Sunday, December 7, 2025 PM

I pray that you would bless our study of it, our meditation upon it, and our application of it in our lives.

I pray that you would glorify yourself in us as you do us great good through your word. We thank you for your Son, Jesus Christ.

In his name we pray. Amen. All right, verse 18,

Isaiah 7. And it shall come to pass in that day that the Lord will whistle for the fly that is in the farthest part of the rivers of Egypt, and for the bee that is in the land of Assyria.

It will come, and all of them will rest in the desolate valleys and in the clefts of the rocks, and on all the thorns and in all pastures.

In the same day the Lord will shave with a hired razor with those from beyond the river, with the king of Assyria, the head and hair of the legs, and will also remove the beard.

It shall be in that day that a man will keep alive a young cow and two sheep, so it shall be from the abundance of milk they give that he will eat curds.

For curds and honey everyone will eat who is left in the land. It shall happen in that day that wherever there could be a thousand vines worth a thousand shekels of silver, it will be for briars and thorns.

With arrows and bows men will come there, because all the land will become briars and thorns. And to any hill which could be dug with a hoe, you will not go there for fear of briars and thorns, but it will become a range for oxen and a place for sheep to roam."

Looking verses 23 -25, you get the idea that this passage might be about briars and thorns.

Repeated often enough, you get our attention. But this picture is pressed upon the people, this motif in the judgment, oracle of judgment that Isaiah gives, is pressed upon the people in three related ways.

The briars and thorns are an expression of God's judgment upon Judah, her people, and her land.

And they talk about Judah's economic devastation. Remember that this judgment oracle has to do with Judah being exiled while still in their own land.

Everybody's at the house, but nobody's home. Everything is being taken away from them, showing that their only real blessing they have in this promised land is the

Lord himself. If they don't have the Lord's blessing, what's the point of being in this land?

To show that really and truly the Lord himself is their inheritance. And so these briars and thorns are shown to choke out all future development.

The briars and thorns haunt them every day. The briars and thorns cause them to abandon their properties which had been handed down from generation to generation.

And so we see this unfold in terms of devastation and danger and desertion.

So in verse 23 we have the devastation. It shall happen in that day that wherever there could be a thousand vines worth a thousand shekels of silver, it will be for briars and thorns.

So the reminder is it shall happen in that day, a reminder of what the context of judgment is, and then an expression of regression.

You could have a lot of potential there. It looks like you could have a thousand vines worth a thousand shekels of silver, and yet all that's going to be there is briars and thorns.

Isaiah is a master poet. Not only do we have this triple repetition of the theme briars and thorns, but this is the fourth hammer fall of in that day.

So you'll see it in verses 18, 20, 21, 23. In that day, at that, again, in that day, in that day.

And what is this day? This is the day of the Lord. This is the day of judgment that He has determined.

It's His day to bring about His purposes. The day of the Lord is a theme that occurs many times in Scripture regarding a variety of important judgments.

There was a day of the Lord for Egypt, a day of the Lord for Edom, a day of the Lord for Assyria, a day of the Lord for Babylon, a day of the

Lord for Israel, a day of the Lord for Judah. And this is a day of the

Lord in Judah's life in which Tiglath -Pileser, the Assyrian king, is going to come through and do great destruction, a judgment that has a baby mascot named

Emmanuel. Also will be clarified by another name at the beginning of chapter 8,

Meher -Shallal -Hashbaz. This is an invasion of the Assyrians that's going to leave the land of Judah greatly desolated.

It will be like them being exiled without ever having to leave home, like a staycation. So the devastation is expressed in metaphors of briars and thorns, flies and bees, scarcity and shame.

God will use the Assyrians and the Egyptians to bring this about in a military alliance.

But the sign is what? Emmanuel. That is the theme for the invasion, is

Emmanuel, which says that this is not merely a day of maladies and mercenaries.

It was just an accident of history, no? This day is the Lord's day, the day of the

Lord. He is in command, he's running the show, his sovereignty is on display in the judgment.

You see, the main problem of Judah is that the power, glory, authority, holiness, and righteousness of God has been obscured in the life of Judah and forgotten by this idolatrous people.

Well, he's going to remind them. And how does he do that? He makes his name front and center to these traumatic, pivotal events about to take place.

His prophet goes before him, and then the prophet authenticates God's glory by speaking the word of God prophetically.

Isaiah both forth -tells and fore -tells. Isaiah writes history before it happens, and then, at the same time, provides the proper interpretation of those events before they even happen.

That's prophecy. All these things are going to take place in just the way that God said it would and for the reasons why he said they would.

You see how God makes himself front and center to the lives of these people who have forgotten him?

They're not going to be able to ignore him now because all these things are going to happen just the way he said it and for the reasons he said it.

It's one of the most stunning features of the Bible is this act of prophecy, wherein

God says this will happen long before it does. It's going to happen in this way, and so it does.

It will happen for these reasons, and here's the meaning of it. It's pretty amazing. This is the reminder of who the

Lord is and what will happen in that day, and also a regression will occur throughout the land, that wherever there could be 1 ,000 vines worth 1 ,000 shekels of silver, it will only be for briars and thorns.

You know, Ahaz is very interested in money. He just sent a whole bunch of it up to the king of Assyria to help him defeat his enemies.

And Isaiah's language would be sure to capture Ahaz's attention. Hey, economic prospects, 1 ,000 vines worth 1 ,000 shekels of silver, but it's all lost.

The lost potential is the key theme here. Vines, vines are very important. Vines are very important to the life of Israel.

Vines were a staple of prosperity in Israel. To have a lot of vines with a lot of grapes, that was a signal that things were going well, sort of like the fig tree laden down with figs, another image very important to speak about the prosperity of the land of Canaan.

Around here, it's natural gas and oil wells pumping away, right? Ah, as long as those big hammers keep on nodding, things are going well.

Take a look, see how things are going. We talked about last time that the illustration given about the man who's reduced to a young cow and two sheep, we talked about that picture, the dystopian analogy.

It would be like this would be also the same way. Ahaz can envision this in his mind.

There could be 1 ,000 vines over there, but all I see is a bunch of briars and thorns. It would be like us passing by, driving by several boarded up shopping centers with scrap covered parking lots and closed hospitals and closed schools and boarded up gas stations and collapsed churches, a very dystopian cityscape.

That's the picture that's being painted for Judah. Imagine this vast, wonderful terraced countryside, this green valley where you could have 1 ,000 grape vines, but it's all briars and thorns.

Where there could have been vibrancy and order, there is full regression into stagnation and disorder.

So this shows that this truly was a land that was prosperous. It was a land flowing with milk and honey and full of blessing, but only ever according to the will of the

Lord. In Deuteronomy chapter 11, as the people are, the second generation is being prepared by Moses to cross over the

Jordan River and enter into the land, Moses reminds this people what to expect when they get there.

What's it going to be like when you finally cross the Jordan River and make it to the promised land, the land flowing with milk and honey?

Deuteronomy 11 verse 11, but the land which you cross over to possess is a land of hills and valleys which drinks water from the rain of heaven, a land for which the

Lord your God cares. The eyes of the Lord your God are always on it from the beginning of the year to the very end of the year.

What a picture. God is especially governing there, making sure to bring blessing and prosperity upon the land.

He's always watching over it. It never escapes his notice. What a green and verdant, vibrant land.

But notice within that description, the eyes of the Lord are always on it.

He's paying close attention. Well, what was he watching for?

When they get there, they should be cognizant of the fact that God is watching and what are they doing on the high places and under the green trees and are they being faithful to the

Lord. So this land is under God's special care and governance and to look around and see so much wasted potential, to see valleys that could be filled with vines but filled with briars and thorns, that is a clear sign of God's judgment upon Judah.

But it's also fittingly ironic because God had done everything just right for Judah. In fact, he had called

Judah his choice vine to bring forth a fruitful harvest. Back in Isaiah chapter 5 where Isaiah says,

Now let me sing to my well -beloved a song of my beloved regarding his vineyard. My well -beloved has a vineyard on a very fruitful hill.

He dug it up and cleared out its stones and planted it with the choicest vine. He built a tower in its midst and put his winepress in it.

So he expected it to bring forth good grapes, but it only brought forth wild grapes.

And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah, judge, please, between me and my vineyard. What more could have been done to my vineyard that I have not done in it?

Why then, when I expected it to bring forth good grapes, did it bring forth wild grapes? Verse 5,

And now, please let me tell you what I will do to my vineyard. I will take away its hedge, and it shall be burned.

It shall break down its wall, and it shall be trampled down. I will lay it waste. It shall not be pruned or dug, but there shall come up briars and thorns.

God said, I'm going to bring the briars and the thorns as a judgment upon my vineyard.

And this is the refrain that we have here in these last three verses. Briars and thorns, briars and thorns, briars and thorns.

Everywhere there could be a sweeping hillside with walls and towers and flowing vines and an abundant agricultural industry of growing vines.

Only a wilderness of briars and thorns. You know, briars and thorns are interesting.

They also are vines, aren't they? But the wrong kind of vine. Not the vine you want.

They give no fruit, only pain. Now, this planting of briars and thorns is interesting.

Consuming all that land that was really meant originally for Judah, who was called the vine.

The men of Judah were called the vine. But you see the lessening and the retreat of the vine.

The men of Judah are no longer where they're supposed to be. What's replaced them is briars and thorns. And what are these briars and thorns?

Well, in Isaiah chapter 10, verses 15 through 17,

God says these briars and thorns are nothing other than the Assyrians themselves. So in Isaiah 10, there's a judgment upon Assyria for their pride, for their murderous violence, for their arrogance against God.

Yes, they were God's tool for judgment, but they're also wicked and deserving of judgment. And he calls them the briars and the thorns.

So Isaiah 10, verse 15, shall the axe boast itself against him who chops with it?

Hey Assyria, you're just my axe. Why are you getting so arrogant, right? Shall the saw exalt itself against him who saws with it?

As if a rod could wield itself against those who lift it up, or as if a staff could lift up as if it were not wood.

Therefore the Lord, the Lord of hosts, will send leanness among his fat ones, and under his glory he will kindle a burning, like the burning of a fire.

So the light of Israel will be for a fire, and his holy one for a flame. It will burn and devour his thorns and his briars in one day.

Now this is all under the heading of verse five, woe to Assyria. Woe to Assyria, the rod of my anger.

Woe to Assyria, my tool, that is now boasting itself against me. Yes, he used Assyria to judge

Judah, and then Assyria gets all arrogant and says, hey, we bested Yahweh, the

God of Judah. And God, Yahweh of Judah, is saying to Assyria, hey now, you're just my tool.

You're my briars and thorns, and you're pretty good for burning, so let's burn you. Now you will be for kindling.

So when we put that all into perspective, the weeds are warriors.

But the weeds God talks about, these briars and thorns, are a fitting picture to talk about his judgment upon those who have been entrusted to be faithful and care for this land.

This metaphor continues in verse 24 in the form of danger. With arrows and bows, men will come there because all the land will become briars and thorns.

Now, what good are bows and arrows against briars and thorns? Kind of an odd thing to think about.

I mean, I use a machete, take out those Arkansas traveler vines, you know, the green ones that become this huge ball of thorns, or I use a battery -powered hedge trimmer and just chop back and forth until it all falls down to the ground.

I use a tree saw and a chainsaw against the honey locust tree in our old land. It had two and a half inch thorns on them.

I hated those trees. It was hard to take those down. You know, but I didn't use a bow and arrow.

You know, if you were pretty skilled, you'd make a little bit of progress, but that would take a long time, right?

Even the Long family, as skilled as they are in archery and in property management, that would be not the tools you use to clear off the thorns off your property.

But, we are again reminded that these briars and thorns are a metaphor for the enemy, the

Assyrians, who are taking up more and more of the land, ready to kill any unwary

Jew traveling through their territory. Now, thematically, it also works that if you'd abandon an area and it becomes wilderness, it also becomes a dangerous place because of dangerous animals, and so on.

That actually happened to the Assyrians when they took over the northern kingdom, and they depopulated it entirely, and then the wild animals got out of control, and it was hard to live there.

Arrows and bows will come there. Why? Because it's so dangerous to be there.

You may have seen in some places in Florida they're now allowed to open carry rifles, and so you see bikers driving around with their

AR -15s and AK -47s on their back. Which makes sense in Florida. You have two reasons.

You have a higher -than -average predator problem, kind of like Alaska, but there's an additional danger in Florida, a group of people called

Florida men. A little bit dangerous to live down there. So everyone's running around with bows, the equivalent of bows and arrows.

Why would you walk around with your weapon at the ready on your person? Because you live in a place of danger.

So you have to be ready. That's what is being said. This land that used to be a land of safety and order and good is now a land filled with danger, and you can't let your guard down at all.

It's also a place that has been deserted, verse 25, and to any hill which could be dug with a hoe, you will not go there for fear of briars and thorns, but it will become a range for oxen and a place for sheep to roam.

And so in verse 23, you have the best land, the prime land, the fertile valleys that could be a vine -growing opportunity to behold.

Yeah, that place is totally overgrown with the briars and thorns. Nobody can go there because all the Assyrians have taken over.

But what about the places that are still profitable?

I mean, there's no 10 ,000 -fold potential, but what about this hill or that hill or any hill worth hoeing?

Nope. Those are covered too. We've already been told the bees and the flies have achieved maximum coverage.

We've already been told that Judah has been shaved completely, no hair missed. So there's no hill worth hoeing.

No hill left worth hoeing. They're all held by the briars and the thorns. And we're perplexed again by a riddle.

I mean, if the whole land is covered by briars and thorns, how is that good ranging area for an ox? Right? How is a thick field full of briars and thorns or a hill completely covered in briars and thorns, how is that good ranging area for an ox?

That doesn't make a whole lot of sense. The word for sheep can also be used for goats, and goats, of course, would be able to eat some briars and thorns.

But still, the idea here is something surprising.

Usually when the land is deserted, we are told that other animals are going to be there. Jackals, wolves, hyenas, carrion birds.

That's what we normally are told in oracles of judgment that would occupy a place that has been abandoned and destroyed by the enemy.

But here we are reading that valuable animals wander free. No one grabs them.

Isn't that interesting? What's going on?

The Assyrians are free ranging their flocks and cattle, and no

Jew dares go grab them, even though it's their land and their cattle and their sheep that the

Assyrians took. So who is in possession of the land now?

Their enemies are, right? That's the idea. Their enemies are in full possession of the land.

They have completely retreated under the judgment of God. They have deserted their inheritance.

They would not fear God. They would not endure the humiliation that was necessary to repent.

They flinched. They shied away. They gave up. The servant failed and fled. This is the oracle of judgment from Isaiah to Ahaz.

Now, what is the dynamic on display? This is the one we've been talking about this entire time, the one that is described in Deuteronomy 8.

God's saying that when you come into this land that is so bountiful, has all these good things, do not forget who gave it to you.

It was not your hands that plowed this ground. It was not your hands that built these cities.

It was not your hands that dug these wells. It was not your merits that has caused this land to be a land flowing with milk and honey.

If you forget God, if you forget your maker, if you forget the one who gave it all to you, then you will be like those who were here before you, and you will be cast out.

I think it's interesting, given the judgment of God upon, of course, the covenant teaches about creation, and so when you look at how

God treats Adam and Eve in their exile from the garden, it came with a promise of briars and thorns.

What would happen to the ground that Adam was laboring in to try to bring forth some produce to make sure that they could be fed?

What was the curse? Produce thorns. It's interesting that God's act of judgment is for the land to become a place overgrown and untamed, which is the opposite direction.

It's the reversal of his creation blessing, the reversal of his creation mandate, is that men should be fruitful and multiply, fill the earth and subdue it, that men ought to be taming things and putting things in order.

The Christian view of paradise is one in which man is rightly stewarding creation. It is the pagan idea of paradise where man is completely absent.

The dynamic of briars and thorns, as God's judgment teaches us something, it teaches

Judah something. The covenant teaches creation addressing its sinful ruin, which means that the covenant also teaches

Christ anticipating his saving reign. Adam never came up with a good solution for the briars and thorns, and Judah, Israel, God's servant, also was overcome by the briars and thorns.

But the briars and thorns that haunted Adam and overwhelmed Israel crowned the

Lord in glory. The crowns, the crown of thorns, the thorns pressed upon his head, a mocking crown.

But he is the king of man, bears our curse for us. We said he bears the curse for us, in our place and for our sake, he bears the curse, that we would know

God's blessing through him, God's covenant in him, God's salvation by him.

The fruitful inheritance returns and remains in him. So it is by humble remembrance of God's favor in Christ that leads us to embrace and enjoy our inheritance in him.

Our inheritance is in Christ. If we don't have him, then what do we have? We have nothing.

And yes, not every enemy is yet defeated. He reigns at the right hand until every last enemy is put under his feet and then comes the end.

But we ought not fear the enemies of Christ. They're the usurpers.

They're on his turf. They're the ones who are temporary. They're the ones who don't belong.

They are the intruders. In Christ, we're the natives. All things belong to him.

He is the heir of all things. And we are co -heirs with Jesus Christ. This world is his. This earth is his.

The heavens are his. This is his place. We're the natives in Christ, and we have a future inheritance in him.

Anybody who's an enemy of Christ is an interloper and won't be here long. So what is our attitude toward the briars and thorns?

Not long for this world, in God's good time, and our hope is one that is sure.

All right, let's close by singing the doxology together. Praise God from whom all blessings flow.

Praise him, all creatures here below.