Isaiah chapter 1:21-23
Bible Study Shorts
Please forgive me for the long silence. My husband has been very ill, and was hospitalized for several days this month. I have been keeping up with my study in Telegram, but have not had the time or energy to transfer it here. I will try to make some progress in that today!
Isaiah chapter 1:21-23
I took a side trip into etymology in this study because Jerusalem, God's holy mountain, is here addressed as a harlot, a prostitute. This is in reference to the worship of idols in the place where the Lord has His presence on earth, the Temple mount. This is the marriage bed where His chosen people, His covenant wife Israel, fornicated with other gods instead of the One who would (and will) die for her.
It is the place where Jesus will have purchased the salvation of God's chosen people with His blood on Golgatha. Gol-gatha means "the place of Gol of Gath's skull”; in other words, the place where David took Goliath of Gath's head (1Sam 17:54)—Jerusalem.
Jesus was crucified where the head of Goliath had been buried, outside the gates of Jerusalem. He will (and did) triumph literally right over the the head of the accuser of Israel, the half-fallen-angel giant Goliath. God likes to rub His victory in the face of His enemies, doesn't He? There's no question who wins here!
So we know that the people of Jerusalem have once and will again turn to worshiping false idols. Righteousness used to dwell in her, but Ezekiel is given a vision of where the future idol that provokes God to jealousy will be seated:
Eze 8:3 And he put forth the form of an hand, and took me by a lock of mine head; and the spirit lifted me up between the earth and the heaven, and brought me in the visions of God to Jerusalem, to the door of the inner gate that looketh toward the north; where was the seat of the image of jealousy, which provoketh to jealousy.
The problem with this vision is that the previous two Temples did not have an inner gate that looked to the north. So this must be a Third Temple reference, where the Temple built during the Tribulation may have northern gates and is entered into by Antichrist, who we know makes himself the object of worship, and probably erects a statue or some kind of representation (even a digital hologram?), which Daniel (and Jesus) called the abomination that causes desolation.
21 How the faithful city has become a harlot!
It was full of justice;
Righteousness lodged in it,
But now murderers.
Continuing in Isaiah 21: The city is full of murderers, perhaps those who practice abortion as well as executions by beheading for those who do not take the Mark.
22 Your silver has become dross,
Your wine mixed with water.
Verse 22: Silver has become dross; i.e., it has been mixed with baser metals so that it appears to be silver but underneath it is a cheaper, less durable metal. The intent is: no longer pure. This could be a double reference to the Jews, in a spiritual way, and perhaps also an indication of the failing economy, where coinage is leached of its silver as a hidden tax (just as occurred in the USA's silver coinage in 1965!).
Choice wine diluted with water: Both wine and silver are Temple offerings. This seems to refer to the cheating of the Lord by adulterating the offerings. It is a comparative with harlotry—Judah is not wholeheartedly the Lord's.
23 Your princes are rebellious,
And companions of thieves;
Everyone loves bribes,
And follows after rewards.
They do not defend the fatherless,
Nor does the cause of the widow come before them.
Verse 23: Instead, Judah chooses poor rulers who accept bribes and take what they want and "chase after gifts," selling their influence for financial gain. Bribery and black markets characterize a society in chaos. There is no concern for the widows or orphans, the weakest members of the city.
Next up: another turn, where the Lord through Isaiah announces His remedy for this deplorable state of affairs. That is where we will know for sure that this is a prophecy about the future.
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