“The Lord, the LORD Almighty, has a day of tumult and trampling and terror in the Valley of Vision, a day of battering down walls and of crying out to the mountains.”
~ Isaiah 22:5
Hi James and Ellen,
How would you like to have the responsibility of passing on bad news? God in the Old Testament days used prophets to pass on bad news to His specially chosen guys, gals and kids – the Israelite people group’s guy, gals and kids. Do you know why God needed to pass on bad news at times to His specially chosen guys and gals? Have you ever been picked by a kid to play on his or her team? If you have ever been picked by a kid to play on his or her team, your grandpaa thinks that you probably played as hard and as best as you could for the kid who picked you for his or her team. Your grandpaa is sure that while you are playing for your team that you would not try to help the team that you are playing against. God before He created planet Earth picked a team. God’s team is made up of guys, gals and kids who He specially chose and elected. God chose Abraham as His team’s first pick. God’s next pick for His team was Abraham’s kid – Isaac. God then picked Isaac’s twelve grandsons – Jacob’s boys, for His team. God named His team Israelites. Israel was the name that God renamed Jacob. The other team is made up of every other guy, gal and kids who has lived and is living on planet Earth who God did not pick before He created planet Earth. This team is Satan’s team. God always expects His specially chosen and elected team to always play His game plan the right and fair way. Satan’s game plan is to always have his team play in an evil, nasty way. God’s game plan was to have His specially chosen Israelite team of guys and gals follow His lead, obey His will and play by the life rules that He gave them through Moses at Mount Sinai. God’s game plan was to have His specially chosen guys and gals to always worship only Him. God’s game plan at this time is to allow Satan and his evil, nasty team to tempt and try His team. Satan’s game plan is to use his malevolent team of guys and gals to destroy and/or lead God’s team of specially chosen and elected guys and gals to do wicked, sinful acts. Satan has his malicious evil players positioned today everywhere on planet Earth to do all that they can to compromise and trash each guy, gal and kid who has been chosen by God before He created planet Earth to be His specially chosen and elected guys, gals and kids. God has it though in His game plan – that He designed before He created planet Earth, to one day totally wipe out – without a moment’s notice, Satan and his of team despicable, abhorrent minions and gofers
God jumpstarted His game plan after He had His specially chosen guys, gals and kids – the Israelite people group’s guys, gals and kids, live for about 350 years in Goshen, Egypt, when He sent ten supernatural plagues that prompted the Egyptian Pharaoh to finally let His specially chosen guys, gals and kids leave Egypt to go to a land area that He had promised His specially chosen guys and gals that they would always have to live in as their very own land if . . . God’s especially chosen guys and gals about 700 years later – even though God had led them to and helped them conquer the land that He had promised to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob that . . . , were worshipping the wood, stone and metal gods and idols that Satan’s depraved guys and gals who were living among them and in the countries near them worshipped. Do you think that God was okay that His specially chosen guys and gals were worshipping false, inanimate gods instead of Him – the only one true God? God would let His specially chosen guys and gals forget Him. God will never though not have a team of specially chosen and elected guys and gals. God 2700 years ago used prophets as His spokesmen to speak to His specially chosen guys and gals to tell them that they were to always do what was good and right to do and not to do what was not good and not right to do. Isaiah was one of these spokesmen who God used to try to coach His specially chosen people into obeying and following His game plan. Isaiah was an excellent coach. Isaiah always listened for God’s instructions. Your grandpaa thinks that because of Isaiah passing on what God told him to pass on to the Israelite people group’s guys and gals who were living in Judah’s land area, that the guys and gals who were living in Judah’s land area were not captured by the Babylonia army until 136 years after the Israelite guys and gals who were living in Israel’s land area were captured by the Assyrian army. Isaiah devoted his entire adult life as a prophet encouraging a Judah king – Hezekiah, over his 29 year reign to do what was good and right in God’s sight.
Isaiah 22 is an oracle that Isaiah passed on to Hezekiah. An oracle was a vision that God gave to Isaiah. God told Isaiah through the oracle or vision what was going to happen in the future for the guys and gals who were living in Judah’s land area. Verse 5 says “The Lord, the LORD Almighty, has a day of tumult and trampling and terror in the Valley of Vision, a day of battering down walls and of crying out to the mountains.” God also in visions that He gave to Isaiah told Isaiah about things that have not happened yet. God already knew what was going to win this time between good and evil; evil was going to win. God uses Isaiah to tell His specially chosen guys and gals to be prepared to lose – and why they should be prepared to lose. God uses Isaiah to tell His specially chosen guys that guys would die in a battle without being killed by a sword while other guys would be taken captive without a fight. God had Isaiah tell His specially chosen guys and gals that Elam would fight against them one day, that Jerusalem would one day be breached – in spite of having a mote and a second wall built and that a couple of guys – Shebna and Eliakim, would become ineffective players in Jerusalem. The winning team is the team that always heeds God’s coaches. If you pull an Isaiah by always listening for God’s voice speaking to you, you will be on the winning team.
Isaiah 22 (195)