Bible In One Year Day 219 (Isaiah 59-60, Ezekiel 19, Proverbs 13:9-12)

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Day 219: Separation from God 

Agape Bible Study 
Isaiah 59 - 60 

Chapter 59: Israel's Sin and God's Deliverance

Isaiah returns again to the issue of Israel's sins (Is 59:1-15a). But he also promises the Lord will fight for His covenant people by conquering their enemies and by bringing His promised Redeemer-Messiah to Zion (59:15b-21).

Isaiah 59:1-8 ~ The Root of Israel's Problem

Isaiah begins by declaring that the root of the people's problem is that their sins have separated them from God; their "guilty deeds have made a gulf" between them and God. This is the problem of sin in general and why all sin must be avoided and/or sincerely repented so that communion with the Lord God can be restored.

Question: What is the result of the gulf that sin has made between God and His people, and how does Isaiah list their sins? How are their sins described as involving the entire body?
Answer: God has turned away from them and does not hear them.

1. Their hands and fingers are stained with the blood of the innocent.
2. Their lips and tongues speak lies and wickedness.
3. No one speaks with truth and sincerity.
4. They place their trust in their lies that cause trouble and yield a web of evil.
5. Their feet run to do evil.
6. Their thoughts are sinful.
7. Their acts produce havoc and ruin.
8. They have rejected walking the path of peace.
9. They are incapable of making fair judgments.

The unrepentant people have placed their trust in themselves and their "empty words" or "empty arguments." Their lives are devoid of any spiritual substance.

Isaiah 59:9-15a ~ The Consequences of their Sins

The consequence of filling their lives with sin was that the people of God no longer recognized the virtues of justice and righteousness (59:9). They were so far removed from spiritual "light" that all they only saw "darkness," and they growled and moaned for justice and salvation that could not come in their present condition (59:10-11). In verses 9-15a Isaiah confesses the nation's collective sins, including himself in their collective failure. His confession is similar to what he confessed to God in Isaiah 6:5 and what the prophet Daniel confessed (Dan 9:1-19), also including himself among the transgressors. The nation is so full of sin that there is no place remaining for truth, honesty, justice, and righteousness (59:14-15a).

Isaiah 59:15b-21 ~ The Promise of God's Deliverance

In this passage, in spite of Yahweh's displeasure, Isaiah dramatically describes how God will intervene in Israel's history to bring about the covenant people's deliverance since there is no one else He can send. Isaiah announces Yahweh's intention of come Himself to save His people. 

Isaiah uses the imagery of a soldier making ready for battle to describe God preparing to do battle for His people. 

Belt of truth	Ephesians 6:14	Isaiah 11:5
Breastplate of righteousness	Ephesians 6:14	Isaiah 59:17
Gospel of peace	Ephesians 6:15	Isaiah 52:7
Helmet of salvation	Ephesians 6:17	Isaiah 59:17
Sword of Spirit/Word of God	Ephesians 6:17	Isaiah 49:2

Notice that God and the Christian do not require any offensive weapons. God's "strong arm" is all that is needed because no force in the universe can stand against Yahweh the One True God!

God will accomplish His salvation in three phases in verses 18-21:

1. God's wrath will be poured out on His enemies wherever they reside across the face of the earth (59:18).
2. The nations will fear His name and know His glory; they will revere Him (59:19).
3. A Redeemer will come to Zion and save the ones of Jacob who repent (59:20).
4. The Lord will establish an everlasting covenant with His people (59:21).

Chapter 60: All the Nations will see Yahweh's Glory

Chapter 60 can be divided into three parts:

1. The glory of Yahweh's "Light" will be revealed to the nations (60:1-3).
2. Yahweh's blessings on Zion/the Church (Is 60:4-16).
3. God's special blessings upon His covenant people (60:17-22).

Isaiah 60:1-3 ~ Yahweh's Glory Revealed to the Nations

God's light of divine revelation will come to all the nations of the earth. That "Light" is the Redeemer-Messiah, Jesus of Nazareth. This truth is revealed in the Gospel of John:

• In St. John's Prologue to the Gospel of John: The Word was the real light that gives light to everyone; he was coming into the world (Jn 1:9).
• Jesus to the Jewish crowds at the Temple in the second year of His ministry when He said: I am the light of the world; anyone who follows me will not be walking in the dark, but will have the light of life (Jn 8:12).
• Jesus to the crowds on Wednesday of His last teaching day in Jerusalem when He said: I have come into the world as light, to prevent anyone who believes in me from staying in the dark any more (Jn 12:46).

Isaiah 60:4-16 ~ Yahweh's Blessings on Zion

In the day that Zion is restored there will be a great procession of the children of Israel that had been scattered and lost into the Gentile nations who will return to Yahweh. This will be accomplished when the Gospel of salvation is carried by Jesus' Apostles and disciples into the Gentile nations. It is a "gathering in" that is still on-going.

Isaiah 60:17-22 ~ God's Special Blessings upon His Covenant People

In Isaiah 60:17-22 the prophet announces a three-fold blessing for God's people:

1. The administration of the new Zion will be built upon righteousness (verses 17-18).
2. The spiritually endowed people will be blessed with God's "everlasting light" (verses 19-20).
3. God will bless His righteous people, and their numbers will increase until they are a mighty nation/kingdom (verses 21-22).

In the first blessing, Isaiah describes a wonderful city built with imperishable materials (verse 17). In addition righteousness and peace will govern His Kingdom, doing away with corruption and violence (verse 18).

Isaiah	Revelation
No more will the sun give you daylight, nor moonlight shine on you, but Yahweh will be your everlasting light, your God will be your splendor (Is 60:19).	...and the city did not need the sun or the moon for light, since it was lit by the radiant glory of God, and the Lamb was a lighted torch for it (Rev 21:23).
Arise, shine out, for your light has come, and the glory of Yahweh has risen on you ... Yahweh is rising and over you his glory can be seen. Nations will come to your light and kings to your dawning brightness... the wealth of nations come to you (Is 60:1-5).	The nations will come to its light and the kings of the earth will bring it their treasures (Rev 21:24).
Your gates will always be open, never closed, either day or night... (Is 60:11).	Its gates will never be closed by day "and there will be no night there (Rev 21:25).
I shall make Peace your administration and Saving Justice your government (Is 60:17)	Nothing unclean may come into it: no one who does what is loathsome or false (Rev 21:27).
... for Yahweh will be your everlasting light (Is 60:20).	And night will be abolished; they will not need lamplight or sunlight, because the Lord God will be shining on them. They will reign forever and ever (Rev 22:5).

The Kingdom of the people of God will be planted by the Davidic Messiah and after a small beginning will become a "mighty nation" that is the everlasting fifth Kingdom prophesized by the prophet Daniel: In the days of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which will never be destroyed, and this kingdom will not pass into the hands of another race: it will shatter and absorb all the previous kingdoms and itself last forever (Dan 2:44). This is the Kingdom of the Church of Jesus Christ that is supported by the Christians from all the nations of the earth until the end of time as we know it.

Agape Bible Study 
Ezekiel 19 

Chapter 19: A Lament for Jerusalem and Her Princes

Chapter 19 is a poetic lament for the princes of Israel, especially the last Davidic prince, Zedekiah. It is also a political allegory concerning Judah and the last of her Davidic kings, using the symbolic imagery of lions and a lion hunt. The lament appears to refer to four historical events:

1. In 609 BC, the Egyptian Pharaoh Necho II deposed Davidic King Jehoahaz, exiled him to Egypt, and made his half-brother Eliakim, who he renamed Jehoiakim, King of Judah.
2. In 598 BC, the Babylonian general, Nebuchadnezzar, deposed Jehoiakim's son Jehoiachin, exiled him to Babylon, and made his uncle Mattaniah, who he renamed Zedekiah, King of Judah.
3. King Zedekiah revolted against the Babylonians in c. 592 BC. The Babylonians and their allies besieged Jerusalem, captured Zedekiah, and destroyed Jerusalem.
4. The Babylonians took Zedekiah and the survivors of the nation of Judah into exile in Babylon in 587 BC.

Chapter 19 divides into two parts with each part beginning with the introduction "your mother" (verses 2 and 10) and with the symbolic imagery changing from a lioness in the first section to a vine in the second. The first section also subdivides into two parts:

• Part I ~ The Lioness and Her Cubs (verses 5-9)
  1. The First Cub (verses 2-4).
  2. The Second Cub (verses 5-9)
• Part II ~ The Vine and Her Branches (verses 10-14)

Ezekiel 19:1-9 ~ Allegory of the Lioness and Her Cubs

Hamutal was the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah, a priestly city in Judah. Her father was not the same man as the prophet Jeremiah. She was the wife of King Josiah and the mother of King Jehoahaz and King Zedekiah. As a daughter of the Kingdom of Judah and the mother of sons of the king, she was a "lioness among lions" (verse 2) and the mother of at least two lion cubs (Davidic princes). When King Josiah died at the Battle of Megiddo in 609 BC, her son Jehoahaz, "a young lion" of twenty-three, became the King of Judah, and she became the most powerful woman in the kingdom (2 Kng 23:29-35; 2 Chr 36:2-4). A king had many wives, and so it was his mother who took the most powerful official role as the "Gebira, Queen Mother, of her son's kingdom.

The question to be considered: was Hamutal influential enough to have her son crowned king after Josiah's death in place of his elder half-brother?

6 He prowled among the lions, he grew into a young lion, he learnt to tear his prey; he became a man-eater. 7 He tore down their palaces, he destroyed their cities; the land and all its inhabitants were appalled by the sound of his roars.
This verse appears to describe Hamutal's son King Zedekiah. There isn't any evidence that Zedekiah attacked his neighbors, but he did convince several neighbor states to join him in forming an alliance with the Egyptians and to revolt against the Babylonians and their allies.

8 The nations marched out against him from the surrounding provinces; they spread their net over him; he was caught in their pit. 9 They shackled him with hooks, they took him to the king of Babylon and threw him into a fortress, so that his voice could never again be heard on the mountains of Israel.
We first heard about the role of the King of Babylon in 17:12. This part of the lament fits historically and Biblically with the fate of Zedekiah (2 Kng 25:1-7; 2 Chr 36:13; Jer 39:1-7). When the Babylonians and their allies surrounded the city of Jerusalem and began the attack, Zedekiah tried to escape with his bodyguard. He was captured and taken to Nebuchadnezzar in Babylon where he was kept as a prisoner until he died.

Ezekiel 19:10-14 ~ Allegory of the Vine and Her Branches

"Your mother" in Part II of the lament is probably a symbolic image for Hamutal and Jerusalem, the home of the Davidic kings located on the heights of the central mountain ridge of Judah, 2,500 feet above sea level. The "vine" or "vineyard" is a frequently symbolic image for the covenant people of Israel (see for example, Is 5:1, 7; Jer 2:21, 7:9; Ps 80:8, 14). Jerusalem was a prosperous, much-admired city until the Babylonians came from the east and devoured the city with fire, taking away her citizens and her last Davidic king and "transplanting" them to the deserts of Babylon. This part of the lament is for the "last branch" of the Davidic kings of Judah.

Verses 13-14 refer to the exile of the survivors of Jerusalem to the deserts of Babylon and the end of the line of the Davidic kings and their mothers.

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A Daily Defense 
DAY 219 “Our God and Savior, Jesus Christ”

CHALLENGE: “Passages like Titus 2:13 and 2 Peter 1:1, which refer to ‘Our God and Savior, Jesus Christ,’ do not prove the divinity of Christ. The authors are referring to God and Jesus separately.”

DEFENSE: That’s not how New Testament Greek grammar works.

In 1798, the Englishman Granville Sharp published a book in which he identified a rule of Greek grammar that has since become known as Granville Sharp’s rule. It has a direct bearing on the interpretation of Titus 2:13 and 2 Peter 1:1.

The rule focuses on New Testament Greek phrases like the one translated “Our God and Savior,” and it shows that the two nouns in these phrases always refer to the same person when certain conditions are met. The conditions are:

1. In Greek, the phrase begins with the definite article (i.e., the Greek equivalent of “the”).

2. The nouns are joined by the Greek equivalent of “and” (kai).

3. The nouns are personal, singular, and not proper names.

There are more than eighty instances of this construction in the New Testament, and they all obey Granville Sharp’s rule. Examples include:

• “Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James” (Mark 6:13).

• “I am ascending to my Father and your Father” (John 20:17).

• “Tychicus the beloved brother and faithful minister” (Eph. 6:21).

• “Jesus, the apostle and high priest of our confession” (Heb. 3:1).

• “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Pet. 1:3). 

Not all of these contain “the” in the English translation (Greek uses the definite article more than English does, so it is not always translated), but it is there in the Greek. The same is true of the phrases found in Titus 2:13 and 2 Peter 1:1. They are:

• Tou megalou theou kai sotēros hēmōn Iēsou Christou (“Our great God and Savior, Jesus

Christ”; Titus 2:13)

• Tou theou hēmōn kai sotēros Iēsou Christou (“Our God and Savior, Jesus Christ”; 2 Pet. 1:1)

Both these passages thus directly affirm the divinity of Christ.

Jimmy Akin, A Daily Defense: 365 Days (Plus One) to Becoming a Better Apologist