Belshazzar’s Feast depicts a vision described in the biblical Book of Daniel. Daniel 5:1–31 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
King Belshazzar’s Banquet (v1-4)
King Belshazzar and party drank from the goblets from Jerusalem Temple, and while doing that, they praised the gods of gold and silver, of bronze, iron, wood and stone (v4).
God’s Fingers Wrote on The Wall (v5-6)
No One Could Read the Writing (v7-9)
Daniel Read The Writing (v10-30)
If Daniel was 16 when he was taken to Babylon in 605 BC, and Babylon fell to the Medes and Persians in 539 BC, then Daniel was 82 years old when Belshazzar summoned him to the banquet hall.
The reason why God judged King BelShazzar was
have not humbled himself, though he knew about the experience his grandfather had with God (v22)
Instead he has set himself up against the Lord of heaven (v23)
Drank from goblest from God’s Temple (v23)
Praised idols (v23)
Did not honor the God who holds BelShazzar life in His hand (v23)
Belshazzar could only reward Daniel with the 3rd highest ruler in the kingdom because Belshazzar was ruling the kingdom together with his father Nabonidas.
The Fall of Babylon (v30)
Darius was the title of the persian king, similar to Pharaoh as Egypt’s king. The name of this Darius is probably Cyrus.
Babylon was founded by Nimrod, a rebel against the Lord (Gen 10:8-10). Rev 17 and 18 describe the rise and fall of mystery Babylon in the end times.
Pay notice that Nebuchadnezzar used the first person pronounce in chapter 4. This chapter is essentially his autobiography.
Some believe that the second dream mentioned in chapter 4 happened twenty or thirty years after the furnace incident in chapter 3.
Nebuchadnezzar Second Dream (v9-18)
v17: “The decision is announced by messengers, the holy ones declare the verdict, so that the living may know that the Most High is sovereign over the kingdoms of men and gives them to anyone he wishes and sets over them the lowliest of men.”
Daniel said similar praise to God after God revealed Nebuchadnezzar first dream to him (2:21). Here in verse 17, it is repeated again by a watchman/messenger in Nebuchadnezzar’s second dream. This is the theme of the book of Daniel.
Daniel Interprets the dream (v19-27)
v27: Therefore, O king, be pleased to accept my advice: Renounce your sins by doing what is right, and your wickedness by being kind to the oppressed. It may be that then your prosperity will continue.”
Daniel was calling for repentance. God gave Nebuchadnezzar another opportunity to repent but he chose the tough path.
By telling the truth, Daniel actually knew he could risk his life because he knew how cruel Nebuchadnezzar could be. But he chose to be obedience to God’s calling in his life.
The dream is fulfilled (v28-33)
v29: Twelve months later, as the king was walking on the roof of the royal palace of Babylon
God even gave the king an entire year but he refuse to yield.
v30: he said, “Is not this the great Babylon I have built as the royal residence, by my mighty power and for the glory of my majesty?”
Even after two dreams, and witness God’s power on the furnace, Nebuchadnezzar was still prideful to himself.
v31: “Your royal authority has been taken from you”.
God has the power and authority to remove any king as He wishes.
v32: “… the Most High is sovereign over the kingdoms of men and gives them to anyone He wishes.”
Again, the theme of this book is repeated here (2:21; 4:17)
Nebuchadnezzar Repented and Truly Praise God (34-37)
After seven years, the king finally repented. The response of Nebuchadnezzar reminded me of Job. Although they had totally different experiences and background, for example Job was a upright person who feared God. However both of them have greater understanding of who God is after experienced trials in their life.
v36: “At the same time that my sanity was restored, my honor and splendor were returned to me for the glory of my kingdom. My advisers and nobles sought me out, and I was restored to my throne and became even greater than before.”
As with Job, God also restore Nebuchadnezzar kingship after he had repented.
It is remarkable that Nebuchadnezzar recorded his beastly behavior, admitted his pride and give glory to God in his autobiography. God is in control. No matter how bad a person was, God has the power to change him.
v1: “King Nebuchadnezzar made an image of gold, ninety feet high and nine feet [fn] wide, and set it up on the plain of Dura in the province of Babylon.”
It is amazing how prideful Nebuchadnezzar was, he built a statue of himself that is 3/5 of the height of the statue of liberty, even after he had found out the meaning of his dream. The statue of liberty is 151 feet tall, while the gold statue of Nebuchadnezzar was 90 feet tall.
Some bible students say the event in chapter 3 could have happened 20 years after the event in chapter 2. That could be true since it takes time to build such a large statue. Nebuchadnezzar may have forgotten his dreams that happened 20 years ago.
Our memory tend to fade as time pass, that is my we need to always abide in the Lord, and frequently count His blessing in our life.
v6: “Whoever does not fall down and worship will immediately be thrown into a blazing furnace.”
Again this show how cruel Nebuchadnezzar was.
v15: “…what god is there who can deliver you out of my hands”
Did Nebuchadnezzar forgot how power the God of the heaven is? He experienced the power of God when Daniel told him his dream and explain it in chapter 2. Or did he just did not know the Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego worshipped the same God as Daniel does? He surely knew they worship the same God since he knew them when they were brought before him after 3 years of training (1:19).
Nebuchadnezzar response to Daniel’s friends how that how much pride he had for himself, and he did not fully understand the power of God of the heaven.
v17: “If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to save us from it, and he will rescue us from your hand, O king.”
v18: “But even if he does not, we want you to know, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.”
The response of Daniel’s friends show us two points. First is how much trust they have on God’s power to rescue them. Second, it shows their dedication to God. They were willing to die instead being unfaithful to God.
How much price are we willing to pay to follow the Lord Jesus Christ? “In the same way, any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple.” (Luke 14:33)
c25: “He said, “Look! I see four men walking around in the fire, unbound and unharmed, and the fourth looks like a son of the gods.”
The fourth man was our Lord Jesus. He is always with us when we go through fire in our life.
c27: “and the satraps, prefects, governors and royal advisers crowded around them. They saw that the fire had not harmed their bodies, nor was a hair of their heads singed; their robes were not scorched, and there was no smell of fire on them.”
No one can perform this miracle except the almighty God.
v29: “Therefore I decree that the people of any nation or language who say anything against the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego be cut into pieces and their houses be turned into piles of rubble, for no other god can save in this way.”
Again by being faithful to God, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego were used by God to exalt His name in the gentile nation.
English: A hilltop view of the ancient city of Babylon, where King Nebuchadnezzar II, whose life spanned 630-562 B.C., built his hanging gardens, one of the Seven Wonders of the World. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Nebuchadnezzar’s Dreams(v1-13)
Nebuchadnezzar had a dream repeated that deeply trouble him to a point he could not sleep (v1). The wanted to know the meaning of the dream, so he choose to ask people what the dream was and the meaning of it. He did not want to tell what the dream was, so that when someone could tell it, his explanation would be trustable (v5).
We notice that Nebuchadnezzar was a cruel king, he would cut the magicians into pieces and their houses turned into plies of rubble (v5).
Daniel’s Prayer and Praise to God (v14-23)
When Arioch, the commander of the king’s guard came to kill the magicians include Daniel and friends, Daniel urged his friends to pled for mercy from the God of heaven (v18). When God reveal the meaning of the dream to him, he praised the God of heaven.
Daniel’s praise to God reveals God is sovereign and He is in control of this world. “He changes times and seasons; He sets up kings and deposes them” (v21)
Do you come to the Lord in prayers like Daniel and his friends? Do you remember to praise God when God answer your prayers?
God can still use dreams to communicate with people, but that is not His usual approach. In NT, God mainly guide believers through the Holy Spirit, and through His words. Be careful about claiming dreams as communication from God. Human brain is capable of generating dreams ourselves, and the enemy is capable to using dreams to lie and to attack man. “I am against those who prophesy false dreams” (Jer 23:32)
Explanation of the dream (v24-45)
head made of pure gold – Babylon (636 BC – 539 BC)
chest and arms of silver – Medo-Persian (539BC – 330 BC)
belly thighs of bronze – Greece (330BC-63BC)
Legs of iron – Rome (63BC – 475AD)
feet of partly iron and partly backed clay – eastern and western rome
A rock that became a huge mountain – Jesus Christ (v34,45)
A kingdom that will never be destroyed – the kingdom of heaven
What we can learn from the dream:
The dream reveals that God is in control of history.
Human enterprises decline as time goes, the kingdom of heaven goes on forever
Iron mixed with clay. It will be difficult for things to hold together at the end of the age
This prophesies also is a extremely strong prove of the bible as words of God.
God, Daniel and Friends were exalted (v46-49)
Nebuchadnezzar praised God (v47)
Daniel was appointed as the ruler of the entire province of Babylon (v48)
Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego became administrators over the province of Babylon (v49)
What started as a disaster, through prayers and faithful to God, Daniel has turned it into a triumph, for God, and his people.
English: An image of Daniel interpreting Nebuchadnezzar’s dream, as described in the Second Chapter of Daniel. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
God’s prophets has been warning Judah regarding God’s coming judgement because of their idolatry, immorality, and injustice toward the poor and needy.
Isaiah prophesied the falled of Judah (Isa 13;31 and 39)
“The time will surely come when everything in your palace, and all that your fathers have stored up until this day, will be carried off to Babylon. Nothing will be left, says the LORD. And some of your descendants, your own flesh and blood who will be born to you, will be taken away, and they will become eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.” (Isaiah 39:6-7)
Micah prophesied Judah would go to Babylon (Micah 4:10)
“Writhe in agony, O Daughter of Zion, like a woman in labor, for now you must leave the city to camp in the open field. You will go to Babylon; there you will be rescued. There the LORD will redeem you out of the hand of your enemies.” (Micah 4:10)
Habakkuk couldn’t understand how God could use the godless Babylonians to chasten His own people (Hab 1)
Jeremiah lived to see these and his own prophesies came true (Jer 20;25;27).”This whole country will become a desolate wasteland, and these nations will serve the king of Babylon seventy years” (Jer 25:11)
God has fulfilled His promised to the Jews. If Israel obeyed His commandments, He would bless them. If Israel disobeyed, God would chasten and scatter them among the Gentiles (Lev 26; Deut 27-30)
Sins of Israel includes ungodly kings, priests and false prophets.
But it happened because of the sins of her prophets
and the iniquities of her priests,
who shed within her
the blood of the righteous. (Lam 4:13)
9 Concerning the prophets:
My heart is broken within me;
all my bones tremble.
I am like a drunken man,
like a strong man overcome by wine,
because of the Lord
and his holy words. 10 The land is full of adulterers;
because of the curse the land lies parched
and the pastures in the wilderness are withered.
The prophets follow an evil course
and use their power unjustly.
11 “Both prophet and priest are godless;
even in my temple I find their wickedness,”
declares the Lord. 12 “Therefore their path will become slippery;
they will be banished to darkness
and there they will fall.
I will bring disaster on them
in the year they are punished,”
declares the Lord.
13 “Among the prophets of Samaria
I saw this repulsive thing:
They prophesied by Baal
and led my people Israel astray. 14 And among the prophets of Jerusalem
I have seen something horrible:
They commit adultery and live a lie.
They strengthen the hands of evildoers,
so that not one of them turns from their wickedness.
They are all like Sodom to me;
the people of Jerusalem are like Gomorrah.”(Jer 23:9-16)
Exiled and Training (v3-6)
Daniel and his three friends are from the tribe of Judah (v6).
They were from royal or noble family (v3)
They were healthy, handsome, smart, knowledgable, the best of the Jews (v4)
The Babylonians attempt to brainwash Daniel and his friends for three years. The Babylonians wanted Daniel and his friends to speak, think and eat and them (v4).
The Babylonians gave them new names to exalt the Babylonians’ gods
Daniel (God is my Judge) -> Belteshazzar (Bel protect his life)
Hananiah (the Lord shows grace) -> Shadrach (command of Aku)
Mishael (Who is like God) -> Meshach (Who is as Aku is)
Azariah (The Lord is my help) -> Abednego (Servant of Nebo)
Refused to Eat defiled Food (v8-16)
God gave the Jews very specific commandments of clean and unclean food in Leviticus chapter 11. “I am the LORD your God; consecrate yourselves and be holy, because I am holy” (Lev 11:44).
God also forbidden them to eat blood in Leviticus chapter 17. ” … I will set my face against that person who eats blood and will cut him off from his people. For the life of a creature is in the blood, and I have given it to you to make atonement for yourselves on the altar..” (Lev 17:10-11)
Daniel and friends must have remember God’s word: “… man does not live on bread alone but on ever word that comes from the mouth of the LORD” (Deut 8:4)
God intervened by causing the official to show favor and sympathy to Daniel (v9)
When faced with the options to obey God or to obey man, Daniel and friends chose to obey God. However they did not threaten anybody, did not stage a protect, did not act violently. Instead they took the wise and gentle approach to ask the guard of the official to test them for ten days (v12).
Being Used by God for God’s Glory
“But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” (Matt 6:33)
Daniel and friends were faithful to the Lord in small things, can the Lord blessed them with knowledge and understanding of all kind of literature (v17).
Daniel received double portion of blessing, he was blessed with gift to interprete dreams and visions (v17)
It is like God is telling us, be faithful to me in small things, and see how I could use you for His glory.
Daniel lived till Cyrus reign to see the return of Jews to Jerusalem (v21)
English: An image of Daniel interpreting Nebuchadnezzar’s dream, as described in the Second Chapter of Daniel. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)Daniel’s Answer to the King (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Background
White still a mere youth, Daniel was kidnaped from his noble family in Judah and deported to Babylon to be brainwashed into Babylonian culture for the task of assisting with the imported Jews. He lived during the whole period of the Babylonian exile, at times occupying high office in the Babylonian and Persian empires.
Nine of the twelve chapters relate revelation through dreams and visions. What Revelation is to the NT prophetically and apocalyptically, Daniel is to the OT.
The book covers the entire seventy years of the Babylonian captivity (1:1;9:1-3). It begins in 605 BC when Babylon conquered Jerusalem (1:1) and exiled Daniel, his friends and others (1:6). It continues on to the eventual demise of Babylonian supremacy in 539 BC, when Medo-Persian besiegers conquered Babylon (5:30-31), and goes even beyond that to 536 BC (10:1).
Judah was in sins without national repentance, eventually led to God’s judgement for which Jeremiah, Habakkuk, and Zephaniah had given fair warning. Earlier prophets like Isaiah had also sounded the alarm.
Assyrian’s power declined since 625 BC, its capital Nineveh was conquered by Babylon in 612 BC. Babylon conquered Egypt and then Judah in 605 BC for the first time, followed by two more attacks in 597 BC and 586 BC. Daniel was captured on the first exile, followed by Ezekiel on the second exile (597BC).
Daniel passionately remembered his home, particularly the temple at Jerusalem, almost seventy years after having been taken away from it (6:10).
Author
Daniel is the author of this book. From chapter 7 to 12, he frequently used the first person singular pronoun “I, Daniel” in this book (7:1, 28; 8:2; 15, 27; 9:2 10:1-2; 12:4-5).
The meaning of Daniel is “God is my judge”.
There was three other Daniels in OT (1 Chr 3:1; Ezra 8:2; Neh 10:6), they are not the same person as the prophet Daniel.
Daniel successfully exalting God by his character and service. He quickly rose to the role of statesman by royal appointment and served as a confidant of kings (5:29), as well as a prophet of God, in two world empires: the Babylonian (2:48) and the Medo-Persian (6:1-2).
Daniel is very devoted following of God. Three times a day he got down on his knees and prayed, giving thanks to God (6:10).
The contemporaries of Daniel are Ezekiel, Habakkuk, Jeremiah, and Zephaniah.
Daniel was mentioned by God as a righteous man, together with Noah and Job (Ezekiel 14:14).
Reference in NT
The Lord Jesus referenced Daniel in Matthew 24:15, a proved of the authority of Daniel as a prophet of God. “So when you see standing in the holy place ‘the abomination that causes desolation,’ spoken of through the prophet Daniel, let the reader understand” (Matt 24:15). Abomination that causes desolation is a special word used only by Daniel (9:27; 11:31; 12:11).
Daniel was alluded in Hebrew when the author mentioned the list of men of faith as someone who shut the mouths of lions (Heb 11:32).
Language
This book is written in Hebrew, except 2:4 – 7:28, which is in Aramaic (what used to be called Chaldee). Aramaic was the commercial and diplomatic language of the time. This is not unusual since this book was written for Jews living among Babylonians.
Division
Background of Daniel (1:1-21)
Conquest of Jerusalem (1:1-2)
Conscription of Jews for Training (1:3-7)
Courage of Four Men in Trial (1:8-16)
Choice of Four Men for Royal Positions (1:17-21)
The prophetic Course of Gentile Dominion (2:1-7:28)
Dilemmas of Nebuchadnezzar (2:1-4:37)
Debauchery and Demise of Belshazzar (5:1-31)
Deliverance of Daniel (6:1-28)
Dream of Daniel (7:1-28)
The Prophetic Course of Israel’s Destiny (8:1-12-13)
Prophecy of the Ram and Male Goat (8:1-27)
Prophecy of the Seventy Weeks (9:1-27)
Prophecy of Israel’s Humiliation and Restoration (10:1-12:13)
Themes
Daniel was written to encourage the exiled Jews by revealing God’s plans for them, both during and after the time of Gentile power in the world. The prominent theme of the book is God’s sovereign control over the affairs of all rulers and nations, and their final replacement with the true King.
The key verses are 2:20-22:
Praise be to the name of God for ever and ever;
wisdom and power are His.
He changes times and seasons;
He deposes kings and raises up others.
He gives wisdom to the wise
and knowledge to the discerning.
He reveals deep and hidden things;
He knows what lies in darkness,
and light dwells with him.
God sovereignly allowed Gentiles to dominate Israel:
These stages of Gentile power are set forth in chapters 2 to 7. The same them is repeated in chapters 8-12.
Messiah future coming to rule the world in glory over all people is prophesied throughout this book:
2:35 Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver and the gold were all broken to pieces and became like chaff on a threshing floor in the summer. The wind swept them away without leaving a trace. But the rock that struck the statue became a huge mountain and filled the whole earth.
2:45 This is the meaning of the vision of the rock cut out of a mountain, but not by human hands—a rock that broke the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver and the gold to pieces.
7:13-14 “In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence. He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all nations and peoples of every language worshiped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed.
7:27 Then the sovereignty, power and greatness of all the kingdoms under heaven will be handed over to the holy people of the Most High. His kingdom will be an everlasting kingdom, and all rulers will worship and obey him.
Chapter 9 provides the chronological framework from Daniel’s time to Christ’s kingdom. The death of Christ, the Anointed One, the Messiah was prophesied in 9:26:
9:26 After the sixty-two ‘sevens,’ the Anointed One will be put to death and will have nothing. The people of the ruler who will come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end will come like a flood: War will continue until the end, and desolations have been decreed.
Miracles in Daniel
The book of Daniel is filled by miracles. God performed these miracles to reveal He is the Creator and Ruler of His creations. These miracles includes:
dreams and their interpretation (chapter 2; 4; 7)
His protection of the three men in a blazing furnace (chapter 3)
His writing on the wall and Daniel’s interpretation of it (chapter 5)
His provision of safety for Daniel in a lions’ den (chapter 6)
This last chapter of Isaiah ends with reference to new heavens and new earth, as well as reference to a place where worm will not die, nor will their fire be quenched. Revelation ends with similar reference to new heavens and new earth (Rev 21:1) and the lake of fire (Rev 20:14-15).
Division
v1-4: God is calling for true worshipers
Exposition
v1: […resting place…] God is searching for a resting place, from the beginning to now. May the church of Jesus Christ, the house of God, be His resting place. Heaven is His throne and the earth is His footstool, but God desires to rest among His people.
v1: Stephen quoted verse 1 in Act 7:49-50 to point out their error in limiting God to a temple made with hands.
v2: [… humble and contrite in spirit..trembles at my world]. These are the qualities of believers desire by God. He is searching humble, not pride people; Contrite, not arrogant; trembles at His word, not casual reader. These people are His resting place.
v3: [chosen their own ways… their souls delight in their abominations]. When we chose our own ways instead of God’s way, when our souls delights in wicked things instead of the things of God, our outward works are not only have no spiritual worth, they are worthless and event sinful in God’s eyes. We are no different than a murderer if we do these things.
v4: [..when I called, no one answered] God is calling true worshipers, have you answered Him?
v5-6: […uproar from the city…noise from the temple]. The fake worshipers, the hypocrites , who defiled the name of the Lord, are like enemies of the Lord. The Lord will discipline them, even in the temple. The hypocrites know how to say spiritual words like “Let the Lord be glorified, that we may see your joy”. But God knows their heart, they will be put to shame.
v7-10: God will help Jerusalem to deliver a son. Who is this son?
v8: [… a country born in a day..] in the millennium, when Israel believes in Jesus as the Messiah, the country will be born in a day.
v13: Who is God speaking to? He is speaking to who tremble at His word (v5).
v12: […peace to her like a river…]
v14-16: Lord Jesus will come again with fire and sword, to execute judgement upon all men.
v21: some gentiles who believes in the Lord will be priests and Levites. All NT believes are priests.
v22: True worshipers of the Lord will bow down and continue to worship the Lord in the new heavens and new earth. The wicked who didn’t repent and believe in the Lord will be thrown in the lake of fire with worm that never die. Jesus quoted this verse in Mark 9:48, where He was giving a parable about it is better to get into Kingdom of God with one eye, or one hand, than to enter into hell with fire and worms that never die. Peter said the new heaven and new earth is the home of the righteousness (2 Peter 3:13).
The main theme of this chapter is Redeemer’s reason for rejecting the nation; reservation of a remnant; and the revelation of the new heavens and the new earth.
Chapter 65 and 66 is the answer for the prayer in Chapter 64, where Isaiah and the nation Israel were praying fervently to God for His intervention to rescue Israel. God told them it was their sins that prevented their prayers to be answered (v2-7).
In this chapter, God makes it very clear that their sins and unfaithfulness are responsible for His judgment upon them, but that their sins have not frustrated His promises and purposes concerning the coming kingdom.
Division
v1: Salvation to the gentiles
v2-7: Sins of Israel
Exposition
v1: God reveals Himself to the gentile. It was God who took the initiative to reveal Himself to each of us. Paul quoted this verse in Rom 10:20 referring to God’s calling to gentiles.
v2: God stretches out His hands even to the unfaithful Jews. Paul quoted this verse in Rom 10:21, referring to the rebelliousness of His fellow Jews.
v3-4: Israel broke God’s laws again and again.
v5: But they still think they are holy then others, the gentiles.
v6-7: God will surely punish them for their sins
v8-9: However in His faithfulness, He will reserve a remnant of Israel to be saved. The remnant is compared to the remaining juice found in a cluster of grapes.
v10: Sharon was the western, fertile territory on the Mediterranean coast, south of Mt. Carmel. Valley of Achor in the south. It was the place where the Achan was stoned to death by the Jews because of his greediness and disobedience to God that cause the lost of the first war with Ai. The valley will be a resting place finally. Together they represented the whole land.
v11-12: Referring to unbelieving Israelite.
v13: Comparing the faithful and the unfaithful of Israel.
v14: When the Lord Jesus returned, some of sing for joy, some will cry in anguish.
v15: The unfaithful Jews will be put to death, the faithful Jews, referring as God’s servants here will be given another name.
v17: After the millennium Kingdom, there will be new heavens and new earth.
v20: In the millennium Kingdom, people will have long life again, like the beginning.
v25: In the millennium Kingdom, animals will live harmony together.
The main theme is this chapter is God is the Potter, we are the clay. Men are sinners that want to do things our own ways, which cause us to sin and prevent us from receiving the blessing of God. If we yield to God, the Potter will mold us into His image.
Exposition
v1:A call to God to come down from heavens to make His name know to the enemies (v2) and to help of those who are righteous, who remember God’s ways.
v2-3: On Jesus second coming, the earth will experience great tribulation. The nations will quake, and mountains will tremble!
v4: [no ear…no eye]. God’s judgement is unique in world history. Paul adapts words from this verse in 1 Cor 2:9 to speak of direct revelation of God, imparted to His apostles and prophets, pertaining to mysteries hidden from mankind before the birth of the church.
v5-7: Isaiah put himself among the people who have sinned against God. Men own righteous acts are like disgusting menstrual clothes of women in the eyes of God.
v8: Men are helpless and destined for destruction if God is just a righteous God. Thank God, He is also a loving Father. We are the works of the hands of the Potter. If we yield to Him, He desires to mold us into the image of Christ.
v10-11: A prophesy of Jerusalem’s destruction in Babylon time.
v12: A question to God, which God keep silent? The next two chapter hold the answers to this question.
The first part of this chapter, from v1 to v6 talks about Jesus second coming.
Unlike His first coming, on His second coming, Jesus will execute His role as a righteous Judge. He will punish the wicked who have not repent to receive His salvation. It will be a horrible scene. John saw the same scene in revelation 19:11-12. The imagery is Jesus would step on the grapes on winepress, and the wine will stain His garment. The wine is a symbol of the blood of the wicked. It will be a day of vengeance.
Division
v1-6: The day of vengeance
v7-10: Proclaim to kindness of the Lord
v11-14: Recalled how God rescued them in old days
v15-19: Call on God to rule over the enemies and restore His kindess to Israel
Exposition
v1: Edom is the descendent of Esau, it The meaning of Esau is red. Bozrah was the capital of Edom, its meaning is “grade gathering”.
v4: On Jesus first coming, it was called the year of the Lord’s favor (Isaiah 61:2). One Jesus second coming, it is called the day of vengeance (Isaiah 61:2)
v10: Israel’s rebellion grieved the Holy Spirit. Our rebellion would cause the grieve of Holy Spirit as well (Eph 4:30).
v11-14: Holy Spirit is mention three times in this chapter (v10,11,14). When Isaiah recount how God led Israel out of Egypt, he said it was the work of the Holy Spirit (v11-12).
