Again, the prophet returns to Judah’s call to Egypt for help against the Assyrian invasion. What moved the prophet to address Judah’s leaders with a strong rebuke and biting satire was that their war planning not only ignored and factored God out of their plans, but that they also asked an idol-worshipping nation to be their help! Yahweh was passed over for the military of Egypt. The fact is that Egypt could only take Judah’s money, but did nothing to turn the Assyrian army away; Yahweh did that. Isaiah called Judah’s behavior sin.

 

This is the day of the Assyrian siege where Jerusalem would suffer a horrible fate without God’s intervention. However,God did intervene, as Isaiah said He would. The prophet was inspired by God to address Jerusalem as “Ariel.” Ariel literally means “lion of God.” It also became used by the prophets as “altar of God.” This duel meaning characterized God’s desire for Jerusalem, to be His city of heroism and sacrifice. The Divine King of Peace, Jesus Christ, is the very personification of heroism as the Lion of Judah, and sacrifice as the Lamb of God. He is the fulfillment of what Jerusalem was supposed to broadcast to the world. 

Isaiah, having given Millennial Kingdom encouragement to the believers, returns to the political conditions in his part of the world — The Assyrian menace. He warns the arrogant alcoholics of the Northern Kingdom, in the palace, and the priests and prophets as well. Then, he warns Judah that the same fate awaits them because of their abandoning Yahweh and seeking Egypt’s help as well as the darkness of the spiritual realm. This all leads to his teachings being mocked by those given to alcohol, to which he responds with biting satire, and lampoons those of Judah as well for their inability to get things right.

The prophet sees ahead into the Messianic Kingdom Age when Jesus returns to earth with His saints, and establishes Divine rule over the earth. His capital city will be Jerusalem and from there the nations of the world will flock to worship Him. Isaiah, who lived almost all his life under the threat of Assyrian invasion, was excited over the thought of Messiah’s rule on earth “in that day.”

Isaiah sees the day coming when the Lord will deal directly with the maritime superpower city of Tyre. He goes on to see God set things right with other nations who disregard Him and rule by corruption, and that awful sin of self-serving pride; both on earth and in the spiritual. He quotes God: “in that day the Lord will punish on high the host of exalted ones, and on the earth the kings of the earth.” God will set things right on earth in that day.