often involved waiting the people out until they started to starve. Once famine set in, people began to die, and then plagues would follow. Typically, the people would either give up and surrender or die, at which point the invaders would come in and take the spoils.

What we see here is that the people in Jerusalem are dying in this manner. They are not going out to fight in battle with swords and spears; they are simply being waited out, and the people are dying. We know that this is exactly what Sennacherib aimed to do against Jerusalem. He had done the same to Laish and some of the other cities in the outlying areas of Judah in 701 BC. However, the Lord intervened in a miraculous way, which we will look at in a few weeks when we get to Isaiah chapter 36. The same strategy was used by Nebuchadnezzar when he came in 586 BC.

And so again, there's that contest about whether this is the Assyrian invasion or the Babylonian invasion. We'll see some reasons in a moment why I think it leans more towards the Assyrian invasion. But here, Isaiah says to the people, "What troubles you? What is it that is troubling and weighing upon you? What is it that's stirring everybody up?"

The stir is that the enemy is coming. The enemy is at the door, basically. Jerusalem was the capital of Judah, and in the late 700s BC, when Sennacherib was coming with the Assyrian army into Judah, they kept receiving news from one city after another. Perhaps even the fleeing peoples of those cities that fell would come to Jerusalem and say, "Such and such city has fallen." Another group would come and say, "This city has fallen." The people in Jerusalem were hearing as the armies got closer and closer, and they were fearful about what was coming to them. They knew that they could not stand against the Assyrians.

The same thing happened a couple of hundred years later when the Babylonians came. They knew there was no way they could stand against the Babylonians. As we looked at Isaiah chapter 19 a few weeks ago, and as we will see a little bit more when we get into Isaiah chapters 30 and 31, during this time when the Assyrians were coming against Judah and Jerusalem, they sent ambassadors to Egypt to try and find out if they could get help. They needed to stand strong and ally together to try and resist these people.

We saw a few weeks ago how the ambassadors came up from Ethiopia to Judah and said, "We'll ally with you, and we'll stand against the Assyrians." But there was no way they would be able to stand against the Assyrian army. The Assyrian army was huge; they were conquering every city they came to. It was basically inevitable what was about to come.

Imagine if you were living in the city of Jerusalem as people were coming from other outlying cities that had just been destroyed, and you were hearing news about the terrible army of the Assyrians. The Assyrians were known for their brutality. They did not have a Geneva Convention code of conduct. When the Assyrians would come into a city and take prisoners of war, they would shave their heads, shave their bodies, strip them naked, put hooks in their jaws, and line them up one after another to lead them as captives back to their nation. Those who opposed them faced perfected methods of torture.

Waterboarding was nothing to the Assyrians. They perfected what they called scraping, which involved starting at the hands and scraping the skin of a person who was still alive. They basically skinned them alive. They also perfected crucifixion, being the first to really master it in and around Nineveh. Additionally, they had a method called staking, where they would make sharp stakes in the ground, set a person on top of the stake, and put weights on their body, allowing their body to go down through the stake while they were still alive. The Assyrians were known for their brutality. If you were in Jerusalem at this time, knowing that the Assyrians were on the way, you would be pretty fearful. This is what we will see as we travel through this passage.

In verse 3, we read that the rulers fled together and were bound by the archers. When Sennacherib came, 46 different cities in Judah fell to the Assyrians. There were undoubtedly leaders of those cities trying to flee and get away, but they were taken captive. Some even attempted to escape from Jerusalem before the Assyrians arrived, and they too were captured. As we will see when we get into Isaiah 24 in a couple of weeks, fear, the pit, and the snare have come upon you. Those who flee from fear will fall into the pit, and those who escape the pit will be taken in the snare. The people trying to flee the judgment coming at the hands of the Assyrians had no way to escape because this was a day of the Lord. It was God who was moving against them for judgment.

In verse 4, we read that Isaiah, upon seeing this judgment that was going to come upon his people—whether he was witnessing the Assyrian invasion or the Babylonian, it didn't matter—saw his own countrymen and the cities of his nation being destroyed. As he beheld this vision, his heart was overwhelmed with grief, and he wept bitterly. This was a man who knew God; he understood what awaited him after death, that he would be with the Lord. Yet, when he saw his nation falling and being destroyed, he was broken by it, and it was as if his grief was inconsolable.

He says, "Don't even try to comfort me because of the spoiling, the destruction of my people." The destruction of his people broke his heart. This same Isaiah was stirred emotionally when he saw the destruction of the Babylonians, as described in Isaiah chapters 13 and 14. He was also stirred when he witnessed the destruction of the Moabites. These were people who were his enemies, but now he was seeing his own people being destroyed, and he was broken by what he saw. He recognizes that it is a day of trouble.

That reference to a day of trouble brings us back to the understanding of the day of the Lord. The day of the Lord is described many times in Scripture as a day of darkness, a day of dimness, a day of trouble, a day of wrath, and confusion. Isaiah sees a vision of a minor fulfillment of the day of the Lord upon his own people. He states that it is a day of trouble and a day of treading down.

If you turn to Isaiah chapter 63 for just a moment, you will see that Isaiah is looking even further into the future. He sees the judgment that is going to come at the great and terrible day of the Lord. Notice what he says about this day in Isaiah 63, verse 1: "Who is this that comes from Edom with dyed garments from Basra? This that is glorious in his apparel, traveling in the greatness of his strength?"

Isaiah is looking to the east towards Edom, and Basra was one of the cities in Edom, which is modern-day Jordan. He sees someone approaching from the east, which is interesting because we know that when Jesus returns, He will come to the Mount of Olives and enter through the east gate in Jerusalem. So, Isaiah is looking to the east and sees someone coming towards him. He asks, "Who is this that comes with dyed garments? He is glorious in his apparel and well adorned in what he is wearing."

The individual approaching him answers in verse 1, saying, "I that speak in righteousness, mighty to save." Now, who speaks in righteousness and is mighty to save? Isaiah sees Jesus, who is getting ready to come through the east gate, so to speak, into Jerusalem. This references or pushes us forward to that great day when the Lord returns. Isaiah then asks Him a question in verse 2: "Why are you red in your clothing or your apparel, and your garments like him that treads the wine fat or treads the wine press?" The individual, Jesus, answers him again in verse 3.

I have trodden the wine press alone, and of the people there was none with me. For I have tread them in my anger and trampled them in my fury. Their blood shall be sprinkled upon my garments, and I will stain all my clothing. For the day of vengeance is in my heart, and the year of my redeemed has come.

In Isaiah chapter 22, we see in verse 5 that Isaiah says this is a day of trouble and treading down. In Isaiah 63, speaking about that great and terrible day of the Lord, we see Jesus treading the wine press of the wrath of God. Joel chapter 3 talks about this, as does Revelation chapter 14 and Matthew chapter 24. In Isaiah 22, verse 5, we see that this is a minor fulfillment of the day of the Lord, but God Himself is bringing judgment. It is a day of trouble, treading down, and perplexity by the Lord God of hosts in the valley of vision.

Yes, it may have been the physical army of the Assyrians, led by King Sennacherib, or it may even be looking forward to the judgment coming by Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonians. But it was God who was behind it. I hope that grips your heart because that is a fearful thing to consider.

We have already seen this in Isaiah chapter 10. Again, turn back to Isaiah chapter 10. In verse 5, God is speaking about the Assyrian army coming against the people of Judah and Jerusalem. He says in verse 5 of Isaiah 10, "O Assyrian, the rod of my anger and the staff in their hands is my indignation. I will send him against a hypocritical nation and against a people of my wrath," speaking about the people of Jerusalem and Judah. "I will give him charge to take spoil and to take prey and to tread them down like the mire of the streets."

However, he means it not so, neither does his heart think so. But in his heart is to destroy and to cut off nations, not a few. God clearly reveals that He is the power, the strength behind the Assyrian army. Later on in Isaiah chapter 10, we find that if it had not been for the hand of the Lord, the Assyrians would never have been the empire that they became or the conquerors that they were. God stirred them up for the very purpose of judging His people.

Punishing His people for their wickedness, we see the judgment coming against the Valley of Vision. Isaiah is broken as he witnesses this destruction. It is a day of trouble, treading down perplexity by the Lord God of Hosts in the Valley of Vision, breaking down the walls. Their confidence was in their walls; they hoped that perhaps these walls would be able to save them when the army of Assyria came.

Jerusalem was nowhere near as great as Babylon or some of the other cities of antiquity, but even so, their walls were somewhat strong, and they hoped they might be able to stand. However, there was no possible way, for this was the judgment from the Lord. Elam and Ker both have connections to the Assyrians and the Babylonians, leading to confusion about whether this judgment speaks of the Assyrian invasion, the Babylonian invasion, or both. Perhaps the Lord had both in mind and in view.

Elam is Persia, and Persia today is modern-day Iran. Persia was changed to Iran, I believe, in 1913. Isaiah looks to Elam and Ker, showing us the greatness of the army coming against them. This army is not just from Assyria or Babylon, but it is confederate with many nations coming against the people of Jerusalem. This indicates that there is no possible way they will be able to stand against this force.

It shall come to pass that thy choicest valley shall be full of chariots and horsemen. The entire countryside is filled with the army, and they have set themselves in array at the gate. They have come to the very door. Isaiah discovered the covering of Judah. In that day, he looked to the armor of the house of the forest and found that the covering had been stripped. In other translations, this is rendered as Judah's defenses have been stripped, or God removed the protection from Judah. When it says that He discovered or removed the covering from Judah, it signifies a profound loss of security.

The only way that the Assyrians could come against God's people in the region or nation of Judah, and up to the city of Jerusalem, was because God had removed His hand of protection from them. We see references to this concept in various places in the Scriptures.

Turn in your Bibles to the book of Job, chapter 1. Verse 1 states, "There was a man of the land of Uz whose name was Job. And that man was perfect or upright, one that feared God and eschewed or hated evil." There were born unto him seven sons and three daughters. His substance also included 7,000 sheep, 3,000 camels, 500 yoke of oxen, and 500 she-donkeys, along with a very great household. This man was the greatest of all the men of the East; he literally was the richest man of his day. To put it in modern terms, he was the Bill Gates of his time.

His sons went and feasted in their houses, each one on his day. This means that every day of the week, his sons would travel from one house to the next and party with each other. They also sent and called their three sisters to eat and drink with them. His children were happy and well-fed.

When the days of their feasting were over, Job sent and sanctified them. He rose up early in the morning and offered burnt offerings according to the number of all of them. Every single morning, after they would be partying together, Job would get up and pray for his children, offering sacrifices for them because he knew they weren't walking the right way. Job said, "It may be that my sons have sinned and cursed God in their hearts." Thus, Job did continually. He was concerned about the spiritual condition of his family.

Now, there was a day when the sons of God, referred to as Ben Elohim in the Scriptures, came to present themselves before the Lord. Satan also came among them. This is an interesting concept that we sometimes don't realize: Satan still has access before God in heaven, and he accuses us before God day and night. So, Satan came and stood before the Lord.

And the Lord said unto him, "Whence comest thou?" And Satan answered and said, "From going to and fro in the earth and from walking up and down in it." The Lord then asked Satan, "Have you considered my servant Job?" That's a scary thought. There is none like him in all the earth, perfect and upright, one that fears God and hates evil.

Satan responded, "Does Job fear God for nothing? Hast thou not made a hedge about him and about his house and about all that he has on every side? Thou hast blessed the work of his hands, and his substance has increased in the land. But you put forth your hand now and touch all that he has, and he will curse you to your face." The Lord said unto Satan, "Behold, all that he has is in thy power. Only upon himself put not forth thine hand." So Satan went forth from the presence of the Lord.

Here we see that God did put a hedge about Job. When Satan said to God, "You've put a hedge about him," God didn't deny it. He clearly had put a hedge of protection around Job and had blessed him. Job was a man of God. Satan suggested that if the hedge of protection were removed, he could take everything away from Job, and Job would curse God to His face. God responded, "You really think so? Well, let's check it out."

What Job didn't know was that this was happening in heaven at that very moment. He was unaware that a cosmic test was about to take place in his life. God removed His hand of protection, although the Lord still protected Job's physical person. Notice that God said, "You're not allowed to touch him. Take whatever he has, but you're not allowed to touch him."

As you read through the rest of chapter 1, you see that Satan went forth and killed all of Job's children with a whirlwind. He sent robbers to steal everything that Job had, and these robbers killed all of Job's servants except for one who was able to come and tell Job what had happened. In one day, Job lost everything. The stock market crashed, yet he did not curse God. This illustrates that God had set a hedge of protection around him, and when the Lord removed it, the enemy was able to come in.

In Job chapter 2, you see that Satan appears before God once again, and God says...

Hey, have you considered my servant Job? I have no doubt that when Jesus asked Satan that, He was saying, "Hey, what about Job? What do you think?" Satan responded that if God touched Job's person and took away his health, Job would curse Him. So, God said, "Okay, but you can't take his life." The Lord had hedged Job about his life, but Satan was able to take away his health. Interestingly, Satan left Job's wife, though she wasn't very supportive; she told Job to curse God and die.

Job was left with a few friends who came and wept with him for seven days, keeping silent during that time. However, on the eighth day, they began to accuse him of being in sin. They argued that nothing like this would happen if he hadn't sinned, and they insisted that he must have hidden sin that needed to be exposed. For the next 36 or 37 chapters, Job's friends essentially told him that the reason this had happened to him was because he had sinned. They didn't understand what was really going on.

The point I want to make here is that it reveals or indicates to us that God does set a hedge of protection around people or even nations. Yet, there comes a time when God removes His hand of protection because He cannot bless or protect our sin. Remember what Paul said to the church at Corinth in 1 Corinthians chapter 5. There was a gentleman in the church who was living an immoral and wicked life. Paul gave an exhortation to the church, saying it was not gracious or kind to allow this sinful man to fellowship with them, as they were essentially consenting to his sin.

In 1 Corinthians chapter 5, Paul instructed them to deliver such a one unto Satan for the destruction of his flesh, that his soul might be saved in the day of Christ Jesus. He urged them not to allow him to remain within the protection of the church but to deliver him unto Satan, allowing him to go out unprotected to discover his weaknesses, so to speak, and ultimately be brought back to the Lord.

We see a very similar situation in Isaiah 22. As the Lord removed His hand of protection, the enemy was able to come in like a flood. One by one, the cities of Judah fell to the Assyrian army, and over 200,000 captives were taken.

The people of Judah, who had thought that they would be safe and okay, now found themselves in a very difficult predicament. God discovered the covering of Judah, or God removed their defenses to the point where they were naked. This was exactly what God had told them would take place earlier in the chapters of Isaiah. In chapter 1, He said, "You will be left like a hut in a garden of cucumbers." What that means is that they would be left exposed. A garden of cucumbers, if you've ever grown cucumbers, is not a good place to hide if you're playing hide and seek. They would be open and exposed.

In another passage earlier in Isaiah, He said they would be left like a banner on a hilltop for everybody to see. And here, God had discovered the covering of Judah. In that day, when they were found protectionless or defenseless, it says, "And you did look in that day to the armor of the house of the forest." In 1 Kings chapter 7, verses 1 and 2, it tells us that Solomon had been the one who built the house of the forest. He had taken cedars from the forests in Lebanon and built this room, this house, which became the armory of the people of Jerusalem.

So, in that day, when their defenses were removed, when their enemies came in like a flood, and when their divine protection was gone, they looked to their physical weapons. They looked to their swords, to their shields, to their spears, and to their arrows. They wondered if they could defend themselves against this army with what they had in the armory there in the house of the forest.

Going on in verse 9, it says, "You have seen also the breaches of the city of David that they are many, and you gathered together the waters of the lower pool. You have numbered the houses of Jerusalem, and the houses have you broken down to fortify the wall. You made also a ditch between two walls for the water of the old pool, but you have not looked unto the maker thereof, neither had respect unto Him who fashioned it long ago."

Jerusalem, when they were left defenseless because the Lord had removed His spiritual protection from them and His blessing from them due to their open, wicked sin, looked to their armory and their weapons. But they also looked to their fortifications.

They considered the walls of their city. Notice it there in verse 9; you also saw the breaches of the city of David, and they are many. In verse 10, it says, "You have numbered the houses of Jerusalem, and the houses have you broken down to fortify the wall." They looked around the city of Jerusalem and saw that the walls had been broken down; their walls were dilapidated. So, they said, "We've got to repair these walls." The Assyrians are on the move, and they are coming against us. One by one, the cities of Judah are falling. They looked around and said, "We've got to rebuild these walls. We've got to fix and repair these holes in the walls."

They tore down some of the older homes that were there in Jerusalem and used the rocks from those homes to fortify the city once again. At the end of verse 9, it says, "And you gathered together the waters of the lower pool." In verse 11, it states, "You also made a ditch between two walls for the water of the old pool." Not only did they fortify the city and look to the armory, but they also considered their provisions. They figured, "Well, we've got some swords, we've got some spears; maybe we might be able to hold off the army a little bit with that." However, they knew they were really going to need the walls.

Now that the walls were repaired, they understood that the Assyrians were going to come and lay siege to the city, so they needed to make sure that their provisions were ready. During this time, a 1,700-foot tunnel was dug in the rock from the Pool of Siloam in the lower part of the city of Jerusalem so that the people could bring water into the city. This tunnel is called Hezekiah's Tunnel, and you can actually still visit it in Jerusalem today.

Without modern tools like we have, without dynamite or amazing technology, they were able to dig this tunnel through solid rock to bring water. I was reading about it last week, and I believe it has a quarter of an inch fall, a perfect fall to bring the water into the city. They dug the tunnel, but it also seems that there was some sort of spring that they covered over so that the people from the Assyrian army wouldn't be able to see the water sources that were outside. They made a ditch between two walls of water. So, they were trying to bring water from these springs, fortify the walls, and make sure their swords were sharp and they had plenty of arrows.

But look at the end of verse 11.

You have not looked unto the maker thereof, neither have you had respect unto Him who fashioned it long ago, speaking about the springs. In Isaiah chapter 8, God says something very similar to His people. In verse 5, Isaiah says, "The Lord spoke unto me again, saying, 'Forasmuch as this people refuses the waters of Shiloah, that go softly, and they rejoice in Rezin and Remaliah's son, now therefore, behold, the Lord brings upon them the waters of the river, strong and many, even the king of Assyria, and all his glory. And he shall come up over all his channels and go over all his banks, and he shall pass through Judah and shall overflow and go over, and he shall reach even to the neck, Jerusalem. And the stretching out of his wings shall fill the breadth of thy land, O Emmanuel.'"

What God says through Isaiah there in Isaiah 8, verses 5 through 8, is that you rejoiced when you saw the northern ten tribes destroyed by the Assyrians. But you refused to repent. You should have repented when you saw your brothers to the north destroyed because of their sin, but you didn't. God was calling you to turn to the river, or the waters, He says, of the waters of Shiloah, speaking about turning to the Lord. Instead, you just rejoiced in the fall of your brothers to the north, and so God brought the flood upon you, the king of Assyria.

Here, once again, He says to them, "You've not looked to the maker thereof; you've not looked to the one who made that spring, nor have you had respect unto Him."

Fast forward 2,800 years to our day. I believe that our defenses are being, or even have been in many ways, uncovered. When a nation or an individual has their defenses, their protection, the divine protection removed by the Lord, the enemy comes in like a flood. When he does, things begin to fall apart. We looked at that in Isaiah 19, the indicators of judgment. When those indications begin to pop up,

We see that a nation has lost its protection from the Lord. It begins to reveal just what it is that those people trust in. It reveals where their confidence lies.

Turn in your Bibles to Jeremiah chapter 2. You see, Jeremiah was the prophet of the Lord in Jerusalem when the Babylonians came, just a little over a hundred years after Isaiah was prophesying. In Isaiah chapter 2, he says in verse 26, "As a thief is ashamed when he is found out, so is the house of Israel ashamed. They and their kings and their princes and their priests and their prophets say to a stalk or say to a tree, 'You are my father,' and to a stone, 'You have brought me forth.' For they have turned their back unto me and not their face. But in the time of their trouble, they say, 'Arise and save us.'"

You see, throughout all the time that things were good, when the Dow Jones was at 14,000, idolatry was rampant. The people there in Jerusalem were fine when everything was going great. Real estate was going through the roof, and everything seemed perfect. Yet when things began to fail, that’s when they would turn and cry out to the Lord.

But notice what God says in verse 28 of chapter 2 of Jeremiah: "But where are your gods that you have made for yourselves? Let them arise if they can save you in a time of your trouble. For according to the number of your cities are your gods, O Judah." God says to His people, "You've bowed down to, you've put your confidence in all these other things, and you refuse to turn to me until it's absolute despair. And then you turn."

During the time of Isaiah, a similar situation occurred. The Assyrians were on the move, and as they approached, the people were trying to figure out what they could do. They thought, "Maybe the Egyptians can help us. Maybe the Ethiopians can help us." They considered their options, but they also made sure they had enough swords and spears, so they checked the armory. They found they had some weapons, but they noticed there were holes in the wall that needed fixing. They thought they better make sure they had enough provisions, and they even decided to dig a 1,700-foot tunnel to prepare.

But where was their confidence? The whole reason that the Assyrians were coming upon them was because they had turned away from the Lord.

The reason for their plight was that they had departed from the Lord, and God was using the Assyrian invasion to bring them to repentance. However, they were looking at every other possible option before they repented. Isn't that just the way man is? Trying to turn to all the different things he can before he turns to the Lord. Perhaps even you tonight have that testimony that you didn't turn to the Lord until everything was gone. You tried every possible source, going to every broken cistern, and found no water.

Isn't it wonderful that the Lord spoke to Jonah a second time when he was in the belly of the fish? The Lord waits for us, as we will see later on in the book of Isaiah. He waits for His people to turn to Him.

Continuing on in verse 12, it says, "And in that day did the Lord God of hosts call to weeping and to mourning and to baldness and to girding with sackcloth." In that day, when all these things are coming to pass, what God was really looking for was not their ingenuity, wisdom, or strength. He was looking for their repentance. The Lord God of hosts was calling them to weep, to mourn, and to lament.

When we read of baldness, it was a sign of mourning, a sign of repentance, and a sign of consecration. One of the vows of consecration, as we will see in the book of Acts during Paul's last journey to the city of Jerusalem, was to make a vow to the Lord. They would shave their heads and offer the hair to the Lord. God was saying, "I'm calling you to consecrate yourselves to Me."

The girding of sackcloth, the wearing of sackcloth, was a sign of repentance and mourning. Remember that when Jonah, the unwilling prophet, went to the city of Nineveh, which just so happens to be the capital of the Assyrians, he told them, "In 40 days, you're toast." Not exactly that, but kind of. And what did they do? From the king all the way down to the livestock, it says they wore sackcloth.

The wicked men and women of Nineveh repented in sackcloth, dust, and ashes at the word of the coming judgment of God. But Jerusalem refused. Why? Jerusalem had a false sense of security in their religious formality and their religious show. They figured they were okay. They had the temple, the priesthood, the law of God, and the Ark of the Covenant. They had all this stuff, so they thought they were fine. But they weren't. Their sin had separated them from their God, and so His heavy hand of judgment abode upon them.

The scary reality is that there are many people today who think, "We're okay." Remember what Jesus said in the Gospels: when they say "peace," then sudden destruction comes. It is amazing to me the show of adulation we have seen in our nation over the last few days from some within the political structure. You would think that the bill passed this weekend is salvation. It is not salvation. Whether it is good or bad is for others to decide, but it most certainly is not salvation. Yet people say, "Peace, peace. It's a wonderful thing."

God said, "I'm calling you to repent. I'm calling you to mourn. I'm calling you to turn to Me." The devastations we have seen in our nation are like birth pangs; they grow stronger, more intense, and more frequent right up until the end. That is what Scripture talks about regarding judgment. If you look at our nation over the last hundred years or so, you will see that there have been devastating national events. Oftentimes, they would come once in a generation, but now they come every few years or even every few months. There is a quickening of the pace of these events right up until the point that judgment comes.

It is a call to repentance, a call for the people to turn to the Lord so that they may find refuge in that day. I was studying the Day of the Lord this last week, and I came to a verse, I believe it is in Zephaniah chapter 2, and it speaks...

About those who turn to the Lord and seek righteousness, they will be hidden in the day of the Lord. What a blessed hope! However, the requirement is that we turn to the Lord. He is the only one where we will find refuge.

God was calling for weeping; He was calling for repentance in verse 12. Notice what He found in verse 13: "And behold, joy and gladness, slaying of oxen and killing of sheep, eating flesh and drinking wine, let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we shall die." God desired that His people would turn to Him in repentance, and instead, what He found was a party.

There was a mindset of, "Well, I guess it's a foregone conclusion. We've done what we can. We secured our water supply. We fortified the walls. We've got some swords and some spears. If you've got sheep, if you've got wineskins, better open them now. This will be your last chance." The mindset among the people in Jerusalem was evident, and Isaiah was witnessing this. To his horror, as he stood and called the people to turn and repent, he saw them saying, "Well, I guess this is it. We better party like it's 1999."

In many ways, this is the mindset of many in the upcoming generation in our nation. They have been taught that there is no ultimate reality, that there is no ultimate purpose. They believe they have evolved from nothing, and when they die, there is nothing. So, they might as well just live it up while they have life and enjoy it to its fullest. This is secular humanism; it is materialism. The ultimate point of it is to "eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we die."

It was revealed in my ears by the Lord of hosts in verse 14: "Surely this iniquity shall not be purged from you till you die," saith the Lord God of hosts. Another translation says, "This sin will not be forgiven you." That's a heavy statement.

Wicked departure from God is described as a refusal of the waters of Shiloh, as revealed in Isaiah 8:6. This refusal is seen as an unforgivable wickedness. In the New Testament, there is a sin that is often referred to as unforgivable: the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit. Many people have approached me with questions about what this blasphemy entails, often expressing fear that they have committed it.

If you are fearful that you have committed the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit and feel conviction, it is likely that you have not committed this sin. Blasphemy of the Holy Spirit is an open and outright refusal and rejection of the grace that God extends. By grace, through faith, when a person refuses to do what God is calling them to do and turns away from the only refuge available, that is considered an unforgivable sin.

It would be akin to unintentionally taking someone's life, which is classified as manslaughter, and knowing that there is a city of refuge available, yet saying, "No, I will not go to the city of refuge." In that case, your blood is upon your own head. It is similar to Rahab the harlot and her family in the city of Jericho, as described in the book of Joshua. They were aware that the children of Israel were walking around the city and that the spies had warned them of its impending destruction. If they did not stay in the house, their blood would be upon their own heads. To think otherwise is foolishness; they would face sudden destruction.

The Scriptures in Proverbs state that he who stiffens his neck will be destroyed suddenly, and that without remedy. God has spoken directly to me about this matter. This is the word of the Lord: this sin will not be forgiven, says the Lord of hosts. Thus saith the Lord God of hosts, "Get thee unto this treasurer, even unto Shibna, which is over the house, and say, 'What hast thou here, and whom hast thou here, that thou hast hewed out a sepulcher here, as he that hews out a sepulcher on high, and that grazes a habitation for himself in the rock?'"

Behold, the Lord will carry thee away with a mighty captivity and will surely cover thee. He will violently toss thee like a ball into a large country, and there shalt thou die.

The chariots of thy glory shall be the shame of thy Lord's house. I will drive thee from thy station, from thy position, and from the state shall He pull thee down. This, I believe, is the only time in the book of Isaiah where God directs a judgment against an individual man. We will see more about Shibna in Isaiah chapters 36 and 37, but it seems that Shibna, who was part of the cabinet of Hezekiah the king in Jerusalem during the time of the Assyrian invasion, was a very foolish and proud man.

Many Jewish scholars believe that Shibna was a foreigner, a foreign-born ambassador or cabinet member in Hezekiah's court. Jotham, the king who came before Hezekiah, had many foreigners that he brought in to be counselors within his household. It is believed that Shibna was one of the individuals who was carried over into Hezekiah's administration. As a foreign-born man, he figured that he should have a place in Jerusalem.

The prophet comes and personally censures him, seemingly at the Lord's command, while Shibna was overseeing the building of his tomb. It was as if he was constructing a tomb in the upper part of the rock, a place designated for the royal members of the house of Israel. The idea is that this foolish, proud man, Shibna, in the face of the coming judgment of the Assyrians, believed he was a very prominent individual and deserved a memorial built for himself. He thought that when he died, he should be buried among the kings of Jerusalem.

God instructs the prophet to go and speak to Shibna, asking him, "What do you have here, or who do you have here, that you have hewed out for yourself this tomb, this sepulcher? He who hews out for himself a sepulcher on high, and builds this habitation for himself out of the rock—who do you think you are?" God is speaking to him to repent. He is calling the people to turn to Him, while Shibna, in his pride and arrogance, insists on having a memorial for himself in Jerusalem.

Word for you: You're not going to get to use this tomb. Behold, the Lord is going to carry you away with a mighty captivity. He will surely cover you. I love the words in verse 18: He will surely violently toss you like a ball into a large country. It's as if God takes him and throws him away, tossing him like a ball into a large country. There you shall die. You're not going to die here in Jerusalem. You're not going to inhabit this tomb here in Jerusalem. God is going to see that you go into captivity and are taken far away into a large country, probably among the Assyrian captivity. There, you're going to die.

All your pomp, all your glory, all your chariots of glory, will become a shame to your house. I am going to remove you from your position and from your state; I am going to pull you down. Jewish historians believe that Shibna was one who favored the political alliance or connection of Judah with Egypt. Some believe that it was Shibna who was trying to get King Hezekiah to make a league with the Egyptians. God was clearly saying through the prophet Isaiah, "Do not make a league with the Egyptians."

Here is this man giving foolish and false counsel. He's proud and arrogant, and God says, "Well, I'm going to take you down a few notches." He tells him, "I'm going to remove you from your position and give it to another." In verse 20, he tells us who that person is going to be. It shall come to pass in that day that I will call my servant Eliakim, the son of Hilkiah, and I will clothe him with your robe.

Now, turn in your Bibles to Isaiah 36. Remember, here in Isaiah 22, what is Shibna's position? Thus saith the Lord God of hosts, "Go get thee to the treasurer or the steward over the house, Shibna." Look at Isaiah chapter 36 and what we read in verse 3. It says, "Then came forth unto him Eliakim, Hilkiah's son, who was over what? He's over the house."

See, already by Isaiah chapter 36, we've seen a change of position. Shibna has been removed from his spot, and Eliakim has been placed in that position. Eliakim, Hilkiah's son, is now over the house, and Shibna the scribe has been demoted by Isaiah chapter 36.

Exactly as Isaiah prophesied to him personally in chapter 22, God was removing Shibna from his position because of his foolish and wicked pride and because of his false counsel. This situation serves as a picture of the whole populace in Jerusalem. God is singling out one person to demonstrate what He is going to do with the entire people because of their wickedness. Thus, He removes Shibna and places Eliakim in his position.

In Isaiah 22, verse 21, it says, "I’m going to clothe Eliakim with your robe and strengthen him with your belt, your girdle, and I will commit thy government into his hand." God is giving Eliakim Shibna's position and work, and he shall be a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and to the house of Judah. Eliakim will gain the prestige and prominent position that Shibna desired.

The key of the house of David will be laid upon Eliakim's shoulder. He shall open, and none shall shut; he shall shut, and none shall open. This reference seems to point to Jesus, who is spoken of in the Book of Revelation as the one who has the key of David, who opens and no man shuts, and shuts and no man opens. This is a Jewish phrase that essentially means God is giving Eliakim the authority of the house. He will have the authority, much like the prime minister in Hezekiah's government.

God says He will fasten Eliakim as a nail in a sure place, and he shall be for a glorious throne to his father's house. All the glory of his father's house, the offspring and the issue, will hang upon him, including all vessels of small quantity and all vessels of cups, even all the vessels of flagons.

In that day, says the Lord of hosts, that nail or peg that is fastened in a sure place will be removed, cut down, and fall, and the burden that was upon it shall be cut off, for the Lord has spoken it. When we read in verses 23-24 that God is going to secure Eliakim as a peg in a sure place and that he will hang upon him vessels of small and great quantity, we need to recognize that in a Jewish household, 2,800...

Years ago, they didn't have cupboards and so forth. They didn't have a nice Ikea in Jerusalem. The way they would hang their pots and vessels, or store them, was by putting pegs in the wall. They would find a secure place, put a peg in the wall, and hang things upon it. The idea is that it provides a sense of security; it's a stay, a stronghold.

God says, "I'm going to take Eliakim and make him a stronghold for the people, and I'm going to hang upon him all sorts of responsibility." Clearly, we recognize that this is also speaking forward of one who would come: Jesus, the one who opens and no man shuts, and shuts and no man opens. He is the one who has the key of the house of David, the one upon whom all the glory of His father's house has been hung.

In verse 25, it says, "In that day, saith the Lord of hosts, shall the nail that is fastened in a sure place be removed?" This is speaking of Shibna. God says, "The peg, Shibna, that's there right now, I'm going to remove him, and I'm going to put Eliakim there." But we also see a reference, a foreshadowing of Jesus, who is the only one that we can trust in, the only one that we can be securely fastened with.

In the book of Acts, we read that there is no other foundation, no other foundation that men should build upon. There is no other name under heaven whereby men must be saved. Just as with the people of Judah and Jerusalem in the Valley of Vision 2,800 years ago, their defenses were uncovered. Their nakedness was revealed; they were weak and had nothing. All those things they trusted in, all those pegs they were holding on to, trying to find surety, would not hold.

God says, "Listen, there's only one that will be your stay. There's only one that is worthy of your confidence." We, as I mentioned on Sunday, live in the midst of what we might call an abnormality. The security that we have experienced in this nation...

Liberty that we've had in this nation is like no other nation in history. If you look at other nations in the 1700s, right around the same time that our nation was founded and our Constitution was fashioned, there was also a revolution that took place in France. They also had a new government and a new constitution put in place.

However, in the 230 plus years since that time, France has seen over a dozen new constitutions and new governments. The United States has had the same Constitution, and we've experienced great liberty. But we're seeing the foundations shaken. This has been happening for a long time; it's not something that has just occurred in the last year and a half. I know some think so, but it has been happening for a very long time—the departure from the Lord.

This departure has been indicated by certain events that have taken place over the last hundred years. Some key events include the removal of the Scriptures from the public sector, the removal of the Ten Commandments from the public sector, and the removal of prayer from the public sector. This idea that religion should be kept in private reflects key changes that have taken place in our nation. They are departures from the Lord. As these things happen, the Lord cannot bless a people.

I'm not saying that America is the only blessed nation; that's not the case. But the Lord cannot bless, and so He removes His hand of protection. Over that same period of time, we see these consequences unfolding. Psalm 11, verse 3 says, "If the foundations be destroyed, what will the righteous do?" We are witnessing the foundations shaken and destroyed.

I think the answer to that question in Psalm 11, verse 3, is very clear in verse 4. There is only one place to turn when the foundations of this world are shaken: to a kingdom that hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God. We need to recognize that God is calling us, as a people, to turn to Him. There is a day of wrath that will come, and I know for a fact that every single one of you here wants to be found in the place of refuge on that day of wrath. Therefore, we must do what the Scriptures exhort us to do: turn.

The Lord is seeking repentance. He is calling our nation to turn to Him. I guarantee you, the birth pangs will continue, and they will get more intense and closer together until the day of that wrath comes. I guarantee it. Look through history, but look through history through the eyes of Scripture, and you'll see that this is the case.

May we be those who take these things to heart. It is clear that there are many in our world, not just our nation, who say, "This right here, this is foolishness." They think this is crazy. However, we are watching things come to pass that have been prophesied for more than two millennia, and they are happening before our eyes. Things that even 50 or 100 years ago, people would say, "Oh, come on, that'll never happen."

Prophets spoke of a day when there would be one world financial institutions, one world governing bodies, and one world drives towards one world religious structures. People dismissed these ideas, saying, "Oh, come on, that stuff will never happen." Yet, since October of 2008, all the major financial institutions of the world have been calling for a global financial system and a global financial currency.

We don't stand and say, "Well, I told you so." Instead, we acknowledge that the Scriptures said this would take place, and it is an indication that we are living in the last days. If anything, that should challenge us as the body of Christ to be encouraged in our faith and to speak boldly the truth. Amen? May the Lord give us boldness to do just that.

Isaiah was an incredible minority in his day, and the mouth speaking the voice of God's Word will become more and more of a minority in ours. It will come to pass. But may we be among that minority, speaking boldly the truth. Let's stand and pray together.

Father, your word is living and powerful. It's sharper than any two-edged sword. Lord, you said through the prophet Jeremiah, "Is not my word like a hammer that breaks the mountains in pieces? Is not my word like a fire?"

Lord, I pray that your word would burn in us in such a way that we could not help but speak forth what your word says. As the prophet Amos said, "Surely you, Lord, do nothing unless you reveal your secret to your servants, the prophets." A lion has roared. Who can but fear? The Lord has spoken. Who can but prophesy?

Lord, would you stir us up to speak forth your word, even with a prophetic spiritual gift? May we speak forth your word wherever we are, with boldness and clarity. Not to pick a fight or to be intentionally offensive, but recognizing that your word is offensive.

I pray that you would not allow us to bow down in fear, but to speak clearly. For we ask this in Jesus' name. All God's people agreed, saying, Amen. Thank you.