Text: Isaiah 22<\/p>\n
The prophecy is directed to the “valley of vision.” Isaiah 22:9-10 makes it clear that Jerusalem is being discussed. Even though Jerusalem is built on a mountain, it is surrounded by taller mountains. It also has several valleys within the city. By calling this the valley of vision, it hints that the revelation will not be “uplifting.”<\/p>\n
The typical home in Jerusalem had flat roofs, and it was common for people to use the roofs as balconies. Thus, if something was going on, people would likely climb up to their roofs to see what was going on.<\/p>\n
Jerusalem was a bustling city full of noise, but that was ending. They will lose population, not through death in battle but because people are taken captive. Their rulers have fled and also have been captured. There was no escaping.<\/p>\n
Isaiah breaks down into tears over the vision. He refuses to be comforted. God has appointed a day when Jerusalem will be overtaken in panic, subjugation, and confusion. The walls of protection will be broken down and the people will be crying for aid.<\/p>\n
The Persians (Elam) and the Medes (Kir) will come prepared for battle. Assyria had conquered portions of these countries so that some battalions would come from these nations. Chariots fill Judah’s valleys, and horsemen block the city gates.<\/p>\n
God exposes Judah’s defenses, weakening her. Instead of turning to God for aid, Judah looks to its armory, called “the house of the forest,” for defense. The walls of Jerusalem will be in poor shape (II Chronicles 32:5). The water supplies will be collected (II Chronicles 32:4,30). Houses would be torn down to get material to repair the walls. In all these preparations, they did not consider the one they really needed — God.<\/p>\n
God invites them to mourn. However, the people turn to partying as if to drown out the realities of the attack. They had told themselves, “Eat and drink, for tomorrow we may die.” However, God said that because of their sins, they would die.<\/p>\n
A special prophecy is delivered to the palace steward, Shebna. This man saw himself as very important. He even had a tomb carved for himself in a prominent place on a nearby mountaintop. Embarrassingly, he would never use it. God is about to seize him and cast him out into a distant country. Perhaps an indication of being carried off into captivity. He will die there, far from his home. His fancy chariots would also be there, not for his use but because they were also captured.<\/p>\n
Eliakim would be selected to take Shebna’s place as palace steward. Unlike Shebna, Eliakim will be seen as a benefactor to the people. God will grant him full authority to do as he sees best. He will firmly have his position and bring glory to his father’s house. However, depending on his abilities and honor, his relatives will all hang off on him. Eventually, it will reach a point that it will give way, perhaps after Eliakim’s death, and all who were dependent on him will fall.<\/p>\n
Why such a detailed prophecy about an official? Seeing the fulfillment in the near-term of Isaiah’s words raises the certainty that the long-term predictions of Isaiah are just as true.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tPrior Lesson\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tIsaiah\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tNext Lesson\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Prophecies against Jerusalem Text: Isaiah 22 What Is the Matter with You? – Isaiah 22:1-3 The prophecy is directed to the “valley of vision.” Isaiah 22:9-10 makes it clear that Jerusalem is being discussed. Even though Jerusalem is built on a mountain, it is surrounded by taller mountains. It also has several valleys within the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":22633,"menu_order":22,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-69182","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":69600,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/bible-studies\/a-study-of-isaiah\/woe-to-jerusalem\/","url_meta":{"origin":69182,"position":0},"title":"Woe to Jerusalem","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 2, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Woe to Jerusalem Text: Isaiah 29 Jerusalem Will Be Brought Low - Isaiah 29:1-4 Jerusalem is called Ariel, \"The Lion of God.\" It took comfort in being the city of David and the place where God's worship was centered. But despite that, it will undergo distress as a foreign army\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":22633,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/bible-studies\/a-study-of-isaiah\/","url_meta":{"origin":69182,"position":1},"title":"A Study of Isaiah","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 19, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"A Study of Isaiah by Jeffrey W. Hamilton 2020 \u00a0 Content Background Condemnation for the Past Condemnation of Judah The Wickedness of Judah - Isaiah 1 The House of God versus the House of Judah - Isaiah 2 Judgment on Judah - Isaiah 3-5 The Calling of Isaiah - Isaiah\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/scan0016-3.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":35899,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/bible-studies\/a-study-of-ezekiel\/the-siege-of-jerusalem-begins\/","url_meta":{"origin":69182,"position":2},"title":"The Siege of Jerusalem Begins","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 18, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"The Seige of Jerusalem Begins Text: Ezekiel 24 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0We now begin the fourth set of prophecies (Ezekiel 1:2; 8:1; 20:1) \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0It is now the ninth year, tenth month, and tenth day of the month \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a01.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a02 years and 5 months since the beginning of the last set. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a02.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a04 years and\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":14352,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/bible-studies\/a-study-of-ezekiel\/","url_meta":{"origin":69182,"position":3},"title":"A Study of Ezekiel","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 27, 2005","format":false,"excerpt":"A Study of Ezekiel by Jeffrey W. Hamilton The following are my class notes for teaching Ezekiel here in La Vista. They are presented here in hopes of helping you with your own study of Ezekiel. Contents Background to Ezekiel The Vision of Jehovah (Ezekiel 1) Ezekiel's Call to Preach\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/EzekielPreaching-239x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":68999,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/bible-studies\/a-study-of-isaiah\/prophecies-for-ethiopia\/","url_meta":{"origin":69182,"position":4},"title":"Prophecies for Ethiopia","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 24, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Prophecies for Ethiopia Text: Isaiah 18 An Invitation to Watch - Isaiah 18:1-3 This message begins differently than the other prophecies. The initial word is\u00a0hoy, which means \"alas\" or \"woe.\" When used in prophecy, it asserts that the judgments about to be stated are unavoidable. 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